Overview

SmallCreek Skull Chef and Skull Chef ASMR are two TikTok creators, @smallcreek_skullchefog and @skullchefasmr, known for their ASMR TikTok LIVE streams where a skeleton puppet stirs a cauldron full of wooden beads in water known as "wood soup" while interacting with the chat. The streams were started by @smallcreek_skullchefog in May 2023 and became increasingly popular throughout the years, inspiring TikToker @skullchefasmr to host similar lives, which sometimes feature an elf girl meant to be Skull Chef's girlfriend. As the accounts became increasingly popular, they inspired cosplay, fan art and other fan creations referencing their live streams. Skull Chef ASMR has been accused of ripping off SmallCreek by some viewers and SmallCreek themselves.

History

SmallCreek began hosting TikTok LIVE streams with an expressive skeleton hand puppet, sold at PuppetShops.com,^[1] as early as May 21st, 2023, when the official SmallCreek fan page @fanssmallcreekofficial posted an image to TikTok^[2] of the puppet taken from a live, marking the first known upload showcasing the puppet. The earliest video of Skull Chef was uploaded by TikToker @smallcreek_skullchefog on May 24th 2023, consisting a clip from a Skull Chef live stream, garnering over 499,000 views in six months (shown below).

During the live streams, SmallCreek often has the Skull Chef stirring a cauldron full of wooden beads with a spoon.

SmallCreek continued to host live streams featuring the Skull Chef over the following months, garnering over 970,000 followers in six months. They also continued to post stream highlights to the page, with some gaining millions of views (popular examples shown below, left and right).

SkullChefASMR

On October 11th, 2023, TikToker^[3] @SkullChefASMR posted their first video featuring an identical skeleton puppet to SmallCreek's, announcing that they will be going live every day, garnering over 219,000 views in a month (shown below).

Skull Chef ASMR continued to host lives and post stream highlights over the following month, gaining over 700,000 followers by the end of November 2023. Some of their lives include a second puppet, an elf lady meant to be Skull Chef's girlfriend (examples shown below).

Online Presence

Copycat Controversy

As @SkullChefASMR became increasingly popular throughout October and November 2023, some viewers began calling the creator out for ripping off SmallCreek. In November 2023, SmallCreek began posting videos alluding to being ripped off by Skull Chef ASMR. In a November 19th, 2023 TikTok^[4] upload, the TikToker commented under a user asking if they're aware of Skull Chef ASMR, "Hello, I know friend, people who don't know how to have their own idea… 💙💙💙" (shown below).

On November 23rd, SmallCreek posted a video to TikTok^[5] featuring their Skull Chef puppet that discusses Skull Chef ASMR ripping them off, garnering over 37,000 views in four days (shown below). In the video, he discusses his frustrations over viewers supporting Skull Chef ASMR for ripping him off and criticizing the creator themself, although not naming them, for copying his work, saying, "art deserves respect."

Fan Content

The popularity of SmallCreek and Skull Chef ASMR inspired fan content, including appreciation posts, cosplay and fan art, in November 2023. On November 22nd, 2023, X^[6] user @PuppetDaily posted images of Skull Chef as the "puppet of the day," garnering over 9,900 likes in five days. On the same day, TikToker^[7] @helen_christie posted a video cosplaying as Skull Chef ASMR and his girlfriend, garnering over 3.6 million views in the same span of time (shown below, left). On November 23rd, TikToker^[8] @ceekayye posted a similar video, garnering over 1.7 million views in four days (shown below, right).

Fan Art Examples

Search Interest

External References