*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personal, Kid — Shiba Inu holding a katana in its mouth with caption 'teleports behind you, Nothing personal, kid'

*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personal, Kid

2016copypastaclassic

Published September 30, 2026

*Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personal, Kid is a copypasta used to caption photos of young men wielding katanas or other bladed weapons, mocking fedora-and-anime edgelord posturing. The phrase fused a 2013 Coldsteel the Hedgeheg illustration with a classic anime speed-blitz trope, then caught on across Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit throughout late 2016.

copypasta memes otaku culture memes anime manga behavior mocking memes 2016 memes

Overview

The joke pairs two beats: a narrated action ('teleports behind you') and a smug one-liner ('nothing personal, kid'), stapled to a photo of someone posing with a katana or knife, often in a fedora or trench coat3. Fans intentionally misspell 'personal' as 'personnel' or 'personel' as part of the ironic tone. The reference points at anime speed-blitzes, notably the Rapid Movement technique from Dragon Ball8, with the bladed-weapon spin sometimes traced back to Bleach.

A parallel visual thread came from a May 2007 WikiHow article on surviving a public shooting, whose illustration titled 'a man surprising a shooter from behind' became a Photoshop target that fed the *Teleports Behind You* Nothing Personal, Kid format9.

Origin & Background

Platform
Facebook / Reddit (viral spread)
Date
2016

The 'nothing personal, kid' tagline traces to an illustration of Coldsteel the Hedgeheg, a parody OC character. Its earliest known Twitter posting dates to May 29, 2013, by user @Laxoongarfl1. The teleport-behind-you gag is older, catalogued on TV Tropes under 'No, I Am Behind You'2 with roots in the Dragon Ball Rapid Movement technique8.

The two threads merged into the katana-swinging neckbeard format in late 2016, first appearing prominently on the Facebook page 'Bork Bork You are Doing Me A Frighten'4.

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How It Spread

On September 30, 2016, the Facebook page 'Bork Bork You are Doing Me A Frighten' posted a Shiba Inu with a katana captioned with the phrase, gathering over 6,500 likes across three months4. On October 3, YouTuber Colin Harding uploaded a first-person parody titled 'teleports behind you nothing personal kid,' wielding a knife while wearing a fedora5.

Reddit's /r/justneckbeardthings became the main incubator. On November 21, 2016, redditor michaelhuman posted a katana photo with a 'How to tell if a boy is cute' caption that listed 'teleports behind you / kisses your neck,' pulling in more than 900 upvotes6. On December 21, redditor Kaitscralt posted 'teleports behind you my turn,' a man in a trench coat and fedora wielding a katana, which drew over 12,300 upvotes and 520 comments in two weeks7. Between those two, a December 9 4chan post also carried the caption 'teleports behind u'3.

Timeline

2007-05

WikiHow publishes 'How to Survive a School or Workplace Shooting,' whose illustrations later inspire 'teleports behind you' photoshops.

2013-05-29

Twitter user @Laxoongarfl posts an early Coldsteel the Hedgeheg illustration featuring the 'nothing personal, kid' line.

2016-09-30

Facebook page 'Bork Bork You are Doing Me A Frighten' posts a Shiba Inu with a katana captioned with the phrase, drawing 6,500+ likes.

2016-10-03

YouTuber Colin Harding uploads a knife-and-fedora parody video titled 'teleports behind you nothing personal kid.'

2016-11-21

Redditor michaelhuman posts a 'How to tell if a boy is cute' katana image to /r/justneckbeardthings.

2016-12-09

A 4chan post recaptions a photo of teenager Logan Clark with 'teleports behind u.'

2016-12-21

Redditor Kaitscralt posts 'teleports behind you my turn' to /r/justneckbeardthings, gathering 12,300+ upvotes and 520 comments.

How to Use This Meme

The template typically pairs a photo of someone posing with a bladed weapon, often in a fedora or trench coat, with the two-part caption narrating a supernatural sneak attack. Common convention includes misspelling 'personal' as 'personnel' or 'personel' and wrapping stage directions in asterisks, as in '*teleports behind you*.'

Frequently Asked Questions