The essun's case is a particularly sad one. Like the hidekidroni, the strain found itself the target of an "imposter" scheme – this one, far more successful than that of other contemporary shams. Wheeled before the lecture halls and glossed with failed preservatives, the rotting dummy essun proved a fascinating wealth of knowledge for the still nascent post-flood academics. As their tapping of the fake, dead body continued, nearly all of the actual essun's primary material was overwritten by the imposter essun's extracted details.

With no record remaining, little can otherwise be known about the essun. Both smaller and sadder than its parent strain, it would have had no ability to duplicate people, though it can only be speculated as to whether or not it adopted other behaviours by which to compensate.

This has not left the essun without its own notoriety, however. Its dramatic physical appearance (with the red teardrops often alluded to as the "first rains of the flood"), is used to great effect in both literary fiction and aestheto games. In the essun's most famous appearance, the finale of The Wishing Game, it is barely visible in just one panning shot, its forehands tucked up by its chest and its face as hidden as can be.

Though the essun's role in media has since faded, it has not disappeared altogether. Particularly among aestheto fans, the strain remains an enduring symbol of loss and self-delusion.