What Is The Iconic 'Suprise Motherfucker' Meme? The Viral Video That's Been A Part Of Internet History For Over 15 Years Explained

It's been 18 years since actor Erik King entered a scene of the TV series Dexter and uttered what would become one of the most iconic lines in internet history: "Surprise motherfucker!" (pronounced more like, "Surprise mothafaka!").

Now in 2024, the line reading has become a famous meme, thanks in large part to skits on video platforms like YouTube and Vine, as well as the numerous exploitables the format spawned.

Here's the history behind the viral video and why the format has managed to have such a lasting impact on meme culture over the years.

Where Does "Surprise Motherfucker" Come From?

The scene comes from Season 1, Episode 12 of Dexter, titled "Born Free." In the episode, Erik King's character James Doakes surprises the titular Dexter Morgan at a shipping yard, uttering the now famous line, "Surprise Motherfucker," giving a lot of extra sauce on the "M" and "K" of the swear word.

The line entered memedom in 2008 when it was uploaded to YouTube and later Reddit. YTMND also had a page dedicated to the line in 2008, and soon, the scene was edited into movie montages and more.

How Did "Surprise Motherfucker" Develop?

While the clip itself provided the internet with plenty of viral videos, it wasn't until memers began replacing the word "surprise" with other rhyming words ("supplies," "first prize," etc.) that the meme took off.

From this trend, the most iconic clip came from Vine creator Darius Benson, who voiced multiple variations of these puns with the perfect cadence to match Erik King.

While the meme may have arguably peaked with Benson's parodies, it still sees use on TikTok in some sketches, as though the meme is being passed to a new generation — and a new trending video platform.

For the full history of Surprise Motherfucker, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.