Learn the history behind viral memes and create your own face swap versions
In early 2026, a casual clip of Pursuit of Jade star Zhang Linghe striding through Hunan racked up 50 million views overnight. Here's the full story of the Walk God meme — why it went viral, what it means, and how to put yourself in it.
In Pursuit of Jade, Xie Zheng's side eye at Song Yan is so devastating the man literally passes out. The scene became one of the biggest cdrama memes of 2026. Here's the full origin story.
The gua sha scene in Pursuit of Jade — where Xie Zheng treats Fan Chang Yu's injury and quietly declares he'll marry her — became the most-replayed moment in the most popular cdrama of 2026. Here's the full origin story.
The 'What's Up Brother' meme originated from Twitch streamer Sketch (TheSketchReal), a Houston-based Madden player whose signature greeting — finger pointed skyward, glasses glinting — went from a FaceTime moment with fellow streamer Jynxzi on February 29, 2024 to a global phenomenon adopted by NFL, NBA, and MLB athletes within weeks.
The coconut tree meme originated from Vice President Kamala Harris quoting her mother Shyamala Gopalan in a May 10, 2023 speech: 'You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?' It went mega-viral in February 2024 and became a symbol of her presidential campaign.
Brat Summer started as Charli XCX's album aesthetic and became the defining cultural moment of 2024 — from a Brooklyn wall to Kamala Harris's presidential campaign banner.
The Hawk Tuah meme started on June 11, 2024 when Haliey Welch told a Nashville street interviewer to "hawk tuah and spit on that thang." The full origin story — from viral clip to podcast empire to crypto disaster.
The Very Demure, Very Mindful meme originated from TikToker Jools Lebron's August 2, 2024 video about workplace makeup. Her satirical catchphrase went viral within days, was adopted by J-Lo, NASA, and RuPaul, and made "demure" Dictionary.com's 2024 Word of the Year.
Moo Deng is a pygmy hippo born July 10, 2024 at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand. Her water-spray photo went viral in September 2024, inspiring massive fan art, an SNL sketch, and 12,000+ visitors on her first birthday.
The Chill Guy meme was created by artist Phillip Banks on October 4, 2023 — an anthropomorphic dog in a grey sweater who doesn't give a fuck. Here's the full origin story, from Twitter sketch to TikTok explosion to crypto chaos.
The complete origin story of Shrek memes — from the 2013 4chan greentext that birthed "Shrek is Love, Shrek is Life" to the Brogre cult, onion puns, and why the internet worships a DreamWorks ogre 25 years later.
The Among Us Emergency Meeting meme originated from Innersloth's 2018 social deduction game that exploded during COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. From 'sus' to 'amogus,' here's the full origin story.
Press F to Pay Respects originated from Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare's 2014 funeral scene. A last-minute quick time event became gaming's most iconic meme — now used sincerely across Twitch, Discord, and everyday internet culture.
The "They Did Surgery on a Grape" meme started with a 2010 Edward Hospital da Vinci robot demo, went viral via Cheddar in 2017, then exploded into a recursive copypasta in November 2018.
The Kermit "But That's None of My Business" meme started on Instagram in June 2014 when @kermitbelike paired Kermit the Frog sipping Lipton tea with savage social commentary. Here's the full origin story.
The "It's Free Real Estate" meme comes from a 2009 Tim & Eric Awesome Show sketch where Tim Heidecker whispers the line to camera. It went viral in 2016-2018 as an image macro for seizing any opportunity.
Arthur's Fist meme originated from S4E1 of the PBS Kids show Arthur (1999), where Arthur clenches his fist before punching his sister D.W. Twitter user @AlmostJT posted the screencap on July 27, 2016, and it became the internet's go-to reaction image for barely-contained fury.
The "Always Has Been" astronaut meme originated from a December 2016 flat Earth joke on r/dankmemes. By mid-2020, Ohio took over — here's the full origin story of the gun-in-space meme.
The Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny meme started with a "reverse toonified" edit of Bob Parr posted by @CitizenPlain on October 15, 2020. By December 2021, it was YouTube's fastest-growing horror-comedy format — here's the full origin story.
GigaChad originated from Russian photographer Krista Sudmalis' Sleek'N'Tears art project. The hyper-edited photos of model Ernest Khalimov were posted to 4chan's /pol/ board on October 16, 2017, where he was dubbed "the perfect human specimen." The complete origin story.
Wojak (Feels Guy) originated as a crude MS Paint sketch on the Polish imageboard Vichan around 2009, spread through Krautchan, and evolved into 200+ variants including NPC, Doomer, and Soyjak. The complete origin story.
The Leonardo DiCaprio Pointing meme comes from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), where Rick Dalton excitedly points at himself on TV. Here's how one Tarantino screenshot conquered the internet.
The Spider-Man Pointing meme comes from a 1967 cartoon episode where two Spider-Men point at each other. Here's the full origin story, from "Double Identity" to No Way Home.
The Crying Jordan meme originated from Michael Jordan's tearful 2009 Basketball Hall of Fame speech in Springfield, MA. Since 2012, the cutout face has been photoshopped onto every losing team, player, and situation imaginable — here's the full origin story.
The Coffin Dance meme originated from Benjamin Aidoo's Ghanaian dancing pallbearers, first filmed in 2015. Paired with Tony Igy's "Astronomia" in February 2020, the fail-to-funeral format became the defining meme of the COVID-19 era.
Gru's Plan meme originated from a 2010 Despicable Me scene where Gru's presentation goes wrong. Redditor FieldMarshalSixDans turned it into a 4-panel format in March 2018 — here's the full origin story.
The Trade Offer meme originated from TikToker bradeazy's March 2021 video proposing an absurdly one-sided deal. Here's the full origin story of the "I receive / You receive" format.
The Mocking SpongeBob meme originated from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Little Yellow Book" (2012). Twitter user @OGBEARD posted the screenshot on May 4, 2017 — the full origin story, the alternating caps phenomenon, and why it's still the go-to for sarcasm.
The "One Does Not Simply" meme comes from Sean Bean's Boromir speech in the 2001 Lord of the Rings film. He was reading the lines off his knee — the origin story, viral timeline, and why it still works 25 years later.
The Left Exit 12 Off Ramp meme comes from a 2013 YouTube video of a car drifting an off-ramp in Lørenskog, Norway. First memed in late 2017, it became the internet's go-to template for bad decisions.
The Ermahgerd meme started on March 14, 2012, when a childhood photo of Maggie Goldenberger holding Goosebumps books hit Reddit. Redditor plantlife added the caption 'Gersberms / Mah fravrit berks' — and an entirely new way of typing was born.
The Overly Attached Girlfriend meme originated from Laina Morris's June 6, 2012 YouTube parody of Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend' — a contest entry for his 'Girlfriend' perfume that turned her wide-eyed stare into one of the most recognizable advice animal templates of all time.
The Bad Luck Brian meme started as Kyle Craven's rejected 7th-grade yearbook photo from Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. His friend Ian Davies posted it to Reddit on January 23, 2012 — and it became one of the most iconic advice animal memes ever made.
Grumpy Cat (real name Tardar Sauce) was a snowshoe cat whose permanently displeased expression launched on Reddit in September 2012 and grew into a multimedia empire — books, a movie, a coffee line, and 8.5 million Instagram followers before her death in 2019.
The Harambe meme started after a 17-year-old gorilla was shot at the Cincinnati Zoo on May 28, 2016. From grief to ironic tributes to "dicks out for Harambe" — the full origin story.
Rickrolling started on 4chan's /v/ board in May 2007 when someone disguised Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" as a GTA IV trailer. The prank evolved from duckrolling and became the internet's most enduring joke — hitting YouTube, the White House, the Macy's Parade, and even ISIS.
Matt Furie created Pepe for his 2005 Myspace comic Boy's Club. The frog's catchphrase "feels good man" spawned thousands of variants, rare Pepe trading, celebrity tweets, political controversy, and a $6.6 million NFT — the full origin story.
Nusret Gökçe's January 2017 Instagram video of his flamboyant salt-sprinkling technique gained 2.4 million views in 48 hours and turned him into Salt Bae — the complete origin story.
The Bernie Sanders mittens meme started with a single photo at Biden's inauguration on January 20, 2021. Photographer Brendan Smialowski captured Sanders sitting cross-legged in handmade mittens — and it became the biggest meme of the year.
The Stonks meme originated on June 5, 2017 when Facebook page Special Meme Fresh posted Meme Man in front of a stock chart. Here's the full origin story of the internet's favorite fake investor.
The Surprised Pikachu meme came from a slightly off-model animation frame in Pokémon Season 1, Episode 10. Tumblr user popokko turned it into a reaction image on September 26, 2018 — and it became the perfect expression for predictable outcomes that still somehow shock us.
Drew Scanlon blinked during a 2013 Giant Bomb stream and accidentally created the internet's go-to disbelief reaction. The full origin story of the Blinking White Guy meme.
The Two Buttons meme (Daily Struggle) was created by animator Jake Clark on October 25, 2014. Discover the real origin story, the Sweating Towel Guy inspiration, and how this exploitable comic became the internet's go-to format for impossible choices.
The UNO Draw 25 meme started on January 4, 2020 when Facebook user Damien Jones posted a customized wild card reading "call/text your recent ex or draw 25" next to a photo of a man clutching a massive hand of cards. It became the internet's go-to format for impossible decisions.
The "Change My Mind" meme originated from a February 2018 photo of Steven Crowder sitting behind a sign at Texas Christian University. Here's the full origin story of how one tweet became millions of hot takes.
The "Is This a Pigeon?" meme comes from a 1991 anime called Fighbird, where an android mistakes a butterfly for a pigeon. Here's the full origin story and why it exploded in 2018.
The Expanding Brain meme started on r/dankmemes in January 2017 as a "Whomst" joke. Here's how a 1,200-upvote post became one of the internet's most versatile irony memes.
The Doge meme originated from a February 2010 photo of Kabosu, a rescued Shiba Inu in Japan, posted by her owner Atsuko Sato. Her sideways glance spawned Comic Sans captions, Dogecoin, and one of the most enduring memes in internet history.
The Drake Hotline Bling meme originated from Drake's October 2015 music video. His awkward dance moves spawned the iconic approve/disapprove two-panel format used billions of times online.
The Roll Safe "Think About It" meme comes from actor Kayode Ewumi pointing to his temple as Reece Simpson in Hood Documentary (2016). Here's the full origin, viral timeline, and why it became the go-to template for hilariously flawed reasoning.
Success Kid started as a photo of 11-month-old Sammy Griner clenching sand on a beach in 2007. First known as "I Hate Sandcastles," it evolved into the internet's go-to image for tiny victories — then helped raise $100K for his dad's kidney transplant.
Disaster Girl originated from a January 2005 photo of 4-year-old Zoë Roth smirking at a controlled house fire in Mebane, North Carolina. Her father Dave Roth's snapshot became one of the internet's most iconic memes — and later sold as an NFT for nearly $500,000.
The true story of András Arató, the retired Hungarian electrical engineer whose forced stock photo smile became Hide the Pain Harold — one of the internet's most iconic memes.
Where did the Distracted Boyfriend meme come from? The complete origin story: Antonio Guillem's 2015 stock photo in Girona, Spain, how a Turkish prog rock Facebook group started it all, and why it won Meme of the Year at the Shorty Awards.
The Woman Yelling at a Cat meme combines Taylor Armstrong from Real Housewives (2011) with Smudge the Cat (2018). Twitter user @MISSINGEGIRL merged them on May 1, 2019, creating an instant classic.
The This Is Fine meme originated from KC Green's Gunshow webcomic #648 on January 9, 2013. Here's the full origin story, viral timeline, and why we all relate.
Learn the origin of the viral Jon Hamm eyes closed dancing meme. The "Turn the Lights Off" vibing meme explained - where it came from, why it's popular, and how to face swap yourself into the blue light club scene.
The origin of the confused Nick Young meme explained. Learn where the Swaggy P question marks meme came from, why it became the internet's go-to confused reaction, and how to face swap yourself into this classic.
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