An insult that implies a person lacks critical thinking
Fictional character
NPC (non-player character)
|
---|
The NPC
|
First appearance
| July 7, 2016
|
---|
Created by
| Anonymous
/v/
user
[1]
|
---|
Based on
| Wojak
|
---|
The
NPC
(
; also known as the
NPC Wojak
), derived from
non-player character
, is an
Internet meme
that represents people who do not think for themselves or do not make their own decisions; those who lack introspection or
intrapersonal communication
.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
The meme gained further viral status on
TikTok
, with the surge of "NPC Streamers". In terms of politics, it's often been used by those with
anti-establishment
views to describe those who fail to question authority, "
groupthink
", or a stance that would display conformity and obedience.
[6]
[7]
[8]
The NPC meme, which graphically is based on the
Wojak
meme, was created in July 2016 by an anonymous author and first published on the
imageboard
4chan
, where the idea and inspiration behind the meme were introduced.
[9]
The NPC gained widespread attention during the
presidency
of
Donald Trump
.
[2]
[10]
In October 2018 the meme was covered by numerous news outlets, including
The Verge
,
[1]
the
BBC
,
[11]
and
The New York Times
, who called it a popular insult among "the pro-Trump internet" as well as a "collective
mascot
for the far-right commenters".
[2]
The following month, the far-right
InfoWars
held a competition promoting the creation of NPC memes; the winning entry was endorsed by Trump on Twitter.
[10]
In 2022, the NPC garnered popularity on video sharing service
TikTok
.
[12]
History
In 2016, the concept was revived in a 4chan post by an anonymous user who initiated the NPC meme, titled "Are you an NPC?", detailing the behaviour of individuals acting similarly to non-player characters in video games by repeatedly using phrases such as "JUST BE YOURSELF",
[13]
and ended the post with the following description of people the NPC meme intends to depict.
[9]
If you get in a discussion with them it's always the same buzzwords and hackneyed arguments. They're the kind of people who make a show of discomfort when you break the status quo like by breaking the normie barrier to invoke a real discussion. it's like in a [video game] when you accidentally talk to somebody twice and they give you the exact lines word for word once more.
?
Anonymous, "Are you an NPC?", 4chan (July 7, 2016)
[9]
[13]
[a]
The design of the NPC meme character is based on
Wojak
,
[9]
a meme created in
Microsoft Paint
in 2010.
[14]
Unlike the NPC meme, the Wojak meme (also known as Feels Guy
[11]
) appeared first on the image hosting website vichan and has mainly been used for expression of feelings, most often melancholy or regret.
[14]
The NPC meme became popular in
far-right
internet spaces, being used to describe those who do not share
conservative
political views?particularly
liberals
.
[2]
[15]
[3]
The New York Times
called it a "collective
mascot
for the far-right commenters online."
[2]
During the weeks leading up to the
2018 midterm elections
in the United States, the NPC meme gained remarkable attention, with relatively high media coverage, publication of new NPC memes online, and several noticeable events. A large number of animated videos based on the NPC meme were uploaded to YouTube in the second half of October 2018,
[16]
and Google searches for the term "NPC Wojak" peaked around the same time.
[9]
In October 2018, a large number of
Twitter
accounts were created which presented themselves as NPCs, and more than 1,500 such accounts were subsequently banned by Twitter.
[11]
In November, the far-right
InfoWars
held a competition promoting the creation of NPC memes. The winning entry, by a Twitter user named "Carpe Donktum", was later retweeted by then-
U.S. President
Donald Trump
on February 2019 before it was removed for copyright infringement.
[10]
[17]
The re-election campaign for then-
Iowa
Representative
Steve King
also tweeted an NPC meme around the same time, aimed at the sitting
Democratic
members of
Congress
.
[18]
The number of searches for the search term "NPC Wojak" remained relatively constant during 2019, though at a level significantly lower than its peak from early October through mid November 2018.
[9]
Although the NPC meme was created six years after the Wojak meme, the NPC meme rapidly gained attention in comparison with the Wojak meme. On the website of the meme community
Know Your Meme
, the NPC meme had 858,000 page views, 33 videos, 597 images and 749 comments as of December 31, 2019.
[9]
This can be compared to the Wojak meme on which NPC is based, which had 787,000 page views, 6 videos, 332 images and 47 comments as of December 31, 2019.
[14]
In 2022, a variation of the NPC meme called "I Support The Current Thing" was popularized. According to
Slate
, the meme was mainly used by the political right to mock liberals for "perceived conformism, frivolousness, and distractibility" who "blindly flit from news story to news story, issue to issue, changing their Facebook profile pics and Twitter display names to 'support' whatever 'Current Thing' dominates news and commentary. The current thing has been
the Russian invasion of Ukraine
,
essential workers
, the
Women's March
,
Notre Dame
after it
caught on fire
, etc." In March 2022,
Elon Musk
tweeted a version of the meme.
[19]
Characteristics
In appearance, the NPC character is
grey
in colour, and usually short in stature
[20]
simple in its design,
[5]
with an expressionless face,
[3]
[21]
a triangular nose
[2]
and a blank stare.
[9]
The shape of the NPC face resembles that of Wojak, and is drawn crudely.
[2]
The initial
NPC
refers to
non-player character
, a term used in video-games for characters the player cannot control.
[21]
[22]
A non-player character typically interacts with the player through simple and repetitive actions, such as saying the same sentence each time the player approaches the NPC. For example: "Greetings!" or "What's the gossip guys?". As such, NPCs have "no internality, agency, or capacity for critical thought",
[13]
they rely on scripted lines
[2]
[23]
and do not think for themselves.
[3]
Following the analogy of non-player characters, the NPC meme is used to mock individuals the maker perceives as lacking introspection, individual opinions, or critical thinking, generally political opponents. Due to NPC memes' greater popularity among the political right, the NPC is generally portrayed as parroting left-wing positions, but both left- and right-wing NPC variants exist.
[1]
[5]
[13]
[21]
Media coverage
The NPC meme has been featured in major and minor news outlets alike, with frequent coverage during the peak of the NPCs popularity in fall 2018. According to
The Verge
, a few articles (including one by
The New York Times
published on October 16, 2018) sparked a "domino effect" and led to increased spread of the meme on Twitter, YouTube and through articles.
[1]
Notable events
In October 2018, users of
r/The_Donald
, a large subreddit that supported United States President
Donald Trump
,
[24]
coordinated in creating accounts presented as NPCs on the microblogging and social networking service Twitter.
[11]
According to
The Week
, the accounts spread "bland, politically correct messages intended to mimic and provoke liberal pronouncements".
[5]
Following the mass creation of NPC Twitter accounts, the term "NPC" was used over 30,000 times on Twitter in a time span of 24 hours.
[11]
Twitter responded to the event by banning more than 1,500 of its users presenting themselves as NPCs.
[5]
The created accounts typically used profile pictures of NPC with slight modifications, such as colorful hair or partially covering masks.
[2]
According to one or more anonymous sources quoted by
The Week
and
The New York Times
, the users were banned for violating a term of use by Twitter against "intentionally misleading election-related content", ahead of the United States 2018 midterm election.
[2]
[5]
The claim that NPC memes were used to spread misinformation about the 2018 United States midterm election was also reported by other news agencies, including
The Verge
,
[1]
BBC
[11]
and
The Independent
.
[3]
According to the BBC, the decision by Twitter to remove NPC accounts has upset many conservatives.
[11]
Billboard defacing
In 2019, the NPC meme was used in the modification of two existing billboards in the United States.
[16]
On January 13, 2019, the conservative street artist group
The Faction
modified a billboard featuring American comedian
Bill Maher
in
West Hollywood
using the NPC meme.
[23]
On February 19, 2019, a similar modification was performed on a billboard featuring English comedian
John Oliver
in
Los Angeles
, in which the face of Oliver was replaced by that of an NPC, and text "
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
" was replaced by "
The
Orange Man Bad
Show with John Oliver
".
[25]
The modified billboard also included the text "*MATRIX APPROVED NPC PROGRAMMING" and a
speech balloon
from the NPC containing words such as "
CHEETOH
" [
sic
] and "
DRUMPH
" with random symbols in green text, resembling
the text shown in
The Matrix
. According to
The Daily Dot
, the modification of the billboard featuring Oliver, also credited to
The Faction
, was an attempt to counteract the media's supposed "
Trump derangement syndrome
".
[16]
2023 stabbing
On March 22, 2023, in
Mill Creek, Washington
, an 11-year-old boy was reportedly stabbed after ironically calling a 29-year-old man an NPC at a
Dollar Tree
.
[26]
See also
Notes
- ^
The text was accompanied by a drawing from a
Frog and Toad
story concerning a
to-do list
, with below it "1.
Wake Up
".
References
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
"The NPC meme went viral when the media gave it oxygen - The Verge"
.
www.theverge.com
.
Vox Media
. October 23, 2018.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 23,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
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h
i
j
Kevin Roose (October 16, 2018).
"What Is NPC, the Pro-Trump Internet's New Favorite Insult?"
.
The New York Times
.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 23,
2019
.
NPC Wojak... has become a kind of collective mascot for the far-right commenters online.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"What is an NPC? The liberal-bashing meme sweeping social media ahead of the US midterms | The Independent"
.
www.independent.co.uk
. Independent Digital News & Media Ltd. October 17, 2018.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 23,
2019
.
- ^
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.
observer.com
. Joseph Meyer. November 5, 2018.
Archived
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.
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Archived
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December 26,
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.
- ^
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.
Distractify.com
.
- ^
Cowen, Trace William (July 19, 2023).
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.
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.
- ^
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.
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h
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.
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Archived
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August 19,
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- ^
a
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.
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. Retrieved
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a
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.
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Archived
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December 26,
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.
- ^
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.
Distractify
. Retrieved
2023-01-25
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"How The 'NPC' Meme Tries To Dehumanize 'SJWs'
"
.
kotaku.com
. G/O Media. October 5, 2018.
Archived
from the original on January 12, 2021
. Retrieved
December 24,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
c
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.
Know Your Meme
. January 7, 2018.
Archived
from the original on January 12, 2021
. Retrieved
December 31,
2019
.
- ^
Connell Sanders, Sarah (May 31, 2023).
"Only a Game, Right?"
.
Worcester Magazine
. Retrieved
October 9,
2023
.
NPC... became popular in far-right spaces like 4chan.
- ^
a
b
c
Gilmour, David (February 19, 2019).
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.
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.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 27,
2019
.
- ^
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.
Insider
. Retrieved
8 January
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.
- ^
Jones, Sarah (23 January 2020).
"Steve King Is Building a Dank Fascist Meme Stash"
.
New York
. Retrieved
30 May
2022
.
- ^
Read, Max (2022-05-09).
"What Is "The Current Thing"?"
.
Slate
. Retrieved
2022-05-13
.
- ^
"Twitter has released more than 10 million tweets linked to election interference"
.
MIT Technology Review
. October 17, 2018.
Archived
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. Retrieved
December 30,
2019
.
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a
b
c
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,
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Bond, Paul (January 13, 2019).
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.
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.
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External links