“Someone tried to take off my mask”: Chuy Mine explains why he never shows his face and what motivated him to expand his digital universe into a book

Spider-Man taught Chuy Mine that behind a mask there is not always someone hiding. Sometimes there is a person who wants to tell others that anyone can take their place.

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When he was a child, the Mexican creator was fascinated by the idea of a hero whose face remained hidden and whose identity could belong to everyone. Years later, when he started recording videos about Minecraft and Roblox, he also chose anonymity. He did not show his face, but revealed his humor, imagination, and a voice that millions of followers recognize today.

“When I was little, I really liked Spider-Man. The beautiful thing about the character is that everyone can be him; it’s just a matter of daring,” he explains.

Chuy Mine is 24 years old and has been creating content for about eight years. He started seriously at 16, although his relationship with cameras and video games had begun much earlier. His parents remember that, when he was a child, he took the old cameras from the house, focused the screen while playing, and narrated his own games.

That child probably would not have imagined that one day his stories would leave the screen to reach the pages of a book.

“If you asked that little Chuy, I don’t think he would believe the point I’m at now. I feel like I’m daydreaming,” he confesses.

Another screen

“Multiverso Chuy Mine,” published by Penguin Random House, was born from an increasingly insistent demand from his community. His followers enjoyed the videos but wanted to know new stories, settings, and facets of the character.

“At first I had my little videos and people were entertained, but little by little they started asking me for more things. When the possibility of making a book came, I wanted to create a story linked to my videos, but at the same time different,” he explains.

Intimate universe

The novel contains elements of his childhood and begins with a boy who, like him, finds a space of his own in video games. It also reflects the influence of anime, manga, and Japanese fiction stories that Chuy has consumed for as long as he can remember.

It is not an autobiography. However, behind the portals, creatures, and fantastic worlds there are emotions that belong to him, such as the feeling of being different, fear, loneliness, and the need to find people who share the same interests.

“I wanted them to understand a little more about the Chuy behind the videos. Not as a biography, but through a fictional story that showed what a screen does not always allow you to see,” he points out.

His stage name also holds a part of that childhood. Chuy is the nickname used for those named Jesús in Mexico, and “Mine” was born from Minecraft, one of the video games that marked his digital path.

Writing slowly

Moving from video to book also meant changing pace. For about six months, Chuy set out to finish a chapter every two weeks. He would sit down to review the possible paths of the story, choose one, and start over when an idea that seemed better appeared.

“It was a great adventure because I had never done anything like that. I wouldn’t say it was difficult, but it was completely different. I had never sat down to write so much before,” he admits.

The most complex part was organizing his imagination. Each scene could lead him to ten different possibilities, and his creative enthusiasm, instead of making the work easier, opened more and more doors.

“I thought: ‘This could happen here,’ but then another option appeared and then another. I ended up with ten different ideas about how the story could continue,” he recalls.

In that process, he found a calmness foreign to the digital world. Writing allowed him to be alone with his thoughts, away from notifications and the relentless pace of social media.

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“I realized the immediacy in which we live. I really enjoyed being calm, thinking, without so many stimuli. It was also a way to connect with myself,” he states.

Real fears

Although it takes place in fantastic universes, the book explores deeply human and close conflicts. Its protagonist faces loneliness, bullying, and the fear of not fitting in, experiences that Chuy also knew, to some extent, during his childhood.

“Bullying, at least in my generation, was a topic that was not even touched on. It was ignored. There were cases where you talked to teachers and they completely disregarded it. I thought it was important to give it the visibility it deserves,” he maintains.

The story also does not propose a world where everything is easily resolved. Chuy wanted to move away from perfect endings and show that life is made of nuances, losses, and moments that must be faced, even when there is no immediate solution.

“Not everything is black or white. There are grays, and not all stories have happy endings. There are difficult moments you have to face,” he explains.

First readers

Chuy Mine trusted that his community would accompany him on this new adventure, but he did not imagine that the book would be the gateway to reading for some children. Several parents told him that their children, first attracted by the character in his videos, had chosen to read a book on their own for the first time.

“Many parents have thanked me because it’s the first book their kids pick up and, from there, they start to get interested in reading. That gives it even greater value,” he acknowledges.

Something else has also started to happen that he still finds hard to process: readers who did not come from YouTube, Minecraft, or Roblox, but discovered him directly in a bookstore.

“I have already met people who tell me: ‘I met you through the book.’ For me, it’s crazy, my mind still hasn’t fully conceived it,” he says.

That encounter with new readers reinforces his desire to continue the story. The second part is already in development, and Chuy does not rule out that “Multiverso Chuy Mine” becomes a saga. He has new worlds waiting their turn and enough ideas to even imagine a third volume.

Hidden face

His foray into books does not mean he will abandon the mystery that has accompanied him since the beginning. For now, Chuy Mine does not plan to reveal his face.

In his public appearances, he wears a sweatshirt and a mask that reproduces the visual identity of his character. Maintaining anonymity, he assures, is not as difficult as it seems, although once a child tried to take off his mask during a signing in Mexico.

“He didn’t succeed because it’s well secured, well tied,” he recalls with laughter.

Imitators and people who dress like him have also appeared. However, Chuy is convinced that there are traits impossible to copy: his voice, his movements, and the particular way he communicates with his followers.

He will soon make his first visit to Peru to present “Multiverso Chuy Mine” at the Lima International Book Fair, sign copies, and meet those who for years have only followed him through a screen.

“I’m super excited. They have told me very beautiful things about the country. We will be able to talk a little, take photos, and share the book,” he concludes enthusiastically.