Zalgo

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http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Zalgo

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2009-04-03T19:22:08Z

Shmorky, a SomethingAwful Goon

2004

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= true active evil, death, Cthulhu

Zalgo <h2>About</h2> <p>Today, after 5 years of slow memetic evolution, “Zalgo” has come to represent decay and chaos, and is typically explained using garbage characters (e.g. ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ͡҉҉ ) and by shooping popular images into looking decayed (like <em>Robocop On A Unicorn</em>, pictured above).</p> <p>Zalgo’s overtones are not dissimilar from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQTC98?ie=UTF8&tag=rocketboom-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000BQTC98">Cthulu</a>, the cosmic embodiment of fear created by H.P. Lovecraft in the 1920s.</p> <h2>Origin</h2> <p>On July 27th, 2004, SomethingAwful Goon Shmorky uploaded <a href=http://shmorky.com/parodies/parodies.html>a number of adult humor parodies</a> of classic syndicated comic series including <em>Nancy</em>, <em>Archie</em> and more. The word Zalgo first appears in <em>Nancy</em> parody comic #3 of the set.<br /> <a href="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/17016/original/nancy3.gif?1252370184">Due to the nature of this content, you can view by clicking here</a></p> <p>On August 22nd, 2009, Shmorky set the record straight in <a href=http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3124526&userid=31459&perpage=40&pagenumber=2#post364833484>this post on the SomethingAwful Forums</a>:<br /> <blockquote><br /> I like how people who try to figure out the origin of the “meme” don’t even know where it came from originally. I’ll tell you where it came from. From me. I just made it up. Zalgo is something horrible. Zalgo is something that’s coming. It’s coming soon. It has nothing to do with Lovecraft. I’m not nerdy enough to make those kind of references.<br /> Seeing it become a meme kinda killed doing further Zalgo edits in the future (for me anyway) but maybe I’ll do one when you least expect it.</p> <p>oh yeah, and what the fuck is this? <a href="http://zalgoapproaches.com">http://zalgoapproaches.com</a></p> <p>ah ha ha ha ha!</p> </blockquote> <p>Zalgo is again mentioned in Shmorkey’s <em>Archie</em> Parody #11.<br /> <img src="http://knowyourmeme.com/i/17017/original/archie11.gif" alt="" /></p> <p>Although the Zalgo comic was relatively well-known on SomethingAwful, search traffic for Zalgo did not peak until March of 2009.</p> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fig%2Fmodules%2Fgoogle_insightsforsearch_interestovertime_searchterms.xml&up__property=empty&up__search_terms=Zalgo%7C%7C&up__location=empty&up__category=0&up__time_range=empty&up__compare_to_category=false&synd=ig&w=650&h=300&lang=en-US&title=Google+Insights+for+Search&border=%23ffffff%7C3px%2C1px+solid+%23999999&output=js"></script><h2>Other resources</h2> <p>Urbandictionary.com on Zalgo:</p> <blockquote>To invoke the hive-mind representing chaos.<br /> Invoking the feeling of chaos.<br /> With out order.<br /> The Nezperdian hive-mind of chaos. Zalgo.<br /> He who Waits Behind The Wall.<br /> <span class="caps">ZALGO</span>!<br /> The entire room is filled with Zalgo.</blockquote> <p>Per <em><a href="http://grimreviews.blogspot.com/2008/12/zalgo-comic-chronicles.html">Grim Reviews</a></em> (Dec 2008):</p> <blockquote>Zalgo is an unusual internet phenomenon confined to a few select off-beat forums and image boards. Its relevance here lies in its Lovecraftian edge. The objects of Zalgo are mostly popular, innocent comics turned ruthlessly to the dark side of Lovecraftian horror—and humor… Some would contend that Zalgo isn’t necessarily Lovecraftian at all. While it isn’t always explicitly so, it certainly holds many of the features common to peripheral Lovecraftian parodies, which is good enough to place it in the realm of weird inspired humor.</blockquote> <ul> <li><a href=http://www.eeemo.net/>Zalgo Text Generator on eeemo.net</a>.</li> </ul> <h2>Example Usage</h2> <p>T҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚o invoke the h҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ive-mind re҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚presenting chaos. Invoking҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ the feeling of ch҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚aos. With out ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚order.҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚ ̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̚̕̕̚̕̚͡ ͡҉҉ ̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ The Nezperd҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ian hive-mind of chaos. Zalgo. He w҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ho Waits Behind ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚The Wall. ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚͡ ̒̓̔̕̚ ҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̕̚ ͡ ̒̓̔̕̚,</p> <p>H҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘Ȅ̐̑̒̚̕̚ IS C̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̚̕̚̕̚̕̚̕̚̕̚OMI҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘NG > ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ͡҉҉</p> <p>H҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘Ȅ̐̑̒̚̕̚ IS C̒̓̔̿̿̿̕̚̚̕̚̕̚̕̚̕̚̕̚OMI҉̵̞̟̠̖̗̘NG > ͡҉҉ ̵̡̢̛̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠͇̊̋̌̍̎̏̿̿̿̚ ҉ ҉҉̡̢̡̢̛̛̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̖̗̘̙̜̝̞̟̠̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑̒̓̔̊̋̌̍̎̏̐̑ ͡҉҉</p> <p>Z҉A҉L҉G҉O̚̕̚ Z҉A҉L҉G҉O̚̕̚ Z҉A҉L҉G҉O̚̕̚</p> <h2>Quality</h2> <p>Observers have noted that Zalgo-related images tend to be of considerably higher quality than your average meme.<a href="http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Talk:Zalgo#Is_it_just_me">1</a>…</p> <h2>Related</h2> <p>For more apocalyptic memes please see:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulu">Cthulu</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Catnarok">Catnarok</a> [ED] — Longcat vs. Tacgnol, the end is near!</li> </ul>

2009-11-20T04:36:17Z

124

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