Jumpscare Parodies / X Jumpscare

Submission 19,638

Part of a series on GIF Captions. [View Related Entries]

About

Jumpscare Parodies / X Jumpscare refers to a series of memes that parody traditional jumpscares by combining their elements, such as sudden movement, with images that are intentionally mundane and not scary. The format first gained popularity in the form of GIF captions in late 2020, gaining a larger spread in summer 2021.

Origin

While prior separate examples of memes parodying jumpscares exist, a defined meme format did not appear until December 2020 when the GIF caption "Money Jumpscare" received viral spread (shown below, author currently unknown). On December 9th, 2020, iFunny^[1] user Sylf made the earliest publicly available upload of the GIF, with another reupload by Tenor^[2] user ayxdo on December 16th.

Spread

In early 2021, the GIF caption received viral spread online. For example, on February 3rd, YouTuber sccpsteve uploaded a video based on the GIF. On January 7th, Tenor^[3] user swageeeee posted a Goku Drip edit of the GIF to the site, presumably for further use on Discord.

The format did not see widespread use until early May 2021 when an unknown user posted an ironic Big Floppa meme that utilized the structure, with a reaction by FlightReacts added for comedic effect. On May 12th, 2021, YouTuber^[4] Family Guy Funny Moments made the earliest found upload of the meme (higher quality reupload^[5] shown below).

On May 23rd, 2021, Twitter^[6] user @DailyTF2Memes posted a viral derivative meme within the format, a Team Fortress 2 version that gained over 920 retweets and 6,100 likes in three months (authorship unconfirmed; shown below).

The format achieved viral popularity after on July 11th, 2021, Twitter^[7]^[8] gimmick account @SHITFROMFEAR posted a number of old and new versions of the meme that went viral on the platform.

Kanye Jumpscare

Kanye Jumpscare or Kanye West Jumpscare refers to a viral video showing the album cover for Kanye West's album Ye with the top-text reading "Kanye Jumpscare" in which a still image of West's face flies onto screen and screams. The video started circulating around Instagram in July 2021.