About
War Jacket (ватник) is a Ukranian character meme often used to mock Russians on the Internet which uses a grotesque character based on a war jacket to satire those considered to be ignorant Russian patriots.
Origin
War Jacket was created on the Russian-language social networking site Vk.com on September 9, 2011, when a user posted a crudely drawn image of an anthropomorphized and ripped jacket to an anti-Muammar Gaddafi group, see below.[1] The name ватник comes from a slur used to refer to imperialist Russians, derived from a low-quality kind of jacket often worn by the lower class in Soviet-era Russia.[2]
Characterization
War Jacket is portrayed as a stereotype of low-class Russians who hold imperialistic or nationalistic views. He is often portrayed as seeing Russia as a heroic country that should have total rule over the world. War Jacket is said to enjoy stereotypically Russian things, such as vodka, and dislikes foreign or “anti-Russian” things such as America. He is also seen to believe in conspiracy theories and to hold strong xenophobic views, especially against those of the Jewish faith.[1]
Spread
War Jacket spread significantly by 2012. In November of the same year, a page for the character was created on the Russian Lurkmore Wiki. A Vk.com group created for War Jacket boasts over 66,000 followers as of May 2015.[3] The character increased in popularity as the 2014 Ukranian Revolution took hold.
Example Images
