What's With Jokes About Getting 'Brainwashed Of That Thing'? Memes Inspired By A Webcomic About Media Tropes Explained

Twitter webcomic artists have a fascination with drawing two-panel reflections on popular media tropes and trends.

This practice has become so prevalent on the site that other webcomic artists have already memed the phenomenon to death, like the "Trends in Recent Media" gag that went around in late 2024.

Still, there's always the occasional tidbit of insight on popular media tropes that are delivered so idiosyncratically that you can't help but find yourself amused, no matter how droll you find the actual template.

That's how the "Get's Brainwashed Of That Thing" joke began making the rounds online, through pure ironic appreciation. Here's a recap of the meme.

Where Does 'Gets Brainwashed Of That Thing' Comic Come From?

In late November 2024, Twitter / X user and commission artist @MessRedds posted a two-panel cartoon depicting a blob character (a popular form in the Twitter art community) holding a glowing purple ball.

The panels read, "Discovered something in hoping it could save lives," and "Gets brainwashed of that thing," the purple blob now having taken over the blob person like a virus.

The post was likely made in reference to the character Viktor from the animated series Arcane, although the trope applies to many other characters in media, with two examples being Marvel Comics character Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus) and Wakfu character Nox. This initial post went on to gather over 37 million views and 180,000 likes in three months.

How Did The 'Gets Brainwashed Of That Thing' Webcomic Become A Meme?

Many internet users found the two-panel comic oddly niche, given its obvious allusion to one particular character, but found humor and joy in thinking of other characters, both real and fake, who it could also apply to.

An early and obvious choice was the Hawk Tuah Girl and her controversial crypto scandal, a project that arguably killed Ms. Welch's internet career, despite her publically stated good intentions.

Other people were more fast and loose with what they saw the comic as being applicable to, like this guy who joked, "My stepdad and beer."

What Are Some More Memes Inspired By The Gets Brainwashed Of That Thing Meme?

It seems that a lot of people were really drawn to the awkward phrasing in the original webcomic, with Twitter user @confusionm8trix joking about how they couldn't get enough of how the phrase tickled their "lizard brain."

Other internet users seemed to agree, with more memes referencing the lines "discovers something in hoping it could save lives / gets brainwashed of that thing."

---

For the full history of Gets Brainwashed of That Thing, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.