In 2007, a penguin chose to walk 70 km away towards a mountain in Antarctica and in 2026, the internet is going crazy behind it.
Unless the penguin took your phone away with it, you are sure to have come across the ‘Nihilist Penguin’ trend/meme that social media is obsessing over. The clip shows a lone penguin slowly waddling away from its colony, heading straight toward the barren, icy horizon. It is taken from the 2007 documentary Encounters at the End of the World by Werner Herzog, showing an Adelie penguin straying from its group into the interior of Antarctica.
What might have been just a rare moment of a penguin straying from its group has now become a global symbol of existential dread, burnout, and the urge to just “walk away” from life’s pressures.
Across Instagram, X, and Reddit, users are remixing the footage with eerie and sad music, dramatic captions, and humorous text, turning the penguin into a relatable icon for modern fatigue, quiet rebellion, or simply having “one of those days.” From meme accounts to mainstream brands and even Donald Trump, everyone is embracing the metaphorical power of a penguin choosing its own path.
Hyderabad joins the nihilist penguin trend
It is impossible for a trend to not pick up in Hyderabad, and the ‘nihilist penguin’ is no exception. Hyderabadi creativity and humor has added their own flavour to the trend.
We now have our very own version, but the penguin is seen walking towards Charminar. Some memes show the penguin walking toward a mountain labelled “biryani”. One reel reads, “Everyone is choosing Bangalore. Me, choosing Hyderabad.” Another meme page captioned the famous clip as: “Hyderabadis when there is no biryani at the function,” perfectly capturing the collective despair and humor that only Hyderabadis can relate to. It got even funnier when a meme page dubbed the clip with a scene from the Hyderabadi movie ‘Berozgar’.
Even brands have jumped on the bandwagon. Popular eateries like Cafe Niloufer and Pista House have joined the trend, creating quirky posts and memes inspired by the penguin, turning the global meme into a local marketing moment.
What is your favourite version of the ‘nihilist penguin’? Comment below.
