In Memoriam of Monty Oum
On February 1, 2015, our tears fell as we lost a great man, and that man was Monty Oum, the personification of awesomeness.
It was a normal day for me at an after-school activities center known as Youthville, and I was bored out of my mind in the Animation and Digital Arts class watching my sensei beat people up in Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, including me. I wandered around aimlessly until I came across a video that simply awesome. At first, i thought it was gameplay for a new Tomb Raider game, only to find it was Tifa Lockhart of Final Fantasy VII and Hitomi of Dead or Alive duking it out while falling. Then I saw Kasumi, Ayane, Yuna, and Rikku, and I thought 'WTF?! Did Square Enix and Team Ninja collaborated on a new game?'.
I continued to watch as Rachel, Rinoa, and Kairi joined the battle, and I was blown way by the sheer epicness…and unfortunately suffered through awesomeness withdrawal when it ended. I hit the net to find more videos like Dead Fantasy I and Haloid, which led me to it's creator, an amateur animator by the name of Monty Oum. I become an instant fan of the guy from that day forward, and followed his work.
I was just starting out with fanfiction around the time, and Monty's videos inspired the action and fight scenes of my stories in my mind. He was truly an inspiration not just to me, but to everyone else. He may have been considered an amateur, but he was top notch in my mind. He met fan expectations, broke limits in animation, and taught us that when life throws you lemons, you punch it back to hence it came.
Before finding his videos, I was also a fan of Roosterteeth because of their Red vs. Blue series, so you can imagine my excitement when I heard that Monty and Roosterteeth were going to be working together, and they did not disappoint with their first action scenes in Red vs. Blue Season 8, signifying the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
Then RWBY came. I enjoyed the hell out of the four trailers, and the episodes that followed that showed a great story with great characters. The action has Monty's handiwork all over it, with the fun stuff from Roosterteeth. Monty was one hard, dedicated worker, and I could tell the times he was nodding off during live podcasts (cuing the Monty, Get Some Sleep memes). Like I said, he's an inspiration to us all.
His death this week is truly devastating. Everything stopped for me when I heard the news. 33 years of age is still too young for him to go. We lost someone who could never be replaced, but he's in a better place now, and he left behind a legacy: the universe of Remnant in the world that is RWBY, and it's up to us, the fandom, to keep his works alive to honor him in tribute. I know I will.
Monty, your works has touched not only my heart, but the hearts of others, and you left pieces of it in there, pieces that we will all cherish. You may be gone, but you will never be forgotten. Memory is the key, and we will all keep it alive along with your legacy.
Sunrise: June 22, 1981 - Sunset: February 1, 2015. Requiescat in Pace.
Notes: Sorry this was late. This was my first time doing something like this. As for the update to Shinigami's Devil Huntsmen, due to the contents in 08: Fall of Arc Part II, which will be released sometime in a couple weeks, the chapter will not be dedicated to Monty, but the next three chapters, 09: Chaos in Payback, 10: Trouble in Paradise, and 11: The New Chasers, will all be dedicated to him.
