# Ninja Hood Flip 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. ## Origin 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 scarf[3]. 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 years[1]. - **Platform:** Facebook (source image) / Imgur (optical illusion) / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** SaadZaheeer (Imgur) - **Date:** 2016 ## 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 face[1]. 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 see[2]. 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 detail[2]. Captions typically set up a flirty or seductive scenario for the upright image, then land the punchline on the shocked flipped image. ## How It Spread The cropped illusion drifted around Imgur and Reddit for a couple of years as a straight novelty repost[5]. 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 months[4]. 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 days[2]. 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 site[5]. ## How to Use 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 crop[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Ninja Hood Flip? Ninja Hood Flip is an optical illusion image of K-Pop rapper G-Dragon in a red scarf whose expression reads as flirtatious upright and shocked when rotated 180 degrees[1]. ### Where did Ninja Hood Flip come from? The original photo comes from a September 3, 2013 Facebook post promoting G-Dragon's Coup D'Etat album[3]. Imgur user SaadZaheeer cropped it into an optical illusion on June 17, 2016[1]. ### What does Ninja Hood Flip mean? There is no fixed meaning. The image is used as a two-part visual gag where flipping the picture switches G-Dragon's expression from alluring to shocked, setting up a punchline[2]. ### How do you use Ninja Hood Flip? Post the cropped image with a caption for the sly upright read, then a payoff line that lands when the viewer flips their phone and sees the shocked face[2]. ### Is Ninja Hood Flip still popular? The interactive meme format saw its biggest run on r/dankmemes, r/memes and r/MemeEconomy in February 2019 and is now a classic reaction template rather than a currently trending one[5]. ## References 1. [https://imgur.com/gallery/optical-illusion-g-dragon]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/dankmemes/]() 3. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coup_d%27%C3%89tat_(G-Dragon_album)]() 4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ninja-hood-flip]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/ninja-hood-flip Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library