# NPC Wojak > NPC Wojak is a 2018 image-macro meme featuring a grey, emotionless Wojak variant designed to represent people perceived as lacking independent thought or an inner monologue. NPC Wojak is a grey, expressionless variant of the Wojak meme character, designed to represent people perceived as lacking independent thought or an inner monologue. The concept originated on 4chan's /v/ board in July 2016, but the distinctive grey-faced visual didn't appear until September 2018, when it exploded into one of the most politically charged memes of the Trump era[1]. After Twitter banned over 1,500 fake NPC accounts and major outlets like The New York Times covered the trend, NPC Wojak became a flashpoint in debates about online political discourse, dehumanization, and the media's role in amplifying niche internet culture[6]. ## Origin On July 7, 2016, an anonymous user on 4chan's /v/ (video games) board posted a thread titled "Are You an NPC?" that laid the conceptual groundwork[5]. The poster theorized that some people operate on autopilot, "autonomously follow group thinks and social trends," and compared them to video game NPCs who can only deliver scripted lines[2]. The post described these supposed NPCs as people who recycle the same "buzzwords and hackneyed arguments" and "make a show of discomfort when you break the status quo"[3]. This concept sat mostly dormant for two years. Then on September 5, 2018, several threads appeared on 4chan's /pol/ board discussing a Psychology Today article about people who don't experience an inner voice or internal monologue[7]. Commenters quickly linked the lack of inner speech to the NPC concept from two years earlier[1]. Two days later, on September 7, a grey-colored Wojak variation started showing up in these NPC-themed threads, giving the meme its now-iconic visual identity[5]. - **Platform:** 4chan (/v/ board for concept, /pol/ board for visual meme) - **Creator:** Unknown (anonymous 4chan users) - **Date:** 2016 (concept), 2018 (visual meme) ## Overview NPC Wojak takes the familiar Wojak face and strips it of all emotion. The character is drawn in flat grey with a blank stare, a triangular nose, and zero expressiveness, a deliberate contrast to the original Wojak's signature melancholy[6]. The name comes from "non-player character," the gaming term for computer-controlled figures who repeat scripted dialogue and follow predetermined paths[3]. The meme works as an insult: calling someone an NPC means they don't think for themselves, just parrot whatever talking points their social circle feeds them. Visually, the grey emptiness of NPC Wojak communicates this message instantly. Unlike other Wojak variants that express specific emotions, NPC Wojak's whole point is the absence of interior life[2]. ## How It Spread NPC Wojak broke out of 4chan almost immediately. On September 10, 2018, Twitter user @SpookyStirnman posted a comic showing a normal Wojak being "converted" into an NPC, captioned "All will be converted"[5]. The image spread quickly and set the template for how the meme would be used: a visual metaphor for ideological conformity swallowing individuality[4]. Within days, the meme triggered a backlash. On September 14, Twitter user @brightabyss accused people who "refer to living humans as being NPCs" of being fascist, drawing over 170 likes[5]. On September 15, more users called NPC a "dog whistle"[5]. Street artist Lushsux posted an NPC Wojak graffiti piece on Instagram on September 17 that pulled in over 16,500 likes[5]. Kotaku published one of the earliest media analyses on October 5, 2018, with an article titled "How the NPC Meme Tries to Dehumanize 'SJWs'"[2]. The piece argued the meme reduced political opponents to "objects, pawns, strawmen, tools." This drove an initial bump in search traffic[1]. But the real explosion came around October 14-16, when The New York Times covered the meme and Twitter simultaneously banned over 1,500 accounts using NPC Wojak profile pictures[1]. Google searches for "NPC" spiked, with "4chan" as the second most searched related term[1]. On October 17, 2018, InfoWars launched a $10,000 contest for the best NPC-themed meme[5]. The contest announcement hit 4chan's /pol/ board and drew over 300 replies in 24 hours[5]. ## How to Use NPC Wojak typically appears in a few common formats: **Basic insult format:** Replace any person or group you want to mock with the grey NPC Wojak face. The implication is that they lack original thought and just repeat scripted talking points. **Dialogue format:** Show NPC Wojak speaking in canned phrases that parody a particular viewpoint. Common captions mimic generic political slogans, popular opinions, or mainstream talking points presented as if they were pre-programmed responses[2]. **Code block format:** Present NPC Wojak alongside mock programming code (if/then statements) that "programs" their responses, reinforcing the idea that their beliefs are algorithmic rather than genuine[4]. **Conversion format:** Show a regular Wojak being turned into an NPC Wojak, implying that social pressure or media consumption transforms individuals into unthinking followers[5]. **"I Support The Current Thing" format:** Place NPC Wojak wearing multiple pins, badges, or symbols representing trending social causes to suggest performative rather than genuine engagement[6]. The meme works best as a reaction image or in multi-panel comics. Its visual simplicity makes it easy to edit and remix. ## Cultural Impact NPC Wojak hit a rare threshold where a meme from an anonymous imageboard directly influenced mainstream political coverage and platform policy. Twitter's decision to ban 1,500+ accounts was one of the earliest large-scale enforcement actions against a coordinated meme campaign[1]. The incident raised questions about where satire ends and election interference begins, since some NPC accounts spread false voting information ahead of the 2018 midterms[1]. The InfoWars NPC meme contest produced a winning entry by a creator known as "Carpe Donktum," who made a video edit based on the 1988 film *They Live*[4]. Then-President Donald Trump later retweeted a different Carpe Donktum video, and the Iowa re-election campaign for Representative Steve King tweeted an NPC meme targeting Democratic members of Congress[6]. These incidents marked one of the clearest examples of meme culture feeding directly into electoral politics. NPC Wojak also sparked academic interest. The meme became a case study in how internet communities use dehumanizing rhetoric to dismiss opposing viewpoints without engaging them[2]. As one analysis put it, the format made it "easier to imagine they steal elections, that the true and only voice of the people sounds like yours" by portraying political opponents as fundamentally artificial[4]. On Know Your Meme, NPC Wojak outpaced its parent meme in engagement: by the end of 2019, it had 858,000 page views, 597 images, and 749 comments compared to base Wojak's 787,000 views, 332 images, and 47 comments[6]. ## Fun Facts - The September 2018 NPC threads on /pol/ were triggered by a real Psychology Today article about inner speech research, which found some people never experience an internal monologue[7]. - NPC Wojak was used by both the political left and right in its early days, though media coverage focused almost exclusively on right-wing usage[1]. - Street artist Lushsux painted one of the first real-world NPC Wojak pieces on September 17, 2018, just ten days after the visual meme first appeared online[5]. - The term "NPC" as an insult for real people predates the meme by several years, with California's LessWrong community using it as early as 2010[6]. - Despite its online origins, NPC Wojak became one of the few memes directly referenced in a sitting U.S. congressman's re-election campaign material[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is NPC Wojak? NPC Wojak is a grey, expressionless version of the Wojak meme character used to represent people perceived as incapable of independent thought, comparing them to non-player characters in video games who follow scripted behavior[5]. ### Where did NPC Wojak come from? The concept originated on 4chan's /v/ board in July 2016 with a post titled "Are You an NPC?" The grey Wojak visual didn't appear until September 7, 2018, on 4chan's /pol/ board[5]. ### What does NPC Wojak mean? Calling someone an NPC means they don't think for themselves and just repeat mainstream opinions or talking points, like a video game character running on a script[2]. ### How do you use NPC Wojak? The meme is typically used as a reaction image, in multi-panel comics, or alongside mock programming code to imply that someone's opinions are pre-programmed rather than genuine[4]. ### Is NPC Wojak still popular? NPC Wojak peaked in October 2018, but the format still sees regular use. The 2022 "I Support The Current Thing" variant and TikTok's NPC streamer trend brought fresh waves of attention[6]. ### Why was NPC Wojak controversial? Critics argued it was fundamentally dehumanizing, reducing real people to objects without agency or consciousness. The coordinated Twitter campaign also spread false voting information before the 2018 midterms[1]. ### Why did Twitter ban NPC accounts? Twitter banned over 1,500 accounts using NPC Wojak profile pictures in October 2018 because some were spreading misleading election information, including false voting dates[1]. ### What is "I Support The Current Thing"? A 2022 variant showing NPC Wojak wearing pins for various trending causes, mocking people who shift their public support from issue to issue. Elon Musk shared a version of it[6]. ### What was the InfoWars NPC meme contest? On October 17, 2018, InfoWars offered $10,000 for the best NPC-themed meme. The winning entry, a *They Live* video edit by Carpe Donktum, was later connected to content retweeted by Donald Trump[5]. ### Did NPC Wojak influence real politics? Yes. The meme was referenced in Iowa Rep. Steve King's re-election campaign, and the InfoWars contest winner Carpe Donktum later had content retweeted by President Trump[6]. ### What is the connection between NPC Wojak and inner monologue research? The September 2018 revival was sparked by 4chan users sharing a Psychology Today article about inner speech, which found significant individual variation in whether people experience an internal voice[7]. ### How is NPC Wojak different from regular Wojak? While standard Wojak expresses emotions like sadness or regret, NPC Wojak is deliberately stripped of all expression. The grey coloring and blank face represent a total absence of inner life[4]. ## References 1. [Thread Reader App]() 2. [The NPC meme went viral when the media gave it oxygen | The Verge]() 3. [How The 'NPC' Meme Tries To Dehumanize 'SJWs' - Kotaku]() 4. [NPC Wojak - Know Your Meme]() 5. [NPC (meme)]() 6. [NPC (meme) – Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre]() 7. [NPC meaning: How a universal game design concept became an alt-right insult]() 8. [npc wojak / "high agency" - by Aidan Walker]() 9. [/pol/ - Politically Incorrect » Thread #184714010 » Study finds most people have no inner-voice pt4]() 10. [/pol/ - Politically Incorrect » Thread #184708232 » Study finds most people have no inner-voice]() 11. [/pol/ - Politically Incorrect » Thread #184701729 » Most People don't have inner voices]() 12. [/pol/ - Politically Incorrect » Thread #184693187 » Some people don't have inner voices]() 13. [NPC (meme) explained]() 14. [NPC Wojak | Meme Reference]() 15. [What Does the NPC Wojak Meme Mean? (2026 Guide)]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/npc-wojak Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library