This Research Front offers a glimpse of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). Contributions include highlights on ‘amidic’ NHCs and ‘abnormal’ NHCs, a review on mesoionic triazolylidene ‘click’ carbene ligands, synthetic work related to nucleophilic carbene-catalyzed cycloaddition reactions, NHC-promoted Rauhut-Currier reactions, a gallium ‘isoelectronologue’ of heterocyclic carbenes, an ionic liquid-derived imidazol-2-ylidene and its metal complexes, an approach to hydrogen storage and activation by nucleophilic singlet carbenes, new reactions of rhodium complexes of six-membered ring NHCs, and NHCs on gold surfaces.