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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteKnow Your Meme’s 2024 reader poll put Chill Guy first, followed by Brazilian Miku and Hawk Tuah Girl. Those results offer one clear answer to “What were the best memes of 2024?”—but they are a reader poll, not a universal ranking. The year’s standout memes also included remixable templates, catchphrases, viral animals and revived older jokes.
What were the best memes of 2024?
Know Your Meme’s December 2024 poll provides the clearest ranked list in the available year-end coverage. Its percentages are shares of votes in that poll. The respondent count is not stated in the reviewed article, so the results should not be read as a measure of all internet users or every platform.
| Rank | Meme | Share of Know Your Meme poll votes | Why it caught on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chill Guy | 17.6% | A relaxed, relatable character that people could place into different situations or use to acknowledge their own enthusiasms. |
| 2 | Brazilian Miku | 11.9% | ErinArtista’s Brazilian take on Hatsune Miku inspired fans to imagine versions from other countries and fandoms. |
| 3 | Hawk Tuah Girl | 11.2% | A memorable interview phrase became a personality-led viral moment that expanded into merchandise, public appearances and a podcast. |
| 4 | A Circle?? In the Triangle Factory?? | 7.3% | A two-panel setup that could be recaptioned for unexpected results, companies and pop-culture references. |
| 5 | Galvanized Steel and Eco-Friendly Wood Veneers | 6.3% | Repeated materials in unhinged home-design videos became a running gag beyond renovation content. |
| 6 | Imagine If Ninja Got a Low Taper Fade | 5.1% | A streamer’s freestyle line turned into a recurring TikTok phrase and a joke about Ninja’s continued attention to it. |
| 7 | Erm, What the Sigma? | 4.6% | A voice-driven catchphrase tied to the year’s “brainrot” humor. |
| 8 | Bro Visited His Friend | 4.1% | Recaptions and absurd wording gave a two-panel comic new life. |
| 9 | Absolute Cinema | 3.9% | A reaction image associated with Martin Scorsese and “This Is Cinema” spread through redraws featuring characters from other media. |
| 10 | Sad Hamster | 3.1% | The sorrowful-looking hamster Tifa became a caption format for stressful, relatable moments. |
These figures come from Know Your Meme’s poll; they are vote shares, not estimates of each meme’s reach. Other year-end lists selected different examples, reflecting different editorial choices rather than a single agreed-upon top ten. Know Your Meme’s poll and year-end list explain the ranking and its entries.
Why the year’s formats worked
Templates invited people to join in
Chill Guy, Brazilian Miku and A Circle?? In the Triangle Factory?? each offered a different kind of participation. Chill Guy’s calm persona fit new situations; Brazilian Miku worked as an illustration prompt; and the triangle-factory joke kept its recognizable two-panel structure while captions changed. In each case, the format did not depend on one fixed punchline.
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Catchphrases traveled through voice and repetition
“Imagine If Ninja Got a Low Taper Fade” and “Erm, What the Sigma?” relied on recognizable delivery and repeatable wording. Know Your Meme traces “Erm, What the Sigma?” to an offshoot of “Erm… What the Deuce,” associated with a Stewie Griffin line, and connects its 2024 form to a Squidward-style delivery. These are examples of how a phrase or voice can become the joke itself.
Old images and jokes found new uses
Bro Visited His Friend spread through recaptions of an existing comic, while Absolute Cinema developed from a Martin Scorsese image and related “This Is Cinema” usage before inspiring redraws. The older “That Feeling When Knee Surgery Is Tomorrow” format also returned with the Blue Grinch; its renewed use belongs to 2024, but the joke predates the year.
One viral moment could become a larger public story
Hawk Tuah Girl began with a viral interview phrase and expanded into merchandise, representation, a podcast and public appearances, as the Daily Dot’s 2024 roundup describes. Know Your Meme also reports that a meme coin associated with Hailey Welch became a scandal after investors were rug-pulled. That episode is part of the later story around the viral figure, not the origin or sole meaning of the meme.
Other memes and moments that defined 2024
The Know Your Meme poll also included Yusuf Dikeç, the Turkish Olympic shooter whose unbothered appearance prompted jokes and fan art; “Brother, Ew! What’s That?”; Queen Never Cry from the Ki Sisters manhwa; Freaky/Freakbob edits; Akakichi no Eleven redraws; KSI’s “Thick of It”; a Mercedes CLR GTR copypasta; “Jorkin It”; and the Verbalase/Hazbin Hotel animation story. The range—from sports imagery and fan edits to copypasta—shows why a single format cannot stand in for the year.
Other outlets emphasized different trends. The Daily Dot’s editorial top ten included English or Spanish, Orange Peel Theory, Condescending Wonka, “Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body,” Drake memes, Wolf Memes and Christian Girl Autumn. Its account linked Condescending Wonka’s renewed relevance to the poorly organized Glasgow Willy Wonka-themed event; Orange Peel Theory turned a small act of care into a relationship test. These were that outlet’s selections, not additions to the Know Your Meme poll ranking.
Brat Summer and Moo Deng
The Associated Press included Brat Summer and Moo Deng among the year’s memorable pop-culture phenomena. TIME’s account of Moo Deng describes photos and videos posted by Thailand’s Khao Kheow Open Zoo spreading across social platforms, followed by fan art, merchandise, increased zoo foot traffic, protective measures and limited visiting hours. For some audiences, the viral pygmy hippo’s appeal was part of a broader attraction to animals and moments of escape. TIME quotes psychology professor emeritus David Barash of the University of Washington saying, “Observing animals, whether online or in person, can be therapeutic in many ways.” That is Barash’s view, not a claim of a universal or guaranteed effect. TIME also quotes Curtin University media sociologist Jin Lee describing how Moo Deng’s caretaker spent time with her and began posting about her, framing that relationship as one reason the attention appeared authentic to audiences.
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For a different kind of 2024 retrospective, see the Associated Press’ year-end pop-culture coverage and TIME’s report on Moo Deng.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read a “best memes” list
There is no single established metric in these sources that ranks every meme across regions, platforms and communities. A reader poll indicates which entries its respondents favored; an editorial roundup shows what its editors chose to highlight. Comparing them is more useful when you ask what each meme did: Was it easy to adapt? Did it revive an older image or phrase? Did it express a mood, attach to a public figure, or capture a cultural moment?
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On that basis, 2024’s meme culture was notably varied: Chill Guy offered a reusable persona, Brazilian Miku invited fan reinterpretation, catchphrases traveled by repetition, old templates returned with new captions, and Moo Deng became an animal-centered viral story. That range—not a claim that every person online shared the same favorites—is the most useful way to understand the year.
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