History Memes / TheLastOfUsPartII

Who knew such a divisive and controversial ContestedSequel could spawn so much memes?

* Upvote to scare gamers [[labelnote:Explanation]]The outrage over Abby's buff physique led to gamers on Twitter mocking the outrage by commenting "upvote to scare gamers" on pictures of muscular women.[[/labelnote]]
* [[https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/s4r2rr/anyone_else_put_off_by_the_heterosexual_agenda_in/ Anyone put off by the heterosexual agenda?]] [[labelnote:Explanation]]The vocal outcry from Youtubers against LGBTQ characters in the game inspired satirical posts mocking the so-called "forced agenda".[[/labelnote]]

* "Well-balanced Content." [[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]]There are two sex scenes in ''The Last of Us Part 2'', each featuring Ellie and Abby with their respective partners. Sony had adopted a strict content policy that led to the corporation publicly censoring and altering Japanese games released world-wide on the [=PS4=] that showed risqué amounts of skin or other fanservice prior to this game's release, from ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5''. Fans were quick to point out [[https://imgur.com/RitsaQK the double standard]] of how the American-made ''[=TLOU2=]'' somehow got past the Sony censors for Abby's ''explicit sex scene'' when general anime fanservice from Japanese developers was apparently a big no-no. Generally, this sort of thing comes down to the ages of the characters in games; in Anime games, it's common for there to be fan-service for girls that would be considered underage in western territories, as Japan's age of consent is much lower than that of most other countries. This is especially jarring as just the day before the game was out, [=PQube=] had released a statement that they were being ordered by Sony to censor and ''remove'' scenes for the English version of the all-ages [=PS4=] port for ''VisualNovel/AoNoKanataFourRhythm'', '''[[BleachedUnderpants beyond whatever content had already been removed from the Japanese version, HD Edition, in its transition from PC to [=PS4=]]]'''.[[/labelnote]]

* "I'm [insert random name] and this is my brother, [insert another random name]." [[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]]When Joel and Tommy first meet Abby's group, Tommy quickly reveals their identities to them. This allows Abby's group to realize that Joel is the target they are after, which results in his death. Some fans felt this was an out-of-character moment for a seasoned survivor like Joel and believed that it was just an excuse for Joel to be killed quickly. As a result, these detractors mockingly noted how the entire plot of the game could've been averted had the two simply used different names. Then again, the log book Ellie reads reveals they often helped people on patrol, including Joel and Tommy, and Neil confirmed that Abby was so hellbent on killing Joel, she would have found a way to do so regardless. The meme withstanding.[[/labelnote]]

* "Where's my paycheck, Neil?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Many YouTubers pushed the belief that the game's overwhelmingly positive reviews and awards, were actually paid or bribed for and not real, leading to this saying among the game's fans, neutral people and even some reasonable detractors mocking those who were insistent on pushing this narrative.
* Written by Neil Druckmann [[labelnote:Explanation]]Neil Druckmann was blamed heavily for Ellie deciding to spare/forgive Abby at the end of the game. This led to several comics of characters forgiving the villains of their series, such as [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts forgiving Griffith]] followed by a panel saying "Written by Neil Druckmann.[[/labelnote]]

* "Where's my paycheck, Neil?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Many detractors believed that the game's overwhelmingly positive reviews and awards, were actually paid or bribed for and not real, leading to this saying among the game's fans, neutral people and even detractors themselves wondering where ''their'' paycheck was for praising/liking the game.[[/labelnote]]
** This meme reached a new point when it not only won ''Game Of The Year'' like it's [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs predecessor]] but also almost ''every other category'' it was nominated in, in an overwhelming landslide. The only exception was the "Players Choice" awards, which as the name says is was the only one where players could vote, with ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' taking it by a landslide of it's own. Needless to say even people whom didn't care or were neutral about the game raised an eyebrow and were joking about [[SarcasmMode how it definitely wasn't rigged]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8FR0ydnvQ Imagine Being Druckmann]].[[labelnote:Explanation]]A parody song done by [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyOXuep3hUvothHwr9k2DAA Chris Voiceman]], sung to the tune of [[Music/Sum41 "In Too Deep"]]. It instantly became a hit with the detractors thanks to it being a catchy and awesome tune that perfectly encapsulates peoples feelings on not only Neil Druckmann but The Last Of Us Part II.[[/labelnote]]

* Excessive use of backticks [[labelnote:Explanation]] r/TheLastOfUs2, the Reddit community that focuses on the culture war aspect, went to war against WebVideo/GirlfriendReviews for giving the game a positive review. In a highly upvoted thread, one user alleged that fans of WebVideo/GirlfriendReviews sent him death threats. GirlfriendReviews proceeded to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF9HLsPFfCw thoroughly debunk the allegation]], pointing out that the accounts used for the alleged death threats used the same writing style, and used backticks in place of apostrophes. The subreddit was roundly mocked, often with comments that emulated the writing style of the fake death threats, right down to the use of backticks. The humiliation was so bad that several moderators stepped down or deleted their accounts out of embarrassment, and even set the subreddit to private to deflect attention.[[/labelnote]]

* "It's a story about right and wrong told by people who think they're always right" [[labelnote:Explanation]]A phrase taken from the Japanese IGN's review of the game that gained quite a bit of traction from detractors of the game that feels that it succinctly explains many of the game's issues.[[/labelnote]]

* "Well-balanced Content." [[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]]There are two sex scenes in ''The Last of Us Part 2'', each featuring Ellie and Abby with their respective partners. Sony had adopted a strict content policy that led to the corporation publicly censoring and altering Japanese games released world-wide on the [=PS4=] that showed risque amounts of skin or other fanservice prior to this game's release, from ''VideoGame/SenranKagura'' to ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5''. Fans were quick to point out [[https://imgur.com/RitsaQK the double standard]] of how the American-made ''[=TLOU2=]'' somehow got past the Sony censors for Abby's ''explicit sex scene'' when general anime fanservice from Japanese developers was apparently a big no-no. Generally, this sort of thing comes to down the ages of the characters in games; in Anime games it's common for there to be fan-service for girls that would be considered underage in western territories as Japan's age of consent is much lower than that of most other countries. This is especially jarring as just the day before the game was out, [=PQube=] had released a statement that they were being ordered by Sony to censor and ''remove'' scenes for the English version of the all-ages [=PS4=] port for ''VisualNovel/AoNoKanataFourRhythm'', '''[[BleachedUnderpants beyond whatever content had already been removed from the Japanese version, HD Edition, in its transition from PC to [=PS4=]]]'''.[[/labelnote]]
* "Abby hunting random Joels." [[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]] Fans quickly began to wonder how Abby knew specifically how to hunt Joel down given the lack of visual records about him or how she learned his surname, which even ''players'' didn't know as Joel and Ellie's surnames were cut from the first game. This led to some black comedy jokes about Abby spending the five-year time-skip hunting every Joel she met like a serial killer until she got lucky.[[/labelnote]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chokepostingtemplate.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The one that started it all.]]

** This meme reached a new point when it not only won ''Game Of The Year'' like it's [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs predecessor]] but also almost ''every other category'' it was nominated in, in an overwhelming landslide. The only exception was the "Players Choice" awards, which as the name says is was the only one where players could vote, with ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' taking it by a landslide of it's own. Needless to say even people whom didn't care or were neutral about the gamem raised an eyebrow and were joking about [[SarcasmMode how it definitely wasn't rigged]].

** This meme reached a new point when it not only won ''Game Of The Year'' like it's [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs predecessor]] but also almost ''every other category'' it was nominated in, in an overwhelming landslide. With the only exception being the "Players Choice" awards which ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' took by a landslide of it's own. Needless to say even people whom didn't care or were neutral about the gamem raised an eyebrow and were joking about [[SarcasmMode how it definitely wasn't rigged]].

* "It's a story about right and wrong told by people who think they're always right" [[labelnote:Explanation]]A phrase taken from the Japanese IGN's review of the game that gained quite a bit of traction from detractors of the game that feels that it succinctly explains many of the game's issues.[[/labelnote]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chokepostingtemplate.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The one that started it all.]]

Who knew such a controversial ContestedSequel could spawn so much memes?

** This meme reached a new point when it not only won ''Game Of The Year'' like it's predecessor but also almost ''every other category'' it was nomated in, in an overwhelming landslide with the only exception being the "Players Choice" awards which ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' took by a landslide of it's own. Needless to say even people whom didn't care or were neutral about the game raised an eyebrow and were joking about [[SarcasmMode how it definitely wasn't rigged]].

** This meme reached a new point when it not only won ''Game Of The Year'' like it's predecessor but also almost ''every other category'' it was nomated in, in an overwhelming landslide. Needless to say even people whom didn't care or were neutral about the game raised an eyebrow and were joking about [[SarcasmMode how it definitely wasn't rigged]].

* "Where's my paycheck, Neil?" [[labelnote:Explanation]]Many detractors believed that the game's overwhelmingly positive reviews and awards, were actually paid or bribed for and not real, leading to this saying among the game's fans and even detractors wondering where ''their'' paycheck was for praising/liking the game.[[/labelnote]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8FR0ydnvQ Imagine Being Druckmann]].[[labelnote:Explanation]]A parody song, sung to the tune of [[Music/Sum41 "In Too Deep"]]. It instantly became a hit with the detractors thanks to it being a catchy and awesome tune that perfectly encapsulates peoples feelings on not only Neil Druckmann but The Last Of Us Part II.[[/labelnote]]

-->''So believe me, it's this easy, to sit down and crank out more fucking memes!''

* Excessive use of backticks [[labelnote:Explanation]] r/TheLastOfUs2, the Reddit community that focuses on the culture war aspect, went to war WebVideo/GirlfriendReviews for giving the game a positive review. In a highly upvoted thread, one user alleged that fans of WebVideo/GirlfriendReviews sent him death threats. GirlfriendReviews proceeded to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF9HLsPFfCw thoroughly debunk the allegation]], pointing out that the accounts used for the alleged death threats used the same writing style, and used backticks in place of apostrophes. The subreddit was roundly mocked, often with comments that emulated the writing style of the fake death threats, right down to the use of backticks. The humiliation was so bad that several moderators stepped down or deleted their accounts out of embarrassment, and even set the subreddit to private to deflect attention.[[/labelnote]]

* [[CrossesTheLineTwice Joel In One.]][[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]]One of the first full scenes seen in the leaks of the game, that Sony and Naughty Dog gave everything they had in order to suppress, was Joel's death at the hands of Abby. The specific method of his death at a golf club led to instant memes about it, especially in the field of golf puns. The ''Last of Us 2'' subreddit even went so far as to make its banner a picture of Joel's head on a golf tee.[[/labelnote]]

Who knew such a ContestedSequel that's OvershadowedByControversy could spawn so much memes?

* This game is ''Film/SchindlersList'' while others are ''Film/JohnWick''. [[labelnote:Explanation]]A [[https://twitter.com/jeffcannata/status/1271336664246349825 tweet by media personality Jeff Cannata]]. Became popular due to the tweet's attempts at praise, and also the comparison which many found downright flabbergasting, given that the former is about something as serious as the Holocaust. It also makes absolutely no sense at all since it's a tone-deaf comparison, as ''Schindler's List'' is about ''saving'' as many lives as possible. ''Part 2'' is far more similar to ''John Wick'' in the first place, as both the film and this game are fundamentally about a person's pursuit of revenge after a loved one is killed, and the resulting massive body count as the protagonist murders anyone trying to stop them getting revenge on the person who killed their loved one. However, the main difference is that Schindler's List didn't shy away from dark themes like the Last of Us: Part II, but it's darkness was used to make light more meaningful. [[/labelnote]]

* This game is ''Film/SchindlersList'' while others are ''Film/JohnWick''. [[labelnote:Explanation]]A [[https://twitter.com/jeffcannata/status/1271336664246349825 tweet by media personality Jeff Cannata]]. Became popular due to the tweet's attempts at praise, and also the comparison which many found downright flabbergasting, given that the former is about something as serious as the Holocaust. It also makes absolutely no sense at all since it's a tone-deaf comparison, as ''Schindler's List'' is about ''saving'' as many lives as possible. ''Part 2'' is far more similar to ''John Wick'' in the first place, as both the film and this game are fundamentally about a person's pursuit of revenge after a loved one is killed, and the resulting massive body count as the protagonist murders anyone trying to stop them getting revenge on the person who killed their loved one. Not to mention the dark and nihilistic tone of the movie is used to make the light and hopeful tone brighter in the end just like the first game.[[/labelnote]]

* Chokeposting.[[labelnote:Explanation (Spoilers)]]One of the stills from the leaks that went viral was [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/abby-choke-edits a shot of Abby choking Ellie during a boss fight.]] While Sony tried to kill the meme as part of their wide-reaching DMCA campaign after the leaks broke, the choke edits still became a meme in their own right.[[/labelnote]]