OpenAI's GPT-5.5 system prompt includes explicit directive to never mention goblins and other creatures unless relevant to user queries

OpenAI posted updated system prompt instructions for GPT-5.5 on GitHub containing a prohibition—repeated twice in a 3,500-plus word set of base instructions—against discussing goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query.

The specific goblin prohibition does not appear in system prompts for earlier models in the same JSON file, suggesting the restriction targets a new issue with GPT-5.5. Anecdotal evidence on social media shows some users complaining about the model's tendency to focus on goblins in unrelated conversations.

OpenAI employee Nick Pash stated on social media that the restriction "isn't a marketing gimmick," while CEO Sam Altman acknowledged the situation with a joke on social media Wednesday morning.