Hollow Purple

About

Hollow Purple is a secret extension technique used by the Jujutsu Kaisen character Satoru Gojo resembling a large purple mass that destroys anything in its path. The technique, which is used by merging the blue and red infinites, became the subject of memes in February 2021 following episode 20 of the anime series, in which it first appears. As early as August 2023, the technique became popularized on TikTok through a series of ironic memes about using the technique against people in given situations.

Origin

Hollow Technique: Purple, or simply Hollow Purple, is first used by Satoru Gojo in chapter 52 of the Jujutsu Kaisen manga series, released on March 25th, 2019.^[1] In the anime series, it is first used in season 1 episode 20, which adapts chapters 50 through 52, released on February 26th, 2021 in Japan and April 16th, 2021 in the U.S. (shown below).^[2][3] The technique, which is only known to a few in the Gojo family, is described as a purple mass that eliminates anything in its path. It is created by fusing the blue and red infinites.^[4]

The technique first became the subject of memes shortly after its premiere in the Japanese version of the anime. One of the earliest known examples of a meme referencing Hollow Purple was posted to /r/JuJutsuKaisen^[5] by u/CalebH92 on the release date, February 26th, 2021, garnering over 420 upvotes in two years (shown below).

Spread

Meme referencing Hollow Purple continued to spread over the following years. On March 3rd, 2021, u/respxti31 posted a meme to /r/JuJutsuKaisen^[6] that garnered over 5,800 upvotes in two years (shown below, left). On March 4th, u/FauntleDuck posted a meme to /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial^[7] referencing the technique, garnering over 7,700 upvotes in the same span of time (shown below, right).

In August 2023, TikTokers began posting memes referencing the technique. One of the earliest known examples was posted by TikToker^[8] @your_typical_clown85 on August 12th, 2023, captioned, "Me using hollow purple at any minor inconvenience in fortnite," referencing the addition of the technique to Fortnite, garnering over 308,000 views in two months (shown below).

On August 25th, TikToker^[9] @large.trap posted a version of the meme that gained over 791,000 views in two months (shown below, left). The video was also posted to the largetrap Instagram^[10] page, garnering over 326,000 views in the same span of time. The meme became increasingly popularized throughout October of that year. On October 4th, TikToker^[11] @namrushtenbuhal4029 posted a version of the meme that gained over 650,000 views in two weeks (shown below, right).

On October 10th, TikToker^[12] @bendover1933 posted a meme using the clip of Gojo using Hollow Purple that gained over 1.4 million views in six days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References