What Happened to Him?

Submission 12,900

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

About

What Happened to Him? is a recurring caption and catchphrase in memes depicting a sick or dying person in which someone asks a question about the cause of their condition, which is then revealed to be something that, while not life-threatening, can trigger mental discomfort and be hard to handle if unprepared. First used in image macro formats such as Dead Baby Voldemort and Uncle Ben What Happened?, in June 2022, the archetype regained virality with the Two Guys Carrying a Stretcher format.

Origin

Overview

The What Happened to Him? meme archetype began with the Dead Baby Voldemort format in early 2020, later developing into the Uncle Ben What Happened? and Two Guys Carrying a Stretcher formats. What Happened to Him memes are closely associated with Shitpost Punchlines, such as IDK and SQUID GAMES❗❗.

Dead Baby Voldermort

On January 28th, 2020, Redditor^[1] hin2u posted a three-panel meme based on a scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in which Harry Potter finds Voldemort as a small, skinless creature in a near-death state. The meme was captioned with an Out Pizza the Hut joke, with Harry Potter asking Dumbledore, "What happened to him?" The post gained over 40,000 likes in two years (shown below).

The memes spawned a recaption format with users replacing the punchline with humorous causes for Voldemort's condition (examples shown below).

Spread

Uncle Ben What Happened?

On April 16th, 2020, iFunny^[2] user Ricky_frotpb posted a two-panel meme based on a scene from the 2002 superhero film Spider-Man in which Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) finds his uncle Ben Parker fatally shot by a criminal. The meme was captioned with a 5G: It's Fast Doe joke, with Parker asking Ben, "Uncle Ben What Happened?" The meme gained over 34,800 smiles in two years, with a same-day repost to /r/raimimemes^[3] gaining over 13,600 upvotes in the same period.

Similar to Dead Baby Voldemort, the image gained virality as a recaption format, with users replacing the punchline with humorous causes of Uncle Ben's death (examples shown below).

Two Guys Carrying a Stetcher

On December 21st, 2021, Instagram^[4] user notmadewithmematic posted a stock image of two faceless white-colored people carrying a third in a stretcher, with one of the carriers asking the other, "What happened to him?" and the other replying, "He ate without youtube" (shown below).

On December 31st, Twitter^[5] user @internetsession reposted the image, with the tweet gaining over 92,000 retweets and 686,000 likes prior to being removed.

Starting on January 1st, 2022, more memes based on the stock image were posted online. For example, on that day, Twitter^[6] user @TuckerTheTucker posted a SQUID GAMES❗❗ version that gained over 230 retweets and 4,200 likes in six months (shown below, left). On January 5th, 2022, Facebook^[7] page I'm something of a meme page myself posted a meme that gained over 2,600 reactions and 2,600 shares in the same period (shown below, center). On May 6th, 2022, Twitter^[8] user @nopeifyaltalt posted a version that gained over 21,000 retweets and 277,700 likes in one month (authorship unconfirmed, shown below, right).

Gimmick Account

On June 16th, 2022, the Twitter^[9] gimmick account What Happened to Him? (@HappenedToHim) was launched, posting memes based on the Two Guys Carrying a Stretcher format. On the same day, the account posted^[10] its first meme (shown below, left) that gained over 900 retweets and 16,500 likes in one week. Later that day, the account reposted^[11] the "he had to come up with a response to 'lol'" version, with the repost gaining over 44,900 retweets and 522,000 likes in one week.

The account accumulated over 118,000 followers in one week since its creation in mid-June 2022.

Hospital "Don't Do X" Posts

Hospital "Don't Do X" Posts refers to a series of memes in which POV photographs from hospitals rooms and ambulances are combined with warnings not to do a certain action, implying that performing that action could land one in a hospital. The format gained popularity following a viral tweet posted in early November 2021.

IDK Punchlines

'IDK' Punchlines refers to a series of recaption memes in which the entire punchline has been replaced with the word "IDK" (short for "I don't know"). Spawned by a viral What Happened to Him? meme posted in May 2021, the format was popularized on Twitter in November 2021.

Squid Games

SQUID GAMES❗❗ is a ironic meme format that parodies the viral popularity of the South Korean survival drama series Squid Game. The format usually involves adding the caption "SQUID GAMES❗❗* to scenes of characters dying or lying down after being defeated, similar to IDK Punchlines meme format.