GigaChad

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About

GigaChad is a nickname associated with the art project berlin.1969 / Ernest Khalimov,^[1] which is a series of photoshopped photographs of several models created by Russian photographer Krista Sudmalis for her project Sleek'N'Tears.^[4] The name "GigaChad" indicates that the person, who was initially assumed to be real, is the ultimate Chad Thundercock, an internet archetype representing an ultra-masculine, physically attractive male. Online, the term was popularized within various incel communities.

Origin

On October 15th, 2017, an anonymous Redditor published a link to the @sleekntears Instagram page in /r/bodybuilding^[7] subreddit. The post received more than 495 points (92% upvoted) and 100 comments in less than four years.

On October 16th, 2017, a photo of Khalimov was submitted to the /pol/ board^[3] on 4chan, which described him as "Gigachad. The perfect human specimen destined to lead us against the reptilians" (shown below).

Spread

That day, October 16th, 2017, a post about Khalimov was submitted to the Lookism Forums,^[5] referring to him as "Ultra Chad." On October 24th, a picture was submitted to Imgur with the text, "It appears that The Gigachad is attempting to clone himself" (shown below).

On February 17th, 2018, Redditor ForgottenShark uploaded a photograph of Khalimov titled "Gigachad, the destroyer of virgins" to the /r/Bossfight^[2] subreddit (shown below, left). On April 27th, Redditor GoldFuzzy uploaded an image macro titled "Full Explanation of GIGACHAD" to /r/braincels^[6] (shown below, right).

On May 7th, a thread lamenting the existence of Khalimov was submitted to the /int/ (international) board on 4chan (shown below).

Average Fan vs. Average Enjoyer

In March 2021, GigaChad saw a spike in popularity online after a montage of his photographs was used in the video version of Average Fan vs. Average Enjoyer meme format.

On February 7th, 2021, content creator Socialism Done Left made a version of the meme that gained over 190,000 views on YouTube^[8] and 134,000 views on Twitter^[9] in one month (shown below). The video features the sped-up video "itzmefraz episode 7" by YouTube^[10] user itz me Fraz as "fan" and a slideshow of GigaChad images as "enjoyer." The video features the song Can You Feel My Heart by Bring Me The Horizon. Also on the same day, Socialism Done Left uploaded a template for the meme to Twitter^[11] and Google Drive.^[12]

Following the video, the video format gained viral popularity online, with multiple viral versions posted in February and March 2021.

Opinion on Memes

Until April 2021, the person writing as Khalimov did not speak about the likeness being used in GigaChad and Average Enjoyer memes, also disabling comments on his Instagram posts. Additionally, even before his meme popularity Khalimov had very limited online activity, which, combined with his unwillingness to acknowledge the memes and refusal to give interviews, was interpreted by some as fitting for the GigaChad persona.

On April 13th, 2021, Ernest Khalimov, wrote from his Instagram^[13] account berlin.1969 and spoke about the GigaChad memes, writing that "he likes them" and inviting everyone to comment on the post (post shown below, left). On April 23rd, Khalimov made another Instagram^[14] post, writing that he enjoyed the comments and that they painted him as a much more interesting person than he was (post shown below, right).

GigaChad Fitness Brand

In late June 2024, the @gigachad Twitter / X account began posting content about Gigachad LLC's fitness brand called "Giga Fitness." On June 24th, the @gigachad X^[17] account shared a promo video for the company featuring a man lifting weights and doing exercises with a message at the end stating "Giga Fitness, June 28th, Proof of Work," which received nearly 50,000 views and 200 likes in two months (seen below).

The fitness apparel company was created by the $GIGA community revolving around the meme coin and cryptocurrency based on the memetic character, which, according to Forbes,^[18] is a Solana-based blockchain crypto that uses the site GigaChad Solana.^[19]

On June 28th, 2024, which was coincidentally dubbed "National Gigachad Day" in 2022,^[15] the @berlin.1969 Instagram^[16] account of SLEEK'N'TEARS model Ernest Khalimov then announced a partnership with Giga Fitness and included a black-and-white image of the GigaChad character wearing a "Giga Fitness" T-shirt with the logo also appearing next to him. The post received over 86,000 likes in roughly two months (shown below).