WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is getting the meme treatment in a serious way right now, thanks entirely to a picture that’s gone viral showing him with a rather amusing hairstyle.
The 45-year-old has been holed up in London’s Ecuadorian embassy for years now, mainly as a means to avoid an investigation into rape allegations lodged against him in Sweden―allegations that were recently dropped―and thus avoid a possible extradition to the U.S.
The image in question isn’t actually new, to be clear. It’s been floating around on the internet since at least 2015, the result of an interview between Assange and Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman. But as so often happens with viral content, it took some time to catch fire. Now, plenty of people are giving their takes on how the silver mullet impacts the “radical transparency” advocate’s look.
https://twitter.com/MarkAgee/status/865964714588643329
https://twitter.com/geekylonglegs/status/866070410500222976
Julian Assange looks like the villain in a movie about ninjas that only has white people in it. pic.twitter.com/pNhueA49YQ
— Greg 👻 (@waltisfrozen) May 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheRachelFisher/status/866020473104027648
Assange looks like an unsavoury Lannister footman who’s just been left alone with a handsome chestnut foal. pic.twitter.com/JGNgRn5zpN
— Paraic O’Donnell (@paraicodonnell) May 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/MalteseAnna/status/866221303014998016
“And finally, Mr. Assange, how much of your time is spent drunkenly purchasing iguanas?” pic.twitter.com/UF08rrdRJR
— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) May 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/HKesvani/status/865841386813366273
https://twitter.com/johnnyroosevelt/status/866343893557817346
Can you make me look like the older guy who tells college-aged women they have “old souls?” pic.twitter.com/mAmYcRXTX2
— Maggie Serota (@maggieserota) May 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/DesiJed/status/866103811185586176
Plenty of people noted Assange’s resemblance to Geralt, the protagonist of a series of books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski and also a trilogy of popular video games. Specifically, lots of people thought he had a The Witcher III vibe going on.
https://twitter.com/JoeClarkyy/status/866343327863537664
Assange looks like he’s auditioning to be the worlds’ worst Geralt from the Witcher. pic.twitter.com/5CdUQagmXr
— NOLAnerdcast (@NOLAnerdcast) May 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/ashleylynch/status/866217987715481600
That’s not the only reference to a video game to have spawned from this particular image. Just months ago, Assange himself tweeted out a photo of some street art in Melbourne, Australia depicting him as the character “Big Boss” from Metal Gear Solid V, another famously mulleted hero. He seemed to enjoy it.
How cool is this? Melbourne, Australia. pic.twitter.com/7VyyAt9ieo
— Defend Assange Campaign (@DefendAssange) February 21, 2017
It’s fair to guess that Twitter will be dragging Assange for the near future, thanks both to his being a highly polarizing and controversial figure and the unabashed goofiness of that picture.
Based on his recent appearance at least, it looks like he’s found somebody at the embassy who knows how to cut hair.
