New Delhi, Jan. 25 -- A short clip of a lone penguin walking away from its colony - filmed nearly two decades ago - has unexpectedly become one of the internet's most viral symbols in early 2026. Dubbed the "Nihilist Penguin", the video is flooding TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and X, with users projecting humour, philosophy and modern-day exhaustion onto the bird's solitary march across Antarctica.

The footage comes from Encounters at the End of the World, directed by German filmmaker Werner Herzog. In one memorable scene, an Adelie penguin is seen breaking away from its group and heading inland - away from the sea, food and survival - towards remote, icy mountains.

In the documentary, Herzog describes the penguin's behaviour as a kind of ...