Top Ten Advice Animals of 2012

Editor's Note: This article is part of Know Your Meme's Top 10 Review… looking back at some of the most memorable and popular memes, events and people that defined the Internet culture in 2012 as we know it. And brace yourselves, the grand finale list Best Memes of 2012 is coming soon!

As 2012 comes to a close, Know Your Meme's staff have looked back on the notable advice animals of the past year and narrowed down 10 exceptional examples, which were selected based on site analytics and Quickmeme submissions. There were many notable series that didn't quite make the cut, including Almost Politically Correct Redneck, Inappropriate Timing Bill Clinton, Skeptical Baby, Relatable Romney and I Should Buy a Boat Cat.

#10: Bad Joke Eel

The Bad Joke Eel series features a photograph of a Moray eel taken by scuba diver Jeffrey Jeffords, with captions with unfunny puns and jokes, similar to the Lame Pun Coon and Chemistry Cat advice animals that came before.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 12th, January
• Total Submissions: 11,401
• Average Submissions Per Day: 34

Notable Examples

#9: Annoyed Picard

Annoyed Picard is an advice animal featuring a screen capture of the character Jean-Luc Picard from the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. The exasperated picture was taken from a scene in which Picard recites lines from sonnets by the English poet and playwright William Shakespeare and is typically accompanied by frustrated or incredulous reactions.

• Site: Quickmeme Quickmeme 2
• Launch Date: 23rd, January
• Total Submissions: 30,192
• Average Submissions Per Day: 93

Notable Examples

#8: Overly Manly Man

An old black-and-white photograph of the 1800s boxer Mike Conley became canvas of the Overly Manly Man advice animal, which features captions portraying the man as an exceptionally masculine alpha male with homophobic and misogynistic attitudes.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 24th, September
• Total Submissions:16,380
• Average Submissions Per Day: 210

Notable Examples

#7: Matrix Morpheus

The Matrix Morpheus advice animals uses a screen capture of the fictional character Morpheus from the science fiction film The Matrix, which is used to patronize a petty behavior or ignorant belief or reveal a little-known fact. The image macros typically start with the caption "What if I told you," which was never spoken by Morpheus in any of The Matrix movies, but is believed to be a paraphrased sentence of Morpheus' informing the character Neo that he has been living in a simulation.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 18, March
• Total Submissions: 30,005
• Average Submissions Per Day: 111

Notable Examples

#6: Super Cool Ski Instructor

Super Cool Ski Instructor features a screen capture of the ski instructor Thumper from the animated sitcom South Park with captions advising readers to avoid risky or impulsive behaviors with the warning "you're gonna have a bad time."

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 14th, February
• Total Submissions: 34,053
• Average Submissions Per Day: 113

Notable Examples

#5: Confession Bear

A photograph of a melancholy-looking Malayan sun bear inspired the Confession Bear image macro series, in which people divulge some of their more humorous and disturbing secrets. The meme has often been used on Reddit to confess an unpopular opinion that does not conform to the site's hive mind, such as taste in music, religious beliefs and political views.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 21st, June
• Total Submissions: 49,613
• Average Submissions Per Day: 286

Notable Examples

#4: Bad Luck Brian

A school photograph of a blonde teenager wearing a plaid sweater vest and braces became the back drop of the Bad Luck Brian advice animal, featuring captions that described embarrassing or horrific occurrences. While the series initially centered around Brian's apparent incontinence, it became a popular medium for commenting on current events involving natural disasters and other tragedies.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 23rd, January
• Total Submissions: 266,109
• Average Submissions Per Day: 823

Notable Examples

#3: Overly Attached Girlfriend

Laina Morris' parody video of the pop song "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber turned her into the Internet celebrity known as Overly Attached Girlfriend nearly overnight, accumulating 1.35 YouTube views within the first 48 hours. Soon after, Redditors began editing a screen capture from the video with captions portraying Morris as an overprotective and clingy girlfriend. Morris has since gone on to create more videos and is attempting to use her Internet fame to raise money for charity.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 7th, June
• Status: Active / Inactive
• Total Submissions: 37,870
• Average Submissions Per Day: 202

Notable Examples

#2: Ermahgerd

A photograph of a young girl posing with several Goosebumps novels with her mouth agape exposing a row of braces inspired the creation of a phonetically written advice animal known as Ermahgerd, Berks. The captions were written to sound like a lisp caused by an orthodontic retainer, playing off a trope that had been portrayed previously by characters like Stan's sister Shelly in the animated television series South Park. The series spawned several animal variations featuring photographs of dogs and cats wearing awkward expressions. By the end of the year, the original "Berks" Quickmeme page had accumulated nearly 7,000 submissions.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 14, March
• Total Submissions: 6993
• Average Submissions Per Day: 25

Notable Examples

#1: Ridiculously Photogenic Guy

The Internet fell in love with Zeddie Little's handsome mug after his photograph was taken while running in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, South Carolina. In the photo, Little is shown smiling at the camera in mid-run with sun-kissed hair and stubble on his face, which inspired the nickname "Ridiculously Photogenic Guy". Soon after, people began captioning the photo with hyperbolic jokes about his extreme handsomeness, leading to over 13,000 Quickmeme submissions by the end of the year. The series also inspired the creation of several derivative memes, including Ridiculously Photogenic Surgery Girl, Ridiculously Photogenic Metal Head and Ridiculously Photogenic Syrian Rebel.

• Site: Quickmeme
• Launch Date: 3rd, April
• Total Submissions: 13,369
• Average Submissions Per Day: 53

Notable Examples