TotalBiscuit

John Peter Bain (8 July 1984 – 24 May 2018), better known as TotalBiscuit (, TB; sometimes The Cynical Brit or TotalHalibut), was an English video gaming commentator and game critic on YouTube.

He was known for his role in professional shoutcasting and esports, and also known for his gaming commentary audio work on WCradio.com.

According to Eurogamer, he gained a large following due to his video commentary on newly developed indie games and analysis of gaming news.

Bain voiced strong support for consumer protection in the video gaming industry.

From 2005 to 2010, Bain ran World of Warcraft Radio, a popular World of Warcraft fan radio station that received special acknowledgment and recognition from Blizzard Entertainment, the developers and publishing team of World of Warcraft.

Bain was invited to the annual BlizzCon event in 2005 to provide coverage of the event, where he met Genna Bain, his future wife and fellow YouTube personality.

After Bain's tenure at World of Warcraft Radio, Bain began Cynicalbrit.com, where he posted more generalised gaming content.

In 2010 during the height of the Great Recession, Bain was laid off at his job at a financial advisory company.

Bain's unemployment coincided with the beta release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and he started producing videos of himself talking over gameplay on YouTube, hoping to earn money through the website's ad-revenue system.

In the following weeks, the popularity of Bain's videos skyrocketed.

A StarCraft 2 commentator named HuskyStarcraft approached Bain and invited him to The Game Station, a network of gaming channels on YouTube (now Polaris, a subnetwork of Maker Studios).

In late April 2014, Bain announced he had a precancerous mass in his colon, the first indications of bowel cancer, a condition with which two of his grandparents had also been diagnosed.

Within the month, Bain revealed that he had "full blown cancer" and was beginning chemotherapy treatments.

In October 2015, Bain announced that he had terminal cancer that had spread to his liver.

Bain reported in April 2015 that a CT scan showed a complete remission of the cancer.

However, by October 2015, a newer CT scan showed that while the bowel cancer had been eliminated, the cancer had metastasised to his liver and was determined inoperable, with his doctors giving him a two-to-three-year life expectancy.

Bain announced the disbanding of his eSports team Axiom upon this news.

By January 2016, Bain had also decided to distance himself from social media, while still focusing on making his game critique videos.

On 23 September 2016, he reported that his cancer had mutated, and a targeted treatment had shrunk his liver tumor by over 50%, from 5 cm to 2 cm.

In October 2017, Bain appeared on the H3 Podcast, during which he discussed at length the current state of his cancer.

He described his condition as "stable" (meaning the cancer was still present, but not spreading), and that it was stage IV cancer.

On 22 November, Bain tweeted that his chemotherapy had stopped working, but that there were other types he could try.

He also noted that the cancer had not spread, but that its growth had started again.

He continued to critique games after the diagnosis, announcing his retirement only a few weeks before his death in May 2018.

Bain studied law at De Montfort University.

While there, he hosted an extreme metal music show on Demon FM.

He was diagnosed with dyspraxia.

In mid-April 2018, Bain was hospitalised for extreme back pain, from which the doctors discovered that the cancer was growing, applying pressure on his spine.

While he underwent a clinical trial to combat the spread, the doctors found that the cancer had become too resistant to medication and conventional chemotherapy would be ineffective; he was also informed that his liver was failing.

The doctors transferred him to palliative care with the option to resume clinical treatment if a trial compatible with his failing liver became available.

Because of this, knowing he did not have long left to live, Bain announced he was fully retiring from game criticism, believing he was no longer capable of performing his work at a level that would satisfy himself and his fans.

He planned to continue his Co-Optional podcast with his wife Genna, with plans for her to take over the podcast in the event of his death.

On 24 May 2018, Bain's wife Genna announced through both her own and her husband's Twitter accounts that Bain had fallen into a hepatic coma and died.

Multiple video game companies have released media with references and memorials to Bain.

On 7 June 2018, Old School RuneScape developers Jagex added a grave to the game world decorated with a top hat, with the message "He was always there to ask and answer one simple question".

Shortly after, on 9 September 2018, Blizzard Entertainment created a commemorative bundle in honor of Bain, with all sales profits going directly to Genna and their son, Orion.

Two years after his death, the video game Doom Eternal features an easter egg of a top hat and a plaque reading "Slay Cancer", referencing Bain.

Bain was posthumously inducted into the ESL Esports Hall of Fame, and is the first non-competitive player to receive the honor.

On 22 July 2018 the weapon Halibut cannon was introduced in Terraria's Calamity mod in honor of Bain.

Bain stated that the name TotalBiscuit was a quote taken from the Terry Pratchett novel Carpe Jugulum: "Besides, thought Agnes, I know for a fact there's people out there called Syphilidae Wilson and Yodel Lightley and Total Biscuit."