Degen Ethereum NFT collection Mfers gets an animated short

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Throwback time! Remember the Mfers? There’s a new one in town.

He’s messy, he’s shy, he’s a gamer, he’s eating pizza off the floor — he’s the Normal Mfer. 

The team at CC0 Studios pulled inspiration from the November 2021 Mfers NFT collection to create The Normal Mfer, an animated YouTube pilot episode released this month chronicling the life of one young, normal-as-heck mfer who still lives with his parents at 23 years old. 

The Mfers were one of those NFT boom-era collections that launched later into the hype. Attitudes toward NFT PFPs were already shifting toward degeneracy and skepticism at the time. 

By that point, so many NFT collections had made massive promises through elaborate “roadmaps” that were rarely fulfilled. Teams often gave up after a few weeks or months, sparking accusations of “rugpulls” and scam projects. Pseudonymous founders exited and disappeared along with piles of cash.

The Mfers were, in part, born out of that era. There was no roadmap, no utility, and the Mfers were launched in the public domain, meaning anyone could reuse the PFPs for any purpose. Free use was part of the vision.

Mfers creator Sartoshi — a play on the name of unknown Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto — has confirmed the obvious that the “Are ya winning, son?” meme was his favorite and directly inspired the NFT collection. 

I chatted with “Lawl,” whose real name is Joe but prefers not to share his last name publicly. He is cofounder of CC0 Studios and co-created the Normal Mfer project. 

“I definitely resonate with that character,” he tells me of the Normal Mfer. 

The Normal Mfer and his dog Max live in one messy room, dotted with posters, books, and miscellaneous artifacts of life. His mom is an astronaut for some reason, and his dad wants to sell their family home.

The Mfer has a crush on Leaf, the girl next door but is also afraid of her and isn’t sure what to do about it. His daydreams turn the animation from black-and-white into color when he’s around her. Dad walks in on him thinking of her, and well, wants him to move out of the house so his parents can get on with their lives.

The pilot episode is full of references to memes and meme culture. It’s funny, awkward, somehow charming, and, well, exactly what you would expect from an animated short about an Mfer. It has Rick and Morty vibes. It also nods at the self-help “manosphere” course culture that’s created unrealistic — and often toxic — expectations for men. Mfer’s Dad is his villain, and Normal Mfer feels like he’s earning and losing game points through life. 

I won’t spoil the ending for you — you’ll have to watch it for yourself.

“I’ve always wanted to create a show like this,” Joe tells me. He describes himself as a member of the Mfer community (which does have a Discord server), and is hoping the Normal Mfer can get a corporate or brand sponsor so the team can make more episodes. There’s also the dream of appearing on existing animation-focused platforms and channels, too.

Another goal is for the pilot episode to hit 100,000 views — he says that’s the threshold at which the team will consider making a second episode.

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