TikTok’s ‘NPC In Real Life’ Trend Comes From Gen Z’s Worst Side

I’ve been watching these videos for at least a year. It’s what we call the “NPCs in real life” trend on TikTok. harass, embarrass, or scare people in publicHarassment is a staple of my online life and I take it mildly “Naughty” channel on YouTubein place celebrity drama, and my Twitter responders.But these videos stuck a needle like me in a unique way Watch them sink my hands into the bowl sweet gum tree seeds, because their creators had their own justifications. They said it’s okay to cause trouble for other people because they’re just non-playable characters.

Above all, it seems embarrassing to think this way.When you watch a video that tries to squeeze entertainment out of annoyance senior citizen,probably unaccommodated people, When service worker, feels like our cultural myopia is getting worse. Being a trailblazer with your own personal social media content doesn’t make you a god.

Anything that defines a non-playable character is in the name. In video games, NPCs are non-playable characters, even if you want to kill people with them. Princess Guineveregenerous breasts dark soul, as I know. Everyone is a hero, a main character, except for NPCs.

This kind of character placement may be individualistic in nature, but it’s not explicit. It mimics what is seen in mythology. A story arc known as the Hero’s Journey, in the ubiquitous first-person “I” in many movies, and many songs. Perhaps, except for the fact that “NPC” is a more specific term than “background character” or “extra” and more neutral than “antagonist”, how do video game characters compare to other art forms? Nothing is more susceptible to a particularly selfish metaphor than character. ‘ or ‘best friend’.

Video games protagonists, too, are charged with a kind of positive action you can’t find elsewhere, by virtue of their actions being linked, barring cutscenes, to the player’s. If viewers could fire every gun in John Woo’s plastic surgery thriller Face/Off, too, maybe I’d be writing about the “Nicolas Cage in real life” TikTok trend instead.

So the origin of Urban Dictionary’s Snobbish 2018 NPC interpretation— “a seemingly incapable human being to think objectively” — with this in mind, it becomes clearer. Other people? Animals in need of a leader, puppies, imperfect humans who are joyful and enthusiastic about helping them find the right train, arrive at class on time. you too?you invincible herois unhappy that all these unrelated personalities are interfering in your quest.

but, urban dictionary a definition was born out of idle political dissatisfaction (It lists both “Fuck Trump! Ban guns!” and “Fuck Hillary! Ban Imigrants!” target. as early as 2011but sticks to contempt as well.

A search for “NPC in real life” on TikTok shows the results with the highest number of videos posted between Spring 2022 and now with millions of views. The type of content varies and the videos are rarely about actual video games. His one of the most viewed NPC videos with 16.8 million views shows a group of boys. pretend grand theft auto NPCsbut another video with 12.5 million views follows a kid growling at a passing classmate.

The most prolific anti-NPC creator is UK TikToker bigcthedonwith 15.3 million likes running ads across its accounts Tell NPC strange things, Tell NPC strange things, Sing SKEPTA on the tube to NPCWhen Tell NPC strange thingsThis kind of offensive display is the most popular type of NPC video, but teens often do “NPC interviews” as well. with kids at schoolWhen absentmindedly describe Some NPC videos are simulation theorywith video makers acting out robot game character-like movements, it must appear “almost as nervous as swallowing a red pill” to an unsuspecting onlooker.

But for me, a member over the age of 23, all the time–Philosophical–about Generation ZI think TikTok’s obnoxious use of “NPCs” stems from our generation spending most of our lives small, alone, and online.

During my teenage years and teenage years, the most important time, I formed my identity and understanding of the community through chat rooms, blogs, and group texts. I never saw who he was talking to over there. I posted selfies on Instagram, stories on An Archive Of Our Own, lunchtime thoughts on Twitter, and songs on SoundCloud. I saw other people’s selfies and other people’s stories, but in a physical sense it was all filtered by my isolation. It was just my face.It was my typing that told everyone what I believed. There is no difference at all. Also known as a social media post.

For some members of Gen Z, the first generation to have access to social media from birth, the way we make sense of ourselves, more than others, was done alone in the light of a screen. I was getting more information from it. The internet is limitless, and Photo Booth filters that can distort your self-image beyond the wild expectations of magazines can make us sit in cafeterias and see the people around us caring, loving, and alive.

When I was younger, I spent most of my time in my inner and personal digital world, and I think I stopped seeing people around me fully breathing. Looked like a headless NPC, but I grew up.

I have learned to listen and care for others. I’ve learned that egoism quickly degrades the status of a self-accepted hero. It hurts you and those who are trying to help you on your journey. ? Is it really that bad to be a useful member of a well-intentioned group? NPCs have stories, they have families, they have feelings too. I don’t have to be the hero because it’s not bad to be the same as everyone else. Occasionally, it can be someone else’s NPC.