Rare Pausin

About

Rare Pausin or Rare Pausin Animation Incoming refers to a series of videos in which the uploader claims to be showing footage of a rare Pausin dunk animation from the NBA 2k series of video games but instead shows a character from another media franchise, frequently Grand Theft Auto V, knocking out another character. The Pausin dunk is considered one of the best moves in the NBA 2k series. The videos became popular on TikTok in July 2021.

Origin

Pausin Dunk

A "Pausin" is a type of dunk performed in the NBA 2k series of video games. It is considered one of the most useful dunk maneuvers for centers. The move is named after YouTuber^[1] and streamer Pausin, who uploaded a video tutorial on how to do the Pausin on April 14th, 2021, where he claims he came up with it while playing 2k21 (shown below).

On June 9th, a video of someone doing a Pausin dunk IRL was posted to TikTok,^[4] gaining over 1.4 million views in a month (shown below).

Rare Pausin Animation

On July 7th, 2021, TikToker^[2] @rollinopps posted a video showing off a rare dunk in 2k21, set to a sound consisting of the song "Outro" by Bizzy Banks followed by a number of men yelling with distorted audio (shown below). The player dunks in time with the beat drop. The video gained over 271,000 views in three weeks.

Spread

The original sound^[3] for @rollinopps' video became considerably widespread that month. On July 21st, TikToker @lllv0nlll posted a video with the on-screen text, "RARE PAUSIN ANIMATION INCOMING," but instead of showing a rare Pausin animation, the footage shows a character from Grand Theft Auto V knock out a civilian with the same shaky-cam effect over the beat drop as the character's fist hits the man's face (shown below). The video gained over 180,000 views in five days.

TikTokers continued the trend over the course of late July, using the same sound over GTAV footage and footage from other games and media franchises. On July 24th, for example, TikToker @xevvls posted a video following the trend with footage from the game Gang Beasts, garnering over 850,000 views in five days (shown below).

On July 28th, TikToker^[5] @user1z38lpq892loser posted a video of Subway Surfers gameplay following the trend, gaining over 2.4 million views in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References