Rape Horse
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Content Warning: Portions of the following entry contain mentions and/or depictions of sexual violence or abuse. If you need support or you or a loved one are in an abusive situation, please contact the National Sexual Violence Resource Center or call 1-800-656-HOPE.
About
Rape Horse is a colloquial name given to a horse possessed by an evil spirit that attempts to rape the character Farnese in the manga series Berserk. The infamous scene from the manga, which was also later included in the 2016 anime adaptation, is often referenced in memes within the Berserk fandom.
Origin
On July 12th, 1998, chapter 124 "Recurring" of the Berserk manga series was released.[1] In the chapter, a horse, possessed by an evil spirit, attempts to rape the character Farnese, with the protagonist Guts cutting its head off (panel shown below, left).
In the 2016 anime adaptation of the manga series, the scene appears in episode three, titled "Night of Miracles," which premiered on July 15th, 2016 (still image shown below, right).[2]
The scene has been referenced in memes within the Berserk fandom since at least 2012. On July 8th, 2012, Skullnight.net[3] forum user MrWeatherby posted the earliest found meme comic referencing the scene for a "funny Berserk picture" contest organized by another user, ultimately winning it (shown below).[4]
Spread
On December 29th, 2015, Tumblr[5] user blubbloren posted a crossover meme based on the panels from the manga, which referenced the Bloodborne boss Ludwig, the Accursed, supposedly inspired by the character. The post gained over 580 likes and reblogs on Tumblr and was widely circulated through reposts[6][7] in the following years.
In the second half of the 2010s, the meme achieved significant recognition within the Berserk community, particularly in shitposting communities such as /r/berserklejerk subreddit on Reddit and BERSERK SHITPOSTING ARC on Facebook, later, as the manga achieved more mainstream recognition, also appearing in memes on TikTok. For example, on June 16th, 2022, Twitter[8] user @Homelessempero1 posted a screenshot of a TikTok[9] comment referencing the meme that gained over 2,600 retweets and 35,600 likes in one month (shown below).
Various Examples
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7133609210612403462
Search Interest
External References
[1] Berserk Wiki – 'Recurring'
[3] Skullknight – MrWeatherby
[4] Skullnight – MrWeatherby
[5] Tumblr – blubblorne-blog
[6] arch.b4k – /v/ Post #321986176
[7] Reddit – I have never laughed so hard at an edit in my life
[8] Twitter – @Homelessempero1
[9] TikTok – @hollowmother
Top Comments
Kommando_Kaijin
Sep 08, 2022 at 09:43PM EDT
Chouseng
Sep 08, 2022 at 08:35PM EDT