Epic Handshake

About

Epic Handshake, also known as the Predator Handshake, is a memorable scene from the 1987 science fiction action film Predator in which two men greet each other with an arm-wrestle handshake. Due to the campy nature of the scene, it has inspired many parody and remix videos on YouTube, often featuring background music using popular songs from the 1980s. In the 2010s and beyond, a watercolor painting depicting the handshake became a prevalent object-labeling meme format online with captions added to both arms and the hands in the middle, typically to show agreement between two parties on something.

Origin

In a scene from the 1987 action-sci-fi film Predator, the character Dutch (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) is surprised to see his old friend Dillon (portrayed by Carl Weathers) and greets him by exclaiming "Dillon! You son of a bitch" followed by a strong handshake that turns into an arm wrestling match (shown below, left).

On August 25th, 2007, YouTuber kreshjun uploaded a video titled "A tribute to the handshake in Predator," featuring a live-action reenactment of the handshake scene (shown below, right). Within the next six years, the video received over 370,000 views and 1,000 comments.

Spread

On September 28th, 2008, YouTuber BeefMcDoogle uploaded a remix of the handshake video, featuring the 1983 song "Push it to the Limit" by Paul Engemann (shown below). In the next five years, the video received more than 195,000 views and 250 comments. On April 30th, 2009, YouTuber jotoOAK uploaded a Spanish-language version of the scene, which garnered over 199,000 views and 100 comments in the following four years.

On October 23rd, 2010, YouTuber ImKyserSoze uploaded a parody video in which the handshake from the Predator scene causes a massive nuclear explosion (shown below, left). Within the next three years, the video accumulated more than 420,000 views and 460 comments. On November 28th, YouTuber itsybitsy113 uploaded a remix of the scene using Guile's theme from the video game Street Fighter 2 (shown below, right), receiving over 300,000 views and 650 comments in the following three years.

On February 2nd, 2011, YouTuber ArnoTrek uploaded an edited version of the scene, in which Dutch and Dillon engage in a farting match (shown below). Within the next two years, the video gained upwards of 280,000 views and 280 comments. On October 4th, 2012, YouTuber NightmareCinemas uploaded a pixel art rendition of the scene, in which the handshake kills Dillon in a huge explosion. In five months, the video received over 23,000 views and 100 comments.

Fan Art

On May 5th, 2012, Flickr^[1] user thisisrorydean uploaded a photograph of a watercolor painting depicting the handshake (shown below, left). On September 6th, DeviantArt^[2] user MILOSLAVvonRANDA uploaded a chalk drawing titled "EPIC handshake by Dillon and Dutch" (shown below, right). This last version became used as a template for object-labeling memes (see below, Object-labeled Variations).

Various Examples

Object-labeled Variations

On May 14th, 2018, Twitter^[4] user @mitchysuch tweeted the earliest known object-labeled version of the image, featuring the biceps (labeled babies and adults) locking arms in a handshake labeled "suckin titties." The post received more than 3,500 retweets and 14,000 likes in five months.

In July 2018, object-labeled variations of Epic Handshake images began trending across various meme communities online. On July 26th, the Cheezburger site Memebase^[3] published a listicle highlighting 12 examples of the image macro series.

TikTok Variation

In late April 2019, TikTok users began making a variation of the epic handshake meme. On April 23rd, TikTok user Childishdevino acted out a handshake between "lead singers" and "dads getting ready to leave" as they both say "you guys ready to rock and roll?" (shown below, left). The video gained 7,000 likes and 200 shares in two days.

On April 25th, TikToker @cool.guy uploaded the sound which would be used in over 14,000 handshake posts. @Cool.guy's own rendition features "the person this got sent to" and "the person who sent you this" handshaking as they are "being cute AF." The video garnered 5,400 likes and 400 shares in a day. That same day, TikTok user @enochtrue uploaded a rendition of himself and the earth shaking hands as they are both round, which gained over 154,400 likes and 4,500 shares in a day (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References