The Narwhal Bacons at Midnight — Narwhal figurine with bacon flying past a clock showing midnight

The Narwhal Bacons at Midnight

2009catchphraseclassic

Published October 2, 2026

In August 2009, a Redditor jokingly proposed 'The Narwhal Bacons at Midnight' as a secret phrase for Redditors to recognize each other in public1. The one-off comment got 661 upvotes and turned into a years-long inside joke that fueled rage comics, bacon sculptures, and cross-forum confusion about what the phrase actually meant2.

subreddit origin memes catchphrase memes late 2000s memes reddit memes inside joke memes

Overview

The phrase works as a password style gag: one Redditor says 'The narwhal bacons at midnight,' and if the other person is on Reddit, they're supposed to recognize it and respond in kind1. There is no deeper meaning. Urban Dictionary bluntly defines it as a meme with 'no defined meaning apart from trying to make you sound cool'8, which is pretty much the point. The combination of two very Reddit obsessions, narwhals and bacon, is what sold it to the site's early user base3.

After the comment blew up, the phrase showed up in fanart, rage comics, and casual thread references3. A chunk of its lifespan was spent on Redditors confusing outsiders with it, then explaining the joke in follow-up posts6. The 'narwhal bacon' pairing also inspired physical tributes, including an actual sculpture made from bacon and chicken4 and a cooking video of the same build5.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit
Creator
FreakinWolfy
Date
2009

On August 7th, 2009, Redditor Saydrah posted an AskReddit thread from the Denver International Airport asking whether any fellow Redditors were nearby using the free wifi1. In the comments, user FreakinWolfy replied that 'The narwhal bacons at midnight' was now the official phrase to identify yourself as a Redditor1. That reply hit 661 points and became the top comment on the thread3.

The pairing wasn't random. Narwhals were already a running Reddit obsession thanks to Weebl's 2009 'Narwhals' animated song, which crowned them as 'so awesome' and spread widely online7. Bacon was Reddit's other mascot food of the era, so stapling the two together into a spy-movie passphrase landed instantly with the audience3.

How It Spread

The same day FreakinWolfy posted the comment, a /r/bestof submission titled 'The narwhal bacons at midnight' linked back to it and pulled in another 233 upvotes, pushing the phrase to a wider Reddit audience2. By late August 2009, the joke had jumped from text to food: a Redditor built a narwhal sculpture out of bacon and chicken and posted it to /r/pics4. On September 29th, 2009, Redditor Karmanaut uploaded a YouTube video of a bacon narwhal being cooked, cementing the physical gag5.

The phrase stuck around long enough to become genuinely confusing to newer users. On July 3rd, 2011, a rage comic on /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu captured a Redditor's frustration at not understanding the joke and racked up 1,092 upvotes6. From there it leaked outside Reddit: it surfaced in a Bungie forum thread on July 5th, 20119, and on the MMO Champion forums on July 10th10. Urban Dictionary added its own entry mocking users who deployed the line to seem cool8.

Timeline

2009-02-20

Weebl releases the 'Narwhals' animated music video, priming Reddit on narwhal fandom[7].

2009-08-07

Saydrah posts the Denver Airport AskReddit thread; FreakinWolfy coins 'The narwhal bacons at midnight' in a reply[1].

2009-08-07

A /r/bestof post links to the comment and earns 233 upvotes, broadening its reach[2].

2009-08-28

A bacon and chicken narwhal sculpture is posted to /r/pics[4].

2009-09-29

Redditor Karmanaut uploads a YouTube video of cooking a bacon narwhal[5].

2011-07-03

A rage comic on /r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu about not getting the joke hits 1,092 upvotes[6].

2011-07-05

The phrase appears in a Bungie forum thread[9].

2011-07-10

The phrase shows up on the MMO Champion forums[10].

Frequently Asked Questions