Sinfest

{{italic title}}[[File:Sinfest cover.jpg|thumb|right|250px|What the comic was like before everything turned to shit.]]
{{cquote|''I would rather die a ''thousand deaths'' than serve them.''|||Tats on his fans.<ref>Ishida, Tatsuya, [https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2018-08-15 Demand 16], ''Sinfest'' 15 August 2018.</ref>}}{{alt-right}}
'''''Sinfest''''' is the story of how a once-successful cartoonist wrote and drew a critically-acclaimed comic for nearly twenty years before he went off the deep end and started [[Internet tough guy|publishing insane rants in manga form.]] It is one of the longest-running webcomics on the entire internet, having started in 2000<ref>[https://blog.ung.edu/press/webcomics-part-viii-sinfest/ Webcomics, Part VIII: Sinfest], Matthew Pardue, ''University of North Georgia University Press'' 5 September 2012</ref> and being updated almost daily to this day. The comic's creator is '''Tatsuya "Tats" Ishida''', who originally created the strip for the {{wpl|UCLA}} newspaper and continued it online.<ref>[https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/comics/article/45885-tatsuya-ishida-speaks-on-sinfest-jesus-and-fans.html Tatsuya Ishida Speaks on Sinfest, Jesus, and Fans], Johanna Draper Carlson, ''Publishers Weekly'' 24 January 2011</ref> Some of the earliest UCLA strips were dedicated to mocking [[David Duke]]'s run for governor of [[Louisiana]], which would become ironic with how the comic later turned out.<ref>[https://imgur.com/a/ucla-sinfest-comics-complete-1991-1994-l2EwvzE UCLA Sinfest Comics Complete 1991-1994]</ref>

The comic started out fairly benign as a comedy strip that would sometimes poke fun at [[politics]] and [[religion]]; however, as the years went on, the strip became infamous for having not one but two abrupt radical changes in tone. In 2011, the comic strip changed from a comedy gag strip with occasional storylines to a tract that Ishida would use to advance his views on [[radical feminism]], with most of the comic's earlier characters moving into the background or being forgotten about. Then, in 2019, ''Sinfest'' changed to a [[far-right]] [[conspiracy theory]]-promoting webcomic that endorsed [[QAnon]] and the [[anti-vaccination movement]], with the [[transphobia]], [[TERF|which had previously only been in the background]], cranked up to ten thousand; [[Israel]]'s invasion of Gaza opened the door to outright [[anti-Semitism]] and [[Nazism|Nazi]]-adjacent tropes that eventually culminated in the strip's "heroes" [https://www.reddit.com/r/sinfest/comments/1i4on3m/sinfest_11925_mount_olympus_97/ commiting an antisemitic murder onscreen]. All this resulted in ''Sinfest'' receiving a reputation on par with [[StoneToss]] and [[Ben Garrison]],{{efn|And possibly even worse than them, since Ishida had already alienated any potential right-wing fanbase.}} which is sad, since unlike those webcomics, ''Sinfest'' was once actually good.

==When it was actually good==
When ''Sinfest'' first started out, it had a lot of dark humor with little regard to storytelling, but over the next few years, the comic mellowed out a little and started experimenting with storylines as well as some political humor, with 2008 to mid-2011 being considered the comic's golden age as a result. The strip revolved around the duo of Slick, a [[sex]]-obsessed teenager [[pickup artist|always trying to pick up girls]], and his friend/rival Monique, a [[hippie]] girl who frequently flirted with men ([[friend zone|but never Slick]]), with other important characters including Squigley, a [[cannabis|stoner]] [[pig]] who was Slick's best friend, Criminy, a [[nerd]]y bookworm who was another one of Slick's friends, and Seymour, a parody of religious [[fundamentalist]]s. The webcomic was also famous for its portrayal of religion, with many religious figures having major roles:

* [[God]]: He spends most of his time doing things like putting on puppet shows, and can sometimes be a jerk to his creations,<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2009-01-14 Why Did You Make Me Like This 2], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 14 January 2009</ref> but he's overall a force for good.
* [[Satan|The Devil]]: Portrayed as a rich corporate executive, he is very hedonistic but is ultimately shown to be very lonely.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2007-11-18  Grand Prix], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 18 November 2007</ref> 
* [[Jesus]]: A powerful, handsome,<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2010-12-27 Bishounen Jesus], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 27 December 2010</ref> morally pure action hero. Interestingly, he has something of a brotherly rivalry with the Devil.
* The [[Dragon]]: Supposedly a representation of Eastern religion, he mostly just likes to [[snark]] at the conflict between God and the Devil.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2007-12-09 Devilzilla Versus Ultra-Jesus], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 9 December 2007</ref>
* [[Buddha]]: An incorruptible [[pacifist]], who is nonetheless one of the strip's most powerful characters.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2009-09-20  Noble Path 10], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 20 September 2009</ref>

The comic had a tendency to poke fun at some of the confusing aspects of religion. For instance, in one strip, the Devil wonders [[problem of evil|why he has to do evil deeds]] when God responds "I cast you in that role". The Devil then concludes that the reason God made him was so that He could look better.<ref>[http://thegreenbelt.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-cast-you-in-that-role.html I cast you in that role], ''The Greenbelt'' 26 August 2007</ref> The comic also sometimes got into politics, being critical of [[George W. Bush]]<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2004-08-03 Free Speech Zone], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest''</ref> and supportive of [[Barack Obama]] (who is called "Barack Star" in the strip).<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2008-09-14 Barack Star], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 14 September 2009</ref> However, the core of the comic remained the relationship between Slick and Monique, with other well-received storylines like Criminy falling in love with Fuchsia (a [[succubus]] who becomes inspired to turn good), the Devil gaining prominence as an antagonist, and the back story of a character named "Lil E" being explored.{{efn|(Spoilers for a comic that is over a decade old and is no longer good) He's the Devil's son.}} At this time, ''Sinfest'' was one of the most popular webcomics on the Internet, even rivaling the popularity of others like [[xkcd]], but that didn't last…

==Shift to radical feminism==
In October 2011, Ishida apparently saw the light and the comic abruptly and completely shifted in focus to promoting [[feminism]] starting with the "Sisterhood" arc. This normally wouldn't be a bad thing, except that Ishida promoted a brand of feminism  (specifically, a strain within [[radical feminism]]) that was hardline anti-[[pornography]], [[SWERF|anti-sex work]], and anti-[[Third wave feminism|third wave]] in general,<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2012-07-31 Third Wave Feminism 2], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 31 July 2012</ref> and this began to completely overshadow any potential positive messages the comic might have otherwise had. The label "radical feminist" is not here a [[snarl word]] or [[straw man]], but is the actual name for one branch of feminist theory: the 2012 ''Sinfest'' strip "Rad Fem" cites [[Andrea Dworkin]] and the ''[[Valerie Solanas|S.C.U.M. Manifesto]]'' as apparent influences.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2012-05-06 Rad Fem], Tatsuya Ishida, Sinfest 6 May 2012</ref> (Many well-known radical feminist works are not as extreme as the ''S.C.U.M. Manifesto'', as it was written by an attempted murderer<ref>Tessa Solomon (June 18, 2020). [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/who-was-valerie-solanas-andy-warhol-1202689740/ "Who Was Valerie Solanas, the Feminist Revolutionary Who Shot Andy Warhol?"]. ''ARTnews''.</ref> who explicitly stated she wanted to "destroy the male sex".<ref name=scum>[http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/rants/scum.html The Scum Manifesto] by [[Valerie Solanas]]</ref>)

Despite Ishida's dislike of sexualized characters, he tends to draw them in suggestive attire and poses. The comic abandoned its old themes, and characters that didn't fit in with the new direction, like Criminy and most of the religious figures, were forgotten about, while other characters, like Slick and Squigly, devolved into unlikeable [[Straw man|strawmen]], the first representing general [[misogyny]], while the latter representing [[sex-positivity|sex-positive feminism]] (which Ishida [[No true Scotsman|does not consider to be real feminism]]). Monique was retconned into being a [[lesbian]] despite [[Bisexual erasure|showing attraction to men throughout the previous years of the comic]], ending the dynamic with Slick that was originally the core of the comic, and she has pretty much turned into being only a mouthpiece for the author's views. The Devil, who was the only religious figure to stay around, went from being a nuanced and sometimes ineffectual villain to becoming a pure evil force responsible for the [[patriarchy]] (and also another straw character). The new ''de facto'' main character became Xanthe, the ''[[The Matrix]]''-inspired leader of the "Sisterhood" who is always on a tricycle. All these radical changes to the comic alienated old fans, which wasn't helped by the author making comics that made fun of his old fanbase.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2013-01-30 Patriarchy Blockers], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 30 January 2013</ref> At this point, ''Sinfest'' was in the awkward position of having lost its original fanbase and pissed off the growing "[[anti-SJW]]" movement while failing to gain a feminist audience due to Ishida insulting any feminists who disagreed with his hardline positions on sex work and pornography, and while it briefly became infamous, it eventually faded into obscurity…

==Things get even worse==
[[File:Sinfest2019-06-02.gif|thumb|right|250px|What the comic has unfortunately devolved to.]]
Faded into obscurity until 2019, that is. Despite his hardline SWERF views, Ishida generally avoided [[transgender|trans]] issues, but eventually he released a series of comics that mocked [[HRT]] and compared trans people to [[zombies]], essentially coming out as a TERF.<ref>[https://www.resetera.com/threads/so-about-these-last-sinfest-comics.120579/ So, about these last Sinfest comics...], ''ResetEra''</ref> However, this ended up being only the tip of the iceberg, as ''Sinfest'' had shifted seemingly overnight into ultra-conspiratorial conservatism and complaining about "[[woke]]" things, with the comic's bashing of sex work being the only thing remaining constant between this and the previous era. Ishida became an open [[anti-vaxxer]], negatively comparing vaccines to a religion.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2021-10-10 Unperson 19], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 10 October 2020</ref> Ishida also had the gall to [[balance fallacy|compare]] [[Antifa]] to [[fascist]] protesters, just days before the [[2021 U.S. coup attempt|Capitol attack]].<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2021-01-04 Reckoning 72], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 4 January 2021</ref> Shortly thereafter, the comic began to pick up [[christofascism|christofascist]] overtones, [[irony|ironically]] for a webcomic that used to criticize such extremists.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2021-04-30 Character 3], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 30 April 2021</ref>

By 2022, the comic went full QAnon, complete with conspiracy theories about child sacrifice.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2022-10-19 Non-Bonery 47], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 19 October 2022</ref> Ishida also defended [[Kanye West]] ''after'' his major [[antisemitism]] controversy.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2022-12-07 Twitter Jail 12], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 7 December 2022</ref> Then in the ''very next comic'', he promoted the "gays are groomers" conspiracy theory while using the term "[[cuck]]" unironically.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2022-12-08 Twitter Alternatives], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 8 December 2022</ref> In a later comic strip defending West, he embodies the [[international Jewish conspiracy]] as a gigantic "[[Jewish space laser]]" [[Fun:Star Wars|Death Star]].<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-09-11 "X 7"], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 11 September 2023</ref> Eventually, it got so bad that Ishida got booted from Patreon for "sentiments of discrimination based on [[gender identity]] or [[sexual orientation]]".<ref>[https://twitter.com/TatsuyaIshida9/status/1600533238325256192 Patreon removed my account for promoting "sentiments of discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation." And their guidelines "extend to content elsewhere online." So they can ban you for things you say or post anywhere online.], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Twitter''</ref> By 2023, he was promoting the [[Great Replacement]] conspiracy theory,<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-09-21 Illegals 6], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 21 September 2023</ref><ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2024-03-14 Open Gates 37], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 14 March 2024</ref> personifying immigrants as either literal alien villains,<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-09-24 Illegals 9], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 24 September 2023</ref> or [[demons]] replacing [[angels]].<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2024-02-09 Open Gates 3], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 9 February 2024</ref> At this point, all the previous characters were abandoned, and the comic became nothing more than a vehicle for Ishida to post his unhinged conspiracy theories. Monique does make, for example, a brief appearance alongside [[Pepe the Frog]] in a January 2024 strip called "The Notorious J.E.W.", but only as part of a dialogue about how [[Jew]]s purportedly control the world.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2024-01-31 The Notorious J.E.W. 2], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 31 January 2024</ref> More recently, Slick has made some reappearances, though he appears to be used to represent either the reader or a white Christian everyman under the system's oppression.<ref name=muskstatue>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2025-02-23 Deploy the Prons 3], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 23 February 2025</ref><ref name=grok>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2025-03-15 Grok], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 15 March 2025</ref> By the time the comic released a strip portraying the [[Nazism|Nazis]] as secretly the good guys in [[World War II]],<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2024-05-26 World War II], Tatsuya Ishida. ''Sinfest'' 26 May 2024</ref> there wasn't much surprise left in response. By December 2025, he somehow got even less subtle, and started portraying [[Adolf Hitler]] as a flat-out hero while additionally adding ranting about the [[Frankfurt School]] to his long list of antisemitic tropes.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2025-12-16 Re-imagining Villains 4], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 16 December 2025</ref>

==[[Himmler]] mode begins==
By the end of 2024, Tatsuya decided to embrace [[Nazi occultism|esoteric Gnostic neo-Nazism]]. His comics now portray [[Greek gods]] and their worshipers being infiltrated by the Jewish god [[Yahweh]] and his followers who inspire Black characters to rebel; using the [[Alt-right_glossary#We_wuz_kangz|alt-right]] terminology. Furthermore, the good guys are now Greco-Roman Aryan "Chads" and the non-whites and Jews are ugly caricatures from every alt-right meme. Now, for the umpteenth time, Tat has divided his fanbase further. The non-pagan neo-Nazis became angry since Tatsuya lumped all [[Abrahamic]] religions together as Jewish. He likens European Christians to transgender people, calling them "trans chosen" (and of course portrays Jewish people as responsible for European Christianity),<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2025-07-18 Snow White 109], Tatsuya Ishida, Sinfest 18 July 2025</ref>{{efn|{{wpa|Chosen people}}}} since European people are apparently "assigned [[pagan]] at birth" and should be worshiping [[Zeus]] or perhaps [[Odin]] instead.<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2025-07-17 Snow White 108], Tatsuya Ishida, Sinfest 17 July 2025</ref> On January 19, 2025, Sinfest entered a new level of awful. After depicting, classic tropes of [[antisemitism]] of Jews sacrificing others and literally poisoning the well; the comics began depicting the "evil Jews" killing a Greek Aryan baby and having the mother lynch the Jews. He has also begun diving into [[Elon Musk]] obsession like a massive chunk of the alt-right, but it's complex dislike rather than blind worship (e.g. the Doge meme is used as the evil enforcers).<ref name=muskstatue /><ref name=grok />

==What the hell happened?==
You may be wondering, how did this happen? How did a relatively progressive comic that was anti-Bush and supportive of LGBT people turn into one that was defending the Capitol rioters? While Ishida is notoriously reclusive, it may help to consider the period in which ''Sinfest'' came out in. ''Sinfest'' came out around the same time as many similar webcomics, like ''Penny Arcade'' and ''Questionable Content'', that were all targeted towards the nerd community.<ref name=whysinfest>[https://www.garbageday.email/p/the-bad-man-pipeline-is-confusing The Long, Strange Journey Of Sinfest], Ryan Broderick, ''Garbage Day'' 29 April 2022</ref> When ''Sinfest'' started out, it was heavily influenced by ''[[South Park]]'' and had a lot of edgy humor, but by 2003, the comic, like many others at the time, came out against the [[authoritarian]] policies of George W. Bush in response to the [[Iraq War]], due to understandable concerns about [[freedom of speech]].{{efn|"Freedom of speech" was often conflated with edgy humor in those days. Furthermore, the Bush era resulted in a rise in conspiracism for both the right and the left, with [[Alex Jones]] becoming prominent during this era and many people believing in [[9/11 truther]] theories.}} Correlating with the rise of movements like [[NoFap]], Ishida's self-insert characters started to spout out the evils of pornography, and this seeming self-loathing of dependence on pornography gradually devolved into hate towards sex work.<ref name=whysinfest /> Throughout the radfem era of the comic's run, Ishida would be very harsh towards men (even male allies of feminism), and portrayed them as unable to change their inherently misogynistic ways, which reads like more than a little projection on Ishida's part.<ref>[https://twitter.com/bitterkarella/status/1498104642881798149 in an attempt to understand its evolution from dude bro comic to terf Q horror vacui screed, i am reading the entire 20 year run of sinfest right now and you know what it's not very good], bitterkarela, ''Twitter''</ref> Add to this mix Ishida exploring various online conspiracy theories in the comics starting in the 2010s, such as the [[Illuminati]] and the [[Bilderberg Group]],<ref>[https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2010-11-30 Office Assistant], Tatsuya Ishida, ''Sinfest'' 30 November 2010</ref> and you have a toxic mix that caused Ishida to fall down the rabbit hole. Ultimately, the fall of ''Sinfest'' is a cautionary tale, and it mirrors how a lot of [[Gamergate|similar nerd communities]] have fallen into similar rabbit holes in the same time frame.

Since October 7th, Tatsuya has taken to embracing antisemitic theories disguised as anti-Zionism,<ref>https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-11-16</ref><ref>https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-11-19</ref> using terms like [[Alt-right_glossary#Zionist_Occupation_Government|"ZOG"]], portraying Israel as actively blackmailing both Republicans and Democrats and suggesting that social justice movements are encouraged by Jews to destroy Western civilization.<ref>https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2023-11-02</ref> One can view Sinfest as a living example of the [[radical feminism]] to "[[SWERF]] 'n' [[TERF]]" to [[Alt-right|Alt-Right fascism]] pipeline. If you observe the comics (getting very drunk beforehand is recommended), you can see the slow radicalization process. Of late, ''Sinfest'' has transitioned into full-blown [[Holocaust denial]], type 3b. As of [https://sinfest.xyz/view.php?date=2024-05-30 5/30], his comic depicts that foreigners should leave the country, showing two very white countries ([[Ireland]] and [[Germany]]), and [[Palestine]]. Tatsuya Ishida has achieved a milestone by having his comics posted on [[Stormfront]]; however, as Reddit points [https://www.reddit.com/r/sinfest/comments/1d3bsao/sinfest_is_being_posted_on_stormfront/ out], the neo-Nazis have edited his [[Japan]]ese sounding name completely out. This is ironic, given that he wants to embrace white nationalism but ultimately can't because he isn't white enough.

==See also==
*[[J. K. Rowling]]
*[[Scott Adams]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Alt-right]]
[[Category:Anti-immigration]]
[[Category:Anti-LGBT bigots]]
[[Category:Anti-vaccination movement]]
[[Category:Antisemitism]]
[[Category:California]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Clogosphere]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Crank magnetism]]
[[Category:Fascism]]
[[Category:Great Replacement conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Holocaust denial]]
[[Category:Homophobia]]
[[Category:Internalized discrimination]]
[[Category:Internet hate sites]]
[[Category:Leftists who turned right with age]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Neo-Nazism]]
[[Category:Propaganda]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:QAnon]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:TERFs]]
[[Category:Transphobia]]
[[Category:Webcomics]]
[[Category:Xenophobia]]

Categories: Alt-right, Anti-immigration, Anti-LGBT bigots, Anti-vaccination movement, Antisemitism, California, Christianity, Clogosphere, Conspiracy theorists, Crank magnetism, Fascism, Great Replacement conspiracy theorists, Holocaust denial, Homophobia, Internalized discrimination, Internet hate sites, Leftists who turned right with age, Living people, Neo-Nazism, Propaganda, Purity culture, QAnon, Racism, TERFs, Transphobia, Webcomics, Xenophobia