“One must imagine [the NPC] happy.” - Albert Camus, paraphrased
The NPC meme has gone through a progression. It started as a memetic diss from the culture war right toward the culture war left, claiming that those who parrot the political cause de jour are “non-playable characters”—a phrase from RPG games that describes preprogrammed, unplayable characters.
Once the meme started going viral, it was declared as dehumanizing by a series of articles, which only fuelled the meme.
Although the NPC meme was originally aimed at the culture war left, the culture war right eventually found itself NPCified.
Like the Borg in Star Trek, assimilating everything in sight, resistance was deemed futile. Everyone is now at risk of becoming an NPC.
The meme took a stranger turn in 2023, with people beginning to embrace the NPC, as if it were something good. The NPC meme evolved with Gen Z on TikTok mimicking NPC movements, alongside the rise of “NPC streamers,” where live streamers perform repetitive, preprogrammed behaviors for monetary gain.
A dark perspective on the NPC meme comes from Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who anticipated the rise of NPCs in his 1995 manifesto. He described a scenario where “the machines”—now understood as AI—completely replace human labor, making it obsolete and rendering society utterly dependent on technology.
If the ruling elite retains control over the machines, they will view the now-unnecessary masses as liabilities. This leads to a grim choice: either eliminate the surplus population or brainwash them into a docile and servile state, making them “happy,” effectively reducing them to NPCs.
“Of course, life will be so purposeless that people will have to be biologically or psychologically engineered either to remove their need for the power process or make them "sublimate" their drive for power into some harmless hobby. These engineered human beings may be happy in such a society, but they will most certainly not be free. They will have been reduced to the status of domestic animals.” - Ted Kaczynski
NPCs become non-threats because they are non-players, lacking the agency to engage meaningfully in the game. Perpetually stuck in life and fearful of standing out, they never truly participate in serious play—indeed, they aren't even aware of what the game is. If Kaczynski was correct, then the proactive embrace of NPC memes could be seen as a collective act of subjugation.
An alternative perspective comes from foresight strategist Robert Bolton, who argues in his recent article “The NPC: An Unplayable Character for Unnarratable Times” that the meme has evolved beyond its original pejorative use and has become something desirable. Embracing the NPC role simplifies one’s experience, alleviating the pressure to be the protagonist of one’s online presence.1
“So resigning to NPC status has become desirable; some say emancipatory. You give yourself a gift: temporary relief from the burden of protagonism, a chance to simply be and observe without the weight of narrative responsibility.” - Robert Bolton
The NPC requires no biography or coherent story of self. In adopting the meme, it becomes an act of rebellion against the delusion of playability, offering respite from the complexity of the metacrisis. If enough NPCs emerge, they could potentially crash the simulation, rendering the game unplayable. By becoming unplayable, one avoids being played, giving happiness a chance through opting out of an unwinnable game.
To be an NPC, then, has two meanings. In Kaczynski’s thesis, someone is non-playable, a person in the game with no agency. In Bolton’s antithesis, someone is unplayable, a person opting out of the game with agency. The NPC: A meme foreshadowing the collective subjugation of global totalitarianism, or a stigma of unthought transforming into a surprising symbol of emancipation?
A living question we’ll be considering at The Stoa.
Tomorrow @ The Stoa:
Becoming Unplayable: On NPCs in the Metacrisis w/ Robert Bolton. September 5th @ 12 PM ET.
Join Robert Bolton from From Later where he explores being a Non-Player Character (NPC) in today's world. This event delves into how societal roles and behaviors often mirror NPCs in video games—characters with limited behaviors and scripted responses. He'll discuss the transformation of the NPC concept from a derogatory term to a self-effacing charm, highlighting its role in social dynamics and identity. Discover how the NPC archetype reflects our collective anxieties and offers a form of resistance and agency amidst the metacrisis. This session will provide a fresh perspective on navigating modern existential challenges.
Recommended reading: “The NPC: An Unplayable Character for Unnarratable Times: An Exploration of a Nebulous and Evolving Archetype” by Robert Bolton
To RSVP, you can become a Less Foolish or Patreon member. The RSVP link is behind the paywall.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Less Foolish to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.