On this day in 2016, Harambe was tragically killed after a child fell into the gorilla enclosure. Harambe didn't harm the kid or even exhibit aggressive behavior; he simply existed. The iconic ape was immediately memeified into immortality, and even five years later, he is not forgotten. It's interesting to see how the Harambe memes have shifted over time. A lot can happen in five years—global pandemic, devastating forest fires, economic crisis, widespread unemployment—and many have ironically marked Harambe's death as the start of the downfall of Western civilization. At once, Harambe represents injustice, the failures of humanity and of course, ironic internet culture. Harambe memes are both cringe and based. Blessed and cursed. Harambe is the perfect meme and the worst meme. He's truly an internet legend.
We've put together some classic Harambe memes and Twitter tributes to the late, great ape. RIP king.
harambe
It seems like a decade ago that we were lamenting the Sonic movie's terrible animation. Even the movie's February 14 release seems like it happened in another lifetime. But the film (which actually got solid reviews) has more to offer than 100 minutes of boredom-busting. It's inspired more than a few excellent dank memes, and the latest format features Jim Carrey as Sonic's nemesis, Robotnik. The meme remixes the classic Daily Struggle format by adding a panel of Robotnik eagerly selecting the negative red button. It's being used to mock everyone from gullible fake-news spreading aunts to gamers, and it's quickly becoming one of the more popular formats on Reddit. We've put together a healthy handful of our favorite examples, but you can read more about the evil goodness on Know Your Meme. Happy scrolling!
This dude had a request for the hotel he was staying at in D.C. It was a very, very important request not to be taken lightly. Yes, this dude wanted a framed picture of Harambe. To make matters even more spectacular, the hotel was cool with the guy keeping the framed picture.
Attention people of the internet: no, this is apparently not an April Fools prank. Elon Musk has really outdone himself in the cringe department this time by releasing a rap song on SoundCloud entitled "RIP Harambe." Now, if only someone had notified him beforehand that he's only three years too late to the Harambe parade...
Ol' Musky even changed his Twitter name to "Jung Musk" because why not just maximize the amount of cringe possible for one person? We're really hoping this whole thing is just one big troll, but considering the meme-loving billionaire's internet past, we're not holding out hope for that.
The latest viral meme to grace the internet is actually a variation of some seriously infantile and old-school jokes. So, obviously, we love it.
What is Ligma?
The story of "Ligma" began when Instagram user @ninjahater rallied their followers to convince the world that Fortnite streamer Ninja had perished of the fictional disease. The hope was that people would ask "What's Ligma?" and the response would be a very mature "Ligma balls."
A week later, it's clear that @ninjahater's mission has been accomplished. People all around the world believed that Ninja had died, which means people all around the world fell for the ruse. The joke has exploded on Reddit and Instagram since its inception - and here are some of our favorite examples of the meme. We're not sure how long we'll be able to prank our friends but we're definitely enjoying the challenge.
If we've learned anything since 2016, it's that the internet loves gorillas (RIP Harambe). On June 22nd, the LAist Twitter account tweeted a 2014 photo of a gorilla that looks like it is giving a lecture to visitors at the Los Angeles Zoo. Twitter users started meme-ing the next day - touching on some very specific and unexpected topics such as General Custer, as well as the more obvious murder of Harambe.
Don't do it for me. Don't do it for yourself, Do it for Harambe.
But before you whip it out, peruse these painful Tuesday Memes or some dank Savage AF Tuesday memes, and ask yourself: what would Harambe have done if he was in your tiny, insignificant shoes.
Okay now you can whip it out, just not in public.
If you haven't gotten your fill, check out some of Tuesday's funniest memes here and keep the good times rolling.
