What's The 'Why Did Jake Do That' Meme? 'Adventure Time' Jake Screaming 'No' On TikTok Explained

A strange Adventure Time meme has gone viral on TikTok, centering on the question "Why did Jake do that?" The scene in question involves Jake the dog screaming, "No!" when Finn tells him that he's going to eat all of Tree Trunks' apple pie.

For some reason, meme creators on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter / X, among other websites, have become fascinated with this meme, mostly because of a "blue comment" that appears at the top of TikTok comment sections. The trend is rapidly evolving as creators are referencing other characters like SpongeBob, isolating scenes that raise the question, "Why did SpongeBob do that?"

So, what is this developing trend? Where did the meme come from and what does it mean? Let's explain.

What Episode Is The 'Jake Screaming' Meme From?

For starters, the scene that's used in the "Why did Jake do that?" meme comes from the Adventure Time episode "Tree Trunks," which is season 1, episode 4. The episode originally aired in 2010.

In the scene, Finn the human tells his buddy Jake that he's going to eat all of Tree Trunks' apple pie, specifically saying, "I'm gonna eat it all before you even get there!" Jake then screams, "No!" with an exaggerated face and an apple on his head.

What's The 'Why Did Jake Do That' Meme?

The meme in question uses the scene of Jake screaming and pairs it with the question "Why did Jake do that?" Essentially, the question is funny because it highlights the absurdity of Jake's over-dramatic reaction and facial expression.

On top of this, the act of even asking the question is doubly absurd because cartoons are inherently hyperbolic. So, therefore, questioning a cartoon character's over-dramatic reaction is absurd.

The question "Why did Jake do that?" is then amplified by people in the comment sections of Jake's screaming videos who spam the question in order to make "blue comments" that add a "related search" query.

What's A 'Blue Comment' On TikTok?

A "blue comment" on TikTok is a blue-colored search query that's auto-generated at the top of comment sections on TikTok. The app's algorithm generates them by identifying what keywords and phrases people are using the most in a given comment section. Then, people curious about the trend who want more context can click on the blue search query to see more videos on the topic.

It's also been hypothesized that TikTok's algorithm analyzes the visuals, captions and spoken words in videos, cross-referencing the information with what's being said in the comment section to generate a video's "related search" query.

An interesting example of the "blue comment" feature is the strange Family Guy Pipeline Incident phenomenon that created a nonsensical search query based on so-called "overstimulation videos."

Where Did The 'Why Did Jake Do That' Meme Originate?

The first video to reference the phrase "Why did Jake do that?" was posted by TikToker @endercore19 on the first of October.

However, a precursor to the meme was a trend called "Why did SpongeBob do that?" which used a series of TikTok screenshots that showed proof of the "blue comment" element.

For the full history of "Why did Jake do that?" be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.