Apologies to those who've just been startled - unfortunately, I just didn't know how to effectively warn you.

I've heard many people on YouTube make jokes about the site's algorithm, referring to it like a deity that brings them videos for reasons unknown. I've been watching a lot of YouTube recently, for better or for worse, and so I started wondering what exactly the algorithm would look like as an anthropomorphized or robotic character. Based on the jokes, Tom Scott's video on the subject, and YouTube's troubled history of algorithmic moderation, I figured that the character of "The Algorithm" would have to be more than a little bit sinister, loftily disconnected from the lives and emotions of humans, with a mind simply too alien to puzzle out. So this is what I came up with - a streamlined android with a faux eyepatch, but behind that face it's a whole different story.

This was originally going to be an animated gif that switched between the two faces with a glitchy transition, but I didn't have the motivation to create the whole thing, so instead I just drew the two states of the character. I'll admit to having taken a little bit of inspiration from Five Nights at Freddy's and some notable fangames for the faceless version - not on purpose, but because I've seen enough of them that they influenced the idea when it first came to me. The regular version is just based on a lot of bald-headed, shiny white androids that you get in stock images (or sometimes antivirus software branding).

Since there was a discussion on the forums recently about what makes Newgrounds different from other social media, I'd say this was made with great timing. I'm ever thankful to Tom Fulp and the other moderators for keeping the heart and humanity in NG, and putting forth enough effort to successfully do the primary moderation jobs on the site, so that our own bots don't become another version of this.

-Cass "EscapistProductions" Kingside

Made in Procreate Pocket

I understand the risks in using YouTube's logo for the design of an amoral/villainous character. If this must be taken down for copyright infringement, I understand.