New meme shows 'nihilist penguin' walking to a mountain. What does it mean?

A moment from a nearly 20-year-old documentary is going viral on social media, as people say they identify with and are inspired by a penguin in the clip who chooses to leave his colony and walk toward a mountain range.

The original clip, which has since been edited into dozens of other videos, shows a singular penguin standing briefly before turning and walking away from the ocean and other penguins in his colony and in the direction of the Antarctic mountains.

"Shortly afterwards, we saw him heading straight towards the mountains, some 70 kilometers away," the narrator of the video, filmmaker Werner Herzog, says in the clip. "...even if [we] caught him and brought him back to the colony, he would immediately head right back for the mountains. But why?"

The moment has since taken on a life of its own, with some people drawing inspiration from the penguin's decision to seemingly forge his own path and making it into a philosophical moment.

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While the 'nihilist penguin' video has been around for years, people began making more videos about it in January.

Many of the videos that include the penguin use instrumental music and touch on the bird's decision to walk away. One TikTok video with nearly 9,000 likes features the words, "and he may not survive, but he lived," over the clip of the penguin making his way toward the mountain.

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In other posts, people find the penguin's decision relatable, with comments like "me when I'm overstimulated" and "so the urge to drop everything and run off into the wilderness is evolutionary," linking human feelings to the bird's actions.

"It's just so real. This is honestly probably what I would do if I was a penguin," said TikTok user @candacce in a post currently boasting 2.2 million likes. "...I already understand little dude. Maybe he's just an introvert. Maybe he just wants to be alone. Maybe it was too much noise, he was having sensory overload. Who are we to judge him for that?"

Where does the meme come from?

The clip of the penguin walking toward the mountain comes from filmmaker Herzog's "Encounters at the End of the World," a nature documentary released Sep. 1, 2007, according to knowyourmeme.com. The documentary follows Herzog as he travels to Antarctica to explore the minds of the scientists living there.

In the documentary, Herzog talks about "penguin insanity." In the now-famed clip, the filmmaker and scientists notice the penguin moving away from the colony. One of the ecologists accompanying Herzog then informs him that the bird would continue to move toward the mountains even if they caught him. As the clip continues, Herzog concludes the bird is heading toward certain death after abandoning the colony.

At the time of its release, the scene was a small and strange moment in a much larger film. Years later, social media gave it new meaning and new life. What once felt like an odd observation now feels deeply personal to many viewers. The lonely penguin has become a mirror, reflecting doubt, courage, and the need for space.

The clip comes from a moment that is about an hour and 13 minutes into the documentary. A full version of the documentary was uploaded to Antarctic Digital Heritage's YouTube channel in 2020.

Today, the penguin continues his walk in countless edits, soundtracks, and captions. Each version adds another layer of meaning, shaped by the person sharing it. Whether seen as tragic, brave, or simply honest, the image remains powerful. A single animal walking away has become a shared human story.

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lonely penguin

viral documentary clip

penguin meme

Werner Herzog

Encounters at the End of the World

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philosophical memes