He's too Dangerous to be Left Alive
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About
“He's too Dangerous to be Left Alive,” sometimes written as “He's too Dangerous to be Kept Alive,” is a memorable quote uttered by Mace Windu (played by Samuel L. Jackson) to Anakin Skywalker (played by Hayden Christensen) in the 2005 sci-fi film Star Wars Episode: III Revenge of the Sith. The quote is used alongside a still from the scene as a reaction image to an above caption or screenshot to express the formidable power of someone or something that must be killed. Though sometimes it can be genuine in context, it's usually sarcastic in nature, intended to be a humorous reaction to ideas or actions. The quote itself is also sometimes used as a catchphrase without the image.
Origin
The original clip that the meme is pulled from is seen towards the end of Revenge of the Sith, released on May 19th, 2005, specifically the scene where Mace Windu confronts Chancellor Palpatine following the discovery that he is the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. Upon arriving at Palpatine’s office above the Senate District on Coruscant, the capital world of the Republic, Mace and several other Jedi battle with Palpatine until Mace finally strikes him down after the other Knights have been defeated.
During the scene (featured below), Mace and Palpatine have just finished battling as Anakin arrives. Palpatine, who has just “lost” his strength, begs for mercy as the two Jedi begin debating his fate. Mace decides to end him there and now stating, “He’s too powerful to be left alive!” and tries to strike him down despite Anakin’s plea that this decision goes against the Jedi code, insisting he should stand trial for his actions. Suddenly, as Mace prepares to kill him, Anakin cuts off his hand, allowing Palpatine to throw Mace from the window with force lightning, killing him.
Though the image and quote have surfaced online for many years since the film’s initial release, the first time it can be seen used as a reaction image appears on April 18th, 2017, when Redditor[1] nm12209 posted the picture and caption under the title “When my wife says I shouldn't kill the spider because it didn't do anything to us” to the r/prequelmemes sub (seen below). This post received nearly 2,000 upvotes.
Spread
The meme saw continued use on Reddit, particularly from the r/prequelmemes sub where it spread rapidly with several different variations. On May 5th, 2017, Redditor[2] CaptainRegor created a version about the crossover of a moderator who was a part of the r/prequelmemes sub and the r/sequelmemes sub. The post was upvoted over 43,000 times and commented on 563 times.
Other meme-related subreddits began using the reaction image in the following years, where it appeared countless times alongside various captions and screenshots. On August 26th, 2019, Redditor[3] LR-II posted a version (shown below) to the r/memes sub and received over 43,000 upvotes and 256 comments.
Another popular version of the meme that included references to ligma, Joe and updog was shared on numerous sites before being reposted to iFunny[4] by user Rewardielephantin on September 29th, 2019, where it was featured on the homepage of the site.
On Twitter[5], the meme was used by many users as both a reaction in replies and in more traditional meme format in reference to various people, including athletes. One such example (seen below) was tweeted by BroBible relating to the football player Russell Wilson. The tweet was liked 187 times and retweeted 33 times.
when Russell Wilson is within one score in the 4th quarter pic.twitter.com/RC4YuezhFn
— BroBible (@BroBible) January 13, 2020
Tumblr[6] also saw use of the meme as it spread to the platform, found in a post from the page Ahsoka’s Loyalty (below), racking up 63,022 notes from other users on the site.
He's Too Dangerous! Song
On October 12th, 2019, YouTuber RoyishGoodLooks uploaded a song titled, "He's Too Dangerous! (Emperor Palpatine – Star Wars song)" that featured an original track with scenes from the clip of Mace and Palpatine fighting alongside the famous quote "He's too Dangerous to be Left Alive!" The video (shown below) has almost half a million views and over 8,500 likes.
Various Examples
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