Meme Origins

Internet Archaeology
2007
Rickroll
One of the earliest viral pranks. Users were tricked into clicking a link that led to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." It became a defining early internet joke and is still alive today.
2010
Trollface / Rage Comics
The golden age of internet memes. Rage comics dominated Reddit and forums with characters like Trollface, Forever Alone, and Me Gusta expressing relatable emotions.
2013
Doge
The Shiba Inu dog with colorful Comic Sans text ("such wow", "much amaze") became one of the most beloved memes ever — later inspiring Dogecoin and crypto culture.
2016
This Is Fine 🔥
A calm dog sitting in a burning room became the universal symbol for chaos, stress, and pretending everything is okay.
2019
Woman Yelling At Cat
A perfect combination of drama and confusion. This meme became one of the most versatile reaction formats across all platforms.
2021
Among Us
"Sus" became part of internet vocabulary. The game exploded globally and inspired countless memes across gaming and social media.
2023
Gigachad
The ultimate internet masculinity meme. Gigachad became shorthand for confidence, dominance, and exaggerated perfection.
2024
Skull 💀 / "Dead"
The skull emoji replaced "LOL". Gen-Z humor evolved into absurd, minimal, and reaction-based meme formats.
2004
Numa Numa
One of the earliest viral videos. A webcam recording of a man dancing to "Dragostea Din Tei" became internet history.
2005
All Your Base
A mistranslated video game line became one of the earliest internet catchphrases and remix culture icons.
2006
Peanut Butter Jelly Time
Dancing banana animations spread across forums and early meme culture.
2008
LOLcats
Cats with broken English captions dominated early internet humor and image boards.
2009
Keyboard Cat
A cat playing keyboard became a classic "fail outro" meme.
2011
Success Kid
A determined baby with clenched fist symbolized small but meaningful victories.
2012
Grumpy Cat
The permanently annoyed cat became one of the most famous internet animals ever.
2012
Gangnam Style
The first YouTube video to break one billion views became a global cultural phenomenon.
2014
Distracted Boyfriend
A stock photo turned into one of the most flexible meme templates ever created.
2015
Pepe The Frog
Pepe evolved into countless variations and became a major internet icon.
2016
Arthur Fist
A simple cartoon fist became the symbol for quiet frustration.
2017
Mocking SpongeBob
Alternating caps text format became a sarcastic meme staple.
2017
Expanding Brain
A visual progression meme representing increasingly "enlightened" ideas.
2018
Surprised Pikachu
A reaction meme representing obvious consequences.
2018
Ugandan Knuckles
VRChat chaos gave birth to "Do you know the way?"
2019
Stonks
A poorly spelled "stocks" meme representing bad financial decisions.
2020
Coffin Dance
Dancing pallbearers became a meme used to mark humorous failures.
2020
Is This A Pigeon?
Anime confusion became a widely used reaction format.
2021
Bing Chilling
A viral meme born from a humorous promotional video.
2022
NPC Meme
People acting like video game NPCs became a viral trend.
2022
Ohio vs The World
Absurd humor about Ohio dominating the internet.
2023
Side Eye
Reaction memes focusing on suspicious looks became widespread.
2023
AI Generated Memes
AI content creation began shaping meme culture.
2024
Skibidi Toilet
Absurd YouTube shorts exploded into a massive meme trend.
2024
Fanum Tax
Streamer slang became viral internet humor.
2025
AI Brainrot
Hyper-absurd AI generated memes dominated short-form content.
2025
Sigma Male
Stoic characters became the new "Gigachad" evolution.
2001
Dancing Baby
One of the first viral internet animations shared via email.
2003
Badger Badger
Looping animation that became early viral humor.
2006
Leeroy Jenkins
World of Warcraft fail became legendary internet moment.
2008
Chocolate Rain
Deep voice singing video became widely shared.
2009
David After Dentist
"Is this real life?" became viral catchphrase.
2010
Double Rainbow
Emotional rainbow reaction video went viral.
2011
Nyan Cat
Pixel cat flying with rainbow trail.
2011
Friday - Rebecca Black
One of the most infamous viral songs.
2012
Overly Attached Girlfriend
Staring girlfriend reaction meme.
2012
Ermahgerd
Goosebumps girl meme.
2013
Harlem Shake
Group dance chaos videos.
2013
Side Eye Chloe
Suspicious reaction face.
2014
Alex From Target
Random viral internet fame.
2014
Damn Daniel
White Vans viral trend.
2015
Dat Boi
Frog on unicycle meme.
2015
Deez Nuts
Prank catchphrase meme.
2016
Dabbing
Pose became viral dance trend.
2016
Salt Bae
Stylish salt sprinkling meme.
2017
Cash Me Outside
Dr Phil viral phrase.
2017
Roll Safe
Thinking meme reaction.
2018
Big Chungus
Large Bugs Bunny meme.
2018
Gru Plan
Despicable Me format.
2019
Area 51 Raid
Storm Area 51 meme.
2019
OK Boomer
Generational meme phrase.
2020
Bernie Mittens
Inauguration meme.
2020
Galaxy Brain
Expanding ideas meme.
2021
Sheesh
TikTok reaction trend.
2021
Cheems
Dog speech meme.
2022
Bing Bong
Street interview meme.
2022
It's Morbin Time
Irony movie meme.
2023
NPC Streaming
TikTok NPC live trend.
2023
Girl Dinner
Minimal food meme.
2024
Brainrot
Absurd internet humor.
2024
Gyatt
Streamer slang meme.
2002
Star Wars Kid
One of the earliest viral internet videos.
2003
Techno Viking
Street dancing legend became viral icon.
2005
Charlie Bit My Finger
Classic viral family video.
2006
Dramatic Chipmunk
Zoom reaction meme.
2007
Leave Britney Alone
Emotional viral reaction.
2008
Keyboard Smash
Random letters expression.
2009
Forever Alone
Lonely rage comic meme.
2010
Me Gusta
Weird reaction rage comic.
2010
Y U No Guy
Angry complaint meme.
2011
Scumbag Steve
Bad behavior meme.
2011
Good Guy Greg
Opposite of Scumbag Steve.
2012
One Does Not Simply
Lord of the Rings meme.
2012
First World Problems
Relatable luxury complaints.
2013
Confused Math Lady
Thinking confusion meme.
2013
Hide the Pain Harold
Fake smile meme.
2014
Disaster Girl
Girl smiling at burning house.
2014
Ancient Aliens
Aliens explanation meme.
2015
Why You Always Lying
Song reaction meme.
2015
Netflix and Chill
Double meaning meme.
2016
We Are Number One
LazyTown remix meme.
2016
Arthur Fist
Quiet anger meme.
2017
Blinking White Guy
Confused reaction meme.
2017
Distracted Boyfriend
Relationship comparison meme.
2018
Woman Yelling Cat
Argument meme.
2018
Change My Mind
Debate format meme.
2019
Baby Yoda
Cute Mandalorian meme.
2019
Woman Looking Back
Reaction stock photo meme.
2020
This Is Fine
Chaos reaction meme.
2020
How It Started vs How It's Going
Comparison meme.
2021
Sheesh
TikTok reaction.
2021
Among Us Sus
Gaming meme.
2022
Ohio Meme
Absurd location meme.
2022
NPC Walk
NPC acting meme.
2023
Skull 💀
Dead laughing meme.
2023
Side Eye
Suspicious reaction.
2024
Brainrot
Absurd humor trend.
2024
Fanum Tax
Streamer slang.