The Accidental Popularity of an Instagram Hero
- Feb 5
- 3 min read
By Grant Thomasson
At the beginning of 2024, Quinten Brown was scrolling on Instagram late at night and was inspired by an account that showcased a made-up superhero character called Gamma Guy. Gamma Guy had a very large following. Having made his own costumes in the past, Quinten decided to create his own character. He assembled a costume, a collection of everyday items combined with a little sewing and hot glue. He started a new Instagram account, and the character Trailblazer was born. He began posting regularly as this character. Some content was just talking, some was short skits, and some were still images of the character. The account quickly gained popularity, and his follower count grew. The character began to be recognized outside his social circle, with even a few ComicCon attendees stopping him for pictures. He was shocked that the character was known by random strangers. Other creators began making similar character content. As the community of characters grew, he was asked to star in a short local film with a few of the characters. A short YouTube documentary was released detailing the lore of the Instagram heroes, and he was surprised to find himself prominently featured. At one point, Trailblazer’s account had over 7,000 followers on Instagram.
In December, I met with Quinten at my home in Nashville to get his details of his experience becoming this character. He arrived in plain everyday clothes having dismantled the costume and accessories of Trailblazer. I had requested a full costumed appearance of Trailblazer but it was not to be. We sat down together to discuss his experience in more detail. Quinten continued to make content as Trailblazer until April 2025. As a few months have passed since he retired the character, he was able to gain some perspective as he looks back on the run of Trailblazer. Note: since this interview, Trailblazer has come out of retirement and is posting regularly!
The following interview has been edited and condensed.
Can you tell me more about your inspiration for creating the character of Trailblazer?
I based the character off The Flash, so they are probably my biggest inspiration in terms of the character, but my main inspiration for doing it was definitely Gamma Guy.
What was the process of making your costume?
It was quite literally made out of things I had lying around. I had an old shirt I cut up and sewed into the shape of a mask and used some old cardboard to make the lightning bolts. The rest of the suit was just a hoodie and some pants. It stuck for a while and a lot of people really liked it, surprisingly.
What problems have you experienced while doing the character?
A lot of the time people forget there is a person behind the character. They kind of disregard how you feel when they say things. It made me feel bad about myself a lot of the time.
Can you elaborate more on how that affected you?
Sometimes people say a lot of really rude things and don’t think about how that would affect an actual person. It made me feel like a punching bag a lot of the time, and I don’t think people really got that.
What have been some positives that you have experienced as a result of creating the character of Trailblazer?
I met a lot of people from it and made some good friends. It kind of snowballed into a whole community of people.
What have you learned from doing this character?
You might feel like what you’re doing isn’t a lot, but it can be surprising how many people enjoy what you do. I’d have my moments of doubt about what I’m doing creatively and think no one really cares that much, but people would be like “no we love trailblazer.” So, I would say don’t doubt your own creativity because even if you don’t think it’s good, others might love it.
Did you expect to get as popular as you did on Instagram?
I really didn’t because I didn’t think it would pick up on anyone’s radar, until one day I woke up with 110 followers, then 200, then suddenly I had thousands of followers.
Who is your favorite Muppet?
Kermit for sure, that’s the goat.
