What Is TikTok's 'Gnomes vs. Knights'? How The 'Tiny Green Mall Wizard' Started The Trend And Its Memes Explained

Last year the "Me as a baby" whimsical little creature sparked a series of jokes and memes on TikTok in which people dressed in white gowns and green pointy hats as they twirl around in their gardens.

Moving forward to July 2024, there's a new fictional creature going viral on the internet, the Tiny Green Wizard, whose lore has expanded to the Gnomes vs. Knights ongoing beef with "noble knights" defending fast-food and retail workers from people doing the crawling in public trend.

So what is the "Gnomes vs. Knights" meme and where did it come from? Let's explain.

What Is TikTok's Gnomes vs. Knights Meme?

The imaginary battle between gnomes and knights started on TikTok after the viral June 2024 success of the Tiny Green Mall Wizard videos posted by TikToker @crawly_possessed. His "wizard gnome," seen with a white cone-shaped hat, green robe and pink butterfly net, inspired knight cosplayers trying to hunt him while he invades fast-food and retail shops.

The first mention that Tiny Green Wizard was being hunted by knights was posted on June 27th, 2024, and it had a caption reading in Russian, "Нашел укромное место от ГЛУПЫХ РЫЦАРЕЙ 😈," which translates in English to "Found a hiding place from the STUPID KNIGHTS 😈," effectively starting the Gnomes vs. Knights trend (seen below).

Why The Gnomes and Knights Are Fighting?

According to comments on multiple Gnomes videos across TikTok, the wizard creatures allege the Knight Kingdom has been stealing the Gnome Kingdom's land and hunting its folk. The rumors about the Knights' havoc on Gnome lands were later augmented by the Knight cosplayer @kingemiliothearmoredone on July 1st, in which he publicly addressed all wizard creatures to leave the land, otherwise "all your gold, lands, and even your women will be taken from you."

How Did Gnomes vs. Knights Lore Spread Online?

Gnomes vs. Knights content grew exponentially popular in late June 2024 and early July, which divided the internet into the pro-gnomes and pro-knights factions. For instance, on June 30th, TikToker @mrfunn123 posted a video from a gnome's small POV, writing, "dw gnomes, the knights make bad traps" (shown below, left).

Also on June 30th, TikToker and Knight cosplayer @gwgbo posted a video in which he said that he would find @crawly_possessed and hunt him down (shown below, right).

For the full history of Gnomes vs. Knights, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.