About

Goodnight, Old Friend, also known as Goodnight, Ol' Fren, is a voice line spoken by the character Franklin Clinton in Grand Theft Auto V towards dead NPCs. The line went viral as the subject of memes, particularly on TikTok, in early April 2026. As a meme, the line is edited into freeze-frames of videos that show Franklin doing something in-game that results in a crash or deadly scenario. The line is often associated with an image of the character Po from Kung Fu Panda as a baby. The image has previously been used in versions of the Watching Child Po meme.

Origin

In 2015, at least two videos in which Franklin from Grand Theft Auto V says the line, "Goodnight, old friend," were uploaded to YouTube,^[1][2] including a video uploaded on May 22nd, 2015, and December 24th, 2015, garnering over 24,000 and 145,000 views, respectively, in 11 years. The line is originally in the game and is not a mod or addon.^[3]

One of the earliest known memes to use the audio was posted by TikToker^[4] @secretaccofaneditor on March 13th, 2026, garnering over 192,000 views in a month. In the edit, the audio is used over footage of a player being eaten by a shark.

Spread

On March 28th, 2026, TikToker^[5] @thebigsiah posted a video edit using GTA V footage where Michael calls Franklin and asks if he wants to go do something, and Franklin responds, "Goodnight, old friend," before Michael's car explodes, garnering over 112,000 views in a week.

The meme spread over the following days, with TikToker @thebigsiah continuing to post videos following the format. Commenters began posting an image of a baby Po from Kung Fu Panda under versions of the meme.

For example, on April 2nd, 2026, TikToker @pickleburger27 posted the image under the original version of the meme, gaining over 4,300 likes in four days.

On March 30th, TikToker^[6] @thebigsiah posted another version of the meme that plays the audio clip before Franklin gets sucked into a tornado, garnering over one million views in a week.

On April 4th, 2026, TikToker^[7] @pigeon.on.gta20144 posted a version of the meme that adds the Po reaction image to the end along with the freeze frame, garnering over 200,000 views in two days.

On April 5th, TikToker^[8] @newguynumber1fan posted a version of the meme about Franklin "airballing" when trying to hit on women, garnering over 77,000 views in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References