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Summary
- Iconic gaming memes are fading into obscurity, becoming rare to see online or hear about.
- Memorable memes like ‘Do a barrel roll’ and ‘Leeeeeroy Jenkins’ are becoming less referenced in pop culture.
- Despite their fading popularity, classic gaming memes like ‘This guy are sick’ and ‘The cake is a lie’ still hold a special place in fans’ hearts.
Gaming has been at the forefront of pop culture for what seems like an eternity at this point, spawning many fan-favorite characters, series, and references that fans will likely parrot until the end of time, shout-out to Skyrim‘s ‘arrow to the knee’ line. And, thanks to the popularity of memes, you will almost always see these humorous references out in the wild, even if you have yet to play the game yourself.
Unfortunately, some of the most popular and humorous gaming memes have lost a bit of steam over the years, making them increasingly rare to see online or hear about. And, the thing is, most of them still slap and deserve to remain in the gaming lexicon forever!
6 I Can Haz Reconz?!
Halo 3
Halo 3
- Released
- September 25, 2007
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Bungie
- Publisher(s)
- Microsoft Game Studios
- Engine
- havok, blam engine
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Halo
- Platform(s)
- Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
- Metascore
- 94
Waaay back in 2007, when memes were beginning to take the internet by storm, the popular ‘Can I Has Cheeseburger’ meme was shared by millions on blogs and other social media platforms, essentially kickstarting the ‘lolspeak’ image macros, which are still immensely popular, even today.
4:05
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Coincidentally, Halo 3 was also released that year, and everyone was clamoring for the Bungie employee-exclusive Recon Armor and the Bungie Chest Plat that granted your Spartan a Flaming Head. Thus, giving birth to the ‘I Can Haz Reconz?!’ meme, where players would repeatedly ask Bungie to provide them with the super-exclusive armor set. We miss these days of Halo and the sense of community dearly!
5 RAMIREZ!
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
- Released
- November 10, 2009
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs
- Developer(s)
- Infinity Ward
- Publisher(s)
- Activision
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Call of Duty
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS3, Xbox 360, macOS
- How Long To Beat
- 7 Hours
Sticking with the FPS genre, our next long-forgotten meme comes from the original Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, released in 2009, where one Private First-Class Army Ranger, James Ramirez, was tasked with doing seemingly everything in the game, becoming one of the first memes in the long-running and exhilarating series.
In-game, you would hear a loud ‘RAMIREZ’ being shouted over gunfire, followed by an order to complete an objective, such as getting to the rooftop, securing Burger Town, or even destroying enemy tanks.
Thanks to the ridiculousness of this, we got tons of memes, with people shouting ‘RAMIREZ,’ following it up with a challenging or impossible task, leading to some of the most hilarious Call of Duty memes of all time. However, as time passed, it eventually gave way to the ‘press F to pay respects’ meme, which is also a banger!
4 Do A Barrel Roll!
Star Fox 64
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EAD
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Star Fox
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo 64
- How Long To Beat
- 2 Hours
While you may still hear or read it from time to time, the classic ‘do a barrel roll’ line from ol’ Peppy in Star Fox 64 is seemingly becoming rarer and rarer to see referenced these days, which is quite sad, as it is easily one of our favorites.
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Star Fox 64 remains an exceptionally fun game, and every time Peppy drops this zinger when we revisit it, we cannot help but laugh and think about all the times it was referenced or meme’d online or in other series. We hope this meme doesn’t fade away forever, but if it does, we will never forget the joy this one line has brought us over the years!
3 This Guy Are Sick
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy 7
- Released
- January 31, 1997
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
- Square Enix
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Cross-Platform Play
- ps, pc
- Cross Save
- Players who have already started their adventure on iOS or Android can take advantage of cross-save capabilities
- Franchise
- Final Fantasy
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original), PC, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- How Long To Beat
- 37 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- yes
- Supported VR Headsets
- Oculus Quest 2
Next up is a bit of an obscure-ish one these days, as it originated in the OG Final Fantasy 7, when the lovely ‘Aeris’ drops the unforgettable line ‘This guy are sick.’ While it’s obviously an unfortunate translation error, we cannot deny how funny it is.
Not all that long ago, you would see this line referenced dang-near EVERYWHERE, especially if someone was sick or dealing with a common cold. These days, however, that is less so the case, which is a shame. We adore Aerith and this line, but understand if it fades into the background permanently due to the excellent Remake Trilogy!
2 LEEEEROOOOY JEEEEENKIIIIINS!!
World Of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
- Released
- November 23, 2004
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)
- Developer(s)
- Blizzard
- Publisher(s)
- Blizzard
- Engine
- Unreal Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- pc, ps
- Cross Save
- yes
- Expansions
- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic
- Franchise
- Warcraft
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- yes
- Platform(s)
- PC
- X|S Optimized
- yes
Okay, we get it; this entry may seem bizarre if you’ve been online at all in the early to mid-2000s, but the classic Leeroy Jenkins meme has lost quite a bit of steam throughout the years, becoming much rarer to see referenced in the wild these days.
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World of Warcraft gave birth to many iconic gems, but the 2005 footage of the legend Leeroy Jenkins shouting his name as a battle cry and charging into the boss’s arena will forever remain its funniest moment. While you will still hear some people yell ‘LEEEROOOY JEEENKIIINS’ before doing something risky, it’s not nearly as common, and that pains us dearly!
1 The Cake Is A Lie
Portal 2
Portal
- Released
- October 10, 2007
Lastly, another massively popular gaming meme that is becoming less and less relevant in pop culture is Portal‘s esoteric joke that simply stated ‘the cake is a lie,’ which unsuspectingly took the internet by storm, becoming a meme that would be supported and referenced for years, even when Portal 2 delivered the cake at the end of its campaign.
Like some of the others on this list, you will still likely see this line referenced and posted online, but only in very, very specific instances. If you see a cake appear in another video game, you will likely see a few ‘the cake is a lie’ comments. Outside of that, not so much these days. We adored this meme to pieces, but it’s slowly fading away into obscurity!
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