About

I'm Slowly Forgetting Your Face is an animation meme and fan art trend where fictional characters who die in their respective series are shown with blacked-out faces and captions about slowly forgetting what their face looks like. The trend began as early as August 2024 with a piece of art titled "Yoake" by Instagram user and artist middnae. It was popularized as an animation trend throughout early 2026 on sites like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. The trend is often set to the song "Hero" by Meego.

Origin

On August 31st, 2024, Instagram^[1] user and artist middnae posted a piece of artwork titled "Yoake" visualizing the forgetting of a loved one's face after their passing. The art consists of nine panels showing the same girl, with her face covered by something different in each panel. In the first panel her face is covered by a circle captioned, "I'm slowly forgetting your face." The post gained over 635,000 likes in two years.

Spread

The artwork inspired other works of art over the following years, many of which feature popular fictional characters who die in their source material.

On September 4th, 2024, Instagram^[2] user ilhamrfky_ posted a version about the Omori character Mari, garnering over 32,000 likes in two years. On October 11th, Instagram^[3] user shwaimaa posted an animation based on the meme referencing the series Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, gaining over 40,000 likes in two years.

In February 2026, animation memes using the format saw a resurgence in popularity, including ironic versions of the meme.

On February 12th, 2026, TIkToker^[4] @gary_690 posted a version of the meme based on SpongeBob, garnering over 205,000 likes in two weeks.

On February 18th, X^[5] user @Miako120 posted a piece of artwork based on the meme referencing the Metal Gear franchise, garnering over 18,000 likes in a week.

On February 21st, X^[6] user @mikuneki posted an animation following the format that gained over 19,000 likes in four days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References