ISIS-chan is a moe anthropomorphized character of the Islamic State created on 2channel to disrupt the SEO profile of ISIS-related image searches with anime art.

Where did ISIS-chan come from?

She originated in a thread on 2channel's /news4vip/ board on January 24, 2015, titled 'Let's make ISIS into a moe girl and send it to them!'.

What does ISIS-chan mean?

The character was designed as counter-propaganda, modeled on the earlier Hinomoto Oniko project, so anime illustrations would dominate search results for 'ISIS' instead of the group's own imagery.

How do you use ISIS-chan?

Illustrators typically draw her using the anchor-designated specs (short black hair, brown skin, green eyes, black uniform, muskmelon in hand) and post under hashtags like #ISIS_chan or #ISISちゃん.

Is ISIS-chan still popular?

The campaign was tied to the January 2015 moment and most activity clustered in those first weeks on 2channel, Twitter and 4chan; it is not an active campaign today.

ISIS-chan

2015anthropomorphized characterdead

Published November 11, 2026

ISIS-chan is a moe anthropomorphized character created on 2channel's /news4vip/ board on January 24, 2015, as a Google-bombing effort to flood image search results for 'ISIS' with anime illustrations instead of terrorist propaganda. The anchor-designation thread hit 1,000 replies within three hours, and inside 24 hours the hashtag #ISIS_chan logged 9,000 Twitter mentions as the project reached 4chan and reddit.

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Overview

The character's specifications were settled through anchor designation, a 2channel lottery game where traits are locked in by whoever posts at pre-chosen reply numbers1. That process produced ISIS-chan's profile: a 19-year-old, 150cm tall, with short black hair, brown skin, green eyes, a black ISIS-style uniform and a fondness for Japanese muskmelon3. Illustrators then drew anime-style art of this character, frequently pairing her with the signature muskmelon, and uploaded the results under hashtags designed to hit the same search terms as actual ISIS propaganda1.

To keep the effort from backfiring, 2channel posters wrote guidelines asking artists to avoid directly mocking Islam, Muslim communities or the hostages then held by the group3. The ISIS-chan Twitter account also drew a firm line between the 2channel campaign and a separate Tumblr blog by user kdaash, who had been posting unrelated anime drawings tagged #ISIS chan since December 2014 as apparent fan art for the group itself2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

2channel /news4vip/ (origin) / Twitter (viral spread)

Creator

Anonymous 2channel users

Date

2015

The thread titled 'Let's make ISIS into a moe girl and send it to them!' (translated from Japanese) went up on 2channel's /news4vip/ board on January 24, 2015, with the stated goal of Google-bombing image search results for 'ISIS' with anime art1. The original poster opened anchor designation to randomize the character's traits, and replies hit 1,000 within three hours3. Anonymous illustrators began posting ISIS-chan drawings in the same thread the same day1.

The effort borrowed the counter-propaganda playbook of the 2010 Hinomoto Oniko campaign, which did the same thing for anti-Japan slurs3. An Imgur album compiled early fan art as submissions kept arriving6.

How It Spread

The Japanese hashtag #ISISイラスト化祭り (ISIS Illustration Festival) and its partner #ISIS_chan started circulating on Twitter the day the 2channel thread went up, and #ISIS_chan logged 9,000 mentions in its first 24 hours3. Supporters opened a dedicated livedoor blog9 and a Twitter account at @isisvipper to coordinate the operation and index artwork3.

By January 25, English-language imageboards picked up the campaign: 4chan's /int/ hosted an 'ISIS chan was moe' thread5 and /pol/ ran its own version6. A reddit post in r/japan introduced the project to English speakers4, and German imageboard Krautchan carried it to its /jp/ board7. KYM reported the Google query 'ISIS_chan' already returned about 18,200 results by 5 p.m. EST on January 253.

On January 29, the official ISIS-chan account publicly disavowed Tumblr user kdaash's pre-existing drawings, telling followers not to confuse fan art for the terror group with 2channel's counter-campaign2.

Timeline

2014-12

Tumblr user kdaash begins posting unrelated anime illustrations tagged #ISIS chan as apparent fan art for the group[2].

2015-01-24

2channel /news4vip/ thread 'Let's make ISIS into a moe girl' goes up and hits 1,000 replies within three hours[1].

2015-01-24

Hashtag #ISIS_chan hits 9,000 Twitter mentions inside 24 hours[3].

2015-01-25

Campaign reaches 4chan /int/[5] and /pol/[6], reddit's r/japan[4] and German imageboard Krautchan[7].

2015-01-29

Official ISIS-chan Twitter account disavows Tumblr user kdaash's unrelated drawings[2].