In internet culture, chud is a pejorative term for someone with far-right political views. The term is often paired with the Chudjak, a variant of the Wojak (a meme template of a black-outlined cartoon drawing of a bald man with a wistful expression often combined with “that feel”).
Chud is commonly used as an insult in leftist circles but is sometimes employed by the far-right to relate to one another. In non-political cases, it is used to mean a foolish or unpleasant person and is sometimes contrasted with the Chad (ironic alpha) meme.
The term originates from the 1984 movie ‘C.H.U.D.’ In the film, the acronym refers to a group of humanoid, flesh-eating monsters that were once humans, but mutated due to radioactive waste. While the word may have started pejorative use in 2003 to describe any repulsive person, its usage shifted as it became popular in the 2020s on sites such as Twitter and Reddit, where it was used to describe someone as ignorant or far-right.
As the word grew in popularity, it also gained an additional non-political connotation. At a ‘Chud-off’ competition held in Monroe Park, a participant referred to as the ‘Chudnana’ described the non-political meaning of the word as ‘someone who stays inside, never does anything with their life, and is unemployed and dumb.’
Chudjak, also known as Poljak or Le /pol/ Face, is a variation of the Wojak internet meme named after the term chud. He is depicted with short black hair, furrowing eyebrows, square-rimmed glasses, and a receding chin. He is designed to bear resemblance to and make fun of the far-right mass murderer Patrick Crusius and users of the 4Chan board /pol/. He originated from the imageboard Kohlchan and is considered a Soyjak (‘soy boy’ wojak) by the users of another imageboard named soyjak.party. The Chudjak character has been used in leftist, far-right, as well as non-political spaces, similar to the word he is named after.
One of the most popular memes with the character is the ‘Nothing Ever Happens’ reaction image, which features the Chudjak either as a teacher pointing at the whiteboard with the phrase ‘Nothing Ever Happens’ written on it or betting all his chips in a poker game that nothing will happen. The catchphrase used in the meme originated from 2012 on 4Chan’s /pol/ board. It is commonly used in political posts to reject either alarmism or a warning that will likely not carry any consequences. Sometimes, it is used in an ironic sense.
In 2024, a trend started on Twitter where users would create a variation of the Chudjak wearing a shirt that expresses appreciation for a day of the week. These ‘Weekjaks’ were depicted wearing cargo shorts, waving their hands, and wearing a shirt with a parody of the ‘I Love New York’ logo, with a weekday replacing ‘New York,’ on it. Some users made the ‘Thursdayjak’ in particular extremely violent towards the other weekjaks.
Some far-right internet users have adopted the character as a personification of their movement. The phrase ‘The West Has Fallen; Billions Must Die’ is commonly associated with the Chudjak and has been used as a hate slogan by accelerationists and other race supremacists. The character has also been associated with the hate symbol ‘TND.’ Solomon Henderson, the perpetrator of the Antioch High School shooting, referenced the Chudjak in his username and multiple times in his writings.
The Daily Omnivore 
Leave a comment