Minecraft phenom Dream built a massive audience while staying completely anonymous. Known offline only as Clay, he soared to the top of YouTube with record-breaking Minecraft speed runs and “let’s play” videos. He wasn’t the only creator to remain faceless for years—another popular figure, Corpse Husband, also kept his identity hidden, fueling curiosity and speculation around his mysterious corpse husband face.
In 2022, he finally removed that mask. The reveal followed weeks of breathless hype, and expectations shot sky-high. When the 25-year-old finally appeared on camera, social media turned savage, flooding timelines with mocking memes and harsh hot-takes. Many fans now call it the biggest blunder of his career.
Below, we break down the reveal, the internet pile-on that followed, Dream’s response to the backlash, and why his unmasked look still splits the fanbase.
Dream’s Face Reveal: Meet the Faceless YouTuber
Image credits: Dream
In October 2022, Dream made the fateful decision to reveal his identity, a move he later admitted to regretting.
His face reveal video, “hi, I’m Dream,” became a significant milestone in the Minecraft communities. “After years of being completely faceless online, I finally decided to do a face reveal,” he wrote in the caption.
At first, the YouTuber appeared hesitant, hiding behind a chair and nervously exclaiming, “This is weird!” He mustered the courage to show his face to millions of eager subscribers. His first word without the mask was a shy “hi,” followed by an uneasy smile. “It feels so awkward talking to a camera for the first time,” he admitted.
Image credits: Dream
Since its release, Dream’s face reveal video has spread massively on the internet, amassing over 67 million views and counting.
Clay, as he introduced himself, said that this unexpected decision stemmed from the stress and difficulties associated with his past anonymous persona.
“I’ve been bunkered up,” he shared. “The people trying to leak my face, trying to find out what I look like… it’s just a tiny bit too much.”
Dream’s Face Brings the Worst Out of the Internet
Image credits: Dream and DreamWorks Animation
Dream’s facial features have been a hot topic of discussion ever since he decided to give up anonymity, and frankly, the internet was kind to him.
Astonished fans quickly shared ruthless memes about Dream on X. People did not hold back on the platform, with many pointing out that Clay strongly resembles Rumpelstiltskin from Shrek.
Meanwhile, the Reddit community was lit with discussions about the major reveal. Users brutally poked fun at Clay for his seemingly typical white male features, disappointing some fans who expected something “more.”
dream stans forcing themselves to think dream is hot #dreamfacereveal pic.twitter.com/dNZXntjVCb
— b (@understandyrman) October 3, 2022
Redditors rushed to the platform to give harsh opinions about Dream’s face. “He looks like a troll face,” @Much-Gur233 remarked in a Reddit thread r/h3h3productions, while another user agreed, adding that it is “probably because his [Dream’s] neck is tilted at such a weird angle.”
Others went on to mock the YouTuber with comments like “the most average looking white dude” and “standard looking white man gets recognition for being a standard looking white man.”
Image credits: Dream and DreamWorks Animation
The flood of brutal remarks was virtually unstoppable, with one Redditor writing, “He’s like a family guy character, he’s gonna look weird facing forward,” whereas another shared, “He looks like someone who cheats at Minecraft.”
One commenter even thought Dream “looks like the starter white male preset in a game with character creation.”
Dream’s Reaction to the Brutal Wave of Sarcasm about His Face
Image credits: Dream
It turned out that Dream’s long-term anonymity was not as bad as he thought. His unforeseen face reveal earned him so much online mockery that he returned to his comfort zone, behind the mask.
On June 10, 2023, the heartbroken content creator shared a farewell video titled “bye, from Dream.”
The video showed Clay looking regretful while scrolling through the negative comments he had received since he revealed his face to the world.
The video showed Dream being encouraged to remove the mask and return to his previous anonymity, arguably the very thing that kept him relevant for so long.
“Am I that ugly?” Dream sorrowfully questioned.
“I deleted my face reveal, and this is why,” he captioned the video. “After face revealing and removing my mask, I regretted the attention and hate, and am walking it back. I will slowly be deleting all pictures of me online and going back to just being a gamer in a mask. I will be getting rid of everything other than my new mask.”
Image credits: Dream
This time, the popular YouTuber gave his famed mask a modern treatment. The new mask is designed to stay on Dream’s face for as long as possible, ensuring he doesn’t ever reveal his identity again.
It is 3D-printed and hand-reinforced to match his head’s size and shape.
“The same company that made the Spider-Man mask, Batman mask, and many other superheroes, made me a mask so that I can be Dream all of the time,” the creator explained.
Streamer now plans to stay masked in public. He admitted he can no longer date, eat at McDonald’s, or go anywhere casually without hiding his face.
He also thanked the fans who stood by him. “Thank you all from the bottom of my heart to those that supported me, even though I am ugly,” he wrote. “I appreciate you all more than you could ever know, and I will be working on my face while I’m masked again.”
Some People “Tried” to Be Nice
Image credits: Dream
While the internet showed no mercy to Dream, some people still defended the YouTuber. “I don’t know what people expected, but he’s just a regular dude, and all the hate he’s getting is weird af,” @RecruitMain420 wrote on Reddit.
Another user agreed, arguing that people expected so much from Dream that they were utterly disappointed. “That’s bound to happen when people are left to their own imagination,” they pointed out.
“You only heard his voice and people end up imagining him to their expectations, and with the beauty standards nowadays, people expected ALOT.”
A Redditor also believed that people clowned Clay because of the excessive hype. “This is why the memes are starting, I think. He hyped it up to an unreal level when he’s just a normal-looking dude (and that’s ok!).”
Fans clearly had unrealistic expectations about Dream’s face, including that it be “some sort of anime/supermodel hybrid that is non-existent,” but according to the discussion’s OP, they woke up from their “Dream” to a seemingly “uncanny” face.
Image credits: Dream
Others tried to defend the Minecraft creator by rating his face from 1 to 10 on Reddit. “People were acting like he’s the most hideous being to exist,” the Redditor began, before giving their rating: “Easily a 5.5. I think he’s cute.”
One commenter believed that it was not his looks that earned him internet sarcasm but rather his attitude.“I don’t think he’s that ugly, tbh. Pretty average, but cringe, so he gets trolled on, 4.5,” @ssinister01 wrote.
When one Redditor rated Clay a 5/10 and insisted that “there’s nothing wrong with how he looks,” another felt the urge to point out, “His chin — philtrum is too disproportionate.”
Others felt genuinely sorry for Dream, expressing sympathy, “Kinda of feel bad people are clowning on him.” Another person exclaimed, “Trolled for what?”, adding, “He’s a handsome young man. People are so cruel for absolutely no reason. I hope he didn’t read those messages.”
Is the Camera Angle to Blame?
Image credits: Dream
It happens to the best of us: we look great in person until an unflattering camera angle brings us back to reality. This might have been the case for Dream during his highly anticipated face reveal.
“I feel like the hate was because he kept an awkward side angle on his face the whole time,” one Redditor argued. “He’s not bad looking just the weird angle and obvious attempt to show off his profile made people clown him because he was like [crescent moon emoji] the whole damn video.”
One user called out Dream for his posture during the entire reveal. “Is his neck permanently fixed in 1 position or something?” @Tof12345 sarcastically questioned. A commenter wrote in response, “Probably. And doing that just screams ‘self-conscious’.”
Some believed that Dream had every reason to act unnaturally on camera. “Tbf id probably also be pretty self conscious if this was my first time revealing my face to like 20m something fans,” @DaleDimmaDone responded, while another Redditor chimed in, “20m fans who all NEED you to be hot or else their fanfics will have been in vain. It’s an insane amount of pressure I’d imagine.”
Perhaps Dream is more attractive than the internet thinks he is. “[The] guy looks pretty good,” @Tof12345 insisted, adding that Dream “has no reason to do that weird a** pose.”
Dream’s fixed posture led some to believe that he doesn’t want to reveal his other, possibly ill-looking side.“He never turned his head the other way,” @pink_bee pointed out, raising the question, “Maybe this is his ‘good side’?”.
Image credits: Dream
A second face reveal could settle the endless speculation, but it could just as easily spark another brutal cycle of ridicule. For now, Dream faces an impossible choice: keep the mask on and live with the whispers, or take it off again and risk even harsher attacks.