You never know what you can expect when you send a prompt in Midjourney and are waiting for the output to be generated. Sometimes, you will see images that look exactly like you imagined they were. There are also cases when the images are better than you'd ever expect them to be.
Then there are instances in which the generated images are simply weird. It makes sense that this would happen. AI models can 'hallucinate' because they don't really understand what you're writing.
I've always enjoyed it when I get generated outputs from models like ChatGPT and Midjourney that are nothing like I expected them to be. It's fun to see images with weird and unexpected details. In some cases, entire images are strange.
What usually bothered me is that when I tried to make random weird images in Midjourney, it took a lot of time to get the prompt right. That's a problem no one will have anymore because there is now a parameter that controls the weirdness level in Midjourney images.
What Is the Weird Parameter in Midjourney?
The --weird parameter can be used to add certain details to your images to make them look weird and edgy. It goes without saying that this is one of the most fun parameters the Midjourney team has released so far.
Here are some things that you should know about the weird parameter:
- The Midjourney team has noted that this parameter works well together with the stylize parameter. The two can be used for generating peculiar images.
- The values for the weird parameter range from 0 to 3000.
- The Midjourney team recommends you start with a value of 250 or 500 when you begin using the weird parameter and then go up/down from there.
- If you decide to use both the weird and the stylization parameters, it's recommended that you use an equal value for both.
Of course, you don't have to use the stylization parameter in your prompts if you don't want to. This is something you should do only if you want your generated images to be both weird and pretty.
In case you only want the generated output to be weird, you should use only the weird parameter.
How to Use the Weird Parameter in Midjourney?
It's incredibly easy to use the weird parameter. You use it the same way as any other parameter in Midjourney. All you have to do is write --weird at the end of your prompt. Before you add it to your prompt, think about the value you want to set for the parameter.
The value can range from 0 to 3000. The image will be weirder the higher the value. Let's say I wanted to generate an image of a blue bird and set the value for the weird parameter at 500. Here's what my prompt would look like:
/imagine blue bird --weird 500
That's all there is to using the weird parameter in Midjourney.
Now that we got the basics out of the way, let's test this parameter and see what type of results you can get when you use it.
Midjourney Weird Parameter: Prompt Examples
To show you how this parameter works, I'll be using a few prompts from my previous articles. You will see how different values you set for the parameter can have a huge effect on the generated output.
Let's start with a prompt I wrote for my Midjourney Aesthetics Guide. It goes like this:
/imagine dreamcore aesthetic image showing a seemingly idyllic neighborhood that has a lot of secrets not yet discovered, uneasy, unpleasant, tension, empty, emptiness --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is the result I got from this prompt.
Now let's see what would happen if I used the same prompt but set the weird parameter to a value of 250. Here's what the updated prompt looks like.
/imagine dreamcore aesthetic image showing a seemingly idyllic neighborhood that has a lot of secrets not yet discovered, uneasy, unpleasant, tension, empty, emptiness --ar 16:9 --weird 250 --v 5
The difference between the first and the second image is very clear. I like the effect this parameter had on the image even though the value wasn't that high.
But all of this got me thinking what type of results I would get if I increased the value of the parameter. This time, I set the parameter value to a thousand.
This image is definitely weirder compared to the previous, but I expected to see a more drastic change since I increased the value of the parameter four-fold.
For my final experiment with this image, I decided to set the value of the weird parameter to the highest possible value - three thousand.
Now, this is something I wanted to see. I didn't know what to expect, but I knew it had to be something really strange. This neighborhood looks extremely creepy, so I'm very happy with the results here.
In the next example, I'm going to show you what type of results you can get when you use both the weird and the stylization parameters in your prompts. For this experiment, I'll use a prompt that goes like this:
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, vast underwater realm, where vibrant coral reefs teem with exotic marine life, and ancient sunken ruins hold secrets of lost civilizations, illuminated by ethereal beams of sunlight --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is a prompt that I used for my article about Midjourney Prompts for Fantasy Images. If you're into creating fantasy worlds and characters, I suggest you check that article out. You see the original image above, but let's see what happens if we add both the stylization and the weird parameter and set their values to 250.
The updated prompts looks like this now:
/imagine scene set in a fantasy world, vast underwater realm, where vibrant coral reefs teem with exotic marine life, and ancient sunken ruins hold secrets of lost civilizations, illuminated by ethereal beams of sunlight --ar 16:9 --weird 250 --stylize 250 --v 5
This version of the image looks much cooler, in my opinion. It looks better than I expected it would. Now, let's see what happens when I increase the value for both parameters to a thousand.
This is also a great image. I wanted to see more unexpected details but I guess the prompt precisely instructs the model on what to create so there isn't too much room to make it weirder. Don't forget that I'm also using the stylization parameter here, which means the image has to look good.
There's one more thing that I want to show you. In my article about Midjourney Prompts for Digital Art, I created a beautiful piece of fractal art with the following prompt:
fractalism, life in a world of deja vu, everything that’s already happened will happen again, there is no original idea, life just keeps on repeating, all formed memories already exist --ar 16:9 --v 5
This is what the generated image looked like. I've always liked this piece a lot and since it was weird to begin with, I thought it would be a lot of fun to use the weird parameter on it. I set a value of 2000 and here is what was generated.
This image is absolutely amazing. I would've always gotten a bunch of fractals with this prompt, but using the weird parameter can help transform this image into an abstract work of art. This is without a doubt one of my favorite images I made in Midjourney.
Final Thoughts
The weird parameter in Midjourney is by far one of the most fun features ever released for this text-to-image AI model. I would personally recommend using a value of 0-1000 for this parameter because if you set it higher the results will get very weird.
If you're actually looking for the results to be as weird as possible, have fun testing out high values.
This feature enables users to have even more fun making images in Midjourney. I'm personally tempted to try out more of my previous prompts and add the weird parameter to see what type of images the model will generate.
