Monty Oum

by sniperpal

This is NOT a story or fic. These are my personal thoughts and feelings about the passing of Monty Oum. I'm sharing this here because I want the world to know that we have lost one of the greatest talents on the Internet. I will miss hearing the hilarious stories about him that his coworkers have to share. I will miss the great works of art he created. We all will miss Monty.

The Life and Death of Greatness

On February 1, 2015, Monty Oum died.

It's been three days and I'm still having a difficult time processing that sentence. It's been several years since I became a fan of Rooster Teeth. Red vs Blue, Slow Mo Guys, Achievement Hunter; they are the things that keep me laughing and keep me positive about the future. Recently, RWBY joined these great works of art in brightening my day. Before that, though, I discovered Haloid and Dead Fantasy on my own terms, browsing Halo-related videos on YouTube. They were unbelievable; magnificent animated creations in a time when very few people had the talent and creativity to match those accomplishments. Afro Samurai was a great game and was just another example of the magic Monty could create. I remembered his name, and when I learned that Rooster Teeth had picked him up, I knew that the future had just become a whole lot brighter.

RWBY's rise to the top of online content cemented Monty's name in the list of great modern talents. He showed us all what skill, imagination, and a drive to create something new and fun can create. Ruby, Blake, Weiss, and Yang are four names that are resonating across the Internet, all due almost entirely to Monty's effort. He gave his all to present the world with the gift of laughter and excitement as we watched his work come to life in RWBY and Red vs Blue.

And now he's gone.

I never had the privilege to meet Monty Oum in person. That privilege lies with his family and the Rooster Teeth crew, and I envy them for having gotten the chance to know this incredible guy more personally. As a fledgling writer, however, I understand the desire to share one's ideas with the world and to find that group of people whose faces you can put a smile on. However, I will never, ever come close to touching as many lives as Monty Oum did. He was the kind of person we all aspire to be- a person that achieves their dream of doing what they truly enjoy for a living, and getting to see how much the world enjoys the fruits of their labors. That the light he brought to the world has gone out is a fact I cannot reconcile with, yet the grief I and millions of other people feel is paltry compared to what his family and friends must be going through.

Mrs. Sheena and the rest of Monty's loved ones, there's nothing I can say that can ease the pain of losing such a wonderful person. Same goes for his coworkers at Rooster Teeth; I can barely imagine what such a loss means for you all. I just want you all to know, however, that too few people in this world get the chance to make themselves known and remembered long after they're gone.

Monty Oum does not have to worry about that. We will never forget him.

We love you, Monty. Rest well.