Candlejack meme · memes.md

5 images

Candlejack as he appears in the animated series Freakazoid!, the source of the internet meme.
Urban Dictionary's top definition of Candlejack, cut off mid-sentence in the classic meme format.
A 2019 4chan thread showing the enduring nature of the Candlejack meme, ending with the classic interrupted-mid-sentence gag.
Fan art celebrating 4chan's 11th birthday, featuring Candlejack extinguishing candles shaped like the site's mascot.
Fan art of Batman putting a stop to Candlejack's kidnapping habit.

History

Candlejack is a text-based joke format built around a villain from the 1995 animated series Freakazoid, whose lore says he kidnaps anyone who says his name. Posters type his name and then cut the sentence off mid-word to fake being snatched mid-post, a bit that took hold on 4chan and other forums in the mid-2000s.

Origin

Candlejack debuted in the Freakazoid episode titled "Candlejack," which aired in the United States on September 16th, 1995[1]. In the episode, kids at a summer camp swap ghost stories, and one tells the tale of a Bogeyman-style figure who abducts any child that speaks his name, a setup that already contained the punchline the internet would later run with[3].

The character sat mostly dormant online until the mid-2000s, when the show gained a second life through clip sharing[3]. A June 15th, 2006 YouTube upload by evanmcb collected the relevant scene and racked up more than 54,000 views over the following years[3].

Platform: Freakazoid (TV origin) / 4chan (viral spread)
Creator: Unknown (character created by the writers of Freakazoid)
Date: 1995

Overview

Candlejack, sometimes styled Candle Jack, is a hooded villain from the Warner Bros. animated series Freakazoid whose gimmick is snatching anyone who says his name out loud[1]. Online, that in-story rule turned into a writing bit: a poster types "Candlejack" and then chops the sentence off mid-word, as if a rope had just yanked them away from the keyboa--[3].

The joke works best in plain text, which is why it took hold on imageboards and forums rather than in image macros[3]. Its recognizability comes from the abrupt cutoff itself, so replies often mirror the format back, stacking interrupted sentences into a running thread gag[4].

How It Spread

By 2007 the interrupter bit was in circulation. On March 19th, 2007, Urban Dictionary user miji posted a definition ending mid-word with "you get kind--," and the entry pulled in more than 3,000 upvotes[2]. The earliest surviving 4chan mentions of the character appeared on August 22nd, 2007, though those early posts had not yet locked in the cutoff format that later defined the joke[3].

The gag spread to smaller boards fast. On November 2nd, a forum user going by EnsignRyusei on sognadigitalmuseum.com posted an intro thread reply that ended "What's up with all this Candlejack stuff, OH FU"[4]. That kind of copycat use, dropping the name and immediately fake-vanishing, became the standard way to invoke the character.

More than a decade after the show aired, the format was still active on 4chan[5]. On March 28th, 2019, an anonymous /b/ poster shared a thread that opened "Each time i format my old hd i still find this pic of Candlejack, idk why it h--," and the replies played along with their own interrupted variations[5].

How to Use

Typical use is short: write a normal sentence, drop "Candlejack" into it, then cut the next word off after a letter or two to fake being grabbed. Common conventions include ending on "OH FU", "kind--", or a single dangling letter, and follow-up posters often reply with their own interrupted sentence to keep the bit going[2][3].

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Candlejack?

Candlejack is a villain from the 1995 Warner Bros. animated series Freakazoid who, in-universe, kidnaps anyone who says his name[1]. Online he became a text joke where posters type his name and cut their own sentence off mid-word[3].

Where did Candlejack come from?

He first appeared in the Freakazoid episode "Candlejack," which aired on September 16th, 1995, as a ghost story told by kids at summer camp[1].

What does Candlejack mean?

Saying or typing "Candlejack" is a setup for the joke that he immediately abducts you, which is why the sentence is expected to break off unfinished[2].

How do you use Candlejack?

Type the name mid-sentence and then chop the next word off after a letter or two, like "idk why it h--," as seen in a 2019 /b/ thread built entirely around the format[5].