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What are the entities in the Backrooms, and which continuity invented them?Fiction

In-universe lore. Claims are judged against the fiction's own canon, not the real world.

Hounds, Smilers, Skin-Stealers, Facelings: the numbered bestiary everyone quotes as Backrooms lore appears nowhere in the 2019 post that started it. This ledger separates what the origin text actually said about whatever is down there from the taxonomies two separate wikis built years later, and from the creature Kane Parsons named for his own continuity.

6 established, 4 disputed, 2 debunked, 2 unresolved. We do not pick an answer; the evidence places each claim. How we decide

50 citations from 9 independent sources - 41 echo the same voices and count once. Graded A1-D1.

Added 4 Aug 2026 - canon current as of 4 Aug 2026

What the four states mean
  • Establishedsupported, uncontested
  • Disputedcredible sources disagree
  • Debunkedrefuted by the evidence
  • Unresolvedno settled answer

Established 6supported, uncontested

  • The Backrooms originated from a 2019 post on 4chan's /x/ board, and that post names no entity, no creature and no taxonomy. In a text of under a hundred words, its entire reference to anything alive down there is a single closing clause about hearing something wandering nearby.▰▰▰▱▱ very likely4 points
    Supports
  • The named entities are the work of individually credited wiki editors. On the Fandom Backrooms Wiki, Entity 8 (Hounds) was created in October 2020 by an editor called Icosi, Entity 9 (Facelings) and Entity 10 (Skin-Stealers) within minutes of each other on a single day in February 2021 by AndromedaMapping1, and the numbered Entity List hub in January 2022 by IamV0idbox.▰▰▰▱▱ likely5 points
    Supports
  • There is more than one Backrooms wiki. A Backrooms wiki was created on the Fandom platform soon after the 2019 post, and a separate Backrooms Wiki was founded on wikidot in April 2020; the wikidot site's own FAQ states flatly that no Backrooms site is the true one.▰▰▰▱▱ likely3 points
    Supports
  • Kane Parsons' found-footage continuity names a creature of its own. A creature that Parsons refers to as the Lifeform pursues the cameraman, who hides from it in a narrow gap in a wall; a medical examiner determines that the growth on the body found in Missing Persons is a malignant form of hay bacillus; and a wiki documenting the series says that growth appears to be the same material the Lifeform is made of.▰▰▰▱▱ likelysummary-sourced3 points
    Supports
  • Parsons did not break from the wiki bestiary on purpose. He has said he had no idea a fan community existed behind the creepypasta, and the earliest complaints on his first video were specifically that he had left the wikis' entities out.▰▰▰▱▱ likely2 points
    Supports
  • The A24 film gives names to several of its threats: humanoid Still Life simulacra made of an edible white substance and credited as the Bearded Man, Archibald Leland Sutter and the Red-Headed Woman, and Pirate Clark, a towering distorted simulacrum of Clark dressed as the pirate mascot. A separate unseen entity attacks Naren without being named.▰▰▱▱▱ likelysummary-sourced5 points
    Supports

Disputed 4credible sources disagree

  • The two wikis' numbered entity lists match on some slots and contradict each other on others. Both put Windows at Entity 2, a Smiler at 3, Deathmoths at 4, Dullers at 6, a Hound at 8, Facelings at 9 and a Skin-Stealer at 10, but Entity 1 is The Humans on wikidot against The Cameraman on Fandom, Entity 7 is Jerry against The Mandela Virus, and from Entity 11 to Entity 17 the two lists agree on Entity 15, the Wretches, and on nothing else.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against2 points
    Supports
    • Entity 1 - "The Humans" / Entity 2 - "The Windows" / Entity 3 - "Smiler" / Entity 4 - "Deathmoths" / Entity 5 - "Clump" / Entity 6 - "Dullers" / Entity 7 - "Jerry" / Entity 8 - "Hound" / Entity 9 - "Facelings" / Entity 10 - "Skin-Stealer" / Entity 11 - "Bursters" / Entity 12 - "Dunks" / Entity 13 - "Transporters" / Entity 14 - "Reviooks" / Entity 15 - "Wretches" / Entity 16 - "Nguithr'xurh" / Entity 17 - "Crawlers"Entities hub - The Backrooms Wiki (wikidot) primary
    Against
    • Entity 1 ‣ The Cameraman • Unknown / Entity 2 ‣ Windows • Common / Entity 3 ‣ Smilers • Any level with darkness / Entity 4 ‣ Deathmoths / Entity 5 ‣ Clumps / Entity 6 ‣ Dullers / Entity 7 ‣ The Mandela Virus • Level 1 / Entity 8 ‣ Hounds • Majority / Entity 9 ‣ Facelings • Majority / Entity 10 ‣ Skin-Stealers / Entity 11 ‣ Hydrolitis Plague • Stagnant water / Entity 12 ‣ Dread / Entity 13 ‣ Familiar Face • Unknown / Entity 14 ‣ Rainbows / Entity 15 ‣ Wretches • Majority / Entity 16 ‣ Undying • Majority / Entity 17 ‣ Kats • MajorityThe Backrooms Entity Database - Backrooms Wiki (Fandom) primary
  • Even where the two wikis agree on a number and a name, they contradict each other on what the creature actually is. The Fandom wiki says Hounds are people transformed by a rabies-like virus it calls Egremond Syndrome; the wikidot wiki says Hounds hatch from eggs originating on Level 276 and that their origin cannot be determined.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance2 against3 points
    Supports
    • Caniscontagione, commonly known as Egremond Syndrome or the Hound Virus, is a rabies-like neurotropic virus which facilitates rapid DNA mutation and cell growth, transforming affected individuals into Hounds. The disease was coined by Robert J. Egremond, a pharmacist who discovered the pathogen by studying deceased Hound specimens.Entity 8: Hounds // Egremond Syndrome - Backrooms Wiki (Fandom) primary
    Against
  • Entity does not consistently mean creature. The Fandom wiki opens its database by calling entities supernatural creatures, then numbers a virus, a waterborne plague and rainbows among them, and the Kane Pixels Backrooms Wiki likewise counts an environmental phenomenon, the Green Glow, as an entity.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance2 against3 points
    Supports
    Against
  • Whether entities are hostile by nature is a per-continuity choice rather than a shared premise. The Fandom wiki's Hounds are exceptionally aggressive to most life, while the wikidot wiki's own definition of an entity covers friendly inhabitants and creatures that are more human than we could hope to be, and observers note that community entities run from plausibly scary to deliberately silly.▰▰▰▱▱ unlikely3 against4 points
    Supports
    Against

Debunked 2refuted by the evidence

  • The belief that there are supposed to be Smilers on Level 1 is not a fact shared across the Backrooms. Viewers told Kane Parsons his first video was doing the Backrooms wrong because there were supposed to be smilers on level one, but Smilers is the name given to a malevolent creature in only some iterations of the Backrooms, and the origin post names no creature at all.Refuted by"Smilers" is the name given to a malevolent creature in some iterations of the Backrooms.refuted3 against4 points
    The claim rested on
    Refuted by
  • The two community wikis do not share one definition of what an entity is. The Fandom wiki calls entities supernatural creatures and classifies each by number, name and habitat, while the wikidot wiki describes an entity loosely as anything that lives in the Backrooms and as varied as living things on Earth. Neither site claims its version settles the matter: the Fandom wiki calls the Backrooms a mystery at large despite its documentation, and the wikidot FAQ states the site does not operate by a singular canonical interpretation.Refuted byan entity can be described as "anything that lives in the Backrooms." As said above, entities are as wildly varied as living things on Earth, if not more, feel free to get creative! Entity pages can take on any format from a regular 'database' article to a wanderer's handwritten account, you can use your entity slot number within the page, or choose to disregard it as a wanderer might do.refuted3 against4 points
    The claim rested on
    • Entities are supernatural creatures inhabiting the Backrooms. They are classified into three categories: their number, name, and habitat. "Number", as it may suggest, refers to the numerical notation of an entity; "name" is what the entity is known as; lastly, "habitat" refers to how often you will encounter the entity. For convenience, M.E.G. has assigned every non-level based entity a number.The Backrooms Entity Database - Backrooms Wiki (Fandom) primary
    Refuted by
    • an entity can be described as "anything that lives in the Backrooms." As said above, entities are as wildly varied as living things on Earth, if not more, feel free to get creative! Entity pages can take on any format from a regular 'database' article to a wanderer's handwritten account, you can use your entity slot number within the page, or choose to disregard it as a wanderer might do.Entities hub, out of universe note - The Backrooms Wiki (wikidot) Word of God
    • The Backrooms are and always will be a mystery at large, despite the amount of documentation and research the wiki has. However, with the increasing numbers of theories, speculations eventually form into concrete beliefs. Each individual has their own interpretation of the Backrooms, thus determining what is canon, according to their opinion.Canon List - Backrooms Wiki (Fandom) Word of God
    • The site does not operate by a singular canonical interpretation of The Backrooms, rather, people are encouraged to come up with their own takes on what The Backrooms is. This means that pages are bound to clash with each other due to a multitude of reasons.FAQ - The Backrooms Wiki (wikidot) Word of God

Unresolved 2no settled answer

  • What the Lifeform is in Parsons' continuity is never pinned down. Its true nature is described as a mystery, and the fan documentation of the videos can only say the creature presumably comes from nests made of its own tendrils, and that theories suggest the Growth overtakes any dead organism in the Backrooms.▰▰▰▱▱ likely4 points
    Supports
  • Whether Hounds were ever human has no shared answer. The Fandom wiki gives its Hounds hominid origins and says they share most biological traits with humans because the transformation leaves a large portion of their DNA intact, and it names its Facelings Homo Corruptum, while the wikidot wiki says of the same Hounds that their origin cannot be determined at this time.▰▰▰▱▱ roughly even chance1 against4 points
    Supports
    Against

Spotted an error, or have a source to add? (tell us which claim). Missing a topic? .

backroomsentitiescreepypastakane pixelswiki canonhoundssmilers

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