LOL Guy is a rage comic face drawn with a wide open laughing mouth, used to signal uncontrollable laughter in the punchline panel of a comic.

Where did LOL Guy come from?

It traces back to 4chan's /b/ board on June 14, 2010, with the first rage comic version posted to Reddit's /r/f7u12 on June 18, 2010.

What does LOL Guy mean?

It works as a visual shorthand for 'LOL,' cluing readers that the character is doubled over laughing at the comic's setup.

How do you use LOL Guy?

Drop the face into the punchline panel of a rage comic after a setup gets ridiculous, or paste an untooned version onto a real photo for extra absurdity.

Is LOL Guy still popular?

Its peak was 2010 to 2013 alongside the wider rage comic wave, and today it reads as a classic of that early Reddit and 4chan era rather than a currently trending format.

LOL Guy

2010rage comic characterclassic

Published September 5, 2026

LOL Guy is a rage comic face used in reaction panels to signal laughter or general amusement. It first surfaced on 4chan's /b/ board in June 2010 and jumped to Reddit's rage comic subreddit days later1, where it settled in as one of the go-to laughter faces of the entire rage comic era, spawning merch, YouTube song videos, and fan tutorials over the next three years.

rage comics reaction memes facial expression memes ms paint memes 4chan memes

Overview

The character is drawn as a wide open laughing mouth with squinted eyes in simple MS Paint style line art3. Artists typically drop it into the final panel of a rage comic as the punchline reaction, sitting next to stablemates like Trollface, Me Gusta, and Forever Alone1. Some versions are 'untooned,' where creators photoshop the LOL Guy face onto their own photo for an even more absurd effect. The format keeps its crude look on purpose, matching the DIY tone of the 4chan and Reddit rage comic scene.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

4chan / Reddit (viral spread)

Date

2010

An email tip to Know Your Meme dates the earliest known posting of the LOL Guy face to 4chan's /b/ (random) board on June 14, 20103. Four days later, on June 18, 2010, a user submitted the first known LOL Guy rage comic to Reddit's /r/f7u12 subreddit1. That comic showed a customer trying to return a fake Pokemon cartridge at an EB Games store, and it pulled in more than 155 upvotes and 30 comments before the thread was archived.

How It Spread

By August 3, 2010, Joined Artists Forum admin Jae kicked off a rage comics thread with an untooned LOL Guy photoshop of himself, one of the earliest examples of the face pasted onto a real photo3. That November, a dedicated LOL Guy page went up on Meme Generator and collected over 3,000 user made items across the next three years4. Merchandise followed on December 26, 2011, when a LOL Guy sticker listing appeared on Zazzle and racked up more than 1,500 reviews within 13 months.

Video creators picked it up next. On February 18, 2012, YouTuber MikeHorak uploaded 'LOL Guy Song,' a clip of a dancing stick figure wearing the LOL Guy face set to 'Me Gustas Mucho' by La Banda De Los Pobres Musica De Viento2. A LOL Guy Facebook page went live on August 13, 2012, hitting around 900 likes in six months, and Etsy seller Madeleine Fair Juul listed a LOL Guy ring on November 4 that year. By January 19, 2013, DragonArt user Dawn had published a how to draw tutorial for the face1.

How to Use This Meme

To use LOL Guy in a comic, stick the face in the last panel where a character finally cracks up at whatever ridiculous situation the earlier panels set up. Works best when the buildup is petty or awkward, and often reads as the artist laughing at their own misfortune. For the untooned variant, paste the LOL Guy mouth and eyes over a real photo of yourself or a friend.