Jonathan Wheeler

Background

Jonathan Wheeler, better known by his gaming monikers ProtonJonSA or ProtonJon, was born on November 8, 1985, in Calgary, Canada. He is one of the original Let’s Players on YouTube, launching his YouTube channel titled “Proton Jon” back in 2007. His first videos consist of his guides for Ninja Gaiden, as well as Let’s Plays of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and several other high-difficulty-level games. His most famous videos are from his sessions playing “Super Smash Bros.,” “Kaizo Mario,” “Superman 64,” and “Resident Evil 5.” Around the time he was finishing off Resident Evil 5, he began to transition towards creating more streaming content on Twitch.

One of his earliest videos, involving a character from “Resident Evil 5” called Wesker, is called the “Rotten Egg Challenge.” It grew to such popularity that it spawned many Egg jokes. In another instance, the artistic community that formed around him started drawing him as Rosalina from the Super Mario Galaxy games. This bred one of the three “Fem-Jon” timelines and eventually led to the creation of the infamous Jonaverse, a virtual reality where fans and fellow players create alternate versions of Proton Jon. To date, at least a hundred variations have been created.

Wheeler actively collaborates with fellow players such as The Awful Gamer. He has occasionally appeared on StephenVlog at PAX events as well. In 2010, he launched another YouTube channel titled “The Runaway Guys” with NintentoCapriSun and Chuggaaconroy. That same year, he launched two podcasts — “Top Down Perspective” with some friends and “Retro Killscreen” with Paul Fleck. In September 2017, Wheeler got engaged to Reese Dressler and is now married to her. He currently streams full-time on Twitch with an average of about three to four streams a week. In 2021, Wheeler resumed making Let’s Plays.