The 'Wojak meme' explained (2024)

The ‘Wojak’ meme continues to be the sonorous language for the unfocused, the nihilistic, and the isolated.

Crippling loneliness. Nauseous melancholy. Aching regrets. No, I’m not talking about NSW’s second lockdown. I’m talking about the Wojak meme – the emotive-focused MS Paint illustration with polarizing levels of social resonance.

Exploring emotions appears to be a reoccurring theme in the meme verse. There’s the ‘we live in a society’ phenomenon, the ‘vibe check’ mantra, hell, even the ‘mentally I’m here’ meme had its heyday.

The 'Wojak meme' explained (1)

Yet somehow, the Wojak meme outlives the others, continuing to spread its doomer-gloom across Facebook groups and sketchy 4chan threads everywhere. But to explain Wojak’s longevity, we must start at the beginning.

Origins

The sad, socially fragile man we now know as ‘Wojak’ was born in 2009, drawn into the pages of the comic series I Wish I Was At Home (Playing Videogames). The image portrayed the man alone in the corner of a party, with text describing his inner turmoil.

Thanks to a Polish imageboard poster, the face became known as Wojak, who reposted the image with the file name, ‘ciepla twarz.jpg’, meaning ‘warm face’.

In true intertextual fashion, the Wojak started getting paired with many popular 4chan expressions, such as >tfw no gf, which stands for ‘that feeling [I get] when [I have] no girlfriend’.

Wojak was also popularised with the phrase, ‘I know that feel, bro’, which featured two Wojak’s in a tight embrace. For me, the hug evokes the helplessness of Billy Joel’s Piano Man“they’re sharing a drink called loneliness, but it’s better than drinking alone!”

Wojak existed with these formats for years and years, slowly becoming the unanimous visual pairing for comedic observations regarding male grief and emptiness.

The meme even occasionally got paired with Pepe the Frog, which Brian Feldman of Intelligencer described as a “platonic romance within the memescape”.

Then in 2018, almost ten years after its debut, Wojak’s character received a significant update. Was Wojak finally going to crawl out of his bedsheets to find true love again? … Absolutely not. In fact, the poor man had just become the internet weapon of choice to troll Liberals and Social Justice Warriors.

The NPC Wojak

The 'Wojak meme' explained (2)

The 2018 update featured Wojak reimagined as an NPC (non-playable character), now being used by Trump supporters to stir the pot.

Why and how? Well, 4chan discussions were arguing that liberals fail to have an ‘internal monologue’ and that their herd-like mentality made them incapable of making decisions, much like a video game NPC.

This, of course, is a sweeping generalisation and should be taken with a grain of salt, or a drop of truth. However, it didn’t stop online trolls from causing a scene. Around 1500 Twitter accounts (maybe more) had the Wojak NPC as their profile picture at its zenith.

The 'Wojak meme' explained (3)

These people pretended to be Liberals to spread serious disinformation about the 2018 Election. It was a sickly social commentary that essentially labelled progressives as zombies. Ironically, the NPC avatar allowed the user to troll without revealing their identity or taking responsibility for their actions. Twitter eventually shut down these NPC accounts following various media exposés.

The Doomer Wojak

The NPC wasn’t the only spinoff Wojak received during 2018. Building upon the original Wojak’s heartbreak and isolation, the ‘Doomer’ was founded, giving the man a beanie and a generous dose of teen angst. Just take a look at this nicotine addled, underslept disaster.

The 'Wojak meme' explained (4)

The doomer is perhaps the most affecting of all the Wojak renditions. It became a way for emotionally repressed teens of the digital era to connect and discuss their issues, even if it was only through irony. The doomer also became a philosophic figure of sorts, influenced by Nihilism and Malthusianism.

pic.twitter.com/30LfFrV20I

— Natalie Wynn (@ContraPoints) April 24, 2021

Mammoth sized problems like resource availability, climate crisis, overpopulation made life not even worth living for our doomer. But there was also tragedy in his micro world. The Wojak doomer rendition came with a female counterpart, who always chose a ‘Chad’ archetype over our tired Wojak. Such is life.

The 'Wojak meme' explained (5)

What can we learn from Wojak?

Let’s exit out of the ironic, rapidly cascading memeverse for a second and ask ourselves what we can take away from Wojak?

Well, we know that the meme is focused on men’s mental health and that it has resonated with millions. We also know that recently, Lifeline had its largest amount of callers in a day.

So, as lockdown turns our days into a mundane blur, we should strive to check up on our friends and family and let them know we’re thinking of them.

Because while Wojak is hilarious, we wouldn’t wish his mental state on our worst enemies.

The 'Wojak meme' explained (2024)

FAQs

What is the meaning of red hair Wojak? ›

The "Wifejak" Wojak is a redhead Wojak designed to embody stereotypical traits associated with "typical wife behavior". In the memes, the character usually says a message that parodies what a stereotypical wife may say, such as "I'm cold" or "I just threw 30 cardboard boxes into the garage".

What is the meaning of Wojack? ›

Wojak (plural Wojaks) (Internet slang) An online image of a crudely-drawn person, often with a melancholic expression, with an art style based upon the original Wojak.

Where did the Wojak meme come from? ›

The Wojak meme's humble beginnings

The image was subsequently shared to the German imageboard Krautchan in 2010 by a user called “wojak,” and thus a meme was born. Wojak eventually became a popular meme on the imageboard 4chan, which thrust the illustration into the mainstream.

Why are Wojaks so popular? ›

The Wojak meme became famous when it was shared and commented on 4chan (the Internet platform that is considered controversial and lacks censorship and moderation policies). The meme was used and associated with phrases such as “I know that feel, bro,” “that feel,” or “that feel when.”

Was red hair considered evil? ›

In art, red-haired persons have been associated with negative qualities like betrayal, falsity, vileness, rebellion and lust.

What is the point of red hair? ›

Scientists used to think red hair evolved to help people produce Vitamin D in chilly places with little sunlight (think Ireland). But more recently, data suggests that genetic variants associated with red hair became common in northern latitudes by chance.

What is coomer explained? ›

The term "coomer" is an internet slang word that is often used to refer to someone who is addicted to or excessively preoccupied with pornography or sexual content. It's important to note that using this term can be derogatory, and it's generally not constructive to label or judge others.

What is a doomer girl? ›

This format is described by The Atlantic as "a quickly sketched cartoon woman with black hair, black clothes, and sad eyes ringed with red makeup". The doomer girl character often appears in image macros interacting with the original doomer character.

What is wifejak? ›

Wifejak, or Wojak, is the most well-liked character on X right now. The basic concept behind the memes is that people share an image with a message that parodies what a stereotypical wife may say.

What does the Wojak emoji mean? ›

Unlike the NPC meme, the Wojak meme (also known as Feels Guy) appeared first on the image hosting website vichan and has mainly been used for expression of feelings, most often melancholy or regret.

How many Wojaks are there? ›

The table above accurately updates our WOJAK price in real time. The price of WOJAK is up 0.05% since last hour, down -3.34% since yesterday. The live market cap, measured by multiplying the number of coins by the current price is $35.50M. WOJAK has a circulating supply of 69.42B coins and a max supply of 69.42B WOJAK.

What is a zoomer Wojak? ›

Zoomer is a colloquial name for the members of Generation Z (Gen Z). The meme originated as a Wojak character spread on 4chan mocking Gen Z adolescents and young adults, similar to how 30-Year-Old Boomer is used to mock older millennials.

Is the Wojak meme Polish? ›

The exact origin of the Wojak meme remains unknown, but its appearance was first documented on a Polish imageboard called “Vichan” in 2009. Afterward, a “ Wojak “ poster was published on a German imageboard called “Krautchan” in 2010.

What is red hair a symbol of? ›

Throughout history, artists from Sandro Botticelli to Dante Gabriel Rossetti have mined the potent symbolism of red hair to alternately suggest promiscuity, sensuality, deviousness, and—above all—otherness for centuries. Redheads are rare, but why should that make them particularly beguiling or innately prurient?

What is the meaning of reddish hair? ›

Red hair, also known as orange hair or ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations.

What does it mean when someone has red hair? ›

Redheads produce more pheomelanin due to genetic changes (called variants) in the MC1R gene found on chromosome 16. This gene provides the code for a protein called melanocortin 1 receptor that is located on melanocytes and is responsible for the type of melanin produced.

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