El Rubius facts for kids

Quick facts for kids El Rubius
El Rubius in a 2020 LOLíTO tournament
Personal information
Born	Rubén Doblas Gundersen (1990-02-13) 13 February 1990 (age 35) Mijas, Andalusia, Spain
Nationality	Spanish Norwegian
Occupation	YouTuber streamer actor businessman
Partner(s)	Irina Isasia (2016–present)
Signature
YouTube information
Years active	2006–present
Genre	Gaming comedy vlog Let's play
Subscribers	40.6 million
Total views	7.52 billion
Associated acts	Auronplay Ibai
Twitch information Channel Rubius Followers 15.4 million
Subscriber and view counts updated as of 13 October 2024.

Rubén Doblas Gundersen (born 13 February 1990), known as elrubiusOMG or just El Rubius, is a famous Norwegian-Spanish YouTuber. His channel mainly features gameplay videos and vlogs. He has the most subscribers in Spain. He is also one of the top 50 most subscribed channels in the world.

In 2014, he released a book called El Libro Troll. Between 2015 and 2017, he published three comic books from his Virtual Hero series. These comics later became an anime TV show. A tweet from his official Twitter account in 2016 was once the most retweeted tweet worldwide.

In 2016, Time magazine called him a "next generation leader." They also named him an "online conqueror." In 2018, he set a world record for live viewers during a YouTube broadcast. This was for a Fortnite video game tournament. He is also one of the most popular streamers on Twitch. His Twitch channel is the third-most-followed in the world.

Early Life

Rubén Doblas Gundersen was born on 13 February 1990. His birthplace was Mijas, Andalusia, Spain. His mother, Bente, is Norwegian, and his father is Spanish. He has a younger sister named Liv from his mother's side. He also has two brothers from his father's side.

When he was three, his parents divorced. He and his mother moved to Bergen, Norway. There, his mother started a relationship with another Spanish person named Héctor. Rubius often calls Héctor "The Godfather" in his videos. He later moved back to Madrid, Spain. He went to primary and secondary school there. His first game console was an SNES. He says this console helped him love video games and geek culture. He believes it was key to his success.

When he was 16, his parents separated again. He moved back to Norway to finish school. Then he returned to Spain with his godfather. He worked as an intern and in a supermarket. Later, he studied 3D modeling and animation in Madrid.

His Career Journey

Starting on YouTube (2006–2011)

Rubén Doblas Gundersen started his first YouTube channel in 2006. He named it "elrubius." He explained that this name was a play on words. It combined his name with the fact that he had blonde hair as a child. His very first video, "The audience," was uploaded on 8 December 2006. It was a video montage of the game Grand Theft Auto IV in English.

In 2011, he began uploading videos regularly. These videos were montages of the game Skyrim. Rubius would comment on funny and unusual moments in the game. By January 2012, his videos were getting popular. But he had to change his channel. His old channel could not get a contract with Machinima Network, Inc. This was because of three copyright issues on YouTube.

Growing Popularity (2012–2013)

On 19 December 2011, El Rubius created a new channel. He called it "elrubiusOMG." In January, he started re-uploading his old The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim montages. He also made new montages with comments on games like Battlefield and Happy Wheels. This type of video was very popular then. Rubius was one of the first to make these videos well-known in Spanish. His popularity grew very fast.

On 28 January 2012, he made a video called "MI CARA" (My Face). In this video, he showed his face for the first time on YouTube. Around this time, he started a series called "(X video game) in 1 minute." In these videos, he would humorously summarize a video game. This series became one of the most viral videos in Spain.

On 14 March 2012, he uploaded a funny version of Chayanne's song "Torero." He changed the title and words to "Minero," about the Minecraft game. Since Minecraft was becoming very popular, this video went viral. Today, it is his most-watched video, with almost 100 million views. Rubius's popularity kept growing. On 27 April 2012, his channel reached 100,000 subscribers. He celebrated this by streaming live on YouTube and answering fan questions.

On 22 July 2012, his channel hit 200,000 subscribers. On 29 July, he uploaded a vlog. In it, he met Mangel (Miguel Ángel Rogel) in person for the first time. Mangel was another Spanish YouTuber. They met on internet forums when they were teenagers. Rubius and Mangel announced they would move to Madrid together. They got a contract with a company called BGames. Their job was to make videos for YouTube.

On 16 September 2012, his channel reached 300,000 subscribers. On 7 October, Rubius uploaded a video of himself on Chatroulette. This is a video chat website. Rubius showed funny conversations he had with strangers there. Three days later, he made a video with Willyrex. Willyrex was the biggest YouTuber in Spain until 2012. A week later, Rubius's channel reached 400,000 subscribers. In December, his channel hit 500,000 subscribers. Rubius announced this with a video montage.

Rubius became the most subscribed Spanish channel in November 2012. He passed Willyrex. In January 2013, he started a new series called "Meet The Rubius." This was like the popular Team Fortress 2 video series. In it, Rubius shared stories from his own life. In just two months, on 18 February 2013, his channel reached one million subscribers. He was one of only 10 Spanish-speaking channels to reach this level then. Two months later, his channel hit two million subscribers. In June 2013, Ubisoft Spain invited him to E3. In July, he went to the Gamepolis event in Malaga. He was there with Mangel and other famous YouTubers.

Big Milestones and New Projects (2014–2015)

In 2014, El Rubius released an interactive book. It was full of challenges and called El Libro Troll. This book became the number one bestseller in Spain for eight weeks. It was also a top seller at the Madrid Book Fair in 2014. He also made a small appearance in Torrente 5. This was a Spanish comedy film. On 25 September, he announced that Microsoft asked him to help with the Spanish voice acting for the game Sunset Overdrive.

In February 2015, he became the first Spanish YouTuber to reach 10 million subscribers. In April 2015, he took part in the first Club Media Fest in Argentina. On 2 June, he had an interview on Antena 3. This was for the Spanish show Al rincón de pensar. The interviewer was Risto Mejide. Rubius became emotional during the interview. He said he felt very stressed and anxious because of his fame and being far from his family.

The Spanish publisher Planeta released Rubius's first comic book. It was called El Rubius: Virtual Hero in September 2015. In October 2015, he received the Diamond Play Button. This was at YouTube's 10th Anniversary Party in Madrid. Fellow Spanish YouTuber Vegetta777 also received one. That month, he also attended the second Club Media Fest in Argentina and Chile. In December, he made a video with Spanish singer Edurne. They danced together in the video game Just Dance.

Challenges and New Directions (2016–2018)

In February 2016, El Rubius spoke out against the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. He said they changed an interview he gave to "sell more." He announced he would not give any more interviews to the press. In April, Rubius went to the Club Media Fest in Colombia. There, he performed live electronic music. He also won "Youtuber of the Year" at the Play Awards in Palma de Mallorca. In April 2016, he uploaded a music video called "Pokemon HEYEYEYEAH." It was a funny version of "What's Up?" by 4 Non Blondes.

In May, he joined a YouTube event in New York. He met other famous YouTubers, including PewDiePie. He also held an event in Barcelona for people over 18. There, he performed a music concert. The second part of his Virtual Hero comic series came out in June 2016. It was called Virtual Hero II: La torre imposible.

After reaching over 20 million subscribers in August 2016, Rubius did a big giveaway. He tweeted "Limonada" (Lemonade). As of September 2019, it was the fifth most-shared tweet ever. In September, he uploaded a video criticizing YouTube's new rules against certain content. In 2016, the company HeYou Games released the YouTurbo video game. It was for iOS and Android. Rubius was a playable character in it, along with other YouTubers like Willyrex and TheGrefg.

In December 2016, he helped promote the movie Passengers. He made a video with the stars, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt. Later, Jennifer Lawrence mentioned him and the video on Jimmy Kimmel's TV show. In 2016 and 2017, he was part of Fanta advertising campaigns in Spain. In June, he went to the Club Media Fest in Mexico. In October, he attended the Club Media Fest in Peru.

The third and final part of his Virtual Hero comic series was published in April 2017. It was called Virtual Hero III: La máscara del troll. In October 2017, El Rubius announced an animated TV series. It was based on his comic series and called Virtual Hero. The series was made by Motion Pictures and Jaruyi studio. It was also supported by Movistar+ and Zeppelin TV. The story follows Rubius as he tries to free 100 top gamers from a villain named Trollmask in a virtual world.

Moving to Twitch (2018–Present)

In early March 2018, Rubius released a video called La verdad sobre Rubius (The Truth About Rubius). In it, he used a "twin" named Gundersen to show the difference between his YouTube personality and his real self. His fans liked the video a lot. In March 2018, El Rubius broke a world record. He had over a million live viewers during a Fortnite broadcast. He was streaming with 100 Spanish-speaking streamers. This broke the record held by Ninja. On 25 May, he announced he would take a break from YouTube. He said he felt stressed and anxious when making videos and live shows.

Rubius later reached 30 million subscribers in July. On 3 October 2018, El Rubius uploaded a documentary about his life to his YouTube channel. It was also shown on Movistar+ on 11 October 2018. It was called De Rubén a Rubius: un viaje de un Virtual Hero. On 12 October 2018, Virtual Hero premiered on Movistar+. It was the first anime series released in Spain. It was based on Rubius's comic.

After his break, Rubius announced he would focus more on Twitch. He would use YouTube as a secondary platform. He also started using his old original channel, "elrubius," again. He re-uploaded his Twitch content there. He renamed it "Rubius Z."

In May 2019, he announced that Epic Games asked him to hold a Fortnite competition. Players had to complete his map very fast. The winner would get 3 million euros. In mid-2019, he made a small appearance in the movie Father There Is Only One. In January 2020, he promoted the film Bad Boys for Life. He uploaded a video with the stars, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. In February, he streamed on YouTube. He counted down to the Season 2 premiere of the Virtual Hero anime.

In July, he posted a teaser on Twitter. He was going to make an announcement about rumors of his contract with Amazon. On July 15, he uploaded a YouTube video called "The Final Decision." He copied the style of Ninja's announcement about joining Facebook Gaming. But Rubius announced he was staying with Twitch. Watch Dogs: Legion, a video game by Ubisoft released on 29 October 2020, features El Rubius as a playable character.

In October and November 2020, he was a coach on the Top Gamers Academy. This was a video game talent show on Atresmedia. On 7 November 2020, Rubius uploaded a video to his YouTube channel. He talked about how big his community was and how it affected social media. This was to celebrate reaching 39 million subscribers. Rubius also worked with Sony to announce the new PlayStation 5. He was with other popular Spanish people like Michelle Jenner and Santiago Segura.

In December 2020, Rubius uploaded a video to his main YouTube channel. He announced he would open a Pokémon card box worth $20,000 on his Twitch channel. On 23 December, he did the opening live. The stream reached 350,000 viewers. This was the fifth most-watched Spanish-speaking broadcast. On 2 January, Rubius announced on Twitter that he and Alexby11 created a Rust series called Egoland. It brought together 70 streamers. Their first stream had 1.2 million viewers. It was one of the biggest Twitch events of 2021. This led to many more series with other content creators.

In October 2021, he announced he would be in the movie Uncharted. He posted a photo with actor Tom Holland. For the tenth anniversary of his first YouTube video, Amazon Prime Video announced a documentary. It is called Rubius X. The Jove Orquestra Simfònica from Barcelona played his "Minero" theme song for the announcement. The documentary about the YouTuber will be released early next year in over 240 countries.

Awards and Recognitions

See also

In Spanish: El Rubius para niños

• List of most-followed Twitch channels