A strangely lifelike imp has been tiptoeing across the internet for days. As NBC News reports, a viral clip shows a implike character approaching a frightened woman sitting in a heap of straw, dancing before her as she cries, then turning all the straw in the room into gold coins — prompting her to kiss him and transform him into a prince. The scene mirrors the Brothers Grimm fairy tale about a magical imp who spins straw into gold for a poor miller's daughter, and AOL adds that the character in the trending "Rumpelstiltskin 'Tip Toein' In My Jordans" meme traces back to that darker story of a baby, a desperate mother and a dangerous bargain. The clip's vintage, old-movie texture was convincing enough that viewers spent days hunting for the film it supposedly came from.

The clip driving the trend shows the imp grinning and prancing around a woman inside a barn as he turns straw into gold, rendered to look like a vintage fantasy film, AOL reports. That uncanny movement is precisely what made it meme fuel: users recaptioned the dance for scenarios like "creeping downstairs at 2am for a lil treat," "having to walk the aisle in Payless shoe to make sure our $15 shoes fit just right" and "acing the field sobriety test," according to NBC News. Others replaced the imp entirely with characters like Wednesday Addams, Sam and Dean Winchester, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard and Ronald McDonald. NBC News notes one TikTok account dedicated to the meme's variations gathered more than 65,000 followers within days, and some users are even re-enacting the clip in real life.

What the imp reveals is bigger than one meme. NBC News frames the clip as the latest example of AI-generated media infiltrating mainstream internet culture organically, whether people realize the base material is AI or not — following the 2023 Pope Francis puffer jacket image, which NBC News calls the first viral meme from AI material, and 2024's shrimp Jesus images. NBC News suggests such "AI slop" is fertile meme fodder because its obvious artificiality and absurdity fit an online culture that revels in the uncanny. Reception is split: AOL reports some fans want the character crowned "the official mascot of Halloween 2026" and hope to see costumes, while others are already eager for the creepy imp's shelf life to end. Either way, AOL notes, the meme may send curious viewers back to the original fairy tale — where the imp demands a queen's firstborn child.