About
Alberto Barbosa is a name commonly used to represent a nondescript man from Portugal among users on 4chan’s /int/ (international) board. The phrase “t. Alberto Barbosa” is often placed alongside a photoshopped illustration of an African man from the Age of Empires II expansion The African Kingdoms with a Portuguese flag on his turban, mocking the inclusion of Portugal in the game. Additionally, the character is often referenced in the context of We Wuz Kings jokes on the image board.
Origin
On November 5th, 2015, The African Kingdoms expansion for the real-time strategy game Age of Empires II was released. On 4chan, many users on the /int/ board criticized the expansion for including the country Portugal and began posting the illustration of an African man from the game’s cover art wearing a turban with the Portuguese flag photoshopped on front along with the phrase “t. Alberto Barbosa” (shown below). The abbreviation “t.” represents the parting phrase “regards.”
Spread
On December 14th, an anonymous 4chan users submitted an Alberto Barbosa thread to /int/,[4] to which other users spammed the phrase “t. Alberto Barbosa” in comment replies (shown below).
On December 15th, Redditor /pol/ack submitted a screenshot of a 4chan post complaining about the “t. Alberto Barbosa” meme to /r/4chan[1] (shown below).
The following day, the /r/albertobarbosa[3] subreddit was launched for discussions about the in-joke. On December 19th, Redditor cammyfawkes submitted a post asking about the meme to the /r/albertobarbosa,[2] to which Redditor smretsnikov cited its origins on /int/. On December 29th, 2015, YouTuber Incognito Walröss submitted a video featuring the African king illustration with a man espousing the Black Egyptian Hypothesis in the background (shown below).
Search Interest
External References
[1]Reddit – /int/ goes bonkers over a meme
[2]Reddit – What is this meme
[3]Reddit – /r/albertobarbosa
[4]Desustorage – alberto barbosa