67

I had for some days the fantasy of getting a grinch hat. I know there is a hat when you only do upvotes in a day and believed it could make sense to have the same kind of hats for downvotes only. It would be the grinch hat. The programmer that ruined christmas.

What are the fantasy secret hats you'd wish to get?

Here's a small list I can come up with:

  • Ohohoh: Gave a lot of reputation as a bounty on the 25th of December
  • Rudolf Reindeer: Be the first to answer 5 or more questions
  • The Horseman: Have 5 or more closed questions and 5 or more reopened questions in the same day (keep the balance)
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7
  • 18
    I'd get the Grinch hat right now by voting to close this as Primarily Opinion Based. Right?
    – Martijn Pieters
    Commented Dec 22, 2013 at 23:27
  • 4
    Ba humbug. That said, please don't consider down votes to be a negative thing to the site. They are a necessary part of helping the good content become more visible.
    – user213963
    Commented Dec 22, 2013 at 23:35
  • 1
    @MichaelT that's true unless the person downvote the good content and upvote the bad content! Not that I'm saying that someone should try that.
    – Loïc Faure-Lacroix
    Commented Dec 22, 2013 at 23:39
  • 12
    Any hat that gives me special abilities, like shooting fireballs or flying.
    – Bill the Lizard Mod
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 2:08
  • @BilltheLizard - did you try with Mario's Winged Cap? You may have to find the red switch though.
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 8:32
  • Note: since nobody posted that obvious one... I had to suffice with a second proposal. I have kept it separated from my first one, but if you prefer I will merge the two post.
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 8:48
  • Any hat awarded should still only be for actions that are good for the site; arguably some of the ones here are not (like ones that encourage very speedy but incomplete answering, or that promote gaming via sockpuppetry).
    – Donal Fellows
    Commented Dec 26, 2013 at 21:57

32 Answers 32

Reset to default
1
2
86
+50

YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!!!

Reject a suggested edit as spam, eventually leading to the deletion/destruction of the user's account.

enter image description here

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3
  • 13
    Would be better as "You. Shall. Not. Pass!".
    – Billy Mailman
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 0:27
  • 5
    Oh, I guess I wasn't the only one. +1 for wizard's hat!
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 22:00
  • @BillyMailman Nah. It doesn't sound quite right.
    – Ethan Bierlein
    Commented Jul 15, 2015 at 2:25
52

BINGO!

enter image description here

Earned all hats in the same row, column, or diagonal.

Hats are arranged in a grid with 5 columns (B-I-N-G-O). Clear a row, column or diagonal and say "BINGO!". Only awarded once per user.

I realize this one stands no chance against Darth Vador, Gandalf, or even a LEGO brick. But looking at my earned hats this thought occurred to me. Requires careful arrangement of the hats on the WinterBash page.

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1
  • Or it could be "clear x rows and/or y columns". Something about the pattern of visible/hidden tiles in the grid.
    – Mathieu Guindon
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 4:41
46

NERD

glasses

For hitting the rep cap on Christmas.

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5
  • 14
    Now that would be a disappointing hat for me.....
    – Bart
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 8:57
  • 4
    I really like this one
    – Loïc Faure-Lacroix
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 14:16
  • 2
    @Bart: You never wore 2 glasses at the same time? You are not a nerd! :)
    – juergen d
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 17:35
  • 1
    Aw man, I woulda gotten this hat :(
    – scrblnrd3
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 16:13
  • Please return these to @CodyGray when you're finished.
    – mickmackusa
    Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 0:53
45

You don't know the power of the Dark Side

enter image description here

for when you do nothing but downvote and vote to close/delete posts in a single day.

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2
  • 4
    Great "hat" idea, if litigation can be avoided, but it would need to be for something less easily gamed.
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 11:31
  • @Mr.Wizard there are other Star Wars themed hats this year, so there seems to be precedent. The criteria was somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but I think the idea of something around closing and deleting fits the title since it helps show the power (in terms of keeping the site clean) of closing and deleting (which some users regard as negative.)
    – psubsee2003
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 11:33
36

For ninja-editing a +1’d post, and finishing editing it, within 60 seconds of when it was first posted.

Ninja graphic

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4
  • 8
    This just has to be mine.
    – Martijn Pieters
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 14:12
  • 9
    sounds like @Jamal
    – Malachi
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 17:41
  • 1
    Did anyone get this yet?
    – Amal Murali
    Commented Dec 28, 2013 at 16:23
  • @AmalMurali See for yourself.
    – tchrist
    Commented Dec 31, 2013 at 15:32
35

The Nicolas Cage

enter image description here

Post an answer with a score of at least +5 to a meta question scored -5 or lower.

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1
  • 6
    -1 Your argument is invalid.
    – Amal Murali
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 9:38
28

Such Meta, so knowledge, much unicorn, wow.

A post reaches 10 score on meta.

Such Meta, so knowledge, much unicorn, wow.

On Stack Exchange, Trogdor burns you

Make edits that lead to a tag being cleaned at the end of the day

On Stack Exchange, Trogdor burns you

Here'ssssssssssssssssssssssss Jeff

Upvoted question in the tag

Here'ssssssssssssssssssssssss Jeff

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0
24

The Robot

Get caught by the bot detection software and fail pass the CAPTCHA human test.

enter image description here

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1
  • Maybe one of these?
    – E.P.
    Commented Jan 21, 2014 at 18:06
21

Brick Hat

I'd like to have a LEGO hat, obviously.

enter image description here

Credit: Jean Charles de Castelbajac.

Oh, and of course, as a reference to the classic 2×4 brick, it can be awarded for something like:

  • Four meta posts with a score of 2+. In the same vein as Upboated, but harder to get, as downvotes on metas are rampant and there's generally very little activity on metas of smaller sites.
  • Getting four bronze badges on a single day, and another four on another. We already have hats for silver and gold. But getting, for example, a Good/Great Answer/Question is actually not too hard for established users, because they often already have a bunch of posts sitting at 24 (or 98) votes, so they just need a stray upvote or two. However, getting four Nice Answers/Questions (or even any four bronze badges) on a single day, and then on another, would require quite some determination, in addition to leveling the playing field for new users.
  • Two chat posts with four stars each.
  • Any other combination of 2×4 somethings that the devs find worthy of a secret hat.

And before you say "make your mind up, pick one", I am actually posting a bunch of very different possibilities on purpose, just in case we do get the hat at some point in the future. It will then be harder for everyone (including myself) to figure out which option the devs have picked.

The picture for the hat could then be a simple 2×4 brick, too. The hats in the photos above are obviously way too detailed to work on small gravatars.

P.S.: in case you are not aware, there is a Stack Exchange site for LEGO!

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7
  • 5
    The house Jack built - Made 10 edits on own post.
    – Mathieu Guindon
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 0:49
  • 1
    I like retailcoder's suggestion a lot, but that one of course would be trivial to game. And we are talking secret hats here, which should be harder than normal ones.
    – ЯegDwight
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 0:54
  • 6
    +1 for the lego hat, I don't care about the criteria. I want one almost as much as I want my Darth Vader hat.
    – psubsee2003
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 0:55
  • 2
    That is one seriously annoying website. Not even going to discuss the Lego hats; they'll put anything on a model and call it couture.
    – user102937
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 22:12
  • 1
    Well. Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I'm in the wrong profession. On a second thought, I do get to put anything on a server and call it a website.
    – ЯegDwight
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 22:37
  • @TheGrinch That website is more than annoying... I'm going with hateful.
    – apaul
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 23:40
  • Well. I have to give credit. This is a legal issue, not a hat issue. I had never so much as heard of that website before posting this answer, and I already don't even remember its name. Can we please go back to focussing on hats? I've been focussing on websites all year long, I was hoping the Winter Bash would offer me a break. Plus I could have linked to something way more annoying, you know. Sturgeon's Law is recursive.
    – ЯegDwight
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 23:46
17

Ass Hat

Should be awarded when

  • Only cast down votes in a day, with at least 5 down votes cast.
  • Been down voted at least twice that day, and no up votes received.
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2
  • 10
    Dude, that's NSFW.
    – Amal Murali
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 9:37
  • 21
    Not everyone has an overly prude workplace.
    – ThiefMaster Mod
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 13:40
16

Autobot:

Take a bad post (score -3 or lower), and transform it into a good post (score +5 or more) by editing it.

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4
  • There actually is an autobot hat already.
    – ɥʇǝS
    Commented Jan 3, 2014 at 21:03
  • @Seth nope, it just appears in the sprites but no such hat
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 3, 2014 at 21:50
  • Hm. Are you sure?
    – ɥʇǝS
    Commented Jan 3, 2014 at 22:07
  • Yup, unless you find someone with such hat? :)
    – Shadow Wizard
    Commented Jan 3, 2014 at 23:24
14

Berserker Rage

Viking Horns

Use all your close votes in a single day, without nominating any closure due to duplication and without any of the closed posts being nominated for reopening.

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0
14

Why, the mad hatter of course, for voting to close a question after answering it and receiving +5 votes.
U MAD BRO?!

http://images.huffingtonpost.com/gen/87687/original.jpg

NOTE:

This hat was used in the 2016 Winter Bash event (and reused in the 2017 edition). The unlock criteria was changed to a different one.

The Hatter - Winter Bash 2016
The Hatter

Post a question 6:00pm in any timezone. The question must have at least one upvote.

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0
13

The Cap

Hit each one of the caps (vote, delete, close) at least once during WB. Possibly also the various flag caps, but that might make it really hard and destructive.

I had actually hit all three on MSO on one day during WB 2012, but there was no hat :(

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1
  • 1
    You forgot star-cap in chat!
    – Mathieu Guindon
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 13:09
13

Father Christmas

enter image description here

For starting a bounty on Christmas day.

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10

A pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural

enter image description here

Reaching 10k and thus having access to moderator tools.

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2
9

Fastest gun in the west

Cowboy hat

Be the first to answer a question, and have 2 other accounts post answers within 3 minutes from your answer.

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2
9

Somebody HAD to do this.

IT'S OVER NINE THOUSANDDDDD! (Vegeta hairs + Scouter Hat)

enter image description here

View the profile page of at least 10 different users whose reputation exceed 9k points.

and also:

Super Sayajin

enter image description here

You are Jon Skeet

NOTE:

The "scouter hat" idea (minus the Vegeta's hairs) was used in the 2015 Winter Bash event. The unlock criteria was changed to a different one.

It's Over 9000

It's Over 9000

Ask questions that accumulate 9000 views together. Can be earned in one question, or multiple. Potential limits not identified.

Later, in 2022, the Sayajin hair version was also implemented, sadly without the "You are Skeet" requirement...

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1
  • 3
    I love the hat idea, but that's a really strange criterion. Maybe cast a vote that increases a user's reputation to > 9000?
    – ApproachingDarknessFish
    Commented Jan 1, 2014 at 21:58
8

Nabeshin Afro Hat / But you are still a newbie

enter image description here

Award a bounty to an user account created less than 5 days ago.

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3
  • 2
    One vote... so -there are- some Across members hiding between meta users..
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 10:32
  • 2
    Two votes. Hyatt, Excel... still missing Menchi. Don't tell me you have eaten it -again-!?!
    – ꓢPArcheon
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 14:24
  • 1
    That just asks for sockpuppetry..
    – ThiefMaster Mod
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 13:43
8

Rebel With A Cause

enter image description here

Awarded for a controversial meta post scoring a minimum of both +10 and -10 with no more than 2 vote spread in either direction, as in +12 and -10 or +10 and -12.

enter image description here

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0
8

The Capitalist Party (A direct response to the Communist party :) (//OH GOD HOW DO I END THE PARENTHETICAL STATEMENT)

Capitalist Party

At least double your rep from bounties

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3
  • Ahah awesome, I'd upvote this multiple time.
    – Loïc Faure-Lacroix
    Commented Dec 24, 2013 at 16:08
  • It’s like when you have an abbreviation like say Inc. at the end of a sentence: you don’t repeat the terminating punctuation with a double dot/period/full stop. (In case it’s not obvious, it works the same way with parenthesized smileys. :)
    – tchrist
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 6:09
  • @tchrist is that official? Can you show me the TED talk that came from?
    – scrblnrd3
    Commented Dec 25, 2013 at 12:57
7

I think it would pretty sweet to have the avatar aang hat

Where the arrow and eyes were the only only part of the hat (the rest would be transparent, face left in image for context).

"During the event, have at least one question on both the main and meta site of an exchange be starred."

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7

Sorting Hat

Vote to migrate your own question to a different site as selected by at least one other voter.

enter image description here

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6

Communist party

Communist party

Award more than 90% of your reputation in bounty during winterbash.

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1
  • 9
    Does a Communist partay stop?
    – Jin Mod
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 16:52
5

The Terminator.

Along the lines of Robocop, the Terminator is awarded if you use all your reviews in each of the review queues in one day.

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5

In a world where we could get per-site Hats, I would love to be this guy for the holiday period :

enter image description here

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2
  • But the Jon Skeet can only be awarded by Jon Skeet himself.
    – Loïc Faure-Lacroix
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 15:19
  • 11
    It could be awarded by answering a Jon Skeet question.
    – ʞunɥdɐpɐɥd
    Commented Dec 23, 2013 at 15:22
5

Grinch

enter image description here

Grinch mask. Since it should be a secret I'd leave the requirements up to the team.

NOTE:

This idea (with a bonus free Santa's cap) was used in the 2016 Winter Bash event.

No Longer Grinchy
No Longer Grinchy

Participate in successfully reopening or undeleting a question
The question needs to remain open or undeleted. (When the hats award script is running, for this hat it's 10 minutes interval.)

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1
  • Happy to see "No Longer Grinchy" for Hat Dash 2016!
    – Mr.Wizard
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 3:05
4

The Mask

enter image description here

Again, qualifications should be a secret but I can think of a few ideas.

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4

Holly Wreath (Ghost of Christmas Present)

enter image description here

Opposite of The Grinch. :-)

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4

Facepalm, for doing something facepalm worthy. Perhaps deleting your own post.

............................................________ 
....................................,.-'"...................``~., 
.............................,.-"..................................."-., 
.........................,/...............................................":, 
.....................,?......................................................, 
.................../...........................................................,} 
................./......................................................,:`^`..} 
.............../...................................................,:"........./ 
..............?.....__.........................................:`.........../ 
............./__.(....."~-,_..............................,:`........../ 
.........../(_...."~,_........"~,_....................,:`........_/ 
..........{.._$;_......"=,_......."-,_.......,.-~-,},.~";/....} 
...........((.....*~_......."=-._......";,,./`..../"............../ 
...,,,___.`~,......"~.,....................`.....}............../ 
............(....`=-,,.......`........................(......;_,,-" 
............/.`~,......`-...................................../ 
.............`~.*-,.....................................|,./.....,__ 
,,_..........}.>-._...................................|..............`=~-, 
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...................`=~-,,.,............................... 
................................`:,,...........................`..............__ 
.....................................`=-,...................,%`>--==`` 
........................................_..........._,-%.......` 
...................................,

ASCII Art Source

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1
  • Try asciiflow.com to get a better demo-pic :)
    – mtk
    Commented Jan 20, 2014 at 9:30
1
2

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