Ross O'Donovan

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Ross O'Donovan
Ross O'Donovan 2015.png
O'Donovan in 2015
Personal information
BornRoss Kenry O'Donovan
(1987-06-17) 17 June 1987 (age 36)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Occupation
  • Animator
  • cartoonist
  • voice actor
  • Internet personality
Partner(s)Giwi (2019–present)
Spouse(s)
Holly Conrad
​
​
(m. 2012; div. 2018)​
YouTube information
Also known asRubberNinja
Channel
Years active2004–present
Genre
Subscribers1.6 million (combined)
  • 1.07 million (RubberRoss)[1]
  • 588 thousand (RubberNinja)[2][5]
Total views114.7 million (combined)
  • 90.9 million (RubberRoss)[3]
  • 23.8 million (RubberNinja)[4][5]
Associated acts
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg 100,000 subscribers 2013
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg 1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: 25 October 2022

Ross Kenry O'Donovan (born 17 June 1987), also known as RubberNinja and RubberRoss, is an Australian animator, voice actor, and Internet personality. He is known for his solo work as a Twitch streamer, as well as his YouTube and Newgrounds cartoons and animations. He co-hosted the internet show Steam Train, a spin-off of YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps.[6]

Early life

O'Donovan was born on 17 June 1987 in Perth, Western Australia to Irish Catholic parents. His sister Rebecca is a journalist in Australia, and is married to Australian cricketer Shaun Marsh.[citation needed]

O'Donovan attended Corpus Christi College.[7] After graduating from college, he studied and instructed animation at the Film and Television Institute of Western Australia in Fremantle.[8]

Career

O'Donovan began his career by posting animated shorts to Newgrounds under the name "RubberNinja". He would later establish a YouTube channel and begin uploading content there. His best known work was the series Gamer Tonight, which was produced for the ABC2 video game-based program Good Game.[9] The series featured a fictitious talk show whose host, voiced by frequent-collaborator Arin Hanson, would interview various types of gamers.[10]

He also created the show Gameoverse, which featured Hanson in every speaking role. Gameoverse has since been put on hiatus, though O'Donovan has confirmed the series will return.[11]

In August 2014, O'Donovan uploaded a video expressing his concerns with animation videos on YouTube. Discussing the changes made to YouTube's algorithms, he stated that the website was now accommodating live-action videos over animated videos due to the algorithm's emphasis on retention time and upload frequencies which would impede animation channels.[12]

Game Grumps

O'Donovan (right) with fellow Game Grump members Suzy Berhow (left), Arin Hanson (bottom center), and Barry Kramer (top center) in 2015

In 2013, after Jon Jafari's departure from the YouTube Let's Play series Game Grumps, co-host Arin Hanson launched a second show on the Game Grumps platform. Originally conceptualized by O'Donovan,[13] the show Steam Train had O'Donovan joined by Ninja Sex Party vocalist Dan Avidan, where both would play PC games (the title referencing online retailer Steam).[14][15] Later episodes of the series would see O'Donovan paired with other members of the Game Grumps channel and other content creators.[citation needed]

In June 2015, O'Donovan launched a 5-episode miniseries on the Game Grumps channel called Guild Grumps. O'Donovan mentored 4 members of the Game Grumps crew in a 5-day race to advance from Level 90 to Level 100 in the Warlords of Draenor expansion of World of Warcraft.[16]

After Game Grumps

In 2020, O'Donovan left Game Grumps while keeping a friendly relationship with Hanson and Avidan to prioritize making his own content.[17][18] He has returned on multiple occasions as a guest and made a brief cameo in a video commemorating the series' 10th anniversary.[19] His new YouTube channel, RubberRoss, reached over 1 million subscribers in 2022.[17]

In August 2020, O'Donovan was the target of a controversial advertising campaign by Burger King and the ad agency Ogilvy. The companies used a feature on Twitch that allows viewers to donate small amounts of money in order to broadcast unsolicited advertisements. Clips from these streams were later used in a video advertisement.[20] O'Donovan made a series of tweets criticizing the campaign, calling the practice "scummy as hell".[21] The tweets, as well as additional statements from O'Donovan, were used in articles by BBC, Kotaku, and PC Gamer while reporting on the issue.[22][23][24]

Personal life

On 29 September 2012, O'Donovan married Holly Conrad, a cosplayer, propmaker, and special effects artist who was featured in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope and Heroes of Cosplay.[25][26] On 19 September 2018, Conrad and O'Donovan announced on their respective Twitter pages that they would be splitting up amicably, citing Conrad's decision to move to Seattle.[27][28]

On 9 April 2021, O’Donovan announced on Twitter that his mother had died due to lung cancer.[29]

Philanthropy

During production of the series Guild Grumps, each participant had $1,000 to donate to a charity of their choice if they reached the goal. If they did not, their donation would be split between those who won. In the end, O'Donovan was the sole winner and, combined with the participants' distributed funds, donated $5,000 to cancer research.[citation needed]

As of 2015, O'Donovan and Game Grumps have raised over $70,000 by hosting charity livestreams on Twitch.[30]

Filmography

Web series

Year Title Role Notes
2009 There Will Be Brawl Excitebike Hooligan Episode: "Pandora's Box"
2012–2013 PeanutButterGamer's Hardcore Series Himself 7 episodes
2013–2021 Game Grumps Himself (voice) Co-host of Steam Train
2015 Did You Know Gaming? Episode: "Super Mario Maker"
JonTron's StarCade Ross Leader 2 episodes
2015–2016 Red vs. Blue Ross/Deuce (voice) 2 episodes
2020 Meta Runner Announcer Episode: "One Shot"
2021 Scott the Woz Himself Episode: Borderline Forever

Video games

Year Title Role
2017 Paradigm Double Denim Bridge Troll[31]
Pinstripe Mr. Dicky
2019 River City Girls Shinji[32]
Monster Prom Tate/Leonard
Shantae and the Seven Sirens Bolo[33]
2020 Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp Gerard/Al/Tubular Eddy, the Anti-Gambling Aardvark[34]
TBA Hex Heroes Himself[35]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Notes
2014 "Why I Cry" Ninja Sex Party
"Peppermint Creams"
2015 "Minecraft is for Everyone" Starbomb Lead animator
2016 "6969" Ninja Sex Party
2021 "The Mystic Crystal"

Notes

References

  1. ^ "RubberRoss's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  2. ^ "RubberNinja's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  3. ^ "RubberRoss's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  4. ^ "RubberNinja's YouTube Stats". Social Blade. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b "About RubberNinja". YouTube.
  6. ^ Welcome to Steam Train!
  7. ^ O'Donovan, Ross (12 August 2014). "@takingbackbeccy yeah I believe it was applecross. I didn't go there though, I was a Corpus Christi boy myself".
  8. ^ "FTI 2008 Annual Report" (PDF). 6 April 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2014.
  9. ^ "Newgrounds - Gamer Tonight".
  10. ^ "Good Game - Gamer Tonight". ABC. 7 April 2008.
  11. ^ "Gameoverse Reboot Confirmed".
  12. ^ Amidi, Amid (2 August 2014). "Is YouTube Making It Harder for Animators To Make Money?". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
  13. ^ "A Personal Message From Ross". reddit. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  14. ^ Welcome to Steam Train!, retrieved 17 September 2022
  15. ^ "Fans Are Upset Over YouTube Duo 'Game Grumps' Break-Up". Kotaku. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  16. ^ "Guild Grumps Trailer". YouTube. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  17. ^ a b "2 years ago I left Game Grumps to go do my own thing..." Twitter. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  18. ^ Dan said I'm doing a good job :), retrieved 19 July 2022
  19. ^ "Today is the 10 year anniversary of Game Grumps. I was asked to make a cameo on their video today..." Twitter. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  20. ^ Ogilvy - Title: The King of Stream Client: Burger King... | By Ogilvy | Title: The King of Stream Client: Burger King Team: DAVID Madrid Burger King turned Twitch's donation feature into a marketing campaign. Check out more..., retrieved 19 July 2022
  21. ^ "Hey @BurgerKing you guys took out our talk, so I put it back in for you. Also this marketing is scummy as hell, don't ever do it again". Twitter. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  22. ^ "Streamers Furious After Ad Company Uses Twitch Donations To Advertise Burger King". Kotaku. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  23. ^ Andy Chalk published (20 August 2020). "Burger King takes heat for using Twitch donation readouts to run advertisements". PC Gamer. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Twitch: The streamers furious at Burger King". BBC News. 22 August 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  25. ^ Cassandra. "Holly + Ross' Space and Time Wedding - When Geeks Wed". When Geeks Wed. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  26. ^ "Ross O'Donovan". IMDb.
  27. ^ "Ross O'Donovan en Twitter: "Sometimes life drags you in separate directions, today that is the case. @HollyConrad and I have decided to split. It wasn't an easy decision. She wanted to live in a state with trees, but I'm tethered to a state with smog. Still good friends and there's nothing but love! ✌️…"". 19 September 2018. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  28. ^ Flowers, Shaunee (20 September 2018). "Game Grumps' Ross O'Donovan and wife Holly Conrad split up". Monsters and Critics. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  29. ^ O’Donovan, Ross (8 April 2021). "This morning my mother passed peacefully surrounded by family. It gave me great pain not being able to be there due to Covid. Today I took one of her paintings and my Dad's song for her to make this. RIP Annette O'Donovan. I love you so much".
  30. ^ "Guild Grumps: Episode 5". YouTube. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  31. ^ Jacob Janerka [@JacobJanerka] (17 March 2017). "Super stoked to announce that @RubberNinja from @GameGrumps has a bit part in Paradigm voicing Double Denim Bridge Troll. #gamedev" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 March 2017 – via Twitter.
  32. ^ O'Donovan, Ross (5 September 2019). "I did the voice of Shinji in @WayForward's new game #RiverCityGirls!". @RubberNinja. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  33. ^ O'Donovan, Ross (6 June 2019). "I didn't get to post about this on release day, as it didn't feel like a good time to do so. But I gave voice to Bolo in Shantae and the Seven Sirens! I've done small voices for Wayforward before, but I was super honored they asked me to do him for the new game and it's cutscenes". @RubberNinja. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  34. ^ "Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp".
  35. ^ Long, Shawn (23 April 2014). "Hex Heroes Attains Kickstarter Goal". Nintendo Enthusiast. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved 16 June 2016.

External links

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