Memes / The Dark Knight Trilogy

aka: The Dark Knight Saga

Batman was already quite the memetic superhero, but this series took it up to eleven. These lines are quite popular on 4chan, specifically the /tv/ section.

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Batman Begins

• Nice coat.
• SWEAR TO ME!!!
  • DO I LOOK LIKE A COP!?
  • Where were the other drugs going?!
• "I'm Batman."^ExplanationCarmine Falcone just had all of his men removed by a shadow. Dropping back inside his limo, he checks his double barreled shotgun for ammo. Batman pulls Falcone up through the sunroof and is asked: "What are you?"
• MRW I wear my batman costume to masturbate in front of my neighbors sprinkler at 3:32am every third Tuesday of the month. ^Explanation On Imgur, a GIF of Batman straining in the rain◊ was posted with the oddly specific title in question. The post quickly became a popular inside joke within the community, with many follow-ups to the original being told from the perspective of the neighbor or other bystanders.
• "Batman should've let Joffery die" or "Batman's responsible for Eddard Stark's death."^ExplanationA pre-Game of Thrones Jack Gleeson appears as a little kid Batman runs into while tracking Crane and and later saves (along with Rachel) from Zsasz.

The Dark Knight:

• The Internet has been swamped with people jokerizing icons, avatars, and pictures of all kinds with graffiti of Joker make-up and the phrase "WHY SO SERIOUS?" To be fair, it was intended to be a meme by marketing.
  • A variant: "Not sure if serious." ^Note(Taken from an inquisitive look by the Joker right after the line "We're not intimidated by thugs.")
• It seems that everyone wants to show you a magic trick. Don't let them.
  • TA-DA! It's, ah, it's gone.
    • Oh, and by the way, the suit? It wasn't cheap. You oughta know, you bought it!
• "Do you want to know how I got these scars?"
• The now-famous interrogation scene.
  • Never start with the head! The victim gets all... fuzzy!
  • "Are you speaking Bat? Is that what Bat sounds like?"
• Very poor choice of words.
• There's been some mutation of Alfred's speech about seeing a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine.
  • A few years ago, he saw a child playing with a tangerine the size of a tangerine.
    • A long time ago, he saw a ruby playing with a child the size of a tangerine.
  • His friends and he were in Burma working for the local Tangerine.
    • But in six months... they never met anyone.
    • Some men aren't looking for anything logical...some men just want a tangerine.
• What do you believe in, huh? WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IN?
  • I believe whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you... [takes off mask] stranger.
• Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are tonight's entertainment! I only have one question. Where is Harvey Dent?
• Come on, I want you to do it, I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. Hit me!
  • He missed!
• "I just want my phone call."
• You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
• And here... we... go.
• "A little fight in you, I like that..." "Then you're gonna love me."
• Courtesy of RiffTrax, WHERE ARE THEY!?
• "Look at me...LOOK! AT! ME!"
• He's the meme that the Internet deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So they'll mock him. But he can take it.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal just kneed the Joker IN THE BALLS!!!
• In Nolan We Trust
• Various images involving Alfred's "Some men just want to watch the world burn" speech have people doing things that aren't pure evil, just really, flat-out stupid.
• It's simple, we kill the Batman.
• NO MORE DEAD COPS!
• AFLONG AFLONKONG ^note  A misunderstanding of Morgan Freeman saying "What's wrong with Hong Kong?"
• "I'M NOT WEARING HOCKEY PADS!!!"
• "Harvey, Harvey, Harvey Dent. Oh, excuse me! I wanna drive!" ^ExplanationThe Joker says this when he's pushing the dead semi truck driver out of the driver's seat during the car chase and takes the wheel
• Everyone loses their minds!
  • "Nobody panics when things go according to plan, even if the plan is horrifying."
• WHHHHHHERE IZZZZZZHEE?!
• "You see, in their last moments... people show you who they really are." ^Explanation A line from the Joker's rant about why he prefers knives to guns, saying that he likes watching people break down when they realize they're about to die, and reveal their true nature. A very popular meme is to ironically turn this into an optimistic quote by tying it to a scene from The first Sam Raimi Spider-Man film where the Jerkass J. Jonah Jameson reveals Hidden Depths when he thinks he's about to die and chooses to protect Peter from the Green Goblin rather than rat him out.
• It's not about what I want, it's ABOUT WHAT'S FFAAAAAIIRRR!!! We thought we could be decent men, IN AN INDECENT TIME. ...But we were wrong.
• It's not about money, it's about sending a message.
• The [X] that [Y] needs vs. the [X] that [Y] deserves.
• And I thought my jokes were bad.
• Enough from the clown!
• Ledger's Joker is used for "edgy" parody Straw Nihilist image macros stating "WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY", often with "BOTTOM TEXT" below, meant to give the impression the meme picture is sloppily made via a macro maker site. This eventually spread to later movie Jokers as played by Jared Leto and Joaquin Phoenix.

The Dark Knight Rises

• "DESHI! DESHI! BASHARA! BASHARA!"
  • "THIS! IS! AWESOME! AWESOME!"
• "Death or exile?"
  • "DEATH... by EXILE!"
• "Why so incomprehensible?"
• Darth Connery^ExplanationBane's voice has been frequently described as sounding like a mix between Darth Vader and Sean Connery
• "WHERE'S THE TRIGGER!? WHERE IS IT!? YOU'D NEVER GIVE IT TO AN ORDINARY CITIZEN! WHERE'S THE TRIGGER?! WHERE IS IT?! WHERE IS IT?!"
  • "TELL ME WHERE THE TRIGGER ISH...THHEENNN...YOU'LL HAVE MY PERMISHION TO DIIEEE!"
• Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb!^{Explanation (SPOILER ALERT!)}Batman getting rid of a bomb in this film is suspiciously similar to Adam West's Batman getting rid of a bomb in his film. Both of them even appear to get blown to bits off-screen only to be seen alive later.
• Crashing this plane... with no survivors!^ExplanationBane's intro. This is often used politically, as in: 'Bain Capital will crash this country's economy... with no survivors!' For another example, it was used by some Democrats as a reflection of where they believed Mitt Romney would take America. The quote's memetic usage shifted into Baneposting later on.
• Bane just wants a hug.^ExplanationA behind-the-scenes photo of Christian Bale and Tom Hardy hugging while in costume was both heartwarming and hilariously out of character.
• "They know! They just don't care!" ^ExplanationBatman says this to Catwoman when she tries to tell Bane's men she's not bluffing as they approach her and she's holding Daggett hostage. Often used to point out the obvious response of strongly opinionated people who realize something's happening, but go along with said thing just because they believe it's right.
• "So that's what that feels like." ^ExplanationBatman, a master of Stealth Hi/Bye, says this in response to Catwoman pulling one on him.
• "You'll just have to imagine my death." ^ExplanationA line people frequently say they wish Batman had said in rebuttal after Bane died.
• Miranda/Talia's infamous death scene has inspired a blog of people dying like Marion Cotillard.
• This isn't a car.◊
• Despite being an absolute Tear Jerker in the film, Alfred's weeping at Bruce's grave before he learns of his survival has become a popular, very common reaction GIF to use on the Internet.
• Other Bane Quotes
  • "When Gotham is... ashes, then you will have my permission to die."
  • "Yes. The fire rises."
  • "Your punishment must be more severe."
  • Speak of the Devil...and he shall appear.
  • Do you feel in charge?
    • And this gives you power over me?
    • I'm necessary evil.
  • "You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it."
    • "You merely adopted the X. I was born in it. Molded by it. I didn't see the Y until I was already a man, and by then, it was nothing to me but blinding!" People usually substitute in something they're very familiar with when someone else complains about a minor occurrence of it, e.g. lag, rain, etc.
  • "You'll just have to imagine the fire." ^{Explanation (spoilers)} Bane's last words prior to getting blasted away and killed by Catwoman.
• "SOMEONE GET THIS HOTHEAD OUTTA HERE!" ^Explanation Yelled by Detective Peter Foley in reference to John Blake protesting an order. Ironically enough, Foley is more prone to losing his temper than Blake is.
  • This phrase, or variants of it, are also frequently used as a response to those who complain about Baneposting.
• BRAVO NOLAN ^ExplanationA sarcastic exclamation, used whenever criticizing the movie. Merged into Baneposting after Baneposting became a thing, effectively becoming a substitute name for Christopher Nolan like how Paveleer was one for Dr. Pavel.
• Bane vs Pink Guy ^ExplanationAn edited image of Bane and Batman facing each other in the sewers but with Batman replaced with Pink Guy became a popular meme in 2016.
• Now with the Coronavirus lockdown, Bane has resurfaced as a new meme, "Visionary Bane":
  • Wore a mask
    Locked down a city
    Cancelled sporting events
    Root of the problem was a bat
    Visionary
  • IT’S AN ATOM BOMB! ^ExplanationThe line said by Fr. Reilly played by Chris Ellis in the culmination of the film became a huge meme in Russia. There is still a fan community on Russian social network VK which is named “The Guy who said in the last Batman film “It’s an Atom Bomb!” and has almost 4000 followers by 2020” (the numbers are decreasing, sadly).
  • THERE'S NOWHERE, TO GO.

Baneposting

Baneposting is the act of shitposting with quotes of Bane and associated quotes from TDKR, with a particular focus on the opening plane hijacking scene. While technically a subset of TDKR memes, they had grown to such an extent they became a subculture of their own, spawning an entire board on 8chan devoted to talking about it.

Everything about it is so memetic that it's very easy to find someone who can quote the entire scene word for word. "Dr. Pavel, I'm CIA", "Yes. The fire rises", and everything in between has been recited nonstop for AN ENTIRE DECADE. In contrast, most memes crash and burn after a few months on 4chan if you're lucky.

• Memes from the Opening Scene
  • Every line uttered by the unnamed C.I.A. agent ^*Bill Wilson in the novelization played by Aidan Gillen qualifies. Some standout examples include...
    • "Dr. Pavel, I'm CIA."
    • "BANE?"
    • "HE DIDN'T FLY SO GOOD"
    • "TELL ME ABOUT BANE! WHY DOES HE WEAR THE MASK? ...A LOT OF LOYALTY FOR A HIRED GUN!"
    • "If I pull that [mask] off, would you die?"
    • "You're a big guy."
    • "Was getting caught part of your plan?"
    • "WELL CONGRATULATIONS! YOU GOT YOURSELF CAUGHT! NOW WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP OF YOUR MASTER PLAN?"
    • "DOCTOR PAVELEER."
    • "Uh, you don't get to bring friends."
    • "The flight plan I just filed with the agency lists me, my men, Dr. Pavel here but only one of you!"
    • "The flight plan I just filed with the Agent C lists Smee, Maimen, Dr. Paveleer, Button Lee, Juan of Yu!"
    • It's also pretty much fanon that the CIA agent is NAMED CIA, based on how he introduces himself as "Dr. Pavel, I'm CIA."
    • Even the "power pose" (the pose CIA makes, with his hands on his belt buckle and his legs slightly apart) falls into this.◊
    • "No! This can't be happening! I'm in charge here!"^ExplanationCIA's inner thoughts from the novelization.
    • CIA wanting a feather in his cap.^ExplanationAnother well-known line from the novel, in this case CIA remarking in his inner monologue that capturing Bane would be "quite the feather in his cap"
  • Bane gets his fair share of memeworthy dialogue in this scene too.
    • "OR PERHAPS HE'S WONDERING WHY SOMEONE WOULD SHOOT A MAN, BEFORE THROWING HIM OUT OF A PLANE"
    • "DOCTOR PAVEL REFUSED OUR OFFER IN FAVOR OF YOURSH"
    • "OF COURSH!"
    • "CRASHING THIS PRLANE.... WIF NO SURVIVORS!"
    • "JUAN OVASS"
    • "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO WE AAAHH...WHAT MATTERS IZ OUR PULAHN"
  • "It would be extremely painful...("You're a big guy") for you."
    • "FOR YOU" ^ExplanationThis is because some people mistook the delivery of the "for you" line as a response to "You're a big guy" instead of finishing the sentence of "It would be extremely painful...". In an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, Tom Hardy confirmed that while it was written as "painful for you", he intoned it meaning the other way.
    • "UUUU"^ExplanationCommon alternate form of For You, from "4 U".
    • His response "For you" is almost more popular than CIA's "You're a big guy". This one was so popular on the image board 4chan that a banner was made based off it, and generally even several years later you cannot call anyone a Big Guy without someone popping in to finish it off with "FOR YOU".
    • "No one cared who I was until I put on the mask."
    • "NO ONE CARED WHO I WAS UNTIL I PUT ON THE MOSQUE."
    • "...SIR?!?"
  • "The Masketta Man..."^ExplanationA mishearing of "The masked man", stated by Bane's henchman Barsad in the opening. His thick Russian accent caused many people to mishear it as this
    • "The Mosquito Man"
  • "Wreckage Brother"^ExplanationNickname for Bane's henchman that stays behind in the crash, so named for the line "No, they expect one of us in the wreckage, brother!" At least, when it isn't treated as the name of the plane itself.
    • "Have we stahted the fiyah?"
    • "Yesh. The fire rises!"
  • Bane/CIA is pretty popular. It even fits the seme/uke tropes. It really helps that some of their dialogue already sounds like sexual innuendo (e.g. the "Big guy for you" exchange).
  • Someone made an ENTIRE EP based on the whole scene, available even on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify.
    • It's even got an unofficially official Smashmouth cover combining everything memetic about the scene to another meme of Shrek.
  • CIAss, a cropped image of the backside of the CIA agent from the plane scene has become a meme of its own, spawning many remixes and derivatives.
  • The freeze frame of CIA getting punched in the face by Bane is also frequently used as a reaction image.
  • Recreating the shot of CIA seen in the page image using characters from other franchises, such as Metal Gear and Game of Thrones, in a manner reminiscent of Loss edits.
  • More creative Baneposters have taken to rewriting the whole scene in various different styles, such as putting all the dialogue in Shakespearian verse, or rewriting the script In the Style of other famous directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Terrence Malick.
  • Even the score of the opening has been memed into oblivion what with the intense and oppressive tone only making the memetic dialogue even funnier to recite. The track plays as Bane's Leitmotif across the film, but beyond all else people will more than likely think of this scene when hearing it.
  • "Post-credits scenes"^ExplanationParticularly dedicated Baneposters tend to treat the plane scene as a complete film unto itself, with the entire rest of the movie being a dubiously canon extended universe.
  • Baneposting saw a revival in 2023 after the Tver plane crash, which resulted in the death of the Wagner Group's leadership, with many creating variants of the lines above to match that event.

Meta

• "Best DC movie since The Dark Knight."^ExplanationA meme originating from the DC-related subreddits that was created because of all the articles writing about how sure they were that the last DCEU movie would be the best DC film adaptation since The Dark Knight, only to bomb at the box office

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Alfred: Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like memes. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

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