KYM Review: Top 10 Gaming Memes Of 2021

It's finally the end of 2021, a year that felt like it went on forever and then some. During this long, arduous year though, there were a lot of solid gaming memes. Despite the year not having as many releases as previous ones, the gaming community rallied around what content did come out, and they did not disappoint in the memes made from it.

As we did in 2020 with the best of video game memes, this top 10 list will be in no particular order until the final three, which are definitely the top three most impactful gaming memes of 2021.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl

In a gaming landscape where platform fighters are less of a genre and more of a Super Smash Brothers monopoly, a challenger came out of left field to try and challenge it. Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl was a huge shock to everyone when rumors were confirmed and trailers were released showing how they were taking the platform fighter approach and adding a few unique twists and complexities to it. Memes were quick to appear whenever a character was confirmed for the roster, and when the game finally launched and players were able to get their hands on it.

Jack-O Crouch

With the release of Guilty Gear Strive, fighting game fans were very happy. They became even more elated when the character Jack-O was announced to be added to the game as an additional fighter, which reignited an old 2016 meme as people began to redraw their favorite characters from across game franchises and more doing the signature Jack-O Crouch. Many real-world attempts were also tried, with varying results from disastrous viral video to hornyposting.

Sora In Smash

Sora in Smash was over 10 years in the making. Ever since Kingdom Hearts 2, players have been requesting the character be included in Smash Bros., and on October 5th, he finally was. The community went ballistic with making memes, character reviews and finding every possible way to use Sora within the game, trying to make up for a decade of waiting.

Deltarune Chapter 2

Deltarune: Chapter 2 was released on September 17th and instantly found great meme success. With multiple characters like Spamton and Tasque Manager getting specific character memes made about them, as well as gameplay specific memes such as the Snowgrave Route, this game was filled to the brim with memeage.

Chaosposting

With the release of the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin trailer on June 13th, a new meme was born. Thanks to the cringe-inducing dialogue of the trailer combined with the blandness of his character design, Jack helped spawn Chaosposting, in which your characters only motivation in life is to be edgy and kill chaos.

Final Fantasy XIV

Another Final Fantasy entry on the list, but this time for a good reason, Final Fantasy XIV had an unpredictable surge in players in early July 2021 as big-name streamers like Asmongold gave the game a playthrough. This player explosion created two solid memes, the Uninstallafell and The Critically Acclaimed MMORPG as World of Warcraft was finally dethroned as MMO champ.

Fortnite

Fortnite found itself having multiple big memes happen in the same year, mostly as a result of their unexpected collaborations. However, the biggest Fortnite meme of the year isn't part of any collaboration or in-game event, it's the Tomato Town Massacre, a meme resulting from the fourth line in Chug Jug With You, released back in 2018 (though becoming a prominent meme this year). The song mentioning that "Tomato Town was wiped out" led to an ironic posting about a fictional genocide taking place in Tomato Town, complete with historical memes about it.

Lamar Roasts Franklin

Lamar Roasts Franklin is a meme that found new life this year, becoming the prominent gaming meme that helped bridge the gap between 2020 and 2021. Swelling with a steady stream of new unique versions of pop culture characters replacing both Franklin and Lamar, the exploitable video format was massive at the beginning of the year and into spring. The meme was so powerful that it even received an updated 2.0 version in GTA Online the other day, nearly eight years after the release of the original scene. If you haven't seen our interview with Slink Johnson, the voice behind the iconic Lamar, check it out to see the man behind the meme and what he thinks of it.

Resident Evil Village

Resident Evil: Village was a monster of a game, with plenty of action, creepy moments and twists, anyone who played the game had nothing but good things to say about it. For those who didn't play the game, there was still a lot to talk about, namely the chief meme from the game — Lady Dimitrescu, who carried the meme banner as its leading figure for all of spring and into summer. The meme impact of Lady Dimitrescu was so profound, that the voice actress behind the character, Maggie Robertson, won "Best Performance" at The Video Game Awards 2021 seven months later. You can read our interview with Robertson here to see what she makes of the meme.

Amogus

Amogus, the meme derivative from Among Us is controversially the biggest and most impactful video game meme of 2021. Amogus became its own genre of memes, growing in size and influence until it had video memes, ironic shitposts, unironic serious posts, deconstructed breakdowns, emoji-riddled deep-fried posts, and everything else under the sun.

Honorable Mentions

For this year's honorable mentions, we first have the Fortnite collaboration event Naruto in Fortnite, which was seen as one of the craziest brand mash-ups possible, having the titular Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi suit up and head into the battle royale where they could build, shoot and do emote dances. The second honorable mention comes in the form of Multiversus, a platform fighter similar to Smash and All-Star Brawl, but using Warner Brothers characters in a free-to-play setting. This one has already created some memes, but as it gets closer to launch, expect to see more.

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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