ORLANDO, Fla. – Years ago, the University of Central Florida achieved a small bout of internet celebrity after reports of a rodent-based vigilante at the campus spread online.
According to the Orlando Weekly, this so-called hero — dubbed “Ratman” — was “an adult man wearing a makeshift rat mask and tail, silently walking around campus at night.”
Word about his exploits went viral after a YouTube video in February 2018 showed Ratman in action, reportedly fighting off a “would-be bike thief.”
The university’s Reddit page was flooded with posts from UCF students who wanted to know more about the figure or make tongue-in-cheek jokes about the situation.
Even the UCF Police Department got involved, issuing a post on Twitter a month later asking the Ratman for help with finding a vandal at the campus’ Libra Garage.
Police told News 6 that around that time, a couple of the department’s officers had met with him to present an informal certificate of appreciation.
But those officers have since left the agency, and little information is known about Ratman’s identity, the department explained.
That is until last year, when documentarian James Berry published a documentary about the origins of the Ratman, titled “Have You Seen The Ratman?”
On Wednesday, News 6 spoke with Berry and the creator of the Ratman: Cameron Cruce.
Cruce explained that he invented the character while he was putting together a “mockumentary” for a film class at UCF.
“I had the idea to make a superhero in real life who was dressed as a rat,” Cruce said. “So the Ratman started patrolling the UCF campus late at night and helping citizens, and we filmed it all.”
Cruce then created an outfit for the character, made up of a tail (a weapon he could use to “whip” his enemies, as Cruce explains), a bandana, a gasmask, a utility belt, and reflective material to make his eyes “glow red.”
Then, Cruce started a YouTube channel dedicated to documenting the Ratman story. As of now, the channel features only a handful of Ratman “sightings” that Cruce put together.
To start with, Cruce filmed his friend — dressed in the soon-to-be iconic Ratman outfit — warding off a supposed bike thief at the campus.
“We had someone go over and pretend to steal the bike, and then we had the Ratman save the day by beating up the bike thief and running away,” Cruce told News 6. “And that video was posted on Snapchat and other social media platforms, but it wasn’t until later when it became viral.”
The video didn’t take off at first. Cruce said the YouTube channel saw few views — if any — at the time.
Afterward, Cruce put up posters of the Ratman all over the campus, and he got a much different response.
“Me and my friends put those posters up around campus, and the next day, the Ratman started blowing up,” Cruce says in the documentary.
Aside from the bike thief video, Cruce said there were other exploits filmed for his project, including Ratman wandering the campus at night, handing out water bottles to thirsty students, or picking up litter on campus grounds.
As a result of the Ratman’s newfound popularity, some students reportedly began to form “rat hunts” to unmask his identity, and imposters popped up online, claiming to be the superhero.
One Reddit post at the time claimed that the Ratman would reveal his identity in front of UCF’s Student Union, drawing out a crowd of students and even two UCF police officers.
That post turned out to be fake, though the man behind the mask was in attendance.
“The Ratman himself was kind of watching from a distance on a bench, probably about 150 feet away and watching to whole thing go down,” Berry said. “Police showed up with a certificate, everybody took pictures together — so that was a really funny moment.”
“The fact that the police on the campus were in on the joke, as well — to the extent that they would show up in person with a written-up certificate to give to the Ratman to kind of play into the gag — I think is just such a hilarious aspect to it,” Berry added. “And really showed just the absurd extent that the whole thing got to, you know?”
Cruce eventually finished his mockumentary project, and the Ratman legend was put to rest to avoid overstaying its welcome.
A few years later, Cruce told the story to Berry, a friend from high school who works in film.
“When he was first telling me the stories, my reaction was just like, ‘Holy (expletive).’” Berry said.
Berry picked up the idea for his documentary, which won an award for Best Florida Short Film at the Gasparilla International Film Fest in Tampa.
“It’s something that I thought was wildly entertaining and hilarious to hear about from Cameron, so why not put it into a really compelling documentary format for other people to enjoy?” Berry explained.
[WATCH BERRY’S DOCUMENTARY “HAVE YOU SEEN THE RATMAN?” BY CLICKING IN THE MEDIA PLAYER BELOW]
But who is the Ratman, really?
News 6 asked Cruce whether he would reveal the hero’s secret identity.
“Well, I do know the name of the Ratman, but I am not going to disclose it. He wants to remain secret,” Cruce said. “You know, like any superhero, his secret identity? It doesn’t matter. It’s the amazing things he does as the superhero.”
To read more weird stories about Central Florida’s history, visit News 6′s Florida Fables page by clicking here.
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