About

Thunder Cross Split Attack is a name of a move used by JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga and anime minor character Dire against villain Dio Brando. Among the anime fans, the name of the attack has become a popular reference, with the move recreated and parodied in memes, while the phrase You Fell For It, Fool has been used by the fans of the anime for the purposes of bait-and-switch jokes.

Origin

On September 14th, 1987, chapter 38 "The Three from a Faraway Land, Part 3" of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga was published.^[1] In one part of the chapter, minor character Dire opposes the main villain Dio Brando, attacking him with a move called Thunder Cross Split Attack (panels shown below). The attack involves holding the opponents' arms apart with a split whole protecting the body and face with crossed arms, effectively preventing the opponent from counter-attacking or blocking the offensive.

On November 24th, 2012, episode eight "Bloody Battle! JoJo & Dio" of the anime adaptation of the series premiered.^[2] In the episode, the scene is shown.

[Dire]: You fell for it, fool! Thunder Cross Split Attack!
[Speedwagon]: Amazing! This technique is allowing him to attack and keep his opponent from defending with their arms! It's a perfect offense and defense!
[Straizo]: No martial artist has ever successfully defended against it!

Spread

Before April 24th, 2017, an unknown user posted the earliest known meme based on the scene. On April 24th, Facebook page Skull Knight's Struggler Soiree reposted the image.^[3]

In the following years, memes referencing the move gained popularity among JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fans on Reddit, 4chan and Twitter. Additionally, the name of the attack, as well as statements that it "has no weaknesses" and "is a perfect offense and defense" have often been used as comments and humorous captions.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References