NPC
- Literally
- NPC: non-player character, a figure in a game run by the computer.
- Meaning
- Slang for someone seen as following a script instead of thinking.
- Popular since
- 2023
What does NPC mean?
Calling someone an NPC is a way of saying their opinions arrived pre-installed. It comes from games, where non-player characters repeat the same lines forever, and it works online as the sharpest possible dismissal: you are not a person, you are a program. The insult says as much about the person typing it, which is why it usually lands in arguments that were already lost.
Where does NPC come from?
The image existed for years, and in 2018 the NPC Wojak, a gray face with a blank expression based on the older Wojak drawing, became the standard portrait for people accused of groupthink. In 2023 the Twitch streamer PinkyDoll gave the word a second life by acting like a game character on camera, thanking viewers for gifts with phrases like ice cream so good, and the clips spread far beyond gaming.
How to use NPC
- He replied with the same three lines to every question. Full NPC behavior.
- My friend orders the same bowl every single day. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the NPC in his story.
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Comments
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