About

"Could I Be the Green Ninja?" refers to a memorable quote said by the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu animated series character Kai (Red Ninja). Online, an image macro based on the scene has been used in memes, often in reference to accidentally performing various skill-intensive feats through sheer luck.

Origin

On January 11th, 2012, episode one "Rise of the Snakes" of the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu series premiered.^[1] In one scene of the episode, character Kai (Red Ninja) wonders if he could be the powerful Green Ninja described in the prophecy.

Could I be the green ninja?

On September 7th, 2019, Redditor RadicalPizza__ posted the earliest known meme based on the template to /r/dankmemes subreddit, gaining 10,900 upvotes in two months (shown below).^[2]

Spread

The format did not see significant spread until on October 12th, 2019, Redditor levelearOP posted a meme based on the template to /r/PewdiepieSubmissions subreddit, where it received over 7,600 upvotes in two months (shown below, left).^[3] In the following days, more memes based on the format were posted to /r/PewdiepieSubmissions; for example, an October 13th meme by Redditor GrissyMoog received over 3,100 upvotes in two months (shown below, right).^[4]

Starting on October 13th, 2019, the format saw further spread in meme communities on Reddit. For example, an October 13th post by Redditor Massive-L gained over 89,100 upvotes in two months.^[5] An October 17th JoJo's Bizarre Adventure meme by Redditor levelearOP received over 11,200 upvotes.^[6]

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References