Before the word "viral" meant anything beyond the flu, a Canadian teen wielded a golf ball retriever like a Sith Lord in the making and accidentally became one of the internet's first main characters in the now-classic viral video.

The video of the "Star Wars Kid," as he came to be known, blew up without warning (or consent) in an event that turned a jovial but private moment into a public spectacle seen and mocked by hundreds of millions of people

But what happens after the internet eats you alive and moves on? Two decades later, Ghyslain Raza has reemerged, not as a punchline, but as a man with a law degree, a mission and one heck of a redemption arc.

Here's the backstory of the Star Wars Kid over two decades later.

What Is The Star Wars Kid Video and How Did It Go Viral?

On November 4th, 2002, in the media studio of Jean-Guy Leboeuf Secondary School, 14-year-old Ghyslain Raza hit "record" on a school VHS camcorder and launched into a complicated light-saber choreography clearly inspired by Darth Maul.

The heavy-set, bespectacled teen took numerous takes swinging out the white golf ball retriever he was pretending was a light saber, twirling, lunging and spinning with genuine theatrical gusto.

The only sound accompanying the tape was the "light-saber" whipping in the air, the sound of scuffing shoes and Raza's labored breathing. The video ends rather abruptly with a brief clip of a basketball game, the telltale sign of a reused VHS tape.

Raza didn't know it at the time, but his classmates would soon find the tape, digitize it and upload it to the internet. Most internet users know the clip simply as "Star Wars Kid," a name coined by video blogger Andy Baio in 2003.

The clip began making the rounds online after April 14th, 2003, and, according to some estimates, the clip gathered over 900 million views by November 2006.

Star Wars Kid began one of the internet's first lasting memes and spawned a legacy that went beyond Star Wars themed edits and remixes online — like this one that depicts him as a "Drunken Jedi Master," complete with neon special effects and foley.

What's the Backstory Behind the Star Wars Kid Video?

As it turns out, the backstory behind the Star Wars Kid video is darker than you might think. The classmates who uploaded the tape to the internet did so without Raza's knowledge and certainly without wholesome intentions.

They first shared it to a P2P service under the name "Jacka**_starwars_funny.wmv," and the clip first made the rounds in Raza's school amongst mean-spirited teens who went on to bully him relentlessly.

By the time Raza realized the video was online, the damage was already done. The file had gone from P2P services like Kazaa to email forwards to message boards and then early YouTube.

He was taunted mercilessly by his peers, and his school asked him not to return the next year because they feared the bad publicity, all while reporters kept turning up at his house unannounced.

Unlike meme trends that are lucky to last a week on the internet in 2025, people obsessed over the Star Wars Kid video for ages back in the mid-2000s.

Mainstream news and television picked up the clip and parodied it for years. Stephen Colbert even invited his viewers to remix and enhance the clip, and popular shows like South Park and Arrested Development dropped references to it, never depicting Raza in too flattering a light.

How Did Raza React To Being Bullied For The Star Wars Kid Video?

In July 2003, Ghyslain Raza's parents filed a lawsuit seeking $250,000 CAD in damages against the families of four classmates who had digitized and uploaded the video without his consent.

The lawsuit claimed that Raza had to endure, and still endured, harassment and derision from his high school mates and the public at large and that he would be under psychiatric care for an indefinite amount of time.

Days before the trial was set to begin, Raza and his family reached an out-of-court settlement with the defendants, the terms of which were not disclosed.

In 2013, Raza broke his silence in an interview with Canadian magazine L'actualité, reflecting on the impact the viral video had on his life.

In it, he recounted the intense bullying he faced, both online and in person, stating, "What I saw was mean. It was violent." The interview marked the first time he publicly addressed the emotional toll of being turned into a meme without his consent.

Were There Any Positive Reactions To The Star Wars Kid Video?

However, not everyone watching The Star Wars Kid was out for blood. In the wake of the video's viral spread, blogger Andy Baio, who had initially shared the clip on his site Waxy.org, recognized the unintended harm the video caused.

Feeling remorseful, Baio initiated a fundraiser aiming to gift Raza an Apple iPod. The campaign resonated with nerds across the country and culminated in over $4,300 raised from 421 donors.

Supporters also sent in gifts, including a Darth Maul light-saber replica signed by Ray Park and a number of video games.

Baio later confirmed that Raza received the iPod and used accompanying gift cards to purchase an iMac G4, both of which he kept. ​Andy and Baio even met up nearly 20 years later in 2021.

What Has Raza Been Up To Since, And Where Can I Find Him Online Today?

Raza went on to study law at McGill University, earning a BCL/LLB in 2011 and later an LLM in 2020. He gave his 2013 interview with L’actualité after a string of high-profile cyberbullying-related suicides in hopes of encouraging public dialogue about digital harassment and its consequences.

That same year, he co-founded Fondation Équité Jeunesse, a nonprofit that promotes youth well-being, digital citizenship and media literacy across Quebec. He has since worked as a civil lawyer in Montreal, focusing on public interest law and social advocacy.

The most recent update from Raza came in 2022 when he appeared in the documentary Star Wars Kid: The Rise of the Digital Shadows, directed by Mathieu Fournier.

The film explored the lasting imprint of viral fame and the emotional aftermath of involuntary internet notoriety, and was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award in 2024 for Best Biography or Arts Documentary Program or Series.

This is what Raza had to say to other kids suffering from online harassment and isolation: "You’ll survive. You’ll get through it. You are not alone. You are surrounded by people who love you."

Ghyslain Raza keeps a low profile on the internet these days and remains dedicated to his goal of enhancing the well-being of kids in an increasingly online world.

You can support his work on the official Fondation Équité Jeunesse website. Additionally, you can also watch his documentary for free on the National Film Board of Canada's website here.

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For the full history of the Star Wars Kid, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information. To see the rest of our "Where Are They Now" series, you can find them all here. Stay tuned for next week's editorial!

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