About

Game Grumps is a YouTube collaborative let's play channel created by YouTubers JonTron and Egoraptor in which they play video games while providing commentaries and conversations with each other. In its launch in July 2012, the channel has quickly developed a fanbase consisting of video game enthusiasts and subscribers to the two hosts' personal YouTube channels.

Online History

On July 18th, 2012, both JonTron^[1] and Egoraptor^[2] uploaded an introductory video to their respective YouTube channels, explaining the launch of their new collaborative series in which they play video games while providing commentaries and conversations.

That same day, the pilot episode of Game Grumps was uploaded to the main channel^[4], featuring gameplay of "Kirby Super Star" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The pilot episode gained 368,000 views in less than a month.

Throughout July and August, the channel has released at least 41 episodes that cover a range of classic video games including Zelda: A Link to the Past, Mega Man 7, Goof Troop and Pokemon Emerald. Within first two weeks of launch, the channel accrued nearly 7 million video views and more than 150,000 subscribers.

Notable Episodes

Between July 2012 and June 2013, Game Grumps released more than 600 videos, accruing more than 197 million views and a million subscribers in less than a year.

JonTron's Departure

On June 25th, 2013, Game Grumps released a video^[6] announcing the departure of JonTron from the series. In the clip, JonTron explained that he is moving on to create a new project, though hinting that it will remain focused on the topic of video games. The news of JonTron's departure was largely met by disappointment from the fans, many of whom took their responses to Game Grump's forums on YouTube, Facebook and Reddit. The video also introduced Danny, a member of the comedy group NinjaSexParty^[7], as the replacement for JonTron.

Arin's Ghoul Grumps Apology

On November 6th, 2018, Arin Hanson released an 11-minute video in which he profusely apologized for "Ghoul Grumps," an annual pre-Halloween event in which the channel features scary games for a week, not running (save for one episode) in 2018. Evidently, the lackluster 2018 event caused some members of the Game Grumps fanbase to get extremely upset and spam the channel's videos and subreddit with angry comments. Hanson explains in the video that the breaking point was seeing negative comments about Ghoul Grumps on Ninja Sex Party's latest video in which they covered Africa by Toto. He also explained that the lack of Ghoul Grumps episodes was due to being involved in many projects, being sick, and experiencing burnout.

After the video aired, it was met with a flood of support from Game Grumps fans. A thread^[16] about the video on the Game Grumps subreddit gained over 3,700 points with many of the comments offering support of Hanson and denouncement of the comments that inspired the video (examples shown below). Additionally, an /r/OutOfTheLoop^[17] thread on the video found people supporting Hanson and denouncing the comments.

Dan Avidan 'Grooming' Allegation

On March 21st, 2021, Redditor /u/NotBlarg submitted a post to /r/rantgrumps^[18] which detailed allegations sent to them by an anonymous woman that Avidan had groomed and ghosted her. The evidence provided shows the woman first making contact with Avidan at 17 with an innocuous conversation, her turning 18 a month later, and Avidan sharing a sexual WhatsApp message with the accuser in December of 2017, when she was 22. This led to mixed online reactions, as some expressed disappointment and anger at Avidan based on the allegation, while others believed the evidence didn't show any wrongdoing on Avidan's part.

Related Series

Game Grumps VS

Game Grumps VS is a spinoff of the original Game Grumps where Arin would play a competitive game against Jon and later Danny after Jon's departure.

Steam Train

Game Grumps also announced a new spin-off series titled "Steam Train," in which co-hosts Danny and YouTube animator RubberRoss will provide commentaries while playing classic and new PC games together.

Table Flip

Table Flip is a series hosted by Suzie and Barry where they would play board games with guest players from either the grumps or from other famous youtubers while sporting a victorian era theme background and clothes.

GrumpCade

GrumpCade is a series where the grumps will play various console games with commentary. Unlike GameGrumps, the series will be hosted by any combinations of the grumps besides Arin and Danny. The series is also open to having guest players in, with Projarred guest starring the show with Ross on February 4th, 2015 (Shown Right).

Steam Rolled

Steam Rolled is a series where the Game grumps would play against the Steam Train team in competitive PC games with editor Barry taking over Danny on the Steam Train team. This series marks the first time Barry officially plays in the show and later doing commentaries with the rest of the group.

Fandom

With their reputation as notable gamers on YouTube prior to forming the collaboration, Game Grumps was able to quickly build its fanbase in a relatively short period of time. One of the recurring motifs throughout the series is the hosts' tendency to sing out their lines during conversations, some of which have been re-contextualized into electronic dance music and mash-up songs featuring video game theme songs. One of the most prominent fan remix artists is YouTuber WaterFlame^[3] whose channel features a variety of songs based on short soundbites, punchlines or other audio samples taken from the Game Grumps series.

Animations

Notable episodes have been animated by fans of the series, several of which have been highlighted on the official Game Grumps YouTube channel. The cartoons typically depict stories, jokes and hypothetical scenarios discussed on the show (shown below).

Related Memes

Seven Asses

On July 30th, 2012, the GameGrumps YouTube^[1] channel uploaded a Game Grumps episode^[5] titled Mega Man 7 – Seven Asses. – Part 8 – Game Grumps (shown below) in which Egoraptor asks JonTron "how much, how much, how much ass do you think Mega Man gets," to which JonTron quickly replies "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven." From there the conversation continued to escalate went on to become the subject of many jokes and art in the fandom.

That same day, YouTuber Markogt^[12] uploaded the first known video using the meme titled SEVEN ASSES (shown below) in which an animated clip from the Mega Man television series is played of Mega Man's dog tearing the tail off a kangaroo costume to reveal an ass. Six more images of the ass are edited into the video followed by audio from Game Grumps of JonTron and Egoraptor saying "seven asses."

On August 1st, a Facebook^[13] page titled "Seven Asses" was launched. On August 2nd a SFM animation titled Seven Asses [SFM] about the Seven Asses meme was uploaded to YouTube by Sed1er.^[14] Seven Asses had perhaps the most impact of any Game Grumps meme and was the joke on the first official Game Grumps T-shirts ever sold (as advertised below).

Wolfjob

On July 31st, 2013, the GameGrumps YouTube^[1] channel uploaded an episode of its spin-off web series “Steam Train” in which the co-hosts extensively discuss a 3D-rendered shock image of a naked man having his genitalia pawed by a wolf, apparently dubbed "The Wolfjob" (shown below).

On the same day, Redditor ParrotLad submitted the photo to the /r/gamegrumps^[7] subreddit. On September 16th, a Facebook^[6] page titled “Wolf Job” was launched. On September 28th, JonTron brought up the Wolfjob during a livecast session of the 1990 side-scrolling platform game Super Mario World with YouTuber DidYouKnowGaming. (shown below).

On November 1st, Redditor ClassyStache submitted a phone screenshot to the /r/gamegrumps^[9] subreddit containing an MMS message of the wolfjob photo purportedly sent to his mother by accident. On December 13th, a page titled “Wolf Job” was created on the Game Grumps wiki.^[8] That month, a silhouette of Wolfjob was featured on the 2014 Game Grumps holiday t-shirt (shown below, left).^[10] The original image subsequently spread on Tumblr^[11] as well, where it spawned several parodies including a Christmas-themed version (shown below, right).

Can't Get Enough of That Sugar Crisp

On April 21st, 2018, Game Grumps uploaded an episode of themselves playing Super Mario Maker. During the episode, Danny and Arin began talking about the addictive quality of old commercials for the cereal Sugar Crisp in which the Sugar Crisp mascot Sugar Bear attempts to obtain the cereal from a granny character who is hiding it from him (compilation shown below, left). In the commercials, Sugar Bear is often pursuing Granny with a relaxed demeanor and singing a jingle with the lyrics, "Can't get enough of that Sugar Crisp, keeps me going strong). In the Game Grumps episode, Danny and Arin start a riff of jokes imagining Sugar Bear explaining political reasons why he can take the Sugar Crisp from Granny, followed up by singing the jingle (shown below, right).

The moment was praised by fans. The day the episode was posted, a thread in the /r/GameGrumps^[15] subreddit about the episode gained 179 points, with some users calling it one of their funniest bits. The moment was also animated in several videos on YouTube. On April 30th, 2018, YouTuber MatterBoar Gaming uploaded a compilation of the scene, paired with another episode where Game Grumps talked about Sugar Bear, gaining over 111,000 views (shown below, left). On May 3rd, 2018, YouTuber KidLudens posted an animation that gained over 214,000 views (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References