About

Meme Approved by Knuckles refers to a series of short reaction videos of the character Knuckles the Echidna from the animated television series Sonic Boom in which the character stamps his approval of the meme. These videos express

Origin

On May 6th, 2015, the Sonic Boom episode "Mayor Knuckles aired in the United States. In the episode, Knuckles takes the position of mayor for the day (clip shown below, left).^[1]

Early examples can be found with Knuckles in meme format. On Sept. 16th, 2015, Knux827 posted a video of Knuckles is saying "meme" instead of "me" on Youtube. ^[2] In less than five year, the post received more than 200,000 views (shown below, right).

On October 9th, 2019, Twitter ^[2] user @BoomContext used that same video of Knuckles with a caption that reads, "When I see a spicy good meme in my notifications: (Feel free to steal this)." Within one year, the tweet received more than 31,000 views, 3,500 likes and 1,000 retweets (shown below).

Spread

On March 30th, 2020, Redditor ^[4] posted the meme on the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit. The post recieved more than 12,000 points (99% upvoted) and 335 comments in less than one month (shown below).

On April 14th, Twitter user @Spielmeister456 tweeted the video with the caption "HERE'S THE "official" MEME APPROVED KNUCKLES REACTION LIST I made these edits, no credit necessary starting with MEME: APPROVED (trivia) i didn't come up with it, I only removed the watermarks and made it 16:9 at 720p b/c that's the highest quality copy I could find. The tweet received more than 16,000 views, 1,000 likes and 310 retweets in less than one month (shown below).

HERE'S THE "official" MEME APPROVED KNUCKLES REACTION LISTi made these edits, no credit necessarystarting with MEME: APPROVED(trivia) i didn't come up with it, I only removed the watermarks and made it 16:9 at 720p b/c that's the highest quality copy I could find pic.twitter.com/pRgJR3U2pd

— The Haydenman (@Spielmeister456) April 14, 2020

Variations of this meme would be found on Twitter in reaction to other memes in positive or negative approval. The heavy usage in replies would garner the attention of Sonic Boom writer and creative consultant Alan Denton.^[5][6] He wrote, "I just found a thread of a dozen or so of these Knuckles 'meme approval' videos and I don't know what reality is anymore. To everyone who worked on Sonic Boom, this may be our legacy." The post received more than 10,000 likes and 1,900 retweets in less than one month (shown below).

I just found a thread of a dozen or so of these Knuckles "meme approval" videos and I don't know what reality is anymore.To everyone who worked on Sonic Boom, this may be our legacy. https://t.co/eIwhvlhYTE

— Alan Denton (@AlanTheWriter) April 18, 2020

Various Examples

pic.twitter.com/afUQ5y1u0U

— treven 🌵 (@demiractus) April 17, 2020

Search Interest

External References