The Completionist
Khalil in 2018
Personal information
Born
Jirard Khalil

(1988-01-03) January 3, 1988
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationCalifornia State University, Fullerton
Occupations
YouTube information
Channels
Years active2012–present
Genres
Subscribers1.56 million[1]
Total views337 million[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: January 2024

Jirard Khalil (born January 3, 1988) is an American YouTuber, internet personality and reviewer known online as The Completionist, the titular character of a web series Khalil created in 2012. Khalil's video content focuses on him reviewing and playing video games to 100% completion, uncovering every aspect found in the game.[2] Throughout his career on YouTube, Khalil has uploaded reviews of over 340 games.[3] He was also affiliated with the YouTube network and gaming collective Normal Boots.

Khalil joined the TV network G4 during their 2021–2022 revival as a host of Xplay and Attack of the Show!, and debuted his series God of Work on the network. A member of the Open Hand Foundation charity, he organized the annual event IndieLand, a livestream centered around showcasing indie games intended to raise money for dementia research. He later left the charity and resigned from his role as a board member due to the controversy surrounding allegations of charity fraud.[4]

Early life

Khalil was born on January 3, 1988, and is a native of Los Angeles, California.[‡ 1][3] He is also the brother of Kellee Khalil, an entrepreneur who founded the wedding planner website Lover.ly.[5] He is of Lebanese descent.[‡ 2]

Khalil attended California State University, Fullerton.[3] After Khalil got his college degree in theater and film, he worked at a Best Buy. After his manager pushed him to pursue his YouTube dreams full time, Khalil started his YouTube channel, originally called ThatOneVideoGamer but later renamed The Completionist.[6][7]

Career

Khalil's YouTube career began in 2012.[7] He had attempted to start his YouTube career multiple times, but had restarted due to a lack of success in gaining an audience.[7] After meeting internet personality Arin Hanson, Khalil became inspired to create his YouTube career again, with an emphasis towards playing video games to 100% completion.[7] Khalil's content on The Completionist involves him reviewing and discovering every aspect of a video game, including completing the game on all difficulty options, finding every collectible and defeating every boss.[2][6] At the end of his reviews, Khalil also shows the number of hours taken to complete the game along with the amount of collectibles he acquired.[7] He stated that his style of completing games originated from his childhood, where he often played games repeatedly in order to convince his parents to buy him new games.[7] Mike Andronico of CNN described Khalil's videos as "backed by his articulate, authoritative and entertaining narration, which make the channel's deep dives on retro games and modern blockbusters accessible for even non-gamers."[6]

Khalil worked on The Completionist with collaborator Greg Wilmot.[8] However, due to a falling out between the two members, the first 120 episodes of the series were removed, leading Khalil to recreate the episodes.[9] In addition to The Completionist, he also creates Let's Play videos on the channel Super Beard Bros. with collaborator and friend Alex Faciane.[3]

Khalil was a member of the gaming collective Normal Boots, a YouTube network featuring creators such as PeanutButterGamer.[10] He signed with the Creative Artists Agency in 2020 alongside YouTuber Alpharad.[11] In 2021, as a part of Sonic's 30th Anniversary, the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel featured a new series called Sonic Rings. In the series, Khalil discusses his history with the franchise.[12] That same year, Khalil joined the TV network G4 during their revival as a co-host of Xplay and Attack of the Show.[6][13] He debuted his series, God of Work, in August 2022, which aired on both G4 and his channel.[6] Created alongside Emily Rose Jacobson, the premise involves Khalil portraying Kratos from God of War in an office setting.[6][14] Several months later, G4 was shut down in November 2022 after averaging 1,000 viewers, the lowest of any American cable network.[15]

On March 18, 2023, Khalil uploaded a video about buying every single Nintendo Wii U and 3DS game from the Nintendo eShop before the online store closed in 2023.[16][17] The project took 328 days and cost $22,791, split between $9,673 in Wii U games and $13,118 in 3DS games.[17][18][19] The video was funded by multiple sponsorships throughout 2022.[20] Khalil planned to donate the consoles to the Video Game History Foundation.[10][21] However, most of these games were already preserved on illegal ROM websites.[22][23]

Other ventures

Open Hand Foundation

External videos
video icon Khalil's response
video icon Jobst's analysis of the Open Hand Foundation
video icon Anas' analysis of the Open Hand Foundation

Following the death of his mother in 2013 from frontotemporal dementia, Khalil organized the annual livestream charity event IndieLand under the Open Hand Foundation, a charity founded by his father Charles Khalil.[11][24] The event showcases various indie games along with interviews with developers and guest appearances from gaming personalities, with the intent to raise funds for dementia research.[25][26]

In November 2023, YouTubers Karl Jobst and Mutahar "SomeOrdinaryGamers" Anas uploaded videos revealing Form 990-PF records which showed that the Open Hand Foundation had not made any charity contributions since its inception in 2014, accumulating $655,520 in unspent assets by the end of 2022 despite recording tens of thousands in administrative expenses.[4] In a call with the two YouTubers, Khalil said he did not discover that the funds had not been donated until 2022, and was currently seeking an appropriate charity, still not having yet donated any funds. However, Jobst highlighted that the foundation's website lists the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) as a recipient of research funding. During IndieLand events, Khalil had said the Open Hand Foundation was donating to UCSF, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, and also asserted that the Open Hand Foundation was one of the "main funding support partners" of UCSF.[27][28]

Khalil uploaded a response video about the situation on December 9, 2023, in which he acknowledged that the funds had not been donated, apologized for making "statements potentially implying donations were made when they had not yet been", and announced his resignation as a board member of the Open Hand Foundation.[4] Five days earlier, on December 4, 2023, the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration announced it had received a donation of $600,000 on November 29.[4][29]

Appearances and game development

Khalil appeared as a character in the video game Asagao Academy, a dating sim and visual novel created by and featuring members of Normal Boots in 2014.[30][31] He also appeared as a non-playable character in the 2023 indie role-playing game Sea of Stars. Following the debacle surrounding the Open Hand Foundation, Sabotage Studio announced their decision to remove Khalil's appearance in the game.[32][33][34]

In August 2022, he appeared in a GameSpot video with other gaming personalities to discuss the impact of Final Fantasy VII.[35]

As of April 2023, Khalil is co-developing his upcoming game Elsie with developer Knight Shift Games and publisher Playtonic Games.[36][37]

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2019 Streamy Awards Gaming Nominated [38]

References

  1. 1 2 "About ThatOneVideoGamer". YouTube.
  2. 1 2 Yarwood, Jack (October 2, 2017). "20 gaming YouTubers you should be following". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Turner, Jonathan (November 13, 2019). "Passionate video gamer 'The Completionist' comes to Rust Belt Nov. 19". The Quad-City Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Bankhurst, Adam; Dinsdale, Ryan (November 14, 2023). "YouTuber The Completionist Responds to Allegations of 'Charity Fraud' Against Him and Open Hand". IGN. Archived from the original on December 10, 2023. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
  5. ↑ Cava, Marco della (August 11, 2013). "Change Agents: Kellee Khalil has Loverly wedding ideas". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023. One brother, Jirard, goes by his YouTube video-game testing moniker, The Completionist...
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Andronico, Mike (August 9, 2022). "We talked to The Completionist's Jirard Khalil about his new G4 show — and his favorite YouTube gear". CNN Underscored. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Yarwood, Jack (July 6, 2017). "The Completionist's toughest challenges". Red Bull. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  8. ↑ Ettinger, Jared (August 8, 2013). "Watch The Completionist, Erm, Complete All of Portal For Geek Week [Video]". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on March 18, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ Eggen, Lukas (October 22, 2020). "The Completionist has long, complicated history with YouTube". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Innes, Ruby (March 20, 2023). "Jirard 'The Completionist' Khalil Buys Every Wii U And 3DS eShop Game, Donates Them All". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Weiss, Geoff (September 1, 2020). "CAA Signs Prominent Gamers Alpharad And The Completionist (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  12. ↑ "New official Sonic Rings YouTube series highlights Sonic megafans, starting with The Completionist". Nintendo Wire. July 15, 2021. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  13. ↑ "New Xplay co-host 'had weird emotional outbursts' of G4 fandom upon joining Adam Sessler". SYFY Official Site. November 16, 2021. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  14. ↑ Gutelle, Sam (August 10, 2022). "Can The Completionist bring his combination of video games and acting to TV? 100%". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  15. ↑ Maglio, Tony; Chapman, Wilson (October 17, 2022). "Why Did the G4 Channel Close? Well, It Averaged 1,000 Viewers". IndieWire. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  16. ↑ Nunneley-Jackson, Stephany (February 16, 2022). "The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShop will be shutdown next year". VG247. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Kuhnke, Oisin (March 19, 2023). "Ahead of the Wii U and 3DS eShops' closure, YouTube's most prolific completionist bought every game". VG247. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  18. ↑ Liang, Lu-Hai (March 19, 2023). "TheCompletionist Just Spent $23K Saving Every Game On Wii U And 3DS". TheGamer. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  19. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (March 19, 2023). "YouTuber Buys Every Single Video Game On The Wii U and 3DS eShops Before They Close". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  20. ↑ Bonthuys, Darryn (March 20, 2023). "YouTuber The Completionist Bought Every Wii U And 3DS eShop Game Before Shutdown, And It Cost $23,000". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  21. ↑ Michel, Jamal (March 24, 2023). "Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS stores closing means game over for digital archives". NPR. Archived from the original on June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  22. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (March 21, 2023). "YouTuber's wild $20k quest to preserve the Nintendo eShop could be the only legal way to save game history, and that sucks". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on March 22, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  23. ↑ Doolan, Liam (March 19, 2023). "Random: YouTuber Spends Nearly $23K Buying Every 3DS & Wii U eShop Game". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  24. ↑ Desatoff, Sam (September 29, 2021). "IndieLand 2021 raises more than $100,000 for dementia research". GameDaily.biz. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  25. ↑ Sheehan, Gavin (August 22, 2022). "IndieLand 2022 Livestream Set To Happen This November". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  26. ↑ Williams, Hayley (October 25, 2023). "IndieLand 2023 Charity Event Is Happening This Week". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  27. ↑ Dinsdale, Ryan (November 14, 2023). "YouTuber The Completionist's Open Hand Foundation Accused of Keeping Charitable Donations". IGN. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  28. ↑ Barovic, Andrej (November 14, 2023). "Gaming YouTuber The Completionist admits to not donating over $600,000 to charity". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Open Hand Foundation Provides AFTD $600K for FTD Research". The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. December 4, 2023. Archived from the original on December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  30. ↑ Elderkin, Beth (May 18, 2016). "When Liking And Subscribing To Your Favourite YouTuber Isn't Enough". Kotaku Australia. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  31. ↑ Carlson, Alex (November 2, 2014). "Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club Lets You Date Youtubers". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  32. ↑ Doolan, Liam (December 16, 2023). "Sea Of Stars Developer Sabotage Replacing 'The Completionist' NPC". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  33. ↑ Allsop, Ken (December 16, 2023). "Sea of Stars dev is replacing its NPC based on The Completionist". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on December 17, 2023. Retrieved December 17, 2023.
  34. ↑ Ngan, Liv (December 18, 2023). "Sea of Stars removes YouTuber cameo following charity fraud allegations". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on December 18, 2023. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  35. ↑ Klein, Dave; James, Lucy (August 7, 2022). "I Heart Final Fantasy VII (ft. The Completionist, Maximilian Dood, and More!)". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  36. ↑ Norman, Jim (April 17, 2023). "Video: The Completionist Talks To Us About His Upcoming Roguelike Game, Elsie". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  37. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (April 10, 2023). "PAX East 2023: Elsie is Pure, Glorious Chaos". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  38. ↑ Haring, Bruce (December 13, 2019). "9th Annual Streamy Awards Honors 'Good Mythical Morning' As Show Of The Year". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved June 15, 2023.

Primary sources

  1. ↑ Jirard Khalil (November 21, 2018). Draw My Life The Completionist. YouTube. Event occurs at 0:34. Archived from the original on June 15, 2023. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  2. ↑ Khalil, Jirard (May 26, 2017). "What if She's Still in There Somewhere?". The Story Collider. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.

Further reading

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