Shambler

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About

Shambler is a yeti-like enemy from the 1996 first-person shooter video game Quake. In the late 2010s, the character achieved widespread use in a number of niche memes within the classic FPS community, namely Timbler and Mama Shambler.

Origin

On June 22nd, 1996, the first-person shooter video game Quake was released by id Software.^[1] In the game, the player encounters the powerful enemy called Shambler, a large yeti-like beast with long claws and a fanged mouth that has the largest health pool among the enemies. Shambler will attack the player with claws and shoot lightning at him (demonstration video shown below).

[This video has been removed]

Spread

Prior to 2019, Shambler saw limited presence in popular culture, mainly appearing in Quake fan art posted to various sites. For example, on April 24th, 2009, DeviantArt^[2] user Autaux posted fan art that received over 20,000 views and was favorited over 310 times in 12 years (shown below, left). On July 31st, 2018, Twitter^[3] user @DanielWienerson posted an animation of Shambler dancing, with the tweet gaining over 210 retweets and 870 likes in three years (shown below, center).

The character first achieved limited attention as the subject of memes after in August 2019 content creator KinoFabino created Timbler,^[4] a version of Shambler wearing Timberland boots, an oversized yellow puffer jacket and a New York Yankees hat.

The character then again entered the public spotlight in February 2021 with the reignition of an older debate as to whether Shambler has fur. In August 2021, following the release of the remastered version of Quake, multiple viral memes and fan art of Shambler were posted online.

Timbler

Timbler is a version of Shambler wearing Timberland boots, an oversized yellow puffer jacket and a New York Yankees hat. The word is a portmanteau of "Timbs" (Timberlands) and "Shambler."

On August 29th, 2019, content creator KinoFabino tweeted^[4] the original Timbler meme that gained over 390 retweets and 890 likes in two years (shown below, left), posting^[5]^[6]^[7] three more memes featuring the character in October and November 2019 (shown below, center and right).

On October 17th, following a meme posted by @KinoFabino on that day, Twitter^[8]^[9] users @quake_txt and @MKDouma6 posted the earliest discovered fan art based on the character (shown below, left and center).

In 2020 and 2021, more memes and fan art of Timbler were posted by KinoFabino and other users.

Skin vs. Fur Debate

Skin vs. Fur Debate refers to an online debate over whether Shambler is supposed to have fur or pale skin. The debate stems from various interpretations of Shambler's appearance in Quake with his model not clearly showing whether it has fur or not.

The earliest documented instance of the "Skin vs. Fur" debate regarding Shambler is a March 2006 thread on Quake One forums.^[10] In 2012, another dedicated thread for the debate was created on Quake One.^[11]

On February 5th, 2021, Twitter^[12] user @TubaZef posted asked about public consensus on whether Shambler is supposed to have fur, reigniting the debate on Twitter (tweet shown below, left).

Quake artist Adrian Carmack^[10] and designer John Romero^[13] both stated that Shambler does not have fur.

Mama Shambler

Mama Shambler refers to a series of fan art depicting Shambler as a mother of baby Shamblers, often referred to as "Shamblings." The fan art usually depicts Shambler nurturing or teaching Shamblings in a similar way to how a mother bear would nurture or teach her cubs.

The trend was ignited by Twitter^[11]^[12] user @FPSCarol, who on August 7th, 2021, posted two fan art depicting Shamblers in such a way (shown below, left and right).