What Is The 'Sad Hulk' Meme And Why Was It Banned From The /r/Memes Subreddit? The 'Crying Hulk' Controversy Explained

In what's being described as a massive "Reddit moment," the /r/memes subreddit has banned the "Sad Hulk" meme format, causing a revolt among the board's 35 million members.

The Sad Hulk meme has become a popular format over the past few years, but at the beginning of December 2024, it was added to the subreddit's "overused memes" section, meaning you won't be seeing it anymore on /r/memes for the foreseeable future.

But what exactly is the Sad Hulk meme, why was it banned and how are Redditors reacting? Here's what you need to know.

What Is The 'Sad Hulk' Meme?

In June 2019, a Spanish Twitter user posted a meme consisting of two panels from the Marvel comic Incredible Hulks issue 616. The top panel shows The Hulk with his head down and the bottom shows him crying. Translated, the caption reads, "Mom, is there cake left?"

The meme format slowly grew throughout the early 2020s. In October 2021, a Redditor posted a version to the /r/weezer subreddit that reads, "Guys I don't really listen to Weezer anymore." This meme helped establish the usual phrasal template associated with the meme, which reads, "Guys, X," with "X" being something the meme-maker is upset about.

How Is 'Sad Hulk' Used In Memes?

Throughout 2024, the meme continued to spread online, becoming notably popular on Reddit. Mostly, the meme is used to mourn something that the meme creator has forgotten or misses. For example, one popular, heartbreaking example reads, "Guys, I'm starting to forget the names of the Pokemon."

Another popular example, which was posted to /r/Steam in 2024, has The Hulk crying over being unable to use his pending Steam funds to purchase a game that's about to exit its sale timeframe. Essentially, the meme is used as a memorial for nostalgia that is fading from your memory, resulting in a lot of surprisingly emotional examples over the past few years.

More broadly, the meme is also used to express sadness over something in general, like your parents aging or your inability to enjoy video games as you age.

Why Was 'Sad Hulk' Banned From /r/Memes?

On December 1st, 2024, the mods over at /r/memes, one of the biggest meme subreddits, updated their "overused memes" list. Any meme added to the list is considered overused on the board and therefore, banned. The most shocking addition to the list, as far as members of the subreddit were concerned, was the Sad Hulk meme.

Shortly after the meme's addition to the list, users began a revolt against the ban with memes referencing the Sad Hulk ban. Some of these memes are made as alternatives to Sad Hulk as a sort of loophole, using images of other characters, like Dr. Doom and The Infraggable Krunk, crying instead of The Hulk. Others are simply using memes to complain about the ban and call out the mods.

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