Hog Rider is a Clash of Clans troop, drawn as a hammer-wielding Black man with a goatee riding a pig, added to the mobile game in March 2013. The character became an ironic meme after Supercell's 2015 TV ad went viral.

Where did Hog Rider come from?

Supercell introduced the Hog Rider as a Clash of Clans troop on March 12, 2013, and the meme side of the character started with the 'Ride of the Hog Riders' trailer posted to YouTube on May 11, 2015.

What does Hog Rider mean?

In the games, 'Hog Rider' names a fast melee troop that targets defenses. Online, 'HOG RIDER' is a caption pasted over clips of people riding pigs or over trailer edits of the character yelling his name.

How do you use Hog Rider?

Most Hog Rider edits remix the 'hog riders!' yell from the 2015 ad with bass boost or music swaps, or compare the troop to Minecraft's pig jockey mob in a side-by-side image.

Is Hog Rider still popular?

The Clash Royale card drew heavy complaints on r/ClashRoyale in late 2021, with players asking whether it was balanced. The Hog Rider Copypasta was still picking up upvotes a year after yaillbro's December 2021 post.

Hog Rider

2013character memeclassic

Published November 2, 2026

Hog Rider is a Clash of Clans troop, portrayed as a hammer-wielding Black man riding a pig, added to the mobile game in March 2013. A 2015 Supercell TV ad where the character yells 'hog riders!' drew over 122 million YouTube views, and ironic edits took off on Instagram and YouTube through 2021. By late 2021, a copypasta about his one-track game strategy was circulating on r/copypasta.

mobile game memes catchphrase memes advertising memes copypasta memes gaming

Overview

Hog Rider memes mostly ride on the 2015 Supercell commercial, where a single rider leaps onto the battlefield screaming 'hog riders!' and summons more identical copies to charge with him1. Trailer edits bass-boost the audio or swap in different music for comedy7. A separate line of jokes compares him to the pig jockey mob in Minecraft, usually a side-by-side image showing the two as the same character6.

A third thread lives on r/ClashRoyale, where players complain the card is overused and needs a nerf9. The December 2021 'Hog Rider Copypasta' plays with the same frustration, writing in-character about chasing enemy towers at any cost8. KYM groups these together as a mix of ironic character memes aimed at the Clash of Clans fanbase4.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Clash of Clans (game character) / YouTube (viral spread)

Date

2013

Supercell added the Hog Rider troop to Clash of Clans on March 12, 20132. The character later joined the spinoff Clash Royale as a playable card on January 4, 201610. Supercell designed and published the troop, so the meme itself has no single fan creator; the earliest widely shared post featuring him came from the official Clash of Clans YouTube channel in May 20151.

How It Spread

On May 11, 2015, the official Clash of Clans YouTube channel posted an animated commercial where a lone Hog Rider leaps onto the battlefield yelling 'hog riders!' More identical riders answer the call and charge together. The ad passed 122 million views by 20211.

On October 3, 2020, Tenor user DestroyingRobot uploaded a 2016 GIF of a man climbing onto a pig and riding away, captioned 'HOG RIDER'5. Instagram ran with the clip in January 2021: lilmotherfigure added music for over 70,000 views, and realerstiffy's repost topped 199,000 views the same day3. In April 2021, illegalminecraft posted a side-by-side comparing the troop to Minecraft's pig jockey mob6. On May 13, 2021, YouTuber Los bartkos 2 uploaded a bass-boosted edit of the trailer where the Hog Rider yells a racial slur, which passed a million views7.

Late in 2021, r/ClashRoyale filled with complaints about Hog Rider decks being overpowered, including a November thread by Flavy50 that reached more than 980 upvotes9. On December 31, 2021, Redditor yaillbro posted the 'Hog Rider Copypasta' to r/copypasta, where it collected over 450 upvotes in roughly a year8.

Timeline

2013-03-12

Supercell adds the Hog Rider troop to Clash of Clans.

2015-05-11

The 'Ride of the Hog Riders' animated TV ad goes up on the Clash of Clans YouTube channel.

2016-01-04

The Hog Rider card is added to the spinoff game Clash Royale.

2020-10-03

Tenor user DestroyingRobot uploads the 'HOG RIDER' pig-riding GIF.