About

Skeleton Smoking a Cigar, also known by the caption The Terminator Wins, is a video caption and reaction meme format based on a clip of a skeleton lighting a cigar and taking a drag, originally from a modded version of the fighting video game Mortal Kombat 11. Starting in January 2022, the format gained virality on TikTok, with the video being paired with several phonk compositions and conveying the same meaning as get dunked on or RIPBOZO.

Origin

On February 26th, 2021, video game modder and YouTuber deathmule uploaded a video compilation of victory poses from a modded version of the 2019 video game Mortal Kombat 11, with the mod replacing character models with a bloodied skeleton.^[1] One of the animations, a victory pose for the character Jax, has the skeleton lighting up a cigar and smoking it (original and modded versions shown below, left and right).

While the meme format likely originated on TikTok, the earliest known video of it was uploaded by YouTuber^[2] MILCHE on January 12th, 2022.

The songs used in the meme are a Slowed + Reverb version of a Playboi Carti x Art Dealer x Die4Guy mashup by prodby668 and the phonk composition "Smoke" by Cowbell Cult, which is also used in Berserk Skeletons memes.

Spread

Starting in January 2022, the skeleton version of the meme saw major spread on TikTok, although the unmodded animation also saw limited use. For example, on February 18th, 2022, TikToker^[3] captainobvousdog posted a meme that gained over 21,100 views and 1,500 likes in eight months. On March 10th, TikToker^[4] @fw.silva_ posted a meme that accumulated over 28,400 views and 770 likes in seven months (shown below, right).

Through the spring and summer of 2022, several viral video caption and GIF caption memes based on the clip were shared. For example, on May 16th, 2022, Redditor CHAMAROP posted a GIF caption meme that received over 2,400 upvotes in /r/dankmemes in five months (shown below, left). On May 19th, CHAMAROP posted a GIF caption meme that received over 70,400 upvotes in /r/gaming in the same period (shown below, right).

On August 5th and 9th, TikTokers^[7][8] @maxb1.4 and @roastcommentshub posted two video caption memes that received over 59,700 likes and 79,100 likes in three months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References