Are you an NPC or Player One?

The hidden assumptions in a digital analogy

In recent years, a peculiar term once reserved for the realm of video games has seeped into cultural and pseudo-philosophical discussions — the NPC.

Originally an acronym for Non-Player Character, this concept has migrated from its gaming roots into debates about free will, individual autonomy, critical thinking, and something to do with TikTok. But how did a gaming term find itself at the center of discussions on human agency, and what does its use reveal — or conceal — about our understanding of reality?

From Games to memes

The term NPC began in tabletop role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, where the “game master” controlled characters other than the players’ own heroes. In video games, these NPCs are governed by code, offering predetermined responses and behaviors. Their lack of real choice and predictability stands in contrast to the player’s ability to act freely within the game’s rules.

The person holding the controller is Player One, their choices and autonomous actions dictate the flow of the game.

By the late 2010s, the label had left the gaming world and taken on a life of its own online, employed to mockingly describe individuals seen as merely reciting cultural or political scripts without genuine independent thought. Being born on the internet, this fad eventually devolved into conspiracy and viral trends of streamers pretending to be NPCs.

In any case, it’s a vivid image of free will versus programmed behavior.

Yet, the broader cultural traction of the NPC analogy proved short-lived. Its popularity as a meme already seems to have dwindled, never quite capturing the sustained attention of serious thinkers — perhaps because it struck them as too lowbrow, too politicized, or too closely tied to fleeting internet humor.

More importantly, the philosophical territory it covers — mindless adherence to script, lack of genuine agency — was already well-trodden by more rigorously developed concepts, such as philosophical zombies.

Despite this waning interest, the NPC analogy still carries intellectual intrigue. It invites us to question our…