About

Oha Eine Schlafparalyse, which translates to, "Oh, sleep paralysis," refers to a series of memes based on a German brainrot animation in which a pigeon in a Santa hat goes to bed and is struck by an episode of sleep paralysis. The video was uploaded to TikTok in late November 2024 and became the subject of lip dub memes both inside and outside of Germany in January 2025, many of which recreate the video or strive to make videos equally as absurd as the original.

Origin

On November 29th, 2024, German TikToker^[1] @schnecke_123 posted an animated video that begins with a pigeon in a Santa hat getting into bed and farting. The pigeon then expresses, "Oha! Eine Schlafparalyse!" meaning, "Oh, sleep paralysis," as the penguins from Madagascar enter the room.

One penguin says, "This is a raid," another says, "You jerk," and the pigeon, still in bed, pulls up a phone and says, "I'll use the phone and call the cops." A cow from Barnyard in a police hat answers the phone. The pigeon says he's being robbed but the policeman does not come. A penguin shoots a bear trap from his mouth and another asks the pigeon where his assets are hidden. The penguins look under the blanket and find no assets, but the pigeon says his "crown jewels" are there. The penguins demand coal and the pigeon points them towards a grill. Suddenly, the pigeon is being wed to an ALDI cashier, who is a penguin, by a cat before waking up to see the penguins photo on his bedside table.

The video gained over 22.4 million views in two months.

Spread

In January 2025, the video garnered popularity with both German and English TikTok users, inspiring lip dub videos. On January 11th, 2025, TikToker^[2] @linhaltoderso posted a video recreating the animation, garnering over 500,000 views in two weeks.

On January 21st, TikToker^[3] @sturmbudewg posted a video recreating the original, garnering over 230,000 views in three days.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References