Shia LaBeouf

***“I won’t say it again. Infohazard protocols are in effect.”***

***WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS.***

**Shia LaBeouf** is a hazardous memetic entity haunting the world of Aerb. He has a sixty percent chance of appearing within an hour whenever anyone transmits his name to another mind in any decipherable fashion. Chanting his name thrice guarantees his arrival. Once summoned, he begins to kill indiscriminately, gaining arbitrary amounts and kinds of powers to do so. He will kill not only those who transmitted and learned the name, but all those involved in his summoning. There are two known safe ways to learn the name: a writing or recording left by a dead person who learned the name from other dead people; or from sentient entads, who can speak it with no consequence. The only known weakness of the Cannibal is that putting a paper bag over his head immobilizes him until it is removed.

> *“I want to start this right. I stand in front of the mirror, I close my eyes. I say it slowly, getting faster each time.* Shia LaBeouf, *Shia LaBeouf,* **Shia LaBeouf!** *Does anything happen?”
> “You open your eyes?”
> “I do.”
> “He’s standing behind you, fully naked, his beard drenched in blood.”*
>
>
> —**Arthur** and **Juniper**, Chapter 107: "Name of the Beast"

## Biography

The concept of Shia LaBeouf as a monstrous cannibal originated in "Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf", a song by Rob Cantor. The concept was adapted into a rules-light Tabletop Roleplaying system under the same name.

Juniper, Arthur, Reimer, Tiff and Craig played using the tabletop system two or three times. The idea that one could "summon" Shia originated during one game, when Arthur chanted the cannibal's name three times.

On Aerb, Juniper spoke the name unaware of the consequences, but he was quickly stopped by Amaryllis before he could say it again, and the cannibal didn't manifest. Amaryllis explained the monster's mechanics and capabilities, and Juniper got a quest to stop the dream-skewered from speaking his name. Name of the Beast

Bethel later safely said the name in front of Raven to scare Juniper, once again failing to summon him. An Open Book

Hyacinth invoked the cannibal's name as revenge and a last resort to not allow Amaryllis and Juniper to take the kingdom, after which it started killing indiscriminately. Coda I

The cannibal was eventually captured by Junniper and handed over to Uniquities to be contained. Coda II.

## References

1. ↑ “If you invoke it, a man shows up,” said Amaryllis. “Not all the time. Sixty percent, maybe.” She let out a shaky breath. “If you invoke it three times, you guarantee his arrival.”

“And then?” asked Grak, his words as carefully measured as mine had been.

“He starts killing,” said Amaryllis. “Sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds. It depends on who’s around. He’s arbitrarily strong. He moves as fast as he needs to. Anything you put in front of him, he’ll grow a new power to tear down or go around.” She let out a breath. “I think if he were coming, he would have. We can stand down.”

She sat in her chair and slumped against it. I returned to my seat as well, still in my armor and not feeling any relief. “To be clear,” I said slowly. “It was the name after --”

“No,” said Amaryllis. “Don’t repeat anything. I’ll do it. You said ‘actual’ then ‘cannibal’ and then the name. Don’t speak it, don’t spell it, don’t write it, don’t try putting it in code, don’t knowingly transmit it to anyone else, in whole or in part, through any medium or any level of cryptography.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 107: "Name of the Beast"
2. ↑ “Your suicidal agent would die,” said Amaryllis. “Any means of protecting them or bringing them back would fail. Then he would go after whoever told the agent the word, and whoever gave the order, even if they didn’t know the word. Five of my cousins died in that particular experiment.
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 107: "Name of the Beast"
3. ↑ “I heard it from a phonograph playing in the middle of nowhere on a loop, recorded by a dead man who had heard it from others who were also dead,” said Amaryllis. “That’s the only safe way to learn it.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 107: "Name of the Beast"
4. ↑ “It’s fine,” said Bethel. “I can say it. I tested it while you were gone at Speculation and Scrutiny. It stands to reason that I wouldn’t be able to trigger it, given that I’m not a person.” She smiled at me and leaned in. “It was very nice to see you so scared.”
—*Worth the Candle* Chapter 128: "An Open Book"