Where Do 'Never Goon' Minions Come From? The Wacky Minion Trend And Memes Explained

Why are there images and videos of Minions dressed in black T-shirts with the words "never goon" on them being spread around social media? Who makes these images and are they AI-generated? What does "never goon" even mean?

Find answers to all these questions in our brief explainer on this bizarre trend below.

What Are ‘Never Goon Minions’?

Incel Minions, also known as Chud Minions, refers to a set of AI-generated memes imagining Minions as incels, chuds and alt-right extremists. Within the set, images of Minions wearing black T-shirts with the slogan "Never Goon" emblazoned on them achieved virality on social media in late 2023.

It's worth noting that all the original Never Goon minions – and that one viral image of Donald Trump wearing the Never Goon shirt – all come from the same user who made literal dozens of these images and shared them online in October and November 2023.

Where Do ‘Never Goon’ Minions Come From?

The now-famous set of images was created by X / Twitter user @1611bible, who started posting AI-generated images that depicted minions in various offensive scenarios on October 3rd, 2023. The user posted the first image of a Minion wearing the now-iconic black T-shirt with the slogan "Never Goon" on it on October 12th.

In October and November 2023, @1611bible posted dozens of AI-generated images of minions in Never Goon shirts engaging in various anti-gooning activities, such as blowing up a goon cave and hunting gooners.

What Does "Never Goon" Mean?

In online slang, "gooner" is a term used to describe a person who is excessively addicted to pleasuring oneself. Therefore, "never goon" is simply a slogan that sends a message against those who excessively engage in masturbation.

What Are Never Goon AI Videos?

By May 2024, the images reached TikTok, where a trend of editing these videos into short stories achieved popularity. After Luna AI's Dream Machine video-generation tool was released in mid-June 2024, the trend swerved into a new direction, as users took the original images and turned them into videos using that tool.

For the full history of Never Goon Minions, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.