The Untold Truth Of SSSniperWolf
Many successful YouTubers and streamers tend to pick a video genre and stick with it. However, some streamers manage to branch out while still maintaining their popularity. One such content creator is SSSniperWolf.
Alia Shelesh, better known to SSSniperWolf to her fans, is a popular YouTuber who got her start in 2013 creating Let's Play content for titles such as "Overwatch," "Call of Duty," and "Metal Gear Solid." While she transitioned into primarily reaction-based videos in 2017, she's still sitting pretty on a fanbase of over 31 million subscribers. SSSniperWolf is open about much of her life, such as her second DIY-themed YouTube channel Little Lia, but some bits of history might escape even her most dedicated followers.
Maybe something happened so long ago it disappeared from peoples' memories, or maybe an event doesn't come up enough in conversation to warrant a mention. Or maybe SSSniperWolf is just embarrassed and doesn't like to talk about it.
Here are just a few stories from SSSniperWolf's past that not everyone knows about.
How she started video gaming
Every gamer has an origin story. What console did they start with? What title solidified their love of gaming? As with most Let's Players, SSSniperWolf has a fascinating tale about her first console and game, but she might not be the content creator she is today without a bit of adolescent anger.
According to SSSniperWolf, she received her first console when she was only 8. Her father bought her a PlayStation 1 — not because it was her birthday or anything, but because he wanted SSSniperWolf and her brother to stop fighting. Their father hoped the console would prevent them from bickering, and it worked. Sorta.
Instead, SSSniperWolf and her brother adapted their fights around the console. Whenever the siblings played on the PS1, SSSniperWolf was always Player 1 and got to use official Sony controllers. Her brother, meanwhile, was always Player 2 and had to make do with third-party controllers. This wasn't the only time SSSniperWolf's righteous fury led to a console, though.
Another, potentially worse issue ensued when SSSniperWolf was in school. One day, a fellow student called her "ugly" and "poor," so she responded by threatening to beat him up. SSSniperWolf got in trouble, but the other student didn't, which left SSSniperWolf in a slump. Her mother let her stay home the next day to feel better, further aiding the healing process by taking her out to purchase a PlayStation 2.
Thanks to these consoles, SSSniperWolf got to play many games that would shape her future. Titles such as "Kingdom Hearts" and "Metal Gear Solid" remain her favorites to this day.
An early entrepreneur
Many people are intimidated by the very prospect of building their own business. However, where there is opportunity, there is a market. Just ask SSSniperWolf.
Long before SSSniperWolf started her own merch line, and even before her YouTube career, she held a successful side gig selling action figures. During middle school, SSSniperWolf started buying toys for dirt cheap (Best Buy clearance-sale Jack Sparrow figures for $2 each, for instance) and selling them on eBay. The resold figures were purchased pretty quickly, earning SSSniperWolf a quick buck. Her parents were pleased with her success, but you know what they say: Success is a double-edged sword.
As SSSniperWolf made more money through her resale gig, her web of resources grew, as did her wallet. She was able to buy more (and pricier) items and sell those. Eventually, she was able to buy products in bulk and deal in high-end designer items. SSSniperWolf was apparently so successful that she surpassed her parents' earnings, and she continued this business to fund her way through college. Unfortunately, when SSSniperWolf started making a profit, her father decided to take advantage of her good fortune and seized her earnings to help pay bills. At first SSSniperWolf didn't mind, but eventually this resulted in some upsetting decisions on her father's part (more on that later).
SSSniperWolf eventually traded freelance reselling for retail work, but she had the unfortunate luck of working for a nightmare boss. He didn't pay her enough to put up with his constant complaining, so she quit. On the bright side, this next move might have led directly into SSSniperWolf's YouTube career.
SSSniperWolf was Fluent in Arabic
SSSniperWolf currently lives in the U.S., but she was born in England. So, most people would probably expect English to be her first language. That assumption couldn't be further from the truth.
SSSniperWolf's parents hopped around the map when they were younger. They learned many languages, including Turkish, French, and most importantly Arabic. Her parents initially spoke Arabic to SSSniperWolf and her brothers, which made it her first language for a time. SSSniperWolf actually didn't learn to speak English before attending school, and while she can still understand Arabic, speaking it is another matter — she is now pretty rusty.
Unfortunately, this upbringing created a ton of problems for SSSniperWolf, as she was bullied for the crime of simply knowing Arabic. One kid called her a "terrorist," and she got into a fight with him. And sadly, this kind of misguided bullying only escalated post-9/11.
SSSniperWolf's history with Arabic isn't all made of bad memories, though. In fact, fans can thank this language for her online handle. Granted, the name is lifted from the character Sniper Wolf from "Metal Gear Solid" — but why her in particular? Why didn't Alia Shelesh take inspiration from another boss character and create a username like VVVulcanRaven or PPPsychoMantis? Because Sniper Wolf's in-game background is that she's an Iraqi national of Kurdish descent. In other words, she's Arabic.
Although SSSniperWolf's fluency in Arabic has diminished, her history with the language is still crucial to her identity.
She has a storied history with Sausage
Stories about streamers and celebrities with messy and dramatic breakups are a dime a dozen. However, SSSniperWolf's relationship with Evan Sausage is a bit more complicated because it didn't result in drama, which ironically caused a different kind of drama.
In 2013, SSSniperWolf started her YouTube career. Since she was a big gamer, she began by recording "Call of Duty" matches and uploading the results. According to SSSniperWolf, a fan started messaging her several months later, praising her videos and their shared interest in "Metal Gear Solid." They talked for a bit and later met at Comic-Con — dressed as "Metal Gear" characters no less. This fan was none other than Evan Sausage, and they eventually started dating.
Later, SSSniperWolf moved in with Sausage, and she brought her dog along, too. However, this happy period didn't last. SSSniperWolf and Sausage broke up in 2016, but neither wanted to move out of the house. After tempers calmed down, SSSniperWolf and Sausage decided to live together under the same roof, not as boyfriend and girlfriend, but just regular friends. Sausage also continued to help SSSniperWolf record her videos when she needed the extra assistance.
While SSSniperWolf believes her relationship with Sausage actually improved after they abandoned their romantic feelings, it ironically caused problems with her fanbase. Apparently, many viewers were under the impression that all ex-lovers must hate each other after a breakup and accused SSSniperWolf of lying.
SSSniperWolf and Sausage continued to live together, but SSSniperWolf eventually seemed to put the final pin in their relationship in 2023.
well after 9 years things didn't work out lol https://t.co/NLfU5rWR2p
— Lia (@sssniperwolf) June 6, 2023
School burnout
Many streamers tell tales of how they realized college wasn't for them and either dropped or flunked out. SSSniperWolf has a similar story, except hers began much earlier.
High school was a drag for SSSniperWolf. Few people paid attention to her, and she occasionally found herself in fights. Life improved for SSSniperWolf after she transferred schools, and she even made some new friends. However, SSSniperWolf's biggest school-related problems didn't crop up until college.
SSSniperWolf thought it would be a good idea to graduate high school early so she could start college early. This decision overloaded her with homework, however, and when she finally graduated, she faced another problem: Should she study to become a pharmacist (which her mother wanted) or a nurse? SSSniperWolf couldn't decide, so she took classes for both.
To add to the stress, SSSniperWolf attended a community college, where she claims the teachers were "terrible." She eventually transferred to another school and decided to repeat history by piling on courses to graduate early. After one year, SSSniperWolf was sick of the prerequisite chemistry classes — organic chemistry is mostly to blame. She asked herself if she really wanted the life of a pharmacist. The answer was ultimately no, so she switched to nursing. That didn't last, either.
After SSSniperWolf was exhausted by college, she made a deal with her mother: If SSSniperWolf took a year off from school and could earn more money than she would as a nurse or pharmacist, she could quit college outright. Even though SSSniperWolf hadn't discovered YouTube yet — and wasn't even known as SSSniperWolf — she indeed earned enough money to justify dropping out.
She got arrested once...or twice
While occasional fights and a complicated history with Sausage are important facets of SSSniperWolf's history, they are primarily isolated stories. However, one time these aspects mixed and spiraled out of control — right into a cop car.
In 2016, SSSniperWolf and Sausage got into a fight. According to SSSniperWolf, Sausage's phone was the catalyst. He had changed his phone's wallpaper to some random woman, and SSSniperWolf flipped out. She started screaming, eventually taking the argument outside. The neighbors heard and called the police.
Initially, SSSniperWolf didn't want to talk to the cops and even tried to walk away, but according to her story, they blocked her and forced her to answer their questions. Even though nothing happened between her and Sausage beyond some screaming, the cops still put them in custody. In SSSniperWolf's own words, Arizona has a law that if two people fight in a public place, both are taken into custody.
SSSniperWolf's screaming fit wasn't the first time she had a run-in with the law. In 2013, she was shopping at the mall when a stranger grabbed her purse. SSSniperWolf did what anyone would do and fought tooth and nail to keep her belongings. Unfortunately, this stranger was no ordinary thief. In fact, he wasn't even a thief; he was an undercover cop who thought SSSniperWolf had shoplifted. So technically, she had just assaulted an officer. SSSniperWolf was arrested, and while she was let out on bail, she had to hire a lawyer to fight the assault charge. SSSniperWolf would rather forget this chapter of her life, which is why she rarely talks about it and has deleted all associated videos.
Problems with her dad
SSSniperWolf's father essentially laid the groundwork for her eventual YouTube success by getting her a PlayStation 1, but he also occasionally took advantage of his daughter's success.
When SSSniperWolf started her own business in middle school reselling action figures, her parents were proud of her, but her father also forced SSSniperWolf to hand over her profits to pay bills. That wasn't the only time he took advantage of SSSniperWolf's business, apparently. When SSSniperWolf was 17 or 18, her dad quit his job, which left SSSniperWolf the sole member of her family with any significant income. Sure, she had a large web of contacts to help her buy and sell items, but most of her money was still funneled into the household's bills. Eventually, when school studies picked up, SSSniperWolf's parents returned to work and didn't rely on her money.
According to SSSniperWolf, her father also took advantage of her savings. By the time SSSniperWolf was 18, she had enough money to purchase her own car, but her father put it in his name, which made him the vehicle's legal owner. While he could have just signed the car's title and made him the owner on paper — allowing SSSniperWolf to remain the owner in practice — he apparently straight-up took the vehicle for his use. Instead of driving her new car to college and work, SSSniperWolf had to take the bus. And no, she didn't get a refund.
Thankfully, SSSniperWolf is making so much money these days that her father couldn't take advantage of her earnings and cut into her profits even if he tried. According to SSSniperwolf, he has since "disowned" her, so that's not going to be an issue.
No, she's never been in an adult film
SSSniperWolf has revealed that a large number of her viewers have asked to see her make more adult-oriented entertainment, and for a time, some people thought she acquiesced to these requests — if only because of a misunderstood tweet.
In 2016, SSSniperWolf contacted a well-known adult website via Twitter and said she wanted to discuss some important matters. Many viewers saw the message (since Twitter posts are almost always public) and assumed it meant SSSniperWolf wanted to make a racy film of some kind. In their minds, why else would she message the site? According to SSSniperWolf, she didn't want to add to the site's library. She wanted to take some videos down, albeit not due to any maliciousness.
The site in question has no shortage of racy content, including many videos re-uploaded without the initial creator's knowledge or consent. This includes one model named Calita who bears a passing resemblance to SSSniperWolf. Some of the adult site's account holders re-uploaded Calita's videos and relabeled them with SSSniperWolf's name, which started rumors that SSSniperWolf was moonlighting in that industry. She only asked the site to delete these re-uploaded videos and nip those rumors in the bud.
SSSniperWolf has nothing against Calita, but she did draw the line at seeing re-uploaded videos resulting in nasty rumors. SSSniperWolf cannot stress this point enough: She never has been and never will be in an adult film. As SSSniperWolf argued, she isn't even comfortable going out in public in a swimsuit, so why would she be comfortable wearing less on camera?
Doctorless for a decade
Regular doctor visits are crucial for maintaining a healthy body, possibly more so for gamers because of the serious injuries that can result from repetitive motions and poor posture. It's a miracle SSSniperWolf never suffered from any of these issues when she was a Let's Play streamer, since she never had a checkup during much of that period.
When SSSniperWolf was nine years old, she had thyroid problems and lost weight like crazy, so she needed to see a doctor weekly. During one of these visits, a physician told her to take off her clothes in front of her mother "for no reason," which scarred SSSniperWolf and instilled a fear of doctors. However, she didn't truly boycott doctors until she was 13, when she was diagnosed with Celiac disease and told she couldn't eat any gluten. From that point forward, SSSniperWolf refused to see doctors ever again.
SSSniperWolf's fear was so baked into her psyche that she didn't even want to see school doctors; she miraculously skirted around every physical exam. This boycott lasted around 10 years, until SSSniperWolf was super sick in 2016 for three days straight. She had a fever and was so out of it due to the chills and pain that she forgot her shoes at home when she finally drove to the doctor's office.
Although SSSniperWolf went roughly a decade without a doctor's visit, she still managed to take good care of herself.
She's in a game that no longer exists
More and more streamers are being inserted into video games. Plenty of streamers also voice video game characters, while a number of famous content creators have their own in-game skins. SSSniperWolf is not one of these streamers, but she has the next best thing: A character based off her in a gacha game. Too bad the game is no longer around.
In 2016, SSSniperWolf announced she collaborated with the mobile game "DragonSoul" to create the collectible hero Spirit Wolf. SSSniperWolf even participated in a cosplay photoshoot to promote the character. This collaboration put SSSniperWolf in a fairly exclusive club, as other notable celebrities to guest star in gacha games are Ariana Grande and Katy Perry. Admittedly, those pop stars received higher-profile cameos in "Final Fantasy Brave Exvius," but SSSniperWolf probably wouldn't turn down any opportunity to claim she is in the same company.
Unfortunately, SSSniperWolf's collaboration is no longer available. "DragonSoul" shut down on May 8, 2019, taking Spirit Wolf with it. Although SSSniperWolf still has a dedicated merch store, gamers can no longer purchase and command her digital doppelganger in video game battles.