You want to know how long Lord of the Rings memes have been popular? Well, you might think they started with the rise of social media, when people began posting and sharing memes on their timelines, but it actually began much earlier. We're talking while the movies were still in theaters. Return of the King came out in December 2003, and by January 2004, we already had our first big meme template that had caught the attention of most internet users—"One does not simply." This was quickly followed by the immortal "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard" and "You have no power here." These memes became wildly popular while the third movie was still showing in theaters.
Fast forward 20 years, and Lord of the Rings memes are still going strong, just like the films themselves. Both have proven to be timeless classics. It amazes me how, after so much time, people still find endless ways to use moments from those movies to generate funny, relatable memes.