KYM Review: The Top Meme Revivals of 2021

Memes are born, memes go viral, get old and die. Some memes, however, get to come back after their death. often in a new, improved and infinitely funnier form.

Featuring Immortal Snail, Lamar Roasts Franklin, "We Are Not the Same" and other memes we already laughed at once but don't at all mind laughing at again, here's our list of memes that entered phase two (or more) of their lives in 2021 and were absolutely glorious in it.

Immortal Snail

Immortal Snail was originally a hypothetical scenario from a 2014 episode of the Rooster Teeth Podcast in which a person gets $10 million and immortality … but there's a catch. In exchange, an endlessly persistent snail assassin will chase them for all eternity, killing them in a very painful way should it ever catch up with the person.

In 2016, the scenario became the talk of the day when a Redditor reposted it to /r/AskReddit, popping up here and there in the following years. But after October 2021 when iFunny user Marshmallows posted a meme referencing the scenario and reimagined the final moments of the snail and its victim in a very touching way, the meme was reborn, with iFunny and TikTok pumping out meme upon meme exploring the love-hate relationship between the duo.

MordeTwi

If 2021 could be defined by a single ship, it would definitely be the ship of Mordecai from Regular Show and Twilight Sparkle from My Little Pony, or ModreTwi for short. The 2012 MS Paint drawing made a huge comeback this year as users on TikTok and Twitter submitted countless fan-labor dedicated to the star-crossed lovers. Their tragic love grew stronger with every stroke of the digital brush, and "Airplanes" by B.o.B. became the dramatic banger to surpass UNRAVEL.

Lamar Roasts Franklin

The exchange between Grand Theft Auto V characters Lamar and Franklin in which the former mercilessly roasts his friend over his "yee yee ass haircut" was a small meme back when the game was released — users created inspirational macros with the dialogue, made references and even crocheted it. But it would never have achieved the levels of virality it did were it not for Twitter user @leosleepy who used 15.ai text-to-speech to have SpongeBob do the roasting. YouTuber Hit Content Productions refined the meme by adding a SpongeBob model into the cutscene, and with several more versions posted in December 2020, the meme achieved bonkers levels of popularity in early 2021.

This Is Where I Watched My Parents Die, Raphael

This Is Where I Watched My Parents Die, Raphael is that slow-burner type of meme that takes a lot of time to charge up its punch, but when it delivers, it delivers massively. The history of the meme started in September 2016 with a viral Tumblr post, continuing in late 2019 with some iFunny shitposting and then again in 2020 when Facebook user Raven Perez posted the viral Cowabummer version. But it really was the PaRappa the Rappa edit that shifted the format into an even higher gear, with dozens, if not hundreds, of memes in which Batman trauma dumps on various characters were posted through the entirety of September.

Giant Thumb Guy

More than just your classic comeback, Giant Thumb Guy was rather an accidental remake of an older meme, a remake which became way more successful than the original ever was. On June 19th Twitter user @NekoHappix was searching for a format in which a guy gives thumbs-up to an annoying outsider providing unsolicited opinions. To boost his chances of finding the meme, @NekoHappix redrew it from memory, and the rest is history. The redraw turned out to be so expressive and down to the point, that it revitalized the entire format, albeit with an updated template.

Chris-Chan

Did Kiwi Farms' all-time favorite lolcow Chris-Chan make a come back this year? Yes. Did anyone want Chris-Chan to come back the way she did? God no. The disturbing details of Chris-Chan's alleged sexual assault of her own mother and her subsequent arrest were the closing chapter of Chris-Chan's saga that lasted for over a decade, and will probably be referenced in memes for years to come.

Drake the Type of Guy

Drake has been "the type of guy" for a long, long time — ever since the first joke about Drake being "the type of guy to let his woman propose" was posted in April 2011. It's good to know that even 10 years later, Drake still remains the type of guy the internet imagines to be cartoonish, effeminate and sort of beta, with the meme making a major comeback thanks to TikTok. In 2021, Drake has been called the type of guy to do thousands of things only a guy like Drake would do — and most of them were downright hilarious.

We Are Not the Same

"You are a Twitter snowclone from 2019 anyone barely remembers. I am a Sigma male meme starring award-winning actors Giancarlo Esposito and Mads Mikkelsen. We are not the same."

It's true that "We Are Not the Same" jokes originated two years back on Twitter — initially as sincere, self-aggrandizing posts that users took to parodying to much success. But it really was the Gamer Joker image macro posted by Instagram user puberty420 that introduced the format to the masses, and with additional Sigma male energy courtesy of Esposito and Mikkelsen, We Are Not the Same managed to become one of the most prominent phrasal templates of the year.

Trollface

Trollface is back: different, more insane, complex, well-adapted to the 2021 meta of post-irony where sincerity and irony collide. The face of many formats we categorize under the umbrella term of Schizoposting, Trollface came back because of Cover Yourself in Oil, stayed thanks to Trollge and has been flourishing with formats such as Pill Time and I Hate the Antichrist ever since. Will you still be up to do a little trolling in 2022?

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Looking for more of this year's best viral phenomena and memes? Be sure to check out our other 2021 meme roundups below:

• The Top 10 Memes Of 2021
• KYM Staff Picks Of 2021
• The Top Gaming Memes Of 2021
• The Slang Of 2021
• The Most 2021 Stories Of 2021
• Top 10 Streamer Moments Of 2021
• Breakthrough Meme Formats Of The Year
• 10 Best TikToks Of 2021
• Top 10 Lewd Memes Of The Year
• Trolls, Rumors And Hoaxes Of The Year
• Top Exploitables Of 2021
• Top Meme Creators Of 2021
• Top Meme Revivals Of 2021
• Best Gimmick Twitter Accounts Of 2021