About

"Za Warudo" is the japanese pronunciation of the english word "The World", the name of Dio Brando's^[1] Stand on the third part of the popular manga and anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The main ability from this Stand is time stopping, being the most memorable moves used with it throwing a series of knives while the time is stopped, and slaming a steamroller while pummeling it until explodes, letting out his battlecry "WRYYYY". Both terms and moves became source of parodies, mostly associated with inverse colors pictures, as a reference to the Stand time stopping abilities.

Origin

"The World" first appeared on the chapter 248 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, released on December 16th, 1991, where Dio Brando uses its powers to move Polnareff through stairs.^[8] In 1993 and 1994, a series of OVAs adapting the last part of Stardust Crussaders were released, being the last one released on November 18th, 1994 and adapting the battle between the main character, Jotaro Kujo, and Dio Brando. On the episode, Dio Brando pronunces "The World" as "Za Warudo", due Japanese pronunciation on English.

On 1998, an arcade fighting videogame featuring JoJo characters was released on Japan. Dio's super move included him stopping the time, throwing two sets of knives, and falling with a steamroller while hitting and destroying it.

無駄だ！ (MUDA DA!) – It’s useless!
無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄無駄！ (MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA!) -USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS, USELESS! (Used here as a war cry)
ザ・ワールド！ (ZA WARUDO!) – THE WORLD!
時よ止まれ！ (Toki yo tomare!) – Stop, time!
くらえ！ (KURAE!) – TAKE THAT!
そして、時は動き出す。 (Soshite, toki wa ugoki dasu.) – And now, time flows again.

Spread

Because the series was a big hit in Japan, it's on the Japanese web that many fans have done animations or videos as tributes. One of these animations, involving stick figures, is called "mudah.swf"^[2]. This is where the meme first originated.The animation was made by a Japanese user qwerqwer1234^[3]. It's nearly impossible telling exactly when it first appeared on the Japanese web, as the user's website is now defunct, but an archived thread from 2ch.net and dating from July 2003^[4] links back to that site, in a thread gathering different kinds of flash animations.

It became popular enough on the Japanese web to be referenced again in 2005 on another website. The link was also referenced on StumbleUpon^[5] that same year, as a "good flash animation".

But it's qwerqwer1234 himself who introduced it to the rest of the world by joining AlbinosBlackSheep^[6] in March 2006, and Newgrounds^[7] one month later, only to post his work.

Due to the profusion of various destruction effects that can be seen as comical to some extends, considering the simple idea of pummeling someone with a steamroller appearing out of nowhere, the meme became sort of a visual depiction of the owned/pwned meme.

Various Examples

Images

Videos

Over the years, lots of video derivatives have arisen, involving a stick figures dropping the steamroll and letting out the signature war cry.

Some animation and video derivatives do not feature the use of stick figures:

Search Interest

Know Your Meme Store

Additional Resources

• WRYY Blog

External References