Richard Tyler Blevins (born June 5, 1991), better known as Ninja, is an American online streamer, YouTuber and professional gamer.
Blevins gained the notice of mainstream media in March 2018 when he played Fortnite together with Drake, Travis Scott and JuJu Smith-Schuster on stream, breaking a peak viewer count record on Twitch.
[12] Later that month, he set the record for the largest concurrent audience on an individual stream (outside of tournament events), 635,000, while playing Fortnite with Drake, Travis Scott, and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
In December 2018, Blevins estimated he had made close to US$10 million in 2018, while Epic Games reported they had earned over US$3 billion in revenue in the year, primarily due to Fortnite.
[29] On September 1, 2022, exactly two years after re-signing to Twitch, Blevins changed his name on his social media profiles, such as his Twitter[30] and YouTube,[31] to "User Not Found" with background graphics stating "Time Out".
[32] On September 8, 2022, Blevins announced his return to streaming, stating that he would simulcast his content across multiple platforms, including Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
[35] In September 2018, Blevins became the first professional esports player to be featured on the cover of ESPN The Magazine, marking a breakthrough into mainstream sports fame.
[41] Blevins appeared briefly during the NFL's "The 100-Year Game" ad alongside numerous several professional football players that aired during Super Bowl LIII in 2019.
This boosted interest in the haircut significantly, with Google Trends reporting searches for the term "Low Taper Fade" reached an all time high following the moment.
[48][49][50] While online sources have reported the craze to have reached its peak in mid January of 2024, its fall off sparked a new genre of content largely focusing on the meme's supposed decline.
[51][52] In a fundraising charity stream held in February 2018, Blevins raised over $110,000 to be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
[54] Later in April, he participated in the #Clips4Kids charity event with fellow streamers DrLupo and TimTheTatman that raised over $340,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
[56] In 2024, Blevins and his older brother Jonathan raised $93,000 for cancer research, partnering with the University of Michigan and streaming from their football stadium.
That same month, Blevins asked his moderators to ban users who used the word on his Twitch stream, as it was being overused in the chat to set up the Ligma joke.
[63] He received mixed reactions; some said that he should set an example and not make it more difficult for female streamers to rise to prominence, while others supported his stance, claiming that he should be allowed to do what he wants to protect his marriage.
[64][65] In response to his critics, Blevins has since reaffirmed his support for gender equality and restated his commitment to his marriage, also mentioning some prominent female streamers by name.
[66] He noted that women are welcome to play with him in a group or at events as he claims such situations allow him to "control the narrative more, without stupid drama and rumors flooding into our lives.