Zack Fair's "Me? Gongaga"

About

"Me? Gongaga" is a memorable quote uttered by the character Zack Fair from the video game Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7. The quote appears in various YouTube Poop videos from both the original and the remake, remixing “Gongaga” into songs or combining it with other dialogue. It can also be used as a standalone catchphrase and sometimes appears in GIFs or still images as a meme.

Origin

The clip that the Gongaga meme is pulled from is seen in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, released on September 13th, 2007, and also in the remake, released on March 2nd, 2020. The specific scene where the quote is used occurs when Zack Fair and Cloud Strife meet each other in Modeoheim on a snowy mountain. During this scene (featured below), Zack and Cloud are discussing where they’re from. At one point, Cloud says he’s from “Nibelheim,” which Zack laughs at. Cloud then asks him where he hails from, to which Zack replies, “Me? Gongaga.” Located south of Gold Saucer, Gongaga is a small town in FF7 that was badly damaged by a disaster. It’s not only home to Zack Fair, but also several other characters from the game.

Spread

The initial spread of Gongaga memes appeared online around 2010. Though the exact first is unknown, one of the earliest examples of a YTP using the quote/scene from FF7 was uploaded on November 13th, 2010, by the YouTube^[1] account ThreadstoTwelve. In this video (seen below), various clips from the game are remixed into a song, and the “Gongaga” quote can be heard throughout. The video has since been viewed nearly 21,000 times and liked over 500 times.

On December 21st, 2010, YouTuber^[2] Vinesauce can also be seen using the scene in a YTP titled, “You Know Gongaga?” This variant (shown below) has been viewed over 31,000 times and liked almost 1,000 times.

Vinesauce then uploaded another version of the meme to his YouTube^[3] channel on December 22nd, 2010, under the title, “Radio Gongaga,” which remixes Queen’s song “Radio Ga Ga” with the quote. The video received over 15,000 views and nearly 500 likes (seen below).

Final Fantasy VII Remake: Gongaga Meme Resurgence in 2020

After the FF7 Remake was released in March 2020, the scene between Zack Fair and Cloud Strife resurfaced on various websites and social media as a meme. Seen in a tweet from Twitter^[4] user HMKilla on April 23rd, 2020, several replies inquiring about the meme were made below, with some including examples. This tweet (shown below) received almost 500 likes and 72 retweets.

pic.twitter.com/iZLVRRR0Ih

— Cody (@DoxycDreamer) April 23, 2020

On April 24th, 2020, YouTuber^[5] GamingX uploaded a video from the FF7 Remake remixing the quote into a song, reminiscent of the various YTPs that appeared on the platform a decade earlier. This video (seen below) has since been shared around various websites and social networks, garnering over 7,000 views and 300 likes.

Another tweet from Twitter^[6] user Arbiterwarpig features a still image meme variant of Gongaga (shown below), which received over 4,300 likes and 1,200 retweets.

CallMeCarson Reacts to Gongaga Meme During Livestream

On April 26th, 2020, YouTuber^[7] CallMeCarson uploaded a video after his hiatus from streaming titled, “I guess I'm back.” In this video, Carson can be seen viewing different memes and video clips from users. Around the 18:09 mark, he plays one of the “Gongaga” videos from the Remake, which helped to spread the meme further to his followers. The video has been viewed over 1.1 million times (seen below).

On the r/CallMeCarson sub, Redditor^[8] n8stingray73 posted a meme referencing the video from his livestream on April 26th, 2020. The meme (shown below) received over 1,000 upvotes and 19 comments.

Search Interest

External References