Daria "Foxdari" Sedelnikova From a pygmy hippo to viral music tracks, 2024 introduced countless new memes. Social media’s smart feeds constantly present something fresh, so if your favorite meme isn’t in this selection or you come across an unfamiliar one, don’t rush to leave an angry comment. Instead, share your favorites! Here's a roundup of the year's standout memes, presented without ranking.
Mr. Fresh
The ginger cat Mr. Fresh gained fame through the Chinese app Hello Street Cat, where users can donate to feed street cats through smart feeders and watch the process live. Mr. Fresh captured the internet’s heart with his behavior—he waits only for fresh food and ignores the rest, all while his face looks adorably funny on camera. The first viral videos of the cat likely came from TikToker catzoo1.
Image: youtube.com
Circle at the Triangle Factory
A small comic depicts a triangle factory where a circle suddenly appears on the conveyor belt. Employees react differently: some are shocked, while others calmly accept the change.
The author captioned the comic with the question, “Which one are you?” Within three days, the post garnered 250,000 likes. Users began creating their own versions, adding famous personalities, crafting news reports, and inventing new lore for the factory, such as introducing another boss.
Image: ensigame.com
Bear or Man
In April, a TikTok blogger asked women on the street, “Who would you rather encounter in the forest—a man or a bear?” This sparked heated debates in the comments. Some argued a man would be less dangerous, while others claimed humans can be more threatening than wild animals.
Bloggers began making videos discussing the topic, and street interviews followed. For instance, a video featuring New Yorkers revealed that most women chose the bear. The clips accumulated millions of views.
Image: ensigame.com
Concert Photo on BeReal
A snapshot from Madison Beer’s concert taken on the BeReal app went viral on X. BeReal allows users to post one photo daily at a random notification. In the image, a fan captured herself with the singer in the background. The striking emotions and unique composition grabbed attention, inspiring users to recreate similar images with characters from games and anime or to produce parody illustrations.
Image: ensigame.com
#WomenInMaleFields
Women launched the TikTok trend #WomenInMaleFields to humorously depict how men behave in relationships and at work, set to Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda. For example, instead of giving direct answers, men say things like “We’ll see.”
One TikToker shared a video of herself playing basketball during a serious conversation with her boyfriend. This trend resonated globally, with women saying these videos help them deal with tough situations and feel supported by others.
Image: newsweek.com
Moo-Deng the Hippo
In late August, internet users turned their attention to Moo-Deng, a two-month-old pygmy hippo from a Thai zoo—a rare and endangered species.
Moo-Deng’s fame wasn’t due to his rarity but his expressions and poses, which users began using for memes about everyday life. A screenshot from X went viral featuring a text message: “I hope you’re keeping up with Moo-Deng’s exploits?” People started inserting this message into scenes from movies and games, sharing and remixing the hippo’s images.
Image: news.yahoo.com
Sigma Sigma Boy
In October 2024, the Russian duo Besty and Masha Yankovskaya released a song about sigma males, and a TikTok video featuring the track amassed over 11 million views.
The trend exploded in late November when German blogger @simon.bth posted a video of himself playing the track on a speaker in the Munich subway. The clip earned 35 million views and 3 million likes. Simon posted additional videos with the song, all of which went viral. Users began creating their own versions and remixes of the track.
Image: ensigame.com
Queen Never Cry
In late August, Reddit users discussed the Korean webtoon The Ki Sisters. The comic gained wider popularity in late November due to a scene in a maternity ward.
In the scene, a nurse hands a newborn to its mother. When the baby starts crying, she whispers, “Queen Never Cry,” and the infant stops crying, adopting a serious expression. This meme quickly spread across TikTok, Reddit, X, and Instagram. Even blogger Lowcost made a parody of the scene.
Image: knowyourmeme.com
Chill Guy
In September, an artist shared an illustration of a dog calmly reacting to any situation. Initially overlooked, the post went viral two months later.
Users dubbed the character Chill Guy and paired it with relaxing music to create memes and videos. The clips, showcasing a coolheaded response to chaos, garnered millions of views.
Image: fortnite.com
The Guys Meme
This meme originates from a frame in the 1970s anime Akakichi no Eleven, showing a man with a strong jawline smiling and placing his hand on another character’s shoulder.
By late 2023, the image gained traction among French users on X. In early 2024, one post revealed the source of the frame, prompting users to redraw the scene with characters from other media. The meme gained popularity worldwide.
Image: reddit.com
These were the most viral memes of 2024. I hope we were able to cheer you up and find out the history of these trends.
Main image: ensigame.com
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