Even In The Fog Of War A Tank Is Still Visible

2023Catchphrase / copypastaactive

Also known as: Fog of War Tank · Fog of War Comment

"Even In the Fog Of War, A Tank Is Still Visible" is a catchphrase and copypasta that went viral in late 2023 as a creative insult comparing an overweight or unattractive person to a military tank that can't be hidden even through visual obstruction. The phrase originated as an Instagram comment by user draganthompson1 and spread across X (Twitter), Reddit, and Instagram through 2024 and 2025, becoming a widely copied roast format.

Overview

The phrase works as a layered insult that borrows military and gaming terminology. "Fog of war" is a concept from strategy games (and real military doctrine) describing the limited visibility a player has of the battlefield1. The joke flips this: even when visual information is obscured, the person in question is so large they're still clearly identifiable, like a tank on a battlefield. It's typically deployed in response to blurry photos, obscured profile pictures, or reflections where someone's appearance is still discernible despite poor image quality2.

The format sits alongside similar body-shaming catchphrases like "The Fridge Protects the Snacks," where the humor comes from an elaborate metaphor used to deliver a blunt observation2.

On November 23, 2023, X user @McNasty shared a two-image post2. The first image showed a dating app notification where a woman had liked the user's profile. Her profile picture was blurry but appeared to show an overweight woman. The second image was a screenshot of a comment left by Instagram user draganthompson1 that read: "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible"2.

The screenshots were taken from the Instagram page autistic.browniez, though the exact date of the original Instagram post and draganthompson1's comment are unconfirmed2. @McNasty's X post picked up over 40,000 likes over the following two years2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (original comment), X/Twitter (viral spread)
Key People
draganthompson1, @McNasty
Date
2023

On November 23, 2023, X user @McNasty shared a two-image post2. The first image showed a dating app notification where a woman had liked the user's profile. Her profile picture was blurry but appeared to show an overweight woman. The second image was a screenshot of a comment left by Instagram user draganthompson1 that read: "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible"2.

The screenshots were taken from the Instagram page autistic.browniez, though the exact date of the original Instagram post and draganthompson1's comment are unconfirmed2. @McNasty's X post picked up over 40,000 likes over the following two years2.

How It Spread

The phrase circulated steadily through late 2023 and into 2024, with the original screenshot being reshared and the comment itself taking on a life as a standalone copypasta. People began dropping the line in comment sections whenever they spotted someone they perceived as overweight or unattractive in a photo, particularly in images with poor quality or obstructed views2.

Between September 30 and October 17, 2024, the meme hit Reddit hard. Variations of the original comment and screenshot landed on r/cursedcomments, r/rareinsults, and r/madlads, with each post pulling in thousands of upvotes2.

By early 2025, the phrase had evolved beyond its original dating app context. On April 2, 2025, Instagram user freememevan21 posted a meme applying the fog of war line to a shadow on window drapes that happened to resemble the shape of another meme, earning over 2,100 likes2. On April 23, Instagram user oogiebooogiewitdahoodie shared a screenshot from a video captioned "My friends and I making a list of what makes men feminine," where a woman's reflection was visible in the phone screen. The post description used the fog of war catchphrase to mock the reflection, pulling in over 21,500 likes2.

The biggest single viral moment came on May 27, 2025, when X user @weirddalle posted a similar screenshot with the fog of war comment attached. That post exploded to over 286,000 likes and 9,200 reposts in a single day2.

How to Use This Meme

The catchphrase typically follows a specific setup:

1

Find or encounter an image where someone's appearance is partially obscured (blurry photo, reflection, shadow, low resolution, fog, distance shot)

2

The person in the image should be visibly large or otherwise recognizable despite the obstruction

3

Drop "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible" as a comment or caption

Cultural Impact

The phrase drew its power from bridging gaming vocabulary with real-world social commentary. "Fog of war" is a well-established term in strategy and real-time strategy games, where portions of the map are hidden until a player's units explore them1. By framing a dating app photo as a battlefield reconnaissance scenario, the original comment created a metaphor that landed with both gamers and general internet users.

The insult spread particularly well on Reddit's insult-curation subreddits like r/rareinsults and r/cursedcomments, which function as galleries for creative put-downs2. The comment's appeal came from its wordplay rather than direct cruelty. It packages a body-shaming observation inside enough military/gaming abstraction to read as clever rather than blunt.

Fun Facts

The "fog of war" concept in gaming traces back to real military strategy terminology first popularized by Prussian military analyst Carl von Clausewitz in the 19th century1.

The original comment by draganthompson1 was posted on autistic.browniez's Instagram page, but the exact date of the comment has never been pinpointed2.

The single biggest viral post using the phrase hit 286,000 likes in just one day, posted by @weirddalle on X in May 20252.

The meme is structurally similar to "The Fridge Protects the Snacks," another elaborate metaphor used as a body-shaming punchline2.

Derivatives & Variations

Standalone copypasta:

The phrase broke free from the original screenshot and became a go-to comment dropped under any image featuring a large person in poor visibility conditions[2].

Object/shadow applications:

Users began applying the phrase to non-human subjects. One notable example used it for a shadow on drapes that resembled the Jakeing It meme silhouette[2].

Reflection memes:

A subcategory emerged around phone screen reflections where someone's face or body is unintentionally visible, paired with the fog of war caption[2].

Frequently Asked Questions

Even In The Fog Of War A Tank Is Still Visible

2023Catchphrase / copypastaactive

Also known as: Fog of War Tank · Fog of War Comment

"Even In the Fog Of War, A Tank Is Still Visible" is a catchphrase and copypasta that went viral in late 2023 as a creative insult comparing an overweight or unattractive person to a military tank that can't be hidden even through visual obstruction. The phrase originated as an Instagram comment by user draganthompson1 and spread across X (Twitter), Reddit, and Instagram through 2024 and 2025, becoming a widely copied roast format.

Overview

The phrase works as a layered insult that borrows military and gaming terminology. "Fog of war" is a concept from strategy games (and real military doctrine) describing the limited visibility a player has of the battlefield1. The joke flips this: even when visual information is obscured, the person in question is so large they're still clearly identifiable, like a tank on a battlefield. It's typically deployed in response to blurry photos, obscured profile pictures, or reflections where someone's appearance is still discernible despite poor image quality2.

The format sits alongside similar body-shaming catchphrases like "The Fridge Protects the Snacks," where the humor comes from an elaborate metaphor used to deliver a blunt observation2.

On November 23, 2023, X user @McNasty shared a two-image post2. The first image showed a dating app notification where a woman had liked the user's profile. Her profile picture was blurry but appeared to show an overweight woman. The second image was a screenshot of a comment left by Instagram user draganthompson1 that read: "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible"2.

The screenshots were taken from the Instagram page autistic.browniez, though the exact date of the original Instagram post and draganthompson1's comment are unconfirmed2. @McNasty's X post picked up over 40,000 likes over the following two years2.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram (original comment), X/Twitter (viral spread)
Key People
draganthompson1, @McNasty
Date
2023

On November 23, 2023, X user @McNasty shared a two-image post2. The first image showed a dating app notification where a woman had liked the user's profile. Her profile picture was blurry but appeared to show an overweight woman. The second image was a screenshot of a comment left by Instagram user draganthompson1 that read: "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible"2.

The screenshots were taken from the Instagram page autistic.browniez, though the exact date of the original Instagram post and draganthompson1's comment are unconfirmed2. @McNasty's X post picked up over 40,000 likes over the following two years2.

How It Spread

The phrase circulated steadily through late 2023 and into 2024, with the original screenshot being reshared and the comment itself taking on a life as a standalone copypasta. People began dropping the line in comment sections whenever they spotted someone they perceived as overweight or unattractive in a photo, particularly in images with poor quality or obstructed views2.

Between September 30 and October 17, 2024, the meme hit Reddit hard. Variations of the original comment and screenshot landed on r/cursedcomments, r/rareinsults, and r/madlads, with each post pulling in thousands of upvotes2.

By early 2025, the phrase had evolved beyond its original dating app context. On April 2, 2025, Instagram user freememevan21 posted a meme applying the fog of war line to a shadow on window drapes that happened to resemble the shape of another meme, earning over 2,100 likes2. On April 23, Instagram user oogiebooogiewitdahoodie shared a screenshot from a video captioned "My friends and I making a list of what makes men feminine," where a woman's reflection was visible in the phone screen. The post description used the fog of war catchphrase to mock the reflection, pulling in over 21,500 likes2.

The biggest single viral moment came on May 27, 2025, when X user @weirddalle posted a similar screenshot with the fog of war comment attached. That post exploded to over 286,000 likes and 9,200 reposts in a single day2.

How to Use This Meme

The catchphrase typically follows a specific setup:

1

Find or encounter an image where someone's appearance is partially obscured (blurry photo, reflection, shadow, low resolution, fog, distance shot)

2

The person in the image should be visibly large or otherwise recognizable despite the obstruction

3

Drop "Even in the fog of war, a tank is still visible" as a comment or caption

Cultural Impact

The phrase drew its power from bridging gaming vocabulary with real-world social commentary. "Fog of war" is a well-established term in strategy and real-time strategy games, where portions of the map are hidden until a player's units explore them1. By framing a dating app photo as a battlefield reconnaissance scenario, the original comment created a metaphor that landed with both gamers and general internet users.

The insult spread particularly well on Reddit's insult-curation subreddits like r/rareinsults and r/cursedcomments, which function as galleries for creative put-downs2. The comment's appeal came from its wordplay rather than direct cruelty. It packages a body-shaming observation inside enough military/gaming abstraction to read as clever rather than blunt.

Fun Facts

The "fog of war" concept in gaming traces back to real military strategy terminology first popularized by Prussian military analyst Carl von Clausewitz in the 19th century1.

The original comment by draganthompson1 was posted on autistic.browniez's Instagram page, but the exact date of the comment has never been pinpointed2.

The single biggest viral post using the phrase hit 286,000 likes in just one day, posted by @weirddalle on X in May 20252.

The meme is structurally similar to "The Fridge Protects the Snacks," another elaborate metaphor used as a body-shaming punchline2.

Derivatives & Variations

Standalone copypasta:

The phrase broke free from the original screenshot and became a go-to comment dropped under any image featuring a large person in poor visibility conditions[2].

Object/shadow applications:

Users began applying the phrase to non-human subjects. One notable example used it for a shadow on drapes that resembled the Jakeing It meme silhouette[2].

Reflection memes:

A subcategory emerged around phone screen reflections where someone's face or body is unintentionally visible, paired with the fog of war caption[2].

Frequently Asked Questions