If X Is Your Comfort Character, Open This Thread

Submission 1,556

Part of a series on Comfort Character. [View Related Entries]

About

If X Is Your Comfort Character, Open This Thread is a phrasal template used in Twitter threads to invite fans of certain comfort characters to open a Twitter thread, either to let them enjoy a collection of the character-related content or to bait them into looking at something else. Initially gaining prominence online in December 2020, the format maintained virality in the following years, often being used for the purpose of shitposting.

Origin

The earliest found "comfort character" threads, initially mostly bait-and-switch jokes, were posted on Twitter in 2020. On August 5th, 2020, Twitter^[1] user @PLUTOMURPHY posted a thread inviting people who considered John Murphy from _ The 100_ their comfort character to either visit a therapist or come out, which is the earliest notable "If X Is Your Comfort Character, Open This Thread" post found online. The post gained over 30 retweets and 140 likes in two years (shown below).

Spread

On November 27th, 2020, Twitter^[2] user @starsolympus created a similar thread that invited those who considered Remus Lupin from Harry Potter their comfort character to connect with their father. The tweet gained over 240 likes in two years (shown below, left).

The trend first achieved notable spread in late December 2020 as it was repurposed for threads in which users shared character-related content, such as images, macros and videos, rather than making bait-and-switch jokes. For example, on December 22nd, Twitter^[3] user @reidniklaus posted a thread about the Criminal Minds character Spencer Reid that gained over 110 retweets and 620 likes in two years (shown below, right).

More similar threads were created by users on Twitter through 2021 and 2022. For example, on March 6th, 2021, Twitter^[4] user @anakinstarlight posted a thread about Anakin Skywalker that gained over 420 retweets and 2,100 likes in two years (shown below, left). On July 1st, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @worrski_ posted a humorous Shroomjak thread based on the trend (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 3,500 retweets and 24,200 likes in one year.

In September and October 2022, the trend regained popularity with more shitpost-style versions of the meme. For example, on September 26th, 2022, Twitter^[6] user @not_bulgogi made a thread about the viral 1996 footage of singer Björk attacking a reporter, with the opening tweet gaining over 7,500 retweets and 48,500 likes (shown below).