Ninja Hood Flip

2016reaction imageclassic

Published September 8, 2026

Ninja Hood Flip, also known as Hijab Flip, is an optical illusion image showing K-Pop rapper G-Dragon with his face wrapped in a red scarf. Rotate the picture 180 degrees and his expression shifts from a sly, half-lidded gaze to wide-eyed shock. First shared as a visual trick on Imgur in 2016, it grew into one of Reddit's go-to interactive reaction formats by early 2019.

optical illusion memeskpop memesreaction memesparticipatory video memesdelayed virality memes

Overview

The image is a cropped photo of G-Dragon's eyes peering out from a red scarf that covers everything except a narrow strip across his face1. Right-side up, his brow sits low and his eyes look half-lidded and flirtatious. Rotate the picture 180 degrees and the same eyes read as raised eyebrows over a wide, startled stare, as if he just walked in on something he wasn't supposed to see2.

The gag works because posts using the format ask the viewer to physically flip their phone or turn their head to trigger the second read. Two variants circulate the most: the original color crop and a blurred, black-and-white edit that pushes the illusion further by softening facial detail2. Captions typically set up a flirty or seductive scenario for the upright image, then land the punchline on the shocked flipped image.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (source image) / Imgur (optical illusion) / Reddit (viral spread)
Creator
SaadZaheeer
Date
2016

On September 3, 2013, G-Dragon's official Facebook page posted promotional shots for his solo album Coup D'Etat, including two images of the singer wrapped head-to-eyes in a long red scarf3. The photographs were straight album art and were not intended as a joke. The optical illusion angle was discovered almost three years later, when Imgur user SaadZaheeer cropped one of the shots down to just G-Dragon's eyes and scarf on June 17, 2016 and posted it as an upside-down trick where the expression swaps between alluring and shocked. That post picked up more than 3,200 points over the next two and a half years1.

How It Spread

The cropped illusion drifted around Imgur and Reddit for a couple of years as a straight novelty repost5. On September 20, 2018, Redditor VivaLaStubbs5 posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat containing the trick to r/funny, where it collected over 7,100 upvotes within five months4.

The format graduated from illusion to reaction meme in February 2019. On February 4, Redditor wonkawilliam dropped a blurred, black-and-white version on r/dankmemes and racked up more than 11,200 upvotes in four days2. Within a week, the same two-read layout was being remixed on r/memes and r/MemeEconomy, with the r/MemeEconomy crowd flagging it as an investment pick as posts using the flip stacked up upvotes across the site5.

How to Use This Meme

To make a Ninja Hood Flip, users typically pair the cropped G-Dragon image with a two-beat caption. The top text matches the sly, come-hither look of the upright picture. Flipping the phone reveals the shocked, wide-eyed read, which pays off the punchline. The black-and-white blurred edit is a common choice because it sells the second expression harder than the original color crop2.

Frequently Asked Questions

Ninja Hood Flip

2016reaction imageclassic

Published September 8, 2026

Ninja Hood Flip, also known as Hijab Flip, is an optical illusion image showing K-Pop rapper G-Dragon with his face wrapped in a red scarf. Rotate the picture 180 degrees and his expression shifts from a sly, half-lidded gaze to wide-eyed shock. First shared as a visual trick on Imgur in 2016, it grew into one of Reddit's go-to interactive reaction formats by early 2019.

optical illusion memes kpop memes reaction memes participatory video memes delayed virality memes

Overview

The image is a cropped photo of G-Dragon's eyes peering out from a red scarf that covers everything except a narrow strip across his face1. Right-side up, his brow sits low and his eyes look half-lidded and flirtatious. Rotate the picture 180 degrees and the same eyes read as raised eyebrows over a wide, startled stare, as if he just walked in on something he wasn't supposed to see2.

The gag works because posts using the format ask the viewer to physically flip their phone or turn their head to trigger the second read. Two variants circulate the most: the original color crop and a blurred, black-and-white edit that pushes the illusion further by softening facial detail2. Captions typically set up a flirty or seductive scenario for the upright image, then land the punchline on the shocked flipped image.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook (source image) / Imgur (optical illusion) / Reddit (viral spread)
Creator
SaadZaheeer
Date
2016

On September 3, 2013, G-Dragon's official Facebook page posted promotional shots for his solo album Coup D'Etat, including two images of the singer wrapped head-to-eyes in a long red scarf3. The photographs were straight album art and were not intended as a joke. The optical illusion angle was discovered almost three years later, when Imgur user SaadZaheeer cropped one of the shots down to just G-Dragon's eyes and scarf on June 17, 2016 and posted it as an upside-down trick where the expression swaps between alluring and shocked. That post picked up more than 3,200 points over the next two and a half years1.

How It Spread

The cropped illusion drifted around Imgur and Reddit for a couple of years as a straight novelty repost5. On September 20, 2018, Redditor VivaLaStubbs5 posted a screenshot of a WhatsApp chat containing the trick to r/funny, where it collected over 7,100 upvotes within five months4.

The format graduated from illusion to reaction meme in February 2019. On February 4, Redditor wonkawilliam dropped a blurred, black-and-white version on r/dankmemes and racked up more than 11,200 upvotes in four days2. Within a week, the same two-read layout was being remixed on r/memes and r/MemeEconomy, with the r/MemeEconomy crowd flagging it as an investment pick as posts using the flip stacked up upvotes across the site5.

How to Use This Meme

To make a Ninja Hood Flip, users typically pair the cropped G-Dragon image with a two-beat caption. The top text matches the sly, come-hither look of the upright picture. Flipping the phone reveals the shocked, wide-eyed read, which pays off the punchline. The black-and-white blurred edit is a common choice because it sells the second expression harder than the original color crop2.

Frequently Asked Questions