Virgin vs. Chad

2017Exploitable image macro / comparison templatesemi-active

Also known as: Virgin Walk · Virgin vs Chad

Virgin vs. Chad is a 2017 comparison image-macro exploitable from 4chan's /r9k/ board, featuring a hunched, insecure 'Virgin' paired with a muscular, confident 'Chad' to humorously rank opposing archetypes.

Virgin vs. Chad is an exploitable comparison meme that places a hunched, insecure "Virgin" figure alongside a confident, muscular "Chad" to humorously rank two subjects. The format originated on 4chan's /r9k/ board in 2017, growing out of earlier "virgin walk" discussions from 20164. It became one of the most widely remixed comparison templates online, spawning variants like "Yes Chad" and influencing the later GigaChad meme2.

virgin vs chad familyexploitable templates4chan memesms paint memesmanosphere memes

Overview

The Virgin vs. Chad meme uses two crude MS Paint-style character drawings placed side by side. On one side stands the "Virgin," a slouched figure with downcast eyes, hands in pockets, radiating anxiety. On the other stands "Chad," a broad-shouldered, confident figure with exaggerated masculine features, often depicted with sunglasses and a prominent bulge7. Captions surround each figure, listing traits that make the comparison funny. The humor works on two levels: sometimes the comparison is straightforward (good thing vs. bad thing), and sometimes the "Chad" traits are so absurdly over-the-top that the whole framework becomes the joke7.

The template is infinitely flexible. People have used it to compare programming languages, historical civilizations, pizza toppings, and fictional characters. The format doesn't require the subjects to be people at all. Anything can be "virgin" or "chad" as long as the caption style follows the template6.

The roots of Virgin vs. Chad trace back to April 23, 2016, when a 4chan user posted a thread titled "Virgin signs" on the /r9k/ board4. The thread discussed the so-called "infamous virgin walk," describing it as someone who walks with "hands in your pockets and always looking down"1. Users in the thread debated whether you could actually identify virgins by their gait, with some claiming they could "pick faggots out of the crowd" at the mall and others calling it a myth designed to make insecure people more self-conscious1.

On March 25, 2017, an anonymous user posted an MS Paint illustration of the "virgin walk" to /r9k/, giving visual form to the text descriptions from the previous year4. This drawing depicted the now-iconic hunched figure with labeled insecurities. The same day, the image was reposted on FunnyJunk4.

The full comparison format crystallized on June 6, 2017, when a /r9k/ thread urged users to "post all vi/r/gin memes"4. Users submitted MS Paint illustrations showing "virgin" behaviors alongside their "Chad" and "Wizard" counterparts. The next day, Reddit user PyrusSolus posted an Imgur gallery of images from that thread to r/4chan, and the images also appeared on the BodyBuilding Forums4. On June 10, Redditor hardflips submitted the iconic "virgin walk" vs. "Chad stride" comparison to r/justneckbeardthings4.

Origin & Background

Platform
4chan /r9k/ (concept), FunnyJunk / Reddit (viral spread)
Key People
Unknown
Date
2017

The roots of Virgin vs. Chad trace back to April 23, 2016, when a 4chan user posted a thread titled "Virgin signs" on the /r9k/ board. The thread discussed the so-called "infamous virgin walk," describing it as someone who walks with "hands in your pockets and always looking down". Users in the thread debated whether you could actually identify virgins by their gait, with some claiming they could "pick faggots out of the crowd" at the mall and others calling it a myth designed to make insecure people more self-conscious.

On March 25, 2017, an anonymous user posted an MS Paint illustration of the "virgin walk" to /r9k/, giving visual form to the text descriptions from the previous year. This drawing depicted the now-iconic hunched figure with labeled insecurities. The same day, the image was reposted on FunnyJunk.

The full comparison format crystallized on June 6, 2017, when a /r9k/ thread urged users to "post all vi/r/gin memes". Users submitted MS Paint illustrations showing "virgin" behaviors alongside their "Chad" and "Wizard" counterparts. The next day, Reddit user PyrusSolus posted an Imgur gallery of images from that thread to r/4chan, and the images also appeared on the BodyBuilding Forums. On June 10, Redditor hardflips submitted the iconic "virgin walk" vs. "Chad stride" comparison to r/justneckbeardthings.

How It Spread

The meme spread rapidly through Reddit and beyond in mid-2017. The comparison format proved irresistible because it was dead simple to remix. Anyone with MS Paint could make one, and the exaggerated art style was part of the charm.

The format found early traction in online communities already familiar with "Chad" as a character type. The term "Chad Thundercock" had been circulating on 4chan as shorthand for a hyper-masculine, sexually successful male. Wikipedia notes the Chad archetype was described as "heterosexual, White, usually blond-haired, gainfully employed, athletic, sexually active, and well-endowed". The Virgin vs. Chad meme gave this existing lore a visual language.

Within incel and "robot" communities on /r9k/, the meme carried genuine self-deprecating weight. Users identified with the Virgin figure's anxieties while projecting envy and resentment onto Chad. The Daily Dot described the original dynamic: "It gazes upon Chad with both admiration and loathing, and it looks at the Virgin with a combination of despair and the ability to laugh at oneself".

But the meme's meaning shifted dramatically as it left 4chan. On Tumblr, the tone flipped entirely. Instead of viewing Chad as an antagonist, Tumblr users interpreted him as "a confident, well-adjusted and on-top-of-life kind of guy who's probably actually nice enough". The platform's fan community even started "shipping" the Virgin and Chad as a couple, drawing parallels to the earlier "Me vs. Other Girls" meme where Tumblr users made the two female archetypes kiss. Artist Jieb posted a popular piece of Virgin/Chad fan art in 2017 that collected over 10,000 Tumblr notes.

The format's mainstream adoption accelerated through 2017-2018 as users applied it to increasingly absurd subjects. Video game characters were especially popular targets, with players classifying game protagonists as Virgins or Chads. Historical and political comparisons followed, with users creating entries like "Virgin Roman vs. Chad Mayan," which playfully subverted colonial-era hierarchies by praising Mayan achievements over Roman ones.

How to Use This Meme

The Virgin vs. Chad format typically follows a consistent template:

1

Pick two subjects to compare. These can be anything: people, objects, ideas, behaviors, historical periods, fictional characters.

2

Draw or use the standard Virgin figure (hunched, anxious) on the left and the Chad figure (muscular, confident) on the right.

3

Surround the Virgin with self-deprecating or negative traits, written in small text with arrows pointing to various body parts.

4

Surround the Chad with absurdly positive or over-the-top traits in the same style.

5

The Chad's traits often work best when they're unreasonably confident or nonsensical, pushing the comparison into absurdist territory.

Cultural Impact

The Virgin vs. Chad format drew academic attention for its role in spreading ideology through humor. A Vassar College research project called Pharos documented how the meme's inherent hierarchy of "superior" vs. "inferior" made it "ready-made for the expression of hateful ideas". The researchers noted that the meme format's ambiguity was itself a strategy: because it's often impossible to tell whether a meme is a joke, "those who spread them can defend themselves from accusations of racism by passing them off as satirical".

The "Chad" archetype broke free from the meme entirely. The term entered mainstream internet vocabulary as a general compliment for someone confident and capable. The female counterpart "Stacy" (or "Trixie") emerged in parallel. "GigaChad," a later evolution using black-and-white photographs of a muscular male model, became its own standalone meme used to "assert one's opinion as correct, without providing evidence or reasoning".

The meme also influenced visual meme language broadly. The "Yes Chad" variant, depicting a stoic, bearded Chad face simply responding "Yes," became one of the most recognizable reaction images of the late 2010s and early 2020s. The progression from crude stick figures to the photorealistic GigaChad photos traced what one blog called "a fascinating visual history of internet culture".

The original incel context never fully disappeared, however. Within manosphere communities, "Chad" retained its loaded meaning as a symbol of genetic superiority that incels could never achieve. Urban Dictionary entries reflected this tension, with one definition calling the format "memes made by 12 year olds" that devolved from humor into genuine gatekeeping.

Fun Facts

The "virgin walk" concept predates the meme by at least a year. A 2016 /r9k/ thread seriously debated whether you could identify virgins by how they walked, with users describing the gait as "leaning slightly forward, awkward steps too big or too small, head often down".

An actual scientific study (linked in the original 4chan thread) examined whether women's walking gait changed after sexual experience, lending pseudo-academic weight to what started as imageboard shitposting.

The word "Chad" as slang predates the internet entirely. It originated in the UK during World War II and was later used in Chicago to describe wealthy young men from the city's northern suburbs.

Tumblr artist Jieb's 2017 fan art of Virgin and Chad got over 10,000 notes and helped establish the characters as Tumblr's latest "ship".

The BodyBuilding Forums picked up the meme the same week it hit Reddit, making it one of the few memes to spread through fitness communities as quickly as through general internet culture.

Derivatives & Variations

Yes Chad / Nordic Gamer:

A simplified variant showing Chad responding "Yes." to questions or accusations, removing the Virgin comparison entirely[2].

GigaChad:

An evolution using photorealistic black-and-white images of a muscular man, used to assert opinions without justification[5].

Virgin vs. Chad Shipping:

Tumblr fan art depicting the Virgin and Chad as a romantic couple, paralleling the earlier "Creamsicle" ship from the "Me vs. Other Girls" meme[6].

The Wizard:

A third tier added below Virgin in some versions, representing an even more extreme social outcast, first appearing in the June 2017 /r9k/ thread[4].

Historical/Political Variants:

Versions comparing civilizations, political systems, and historical figures, some of which incorporated Greco-Roman imagery for white nationalist purposes[3].

Video Game Character Classifications:

Popular edits sorting characters from franchises like Dark Souls, Overwatch, and others into Virgin and Chad categories[6].

Frequently Asked Questions

Virgin vs. Chad

2017Exploitable image macro / comparison templatesemi-active

Also known as: Virgin Walk · Virgin vs Chad

Virgin vs. Chad is a 2017 comparison image-macro exploitable from 4chan's /r9k/ board, featuring a hunched, insecure 'Virgin' paired with a muscular, confident 'Chad' to humorously rank opposing archetypes.

Virgin vs. Chad is an exploitable comparison meme that places a hunched, insecure "Virgin" figure alongside a confident, muscular "Chad" to humorously rank two subjects. The format originated on 4chan's /r9k/ board in 2017, growing out of earlier "virgin walk" discussions from 2016. It became one of the most widely remixed comparison templates online, spawning variants like "Yes Chad" and influencing the later GigaChad meme.

virgin vs chad family exploitable templates 4chan memes ms paint memes manosphere memes

Overview

The Virgin vs. Chad meme uses two crude MS Paint-style character drawings placed side by side. On one side stands the "Virgin," a slouched figure with downcast eyes, hands in pockets, radiating anxiety. On the other stands "Chad," a broad-shouldered, confident figure with exaggerated masculine features, often depicted with sunglasses and a prominent bulge. Captions surround each figure, listing traits that make the comparison funny. The humor works on two levels: sometimes the comparison is straightforward (good thing vs. bad thing), and sometimes the "Chad" traits are so absurdly over-the-top that the whole framework becomes the joke.

The template is infinitely flexible. People have used it to compare programming languages, historical civilizations, pizza toppings, and fictional characters. The format doesn't require the subjects to be people at all. Anything can be "virgin" or "chad" as long as the caption style follows the template.

The roots of Virgin vs. Chad trace back to April 23, 2016, when a 4chan user posted a thread titled "Virgin signs" on the /r9k/ board. The thread discussed the so-called "infamous virgin walk," describing it as someone who walks with "hands in your pockets and always looking down". Users in the thread debated whether you could actually identify virgins by their gait, with some claiming they could "pick faggots out of the crowd" at the mall and others calling it a myth designed to make insecure people more self-conscious.

On March 25, 2017, an anonymous user posted an MS Paint illustration of the "virgin walk" to /r9k/, giving visual form to the text descriptions from the previous year. This drawing depicted the now-iconic hunched figure with labeled insecurities. The same day, the image was reposted on FunnyJunk.

The full comparison format crystallized on June 6, 2017, when a /r9k/ thread urged users to "post all vi/r/gin memes". Users submitted MS Paint illustrations showing "virgin" behaviors alongside their "Chad" and "Wizard" counterparts. The next day, Reddit user PyrusSolus posted an Imgur gallery of images from that thread to r/4chan, and the images also appeared on the BodyBuilding Forums. On June 10, Redditor hardflips submitted the iconic "virgin walk" vs. "Chad stride" comparison to r/justneckbeardthings.

Origin & Background

Platform
4chan /r9k/ (concept), FunnyJunk / Reddit (viral spread)
Key People
Unknown
Date
2017

The roots of Virgin vs. Chad trace back to April 23, 2016, when a 4chan user posted a thread titled "Virgin signs" on the /r9k/ board. The thread discussed the so-called "infamous virgin walk," describing it as someone who walks with "hands in your pockets and always looking down". Users in the thread debated whether you could actually identify virgins by their gait, with some claiming they could "pick faggots out of the crowd" at the mall and others calling it a myth designed to make insecure people more self-conscious.

On March 25, 2017, an anonymous user posted an MS Paint illustration of the "virgin walk" to /r9k/, giving visual form to the text descriptions from the previous year. This drawing depicted the now-iconic hunched figure with labeled insecurities. The same day, the image was reposted on FunnyJunk.

The full comparison format crystallized on June 6, 2017, when a /r9k/ thread urged users to "post all vi/r/gin memes". Users submitted MS Paint illustrations showing "virgin" behaviors alongside their "Chad" and "Wizard" counterparts. The next day, Reddit user PyrusSolus posted an Imgur gallery of images from that thread to r/4chan, and the images also appeared on the BodyBuilding Forums. On June 10, Redditor hardflips submitted the iconic "virgin walk" vs. "Chad stride" comparison to r/justneckbeardthings.

How It Spread

The meme spread rapidly through Reddit and beyond in mid-2017. The comparison format proved irresistible because it was dead simple to remix. Anyone with MS Paint could make one, and the exaggerated art style was part of the charm.

The format found early traction in online communities already familiar with "Chad" as a character type. The term "Chad Thundercock" had been circulating on 4chan as shorthand for a hyper-masculine, sexually successful male. Wikipedia notes the Chad archetype was described as "heterosexual, White, usually blond-haired, gainfully employed, athletic, sexually active, and well-endowed". The Virgin vs. Chad meme gave this existing lore a visual language.

Within incel and "robot" communities on /r9k/, the meme carried genuine self-deprecating weight. Users identified with the Virgin figure's anxieties while projecting envy and resentment onto Chad. The Daily Dot described the original dynamic: "It gazes upon Chad with both admiration and loathing, and it looks at the Virgin with a combination of despair and the ability to laugh at oneself".

But the meme's meaning shifted dramatically as it left 4chan. On Tumblr, the tone flipped entirely. Instead of viewing Chad as an antagonist, Tumblr users interpreted him as "a confident, well-adjusted and on-top-of-life kind of guy who's probably actually nice enough". The platform's fan community even started "shipping" the Virgin and Chad as a couple, drawing parallels to the earlier "Me vs. Other Girls" meme where Tumblr users made the two female archetypes kiss. Artist Jieb posted a popular piece of Virgin/Chad fan art in 2017 that collected over 10,000 Tumblr notes.

The format's mainstream adoption accelerated through 2017-2018 as users applied it to increasingly absurd subjects. Video game characters were especially popular targets, with players classifying game protagonists as Virgins or Chads. Historical and political comparisons followed, with users creating entries like "Virgin Roman vs. Chad Mayan," which playfully subverted colonial-era hierarchies by praising Mayan achievements over Roman ones.

How to Use This Meme

The Virgin vs. Chad format typically follows a consistent template:

1

Pick two subjects to compare. These can be anything: people, objects, ideas, behaviors, historical periods, fictional characters.

2

Draw or use the standard Virgin figure (hunched, anxious) on the left and the Chad figure (muscular, confident) on the right.

3

Surround the Virgin with self-deprecating or negative traits, written in small text with arrows pointing to various body parts.

4

Surround the Chad with absurdly positive or over-the-top traits in the same style.

5

The Chad's traits often work best when they're unreasonably confident or nonsensical, pushing the comparison into absurdist territory.

Cultural Impact

The Virgin vs. Chad format drew academic attention for its role in spreading ideology through humor. A Vassar College research project called Pharos documented how the meme's inherent hierarchy of "superior" vs. "inferior" made it "ready-made for the expression of hateful ideas". The researchers noted that the meme format's ambiguity was itself a strategy: because it's often impossible to tell whether a meme is a joke, "those who spread them can defend themselves from accusations of racism by passing them off as satirical".

The "Chad" archetype broke free from the meme entirely. The term entered mainstream internet vocabulary as a general compliment for someone confident and capable. The female counterpart "Stacy" (or "Trixie") emerged in parallel. "GigaChad," a later evolution using black-and-white photographs of a muscular male model, became its own standalone meme used to "assert one's opinion as correct, without providing evidence or reasoning".

The meme also influenced visual meme language broadly. The "Yes Chad" variant, depicting a stoic, bearded Chad face simply responding "Yes," became one of the most recognizable reaction images of the late 2010s and early 2020s. The progression from crude stick figures to the photorealistic GigaChad photos traced what one blog called "a fascinating visual history of internet culture".

The original incel context never fully disappeared, however. Within manosphere communities, "Chad" retained its loaded meaning as a symbol of genetic superiority that incels could never achieve. Urban Dictionary entries reflected this tension, with one definition calling the format "memes made by 12 year olds" that devolved from humor into genuine gatekeeping.

Fun Facts

The "virgin walk" concept predates the meme by at least a year. A 2016 /r9k/ thread seriously debated whether you could identify virgins by how they walked, with users describing the gait as "leaning slightly forward, awkward steps too big or too small, head often down".

An actual scientific study (linked in the original 4chan thread) examined whether women's walking gait changed after sexual experience, lending pseudo-academic weight to what started as imageboard shitposting.

The word "Chad" as slang predates the internet entirely. It originated in the UK during World War II and was later used in Chicago to describe wealthy young men from the city's northern suburbs.

Tumblr artist Jieb's 2017 fan art of Virgin and Chad got over 10,000 notes and helped establish the characters as Tumblr's latest "ship".

The BodyBuilding Forums picked up the meme the same week it hit Reddit, making it one of the few memes to spread through fitness communities as quickly as through general internet culture.

Derivatives & Variations

Yes Chad / Nordic Gamer:

A simplified variant showing Chad responding "Yes." to questions or accusations, removing the Virgin comparison entirely[2].

GigaChad:

An evolution using photorealistic black-and-white images of a muscular man, used to assert opinions without justification[5].

Virgin vs. Chad Shipping:

Tumblr fan art depicting the Virgin and Chad as a romantic couple, paralleling the earlier "Creamsicle" ship from the "Me vs. Other Girls" meme[6].

The Wizard:

A third tier added below Virgin in some versions, representing an even more extreme social outcast, first appearing in the June 2017 /r9k/ thread[4].

Historical/Political Variants:

Versions comparing civilizations, political systems, and historical figures, some of which incorporated Greco-Roman imagery for white nationalist purposes[3].

Video Game Character Classifications:

Popular edits sorting characters from franchises like Dark Souls, Overwatch, and others into Virgin and Chad categories[6].

Frequently Asked Questions