Gollum Won the Argument

About

Gollum Won the Argument is a notification in the 2023 video game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, which tells the player that the gameplay path preferred by Gollum will be taken. Online, the image has been used as a reaction and an exploitable format in memes.

Origin

On May 25, 2023, German video game developer and publisher Daedalic Entertainment released^[1] The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, an action-adventure video game following the story of Gollum/Smeagol, a character from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. At certain sections of the game, the player can pick one of two gameplay paths, one preferred by Gollum and the other by Smeagol. If the player selects the path favored by Gollum and convinces the other ego, the "Gollum won the argument" notification appears (shown below, top, Smeagol version, bottom).

On May 25th, 2023, Twitter^[2] user @MotorRoach tweeted a screenshot of the notification, commenting, "This is the best thing to come out of the Gollum game." The tweet (shown below) garnered over 3,200 retweets and 23,600 likes in one week.

Spread

The image began further spread on the same day. For example, on May 25th, 2023, Twitter^[3] user @AnimeSerbia tweeted it with the caption "Using this in place of the chad yes meme from now on." The tweet (shown below, left) gained over 2,700 retweets and 28,800 likes in one week. Later that day, Twitter^[4] user @Tanner_Shitting recaptioned the image "Billionses must die," referencing the Billions Must Die meme. The post (shown below, right) gained over 40 retweets and 1,100 likes in one week (shown below, right).

In late May 2023, the image saw use both as a reaction and an exploitable. For example, on May 26th, 2023, Twitter^[5] user @XtremeXavier posted a Goku edit that received over 460 retweets and 2,200 likes in one week (shown below, left). Also that day, Twitter^[6] user @H1TWOM4N posted the image with the caption "Every twitch debate." The post (shown below, right) garnered over 10 retweets and 380 likes in one week.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References