Losslikes

About

Losslikes refers to simulacrum image memes in which the central joke involves recognizing a shape or pattern from another piece of pop culture in an unexpected context. The name comes from the infamous webcomic Loss, whose four panels became so iconic that internet users took to making minimal and obscure interpretations representing the general "I II II I_" shape of the comic. After a flood of minimalist Loss edits in the mid to late 2010s, other recognizable shapes and patterns similarly became memes. Losslikes tend to form around infamous images and are meant to frustrate the viewer upon realizing what the pattern symbolizes.

Origin

On June 2nd, 2008, Buckley posted a comic strip titled "Loss" in which the female lead Lilah suffered a miscarriage. The strip marked a significant change in tone from the usually comedic comic and the poorly executed drama of the comic spurred Ctrl+Alt+Del's significant anti-fandom to mockery.

Years of edits mocking the comic led to the rise of minimalist interpretations of the four-panel strip as artists and pranksters broke the comic into the now-infamous "I II II I_" positioning of the characters in the panels. While it's unclear when and where this started, it likely began around 2014. A 4chan post dated March 15th, 2014, commenting on the deconstruction of the comic was itself turned into a Loss edit (shown below).

Simulacrum

A simulacrum is a representation of a specific object.^[2] In Losslikes, memers will employ various objects to represent the image they are trying to convey. These usually involve lines, rearrangement of real-world objects, and various other tricks to put the intended image in the viewer's mind.

Spread

Minimalist Loss Edits continued to be a prevalent meme throughout the 2010s, becoming popularized on /v/ and spreading widely through other social media hubs (examples shown below).

The popularity of these edits notably led to the founding of Reddit's /r/PeterExplainsTheLoss^[1] in January 2024 where the entirety of the subreddit is devoted to posting minimalist Loss edits and explaining the joke.

While Loss remains one of the most prominent examples of simulacrum memes, the 2020s saw the rise of multiple, similar formats, some of which have been compared to Loss for the way they employ recognizable patterns in unexpected ways.

Piper Perri Surrounded

Piper Perri Surrounded refers to a series of object labeled and photoshopped image macros of adult content star Piper Perri sitting on a white couch and five Black men standing behind her.

The original image inspired minimalist interpretations, similar to how the original Loss comic inspired minimalist interpretations.

False's DK Combo

False's DK Combo is an infamous Super Smash Brothers Ultimate clip posted by the player False, real name Corey Shin, in which Donkey Kong hits an impressive combo on Bowser, leading to Bowser losing a stock. However, at the time he posted the clip, False faced multiple allegations of wrongdoing, including assault, emotional ab-se and pocketing donated money from a Kickstarter for a Brawl documentary that was never completed. The allegations made the clip feel poorly timed to many viewers, resulting in it being remixed in multiple parodies in 2020.

The parodies quickly became a meme similar to Loss, as people began creating minimalist and non-Smash related edits of the combo. For example, on July 12th, 2020, Twitter user @Dusty_Carpet posted a minimalist edit of the combo made in MS Paint, gaining over 1,300 retweets and 6,900 likes in roughly two years (shown below, top). On July 13th, user @iPokelam posted a video referencing the combo made in Minecraft, gaining over 1,500 retweets and 7,000 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, bottom).

pic.twitter.com/lBboonQW5d

— Dusty_Carpet (@Dusty_Carpet_) July 12, 2020

https://t.co/coHCwMm6yQ pic.twitter.com/XREgeGoGv3

— IE | GRNT | Elam (@iPokelam) July 13, 2020

Devil Vortex Saws

Devil Vortex Saws or DV Saws refers to a peculiar arrangement of 54 sawblades and other objects found at the top of the Devil Vortex level in the rhythm-based running game Geometry Dash, which was verified by player ToshDeluxe in 2017. The controversy surrounding potential cheating by ToshDeluxe during the verification of the level, at which time the seemingly random placement of the sawblades was presented as indirect proof, resulted in sawblades becoming a meme within the community, with users sharing images of objects arranged in the same fashion as the saws.

Dash Spider

Dash Spider, also known as This Isn't Sightreadable, is a meme that emerged from the subreddit /r/geometrydash. After YouTuber GD Colon criticized a section of the "Dash" level in Geometry Dash 2.2 for being introduced too suddenly, fans of the game began making memes referencing the layout of the level, not unlike memes such as Loss and Amogus. In early 2024, Dash Spider became a meme in the style of pattern recognition (in other words, cleverly concealing it either as or in various unrelated objects) where the humor is generated from the audience spotting the reference to said level. This meme is also reminiscent of earlier iterations of pattern recognition memes in the Geometry Dash community, such as Devil Vortex Saws or Limbo Keys.

Celeste Chapter 2 B-sides Last Screen

Celeste Chapter 2 B-sides Last Screen refers to an infamous section of a challenge level in the platforming game Celeste in which a player is tasked with navigating vertically between two platforms that phase in and out of tangibility while using diamonds to aid their jumps. The level's two parallel lines surrounding three diamonds became a visual gag on Reddit akin to Loss and the Dash Spider Geometry Dash level in February of 2024, as people transposed the pattern into other games.

Similar Memes

Several memes have developed where a person will identify a real-life object that reminds them of something from pop culture. While these are similar to Losslikes, they do not involve editing the pattern into another piece of pop culture or share the same trolling spirit as other memes.

Things That Look Like Among Us Crewmates

Things That Look Like Among Us Crewmates refers to a series of image macros depicting various objects and images that resemble the crewmate from the video game Among Us. In memes, many of these typically appear alongside text expressing insanity and frustration over seeing the character in everyday life. The meme is closely related to absurd Among Us formats like Amogus and was popularized on Reddit in late 2020 and early 2021.

Things That Look Like Bocchi

Things That Look Like Bocchi refers to images of everyday objects that resemble Hitori Goto, aka Bocchi from Bocchi The Rock!, and the other band members in the show. Memes from this trend resemble the Things That Look Like Among Us Crewmates meme, as often the items will have no literal relation to Bocchi!

Minimalist Memes

Many memes have utilized minimalism to represent a certain pre-existing meme. For example, Minimalist Pixel Art breaks down iconic characters to their color palettes. The first collection of the series titled "Street Fighter – Abstract Edition" was posted onto InfiniteContinues' website and Flickr account on August 6th, 2010. However, these usually lack the trolling aspect of typical Losslikes.

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References