Hey Guys - NOT WHAT I'M CALLED Meme Template

Template Name

Hey Guys It's [Blank] / NOT WHAT I'M CALLED / Pointing Stick Figure "Hey Guys" / Misnamed Character Comic / Character Nickname Protest Meme

Origin

This minimalist webcomic panel originates from an independent digital artist's comic sketch posted on Tumblr and Twitter/X around 2020–2021.

In the original illustration, a small, curly-haired cartoon figure excitedly spots an incoming character off-panel, points directly at them, and calls out a silly, inaccurate, or derogatory nickname starting with "hey guys [blank]". The arriving subject—usually positioned off-screen to the right—immediately retorts with an indignant shout: "NOT WHAT I'M CALLED".

The template was quickly adopted across fandom communities, particularly gaming, anime, and pop-culture fandoms on Tumblr, Reddit, and Twitter/X. Creators edit the black caption box to insert funny misnomers, fandom inside jokes, or deliberately butchered character names, capturing the dynamic of an exasperated character who is constantly plagued by a ridiculous nickname given to them by their peers or community.

Key Vibes

Exasperated correction, childish mockery, persistent nicknames, affectionate annoyance, and fandom inside jokes.

Visual Breakdown

• The Observers (Bottom Left): Two simple, hand-drawn black-and-white doodle characters. One stick figure looks on apprehensively with a drop of sweat, while a curly-haired character enthusiastically points up and to the right.
• The Calling Speech Bubbles (Top Left): A stacked pair of speech bubbles—a small initial bubble saying "hey guys" connected down to a large black redaction/caption box where the speaker shouts the custom wrong name.
• The Retort Bubble (Center): A black rectangle with sharp, jagged speech tail pointing toward the unseen entity on the right, displaying the text: "NOT WHAT I'M CALLED".
• The Canvas (Right Half): A wide expanse of clean white negative space, typically left open or used to paste a transparent PNG of the character entering the scene.

Description Paragraph

The humor in this format stems from the sheer frustration of being saddled with an unwanted label you can never shake off. No matter how serious, menacing, or formal a character tries to be, their friend group or the internet will inevitably reduce them to a dumb, affectionate joke. The template captures that instant reflex where someone doesn't even say "hello" before aggressively defending their actual name. It works exceptionally well for characters who have dramatic or overly complicated titles that get casually replaced with toddler-level nicknames.

Popular Caption Ideas

• "Top Bubble: 'hey guys it's John Dark Soul' // Retort: 'NOT WHAT I'M CALLED'"
• "Top Bubble: 'hey guys it's Sans Undertale' // Retort: 'NOT WHAT I'M CALLED'"
• "Top Bubble: 'hey guys it's the green Mario' // Retort: 'NOT WHAT I'M CALLED'"
• "Top Bubble: 'hey guys it's Zelda' // Retort: 'NOT WHAT I'M CALLED (I'm Link)'"
• "Top Bubble: 'hey guys it's Baby Yoda' // Retort: 'NOT WHAT I'M CALLED'"