Given the relatively light-hearted tone and the ensemble of quirky and kooky characters, it's inevitable that Puyo Puyo would rack up some memes over the years.
Please add entries in the following format:
- The meme. [[labelnote:Explanation]]The explanation behind the meme, if necessary.[[/labelnote]] ExplanationLike this.
- Further mutations and successor memes, if any.
General memes:
- The numerous Makes Just as Much Sense in Context moments within Puyo Puyo has NOT gone unnoticed, a few examples ranging from actual Satan enlarging the sun to be surrounded by women in bikinis, and have a longer summer during Puyo Puyo Sun, Feli going..."kooky" upon seeing Lemres' candy-deprived delirium in Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary, Ringo interrupting a murder curse cast by Feli in Puyo Puyo 7, and Satan simping for Arle. We are not joking when it comes to some of these examples, Puyo Puyo is THAT weird!
- Fever Voice Acting.ExplanationThe English voice acting from the first Fever game, in hindsight, is incredibly cheesy when compared to the dub from Puyo Puyo Tetris. That said, some fans find it endearing in spite of it.
- "The Tetris player is at a slight disadvantage." explanationA line from IGN's review of Puyo Puyo Tetris that generally gets quoted in response to yet another video strongly supporting the idea that it is almost mathematically impossible for a Puyo player to defeat a sufficiently-practiced Tetris opponent. Heck, even just the phrase "slight disadvantage" has come to be synonymous with PuyoTet, if cursory searches on Google, Twitter, and YouTube are of any indication.
- Mild Sexual Innuendo ExplanationPuyo Puyo Tetris is rated E10+ for Mild Sexual Themes by the ESRB, which immediately points fingers at Schezo, the king of poor phrasing. When the ACB released its ratings for the sequel, it got rated PG for Mild Sexual Innuendo, which, before Schezo got officially confirmed to return, the fans immediately knew he would come back.
- Arle's Vocal Theme ExplanationThe vocal cover for "A Long Awaited Space-Time Journey" is just Arle saying "nana" and "Puyo" over and over again to the tone of the song, which can bring to mind the "When you're sad, you understand the lyrics" quote. Despite the simple presentation, the song is still considered endearing to many.
- The December 13, 2023 incident ExplanationOn December 13, 2023, Sega's primary English account on Twitter suddenly posted advertisements for Puyo Puyo Quest along with accidentally leaking the new Puzzle Pop models for Arle and Amitie, leading to a mass meltdown from the western community over whether or not Quest will finally get its overdue localization with no strings attached. Unfortunately, it never happened, and the models went unspoken about until Puzzle Pop's official announcement in March 2024.
- Puzzle Pop eyes ExplanationAll the characters in Puzzle Pop have white pupils as opposed to the whole eye being one solid color with an eye shine to the side. While this doesn't look too bad on characters like Sig or Draco, it crosses over into Unintentional Uncanny Valley territory for everyone else, with many noting how seemingly more brainless Amitie looks or that Ringo looks like she's about to snap.
Character-related memes:
- Decapitation Survivor Schezo Wegey
◊. ExplanationThe PC98 port of Madou Monogatari 2 changed the boss battle against Schezo so it features Arle accidentally decapitating Schezo, only for his head to get back up, start floating and keep battling Arle until it passes out. This incident is never mentioned again in the entire franchise, and every game after has Schezo, head included, alive and well. Fans have been having a field day with making fun of this oddity for years now. - Arleplush. ExplanationA strange-looking plush of Arle that appears to have a bit of a Kubrick Stare, which was often used in “Momomo Tsuu Han” promotional videos, notably a clip of a zoom in of its face.
- "Get real!"/"Get really real!"ExplanationTwo of Amitie's catchphrases in the Fever & DS Eras, though the former ended up getting a resurgence some time between 2021 and 2022 for...whatever reason, but there exists at least two GIFS◊ of her with those exact same quotes.
- "Wicked!"Explanation Another of Amitie's catchphrases in the Fever to DS Era, used for winning a match in the former gam, though it doesn't have much prominence.
- Ringo Ando. One of the snarkiest, and maybe somewhat quirkiest characters has made rounds in the Puyo fandom fast because of her relatable & hilarious personality, even with the lukewarm reception for her debut game.
- "Somebody, make it stop! I just want to have a normal, everyday conversation for once!" ExplanationSaid to be her Establishing Character Moment, setting her as someone even snarkier than Arle. Ringo, who just got acquainted with the game and its regulars, wastes no time questioning the logistics as the newcomer.
- "The inhabitants of your world... are the strangest people I've ever met!" Explanation During Puyo Puyo 7, this is Ringo's response to Lemres when told that he's not a stranger. Considering the multiple Cloud Cuckoo Lander and Bunny-Ears Lawyer type people that she has met alongside the fandom, this is VERY understandable.
- "Everything revolves around Puyo..."ExplanationThis is one of Ringo's quotes to Lemres during Puyo Puyo 7, with this exact wording being taken as the fandom's thought's, bemusement or amusement on the fact that just about everything needs to be solved with Puyo.
- *increasingly louder-than-average screaming of absolute distilled terror* Explanation Ringo's most memorable Unsound Effect originates in Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary during Yu & Rei's story. Her Wild Take expression and her prior hilarity helps with this too.
Quote-related memes:
- Octagon.ExplanationA scene in the English translation of Minna de Puyo Puyo features Arle responding to Incubus flirtatiously asking her what her zodiac sign is with "Octagon. As in 'stop'." It's widely regarded as one of the funniest lines in the entire franchise and has led to western fans jokingly nicknaming this particular game's incarnation of Arle "Octagon".
- "YOU CHALLENGING ME?!". ExplanationKlug's character select screen quote in the English version of Puyo Puyo Tetris, while an accurate translation of his Japanese line, "ボクとやろうっていうのかい？" was delivered with such an exceeding amount of ham that repeatedly selecting and unselecting the character quickly became a player-favorite method of annoying opponents that take too long to select their character in online play. The line was so infamous that it became one of the few English gameplay voice lines to actually be entirely rerecorded for Puyo Puyo Tetris 2 - this time with a less scream-y delivery.
- "T h e s u n w a s i n m y e y e s". ExplanationAnother one from Klug, this time from the English version of Puyo Puyo Fever (namely, it's his voice line for failing a Fever chain). Fans love to bring this one up whenever Klug (or a player playing as him) loses at anything, simply for the pathetic nature of it. It is pretty much the Puyo Puyo equivalent of "Squidward Tortellini".
- "Why does looking at him make me cringe!?" explanationA Rare Sentence said by Klug, of all people, in Puzzle Pop when he encounters Suketoudara in his Sub Story.
- "The time has come for me to clear my reputation... by assaulting this young girl!" explanationOne of Schezo's lines that Crosses the Line Twice because of his main schtick of spitting out Double Entendre without ever realizing it.
- *slightly louder than average screaming*/*screaming loud enough to be heard in the vast vacuum of space* explanationTwo particularly memorable Unsound Effects from the first Puyo Puyo Tetris.
- "I am wounded by your cruel, cruel finger pointing!" explanationDark Prince Satan's response to Arle instantly accusing him of merging two worlds.
- "She doesn't play Tetris!?" "He doesn't play Puyo Puyo!?" explanationThis one in particular struck quite the chord with western players unfamiliar with Puyo Puyo, as they could pretty much perfectly relate to Tee in this situation.
Fandom memes:
- Puyo Puyo is a glorified Candy Crush mod.explanationDuring an already controversial theory by Game Theory about Kirby being evil, MatPat had the misfortune to not just fail to recognize Kirby's Avalanche as Puyo Puyo... but take it a step further, comparing it to an entirely different genre. To say that this upset the Puyo fanbase is a great understatement. This inspired plenty of similar jokes about mislabeling Puyo characters as being from other series, such as calling Arle a Touhou character.
- Puyo Puyo is a psychological horror game.ExplanationThe Steam page for Champions ended up getting the "psychological horror" tag of all things. Many joke that it is a psychological horror game, given the This Is Gonna Suck factor of seeing an opponent pull off a particularly impressive chain without being able to offset it. Alternatively, fans may bring up the nastier elements of the Madou games.
- Suketoudara, a powerful dark magician. ExplanationIn the leadup to Puyo Puyo Tetris 2, the official English Puyo Puyo Twitter slowly introduced the game's characters. For Suketoudara, they somehow managed to mix up his and Schezo's descriptions, leading to Suketoudara being labeled as a "powerful dark magician". It was eventually replaced with a more accurate description, but not before being mocked by the fandom.
- Maguro's cat. ExplanationIn Puyo Puyo Tetris 2. It is revealed that Maguro owns a cat when he and Ringo are faking a bitter rivalry during chapter 6. Fans have been posting about it on Twitter so much that the official English Puyo Puyo Twitter had to make a post demanding people to stop asking pictures of his cat along with a picture of a real life cat. It later became Harsher in Hindsight when Zack of SEGA revealed that "Maguro's Cat" had passed away during October 15th, 2021.
- Unhygienic Arle.ExplanationRefers to Arle complaining about how Zed was hassling her for not practicing "proper hand sanitization techniques", with a fearful gulp preceding it alongside admitting that she wears the same clothes for 365 days. People eventually exaggerated it to her not liking being clean at all, and assumed she's a bit of a slob, but this may not entirely be out of character for her because of her tomboyish attitudes.
- Is it really possible for a Puyo Puyo girl and a Tetris boy to be in a relationship? ExplanationWhile this can be used to joke about how unbalanced Puyo rules can be compared to Tetris rules and vice-versa, it can also be used to playfully joke about the Ship Tease between Ringo and Tee throughout Puyo Puyo Tetris and its sequel.
