If you are currently seeing strange videos of cosplayers in knight armor or guys with fake beards, capes, and fishing nets on TikTok, you are not alone; thousands of others are experiencing the same. “Gnomes vs. Knights” is a new phenomenon on the platform and is turning into a huge event.
What’s happening on TikTok right now?
- Since the end of June, more and more videos featuring gnomes and knights have been appearing, usually accompanied by the same slightly mystical song: “Misanthrop” by Blod Besvmelse.
- The videos typically receive hundreds of thousands to millions of views and tens of thousands of likes within a few hours, rising in popularity accordingly. The biggest TikTok has even surpassed 80 million views.
- By now, TikTok is not the only platform flooded with these clips; the strange videos are also being shared on X and other social media.
Where does the strange trend come from? At the end of June, the TikToker crawly_possessed posted an initial video of himself in a costume: crawling on his knees with a bright green cape, a pointed hat stuck to his head with tape, and a pink fishing net as a magic wand.
After some odd videos prior, Crawly reached millions of users with this clip, and the video went viral in no time. Here we explain the whole story behind the green internet wizard. Here you can see the clip that started it all:
In response to the clip, however, answers quickly came, including from people in knight armor who suddenly started hunting gnomes, making threats like: “Crawly, I will find you. The forest will not protect you.” (via TikTok) Some videos feature elaborate costumes, winged helmets, and burning swords (via TikTok).
The gnomes, however, did not take this lying down and responded – including warnings about the traps set by the knights or calls for resistance. By now, there are entire categories dedicated to Gnomes vs. Knights and events that are significantly larger than the meme.
Another TikTok hit that you might have heard about was a crazy Fortnite victory on a moving truck:
Funny clip evolves into a digital war with multiple factions
The “war” between gnomes and knights has now grown to the point where new factions have formed. In a clip, TikToker mason marshal explains the chaotic situations:
“We now have 2 sides, the gnomes and the knights. […] We see gnomes running through the forest with the music and falling into traps. We see knights hunting gnomes. The lore goes quite deep.
The gnomes explain that the knights are stealing their land, wizards are experimenting on them. Now there are these sides and other parties are joining in and participating. […] Gnomes have a few allies, that’s now official, I believe. Wyverns are on their side, and the mouse kingdom – although the mouse king is supposed to be on the knights’ side, there might be misinformation here. […]
Then you have the knights. The wizards seem to be bonding with the knights, but the new drama in the wizard community is that the wizard king has been murdered. So whoever killed the king will face the wizards. […] The knights also claim that dragons are on their side.”
The TikToker further explains that it now goes even deeper. Goblins, rangers, elves, and dwarves are supposedly also getting involved but have not yet decided on a side. Allegedly, a major gnome offensive is scheduled to start today, on July 4th – so expect even more content on your devices.
The fact that a single clip can spark such a series of events and engage so many people is likely something even Crawly didn’t expect; after all, it has brought the TikToker great fame. And the trend, at least for now, doesn’t harm anyone – unlike significantly more dangerous ideas circulating: Life-threatening TikTok trend: 14-year-old student dies from “One-Chip-Challenge”
