Mercy Offers a Hand
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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
[1] YouTube – Overwatch Theatrical Teaser | 'We Are Overwatch'
[2] Reddit – The Canadians are here!
[3] Reddit – The Canadians are Here!
[4] Reddit – Heroes Never Die!
[5] Reddit – TWe will save the planet!
[6] Reddit – Overwatch Mercy saving a person template
[7] Reddit – EverydayEverynight01
[8] Reddit – They teach Maths and Physics better than my school teacher does
[9] Reddit – Only way to defeat YouTube Ads
Top Comments
Big Anime Tiddies
Nov 20, 2020 at 12:58PM EST in reply to
Sheeps44
Nov 20, 2020 at 01:18PM EST