Anonymous

""We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.""

– -The iconic Anonymous quote

Anonymous is the default username on 4chan. Anyone not providing a name and not using a tripcode can be said to be part of Anonymous. This is why 4chan users refer to each other as "Anon" when they aren't using "-fag". In more famous terms, Anonymous is the name that hacker groups, activist movements, and hacktivist group movements all originating on 4chan use to hide behind.

Due to the media unable to grasp internet culture, Anonymous has been propped up as some kind of "hive mind" or "superconciousness", made up by a secret cabal of internet hackers and trolls, who enforce the will of the masses throughout the internet, for better or worse (this is mainly the reason why the "Expect us" quote became popular with people who don't know any better, despite it being a joke).

In reality, Anonymous is more of a scattered mob of nomadic individuals banding together due to either necessity or shared interest, while inhabiting a blasted hellscape where reason goes to die where everyone's main purpose is to fight eachother and indulge in themselves for eternity, only coming together and going out into the normal world, once someone proposes something interesting to do and convinces a good chunk of these marauding warbands to come together for a single purpose, before slowly losing steam once their original plan has been met and everyone else fucking off to do their own thing. The cycle repeats for eternity (although to a lesser extent now as Anonymous is mostly too fragmented and indifferent these days).

Its important to know that actual anons who inhabit 4chan (and all other non-pretentious chans) never really use "Anonymous", as some sort of important title or think it entitles them to some super-secret membership to an underground consortium controlling the world from behind the scenes. Only the people who are too dense to get anonymous' original intent still thinks this. As far as everyone's concerned, everyone's an anon and people want to become anons because they want to air out themselves without fear of being identified by people they know, or simply because its easier to communicate with people when everyone's a blank slate (considering most people on 4chin are shut-in socially-inept NEETs, being able to talk without fear of being judged allows them to more easily talk with other strangers).

Scientology

In their first major action, they:

• bombarded the "church"'s website
• redirected google search so that they show up at the top for results of "dangerous cults"
• And took up the V for Vendetta mask as their symbol

Anti-IS action

This action earned them global fame. And honestly? Well done! (info needed)

Relevance to /tg/

In modern days, trying to be a real-life vigilante more often lands you in jail than make you a hero. Anonymous' ideals are vigilante-ish, but their MO skirts the fine line of law, just like fantasy mercs. Whether as people to be admired or a nice group to model your modern-day rpg pc on, Anonymous is suitable.