# 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[4]. It became one of the most widely remixed comparison templates online, spawning variants like "Yes Chad" and influencing the later GigaChad meme[2]. ## Origin 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[4]. 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-conscious[1]. 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[4]. This drawing depicted the now-iconic hunched figure with labeled insecurities. The same day, the image was reposted on FunnyJunk[4]. 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 Forums[4]. On June 10, Redditor hardflips submitted the iconic "virgin walk" vs. "Chad stride" comparison to r/justneckbeardthings[4]. - **Platform:** 4chan /r9k/ (concept), FunnyJunk / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown (anonymous 4chan users, community-created on /r9k/) - **Date:** 2017 ## 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[7]. 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[7]. 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[6]. ## 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[7]. 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[5]. Wikipedia notes the Chad archetype was described as "heterosexual, White, usually blond-haired, gainfully employed, athletic, sexually active, and well-endowed"[5]. 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[7]. 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"[7]. 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"[7]. 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[7]. Artist Jieb posted a popular piece of Virgin/Chad fan art in 2017 that collected over 10,000 Tumblr notes[7]. 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[7]. 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[3]. ## How to Use 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"[3]. 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"[3]. The "Chad" archetype broke free from the meme entirely. The term entered mainstream internet vocabulary as a general compliment for someone confident and capable[5]. The female counterpart "Stacy" (or "Trixie") emerged in parallel[5]. "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"[5]. 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[2]. The progression from crude stick figures to the photorealistic GigaChad photos traced what one blog called "a fascinating visual history of internet culture"[2]. 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[5]. 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[6]. ## 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"[1]. - 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[1]. - 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[5]. - 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"[7]. - 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[4]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Virgin vs. Chad? Virgin vs. Chad is a comparison meme format using two MS Paint-style characters: a hunched, insecure "Virgin" and a muscular, confident "Chad," with labeled traits surrounding each figure[4]. ### Where did Virgin vs. Chad come from? The meme originated on 4chan's /r9k/ board. The "virgin walk" concept appeared in April 2016, and the first illustration was posted in March 2017, with the full comparison format emerging in June 2017[4]. ### What does Virgin vs. Chad mean? The format compares two things by framing one as pathetic (the Virgin) and the other as superior (the Chad). It's used both sincerely and ironically, with the most popular versions pushing Chad's traits into absurd territory[7]. ### How do you use Virgin vs. Chad? Pick two subjects, place the Virgin figure on the left and Chad on the right, then add exaggerated traits around each character. The humor often comes from making Chad's qualities unreasonably over-the-top[7]. ### Is Virgin vs. Chad still popular? The original format peaked in 2017-2018 but its derivatives, especially "Yes Chad" and GigaChad, carried the format's DNA well into the 2020s[2]. The comparison template itself still gets used for topical subjects. ### Who created the Virgin vs. Chad meme? Anonymous 4chan users on the /r9k/ board created both the concept and the illustrations. The "virgin walk" discussion started in April 2016, and the first drawn version appeared on March 25, 2017[4]. ### What is the difference between Chad and GigaChad? Chad is the original MS Paint drawn character from the Virgin vs. Chad meme. GigaChad refers to black-and-white photographs of a muscular male model, representing an even more extreme version of the archetype[5]. ### What is /r9k/ and why did this meme start there? /r9k/ is a 4chan board that became a discussion forum for self-identified incels and "perpetually single males, who refer to themselves as Robots"[7]. The board's culture of self-deprecation and fixation on social hierarchies made it natural ground for the Virgin vs. Chad concept. ### Why did Tumblr interpret the meme differently? Tumblr users viewed Chad not as a threatening rival but as "a confident, well-adjusted and on-top-of-life kind of guy"[7]. The platform's fan community even began shipping the two characters as a couple. ### Is the Virgin vs. Chad meme harmful? Researchers at Vassar College's Pharos project argued that the meme's format, which requires ranking subjects as "superior" vs. "inferior," makes it structurally ready for expressing hateful ideas, even when individual examples seem harmless[3]. ### What does "Chad" mean outside the meme? The term entered mainstream internet slang as a general compliment for someone confident and capable. Wikipedia describes it as referring to an "alpha" or "sexually successful male" in modern usage[5]. ### What is the "Wizard" variant? The Wizard is an even more extreme version of the Virgin, representing complete social failure. It appeared in the original June 2017 /r9k/ threads alongside the Virgin and Chad figures[4]. ## References 1. [Virgin signs - 4archive]() 2. [From Virgin to GigaChad: The Meme's Illustrated History]() 3. [When Hate Memes teach History – Pharos]() 4. [Virgin vs. Chad - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Chad (slang)]() 6. [Virgin vs. Chad - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Chad Meme: The Virgin Vs Chad Is Taking Over The Internet]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/virgin-vs-chad Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library