Why ‘nihilist penguin’ is the mood of the moment

Need a break from the news? We thought so.

After days of dealing with Winter Storm Fern—which has left 600,000 homes without power in the South, and thousands others digging themselves out from under more than snow (especially here in New England)—overwhelmed and exhausted people everywhere have discovered one, rather dark meme that has the internet obsessed: the nihilist penguin.

What exactly is the nihilistic penguin meme?

This clip, from Werner Herzog’s 2007 documentary “Encounters at the End of the World,” of a lone penguin walking out into what looks like a never-ending tundra after stubbornly choosing to leave his penguin colony, went viral at the beginning of the year. Doomed, he seems to saunter on by himself, into his unknown fate toward the mountains.

“One of them caught our eye, the one in the center,” Herzog explains as he narrates the documentary. “He would neither go toward the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice, nor return to the colony. Shortly afterward, we saw him heading straight for the mountains, some 70 kilometers away. Doctor Ainslie explained even if he caught him, and brought him back to the colony, he would immediately head right back for the mountains. But, why?”

Well, by the looks of it, many people relate to the clip, with TikTokers sharing, commenting, and making their own version of the video. Why do they relate?

According to social media posts, there seem to be two interpretations of the clip: One, bleak as it is, is that we are all that penguin, going toward our certain deaths. (According to the Doomsday clock, we are all one step closer to destruction.)

A second is more optimistic: that the penguin’s actions are a symbol of endurance.

As one TikTok user explains, “if this penguin doesn’t penetrate your psyche so deeply that you are compelled to finally drop everything & chase your dreams. then you’re doomed forever bro.”

Doomed forever bruh, indeed.

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