What Is The 'Napoleo' Meme And Where Did It Come From? The Viral Misspelled 'Napoleon' Memes Explained

There's a strange meme going viral on X / Twitter right now that's confusing more than a few people. To make matters stranger, those who share the meme claim that it's been a popular meme for years.

That meme is known as "Napoleo," and it consists of an image of French military officer and statesman Napoleon Bonaparte standing next to a misspelling of his own name, reading, "Napoleo."

So where did the meme come from and why is it garnering virality online? Here's what you need to know.

What Is The 'Napoleo' Meme?

In late October 2023, X user @Azuricringel posted an image macro consisting of a picture of Napoleon next to the misspelled name "Napoleo." The post reads, "Had a dream where this became a super popular meme and I laughed myself awake so I tried to recreate it." Unfortunately, the post only garnered around 20 likes in a week and did not become "super popular."

At least, not right away. About a week after it was shared, YouTuber Matt Rose made a post asking all of his followers to send the meme to people and gaslight them into believing it's a big format. Essentially, Rose wanted to try and force the meme into relevance, and he may have just succeeded.

How Is 'Napoleo' Used In Memes?

After Matt Rose made the post, numerous people began sending the meme to their group chats, friends and families and sharing the results in the comments section. In most of these interactions, the users lie and tell the people in the chats that the meme used to be huge. Of course, none of them recognize it, but some seem to enjoy it.

Recently, Rose released a YouTube video in which he reacts to memes. Around halfway through the video, Rose reviews a selection of the screenshots that fans sent to him, in which they share the meme with people.

The video gained around 270,000 views in under 24 hours, and while the Napoleo meme hasn't really spread outside Rose's community, it certainly stands as an interesting experiment in forcing memes.

For the full history of Napoleo, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.