About

KingCobraJFS, also known as King Cobra or Josh Saunders, was a goth YouTuber known for his love of heavy metal and snakes. Saunders was born in Wyoming in 1991. He began posting on YouTube when he was 19 years old on the channel GothicKingCobra52 in 2010. He gained a cult following in the 2010s and 2020s, which spread on 4chan, Reddit and Facebook, among other sites. He was widely considered an internet lolcow by his fanbase. KingCobraJFS passed away in August 2025 at the age of 34, which was announced by his father, Clint Saunders, in a video.

Background

Joshua Faye Saunders (Josh), known as KingCobraJFS, was born on March 26th, 1991, in Casper, Wyoming, according to a documentary about him shared by YouTuber^[1] RKH Media in February 2025.

According to the documentary, which pulled from KingCobraJFS's monologues across his many YouTube videos, Saunders was born with underdeveloped lungs and was held in an incubator after birth. His parents were barely out of their teens and later got divorced when Saunders was young.^[1]

In his teenage years, Saunders became infatuated with heavy metal music and snakes. His YouTube moniker, KingCobraJFS, was akin to his love for snakes.^[1]

Online History

Josh Saunders joined YouTube at the age of 19 on June 13th, 2010, when he shared a video called "Guitar insite intro" on his original YouTube channel, GothicKingCobra52, according to YouTuber^[1] RKH Media.

The "Guitar insite intro" was reuploaded by YouTuber^[2] KingCobraJFS Archive on January 31st, 2018. All of GothicKingCobra52's original videos on the channel were also added to the Internet Archive. ^[3]

On February 23rd, 2014, YouTuber^[4] trappped shared a video in which he met with KingCobra and one of his friends in Wyoming, gaining over 481,900 views in 11 years.

The video was considered the first documentary about KingCobra, as expressed in a post shared in KingCobra's original, since-deleted subreddit.^[5]

Saunders began posting on a new YouTube^[6] channel, KingCobraJFS, on February 25th, 2017, with a video titled "Video update," which received over 19,000 views in eight years.

His most-watched video on the channel was posted to YouTube^[7] on March 8th, 2017, titled "Magic ciggerette trick," gaining over 219,700 views in eight years (shown below).

Saunders also kept an active presence on Facebook^[9] that started on February 11th, 2023.

Online Presence

KingCobraJFS gained a cult following on sites like 4chan early in his internet career. For instance, on January 13th, 2013, a 4chan user posted about Saunders to the /tv/ ^[13] board, receiving numerous replies.

Multiple posts about Saunders were shared on /tv/^[14][15] in the following years.

A dedicated subreddit for KingCobraJFS, /r/KingCobraJFS00,^[16] was made in April 2024. As of late August 2025, the sub accumulated over 7,100 members.

By August 2025, a Facebook^[17] group called KingCobraJFS Autistic Freakout August Regard Posting 2 was active wth over 9,600 members.

During the same timeframe, KingCobra was discussed on TikTok in viral videos. For instance, on August 8th, 2023, TikToker^[18] @kingcobrajfs34 posted a video of one of Saunders' "best lines," gaining over 200,400 likes in two years (shown below).

Death

On August 22nd, 2025, multiple YouTubers^[10][11] reposted a video, purportedly shared on Josh Saunders' Facebook page, that showed his father, Clint Saunders, announcing the death of his son.

The claim was confirmed by an official press release from the Natrona County Coroner's Office in Casper, Wyoming. The document stated that Saunders passed away on August 21st. A cause of death was not immediately announced.^[20]

The video was also posted by X^[8] user @SlackerBluePod on August 22nd, gaining over 2,200 likes in a few hours.

Also on August 22nd, Facebook^[19] user Jason Tedder shared a Death and the Dog meme to the KingCobraJFS Autistic Freakout August Regard Posting 2 group, which showed KingCobraJFS asking Ozzy Osbourne, "Was I a good wizard?" The post gained over 380 reactions in a few hours.

Following

By August 22nd, 2025, KingCobraJFS had amassed over 117,000 subscribers on his YouTube^[12] channel.

Search Interest

External References