Ah, Yes. The Negotiator

About

Ah, Yes. The Negotiator, also known as “Ah, The Negotiator,” is a reaction image depicting General Grievous from Star Wars Episode: III Revenge of the Sith wearing his cloak and looking outwards towards the frame with the caption underneath. Both the image and catchphrase can be used together or separately to react to something above that involves someone attempting to make a deal or negotiate, particularly in a sarcastic or witty manner.

Origin

Though the exact image used in the meme varies slightly, the clip it comes from is taken out of a scene in Star Wars Episode: III Revenge of the Sith (released in 2005). The scene where this line is used occurs fairly early in the film when Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi lead a mission to rescue Palpatine from General Grievous aboard a Separatist ship battling above the planet Coruscant during the Clone Wars.

In the clip, which is featured below, Anakin and Obi-Wan are taken captive and brought to the bridge where Grievous is surrounded by various droids. Upon entering the room, Grievous turns to face the group and says, “Ah yes, the Negotiator: General Kenobi … we’ve been waiting for you.” The title “Negotiator” was given to Obi-Wan due to his reputation for preventing battles without using a weapon.^[1]

Often associated with the similar Grievous meme “This Will Make a Fine Addition to My Collection,” which occurs in the scene directly after the negotiator line, the exact origin of the still and caption being used as a meme is somewhat difficult to determine. However, the negotiator meme begins popping up online in 2018 not too long after this predecessor becomes widespread.

One of the earliest examples online is dated January 25th, 2018, from an upload to r/PrequelMemes by u/Colinh221. This post to Reddit uses the title, “When you make a nice well structured argument, and someone replies ‘kill yourself,’” alongside the image to create a meme. The post (shown below) received over 1,500 upvotes and 39 comments.

Spread

After initial use and spread within the r/PrequelMemes sub, the negotiator meme began expanding to other social media platforms including Facebook. Seen in a meme from the Diplomatic Memes for MUN Teens page^[2], a new version was created by George Laios with a caption on April 13th, 2018.

On September 25th, 2018, another example of the meme was posted to r/PrequelMemes by u/MikeKalav and was upvoted nearly 2,000 times.^[3]

One of the most commonly found versions of the meme (below) can also be seen on Imgur with a post dated November 2nd, 2018 (though unlikely the original creator, which appears to be from r/PrequelMemes). This variant was then reposted to tons of pages and social media platforms after its creation, including to 9GAG^[4] December 3rd, 2018, where it garnered 140 points.

Resurgence in 2020

Despite its age, the negotiator meme began to see renewed usage on Reddit in early 2020 as several versions hit the front page of r/memes. One example of this (displayed here) was uploaded by u/kahyzehnnm on February 2nd titled “ahh yes the negotiator” and went on to receive over 40,000 upvotes and nearly 150 comments.

Another meme on the same subreddit by u/CrBratton was posted shortly after the previous version and garnered over 35,000 upvotes and a Reddit award.^[5]

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References