Tankman Ascends

About

Tankman Ascends refers to a series of fan animations showing Newgrounds mascot Tankman ascending powerfully into the sky during the rap battle to "Guns" with Boyfriend in Friday Night Funkin's Week 7 update. The first animation was uploaded in early May 2021, inspiring numerous animations throughout the month.

Origin

On May 1st, 2021, YouTuber^[2] GramApple uploaded a video titled "Guns Really Hits Different" depicting a rap battle between Friday Night Funkin protagonist Boyfriend and Newgrounds mascot Tankman to the song "Guns,"^[1] notably from FNF's Week 7 update, which features Tankman as the antagonist. In the animation, Tankman is rapping then suddenly lifts into the sky, surrounded by energy as his power grows. The animation ends with Boyfriend being vaporized (shown below). It gained over 1.5 million views in a month.

On May 4th, Twitter^[3] user @WolfyG4yyyy posted a similar original animation showing Tankman ascend during the "Guns" rap battle, except he explodes at the height of his ascent, garnering over 23,000 views and 3,600 likes in just under a month (shown below). This is the first animation inspired by the original to use the phrase "Tankman ascends" alongside the video. The video was also uploaded to Newgrounds,^[4] garnering over 1,000 views in the same span of time.

TANKMAN ASCENDS! AND DIES#FridayNightFunkin #Fridaynightfunkin #fridaynightfunkin #fnf #newgrounds pic.twitter.com/gmJcWobhie

— WølfyG4yyyy 🆖️ (@WolfyG4yyyy) May 4, 2021

Spread

Over the course of May, numerous "Tankman Ascends" videos were uploaded to YouTube, some gaining considerable attention. For example, on May 7th, YouTuber^[5] Danur S. posted a new version of the meme featuring a 3D-rotating animation of Tankman during the ascension, garnering over 3.9 million views in under a month (shown below).

On May 23rd, YouTuber^[6] F4ey uploaded a version of the animation spliced together with footage from a magic video^[7] showing a man levitating, garnering over 1.4 million views in a week (shown below, left). On May 25th, YouTuber^[8] i-win posted a new version of the animation, garnering over 440,000 views in a week (shown below, right).

On May 26th, Twitter^[9] user @BoxintheJack3 posted, "That moment when Tankman ascends" along with an animation of Tankman building power similar to when characters go Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball, garnering over 240 likes in a week (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References