Mercy Offers a Hand

About

Mercy Offers a Hand is a two-panel meme format featuring character Mercy from the 2016 video game Overwatch offering her hand to a girl half-buried under rubble. Starting in September 2019, the format gained popularity as a way to humorously comment on situations in which one party helps another.

Origin

On December 18th, 2015, a theatrical teaser "We Are Overwatch" for then-upcoming multiplayer team-based shooter game Overwatch was released.^[1] In one scene of the trailer, character Mercy flies towards a girl half-buried under rubble and offers her hand.

We are compassion.

On September 24th, 2019, Redditor^[2] EverydayEverynight01 posted the earliest found meme based on the format to /r/HistoryMemes subreddit, where it gained over 34,400 upvotes in six months (shown below).

Spread

Also on September 24th, EverydayEverynight01 reposted^[3] the meme to /r/memes, gaining over 70 upvotes. In late September 2019, EverydayEverynight01 posted multiple memes based on the format in /r/memes and /r/dankmemes; for example, a meme posted^[4] by the Redditor on September 25th received over 5,400 upvotes in /r/memes. Another meme, posted^[5] by EverydayEverynight01 on September 26th, gained over 12,900 upvotes in /r/dankmemes (shown below, right).

On September 25th, Redditor^[6] anonymousman01 posted a template for the format to /r/MemeTemplatesOfficial subreddit. Additionally, EverydayEverynight01 posted^[7] a link to the format in a comment section to his post.

Starting on September 26th, 2019, the format attained a significant presence in meme communities on Reddit. For example, on that day, an unknown Redditor^[8] posted a meme that received over 12,900 upvotes in /r/dankmemes in six months (shown below, left). On September 27th, Redditor^[9] therobinhood7 posted a meme that garnered over 19,000 upvotes in /r/dankmemes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References