What's The 'I'm Just A Chill Guy' Meme? The Dog Who Was 'My New Character' On TikTok Explained

TikTok has experienced a new wave of "I'm Just a Chill Guy" memes that show the casual anthropomorphic dog who used to be called "My New Character."

In a new slew of posts, the Chill Guy meme has evolved into a trendy green screen CapCut template as users add his PNG to different backgrounds, giving his catchphrase, "I'm just a chill guy," new meanings. Now, even a Chill Guy meme coin is happening in the cryptocurrency world, banking on his seemingly evergreen virality.

However, who created the Chill Guy meme? How has it mutated and where did his copypasta come from? Let's explain.

Where Did The 'Chill Guy' Meme Come From?

The original creator of the Chill Guy meme is an artist named Phillip Banks who goes by philb on his Twitter / X account @PhillipBankss.

About a year ago, in October 2023, he posted the original artwork depicting the Chill Guy, writing, "My new character. His whole deal is he's a chill guy that lowkey doesn't give a f---." He also posted the character as an Instagram Reel soon after.

The Chill Guy is a brown dog dressed like a human man, wearing a grey sweater, blue jeans and red sneakers. He's smirking at the viewer, indicating his off-the-chart level of nonchalance. He also resembles Family Guy's Brian Griffin in a lot of ways.

Where Did The 'I'm Just A Chill Guy' Meme Come From?

Although Phillip Banks' drawing started the Chill Guy meme, the phrase "I'm just a chill guy" comes from the character's TikTok fame that started this year. At first, the meme was called My New Character, which corresponds with Banks' original caption.

A major stepping stone in the evolution of the meme was an edit posted by TikToker @abnormalpenguin2 a few months ago. The inspirational video showed the Chill Guy set to piano music with an AI-generated voice (resembling Brian Griffin) saying, "I know I'm supposed to be a chill guy …"

@abnormalpenguin2 my new character lowkey has some lore #mynewcharacter #foryoupage #foryou #comedy #fyp #meme #hopecore #inspirational ♬ lowkey chill audio – abnormal penguin🐧

The edit paved the way for others to morph and restructure Banks' original caption, ultimately leading to the current use of the "I'm just a chill guy" phrasal template format in November 2024.

The current memes use the piano song of @abnormalpenguin2's edit and show the PNG of the Chill Guy overtop different backgrounds. The most common background is a serene field of dandelions with leaves falling, taken from a different edit shared by TikToker @xssume.

The two examples shown below are from TikTokers @hxcixs and @conditionzed. The first was an early adopter of the new format and the latter is a recent adopter from this week. The examples demonstrate how both the character and the caption of the original Chill Guy meme have become exploitables.

What's The 'Chill Guy' Copypasta?

There's a minor copypasta going around that uses the words from TikToker @abnormalpenguin2's edit. The wholesomeness of the Chill Guy's imagined inner monologue is at full display:

I know I'm supposed to be a chill guy and lowkey not really care about anything, but I'm tired of trying to be someone that I'm not. I want you to think of something right now that makes you happy. That thing you see, the thing that lights you up, chase that. With all of your soul, chase it. 'Cause it's easy to brush off life's potential. And I'm not trying to say that life is easy. In fact, I'd argue that the only way that something is meant to be is if you're willing to commit to the difficulty of bringing it to life. Otherwise, it wasn't meant to be anything but just a missed opportunity. It will be a difficult road but here's what we come to learn —
everything of value is difficult. Think about that.

An alternate Chill Guy copypasta uses a soundbite from the TV show Dexter in which the main character Dexter Morgan says:

They make it look so easy, connecting with another human being. It's like no one ever told them it's the hardest thing in the world.

The original Chill Guy meme using the abovementioned copypasta was posted by TikToker @xssume. It's the reason why one might hear, "They make it look so easy," and immediately think of the lowkey doggie.

@xssume rm: @James || yes i know the flare went over the leaf no i will not be reexporting because it took 30 minutes || #fyp #fypツ #foryou #xssume #edit #trend #mynewcharacter ♬ original sound – xssume

What's The Song Used In 'Chill Guy' Memes?

"Hinoki Wood" by Gia Margaret is the most common song used in the Chill Guy memes. Its usage stems from TikToker @abnormalpenguin2's edit, which spawned the original TikTok sound most used by Chill Guy enthusiasts.

What's The 'Chill Guy Meme Coin?'

There's a new "meme coin" on the crypto market Pump.fun that centers on the Chill Guy. It's called "$CHILLGUY."

For those who are confused, a "meme coin" is a cryptocurrency that uses the recognizability of a meme to boost its potential investment. The dogma is, if a meme is popular enough, a corresponding "meme coin" will mirror the Meme Economy and boost the real-world value of its creator's wallet.

Since it was created on October 5th, 2024, $CHILLGUY has reached a market cap of over $47.3 million. For comparison, the most famous "meme coin," Dogecoin, reached a peak of over $2 billion during its first boom in 2018.

What's The 'Chill Guy' Transparent PNG Meme Template?

Here's a PNG template of the Chill Guy dog that you can add over any background in your meme. For viral results, use this TikTok sound and share your photo in a slideshow.

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For the full history of I'm Just a Chill Guy, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.