Wojak / Feels Guy

About

Feels Guy, also known as Wojak, is an MS Paint illustration of a bald man with a sad expression on his face. It is often used as a reaction image to represent feelings such as melancholy, regret or loneliness.

Origin

According to “ask me anything” (AMA) thread on Reddit^[2] by a user claiming to be Krautchan user Wojak, the bald man illustration was originally discovered on the imageboard vichan with the filename “twarz.jpg.” The image was subsequently popularized as a reaction image after Wojak submitted it to the German language image board Krautchan in May 2010. Soon after, the picture became known as “Wojak’s face” and “ciepła twarz” (“warm face”). The image spread to other international image boards, including the Italian Pastachan^[3] and the Russian Dobrochan.

Spread

On February 2nd, Redditor Voyack submitted an AMA to the /r/datfeel^[2] subreddit, claiming to be Wojack from Krautchan. On October 3rd, 2013, the news site Bustle^[6] published an article about the origins of the Feels Guy. On November 19th, a Facebook^[8] page titled “Feels Guy” was launched, which gained over 6,400 likes in the next two years. On May 22nd, YouTuber ReluctantMisc uploaded an animated video of Wojak titled “A day in the life of ‘that feel when’ guy” (shown below).

On April 2nd, 2014, a page for “Feels Guy” was created on the Internet culture wiki Encyclopedia Dramatica.^[5] On March 14th, 2015, the /r/Wojak^[7] subreddit was launched for photoshopped variations of the Feels Guy image.

Various Examples

I Know That Feel Bro

“I Know That Feel Bro” (also known as “to uczucie” or “to uczócie”) is an Internet slang expression used to convey empathy towards or agree with someone else’s feeling or opinion. The expression, which roughly means “I feel you, bro,” is typically accompanied by a image of two Wojak embracing each other expressionlessly.

I Wish I Was At Home

I Wish I Was At Home (Playing Videogames) is an exploitable comic series featuring Wojak in which the subject is depicted as anxious and uncomfortable at parties and other social situations.

Country Feels

Country Feels is a series of customized illustrations featuring Wojak sitting at a computer desk surrounded by various stereotypes associated with a particular country or region. Many of the images bear similarities to the “How People View Me” two-pane cartoons.

Pretty Princess Points

Pretty Princess Points is a series of Wojak imageslikely stemming from 4chan’s /r9k/ board and depicting attractive but mentally unstable and NEET-ish gender-flipped versions of Wojak.

Smug Wojak

Smug Wojak refers to a drawing of a bald man with a smug expression on his face that resembles Wojak, inspired by the Smug Frog images. Appearing on /r9k/ and [s4s] in early August 2014, Smug Wojak is normally used to express positive feelings. It also spawned some derivates, listed on the [s4s] wiki.^[4]

Relation with Pepe the frog

Wojak has been often related with the character Pepe the Frog, mainly with the Sad Frog variant due their expression of sad emotions. In middle November 2014, Wojak started being paired with Smug Frog on a series of comics named Poo Poo Pee Pee, in which Pepe committs various unethical acts towards Wojak, typically involving urine or feces, and created as a reaction towards the usage of Pepe’s likeness in various mainstream social media sites.

Search Interest

External References