Invincible's Think Meme Comes To Resident Evil, Pokémon, & More Games
Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Invincible.
Fans of all manner of media and franchises have taken to using the popular "Think" meme from the animated adult superhero show Invincible, with gamers using the format to pay tribute to a number of popular games such as Resident Evil, Pokémon and Fallout. The critically-acclaimed Amazon Prime series is based on the comic book series of the same name, written by The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. The animated adaptation began airing in March 2021, with the season one finale recently airing on April 29.
As an essential part of internet culture, memes are used extremely often in the discussion of new or popular pieces of entertainment. Video games are no exception to this rule, as nearly every game's fanbase has memes that reference or relate to important parts of the title. The recent release of Resident Evil Village, the newest entry in the long-running survival horror franchise, was naturally accompanied by a whole slew of memes. These memes make references to the game's plot, the franchise's history, and Capcom's development of the game. Many of these memes give particular attention to Chris Redfield, a series regular since the very first game's 1996 release, and his suddenly antagonistic role in the story.
A meme from Invincible has recently become popular among video game communities as fans replace the show's characters with ones from various games. The "Think" meme portrays a scene from the show's season finale, wherein protagonist Mark is savagely beaten and lectured by his father Omni-Man, who tells him, "Think, Mark, think!." A new wave of gaming memes recreating the scene often portray a video game antagonists lecturing the protagonist on their stupidity, but many also twist that structure in reverse and play with the scene in many other ways. One example pokes fun at The Legend of Zelda protagonist Link's inability to speak outside of saying "Hyah," while another has Pokémon iconic Pikachu lecturing his owner Ash Ketchum on his decisions as a trainer.
Memes are often used to express opinions about recently released games, such as the early access survival sandbox title Valheim. One clever player recreated the Skyrim horse meme to draw parallels between the two Norse mythology-inspired titles. The meme shows a player character running up an impossibly-steep mountain, something that was often accomplished by Skyrim's horses. Another clever Valheim fan used the Lonely Man meme originally inspired by the Netflix series Narcos, with the Valheim version depicting a player waiting alone in various locations to express their anticipation for an update.
The Invincible Think Meme is applicable to a variety of situations, allowing it to be easily translated into just about any community. While some of these memes simply recreate the scene from the show using different characters, others go the extra mile to make the meme truly memorable. As Invincible's popularity reaches a high at its first season finale, it seems likely that new memes may continue to spawn from the animated show in the near future.