I'm Stronger. I'm Smarter. I'm Better. I Am Better! (Homelander)

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About

I'm Stronger. I'm Smarter. I'm Better. I Am Better! is a Homelander quote in season three of The Boys in which the villain is shouting during a speech in an auditorium of Mr. Stan Edgar, Starlight and other representatives of Vought. In late 2022, the scene's audio became a trending sound on TikTok when remixed with the instrumental of "Never T00much" by Lil Darv Darv and used for POV memes related to ironic, Sigma Grindset / Hustle Culture memes, predominantly made by TikToker Lord Trunks (@lordtrunks).

Origin

On June 2nd, 2022, season three, episode two of The Boys premiered on Amazon Prime, titled "The Only Man in the Sky."^[1] In the ending scene of the episode, Starlight is onstage with Homelander (played by Antony Starr) to commemorate his birthday and a new project of hers. Then, an angry member of the crowd shouts out and condemns Homelander for his relationship with Stormfront, prompting Homelander to retaliate by saying to the crowd, "I'm Stronger. I'm Smarter. I'm Better. I Am Better!" On June 2nd, the scene was uploaded to YouTube by the channel TVS Clips, earning roughly 1.1 million plays in three months (shown below).

Months prior, on March 29th, 2022, rapper Lil Darv Darv posted the music video for his song "NeverT00Much" to YouTube, earning roughly 8,800 views in six months (shown below, left). On June 3rd, 2022, producer Bernand then posted the instrumental for "NeverT00Much" to YouTube, earning roughly 104,800 views in three months (shown below, right).

On June 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[2] _zoology_ combined Bernand's "NeverT00Much" instrumental with Homelander's quote, pairing it with a video of a Spinning Gorilla. Over the course of three months, the video received roughly 5.9 million plays and 527,700 likes (shown below, left). On June 25th, 2022, TikToker^[3] nebogomdan was the first to use the sound in a "Chad Face Transition" video that received roughly 579,600 plays and 79,600 likes in three months (shown below, right).

Spread

On July 10th, 2022, TikToker^[4] mckennacrisp used the sound for a video of him flexing his muscles and "camo" birthmarks, earning roughly 729,700 plays and 157,600 likes in two months (shown below, left). On July 15th, 2022, TikToker^[5] manlikeisaac used the sound and "Face Stretch" filter to make a joke about being the only one of his friends not to contract COVID-19. His video received roughly 2 million plays and 307,200 likes in two months (shown below, right), however, he was ultimately recreating a video made by TikToker^[6] kaleelsampson posted on July 12th, 2022.

On July 23rd, 2022, TikToker^[7] lordtrunks used the sound for the first time, writing in text overlay, "POV: you workout," and earning roughly 1.7 million plays and 103,700 likes in two months (shown below, left). TikToker lordtrunks continued to use the sound going into August and September 2022, becoming the main proponent of the sound's usage. His videos gained mass engagement, for instance, on August 15th, 2022, a TikTok^[8] he posted received roughly 31.7 million plays and 3.6 million likes in one month (shown below, right).

On August 18th, 2022, TikToker^[9] adamciteh green-screened Homelander overtop an image of a plane crash to infer the satirical idea of surviving a plane crash by jumping out at the last second. Over the course of one month, the video received roughly 9.2 million plays and 1 million likes (shown below, left). As lordtrunks became heavily associated with the sound and its lip-dubbing, video creators began green-screening him as well. For instance, on September 3rd, 2022, TikToker^[10] fortnostalgia.exe used lordtrunks to make a Fortnite joke, gaining roughly 909,400 plays and 172,300 likes in 11 days (shown below, right).