Warning: this entry contains spoilers for 2018 superhero film Avengers: Infinity War.

About

"A Soul for a Soul" refers to a memorable quote from 2018 Marvel superhero film Avengers: Infinity War said by character Red Skull. Starting in April 2019, a still image of character Thanos from another shot paired with the quote gained popularity online as a macro and a reaction, usually in reference to scenarios of compromise.

Origin

On April 27th, 2018, thhe Marvel superhero film Avengers: Infinity War premiered in the United States.^[1] In one scene of the film, character Red Skull says "a soul for a soul" when speaking to characters Thanos and Gamora, hinting at what must be done to retrieve the Soul Stone, a key plot item. In another shot, Thanos is shown discovering the Soul Stone in a lake.

In order to take the stone you must lose that what you love. A soul for a soul.

Spread

Following the release of 2019 film Avengers: Endgame_, the combination of the quote and the image gained popularity as a meme format. On April 29th, 2019, Redditor EVIM posted a meme by an unknown author in which the quote was combined with the image.^[2] The post gained over 12,300 upvotes and was reposted in several major subreddits in the following days.^[3][4]

In the following weeks, more memes utilizing the format were posted online, including notable examples in /r/me_irl^[5] and /r/dankmemes^[6] subreddits.

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References