Shrumdzhek (Mushroom-Cap Wojak)

What is drawn in the image

The image is drawn with a thin black line on white, with no fill or shading. In the middle is an elongated human figure with narrow shoulders, a broad forehead and a very simple face: two dots for pupils, a small curved bracket for a nose, slightly raised eyebrows and a faint smile that looks more like a line. The gaze is directed straight at the viewer.

A large mushroom cap rises above the face. Spots of different sizes are visible on it, radial gills show under the edge, and the top bends slightly to one side. The mushroom does not so much sit on the head as continue it: the gills converge right at the crown.

The drawing is clearly in the Wojak style, a sad internet figure with a minimalist face that has long been the basis for hundreds of variations. Here the familiar template is kept, but a new element is added on top of it, and that is what turns the familiar character into a distinct figure.

January 2021: “I drew my own Wojak”

According to the English-language meme encyclopedia, the figure first appeared on 30 January 2021: an anonymous user of the /b/ board on 4chan posted a drawing of a mushroom Wojak with a caption saying they had drawn their own Wojak. The author remains unknown, and the reaction to the first post was harsh: the thread filled with rude replies, which later became part of the joking “mythology” of the figure.

Its real fame came later. In late June 2021 the image was posted on Twitter, where it gathered tens of thousands of likes, and within a couple of days it appeared on a large Reddit board devoted to 4chan. After that came mass reproduction: versions with other mushrooms, a female variant with a sturdy figure, and numerous clips on video platforms.

An important caveat: the date of the first post is the earliest trace found, not a proven “birth” of the image. Anonymous boards are poorly archived, so similar drawings may have circulated earlier.

Why the mushroom on the head works

A regular Wojak is a loser figure who feels sorry for himself, gets angry or envies others. Shrumdzhek is the reverse: he is calm and seems to know something that others do not. The smile is barely noticeable, but it changes the character of the whole picture.

The mushroom acts as a sign here. On one hand, it evokes the forest, quiet and unhurriedness. That is why captions often build on a sense of slightly detached, strange wisdom. The meme is easy to read as either a kind joke or a parody of pseudo-philosophical posts.

Such an image is especially suited to first-person texts. The figure looks straight ahead, explains nothing, and the viewer fills in his point of view.

Caption examples

Below are captions made up for this meme, not quotes from old threads.

“Everyone rushes to close their tasks, and I just grow in the shade.” The joke sets the rush against the mushroom's growth: inaction is presented as a deliberate strategy.

“When the deadline was yesterday and you're already sprouting through it.” The mushroom imagery supplies a verb that does not fit office work, which makes the line sound more absurd.

“After the rain I feel especially confident.” A simple everyday thought gains a second meaning: the mushroom does appear after rain, so the caption is about both mood and the character's nature.

“My secret is that I have no plan.” The calm smile makes the admission sound not like a complaint but like superiority, and this is the tone in which the template is most often used.

How to use the image

Put the caption above or below, without covering the face: all the emotion is concentrated in a small area, the eyes and the line of the mouth. Long paragraphs are not needed here: a single line, in the spirit of a quiet aphorism, gives the right effect.

Shrumdzhek suits jokes about tiredness, meditative idleness, love of quiet, the forest, autumn and unexplained self-confidence. For topical debates and sharp judgments it works worse: the image is gentle, and an aggressive caption will argue with it.