The 'I Made a Hat That's Powered by Sadness' meme originates from a webcomic by Shenanigansen, the creator of Shen Comix and Bluechair. In the four-panel comic, the character introduces a hat that glows brighter as he feels more sadness, concluding with a final panel where the hat emits a blinding, room-filling light after a specific realization. Since appearing online, the template has been widely adopted as a vehicle for self-deprecating humor. Users replace the trigger for the sadness in the third panel with relatable modern woes like work stress, social anxiety, or existential dread, making the 'unlimited' brightness of the final panel a punchline for overwhelming emotional weight.