KYM Review: The Top Meme Revivals of 2020
emes are already nostalgic. Relying on the past for inspiration and material, memers take bits of old media and turn it into something new. That's the game. But by now, memes are old media, and memers, perhaps nostalgic for simpler times, dove into their hard drives in greater numbers than ever before looking for old memes to resuscitate.
With all the time spent indoors and online, 2020 was a massive year for old memes. Formats and characters that have not been relevant in a decade clawed their way back to the top of the timeline and became some of the year's biggest memes. Ten years after the first appearances of Wojak, Doge and Rage Comics, they're back in full force.
Throwback memes helped define 2020. Comforting memers with familiar characters and amusing them with new iterations, these meme revivals helped everyone process the confusion, fear and tragedy of the last 12 months.
Wojak
Wojak was the meme character of 2020. A decade after he was born on the German imageboard Krautchan, Wojak entered the mainstream. Along with his army of Oomer characters, Wojak's blank expression, melancholic outlook and malleable features put a face to the year's turmoil.
Wojak comics were one of the year's most popular formats, expressing the futility of life during the pandemic. From the economic absurdity of Money Printer Go Brrr to the ironic desire for social situations of the I Wish I Was At Home revival, Wojak popped up month after month with a new variation or character to represent the current moment. It turns out that social distancing brought us closer to the "feels guy." If only we could give him another hug.
Are Ya Winning, Son
Are Ya Winning, Son is an ironically appropriate meme for 2020. Originally found on the RPG Codex Forums forum in 2014, the meme spoke to the masses this year. The sad story of a father trying to connect with his son could be anyone in quarantine. After all, the visual irony of "Are Ya Winning, Son" is that the son isn't winning. He's barely doing anything at all. Who can't relate to that?
This year, memers dug deeper into the psychology of the characters. These iterations expanded the narrative of the meme, giving memers new ways to explore the father-son dynamic and their relationship to technology and culture at large. Its versatility made the meme a go-to for many, whether they're doom scrolling the day away or just looking for a wholesome escape. Six years on, "Are Ya Winning, Son" is more relevant than ever.
Rage Comics
It's hard to imagine a more surprising revival than Rage Comics. Popular in the late 2000s, Rage Comics were the face of memes a decade ago, but by last year, they were pure, distilled cringe. Most dropped Trollface for "Wojak" years ago and never looked back.
However, in 2020, Rage Comics surprised everyone. Thanks to ironic Facebook groups and subreddits, formats like Cover Yourself in Oil and Void Comics like My Metamorphosis Begins found new ways to give these elderly characters a unique edge. The absurdity and darkness of modern humor breathed new life into these relics, giving people a reason to say "derp" once again.
Doge
In all fairness, the Doge revival is a few years old at this point. However, Doge continued to reign as the canine queen of the Internet. Her relevance and popularity charged ahead through 2020, with new variants, like "Swole Doge vs. Cheems," which combined elements of Wojak Comics to bring the meme into 2020.
Doge is one of the few things that people online still agree on. Thankfully, she's still with us at age 14. Speaking to KYM earlier this year, Doge's owner Atsuko Sato said, "I like the cute meme where they've turned [Doge] into bread or turned her into a donut." It's hard to disagree.
Demotivational Posters
Demotivational Posters aren't back, but elements of them sure are. Taking cues from the Impact Font revival of the last few years, Demotivational Posters no longer offer the same useless slogans. Today, memers use the frame and font as the foundation for videos and image macros, putting a simple white border on a black background and repeating the same phrase several times, Bottom Text style.
The form popped up several times this year. Memes like You Just Got Hey Stinky'd and Fat Rat Being Grabbed kept this nonsensical application alive. However, unlike other revivals, it's just a touch of the meme's misuse that drives the humor. It's not Demotivational Posters that are being revived, but rather a mockery of 2010 meme-ing on display.
Damn Shawty OK
The six-year-old meme Damn Shawty OK was everywhere in 2020. The crude drawing of a man receiving a surprising yet welcomed bit of oral sex inspired numerous image macros and edits throughout year. Memers slid the catchphrase or the man's squiggly visage into a variety of situations to the delight of their followers. Over the last year, Damn Shawty OK made its way onto Bernie Sanders' Whiteboard and Radiohead album covers. The image's sexualized absurdity seemed to fit wherever memers placed it, causing people around the world to say "Damn, shawty, okay" whenever they crossed its path.
Morshu
Morshu is the oldest meme on the list. Predating both "Rage Comics" and "Doge," this rotund shopkeep and his bellowing voice comes from the video game Link: The Faces of Evil, one of the strangest entries in the Legend of Zelda canon and one of two not released by Nintendo. Memes helped keep the game's memory alive, and in 2008, the character became a popular YouTube Poop subject.
Twelve years later, Morshu made his return. In 2020, memers used Morshu's jerky movements and pixelated lines in video edits that highlighted those elements. Traveling from ironic meme circles to the wider internet, Morshu is likely more prevalent than ever as memers sped up his movements, chopped up his cut scenes and worked him into image macros and reaction GIFs. Morshu, unlike the game that birthed him, is here to stay.
The Trolley Problem
Memers didn't create the Trolley Problem, but they certainly love to think about it. Developed in the late 60s, the classic philosophical quandary asks whether it is ethical to save five people from an oncoming trolley by turning the vehicle towards one person. In memes, the Trolley Problem takes its crude depiction of the fictional scenario from the site subcortex.com. Philosophy professor Jesse Prinz, who drew the iconic illustration, probably didn't expect the meme to make its way to 4chan in 2013, where it inspired variations that posed even more disturbing situations.
The Trolley Problem wasn't parked in 2020. It continued to truck along with added significance. Something about coronavirus, and the reality that in-person visits with friends and family can create a Trolley Problem-esque situation, inspired more people to meme the image than ever before. Like most philosophical questions, there are no easy answers to this one. The only thing we can tell you is that it doesn't seem like the meme is going away any time soon.
Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2020 meme roundups below:
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JohnnyBme
"A decade after he was born on the Russian imageboard Krautchan"
Krautchan is a German imageboard
Torchpost
Was Pickle Rick too recent to be considered a revival?