Gwimbly (Smiling Friends)

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About

Gwimbly is a character from Smiling Friends depicted as a '90s video game hero who has fallen on hard times. He is voiced by Zach Hadel and animated in 3D to resemble PS1-style graphics. Gwimbly first appeared in the season two premiere episode of the series, titled, "Gwimbly: Definitive Remastered Enhanced Extended Edition DX 4K (Anniversary Director’s Cut)," which aired on April 1st, 2024. Throughout the episode he says does his "iconic victory dance," during which he says, "ooh, ooh, ooh," several times and mentions collecting cans of creamed corn as one of the main draws of the games. In the following days, Gwimbly became the subject of memes, fan art and other fan content online, including theories that the character was based on lolcow Daniel Larson.

Origin

On April 1st, 2024, Smiling Friends season 2, episode 1 aired. In the episode, Pim attempts to help Gwimbly, a 90's video game hero created by Insane Groundbreaking Games who has fallen on hard times and does Cameos to make a living. In an attempt to make Gwimbly smile, Pim brings him to the CEO of Insane Groundbreaking Games to try and get him in a new game, but he is shot down and told games are more about "DLC and microtransactions" now, refusing to make another Gwimbly game.

The CEO then reveals that Gwimbly is no longer the mascot of the company, bringing out a large robot named Troglor as the new mascot. Pim tells Gwimbly they can crowdfund a new Gwimbly game but the CEO tries to stop them, saying the Gwimbly IP is his to sit on and do nothing with.Pim and Gwimbly attempt to recruit the villain of the old Gwimbly games, Count Groxia, for a new game, but fail. They also try to recruit Mr. Millipede, but find that he's died.The CEO of Insane Groundbreaking Games and Troglor chase Pim and Gwimbly back to Smiling Friends HQ where James, a man Charlie is trying to help smile, kills him, causing him to smile. Troglor and Gwimbly decide to team up and make a Super Smash Bros. style game together.

Spread

Gwimbly became a notably popular character among Smiling Friends fans online, inspiring fan art and memes that month. For example, on April 2nd, 2024, Redditor u/baphylamb posted a mockup of a Gwimbly video game box cover to /r/SmilingFriends,^[1] garnering over 220 upvotes in two days (shown below).

On April 3rd, X^[2] user @violxiv posted a video of a fake Gwimbly game on the Nintendo DS, garnering over 26,000 likes in a day (shown below).

who remembers Gwimbly's obscure DS game? 🤔#smilingfriends @psychicpebble pic.twitter.com/dySfQItjl2

— violet! 🐝 (@violxiv) April 3, 2024

Later that day, X^[3]^[4] users @giacomobonus and @Droilius posted pieces of fan art depicting Gwimbly concept art as it might look for a '90s video game, garnering over 18,000 and 32,000 likes respectively in a day (shown below, left and right).

On April 4th, X^[5] user @SamE8189 posted a piece of art depicting Gwimbly in a '90s television cartoon style, writing, "While I never really played any of his games, I loved watching Gwimbly in his old cartoon show," garnering over 10,000 likes in under a day (shown below).

Comparisons to Daniel Larson

Gwimbly has been compared in both look and personality to lolcow Daniel Larson. For example, on April 1st, 2024, Redditor u/passivewithdesire made a post to the subreddit /r/DanielLarson,^[6] writing, "I got major daniel larson vibes from gwimbly in last night’s episode of smiling friends, even when he films the live, it’s very daniel-esque," garnering over 150 upvotes in a week. On April 2nd, X^[7] user @C0rh3xx posted side-by-side images of the two, garnering over 400 likes in six days (shown below).

The top comment under the thread reads, "The creator is aware of Chris Chan so maybe he knows about Daniel," referring to an interview with Smiling Friends co-creator Zach Hadel in which he claims they were going to have Chris-Chan voice a grease puddle in an episode.^[8]

On April 4th, TikToker^[9] @doobie_123_imalwaysfree posted an edit of a Gwimbly scene with the overlayed caption, "POV: Daniel Larson," garnering over 40,000 views in four days (shown below).

Various Examples

Gwimbly's Iconic Victory Dance

Gwimbly's Iconic Victory Dance or Ooh Ooh Ooh, also known as I Don't Do My Iconic Victory Dance For Nothing, is a series of exploitable memes derived from a scene in Smiling Friends where Gwimbly does his "iconic victory dance" after saying, "Well I don't do my iconic victory dance for nothing. Okay, I guess just this once I can do it for nothing." The episode was released on April 1st, 2024 and the scene became the subject of memes that same month, with the animation of Gwimbly doing the dance spreading as a green screen format.