Memes That Only True Gamers Understand

According to Merriam-Webster, a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture." It's also "an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media." Those are some more general definitions of the word. But what is a video game meme, exactly? Believe it or not, it's quite often both.

It can be something inspired by a character or a scene in a game that circulates far and wide throughout video game culture. And more often than not, you'll see it spread via the usage of photos, videos, or GIF animations that are posted on websites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Reddit.

Much of the fun derived from a meme comes from being in on the joke. And in that regard, video games are a bountiful source of meme-worthy moments. Now that gaming is a more mainstream activity, memes based on video games are experiencing wider usage online — even if, hilariously, some who share them aren't aware of their video game roots.

If you use the internet, you might have seen or even shared one of these memes. If you're a true gamer, though, you'll know exactly where they came from.

We told you that Skyrim was a treasure trove for meme-worthy content. Along with the meme above, Skyrim also provided us with the Dragon Shout that even people who've never played the game seem to know. In actuality, the Shout is partly learned by the player early in Skyrim, and later learned in its entirety after the player visits the Gray Beards in High Hrothgar. And it translates to "force, balance, push" – or, in non-Skyrim speak, it gives you the ability to blast the crap out of something with a powerful gust.

On the internet, however, FUS RO DAH is a fantastic excuse to reference Skyrim in a hilarious photo or video.

All you have to do is watch this video of a penguin seemingly using the FUS RO DAH on a human to understand the meme's appeal. You can bust it out in any situation where it looks like someone is being blown back or is falling over. Have a photo of your toddler screaming while you're tripping backward over a toy? Back in the day, you could've pasted a FUS RO DAH caption on that sucker and won a million internet points.

Like the "arrow in the knee" meme, this one hit its peak in the months after Skyrim's release. But it didn't fall off quite as hard, and it's still a favorite for photo and video captions if the situation is right.

You're probably wondering, "Isn't that bad grammar? All your base are belong to us?" The base in the sentence is singular, yet the sentence uses "are" as though the base is plural. That, my friend, is the joke. Games that make their way overseas to the United States don't always get the best localization work, and in the case of 1989's Zero Wing, someone clearly dropped the ball in the game's opening moments.

Thus, "all of your bases are now under our control" became "all your base are belong to us" — and spawned one of gaming's most popular memes.

Ever since, everyday folks and famous people alike have repurposed the "all your base are belong to us" message for their own uses. Hackers have posted takes on the meme when commandeering a website. Elon Musk let the world know that Tesla wouldn't sue anyone by announcing "all our patent are belong to you." And US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez even used the meme in a tweet, insinuating that the opposing party's political "base" agreed with many of her ideas.

While "all your base are belong to us" isn't quite as popular as it was in the early 2000s, as we've noted above, it still comes out to play from time to time.

Speaking of great games, how about Mario Kart 8? There wasn't a lot to celebrate about the Wii U, save for some of the console's exclusives. And one of those was Mario Kart 8, a game so good that Nintendo wound up porting it to the Switch instead of making a new one. Everything about Mario Kart 8 was commendable, from the game's many characters to its inclusion of new and classic racetracks.

But in terms of meme-ability, nothing could touch Luigi and his death stare.

It all started with a YouTube video from a user named Rizupicorr. The video was a Mario Kart 8 replay of Luigi hitting Waluigi with a green shell, only to follow that up with the world's meanest glare. When another YouTuber added Chamillionaire's Ridin' to the video, the meme was — pardon the pun — off to the races. Other players started to post their own Luigi death stare videos with other songs mixed in, and suddenly, Mario Kart 8 was being covered all over the place. Not because it was a great game, which it was. But because people were absolutely fascinated with Luigi's death stare.

You're probably wondering, "What did Nintendo have to say about the meme?" Believe it or not, the company actually acknowledged the Luigi death stare in its E3 presentation that year, much to the delight of many fans.

It's almost impossible to play the first Dark Souls and not become somewhat intrigued by Solaire of Astora. He's a ray of golden sun in an otherwise grim and grisly world. So much of your time in Dark Souls is spent dying over and over again, navigating hordes of enemies while wondering if you have a friend in the entire game. But you do in Solaire, a warrior who has a somewhat unnatural infatuation with the sun.

Players of Dark Souls have shared Solaire's quotes far and wide. But it's his "praise the sun" line and accompanying pose that most are instantly familiar with.

The memes created in honor of "praise the sun" span far and wide. Some are photos that show Solaire trying to trap the sun in a box, much like you would a small animal. Others show characters from other franchises, such as Pokemon, adopting Solaire's "praise the sun" pose. And other games have even gotten in on the fun, too. Destiny, for instance, offered an emote in its Eververse store that paid homage to Solaire. Its name? "Praise the Light."

Unlike many of the memes on this list, "praise the sun" is still widely circulated. So if you inhabit video game message boards or subreddits — particularly those that focus on Dark Souls — you're bound to see it.

Looking back at the American side of Nintendo, it's hard not to think of anyone who isn't named Reggie Fils-Aime. He joined the company in the early 2000s, quickly climbed the ranks to become Nintendo of America's president, and — for a long time — served as the American face of the company. And he was funny. Whether he was in on the joke or he was the joke, he could always deliver a laugh or two.

And that includes the infamous "my body is ready" line.

You've probably seen a bunch of different memes online that make use of this phrase. But have you ever wondered where it originated? As it turns out, those words came out of Reggie's mouth as he prepared to step onto a Wii Balance Board at E3 2007. The line didn't quite land at that moment in time, but years later, it was resurrected as Nintendo fans looked forward to the company's E3 2010 announcements by repeating over and over, "My body is ready." And Nintendo even referenced it in a later Nintendo Direct — one in which Reggie was played by a puppet. That one is definitely worth watching.

Reggie Fils-Aime is retiring as Nintendo of America's president in April 2019. And while we're sure Nintendo will be fine, we will definitely miss Reggie and his humor.

Out of all the memes on this list, this particular entry might have seen the most usage at its peak, even though many had no clue where it started. That's how it goes with memes, sometimes. They're almost impossible to produce purposefully. You have no idea what will take off and what won't. And when something blows up, it really explodes, reaching people who might not have seen it otherwise.

Like Drew Scanlon's reaction, a video clip that was eventually transformed into a GIF animation. You're probably wondering — who is Drew Scanlon? And how does this tie in to video games at all? Drew Scanlon, at the time his reaction was popular, was a video editor at game website Giant Bomb. The reaction itself — which consisted of Scanlon appearing subtly surprised — was filmed during a playthrough of a farming title back in 2013. However, Scanlon's look didn't really take off as a meme until four years later in 2017, when a student posted a GIF of the reaction in response to their biology class material. The meme achieved widespread use soon after.

To his credit, Drew Scanlon (who no longer works at Giant Bomb) took it all in stride, saying, "It's been weirder for the people who know me than it has been for me."