Zalgo text generator

Zalgo text uses combining diacritical marks stacked on top of one another to create a creepy, zalgo effect.

Diacritical marks are symbols added to letters. They’re primarily used to describe how a letter should be pronounced.

In English, diacritical marks appear most often in words borrowed from other languages:

• Accents in words like résumé, fiancée, and Pokémon.
• Tildes in words like jalapeño, piña colada, and El Niño.
• Diaereses in words like naïve, Noël, and sometimes coöperate.

There are more possible combinations of diacritical marks and letters than atoms in the observable universe. So, it’s safe to say it would be impractical to come up with a separate character for each combination.

Instead, Unicode — the standardized system for computer characters — allows us to combine these marks and stack them on top of one another. This is how Zalgo text is created.

Zalgo, like Slenderman and Momo, was an internet bogeyman. Just not a particularly scary one.

Zalgo first showed up in subversive comic strips, then as a demonic clown child or a tentacled demon.

Most importantly, Zalgo would be accompanied by creepy, zalgo text, which is where the name comes from.