Charlie, The Steak

Submission 5,290

About

Charlie, The Steak refers to a 2013 iOS app and mobile game centering on a slab of raw meat with eyes and teeth named Charlie. The game was described as an "ultimate stress-breaker," centering on preparing and cooking Charlie, which often resorted to torturing Charlie by burning him, stabbing him and placing bombs in his mouth (among other things). Charlie has blue eyes, teeth and a long tongue. Charlie, The Steak was developed by Prauge-based app developer DynaimcDust. The image of Charlie, the Steak smiling became a reaction image in the 2020s, notably included in the E E Ei meme that showed Charlie singing "Vacation" by Dirty Heads. In mid-2024, Charlie the Steak videos and images went viral on Twitter / X inspiring discourse and a new fandom for the mobile app game. Charlie, The Steak was taken off the app store in 2021, making it so-called "lost media." However, after its 2024 resurgence in popularity, DynaimcDust rereleased the game on the iOS app store.

History

Charlie, The Steak was released on the iOS app store by Prauge-based app developer DynaimcDust^[1] on April 23rd, 2013. On the company's 2013 website,^[2] Charlie, The Steak was described as the "ultimate stress-breaker." The full promo read:

After hard days of work, we are proud to present to you our first teaser for Charlie The Steak!

For those of you who don’t know who Charlie is, here is a quick recap. Charlie is a scapegoat we have created for you. Are you asking why? Well, the answer is simple – it’s a solution for your anger and stress.

No matter how angry you are at your teacher, mother or boss, he will be able to relieve your anger and ease your stress. You will punch him, cut him, hurt him in every various and the most creative ways possible — safely from your mobile device. Isn’t that just great?

On June 11th, 2013, DynamicDust shared a launch trailer for Charlie, The Steak on YouTube,^[3] gaining over 489,800 views in 11 years (shown below).

App Store Delisting

DynamicDust's website went offline by November 2021.^[4] DynamicDust's apps, including Charlie, The Steak, were taken off the app store in tow.

2024 Rerelease

On August 4th, 2024, DynaimcDust developers shared an Ask Me Anything (AMA) post to the /r/CharlieTheSteak subreddit on the Reddit^[20] account dynamicdust_dom, inspired by the memes and discourse about Charlie, The Steak on X,^[13]^[14] TikTok^[10]^[15] and Reddit in mid-2024. The post received over 190 upvotes in a day.

In the post and other comments,^[21]^[22] the developers said they'd rerelease Charlie, The Steak on the iOS app store in two weeks.

Gameplay

Charlie, The Steak's original gameplay description read:^[16]

• Four modes/levels of destroying Charlie – from the most gentle to the bloodiest.
• Numerous ways of hurting Charlie – knives, tenderisers, fire, chili, drill, pliers… and more!
• 2 minigames for entertainment and winning Meatballs. Punch him to death or throw some knives.
• Photo mode with more than 300 elements and more are periodically added.
• Record a video message and send it to your friends, Charlie will repeat after you!
• If you're up for a little gambling, then you could also try your luck in lottery.

Gameplay footage for Charlie, The Steak was uploaded by YouTuber^[5] CrazyMikesapps on August 26th, 2013, amassing over 156,700 views in 11 years (shown below, left).

On February 24th, 2014, YouTuber^[6] Rejane Brito Santos posted gameplay footage called, "Charlie The Steak – Funny Video," gaining over 326,700 views in 10 years (shown below, right).

Online Presence

Charlie, The Steak didn't receive significant meme attention until the 2020s, evident in a video shared by TikToker^[7] @rancidpoopfart69 on March 1st, 2021, that was a YouTube Poop-inspired edit of Charlie getting hit with a mallet, gaining over 748,200 plays and 61,900 likes in three years (shown below).

2024 Resurgence

E E Ei

E E Ei, also known as E E Ei I'm on Vacation or E Ei Ei, refers to a misheard song lyric speech bubble meme showing Charlie, The Steak singing the song "Vacation" by Dirty Heads, pronouncing it "E e ei, Imon vagayxon." The meme added to other singing object memes like Oi Oi Oi Red Larva and Gegagedigedagedago with the Roblox Chicken Nugget. Crossovers with all three meme were posted in mid-2024. The original TikToks^[8]^[9] that started the trend were posted in April 2024 by @eeeioficial but were later deleted.

Some of the earliest examples of the E E Ei meme were shared by TikTokers^[10]^[11] @.cloudyoon and @avviso662 on May 11th and 16th, gaining over 391,900 likes and 683,000 likes in three months, respectively (shown below).

"Lost Media" Discourse

On July 22nd, 2024, X^[12] user @P4WL3YZZ tweeted a TikTok video of Charlie, The Steak gameplay, joking, "THIS IS FULL ON GORE 😭😭😭😭." Over two weeks, the tweet received over 37,000 likes (shown below).

Interest in Charlie, The Steak peaked again after the tweet, resulting in the discovery, for many, that the app was delisted from the app store. In turn, on July 24th, 2024, X^[13] user @mephoner tweeted a picture of Charlie, captioned, "THIS FUCKASS IS LOST MEDIA?" gaining over 5,900 likes in 12 days (shown below, left).

On July 25th, X^[14] user @amenialyptra tweeted, "I was so upset earlier but then I saw a TikTok slideshow that said charlie the steak was fully lost media and I'm busting my ass laughing. how do you lose this shit," gaining over 46,000 likes in 11 days (shown below, right).

On July 26th, 2024, TikToker^[15] @nostalgiabirds posted a photo slideshow about Charlie, The Steak being "lost media," receiving over 3.3 million plays and 383,000 likes in 10 days.

Internet Archive IPA File Download

Following memes and discourse about Charlie, The Steak on X^[13]^[14] and TikTok^[10]^[15] in mid-2024, on August 2nd, 2024, Internet Archive^[16] user dipper gaming shared an HD download of Charlie, The Steak's IPA file to the archive, gaining 71 favorites in three days (screenshot shown below).

TikTokers^[17] and Redditors^[18] started using the IPA file on iPad devices and sharing videos of gameplay. For instance, on August 4th, YouTuber^[19] gozberry shared a gameplay video for Charlie, The Steak, gaining over 14,900 views in a day (shown below).

On August 3rd, 2024, X^[23] user @LostMediaBuster tweeted about the Internet Archive IPA file download, gaining over 42,000 likes in two days.