# Skinwalker Skinwalker is a shape-shifting figure from Navajo folklore that became a fixture of internet horror memes, first through 4chan greentexts and the /r/skinwalkers subreddit in the early 2010s, then through iFunny and TikTok edits. The format hit its peak in late 2021 with Patrick Bateman 'Staring Animals' edits about spotting a skinwalker disguised as a Sonic drive-in employee. ## Overview Skinwalker memes take the shape-shifting figure from Navajo folklore and drop it into paranoid greentexts and TikTok skits. Urban Dictionary describes the creature as something that can change its physical form and voice to lure prey, and skinwalker posts online keep that 'the thing in front of you is wearing a person's shape' beat as the whole punchline[2]. The template is a stock horror setup, a walk in the woods or a late-night drive, that flips when the narrator realizes the deer, friend, or fast-food employee is imitating a human slightly wrong. First-person encounter stories on the /r/skinwalkers subreddit and on 4chan's /x/ and /k/ boards use the same beat again and again, and the humor comes from staging the reveal in absurd settings[1]. ## How It Spread Encounter greentexts on 4chan's /x/ and /k/ boards did the early meme lift, with humorous posts about anons stalked by things wearing their friends' faces being reposted to Reddit through 2016 and 2017. One August 20th, 2016 repost by user ghostberg pulled over 460 upvotes on /r/4chan[1]. iFunny picked the format up in early 2020, and on February 3rd, 2020, user Tezeta posted a 'federal agents outside my house' edit swapping in a skinwalker that pulled around 2,100 smiles[3]. TikTok caught on later that year: creator @that1cowboy posted a skit on October 3rd, 2020 that racked up roughly 1.6 million likes, and /r/skinwalkers itself crossed 100,000 subscribers by November 2021[1]. The format's peak came on October 11th, 2021, when iFunny user Heretias posted a Patrick Bateman 'Staring Animals' edit captioned about spotting a skinwalker disguised as a Sonic drive-in employee. The post kicked off a wave of copies on iFunny and TikTok, and by early November 2021 the hashtag #skinwalker had crossed 689 million views on the app[3]. ## How to Use Posts typically open with an ordinary scene, a hike, a night shift, or a fast-food drive-through, then let the narrator slowly notice that a friend, deer, or worker in front of them is imitating a human wrong. A common convention is that the imitation gets a small detail off: the wrong voice through a wall, the wrong number of teeth, or a body moving in a way it shouldn't. The joke usually lands when the horror storytelling is played straight and the twist arrives in an absurd setting like a Sonic parking lot. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Skinwalker? A Navajo shape-shifting figure repurposed as a meme in greentexts, iFunny edits, and TikTok skits where the punchline is that a person or animal isn't really human[2]. ### Where did Skinwalker come from? The /r/skinwalkers subreddit, launched May 5th, 2013, plus 4chan encounter greentexts on /x/ and /k/ formed the early online base for the meme[1]. ### What does Skinwalker mean? In Navajo folklore, a witch that can turn into or possess an animal; online, it points to something that copies a human's voice or shape to lure prey[2]. ### How do you use Skinwalker? Most posts pair a straight horror scenario with an absurd twist, such as a narrator noticing that a friend, animal, or worker in front of them is imitating a human slightly wrong[1]. ### Is Skinwalker still popular? The trend peaked in late 2021, and while the /r/skinwalkers subreddit still gets encounter posts, the format is past its main viral moment[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.reddit.com/r/skinwalkers/]() 2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Skinwalker]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skinwalker]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/skinwalker Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library