Vadering — Man extending hand toward friend floating with hands at throat in Force choke pose

Vadering

2013photo fadclassic

Published October 4, 2026

Vadering is a 2013 photo fad where one person pretends to Force-choke another who leaps into the air clutching their throat like one of Darth Vader's victims. Church staffer Rob Martinez kicked it off from a Texas Easter weekend photoshoot on March 29, 2013, and within a week outlets from Kotaku to Mashable were covering what turned into one of the fastest-rising photo trends of that spring.

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Overview

The gag works by lining up two people with careful camera timing. One performer stretches out a hand in Darth Vader's Force Grip pose while a partner jumps and grabs their own neck in mock suffocation1. Shot from a low angle looking up, the airborne person appears to hover at the end of an invisible choke, matching scenes from the original Star Wars films2.

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Vadering sits in a short lineage of 2013 action-pose photo trends that spun off the Japanese Dragon Ball Z 'Hadokening' fad, where friends staged Kamehameha blasts and uploaded the results1. Unlike Hadokening, which needs multiple participants and energy-beam choreography, Vadering only needs two people, which several outlets credited for its quick uptake3. The tone sits closer to goofy cosplay than serious Star Wars fan art, with most entries showing regular folks in street clothes rather than costume4.

Participants tagged entries with #Vadering on Twitter and Instagram during the format's active window in early April 20135. Entries ranged from solo office cubicle gags to group shots with multiple victims lined up like Death Star prisoners4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Instagram / Twitter (viral spread via Reddit and 9GAG)
Creator
Rob Martinez
Date
2013

Vadering traces to Rob Martinez, a staff member at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. On March 29, 2013, Martinez and coworkers tried to stage a Hadokening photo during Easter weekend preparations, which he posted to his Instagram account6. Later that day he posted two follow-up images staging fake Force-chokes to the same account, tagged them #Vadering, and asked followers to make their own7. The same day he shared a third Vadering image on Twitter, tagging the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A in hopes of a retweet8.

The format drew directly from the Hadokening Dragon Ball Z action-pose trend that had jumped from Japanese Twitter to global audiences the week prior1. Kotaku described Vadering as the dark-side answer to the Dragon Ball meme1. Contemporary writeups credited Martinez as the originator even as the format spread far beyond his follower base3.

How It Spread

On March 29, 2013, the Twitter photo got reposted to Reddit's /r/pics under the title 'In response to Hadokening, I give you Vadering,' where it drew more than 16,900 upvotes and 480 comments within a few days10. A 9GAG repost on March 30 pulled similar engagement11. The @StarWars official Twitter account signal-boosted the trend on April 1, telling followers 'Planking is so last year. Try #vadering'4.

Blog coverage opened on April 2 with pieces on Neatorama and Nerd Approved, and the 501st Legion Star Wars cosplay club posted their own Vadering shots to Facebook the same day3. Kotaku ran a roundup on April 3, which triggered same-day pickup from College Humor, Laughing Squid, Mashable, The Hollywood Gossip, and Yahoo News14. The Daily Dot clocked over 5,500 Twitter mentions of #vadering in a single 24-hour window during peak activity2.

Follow-on coverage in the days after came from My Modern Met, The Chive, Geekologie, The FW, and MSN Now3. The FW noted that Vadering had already been displaced by a successor photo trend called Pottering within the same news cycle, part of a cycle of staged-photo fads getting shorter and shorter shelf lives12.

Timeline

2013-03-29

Rob Martinez posts the first Vadering photos to Instagram and Twitter from Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, tagging Chick-fil-A.

2013-03-29

The Twitter photo gets reposted to /r/pics, where it draws over 16,900 upvotes within days.

2013-03-30

A 9GAG repost pushes Vadering to a broader audience.

2013-04-01

The official @StarWars Twitter account tweets 'Planking is so last year. Try #vadering.'

2013-04-02

First blog coverage lands on Neatorama and Nerd Approved; the 501st Legion joins in on Facebook.

2013-04-03

Kotaku, Mashable, College Humor, Laughing Squid, Yahoo News, and The Hollywood Gossip all run Vadering roundups.

2013-04-04

The Daily Dot reports over 5,500 Twitter mentions of #vadering in 24 hours; The Chive and Geekologie publish photo galleries.

2013-04

The FW reports Vadering already being displaced by a Harry Potter-themed successor called Pottering.

How to Use This Meme

Vadering typically needs two people, a camera held low to the ground, and timing. One person extends an arm with a clawed Force Grip hand pose aimed at the second person. The second person jumps as high as they can while clutching their throat and tilting their head back as if being lifted. The shutter fires at peak jump height so the choked person appears to float in midair9. Common conventions include matching the photographer's angle to the attacker's eye line and shooting outdoors in open space for cleaner silhouettes2.

Frequently Asked Questions