The comparison that started it all.
Virgin Vs Chad is a comparison meme of relatable or wimpy behaviors (the insecure Virgin) juxtaposed with absurd or cool actions (the loud, confident Chad). It began on /r9k/ in 2017 and currently has a community on Reddit, who create new characters that are even more deeply Virgin or Chadly than the originals. Often done in the format of single-panel comics.
Compare Creamsicle. Contrast Nerd & Jock.
Merryweatherey (of I Made A Comic About Internet Explorer's fame and some more other comics) made a webcomic adaptation of this memenote , check that page for more details exclusive to the comic (but not the original meme itself)
This meme provides examples of:
- The Ace: Chad is portrayed as the textbook definition, as he seemingly can do anything well... at least until you look a little closer.
- Thad even moreso; he's the guy that Chads look up to and he's so full of self-confidence that he's nice to everyone.
- The Wraith is an odd example: he's gone so far down the path of the Basement-Dweller that he hardly resembles a human, but he's so self-assured that he loops back around to being seen as an Ace.
- Achievements in Ignorance: Chad is commonly described as being cool or good at something because he "doesn't even know what ________ is."
- Always Someone Better: The sliding scale nature of the meme makes this inevitable, although Brad seems to be the only one too shaken up about it.
- Animal Jingoism: There are versions pitting animals against each other, such as cats vs. dogs, butterflies vs. moths, great whites vs killer whales, etc.
- Arc Words: "Cum is fum".
- Be Careful What You Wish For: According to the lore, Lads are created when a Virgin tries to use dark magic to become a Chad.
- Beta Couple:
- Chad and Stacy are commonly presented as the superior, happier couple in comparison to the Virgin and Becky.
- Some interpretations of Virgin and Chad, where the two are in a loving relationship.
- Big Bad: Gizzard, who comes the closest to the role. He is the opposite of Gad and is responsible for people turning into Wizards if they don't get laid by 30. Also Bad, in some stories.
- Big Good: Gad, who created the Chadiverse. This may be challenged by his own drug addiction.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: When it comes to Chad and Thad, at least, but absolutely not Lad.
- Body Horror: The Wizard is always shown as a horribly deformed man with a long neck and messed up fingers. Meanwhile, the Wraith barely even looks human, rather resembling a camel. The Grand Wizard is an obese Wizard surrounded by stench, and the Gizzard's fingers are so fucked up they resemble other characters.
- The Lad also counts as this, regarding his ridiculously muscular body and phallic chin. Also, his bulge is so big that his banana hammock resembles a diaper.
- The Bully: Chad, sometimes. Brad ALL the time.
- Butt-Monkey: Lad and Incel are described as being "bullied by everyone", and some memes without a section for Brad show them dying in the background, specially when the former is doing something Lethally Stupid which results in his own downfall.
- Canon Immigrant: Wizard was the first character besides Virgin and Chad. He was created to be an 'absurd in a pathetic, contemptible way' counterpart to the 'absurd in an audacious, ridiculous way' classic Chad.
- Catchphrase: Chad's is "OUCH!".
- The Chew Toy: The universe despises Brad, but with how much he bullies the Virgin, it's difficult to feel that much sympathy for him.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Part of the appeal of Chad is how little he cares about anyone except himself.
- Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: When Virgin and Chad are on good terms.
- Dastardly Whiplash: The Cad, with his mustache and hat and cartoonish schemes.
- Distaff Counterpart: Becky is this to Virgin, and Stacy to Chad. There's also the very rarely seen Linda (counterpart to Wizard), Veronica (Basic), Brandy (Brad), Tracy (Thad) and Lacy (Lad).
- The Ditz: Lad himself in certain occasions. He's normally an idiot who can hardly move and one meme shown him with dementia.
- Dumb Muscle: Again, Lad. Said muscles don't really help, as he's SO muscular he can hardly move (except in some of the comics featuring him).
- Eldritch Abomination: Some of the more extreme characters, like Dad and Gizzard, look extremely disturbing and inhuman.
- Enemy Mine: All the Virgins and former Chads teamed up in the Gizzardverse to try and free the Thads from the Void and save the world.
- Even the Guys Want Him: Thad turns straight men gay. Inverted by Lad; not only do women want nothing to do with him, but looking at him turns gay men straight.
- The Everyman: The Basic, the Vance, and the Norb.
- Fanservice: In attempts at more realistic/less goofy drawings, both Virgin and Chad can be this. Thad borders on this even in his simplistic MS Paint renderings.
- Fan Disservice: Everybody CAN be this. The Grand Wizard, Wraith, and Gizzard all walk around completely naked and are not pleasant to look at. Neckbeard, while not a hideous monster, is still a morbidly obese man clad only in tighty-whitey briefs. On the other end, Chad and Thad's bulges may make some uncomfortable, and Lad only wears a speedo.
- Fat Bastard: The Neckbeard and Grand Wizard.
- Flanderization: The original concept for Brad was that he was a normal guy seeking chadhood but destined to fail because effort is antithetical to being Chad, but none the less he was above Virgin and Basic. However, 'failure to achieve Chadhood' gradually turned into 'failure at almost everything.'
- Gag Haircut: Chad's hair is one of the most notable things about him, and every character past him has an even more absurd, unrealistic hairstyle.
- Gag Penis:
- The Chad is often portrayed with a sizable bulge.
- The Thad has a significantly larger one that even straight guys want a piece of.
- The Lad has an even bigger bulge that's roughly half the size of his body, but instead of making him more sexy, it makes him unspeakably grotesque. Some portrayals of him even have said bulge supported by a wheelbarrow because of how unwieldy it is.
- Shlad's penis hits the ground, bends at an angle, and drags where he walks. This is THROUGH HIS PANTS.
- Humanoid Abomination: The Wizard and everything below him are usually protrayed as this.
- Jerkass: Brad. He's a cocky bastard who bullies Virgins out of insecurity.
- Jerk Jock: Brad, again. He's often portrayed with a letterman jacket and an angry expression on his face. He, initially at least, was compensating for his failure to achieve Chadhood with achievements in athletics.
- Karmic Jackpot: Every Virgin and former Chad who helped free the Thads from their prison during the Gizzard verse arc were promoted to being Thads afterwards.
- Land Downunder: Bruce, a totally strong Australian guy who even wears a cape based on Australia's flag.
- Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: The Lad is occasionally portrayed as this, since he's completely out of touch with reality.
- Nerds Are Virgins: The Virgin has a nerdy appearance.
- Odd Friendship: Virgin and Chad are not often seen actually interacting with each other, but they are sometimes depicted as good friends who respect each other's differences.
- Race Fetish: Several comics (some of which are NSFW) suggest that the Virgin is into literal Cuckold porn, while Chad just wants thicc ebony queens.
- Refuge in Audacity: Chad in a nutshell. He walks, drives, eats, drinks, etc. in a way no normal person would, but despite likely harming others no-one bats an eye.
- Right Way/Wrong Way Pair: Parodied by the original incarnation of the meme. Virgin is made fun of for acting completely normally, while Chad is portrayed as The Ace for his absurd, insane behaviour. However, later memes play it straight, where Virgin represents the bad thing (or whatever thing the poster dislikes or sees as overrated) and Chad is the unironically good thing (or whatever thing the poster prefers or sees as underrated).
- Serial Escalation: People have made several variants of Virgin and Chad (with the variants of Chad rhyming with Chad) that are exaggerated versions of them.
- Shout-Out: The Shlad character sheet includes the line, "Zoo wee mama now my parents will finally love me."
- Sociopathic Hero:
- Chad, in some memes.
- Exaggerated with Lad, albeit the other flavor.
- Stylistic Suck: All the characters are this to an extent, but Shlad and Wizard are the biggest offenders.
- Take That!:
- Chad's original purpose was to make fun of the person who drew the original Virgin Walk image, by showing what would happen if someone didn't do any of those things.
- Some renditions will have a fictional character from one franchise (Chad) taking swipes at a fictional character from another franchise (Virgin).
- They Killed Kenny Again: Brad dies more than any other character.
- This Loser Is You: The Virgin is ridiculed for doing the same regular, slightly insecure actions the meme's target audience (teenagers and 20-somethings on the internet) would do.
- Unbuilt Trope: One rendition
argues this being the case of the original meme, with the Virgin or Chad being "two sides of the same coin" rather than lopsided comparisons. While it may appear that the Chad is superior to the Virgin, the descriptions for the Chad are actually backhanded, painting him as arrogant and "obnoxious" on top of being "fun". Meanwhile, the Virgin, for as much as a loser as the meme makes him out to be, is inoffensive and "easy to be around". Therefore, the original meme is less in favor of the Chad and more on a balance between the two. This subtext is lost in later renditions in favor of more straightforward, unfavorable comparisons. - Unknown Rival: Chad to Cad, who is mentioned to make cartoonish plots to bully him, but it doesn't result in anything, as Chad doesn't even know he exists.
- Unpopular Popular Character: The Lad is reviled, bullied, and/or feared in-universe for his ridiculous appearance and odd, incomprehensible behavior. These very things make him many people's favorite part of the meme and you can bet that if it isn't a classic Virgin Chad / Wizard Virgin Chad meme, a full cast meme or involving other characters only, Lad will be the punchline.
- Virgin-Shaming: This sentiment is likely why many uses of this meme have the Virgin as undeniably worse than the Chad.
- Visual Pun: Chad's head looks like the country of Chad.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Thad.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The Lad (nearly) always gets this treatment; the meme will often directly ask him this question.
- Godddamn it, Lad!
- The Woobie: In-universe, the Wraith is supposedly pitied by Stacies to the point of adoration.
