The Evolution of Doomer

or, how girl Wojaks changed the direction of a meme tradition

When we look forward, we see darkness around the corner. Call it whatever you like—climate crisis, rising authoritarianism, Mark Zuckerberg’s secret nuclear war bunker in Hawai’i—but it’s the biggest influence on internet culture. The world is ending, and here you are spending the closing act of human civilization… scrolling on TikTok?

That sense of mental dissonance and despair is in the water we drink. I’ve written before about how this vibe annoys me, but it’s still worth looking into. Even if you reject it, it’s on your feed. And if there’s any one character representing this feeling, it’s Doomer Wojak. And Doomer’s evolution over time follows an evolution in how people feel about the end of the world.

Who Is Doomer?

Doomer originated around 2018. Visually, he is a Wojak with a hat, hoodie, and cigarette added onto his line-drawn face.

The Wojak tradition by 2018 was about a decade old. The character was first posted around 2009, and through the early 2010s developed into a kind of