| CoryxKenshin | |
| Birth Name: | Cory DeVante Williams |
| Birth Date: | 9 November 1992 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Other Names: | The Ankle Breaker, The Shogun, Parry Perfect Person, The Chosen, BambiKilla69, Edward Norton, Chef Kenshin |
| Education: | University of Michigan |
| Channel Display Name: | CoryxKenshin |
| Channel Url: | UCiYcA0gJzg855iSKMrX3oHg |
| Years Active: | 2009–present (on hiatus) |
| Location: | Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S. |
| Subscribers: | 18.8 million |
| Views: | 7.92 billion |
| Silver Button: | y |
| Silver Year: | 2015 |
| Gold Button: | y |
| Gold Year: | 2016 |
| Diamond Button: | y |
| Stats Update: | August 7, 2024 |
| Diamond Year: | 2021 |
Cory DeVante Williams (born November 9, 1992),[1] known online as CoryxKenshin, is an American YouTuber and actor. Williams joined YouTube on April 26, 2009. Known for his comedic playthroughs of horror games, Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021.
Williams began uploading videos to YouTube in 2009.[2] [3] Although he originally created comedy sketches, Williams began to play popular horror games such as Five Nights at Freddy's (2014) and Bloodborne (2015) instead, along with creating the "Spooky Scary Sunday" horror short film reaction series.[4] [5] He also played video games of other genres and triple-A games such as Elden Ring (2022).[6] [7] His video of the rhythm game Friday Night Funkin' (2020) became the fifth most-viewed video in the United States in 2021.[8] IGN Africa described the video as "part music video, part playthrough" and praised Williams' use of comedy in the video.[9] Besides his let's plays, Williams was known for his humor and energetic, light-hearted personality.[10]
Williams was ranked the fourth top creator in the United States in 2021 by subscriber growth and many of his videos have stayed on the YouTube trending tab for several days.[3] He has also been noted for frequently taking hiatuses from uploading videos, ranging from several days to months. In 2018, he took a four-month break from YouTube; in 2019, Williams uploaded a video discussing his struggles with mental health due to the pressures of content creation, which was cited in an article from The Verge in the wake of YouTuber Etika's death.[11] He reached ten million subscribers despite a nine-month period of inactivity and,, he hasn't uploaded any videos since 2023, but his channel posted a video in June and then took it down. His channel also has nearly eight billion views and 18.8 million subscribers.
In 2023, Williams was in the Five Nights at Freddy's film adaptation as a cabbie. Williams uploaded a reaction to the film's trailer shortly after it was posted online.[12]
On August 24, 2022, Williams uploaded a video onto his channel alleging that "racism and favoritism" may influence YouTube's review process. In the video, he recounted an incident where a reviewer age-restricted his video of the horror game The Mortuary Assistant (2022), thereby lessening his visibility and monetization. As many other videos featuring the same content were not subject to the same restrictions, Williams became confused and submitted an appeal, which was rejected. He sent a clip of an even more popular YouTuber, Markiplier, playing the same game to his partner program representative. Although he expected them to restrict Markiplier's video, YouTube instead unrestricted Williams' video.
Feeling targeted that they had to use Markiplier's clip to confirm that he had not disobeyed the content policy, Williams again contacted his representative, who inquired to the policy team. The company then restricted every video on the platform of The Mortuary Assistant. This led Williams to conclude that the company's favoritism of larger creators—or even, possibly, racism—were factors in reviewers' decisions. He also was unsure if it was an automated or human reviewer who restricted his video in the first place.
Numerous other YouTubers, including Jacksepticeye, Ludwig, GothamChess, Phillip DeFranco, berleezy, Deestroying, and Cr1TiKaL voiced their support online. The video later peaked at No. 1 on the trending tab.
According to Distractify, Williams resides in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He is a devout Christian.[13]
In 2017, Williams revealed that he was born with ectodermal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that caused him to lack a full set of teeth, and diminished hair growth on his arms and legs. He also revealed that he had been bullied in school as a result of the disorder.
In 2020, Williams stopped uploading YouTube videos temporarily as a result of anxiety, burnout and depression. He described 2020 as "the worst year of [his] life", citing major events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd.