The Asylum

The Asylum is an internet web series created by DeadSkullable. It initially started as part of the 'Ghost is Hidden Series' which was a collection of animated videos showcasing DeadSkullables self-insert character dealing with various trolls within the Villain Defeats community.
The plot of The Asylum revolves around the creators persona, DeadSkullable, who is a super-powered demon that works with an organisation called EAGLES to chase down an escaped prisoner named Stefan Loncar, a previous enemy of DeadSkullable. They track him down to an abandoned criminal psychiatric hospital named BellStone Asylum and end up discovering a large-scale cult operation with Stefan Loncar only being a small part of it. DeadSkullable is left alone to fight against this cult alongside a small group of individuals named The Skull Crew.
The series is also semi-interactive, with the end of each episode providing the audience with a choice that the main character can make which spins the story in a new direction, watchers vote through a YouTube poll that is posted shortly after the choice is presented in the episode. Some prominent members of the community have gotten involved even further and managed to get their own OCs featured as characters in the series. Some members have even contributed to the greater story and helped the creator with various aspects.
== History ==
As mentioned, The Asylum initially started off as an extension of the Ghost is Hidden animations, originally intending to be directly connected and follow on after the last episode. It was intended to be a full on comedy series that didn't take it's plot seriously and had DeadSkullable find himself in a scenario with cartoonishly evil villains trying to kill him. This can be seen in the previews which were made prior to the release of the first episode of The Asylum; 'The Madness Begins'.
After the first episode of The Asylum was released however, the story seemed to be taken a lot more seriously that it was previously shown. Although elements of comedy still find their way in, it has taken a different approach to its story by having serious stakes with plenty of mystery involved. It should also be worth noting the series' that came before The Asylum which have inspired the greater universe.
The main piece of work created by DeadSkullable and the Villain Defeats community before this was the Trailerverse, a series of fake trailers for superhero movies featuring members of the community as superhero and supervillain characters. It took existing footage from blockbuster movies and stitched them together to make the trailers which had their own unique lore and stories within them. Another series that never saw the light of day was 'DeadSkullable: Interactive Games' which may have served as a precursor to The Asylum as it features Samuel Attias in the profile picture of the channel it was created for.
=== Previews ===
==== Sonic Says ====
This clip centres around SonicPhantom47 who we first see looking at his collection of Selena Gomez posters, stating that it is finally complete. He then receives a phone call from DeadSkullable who says he received an email from a strange asylum telling him that there is a loose monster that is dressed as Cookie Monster, SonicPhantom asks if he's referring to the actual puppet and DeadSkullable tells him no, that it's just a guy dressed up as the cookie monster. DeadSkullable asks SonicPhantom what he should do and SonicPhantom advises him that he should give him some cookies and a picture of Zoey so he can do 'that thing'. DeadSkullable goes silent before saying that he now wonders what him and Marian do in bed.
==== Door to Madness ====
DeadSkullable knocks on a wooden door and waits for a moment before sighing to himself and knocking again, telling the person on the other end to open the door, calling them an 'idiotic wanker'. We then see a security camera recording DeadSkullable and a shadowy figure with yellow eyes (Possibly an early version of Gumdrop) watching from a security room. They say that DeadSkullable received their message and that he should probably go down and open the door for him, or that he could open the door automatically so that he can go in and see what they have in the asylum. He then mumbles to himself and mentions something about a curse before shrugging it off and asking, 'who cares about it?' He then proceeds to speak a bunch of incomprehensible gibberish. 
==== DeadSkullable meets Stefan Loncar ====
This is a preview of a separate animation which acts as a mini prequel to the first episode. The full animation was unfortunately blocked for copyright and is now no longer available to watch, leaving this as the only part that we can now see. It shows Stefan in his cell speaking to DeadSkullable in darkness.
== Plot summary ==
The series starts with the main antagonist, Mohel Skinberg, rising from the dead and stating how he will create a new world order. We then see Fox Ash walking through EAGLES prison where he discovers that Stefan has been broken free and various security have been killed. So he meets with DeadSkullable to inform him of Stefans escape and give him a slip of paper left behind which might hold a clue. DeadSkullable does some digging and discovers that Stefan is likely hiding at BellStone Asylum. So DeadSkullable goes over with Fox, who decides not to enter the building on account of being scared of it. 
As DeadSkullable searches around, he is attacked by Samuel Attias and locked away in a cell with Jade and Chef Joseph, who then all escape through a tunnel in the wall dug by Joseph. They are then ambushed by Gumdrop, who sends his brother Gorigula to try and kill DeadSkullable. However, Gorigula ends up getting killed by Joseph. Gumdrop then holds Jade at gunpoint and threatens to kill her, however he is shot in the ankle by Henur who comes informing them that Jade knows more about the asylum than anyone else and that they need to know what she knows. Joseph interprets this as a threat and the two do battle with each other. Joseph wins the fight and almost kills Henur before intervention from Jade.
They find that Henur is not a threat and he tells them that he is part of a group which aims to stop the cult operation in BellStone Asylum. He leads them outside where a portal opens up and they are teleported to a train. They meet the rest of the other members of the Skull Crew, Hal Harry, a fun-loving furry creature, Duro, a telepathic creature and Tanner, a tough brute creature. They take him to meet their leader, Reuben, who reveals BellStone Asylums history and asks for DeadSkullables help in taking down the cult operation taking place within.
== Interactivity ==
Go over the interactive elements of the series and the way they have affected the story
== Trivia ==
* The new logo for the series was created by Fargo.
* Each thumbnail was created by That Guy, although before they were the way they are now, each thumbnail was almost exactly the same as the first episode, only with different text.
*The series was started in 2019, meaning that the entire storyline takes place within the year 2019 despite many years having passed in real life at this point.
Category:Series