Wojak

2009reaction imageclassic

Wojak, also called Feels Guy, is a crude MS Paint drawing of a sad bald man used as a reaction image for melancholy, loneliness, and regret. It surfaced on imageboards around 2009 and was popularized on the German board Krautchan in 2010, then grew into one of the internet's most edited meme formats with dozens of character variants.

wojakreaction memesexploitable templatesms paint memesimageboard memes

Overview

Wojak, also known as Feels Guy, is a rough MS Paint drawing of a bald man with a sad, vacant expression1. People use him as a reaction image to convey downbeat feelings like melancholy, loneliness, and regret3. The thin line work and that hollow stare are what make the character recognizable on sight, whether he shows up on an imageboard thread or a Twitter reply.

A big part of Wojak's staying power is how easy he is to redraw. The basic figure reads as a blank everyman, the person sitting behind the screen, and that neutrality let users morph him into a huge cast of variants2. By February 2023, Know Your Meme hosted more than 200 separate Wojak related entries, which gives some idea of how far the format branched out4.

How It Spread

As the drawing reached international boards, it picked up the nickname 'The Feels Guy'. From Krautchan it moved to other image communities, including the Italian Pastachan and the Russian Dobrochan. By 2011, a variant showing two Wojaks hugging under the caption 'I know that feel, bro' started turning up on 4chan threads.

The character also kicked off the 'that feel' and 'that feel when' (TFW) text trend, which eventually shed the image and survived on its own as a phrase. Much of the widely repeated origin story traces back to Reddit user u/Voyack, who claimed in a 2012 AMA to be the person who first posted Wojak on Krautchan, though that account was never fully verified.

Wojak kept gaining traction through the mid 2010s. A dedicated 'Feels Guy' page exists on the internet culture wiki Encyclopedia Dramatica, and the r/Wojak subreddit launched in March 2015 for photoshopped takes on the image. For years the figure was called Feels Guy about as often as Wojak, until roughly 2017, when 'Wojak' took over as the dominant name.

How to Use This Meme

Using Wojak is simple. People typically grab the bald man drawing and pair it with text describing a low mood, often a line that starts with 'tfw' (that feel when). Because the figure is so plain, it commonly gets redrawn or photoshopped into specific characters, a crying version for someone who isn't getting their way, a smug version for self satisfaction, and so on. A common convention sets two or more Wojak variants against each other in a back and forth to stage an argument, with one side usually drawn to look like it holds the wrong opinion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wojak

2009reaction imageclassic

Wojak, also called Feels Guy, is a crude MS Paint drawing of a sad bald man used as a reaction image for melancholy, loneliness, and regret. It surfaced on imageboards around 2009 and was popularized on the German board Krautchan in 2010, then grew into one of the internet's most edited meme formats with dozens of character variants.

wojak reaction memes exploitable templates ms paint memes imageboard memes

Overview

Wojak, also known as Feels Guy, is a rough MS Paint drawing of a bald man with a sad, vacant expression. People use him as a reaction image to convey downbeat feelings like melancholy, loneliness, and regret. The thin line work and that hollow stare are what make the character recognizable on sight, whether he shows up on an imageboard thread or a Twitter reply.

A big part of Wojak's staying power is how easy he is to redraw. The basic figure reads as a blank everyman, the person sitting behind the screen, and that neutrality let users morph him into a huge cast of variants. By February 2023, Know Your Meme hosted more than 200 separate Wojak related entries, which gives some idea of how far the format branched out.

How It Spread

As the drawing reached international boards, it picked up the nickname 'The Feels Guy'. From Krautchan it moved to other image communities, including the Italian Pastachan and the Russian Dobrochan. By 2011, a variant showing two Wojaks hugging under the caption 'I know that feel, bro' started turning up on 4chan threads.

The character also kicked off the 'that feel' and 'that feel when' (TFW) text trend, which eventually shed the image and survived on its own as a phrase. Much of the widely repeated origin story traces back to Reddit user u/Voyack, who claimed in a 2012 AMA to be the person who first posted Wojak on Krautchan, though that account was never fully verified.

Wojak kept gaining traction through the mid 2010s. A dedicated 'Feels Guy' page exists on the internet culture wiki Encyclopedia Dramatica, and the r/Wojak subreddit launched in March 2015 for photoshopped takes on the image. For years the figure was called Feels Guy about as often as Wojak, until roughly 2017, when 'Wojak' took over as the dominant name.

How to Use This Meme

Using Wojak is simple. People typically grab the bald man drawing and pair it with text describing a low mood, often a line that starts with 'tfw' (that feel when). Because the figure is so plain, it commonly gets redrawn or photoshopped into specific characters, a crying version for someone who isn't getting their way, a smug version for self satisfaction, and so on. A common convention sets two or more Wojak variants against each other in a back and forth to stage an argument, with one side usually drawn to look like it holds the wrong opinion.

Frequently Asked Questions