Overview

Russian Homunculus Videos or How to Make a Homunculus is a series of viral videos by Russian YouTuber Как Сделать… (How to Make…) in which he shows viewers how to make homunculi, which are said to be small, fully formed human beings created using alchemy and first popularized in sixteenth-century folklore. The first video in the series, in which the YouTuber injects an egg with human semen and cracks it open to reveal a small creature, was posted in late 2015 and went viral, inspiring the YouTuber to create 20 more videos in which he experiments with homunculi. The videos gained further viral spread over the following years, resulting in memes, debunking videos and other references online. In June 2024, the homunculus videos were notably referenced in an episode of Smiling Friends, increasing interest in them. The videos are all fictional and there is no evidence to suggest that it's possible to make a real homunculus.

History

On November 16th, 2015, Russian YouTuber^[1] Как Сделать…, which translates to "How to Make…," posted a video titled "How to make a homunculus (Homunculus #1)." The video is filmed in the style of a tutorial on how to create a homunculus. A homunculus is essentially a small, fully formed human being that was said to be possible to create through alchemy. Homunculi were purportedly able to give the creator specific supernatural powers. The idea was popularized in the 16th century in the writings of Paracelsus and spread through folklore.^[2]

In the video, the YouTuber purportedly mixes semen with an egg to create a homunculus. He first makes a small hole in the egg, then injects the semen into the yolk of the egg before sealing the egg in a plastic container to avoid having microorganisms interrupt its development. He then wraps the container in a cloth and puts it in a dark place for 10 days. He then cuts to 10 days later, pulling the homunculus from the container, saying it's in "bad shape" but is alive, comparing it to a jellyfish and ultimately marking the experiment as failed. The video gained over 22 million views in nine years (shown below).

The video was followed up by at least 20 other homunculus videos between 2015 and January 2018. On March 1st, 2016, the YouTuber^[3] uploaded his second homunculus video. In this video, which gained over 8 million views in eight years, the homunculus moves slightly while he holds it with tweezers, but then spits something at him and he crushes it with a book in a panic (shown below, left).

On April 10th, the YouTuber^[4] uploaded a third part, in which he cracks open several eggs to check for homunculi, concluding that store-bought eggs are not suitable for the experiments, garnering over 2.4 million views in eight years (shown below, right).

In total, including the previously shown three videos, Как Сделать… posted 22 videos about his experiments creating homunculi, which have been collected in a playlist on YouTube.^[5] The final video was uploaded to YouTube^[6] on January 20th, 2018, and shows the YouTuber experimenting on a larger, more fully-formed homunculus, garnering over 2.2 million views in six years (shown below).

Purported Death

The man purported to be behind the channel, a Russian theatre actor named Rinat Almuhametov, who also goes by Korney Aleev, died sometime after the 21st homunculus video, which is the last video on his channel.^[7] Many of the comments under the final video are from viewers expressing their condolences for his loss. Purportedly, Almuhametov's daughter and several others who knew him have confirmed his death.

On January 26th, 2018, six days after his final upload, the TV-IN broadcasting company YouTube^[8] channel uploaded a report on the actor's death (shown below). The report claims he died of a thromboembolism, which is essentially when a blood clot disconnects from its origin site and blocks a blood vessel.

Online Presence

The homunculus videos gained viral spread throughout the late 2010s and the early 2020s, inspiring memes, video essays and debunking videos and other content referencing them. On May 27th, 2016, YouTubers^[9][10] billschannel and ScarAnrew posted two videos on the topic. The former video debunks the homunculus videos and the latter shows how to fake a homunculus video, garnering over 3.5 million views and 200,000 views respectively in eight years (shown below, left and right).

On April 22nd, 2017, Tumblr^[11] user arthriticjester posted a screenshot of the thumbnail for the third homunculus video, with Tumblr user coke-hoe-nyt-crab adding to it, "me every friday night," garnering over 246,000 notes in seven years. The post, with additional comments, was screenshotted and posted to /r/tumblr^[12] on December 21st, garnering over 650 upvotes in the same span of time (shown below).

Reference In Smiling Friends

On June 2nd, 2024, Smiling Friends season two episode five aired on Adult Swim, titled "Brother's Egg." The episode features a mad scientist doing an experiment with eggs. At one point, a small creature hatches from an egg and he crushes it with a book. This is a reference to the second homunculus video (screenshots from the scene shown below).

The scene went viral on X over the following days, with many claiming it was a reference to the homunculus video. Notably, the homunculus video was also discussed in an OneyPlays video featuring Zach Hadel, the creator of Smiling Friends, in 2018.^[13]

On June 2nd, 2024, X^[14] user @SpicySunsArt posted artwork of a homunculus drawn in the Smiling Friends style, garnering over 19,000 likes in two days (shown below).

Search Interest

External References