What does NPC mean on TikTok?

If you’ve ever scrolled through your For You Page on TikTok, chances are that you’ve encountered the acronym NPC. But what exactly does it mean? Here’s everything to know.

TikTok continues to be one of the biggest social media apps in the world, with more users joining every day and contributing to the huge sea of content that’s available on the video platform.

Like any other social media apps, there are a number of different slang terms and phrases that are frequently used in comment sections, direct messages, and videos.

One acronym that you may have stumbled across on TikTok or other similar apps is ‘NPC.’ If you’re confused about what this means, here’s what you need to know.

NPC meaning on TikTok

NPC is an acronym that stands for ‘non-player character.’ It originates in games, where an NPC is a character that isn’t controlled by the player themselves, and these characters usually populate the fictional world of the game.

On TikTok, and other apps like Twitter/X and Twitch, the term NPC has become slang, as a way of describing people who don’t think for themselves, or are perhaps behaving predictably.

What is NPC behavior?

Often, NPC-like behavior is that which conforms to social norms, perhaps to an extreme extent. You can think of NPC as being the direct opposite of being ‘edgy’.

An example of NPC behavior is not having any particularly strong viewpoint on anything, or reacting to situations or conversations in a very predictable way.

There have been several viral videos in which users prank random strangers in public with bizarre behavior, with captions like, “telling NPCs weird things,” akin to interacting with characters from a game.

You will most often see the term used as criticism towards people due to the way they’re acting during a video.

If there’s any other TikTok slang that you’re finding confusing, you can check out our guide on some of the app’s most popular terms here.