“New Guy” has become the first major meme of the decade after internet users banded together and transformed him from a straw-man into a wholesome symbol.
The character first appeared in a controversial December 8, 2019 webcomic, created by Mallorie Jessica Udischas, aka sweetbeans99. The comic featured a purple-haired character laughing about “that millionaire gamer-bro douchebag” getting robbed – a likely reference to YouTuber PewDiePie getting robbed on December 2, 2019.
New Guy responds to the mean purple-haired character by saying: “Hey. How'd you like it if you were robbed?” The purple-haired character then sarcastically remarks: “Oh wow, I can tell we're gonna be the kind of co-workers who become good friends.”
The webcomic then finishes with New Guy exclaiming, “Wow really?” before the purple-haired character says: “Hell no.”
This original webcomic drew criticism from many who believe the author was celebrating PewDiePie's misfortune and somehow mocking those who said it was wrong that he was robbed.
However, that criticism quickly transformed into a viral meme movement driven by those who sympathize with the New Guy character and saw him as the rightful protagonist of the comic and want to spread his wholesome message.
Now various artists and meme makers are creating New Guy inspired works on social media which emphasize spreading love and kindness. These memes are proving to be a huge hit and getting thousands of likes and retweets on Twitter.
“We've already found a contender for meme of the year ?,” said game developer George Alexopoulos.
Barely two days into 2020 and we've already found a contender for meme of the year ? #NewGuy #NewGuy2020 pic.twitter.com/PSKUBLZkE3
Other Twitter users are celebrating that New Guy is being used to share kindness and love with others and to “Meme for good, not evil.”
#NewGuy2020 is that start of kindness and love towards others, even to those who attempt to spread toxicity.
So onto that, please leave the original comic maker be, we need to take a leaf from #NewGuy book and show we can be better, we can be forgiving and kind.
That is 2020 pic.twitter.com/yyBULIwkK6
Be kind to each other this year.
Meme for good, not for evil. #NewGuy pic.twitter.com/2kulGSJW63
Don't generally draw stuff like this but who could resist such a lovable oaf? ?❤️ #NewGuy pic.twitter.com/Rjs9JN7JRw
thank you #NewGuy for being so friendly towards new people!
im sure youll make lots of friends soon! 🙂#NewGuy2020 is such a nice trend, im so happy to see the amount of people supporting it pic.twitter.com/zg9HV0oe2O
Love that people just collectively adopted this supposed 'bad guy' and turned him into a symbol of wholesomeness. What a way to start off the New Year. #NewGuy #NewGuy2020 pic.twitter.com/NYFkjHcd7O
I respect the work & right of the original creator of #NewGuy, or any artist for that matter, to express their opinion. But I have to say I really love how everyone has banded together to make this character into such a wholesome meme. Gives me lots of hope for 2020. #NewGuy2020 pic.twitter.com/727baz1dgR
Not only has New Guy quickly become a popular meme but it's also shown just how powerful memes can be when the internet comes together in order to spread a positive message.
