What is the Meaning of NPC in Gaming and Why Does Everyone Use This Word?
The term NPC appears everywhere from video games to social media. Learn what NPC means, where it comes from, and why it has become so popular online.
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Everyday there are new slangs that are used online, and in real life. However, there is one slang that has gained popularity especially in the gaming world. You might have also seen it somewhere, maybe in a meme or a YouTube comment. But do you know what it actually means? Let’s break it down in simple terms and see what the hype is all about.
What is the Full Form of NPC?
Source: Wikifandom
NPC is short for "Non-Player Character" or "Non-Playable Character". It originates from the world of video games. NPCs are characters in video games that are controlled by the game and not by a real human player.
They are not like characters that you control, but they are characters that interact with you in the game and they are computer-controlled.
The Strong National Museum of Play mentions: “For those not familiar with the term, NPC stands for Non-Player Character. It refers to some living, sentient being in a game that players interact with in a way that’s not purely hostile. A monster you encounter and fight in a game, with little or no conversation outside the moment of combat, could perhaps be considered an NPC, but in practice monsters seem to fall into a different category. On the other hand, a computer-generated tavern keeper in a fantasy game might be an NPC, as might a space pilot who you hire in a tabletop sci-fi role-playing game.”
Imagine a shopkeeper in GTA, who is standing there, and saying the same two lines repeatedly. The villagers in Minecraft, who stroll around doing the same thing over and over and over. Those are all known as NPCs. They do not think. They do not decide. They only follow a script.
Where Did This Word Come From?
The term NPC came from the original Dungeons & Dragons board game, which had an entire section devoted to handling these "non-player characters" and how to interact with them.
The Strong National Museum of Play mentions: “In volume 1, Gygax and Arneson laid out a category of participants in the campaign that they called “Non-player characters,” though in this initial version the NPC’s role usually consisted of being fellow adventurers who were hired for the express purpose of joining the player’s party. Their ongoing loyalty was measured via secret dice rolls by the game’s referee (later known as the “dungeon master”).”
Afterwards, the term gained popularity in video games, when the gaming world expanded and became more common. NPCs are in every RPG game, whether it be GTA or Pokemon.
Pop Culture References of NPC
NPC in Pop Culture: From GTA to Free Guy: Everything You Need to Know
If you have played GTA then you might be familiar with what an NPC is. Those guys walking on the road, those guys in the shop who say the same thing, police that suddenly appear out of nowhere, all of them are NPCs. They're quite in abundance in games like GTA, Minecraft, Skyrim, and BGMI.
Source: CBR
In 2018, NPC was turned into a meme. The NPC Wojak meme was made to symbolise somebody who doesn't think for themselves as in somebody who follows blindly, without thinking. A blank-faced cartoon, empty-eyed and grey. No expression. No opinion. Just following orders. It made its way to Twitter and Instagram, and was one of the most shared memes of the era.
It was not long before NPC came out of games. A full film with this concept was produced in Hollywood in 2021 which was Free Guy. Ryan Reynolds was the lead in the movie and it was about a character named ‘Guy’ who wakes up, goes to his daily job at a bank, which is robbed by players, and orders the same coffee and wears the same shirt. He plays an NPC within a video game world. This is a lighthearted and easy-to-follow movie which shows what an NPC is and what can happen when they begin to think.
In 2023, the popular short form video platform TikTok gave the spotlight to NPC. One creator, known as Pinkydoll, made headlines due to her robotic catchphrases. She has made up to $7000 a day for doing it.
Should You Use This Word?
When you refer to someone as "NPC", you imply that this individual is not thinking for themselves and falls for everyone's opinions. In other words, that person is on autopilot. Yes, it could be kind of an insult.
Nikhil is a dedicated content writer with more than five years of experience, and works for the Jagran Josh General Knowledge section. He likes to create engaging and easy-to-read general knowledge content. He has spent years working on brain teasers, optical illusions, trending stories, and informative listicles that simplify facts for readers. His approach focuses on clarity, creativity, and making information feel effortless to understand.
