10 Movie Characters Who Became Memes

Cinema has created plenty of unforgettable big-screen moments that audiences will never forget. And they’ll never forget the characters that starred in these moments either. That’s also because meme culture has taken some of them and turned them into meme icons.

Star Wars is one franchise that has seen a ton of memes. But characters from both franchises and standalone films have become iconic to meme culture. They’re also not restricted to one style, coming from both live-action and animated features.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)

Star Wars has plenty of weird and bizarre aliens, but it’s one of the human characters that has become its biggest meme. The big bad of the franchise, Emperor Palpatine, was an intimidating presence when he first appeared in the 80s. But the prequel trilogy’s depiction of him as a schemer changed him. All of his dialogue and even his cocky smile have become a meme.

But as Palpatine is one of the better performances in the prequels, fans attached to him especially strongly. Lines like “I am the Senate” and the Darth Pelagius speech have become memes. There are even people who have become Palpatine supporters, both ironically and unironically. His prevalence in the fandom is perhaps why he reappeared in Rise of Skywalker.

Shrek

Shrek technically began life as a book. But the films’ popular lampooning of Disney and fairy tales has definitely become the second most iconic version of the character. Second, because the meme version of Shrek is definitely not the same character. And the ironic tinge of internet posts expressing their intense sexual desire for Shrek is certainly not the same.

Shrek became a meme as a result of nostalgia for the early 2000s. The aged aspects of the film became repeated over and over online, to mockery. Intense reverence for Shrek has also become a common joke, as has the plain abstraction of the character, poking fun at surreal scenes, like above.

Johnny (The Room)

Tommy Wiseau’s The Room was always destined for meme greatness. The film is a famously chaotic mess with barely any plot. The dialogue is falling to pieces as the viewer watches, and yet, it’s mesmerizing. Quoting it, and its main character, Johnny, portrayed as leering in the poster seen above, has always been popular.

Johnny is allegedly an all-American banker that is a fairly normal and nice guy. However, Wiseau’s performance of Johnny is full of weird syntax and pausing, along with a truly fun accent. Putting the character in memes feels natural because Johnny feels equally at home anywhere else. It’s a bizarre and beloved character fit for many bizarre and beloved memes.

Mr. Incredible (The Incredibles)

Pixar’s The Incredibles is a fantastic deconstruction of superhero stories while still being a great family movie. The Incredibles became an instant classic that its decade later sequel could never measure up to. This is due, in large part, to the down to Earth, likable energy of Bob Parr, Mr. Incredible, one of the film’s more quotable characters.

There are tons of memes that show off his “dad energy,” like his “Math is math!” line from the sequel. But lately, Mr. Incredible memes lately have taken an uncanny direction. Pictured above is an image that depicts Mr. Incredible as more realistic and shaded. Internet users love using this type of meme to compare concepts or as reactions to certain facts.

Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory

Using Willy Wonka in memes is actually quite old. The meme template has Gene Wilder resting on his hand, as seen here, and is used in a condescending way to make fun of someone. This would not be possible without the character’s latent condescending energy. As anyone who has seen the film will agree, Gene Wilder’s performance of the kindly candyman was oddly mean.

This was part of the contradiction of the character that made him appealing. This sort of smug energy is common among the actor’s roles, as he’s usually quite cocky. Unfortunately, this resulted in the character becoming a quite hostile meme. In its heyday, it wasn’t uncommon to see Willy preaching some horrifying opinion in the Impact font.

Barry B. Benson (Bee Movie)

Dreamworks characters seem to have a talent for becoming memes. Shrek is the first, but perhaps rivaling him in size is Barry from Bee Movie. This movie is truly out there, and Jerry Seinfeld’s performance only makes it more so. But whether you love or hate the film, the plot and characters’ wacky shenanigans make it a big meme hit.

Much like Shrek, a lot of the memes portray Barry as some kind of sex icon. Unlike Shrek, Bee Movie has a lot more uncomfortable adult themes and uncanny meme fodder, like the screencap above. Most infamously, the character has a human love interest that he steals away from her boyfriend. Ruminating on some of the film’s stranger moments has become very common online.

Walter Sobchak (The Big Lebowski)

The Big Lebowski is a fun and experimental movie with characters that run the gamut of every archetype. John Goodman’s character, Walter, is probably the loudest and most audacious of them. He’s always making loud social faux pas and threatening violence. His big blustery attitude made him perfect for internet tough guys to latch on to.

Both ironic and unironic memes of Walter loading his gun exist. These memes are usually there to communicate what the creator feels strongly about, or to mock another group for feeling strongly. Considering Walter is incompetent, the parody element is probably more in line.

Lightning McQueen (Cars)

When it first released, Cars was Pixar’s least highly rated film. That’s no longer the case and it wasn’t a bomb, but that attitude stuck with the franchise for the long haul. It becoming the studio’s most popular toy line further exasperated audience backlash towards the brand. And on top of this, the main character, Lightning McQueen, was voiced by Owen Wilson, who is memeable in his own right.

Fitting for his race car nature, this combination allowed Lightning to rocket ahead to become one of Pixar’s most ironic characters. He has a played-out catchphrase and a bizarre design that can be easily juxtaposed in memes. Character merchandise, like the Crocs seen above, became lampooned online and gave rise to ironic and offensive online comics.

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

American Psycho is full of barely-restrained homicidal energy and the unhinged character of Patrick Bateman radiates from the screen thanks to Christian Bale’s great performance. Tons of American Psycho quotes have become pop culture catchphrases. So is it any wonder that the character has become both an icon and a meme?

The film is a satire of the ’80s and was perhaps destined to become a meme. The decade has been criticized a lot on social media, so the movie’s sensibilities are in-line with this. There’s something strange about unhinged characters that make them relatable. The business card exchange pictured above has been edited plenty of times with added pop culture references, for example.

Kronk (The Emperor’s New Groove)

Kronk was one of the most enjoyable parts of the Disney film The Emperor’s New Groove. Patrick Warburton’s loveable idiot was technically an assistant to the main villain, but he was popular enough to get his own spin-off. And the character has endured through tons of memes. The most recent is the “Oh yeah, it’s all coming together” meme template pictured above.

But the character’s dumb and odd nature lead to him having several memes. His squirrel language, his confusion over Kuzko’s poison, him saying “nice,” and the list goes on. While the film itself is especially meme-worthy, Kronk definitely stands out and has become an archetypal image as the go-to “himbo” for online culture and the meme representing nice but stupid men.