What is Crying Wojak?

Crying Wojak is a Wojak variation drawn with clenched teeth, red eyes, and blue tears streaming down his face, used online as a reaction image for sadness, anger, or frustration.

Where did Crying Wojak come from?

It first appeared in an unsourced 4chan Wojak comic from 2014 that showed the Wojak character growing more devastated every year, with the tearful future panel becoming the Crying Wojak image.

What does Crying Wojak mean?

The face is usually used to mock someone the poster thinks is getting too upset about an issue, with calm or smug Wojaks held up as the ideal by contrast.

How do you use Crying Wojak?

People pair the face with a first-person complaint they are mocking, or place it opposite a smug or Chad-style counterpart to stage a defeat-versus-confidence joke.

Is Crying Wojak still popular?

It is a classic Wojak template that stayed in rotation as new Wojak subtypes like NPC, Soyjak, Chudjak, and Zoomer each picked up their own crying versions.

Who created Crying Wojak?

The original artist is unknown; the earliest known image is an unsourced 4chan Wojak comic from 2014 whose poster and thread have been lost.

What is the 'IT'S NOT FAIR' caption?

Early 4chan posts often paired the face with the screamed line 'IT'S NOT FAAAAAIIIIIIR' to mock people accused of whining.

What is the Crying Wojak Mask?

The Crying Wojak Mask appeared around 2016 and shows the sad Wojak wearing a smiling or Chad-face mask over his tears, used in posts about mental health and hiding how you really feel online.

Pink Wojak is an exaggerated Crying Wojak edit, often drawn with blood in place of the usual blue tears.

What is Crying Soyjak?

Crying Soyjak is the Soyjak variant of the Crying Wojak edit and was one of the main exploitable images on 4chan's /qa/ board.

What is Crying Wojak vs. Chad?

It is a two-panel template from late 2019 that contrasts a tearful Wojak with a confident Chad to poke fun at insecurity and masculinity.

Is Crying Wojak the same as the 2012 'Crying Wojak'?

No. An older 2012 drawing also called Crying Wojak shows the Feels Guy with his head buried in his hands and predates the tears-and-teeth version, which is a separate image.

What does 'Wojak' mean?

Wojak is Polish for 'soldier,' though online it refers to the family of simple drawings used to react to things or represent stereotypes.

Crying Wojak

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Published July 25, 2026

Crying Wojak is a variation of the Wojak face drawn with clenched teeth, red eyes, and blue tears streaming down. It came out of a 2014 4chan comic and became a go-to reaction image on 4chan and later Reddit for mocking anyone the poster thought was overreacting.

wojak reaction memes 4chan memes frustration memes ms paint memes

Overview

Crying Wojak, also called Frustrated Wojak or Angry Crying Wojak, is an edit of the bald Wojak character where he is drawn mid-sob with teeth bared, a furrowed brow, and blue tears running down his cheeks1. The original neutral Wojak face gets a grimacing mouth, extra frown lines, reddened eyes, and streams of tears and snot pouring from his nose1. People post it to mock someone they think is getting too upset over politics, fandoms, or life in general, and to hold up a calm counterpart as the ideal1.

The drawing keeps the same crude MS Paint look as the rest of the Wojak family, which is part of why it reads so quickly at thumbnail size3. Because the base face is so recognizable, artists have taken the crying edit and layered it onto every Wojak subtype, giving each one its own tearful version4. That flexibility is a big reason Crying Wojak turned into a template rather than a one-off image.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

4chan (viral spread on Reddit and Twitter)

Date

2014

The earliest known Frustrated Wojak comes from an unsourced Wojak comic that circulated on 4chan in 2014, showing the character's face growing more devastated year after year4. The final panel, set in the future, gives him clenched teeth, red eyes, and tears and snot dripping from his face, and it is that panel that later became the Crying Wojak we know3. The original poster and thread have been lost, but Google search interest in the term started climbing that same year3.

There is an older, separate drawing also labeled 'Crying Wojak' from around 2012, showing the Feels Guy with his head buried in his hands. It predates the tears-and-teeth version but is a different image entirely4.

How It Spread

The Frustrated Wojak spread through 4chan's boards captioned with the screamed line 'IT'S NOT FAAAAAIIIIIIR,' aimed at anyone the poster thought was whining4. One of its earliest recurring uses paired it with Smug Pepe in fan drawings known as Pepe x Wojak, with the smug frog cast as the winner and the tearful Wojak as the defeated foil1. The pairing really picked up steam around 2016, often tied to Donald Trump content and that year's US election cycle3.

From 4chan the crying face traveled to Reddit, Twitter, and general meme sites as a reaction image1. Because the crying edit could be dropped onto any Wojak subtype, the format multiplied fast: NPC Wojak, Soyjak, Chudjak, Poljak, and Zoomer Wojak all picked up their own crying versions1. The Crying Soyjak in particular was one of the main exploitables on 4chan's /qa/ board4.

A related variation called the Crying Wojak Mask appeared around 2016, showing the sad Wojak wearing a smiling or Chad-face mask over his tears, and it took hold in posts about mental health and pretending to be fine online1. In late 2019, the Crying Wojak vs. Chad two-panel template appeared, pitting a tearful Wojak against a confident Chad to poke at insecurity and masculinity5.

How to Use This Meme

Users typically drop the Crying Wojak face into a single or two-panel image to react to a situation the poster thinks is being blown out of proportion. A common convention is captioning the face with a first-person complaint the poster is mocking, so the reader understands the 'crying' person is the target of the joke rather than the poster1. Another common setup pairs Crying Wojak with a calm counterpart, often Smug Pepe or a Chad Wojak, to stage a defeat-versus-confidence contrast5. Anyone editing their own version usually keeps the blue tears, red eyes, and clenched teeth as the anchor features, then swaps in different hair, glasses, or a mask to signal a specific group being mocked1.

Cultural Impact

The Wojak family, Crying Wojak included, hit mainstream awareness through explainer coverage aimed at people outside 4chan. Lifehacker ran an 'Out of Touch Adults' Guide' describing the crying variant as 'a wojak in tears' who 'represents someone who isn't getting their way,' pitched at parents trying to keep up with kid internet culture2. The Daily Dot cataloged it as one of the core Wojak types worth documenting alongside NPC, Doomer, and Chad1.