What does "clanker" mean? Origins behind viral term explained

The term "clanker" has become viral online recently, following increased discontentment among content creators and their viewers about the rise of artificial intelligence. With streamers like Felix "xQc" adopting the term for daily use during his broadcasts, fans have quickly caught on as well.

As per Merriam-Webster, the term is often utilized by individuals who are disgruntled with automated technology and artificial intelligence. Notably, the term itself has been in use, albeit less popularly, since around 1958 in science fiction.

However, it was originally popularized by the Star Wars franchise. During Star Wars' animated series, Clone Wars, the antagonists used an army of robots called droids. In this series from 2008, the protagonists would often use the term clanker to refer to the aforementioned droids. Before this, it was also mentioned in a 2005 Star Wars video game called Republic Commando.

In 2025, the term has seen a resurgence, with streamers, viewers, and players of video games such as Helldivers 2 often using it to refer to robots with a negative connotation.

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When xQc taught Stable Ronaldo the meaning of the term clanker

[Timestamp: 05:24:52]

Prominent Twitch and Kick streamer Felix "xQc" is possibly one of the most popular streamers to have started including the term "clanker" in their daily vocabulary, subsequently causing his followers to also start using the term online. In a clip from his broadcast in July 2025, xQc could be heard explaining to fellow streamer and FaZe Clan member Rani "Stable Ronaldo" what the term meant.

After Stable Ronaldo asked the meaning of the term, claiming that he had been hearing it repeatedly on TikTok, xQc explained:

"It's the official hard-R slur for robots. It's a f**king, it's a clanker! It's a clanker! You're a machine. You're a robot. You're a clanker! You have no rights. It's a slur! See. See. You're the problem with society, that you still think that robots have rights. It's just weird. See? This is why we're going backwards. This is why we're never going to go anywhere!"

Claiming that the fictional apocalypse-causing artificial intelligence from Terminator, Skynet, was a possibility due to a complacent attitude towards automatons, xQc continued:

"Skynet won't even happen because the robots take over. Skynet is going to happen because we let them take over, we make them, because we seem them as a human, as they have rights. You kick them. You see a robot? You f**king kick that f**king b***h a** clanker, you feel me?"

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In other news, Twitch streamer Imane "Pokimane" recently responded to allegations made against her of being narcissistic after she announced that her brother had gotten married, with her posting photos of herself and not of her brother.