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What Is The 'Hire Fans LOL' Meme? The Viral DEI Copypasta Being Used To Criticize 'The Witcher 4' Haters Explained
The long-awaited fantasy game The Witcher 4 has been announced, and while most fans are eager to get their hands on it, some aren't too pleased by the game's new protagonist.
This time around, you play as Ciri, but some people think the game developers have changed how she looks since The Witcher 3. Now, they're pointing the finger at alleged diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) measures, inadvertently reviving an old meme that's being used to clap back at them.
So, what is the "Hire Fans LOL" meme and what exactly does it mean? Here's what we know.
What Is The 'Hire Fans LOL' Meme?
In May 2021, the video game Horizon Zero Dawn received backlash from some people online over the altered appearance of the protagonist, Aloy. Many hypothesized that the game's developers made Aloy less attractive because of DEI measures. These same people also framed it as an example of gaming gone woke.
That month, X user @ApexAlphaJ made a post satirizing the types of people who make these complaints. In the post, they shared two images of Aloy, one unedited and one over-edited and yassified, writing, "Pic from the game on the left, fan made on right. Hire fans lol," suggesting fans would have made the character look better.
How Is 'Hire Fans LOL' Used In Memes?
The 2021 post by X user @ApexAlphaJ inspired memes parodying their post, with many taking it as a genuine complaint about Aloy's looks rather than satire. Memers turned the post text into a copypasta and began posting yassified versions of characters from other games next to their unedited counterparts, ironically claiming the glamorized edits look better.
The meme fell quiet for a while until The Witcher 4 trailer dropped late last week, which will see gamers play as the female protagonist Ciri. The game was announced at The Game Awards 2024 event.
Shortly after the reveal, some people found Ciri's character model less attractive than in The Witcher 3 and revived the meme. Largely, the meme is being used with characters from The Witcher series, but it's also been revived in general, becoming a massive format once again on X.
For the full history of Hire Fans LOL, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
