Nordic / Mediterranean

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About

Nordic / Mediterranean refers to a series of memes in which various races, sub-races, and nationalities, primarily Nordic and Mediterranean, are compared to each other through use of archetypal exploitable images. Said images are often captioned within a Learn The Difference, It Could Save Your Life style format. The trend gained popularity on /pol/ and other 4chan boards in late 2016, with a sub-meme known as Yes Chad / Nordic Gamer spinning off in early August 2019, with the format developing into the Wojak comics meme archetype in 2020.

Origin

On December 2nd, 2016, an anonymous 4chan user posted an image of people of Nordic and Mediterranian subraces meant to demonstrate the superiority of the latter over the former to /pol/ board (shown below).^[1] In the following days, the image was reused in a number of threads on the /pol/.^[2]

Spread

On December 7th, 2016, an anonymous 4chan user posted an image in which the roles were reversed,^[3] with more variations appearing in the following days (shown below).^[4]

On December 8th, 2016, an anonymous /pol/ user posted a version of the meme which presented both subraces as equal (shown below, left).^[5] In the same thread, an anonymous /pol/ user posted a version of the meme captioned "I have your back and you have mine" which promoted unity among the two subraces (shown below, right).^[6] In the following days, this version of the meme received notable spread on the website, also being posted to Instagram,^[7] Facebook^[8] and other platforms.

In the following years, the format has seen active use on /pol/ and other boards, commonly used either to propagate superiority of one race or group of people over another, or, on the contrary, promote unity between people of different races, nationalities and groups.

Yes Chad

Yes Chad also known as Nordic Gamer, refers to a drawn image of a blond man with blue eyes wearing a SteelSeries headset, usually captioned "yes." A subformat of Nordic / Mediterranean meme, the image was first posted by Twitter user @yachs_91 on August 1st, 2019^[9] and has subsequently been used in memes Twitter, 4chan and other platforms.

The format has commonly been used to usually used to debase those attempting to mock or bully another person for their personal traits or interests.

Wojak Comics

Wojak Comics refers to a series of memes depicting simple interactions between various Wojak characters. Combining elements of comics and Wojak memes, the format was spawned by the Yes Chad meme format in August 2019 and has since grown into a variety of similar comic formats.