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{{Short description|Fan-made version of Harry Potter's Draco Malfoy}}
{{Short description|Fan-made version of Harry Potter's Draco Malfoy}}
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{{Article for deletion/dated|page=Galfoy|timestamp=20261016185813|year=2026|month=October|day=16|substed=yes|help=off}}
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{{Infobox character
{{Infobox character
| name              = Galfoy
| name              = Malfoid
| series            = [[Harry Potter fandom]]
| series            = [[Harry Potter fandom]]
| image            =
| image            = Malfoid by Precipitation24.png
| caption          =
| caption          =  
| alt              =
| full_name        = Dracaena Malfoy, Draconia Malfoy, Dracia Malfoy etc.
| first            = "Genderbend Draco Malfoy" (January 14, [[2018 in comics|2018]])
| creator          = Jean "TheMightFenek" Hayashi
| based_on          = {{based on|[[Draco Malfoy]]|[[J. K. Rowling]]}}
| based_on          = {{based on|[[Draco Malfoy]]|[[J. K. Rowling]]}}
| species          = [[Wizard]]
| significant_other = [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]]
| significant_other = [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]]
| nationality      = British
| nationality      = British
| lbl21            = House
| lbl21            = House
| data21            = [[Slytherin]]
| data21            = [[Slytherin]]
}}
}}'''Malfoid''', also known as '''Galfoy'''<ref name="SlimePress">{{cite web|author=W. Amirul Adlan|date=October 5, 2026|title="Galfoy" Trend Sees Everyone Drawing Draco Malfoy As A Chick|url=https://slimepress.com/posts/galfoy-trend-sees-everyone-drawing-draco-malfoy-as-a-chick|access-date=October 16, 2026|website=SlimePress|quote=''Harry Potter'' is back, but not in the way you expect – because now everyone's [[Gender swap|drawing Draco Malfoy as a girl]]. Dubbed "Galfoy" or "Malfoid" if women cover their drinks around you, this trend has been seeing fans reinterpret the ''Harry Potter'' series through an important lens: what if instead of a bratty rich boy, his rival and bully was a bratty rich chick.}}</ref> or '''Malfoy Girl''' is a [[Fan fiction|fan-made]] trend of depicting a [[Gender swap|gender-swapped]] version of the [[Harry Potter|''Harry Potter'' franchise]] character [[Draco Malfoy]].<ref name="ElFinanciero">{{Cite news |date=2026-10-13 |title=De villano de 'Harry Potter' a chica tsundere de anime: Así nació el meme de Malfoy Girl |trans-title=From Harry Potter villain to anime tsundere girl: how the Malfoy Girl meme was born |url=https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/entretenimiento/2026/10/13/de-villano-de-harry-potter-a-chica-tsundere-de-anime-asi-nacio-el-meme-de-malfoy-girl/ |access-date=2026-10-23 |work=[[El Financiero]] |language=es}}</ref> Properly named in many fan works as Dracaena, Dracia or Draconia Malfoy, she is usually drawn in an [[anime]] style with Draco's platinum-blonde hair and Slytherin uniform, and given a ''[[tsundere]]'' personality: she mocks [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]] while secretly being in love with him.<ref name="ElFinanciero" /><ref name="TuoiTre">{{Cite news |author=Tô Cường |date=2026-10-08 |title=Giải mã trào lưu Malfoid: Khi Draco Malfoy hóa thành tiểu thư anime kiêu kỳ |trans-title=Decoding the Malfoid trend: when Draco Malfoy becomes a haughty anime heiress |url=https://tuoitre.vn/giai-ma-trao-luu-malfoid-khi-draco-malfoy-hoa-thanh-tieu-thu-anime-kieu-ky-100261008144220818.htm |access-date=2026-10-23 |work=[[Tuổi Trẻ]] |language=vi}}</ref> Female versions of Draco had appeared in fan fiction since the early 2000s, and in several fan art since the 2010s, but this latest version of the gender-swapped character became an [[Internet meme]] in late September 2026, when anime-style drawings of her spread on [[Twitter|X]] and then to Reddit and other fan communities. The trend produced comics, fan fiction, AI-generated videos and a fan-made [[dating sim]], drew contributions from professional manga artists, and attracted attention in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The term "Malfoid" has drawn criticism because it combines Malfoy with "foid", a derogatory term for women used in [[incel]] communities.<ref name="Inquirer" /><ref name="Indiatimes" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Makusha|first=Michaela|date=October 30, 2026|title=It Sure Looks Like the Department of Education Is Promoting a Right-Wing Harry Potter Meme|url=https://www.wired.com/story/it-sure-looks-like-the-department-of-education-is-promoting-a-right-wing-harry-potter-meme/|access-date=October 30, 2026|website=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]}}</ref>
'''Galfoy''',<ref>{{cite web|author=W. Amirul Adlan|date=October 5, 2026|title="Galfoy" Trend Sees Everyone Drawing Draco Malfoy As A Chick|url=https://slimepress.com/posts/galfoy-trend-sees-everyone-drawing-draco-malfoy-as-a-chick|access-date=October 16, 2026|website=SlimePress|quote=''Harry Potter'' is back, but not in the way you expect – because now everyone's [[Gender swap|drawing Draco Malfoy as a girl]]. Dubbed "Galfoy" or "Malfoid" if women cover their drinks around you, this trend has been seeing fans reinterpret the ''Harry Potter'' series through an important lens: what if instead of a bratty rich boy, his rival and bully was a bratty rich chick.}}</ref> also known as '''Dracia Malfoy''', '''Draconia Malfoy''', or '''Malfoid''', is a [[Fan fiction|fan-made]] ''[[tsundere]]'' and [[Gender swap|gender-swapped]] version of the [[Harry Potter|''Harry Potter'' franchise]] character [[Draco Malfoy]], in which the character is a girl instead of a boy, and grows to be romantically interested in [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Arroz |first=Jon Del |date=2026-10-12 |title=Malfoid Fan Art Trend Takes Over Harry Potter Fandom |url=https://www.fandompulse.com/p/malfoid-fan-art-trend-takes-over |access-date=2026-10-21 |website=www.fandompulse.com |language=en}}</ref> The character was originally created on 14 January 2018 by Jean "TheMightFenek" Hayashi, a Japanese online artist, as part of a comic commission which she posted to [[Twitter]] and [[DeviantArt]]. Galfoy subsequently became an [[Internet meme]] and rose in popularity internationally following a [[Twitter]] trend of drawing her in 2026,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Min-El |date=2026-10-05 |title=Gender-Swapped Draco Malfoy Sparks New Harry Potter Fan-Art Craze: From 20-Year-Old Fanfiction to a “Tsundere Heiress” Renaissance |url=https://www.toy-people.com/en/?p=115147 |access-date=2026-10-22 |website=TOY PEOPLE |language=en-US}}</ref> with related hashtags in English and Japanese trending on Twitter; several professional Japanese artists contributed their own renditions of the character on the website, referring to the character as Galfoy, derived from '[[Girl]] Malfoy' or Gal-foy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-10-05 |title=Malfoid Fan Art Trend Turns Draco Malfoy Into a Bratty Anime Girl With an Incel-Linked Name |url=https://www.inkl.com/news/malfoid-fan-art-trend-turns-draco-malfoy-into-a-bratty-anime-girl-with-an-incel-linked-name |access-date=2026-10-21 |website=inkl |language=en}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==


In January 2018, Japanese [[Twitter]] and [[DeviantArt]] user Jean "TheMightFenek" Hayashi started a drawing trend of drawing Draco Malfoy [[Gender swap|gender-swapped]], as a girl instead of a boy, Dracia Malfoy,<ref group="‡">{{Cite tweet|author=Jean "TheMightFenek" Hayashi|user=jean_hayashi|number=952655512838995968|title=#dracomalfoy #HarryPotter #genderswap #rule63 A comic that I did some time ago, rule 63 Draco is cute, I call her Dracia. The best part is when the effects of the magic wore off. *alternate universe, on the last year, featured characters are not underage and all that talk|access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref><ref group="‡">{{cite web|author=Jean "TheMightFenek" Hayashi|date=February 7, 2018|title=Genderbend Draco Malfoy|url=https://www.deviantart.com/themightfenek/art/Genderbend-Draco-Malfoy-729606857|access-date=October 14, 2026|website=[[DeviantArt]]}}</ref> and likened to the ''[[tsundere]]'' anime trope in being [[Shipping (fandom)|shipped]] with [[Harry Potter (character)|Harry Potter]], in a variation of the [[Drarry]] ship.
Stories in which Draco Malfoy is female, either born a girl or turned into one by magic, appeared in ''Harry Potter'' fan fiction from the early 2000s, and in 2013 fans set up a [[FanFiction.Net]] community for gender-swapped ''Harry Potter'' stories. The terms used in this early era were variations of Fem!Draco or Fem!Malfoy.<ref name="TuoiTre" /><ref name="ToyPeople">{{Cite web |last=Min-El |date=2026-10-05 |title=Gender-Swapped Draco Malfoy Sparks New Harry Potter Fan-Art Craze: From 20-Year-Old Fanfiction to a “Tsundere Heiress” Renaissance |url=https://www.toy-people.com/en/?p=115147 |access-date=2026-10-22 |website=TOY PEOPLE |language=en-US}}</ref> In Taiwan, users of the C_Chat board on [[PTT Bulletin Board System|PTT]] began a collaborative project around a female Draco in June 2020, writing stories and drawing scenes that followed the plots of the seven books.<ref name="UDN">{{Cite news |author=希洛 |date=2026-10-05 |title=跩哥變跩姊!「性轉馬份」歐美社群爆紅 台網友6年前就領先世界? |trans-title=Draco becomes a girl: "gender-swapped Malfoy" goes viral in the West, but were Taiwanese netizens six years ahead? |url=https://game.udn.com/game/story/122089/9795133 |access-date=2026-10-23 |work=udn遊戲角落 |publisher=聯合新聞網 |language=zh-tw}}</ref><ref name="TuoiTre" /> In South Korea, an amateur web novel with a female Draco, {{lang|ko|악역영애 말포이}} (lit. "Villainess Malfoy"), was published free of charge in 110 instalments and completed about five years before the 2026 trend.<ref name="Wolyo">{{Cite news |author=이원용 |date=2026-10-06 |title='여자 말포이'가 뭐길래…일본·서양 홀린 한국 아마추어 웹소설 |trans-title=What is 'female Malfoy'? The Korean amateur web novel that captivated Japan and the West |url=https://www.wolyo.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=318726 |access-date=2026-10-23 |work=월요신문 |language=ko}}</ref><ref name="UDN" /> Drawings posted on X in March 2024 by the artist Grizz (@grizz056), built around the idea "if Malfoy was a girl", are commonly cited as the inspiration of the 2026 trend.<ref name="UDN" /><ref name="TuoiTre" />


The concept went viral in September 2026 following a Twitter post of Galfoy by RedTeneri, which was followed by hundreds of thousands of pieces of [[fan-art]], [[fan-fiction]], ''Harry Potter'' rewrites, [[fan film]]s, and [[dating sim]] [[video games]] being produced about the character and ship, both from human-made and [[artificial intelligence]]-produced sources.<ref>{{cite web|author=GBest|date=October 9, 2026|title=''Harry Potter'': Female Draco Malfoy Fan Art Is Everywhere Right Now, And They Already Named Her Malfoid|url=https://comicbookmovie.com/fantasy/harry-potter/harry-potter-female-draco-malfoy-fan-art-is-everywhere-right-now-and-they-already-named-her-malfoid-a230320|access-date=October 14, 2026|website=ComicBookMovie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Adam|date=October 12, 2026|title=Malfoid: ''Harry Potter'' AI Fan Animations Draw Mixed Reactions|url=https://templepc.com/articles/malfoid-divides-the-internet-fan-fun-or-more-ai-slop|access-date=October 14, 2026|website=TemplePC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=P|first=Jewel|date=2026-10-19|title=Harry Potter Fans Have Gender-Swapped Draco Malfoy In A New AI Series, And She's Dating Harry|url=https://www.fashiontimes.co.uk/harry-potter-ai-gender-swapped-draco-malfoy-romance-1765872|access-date=2026-10-21|website=Fashion times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Walsh|first=Marcus|date=2026-10-06|title=Why Harry Potter's viral "Malfoid" trend triggered a toxic online feud|url=https://cybernews.com/entertainment/harry-potter-malfoid-backlash-anime|access-date=2026-10-21|website=Cybernews|language=en-US}}</ref>
The concept went viral in September 2026 following a post on [[Twitter|X]] by RedTeneri,<ref name="TuoiTre" /> which was followed by hundreds of thousands{{citation needed|date=October 2026}} of pieces of [[fan-art]], [[fan-fiction]], ''Harry Potter'' rewrites, [[fan film]]s, and [[dating sim]] [[video games]] being produced about the character and ship, both from human-made and [[artificial intelligence]]-produced sources.<ref name="ElFinanciero" /><ref name="Azteca">{{Cite web |last=Zayas |first=Luis Miguel |date=2026-10-20 |title=Malfoy Girl: la versión femenina de Draco Malfoy que se volvió viral |trans-title=Malfoy Girl: the female version of Draco Malfoy that went viral |url=https://www.aztecapuebla.com/tendencia/malfoy-girl-la-version-femenina-de-draco-malfoy-que-se-volvio-viral/ |access-date=2026-10-23 |website=Azteca Puebla |language=es}}</ref><ref name="CreativeBloq">{{Cite web |last=Dean |first=Ian |date=2026-10-21 |title=The AI Harry Potter romance that turned Draco Malfoy into a girl |url=https://www.creativebloq.com/news/someone-turned-draco-malfoy-into-a-girl-with-ai-and-now-i-need-to-know-what-happens-next |access-date=2026-10-23 |website=Creative Bloq |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Cybernews">{{Cite web|last=Walsh|first=Marcus|date=2026-10-06|title=Why Harry Potter's viral "Malfoid" trend triggered a toxic online feud|url=https://cybernews.com/entertainment/harry-potter-malfoid-backlash-anime|access-date=2026-10-21|website=Cybernews|language=en-US}}</ref> On 22 September, REDTEN (@redteneri) posted an anime-style drawing of a female Draco taunting Harry about being one of the best students in the school; it received more than 89,000 likes in its first week and prompted other artists to draw their own versions.<ref name="ElFinanciero" /><ref name="Azteca" /> On 27 September, @spaz141 posted a drawing of the character and [[Hermione Granger]] competing for Harry's attention, which received more than 44,000 likes in three days.<ref name="ToyPeople" /><ref name="Azteca" /> The drawings spread from X to [[Reddit]] and other ''Harry Potter'' fan communities within days.<ref name="TuoiTre" /><ref name="Indiatimes" /> Among the fan works were comics, fan fiction and animations, some made with [[generative AI]] tools, including re-creations of scenes from the films with Harry and the female Draco as a couple;<ref name="ElFinanciero" /><ref name="Azteca" /> a fan-made [[visual novel]], ''Malfoid Dating Sim: Pureblood & Prejudice'';<ref name="Azteca" /> and the AI-animated series ''In Another Universe'' by the creator Foyege, which retells the story around Harry and a female Draco named Draconia.<ref name="CreativeBloq" /> In October, an English-language post on X pointing to the Korean web novel was viewed more than 12 million times.<ref name="Wolyo" />


The manga artists [[Teasing Master Takagi-san|Soichiro Yamamoto]], [[Bkub Okawa]], and [[Food Wars!|Shun Saeki]] were noted for drawing [[fan-art]] of Galfoy and helping to coin the "Galfoy" name.<ref group="‡">{{Cite tweet|author-link=Teasing Master Takagi-san|author=Soichiro Yamamoto|user=udon0531|number=2106010270112108952|title=Girl Malfoy (Stage Name)|access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=October 2, 2026|title=「父上ー」大川ぶくぶが描く女体化マルフォイに反響 ハーマイオニーに殴られる姿も|url=https://realsound.jp/book/2026/10/post-2541666.html|access-date=October 22, 2026|website=[[Real Sound (website)|Real Sound]]|language=ja}}</ref><ref group="‡">{{Cite tweet|author-link=Food Wars!|author=Shun Saeki|user=Syunsaeki|number=2106551846433349647|title=Gal Foy|access-date=16 October 2026}}</ref> A Galfoy-centric ''Harry Potter'' rewrite, ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Tsundere'' by GuardBro, was also created and got removed from [[Royal Road (website)|Royal Road]] following a copyright claim by [[J. K. Rowling]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=What is Malfoid anime? Artist Yunayu deletes and reposts female Draco art, causes controversy amid furious fans backlash|url=https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/what-is-malfoid-anime-artist-yunayu-deletes-and-reposts-female-draco-art-causes-controversy-amid-furious-fans-backlash/articleshow/134917441.html|access-date=2026-10-21|website=Indiatimes|language=en}}</ref>
The manga artists [[Teasing Master Takagi-san|Soichiro Yamamoto]], [[Bkub Okawa]], and [[Food Wars!|Shun Saeki]] were noted for drawing [[fan-art]] of Malfoid and helping to spread if not also coin the "Galfoy" term.<ref name="RealSound">{{Cite web|date=October 2, 2026|title=「父上ー」大川ぶくぶが描く女体化マルフォイに反響 ハーマイオニーに殴られる姿も|url=https://realsound.jp/book/2026/10/post-2541666.html|access-date=October 22, 2026|website=[[Real Sound (website)|Real Sound]]|language=ja}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=October 2026}} A Malfoid-centric ''Harry Potter'' rewrite, ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Tsundere'' by GuardBro, was removed from [[Royal Road (website)|Royal Road]] following the site's copyright policy, due to excessive reused original text with minimal changes.<ref name="Indiatimes">{{Cite web|last=Banik|first=Sinthya|title=What is Malfoid anime? Artist Yunayu deletes and reposts female Draco art, causes controversy amid furious fans backlash|url=https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/what-is-malfoid-anime-artist-yunayu-deletes-and-reposts-female-draco-art-causes-controversy-amid-furious-fans-backlash/articleshow/134917441.html|access-date=2026-10-21|website=Indiatimes|language=en}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=October 2026}}
 
==Etymology==
The term "Malfoid" combines Malfoy with "[[wikt:foid|foid]]", short for "femoid", a derogatory term for women used in [[incel]] communities.<ref name="TuoiTre" /><ref name="Inquirer">{{Cite web |last=Agustin |first=Carl Martin |date=2026-10-15 |title=Malfoid and an unlikely boost for 'Harry Potter' |url=https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/583636/malfoid-and-an-unlikely-boost-for-harry-potter/ |access-date=2026-10-23 |website=Lifestyle.INQ |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Indiatimes" /> According to ''[[Tuổi Trẻ]]'', the term appears to be used in the fan-art trend mainly as a pun on Malfoy's surname, and the art does not play on its derogatory meaning;<ref name="TuoiTre" /> ''Indiatimes'' reported that many of those posting the art treated it as a pun on the surname, while others objected to the word choice.<ref name="Indiatimes" /> Spanish-language media have called the character "Malfoy Girl".<ref name="ElFinanciero" /><ref name="Azteca" />
 
==Reception==
Carl Martin Agustin of ''Lifestyle.INQ'' wrote that, while the upcoming [[Harry Potter (TV series)|HBO television series]] faced criticism over its casting and over [[J. K. Rowling]]'s views on transgender people, fan art of a female Draco seemed "to be the one thing fans are happily agreeing upon", and that pairing Draco with Harry gave his betrayal and later redemption "more depth and significance".<ref name="Inquirer" /> ''Tuổi Trẻ'' attributed the trend's spread partly to how closely Draco's wealth, arrogance and pride in his lineage match the "rich young lady" and villainess archetypes of manga and anime, and wrote that the 2026 trend did not create a new idea but let an old one reach a wider audience through social media, adding to interest in the franchise's characters ahead of the HBO series in December 2026.<ref name="TuoiTre" /> Ian Dean of ''Creative Bloq'' called Foyege's AI series "weird to watch" but "oddly compelling", describing such videos as "a new, professionalised aspect of fan fiction" while raising unresolved questions about copyright and AI training data.<ref name="CreativeBloq" />
 
In early October, the artist Yunayu posted a drawing of the female Draco on [[Bluesky]] and received hostile replies arguing that any new ''Harry Potter'' content kept attention on Rowling and indirectly was supporting her views, on top of objections to the "foid" part of the trend's name. Yunayu deleted the drawing and apologised, saying the wider controversies had been unknown to them when they drew it, and on 6 October reposted it on X, where the response was mostly supportive.<ref name="Cybernews" /><ref name="Indiatimes" />
 
On October 27, 2026, the [[United States Department of Education]] posted a Malfoid meme on X.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cao|first=Steffi|date=October 29, 2026|title=How a Harry Potter Incel Meme Reached the U.S. Department of Education|url=https://slate.com/technology/2026/10/draco-malfoid-harry-potter-meme.html|access-date=October 29, 2026|website=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Sommer|first=Will|date=October 29, 2026|title=Trump Admin Pushes Gender-Swapping Harry Potter Fanfic|url=https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-administration-pushes-gender-swapping-harry-potter-draco-malfoy-malfoid-fanfic|access-date=October 29, 2026|website=[[The Bulwark (website)|The Bulwark]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Curtis|first=Delia|date=October 28, 2026|title=Did the Department of Education Really Just Post Gender-Swapped Harry Potter “Malfoid” Fic?|url=https://www.them.us/politics/education-department-harry-potter-fic|access-date=October 29, 2026|website=[[Them (magazine)|Them]]}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}{{Harry Potter}}
{{Primary sources references section}}
 
==External links==
* {{official website|https://malfoid.com}}
 
{{Harry Potter}}


[[Category:Fan labor]]
[[Category:Fan labor]]
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[[Category:2020s fads and trends]]
[[Category:2020s fads and trends]]
[[Category:2026 in Internet culture]]
[[Category:2026 in Internet culture]]
[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2018]]
[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 2026]]
[[Category:Internet art]]
[[Category:Internet art]]
[[Category:Internet meme characters]]
[[Category:Internet meme characters]]
[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2026]]
[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2026]]

Latest revision as of 22:40, 2 November 2026

Template:Short description

Template:Error:wrong namespace

Template:Infobox characterMalfoid, also known as Galfoy[1] or Malfoy Girl is a fan-made trend of depicting a gender-swapped version of the Harry Potter franchise character Draco Malfoy.[2] Properly named in many fan works as Dracaena, Dracia or Draconia Malfoy, she is usually drawn in an anime style with Draco's platinum-blonde hair and Slytherin uniform, and given a tsundere personality: she mocks Harry Potter while secretly being in love with him.[2][3] Female versions of Draco had appeared in fan fiction since the early 2000s, and in several fan art since the 2010s, but this latest version of the gender-swapped character became an Internet meme in late September 2026, when anime-style drawings of her spread on X and then to Reddit and other fan communities. The trend produced comics, fan fiction, AI-generated videos and a fan-made dating sim, drew contributions from professional manga artists, and attracted attention in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The term "Malfoid" has drawn criticism because it combines Malfoy with "foid", a derogatory term for women used in incel communities.[4][5][6]

Background

Stories in which Draco Malfoy is female, either born a girl or turned into one by magic, appeared in Harry Potter fan fiction from the early 2000s, and in 2013 fans set up a FanFiction.Net community for gender-swapped Harry Potter stories. The terms used in this early era were variations of Fem!Draco or Fem!Malfoy.[3][7] In Taiwan, users of the C_Chat board on PTT began a collaborative project around a female Draco in June 2020, writing stories and drawing scenes that followed the plots of the seven books.[8][3] In South Korea, an amateur web novel with a female Draco, 악역영애 말포이 (lit. "Villainess Malfoy"), was published free of charge in 110 instalments and completed about five years before the 2026 trend.[9][8] Drawings posted on X in March 2024 by the artist Grizz (@grizz056), built around the idea "if Malfoy was a girl", are commonly cited as the inspiration of the 2026 trend.[8][3]

The concept went viral in September 2026 following a post on X by RedTeneri,[3] which was followed by hundreds of thousands of pieces of fan-art, fan-fiction, Harry Potter rewrites, fan films, and dating sim video games being produced about the character and ship, both from human-made and artificial intelligence-produced sources.[2][10][11][12] On 22 September, REDTEN (@redteneri) posted an anime-style drawing of a female Draco taunting Harry about being one of the best students in the school; it received more than 89,000 likes in its first week and prompted other artists to draw their own versions.[2][10] On 27 September, @spaz141 posted a drawing of the character and Hermione Granger competing for Harry's attention, which received more than 44,000 likes in three days.[7][10] The drawings spread from X to Reddit and other Harry Potter fan communities within days.[3][5] Among the fan works were comics, fan fiction and animations, some made with generative AI tools, including re-creations of scenes from the films with Harry and the female Draco as a couple;[2][10] a fan-made visual novel, Malfoid Dating Sim: Pureblood & Prejudice;[10] and the AI-animated series In Another Universe by the creator Foyege, which retells the story around Harry and a female Draco named Draconia.[11] In October, an English-language post on X pointing to the Korean web novel was viewed more than 12 million times.[9]

The manga artists Soichiro Yamamoto, Bkub Okawa, and Shun Saeki were noted for drawing fan-art of Malfoid and helping to spread if not also coin the "Galfoy" term.[13] A Malfoid-centric Harry Potter rewrite, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Tsundere by GuardBro, was removed from Royal Road following the site's copyright policy, due to excessive reused original text with minimal changes.[5]Template:Failed verification

Etymology

The term "Malfoid" combines Malfoy with "foid", short for "femoid", a derogatory term for women used in incel communities.[3][4][5] According to Tuổi Trẻ, the term appears to be used in the fan-art trend mainly as a pun on Malfoy's surname, and the art does not play on its derogatory meaning;[3] Indiatimes reported that many of those posting the art treated it as a pun on the surname, while others objected to the word choice.[5] Spanish-language media have called the character "Malfoy Girl".[2][10]

Reception

Carl Martin Agustin of Lifestyle.INQ wrote that, while the upcoming HBO television series faced criticism over its casting and over J. K. Rowling's views on transgender people, fan art of a female Draco seemed "to be the one thing fans are happily agreeing upon", and that pairing Draco with Harry gave his betrayal and later redemption "more depth and significance".[4] Tuổi Trẻ attributed the trend's spread partly to how closely Draco's wealth, arrogance and pride in his lineage match the "rich young lady" and villainess archetypes of manga and anime, and wrote that the 2026 trend did not create a new idea but let an old one reach a wider audience through social media, adding to interest in the franchise's characters ahead of the HBO series in December 2026.[3] Ian Dean of Creative Bloq called Foyege's AI series "weird to watch" but "oddly compelling", describing such videos as "a new, professionalised aspect of fan fiction" while raising unresolved questions about copyright and AI training data.[11]

In early October, the artist Yunayu posted a drawing of the female Draco on Bluesky and received hostile replies arguing that any new Harry Potter content kept attention on Rowling and indirectly was supporting her views, on top of objections to the "foid" part of the trend's name. Yunayu deleted the drawing and apologised, saying the wider controversies had been unknown to them when they drew it, and on 6 October reposted it on X, where the response was mostly supportive.[12][5]

On October 27, 2026, the United States Department of Education posted a Malfoid meme on X.[14][15][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ W. Amirul Adlan (October 5, 2026). ""Galfoy" Trend Sees Everyone Drawing Draco Malfoy As A Chick". https://slimepress.com/posts/galfoy-trend-sees-everyone-drawing-draco-malfoy-as-a-chick. "Harry Potter is back, but not in the way you expect – because now everyone's drawing Draco Malfoy as a girl. Dubbed "Galfoy" or "Malfoid" if women cover their drinks around you, this trend has been seeing fans reinterpret the Harry Potter series through an important lens: what if instead of a bratty rich boy, his rival and bully was a bratty rich chick." 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "De villano de 'Harry Potter' a chica tsundere de anime: Así nació el meme de Malfoy Girl" (in es). El Financiero. 2026-10-13. https://www.elfinanciero.com.mx/entretenimiento/2026/10/13/de-villano-de-harry-potter-a-chica-tsundere-de-anime-asi-nacio-el-meme-de-malfoy-girl/. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Tô Cường (2026-10-08). "Giải mã trào lưu Malfoid: Khi Draco Malfoy hóa thành tiểu thư anime kiêu kỳ" (in vi). Tuổi Trẻ. https://tuoitre.vn/giai-ma-trao-luu-malfoid-khi-draco-malfoy-hoa-thanh-tieu-thu-anime-kieu-ky-100261008144220818.htm. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Agustin, Carl Martin (2026-10-15). "Malfoid and an unlikely boost for 'Harry Potter'" (in en-US). https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/583636/malfoid-and-an-unlikely-boost-for-harry-potter/. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Banik, Sinthya. "What is Malfoid anime? Artist Yunayu deletes and reposts female Draco art, causes controversy amid furious fans backlash" (in en). https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/what-is-malfoid-anime-artist-yunayu-deletes-and-reposts-female-draco-art-causes-controversy-amid-furious-fans-backlash/articleshow/134917441.html. 
  6. ↑ Makusha, Michaela (October 30, 2026). "It Sure Looks Like the Department of Education Is Promoting a Right-Wing Harry Potter Meme". https://www.wired.com/story/it-sure-looks-like-the-department-of-education-is-promoting-a-right-wing-harry-potter-meme/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Min-El (2026-10-05). "Gender-Swapped Draco Malfoy Sparks New Harry Potter Fan-Art Craze: From 20-Year-Old Fanfiction to a “Tsundere Heiress” Renaissance" (in en-US). https://www.toy-people.com/en/?p=115147. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 希洛 (2026-10-05). "跩哥變跩姊!「性轉馬份」歐美社群爆紅 台網友6年前就領先世界?" (in zh-tw). udn遊戲角落 (聯合新聞網). https://game.udn.com/game/story/122089/9795133. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 이원용 (2026-10-06). "'여자 말포이'가 뭐길래…일본·서양 홀린 한국 아마추어 웹소설" (in ko). 월요신문. https://www.wolyo.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=318726. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 Zayas, Luis Miguel (2026-10-20). "Malfoy Girl: la versión femenina de Draco Malfoy que se volvió viral" (in es). https://www.aztecapuebla.com/tendencia/malfoy-girl-la-version-femenina-de-draco-malfoy-que-se-volvio-viral/. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Dean, Ian (2026-10-21). "The AI Harry Potter romance that turned Draco Malfoy into a girl" (in en). https://www.creativebloq.com/news/someone-turned-draco-malfoy-into-a-girl-with-ai-and-now-i-need-to-know-what-happens-next. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Walsh, Marcus (2026-10-06). "Why Harry Potter's viral "Malfoid" trend triggered a toxic online feud" (in en-US). https://cybernews.com/entertainment/harry-potter-malfoid-backlash-anime. 
  13. ↑ "「父上ー」大川ぶくぶが描く女体化マルフォイに反響 ハーマイオニーに殴られる姿も" (in ja). October 2, 2026. https://realsound.jp/book/2026/10/post-2541666.html. 
  14. ↑ Cao, Steffi (October 29, 2026). "How a Harry Potter Incel Meme Reached the U.S. Department of Education". https://slate.com/technology/2026/10/draco-malfoid-harry-potter-meme.html. 
  15. ↑ Sommer, Will (October 29, 2026). "Trump Admin Pushes Gender-Swapping Harry Potter Fanfic". https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-administration-pushes-gender-swapping-harry-potter-draco-malfoy-malfoid-fanfic. 
  16. ↑ Curtis, Delia (October 28, 2026). "Did the Department of Education Really Just Post Gender-Swapped Harry Potter “Malfoid” Fic?". https://www.them.us/politics/education-department-harry-potter-fic. 

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