KYM Review: Video Game Memes of 2018

Editor’s Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme’s annual review series looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined internet culture in 2018 as we know it.

rom January 1st, 2018, the video game meme scene was outright weird. It kicked off with Ugandan Knuckles, a bizarre mind virus that affected the entire internet for about one month before disappearing entirely. Things didn’t get any less surreal from there: 2018 featured a parade of creative and unfortunately sexy original characters, Nintendo IPs getting bastardized into oblivion, and finally, an Overwatch TikTok meme so brutal it should be used to torture war criminals. Here’s a look at the bizarre world of video game memes in 2018.

Ugandan Knuckles

The traditional symbol of the new year is a baby, celebrating a beautiful new life of possibilities afforded by the full passing of the earth around the sun. In a sense, Ugandan Knuckles was the meme baby of the New Year, and like a baby, it came into this world forcing everyone to pay attention to its screaming and shitting.

Sitting with a mind-boggling 4.9 million views on KnowYourMeme, Ugandan Knuckles was undoubtedly one of the most popular memes of 2018, yet also causes a certain shudder whenever it’s mentioned now. The roaming gang of Knuckles avatars (designed by Gregzilla, who most likely regrets it) ruining VRChat spouting their catchphrase “Do U Kno De Way” in arguably racist accents was almost simultaneously a funny little example of how entertaining the internet can be when a bunch of people agree to participate in something stupid and a reminder of how obnoxious the internet can be for the same reason. And while most memers likely want to see this embarrassing chapter of the internet die forever, I have a sneaking suspicion we haven’t seen the last of “Ugandan Knuckles,” because as everyone online knows, cringe never dies.

Original vs. Un-Tumblrized

Idiots outraged that female video game characters aren’t bimbo-ified enough for them will always be funny, and nothing embodied that fact more than “Original vs. Un-Tumblrized.” The post that launched the meme is a perfect storm of dumb shit to be annoyed about. It’s a guy complaining a Fortnite character isn’t white, skinny, or scantily clad enough to be a “real” video game woman and that somehow Tumblr is to blame.

The amount of collar-tugging crap embedded in the above image is enough to cover a dozen sociology theses, but the internet, naturally, mocked it via jokes. It spoofed the comic by dolling up hundreds of characters to make them more “sexy,” but the heart of the satire was that the characters never needed to be sexy in the first place. Thus, we got “Un-Tumblrized” versions of Squidward, Lucky Luciano, Shrek, PewDiePie, etc. It was a joyful ribbing of the negative gamer stereotypes the original post perpetuated while celebrating the diverse ways any character could be imagined.

SoulCalibur VI Custom Characters

The SoulCalibur series has never been one to shy away from over-the-top cartoonishness (I mean, have you seen Voldo?) But in this year's reboot title, Bandai Namco gave control of that cartoonish charm to the players. While SoulCalibur V's character creation system made its fair share of buzz, it was nothing compared to that of VI, which allows players to customize just about anything their mind can imagine with their characters.

Just look at that Shrek. Namco and Project Soul knew exactly what they were doing when they included that outfit into the character creation system. And that’s not the only particularly recognizable pop culture character created. Notable SoulCalibur VI custom characters created by genius players include Kirby, Magikarp, Robbie Rotten, a Pistachio, Ronald McDonald, and more. The result is a bevy of perfect internet content, as finally, internet users could see their dream death match between Sans and The Cat In the Hat.

Mario Bros. Views

In the hands of Nintendo, Luigi is generally regarded as a coward that’s overall inferior to Mario albeit with better Smash viability. In the hands of memers, Luigi has been imagined as a creep, a cruel titan of the road, and in 2018, a radical force of chaotic evil.

In 2018, the endless bastardization of Mario’s green brother took the form of Mario Bros. Views, which placed the two brothers side by side giving Luigi the Evil Kermit opinion, often in rhyme, to Mario’s more reasonable opinion. It was a strange little shitpost format that chugged along over the summer, eventually incorporating other characters and more outlandish topics. Overall, Mario Bros. Views was a goofy meme that was but a harbinger for the Nintendo meme apocalypse that was to come.

Bowsette / Super Crown Characters

Bowsette. Hooooo, boy. I just… agh. Damn, man, you know? Jeeeeeesus.

When Nintendo put a crown on Toadette to make her Princess Peach, it seemed innocuous enough. It was a way to sneak Princess Peach into a game as a playable character when in the story, she’s captured by Bowser. But, as ProZD put it, the internet made it all fucky. The idea that a crown could turn a Nintendo character into a beautiful woman with a giant set of badonkers was all the internet needed to destroy itself. It all started with an innocuous comic showing Bowser making the transformation, and the internet was off. For months, the most popular fan art on the internet featured Nintendo characters including Chain Chomp, King Boo, Petey Piranha, and others morphed into sexy anime waifus. Honestly, I can’t sum up the saga any better than this video by EverThingy does:

Voiceover Pete

Voiceoverpete is one of the most heartwarming stories of memedom in 2018. A very game freelance voiceover artist struck gold when internet users sent him requests to upload silly videos with transparently humorous credit card scams. It started with Pete telling Fortnite gamers that John Wick needed their credit card information to get the Epic Win.

The meme spread to multiple games but this was obviously too good to last. Eventually the online marketplace Fiverr, through which Pete had been receiving the commissions, banned his account. However, the move only seemed to make Pete stronger, as he gained shoutouts from major YouTubers like PewDiePie and Pyrocynical. He launched his own YouTube and Twitch channels which have gained hundreds of thousands of subscribers and utilized his meme status to land on his feet. On top of that, he seems like just the nicest guy. Great job, internet!

Dad of Boy

Of all the video game memes of 2018, the most popular to come from an actual AAA video game came from God of War. The excellent reimagining of Santa Monica’s action series reimagined the hero, Kratos, as a grizzled dad rather than the monstrous killing rage machine he was in previous games. The new game’s plot revolved around Kratos rearing his son Atreus, or as Kratos calls him over and over again in the game, “Boy.”

The ubiquity of “boy” led to a loving meme around of God of War. “Dad of Boy” became the perfect way to foil Kratos’ ultra-serious demeanor while highlighting the subtle moments of comedy sprinkled throughout the game. A fitting tribute to one of the best games of the year.

Baldi’s Basics

Horror games hidden in unexpected genres have been a growing trend in indie games for some time, and 2018’s top entry into that category was Baldi’s Basics in Education and Learning. The spook-a-rama is essentially Slender Man tweaked to involve math problems, which of course makes it all the more terrifying.

The game, which could be knocked off in about a half hour, was Let’s Play gold, and sure enough, screaming YouTubers like Markiplier and PewDiePie racked up millions of views playing it. The bite-size length also led to a huge fandom, as art, fake movie trailers, and various parodies about the game caught like wildfire around the game. As far as indie horror goes, it wasn’t as original as, say, Doki Doki Literature Club or as successful as Five Nights at Freddy’s, but Baldi’s Basics was an effective entry into the genre nonetheless.

Waluigi’s Smash Snub

Super Smash Brothers Ultimate produced a bevy of memes in 2018, but perhaps none were so iconic or as enduring as Waluigi’s Smash Snub. Ultimate took the bold step of adding every character who ever appeared in Super Smash Brothers to its roster, while promising some new characters, most prominently Daisy and Ridley. But where was Nintendo’s nefarious party-game staple? Oh, he was in the game alright. As an assist trophy.

Further character announcements only added further salt to the wound, as more obscure characters entered the game, including King K. Rool, Incineroar, and most devastatingly, Piranha Plant. Yes, Nintendo had somehow worked out how to make a potted plant a playable character but could not make room for a humanoid creature with an affinity for sporting events. It’s almost admirable trolling on Nintendo’s part, preying on the tears of the notoriously fickle Smash fanbase. Personally, I hope Waluigi never makes it to Smash so we can keep rehashing this drama forever until the planet crashes into the sun.

I'm Already Tracer

There are numerous TikTok memes that should be tried for war crimes and at the top of that list is the agonizingly painful “I’m Already Tracer.” This bouncy carnivorous earwig featuring an argument about who plays what in Overwatch became synonymous with TikTok cringe in 2018. It’s the embodiment of nodding_man_puts_gun_to_head.gif.

No amount of ironic TikTok duets could make this funny. The song sounds like getting your brain melted, drained out of your ears and served to you as salmon tartar. It’s the meme equivalent of Floop Is a Madman from Spy Kids looping inside your skull while being tortured by the cast of Barney. Watching “Can You Feel It Mr. Krabs” on a 15-minute loop will do as much damage as one viewing of “I’m Already Tracer.” Go ahead, try it:

Yeesh.