Then Gandalf the Gray, and Gandalf the White, and Monty Python, and Holy Grail's Black Knight

Submission 20,896

Part of a series on The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. [View Related Entries]

About

Then Gandalf the Gray, and Gandalf the White, and Monty Python, and Holy Grail's Black Knight are a series of memes that incorporate or reference lyrics from Neil Cicierega's animation music video The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. The memes often start with intros from various video games and series that introduce their characters which then cut off into the song as more and more characters get added.

Origin

On December 22nd, 2005, artists Niel Cicierega (a.k.a. Lemon Demon) and Vulliez (a.k.a. altffour) submitted an animation titled "The Ultimate Showdown" to the flash website Newgrounds.^[1] As of May 11th, 2012, the original Newgrounds submission has received over 13.2 million views and a rating of 4.82 stars.
In the last verse of the song, Gandalf the Gray, Gandalf the White, Monthy Python and multiple other characters gang up on Chuck Norris and beat him up.

Then Gandalf the Gray, and Gandalf the White,
The Monty Python and the Holy Grail's Black Knight,
And Benito Mussolini, and the Blue Meanie,
And Cowboy Curtis, and Jambi the Genie,
Robocop, the Terminator,
Captain Kirk, and Darth Vader,
Lo Pan, Superman,
Every single Power Ranger,
Bill S. Preston, and Theodore Logan,
Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan.
All came out of nowhere lightning fast,
And they kicked Chuck Norris in his cowboy ass.

Spread

The song was referenced and parodied many times in the following years.^[2]^[3] Starting in the late 2010s, the "Then Gandalf the Gray" verse has been occasionally referenced in memes. For example, on September 30th, 2019, Redditor^[4] GibbeyGator posted a meme that gained over 350 upvotes in three years (shown below, left).

On July 19th, Twitter^[5] user @mrplcole posted a Barnacle Boy's Sulfur Vision meme based on the lyrics (post no longer available, reupload shown below). The post gained over 14,100 views, 290 retweets and 680 likes on Twitter in one day.

In the following weeks, the video was reuploaded to Twitter^[6] and iFunny.^[7] On July 20th, 2020, YouTuber^[8] stickmaster217 posted a remade version of the meme that gained over 24,000 views in two years.

The song didn't reenter cultural mainstream until November 3rd, 2021, when Redditor^[9] Exerus16 posted an A Hero, A Monster, And… meme based on the lyrics of the song (shown below, click to expand).

Later on November 3rd, 2021, YouTuber^[10] Planetary Facts posted a video version of Exerus16's meme (shown below).

In the following weeks, the lyrics were referenced in multiple memes posted on Reddit^[11] and Tumblr.^[12]

On May 5th, 2022, YouTube^[13] user AshAwesome35 posted a Vince McMahon Turning meme based on the lyrics which gained below 300 views but went viral through reposts^[14]^[15] in the following days (shown below).

The meme inspired more similar edits in the following days, including Team Fortress 2 and SPY x FAMILY versions.^[16]^[17]