Helldivers 2 Fascism Satire Discourse

About

Helldivers 2 Fascism Satire Discourse refers to viral discourse surrounding the 2024 video game Helldivers II being a satire on fascism, similar to the 1997 science-fiction movie Starship Troopers. The debate went viral on X / Twitter following the recent Starship Troopers Effective Satire Discourse, borrowing several talking points from it.

Origin

On February 8th, 2024, Helldivers II, a third-person shooter game in which teams of players are tasked with completing missions against alien species of bug-type and robot-type enemies, defending the home of humanity known as Super Earth.

On February 19th, X^[1] user @OMGYama made a GIF caption post referencing the recent Starship Troopers Effective Satire Discourse, writing, "Oh no, The 'Starship Troopers and 40K are fascists' circus show found out about Hell Divers" and starting the discourse. The post (shown below) garnered over 460,000 views, 270 reposts and 4,200 likes in one week.

On February 20th, 2024, X^[2] user @FemboyDCS quoted the post, replying, "oh no, the 'being able to read' circus show found out about [game even more obviously satirical]." The reply (shown below) garnered over 230 reposts and 2,900 likes in one week.

Spread

On February 24th, 2024, the Helldivers II news X^[3] account @HelldiversAlert posted a meme video about the game that started with the message "Friendly reminder: don't be a fascist, this game is a satire." The upload garnered over 8.2 million views, 8,900 reposts and 41,000 likes in two days (shown below).

A few public lobby experiences have convinced me this ought to be said#HelldiversII #HellDivers pic.twitter.com/52JmLgz4jc

— Helldivers Alerts (@HelldiversAlert) February 24, 2024

The post was followed by viral reactions and memes. On February 24th, X^[4] user @TheManlet_King posted a Wow Cool Robot meme that received over 1,300 reposts and 19,000 likes on the platform in two days (shown below, left). Also that day, user @RaymundoTheIII made a post that received over 460 reposts and 7,300 likes on X^[5] in two days (shown below, right).

More posts related to the discourse went viral on X in the following days. A post made by X^[6] user @jonofathens on February 24th (shown below, left) received over 1,600 reposts and 19,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). On February 25th, X^[7] user @LavenderGhast made a post that received over 650 reposts and 10,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).

The discourse continued through late February 2024, with related posts being spread beyond X / Twitter through screenshots and reposts.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References