What Does 'The West Has Fallen. Billions Must Die' Mean? The Infamous Wojak And 4chan Meme Explained

An angry-looking Wojak character has been floating around as of late, saying, "The West has fallen. Billions must die," among other satirical variations of the catchphrase. What's canonically referred to as a Chudjak, the near-sided character has been surfacing on 4chan since late last year.

As stated, many ironic variations of the now infamous Wojak cartoon have been posted across the web, ranging from Twitter to Instagram, Reddit to iFunny.

What exactly does this phrase mean though? Who is this "Chudjak" and is the meme problematic? Let's explain.

What Does 'The West Has Fallen. Billions Must Die' Mean?

To start off, the phrase "billions must die" infers depopulation, as in, billions of the human race must pass on. The term's utterance could be likened to extreme climate activists who might believe that "billions must die" in order to save planet Earth.

However, when placed after the phrase "The West has fallen" in the context of the meme, the whole phrase infers sentiments of The Great Replacement Theory which has received news coverage in the past for being associated with the alt-right movement.

With all this considered, the phrase used in the meme reflects resentment at globalization and overpopulation, however, it also suggests a problematic conspiracy theory that the "white race" is being replaced, as in, it "has fallen."

What Is A 'Chudjak?'

The frowning character in the meme is made to represent the person saying the phrase, "The West has fallen. Billions must die." He is a short-haired guy with glasses, looking undeniably ugly as if he were a caricature. In fact, he is actually a caricature, as in, he's a crudely-made MS painting of the horrible person arrested in the 2019 El Paso Shooting.

At first, the drawing was known as "le pollack" and then "le /pol/ face" in 2019, due to its prevalence on 4chan's /pol/ board where many of the internet's worst hang out. The cartoon eventually became known as Chudjak on the more left-wing imageboard Bunkerchan. Inherently, the Chudjak is used to make fun of /pol/ users, as he's an ugly depiction of the stereotypical incel and far-right extremist.

Where Did 'The West Has Fallen. Billions Must Die' Meme Come From?

The combination of the catchphrase and Chudjak pushing the red button was first uploaded to the website Soyjak.party in September 2022. Similarly to the general usage of Chudjak online, the meme was shared to make fun of controversial /pol/ users, labeling them as oxymorons for believing "billions must die" when they look like a Chudjak.

Going into 2023, the phrase became a phrasal template in which meme creators replaced words in the sentences, furthering the widely-shared dunking of incels online.

Is 'The West Has Fallen. Billions Must Die' Meme Problematic?

With all of these aspects considered, the meme we're discussing was built on problematic and fringe viewpoints from some of the worst people online. However, as the meme has developed, it's easy to see that its usage is satirical, in that it's being used to make fun of the incels it represents. Therefore, whether or not this meme is problematic is entirely up to the context in which it's used.

For the full history of "The West has fallen. Billions must die," be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.