The Top 30+ Memes of 2025

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Meme, brainrot, and slang content creator Tobi Nwodo helps us round up the best memes of the year

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IN THIS ARTICLE

1 6-7

2 Italian Brainrot

3 Chill Guy

4 Hyperpigmentation

5 Coldplay Kiss Cam

6 Aura Farming

7 SYBAU

8 Eye of Rah

9 Chicken Jockey

10 Performative Male

11 John Pork Lore

12 Dog Eyes Closed

13 What’s a Father?

14 Jet2 Holiday

15 Monkey and Lion

16 AI Baby Holding Laugh

17 100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla

18 Holy Airball

19 BROOO

20 Trump Take Egg

21 Get Me to God’s Country

22 I Can’t Prove It

23 Conclave Memes

24 Flow State

25 Chicken Stars

26 Propaganda I’m Not Falling For

27 Ah Lelele Ahlelas

28 Rare Aesthetic

29 Great Meme Depression

30 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, Release ‘Em

31 Kumalala vs. Savesta Returns

32 Wicked Memes

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Co-authored by Katelyn Rhoades and Annabelle Reyes

Last Updated: January 25, 2026 Fact Checked

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2025 was a big year for memes! From Italian brainrot to performative males to propaganda we’re not falling for, this year was definitely one for the books. If you’ve been looking for all of the most iconic memes and viral moments of 2025 compiled in one place, you’re in luck! We talked to meme, brainrot, and slang content creator Tobi Nwodo and trend expert Jemaree Jay to help us curate this list of all the best memes of 2025—so you can relive all the laughs before it’s time to ring in 2026.

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1

6-7

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1. 
   This viral phrase was a major hit with Gen Alpha. Nwodo says that 6-7 was one of the biggest trends of 2025. The 6-7 TikTok trend comes from the song “Doot Doot (6 7)” by rapper Skrilla, but it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the song’s meaning. Gen Alpha social media users seemed to latch onto the phrase, using it in a silly, nonsensical way. If there are any Gen Alphas in your family, or if you’re a teacher, you’ve probably heard this one a ton! Here are a few viral examples:

   • Jay agrees, saying, “I personally think the top meme of 2025 is definitely the 6-7 trend. I don’t think there has been a meme that popular in years!”
   • WNBA player Paige Bueckers referenced the trend during a press conference, saying, “I’ve been here for five years, but it felt more like six, seven…” then bursting out laughing.
   • This TikTok by user @jesse.jn7 is captioned “When you randomly shout ‘67’ throughout the day but nobody knows what you mean,” poking fun at how nonsensical the trend is.
   • This TikTok posted by @espn shows a hilarious moment during a basketball game when an audience full of Gen Alpha kids goes wild because a player scored two points, bringing her team’s score up to 67.

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Tobi Nwodo, aka Hyperstrides, is an influencer and content creator with over 600,000 followers across YouTube and TikTok. His videos usually cover topics like internet culture, memes, trends, and slang.

   Jemaree Jay is a content creator based in Miami, Florida who uses comedy to explore pop culture trends and social dynamics. He shares his content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube under the handle @jemareejay.
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2

Italian Brainrot

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1. 
   Italian Brainrot dominated 2025. This silly, nonsensical meme features AI-generated images of animals combined with random objects (like planes or coconuts) or with human-like features (like arms or legs). These strange characters were then given Italian-sounding names, like Tralalero Tralala (a shark with human-like legs wearing Nike sneakers), and Ballerina Cappuccina (a teacup with a face and a ballerina’s body). The completely outlandish and surreal images spread like wildfire, earning this meme the #1 spot on our list.

   • We’ve also got a ton of fun Italian Brainrot quizzes and generators! Check them out:
     • Which Italian Brainrot Are You
     • Italian Brainrot Tier List
     • Italian Brainrot Quiz: Can You Name Them All?
     • What’s Your Italian Brainrot Name?

3

Chill Guy

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1. 
   This meme was undeniably chill. The Chill Guy meme, also known as My New Character, comes from an illustration of a human-like dog character wearing a sweater, jeans, and sneakers. His hands are in his pockets, and he wears a cool-looking smirk on his face. Social media users were instantly obsessed with this calm, collected, enigmatic figure, posting the illustration in various settings and creating unique captions.

   • This illustration was originally posted on Instagram way back in October of 2023 by artist Phillip Banks. Banks captioned the artwork: “My new character. His whole deal is he’s a chill guy that lowkey doesn’t give a f***.”
   • Wanna know if you’re as chill as Chill Guy himself? Take our quiz!
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4

Hyperpigmentation

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1. 
   A daughter’s drawing of her mother had us all cracking up. In this viral video by @yagirlgabby_ a mother asks her young daughter to show her the portrait she drew of her. The daughter then turns her notepad, revealing a very funny drawing of the mother’s side profile with a super high ponytail and a dark spot on her cheek. Clearly trying not to laugh, the mother praises the artwork and asks if the dot was meant to be hyperpigmentation. In arguably the video's funniest moment, the camera then pans to the child’s dad, who is on his hands and knees on the floor, trying not to burst out laughing.

   • People couldn’t help but love the hilarious video, dressing up as the drawing themselves, using it for nail art, and even creating clothing with the drawing and quotes from the OG video. Check out this TikTok by @berrythings7 for a compilation of the greatest hits!

5

Coldplay Kiss Cam

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1. 
   This awkward kiss cam moment had us all cringing. It all started at a Coldplay concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts in July 2025. A kiss cam panned around the crowd, landing on lovey-dovey couples. But when it landed on a man and woman cuddled up with each other, both looked horrified and tried to jump out of the frame. It was later revealed that the pair were not actually a couple—he was the CEO of a company, and she was the head of HR. And they were both married to other people.

   • This moment was completely dripping with drama, so of course, it immediately went super viral on social media. If you somehow happened not to see it, check it out here!
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6

Aura Farming

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1. 
   In 2025, people went to new lengths to look cool. In fact, so many people were obsessed with acting a certain way to build up their aura points (or “cool points”) that the internet came up with a brand-new slang term for it! Thus, “aura farming” was born, which means deliberately doing things to create an effortless, cool, or mysterious persona.

   • Curious about your own aura levels? Take our Aura Points quiz!

7

SYBAU

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1. 
   This brainrot term became a part of everyone’s vocabulary in 2025. SYBAU is an acronym that stands for “shut your b**** a** up,” and it quickly became a sassy way for kids and Gen Z-ers to tell each other to shut up without being flagged for expletives on social media. As the term started to be used more and more frequently, it became a silly thing to say to shut down a convo or call someone out for saying something totally ridiculous.

   • Since most parents aren’t aware of what the acronym means, some kids even started saying it to them!
   • It’s a running joke among Gen-Zers that SYBAU stands for “stay young, beautiful, and unique,” which is what they tell their parents to keep them from finding out the term’s actual explicit meaning.
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8

Eye of Rah

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1. 
   This meme of TikTokker Rashad Bowens made waves in early 2025. At the top of the year, a photo of TikTokker Rashad Bowens spread that was edited to look like he had just one eye in the center of his face, like the cyclops from Greek mythology. This strange image totally took the internet by storm, with users sharing it and posting their own increasingly surreal edits.

   • The image itself came from this post by @frightenedsheep25937582 on November 26, 2024, which starts out with a man reacting to a video of someone salting a cucumber, then flashes to the edited photo of Rashad Bowens with just one eye.

9

Chicken Jockey

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1. 
   A viral moment in A Minecraft Movie gave rise to this chaotic meme. In Minecraft, a chicken jockey is a rare mob that features a baby zombie riding a chicken. This is already pretty ridiculous in and of itself, but when a real-life chicken jockey appeared in the live-action Minecraft movie as comedic legend Jack Black shouted “Chicken jockey!” audiences went insane, and a hilarious new meme was born.
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10

Performative Male

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1. 
   Chances are you spotted a “performative male” online or in the wild in 2025. This one is another favorite of Nwodo. Jay explains, “The performative male meme [is] when men dress up and do things for the purpose of getting positive attention from women and being seen as different. For example, the men would pretend to drink matcha, carry Labubus around, talk about Love Island, read in public (feminist literature), and listen to mostly female artists.” (See this TikTok by @trollgenn for reference).

   • The trend became so popular that people even started holding huge performative male contests in major cities, with people showing up decked out in their best performative male outfits!
   • Wondering if you’ve got performative vibes? Take our Am I a Performative Male quiz!

11

John Pork Lore

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1. 
   The lore of John Pork grew in 2025. Nwodo says the lore of John Pork was one of the biggest memes of 2025. The character John Pork first appeared on Instagram in 2018, but in December 2024, a TikTok from @getpovd (since deleted) claimed that John Pork had been shot. In January 2025, a TikTok from @darraghomurchu kicked off the “Free John Pork” movement, which sparked a whole new set of memes.

   • Think you know John Pork? Take our John Pork Lore quiz to test your knowledge!
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12

Dog Eyes Closed

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1. 
   You’ve probably seen this image in the comments section of tons of TikToks. Also called the “Cooked Dog” or “Dog Accepting His Fate” meme, this photo shows a Labrador with its eyes closed, wearing a serene expression as the sun shines gently on its face. The image perfectly captures the feeling of trying to stay calm and collected while dealing with a stressful or chaotic situation, so it became the go-to reaction image to get this point across.

   • For example, the earliest known use of this image comes from a TikTok by @username80827372, which is captioned “How it feels when you break something in the house then you hear your parents’ car pull up.”

13

What’s a Father?

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1. 
   This meme riffs on an interview with late rapper XXXTentacion. In early 2025, a clip surfaced of an interview with late rapper XXXTentacion where the interviewer asks if he has a relationship with his father. The rapper responded, “What’s that? What’s a father?” Jay explains that when the video resurfaced, “people immediately made it into a meme because of how cringe it was seen as.”

   • The clip turned into its own meme template where people would replace “father” with any number of hilarious options: “What’s a shower,” or “What’s a job?”
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14

Jet2 Holiday

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1. 
   Nothing beats a Jet2 Holiday! If you were on the internet at all in 2025, chances are you heard the sound of Jess Glyne’s song “Hold My Hand,” followed by a British woman advertising a Jet2 Holiday. TikTokkers quickly started posting videos of inconvenient or downright chaotic vacation moments with this bright, upbeat audio in the background. The result was one of the funniest and most relatable internet trends of 2025.

15

Monkey and Lion

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1. 
   This image of a lion roaring at a monkey took off at the very beginning of the year. In the image, a lion roars viciously while a monkey looks back at the lion calmly and serenely. The meme has been around for a while, but the recent resurgence in popularity started with a November 2024 Instagram post by @freakyfacetimeapp with the caption, “How it feels to ragebait.”

   • Users then started chiming in with their own captions for the image (“When bro’s lowkey right but you just want to annoy him,” “how it feels to keep saying ok while you’re mom’s losing her s*** at you,” etc), and the rest is history!
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16

AI Baby Holding Laugh

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1. 
   Who knew an AI-generated baby would give us so many memeable moments? Nwodo shares that this one makes his list of the top memes of 2025. This video first appeared in an Instagram from @daily_upl. It’s actually an AI-generated image of a baby rotoscoped (or digitally overlaid) onto an adult man, who sings, covers his mouth to hide a laugh, and generally mugs for the camera. Reaction gif gold.

17

100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla

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1. 
   Who would win in a fight—100 men or 1 gorilla? This question sparked a viral debate that had the internet in a chokehold in 2025. Social media started posting their takes, arguing in favor of either the men (like this TikTok by @uhhyazan) or the gorilla (like this TikTok by @tredouglass). So what’s the verdict? Can 100 men beat a fully-grown gorilla? The world may never know!

   • But, if you want to test out different strategies to get to the bottom of this hugely important question, try out our 100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla Simulator!
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18

Holy Airball

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1. 
   If you’ve ever been underestimated, the Holy Airball trend was made for you. This phrase comes from the basketball term “airball,” which is a shot that totally misses the basket. It went viral on TikTok as a way to call out people for getting something completely wrong about you—like this example by gymnast @katelynohashi_. The post starts with captions that read, “I told him I do gymnastics,” and “He said, ‘Oh, so can you do the splits?” followed by a video of Ohashi doing an insanely impressive tumbling pass at an elite-level competition.

   • This was one of the most wholesome and empowering viral trends of the year, so we had to place it pretty high on our list!

19

BROOO

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1. 
   An old interview with Jaden Smith got new life this year. In 2021, a video of an interview with Jaden Smith went viral—at the time, he got some heat for saying that he doesn’t relate to other young people because he’d rather talk about the “political and economic state of the world.” But Jay explains that while the Jaden Smith part of the interview was already a meme, it got new attention for the way the interview loudly says “BROOO”—”so this year, that part became a meme instead of Jaden Smith’s part.”
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20

Trump Take Egg

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1. 
   As you’re probably aware, eggs are pretty expensive these days. In early 2025, social media users decided to comment on the soaring prices and egg shortages due to the outbreak of Bird Flu with the slightly ridiculous phrase “Trump take egg.” For example, take this BlueSky post by @nicholasburgess.bsky.social, which uses the phrase to caption a photo of empty shelves where eggs used to be in a grocery store. There’s nothing like a bit of humor to help cope with a serious situation!

21

Get Me to God’s Country

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1. 
   In 2025, everyone was yearning to get back to God’s country. This viral meme took off following Morgan Wallen’s hasty exit after his performance on Saturday Night Live in March. At the end of the show, he quickly exited the stage instead of staying and waving like musical guests usually do. He then posted a picture of his plane on Instagram with the caption, “Get me to God’s Country.” Social media immediately latched onto this phrase, using it to caption photos of places they yearn to go back to, like Chili’s, Blockbuster, or the Roku homescreen. Here are a few of our faves:

   • This post on X by @sumgarf shows a photo of the stage for Beyoncé’s Renaissance Tour with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”
   • This post on Bluesky by @thetransitguy.com uses the same caption for a photo of The Cheesecake Factory.
   • This Bluesky post by @cult-papa.com uses the caption for a photo of a Toys-R-Us store.
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22

I Can’t Prove It

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1. 
   This meme became a major hit with internet sleuths. The meme includes various images of detective James Doakes from Dexter: Resurrection. Specifically, social media users often use an image of Doakes wearing a determined expression behind the wheel of a car as a reaction image in the comment sections of posts. It’s a funny way to say you have a theory about something, but you just can’t prove it!

   • For example, this TikTok by @adizzils includes the photo of Doakes in the car with the text, “When you know something is off but you just can’t prove it.”

23

Conclave Memes

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1. 
   Who would have thought that a papal conclave would give rise to so many memes! In May 2025, the cardinals of the Catholic church met to elect a new pope, and the internet couldn’t help but post a few silly and irreverent jokes inspired by the momentous event. For example, this X post by user @willfulchaos compared the cutthroat selection process to RuPaul’s drag race, posting a photo of RuPaul in cardinal robes with the caption, “Two cardinals stand before me…”

   • In another amazing moment, a video of Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle singing “Imagine” by the Beatles at karaoke went viral, which had tons of fans rooting for the “Karaoke Cardinal.”
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24

Flow State

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1. 
   In 2025, we all got a new phrase for being “in the zone.” Have you ever been so locked in while doing a mundane task that you feel like you’ve reached a whole new level of being in the zone? If you have, then congratulations—you’ve experienced what it’s like to reach a flow state! Here’s a collection of some of our favorite posts from this trend:

   • This TikTok by @larataz includes the text, “When me and my hg are debriefing and we are both typing so fast our texts start overlapping each other and we genuinely reach flow state.”
   • This post by @haybaybay_spam reads, “When I’m eating the wings and fries at the same time while also getting water and I genuinely reach flow state.”
   • This TikTok by @essencenyrie says, “When I have a drink for hydration, a drink for caffeine, and a drink for fun & genuinely reach a flow state.”

25

Chicken Stars

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1. 
   You’re missing out if you haven’t seen this niche meme. The chicken stars meme is one of Nwodo’s picks for best memes of the year. It started with the Netflix movie Leo, where a character eats star-shaped chicken nuggets, declared “chicken stars” by a song in the soundtrack. The scene was clipped, remixed, and memed endlessly, like in this TikTok form @niche.memes.lol.
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26

Propaganda I’m Not Falling For

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1. 
   This trend is all about sharing your hottest takes. It took off in June of 2025, with Gen Z-ers posting about societal norms they’re rejecting or “popular” things they actually don’t like at all, calling these things “propaganda I’m not falling for.” The posts ranged from the serious to the totally silly, and overall, the trend was a pretty fun way to encourage oneself and others to stay true to themselves and share their real opinions.

   • For example, this TikTok by @katrinamartin_ includes a list of popular or trendy things that the creator is rejecting, including “overpriced thrift resellers,” “Carrie Bradshaw hate,” and ‘smoking becoming cool again.”

27

Ah Lelele Ahlelas

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1. 
   This viral TikTok audio was totally absurd, but also captivating. The phrase “Ah lelele ahlelas” comes from the song “Ma Tnsani” by Vanco featuring AYA, and it doesn’t seem to have a specific meaning in the context of the meme. As is the case with so many brainrot memes, TikTok users just took to the sound, and they started using it in the background of videos of weird-looking fish. Strange? Totally. Hilarious for some reason? Also yes.
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28

Rare Aesthetic

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1. 
   This trend is all about reminiscing on rare or niche experiences. For example, this TikTok by @daniel.gives.up flashes through pictures of certain foods and settings in the early 2000s, with the text “Rare aesthetic: not realizing you were poor as a kid.” Because so many of these videos got so popular, the trend ended up showing people that the experiences they thought were totally niche are actually kind of universal, which is pretty darn cool!

29

Great Meme Depression

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1. 
   Did we go through a meme drought in early 2025? Nwodo says the Great Meme Depression is one of his favorite memes of the year. This trend claimed that memes peaked in January and February of 2025, then dropped off around March. Users complained about a lack of quality memes, which funnily enough turned into a meme itself.

   • The Depression didn’t last, obviously—there are tons of new classics on this list as proof!
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30

1, 2, 1, 2, 3, Release ‘Em

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1. 
   This viral moment from a balloon release has dominated the end of 2025. On November 2, rapper Neace Robinson posted a video of herself performing her song “I Wished That Heaven Had a Phone” at a balloon release for someone who had passed away. She passionately sings the lines, “Lord, I got some things I need to say,” gearing up for the moment when she says “1, 2, 1, 2, 3, release ‘em” to signal that it’s time for everyone to let go of their balloons. The video itself went mega viral, and TikTok users immediately began to use clips of the audio for their own posts. Here are a few of our faves:

   • This TikTok by @izzybleuu uses the audio of the lyric “1, 2, 1, 2, 3, release ‘em,” with the caption “Girls after surviving the full day in a bra.”
   • This post by @rosgoat uses the same audio with the caption, “When I reunite with my friend I haven’t seen in forever and finally release the craziest lore debrief.”
   • This post by @xx_notworthit_xx uses the audio of the lyric “Lord, I got some things I need to say,” with the caption, “Me making sure the Lord doesn’t have me on the strongest soldiers list for 2026.”

31

Kumalala vs. Savesta Returns

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1. 
   A 2022 favorite was revived this year. The Kumalala vs. Savesta meme originated in 2022—the evolution behind it is convoluted as only memes can be, starting with the Chubby Checker song “Cu Ma La Be Stay” and evolving into a meme where two random TikTokers (@freddyt_smoove and @thomsofficiel) were dubbed Savesta and Kumalala.

   • In 2025, the rivalry was brought back for a niche meme battle between anime fans, as described in this Instagram post from @hyperstrides—aka Nwodo, who named this as one of his faves of the year.
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32

Wicked Memes

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1. 
   And finally, we had to round out our list with a few Wicked memes. The second leg of theWicked press tour kicked off with the release of Wicked: For Good in November, and it blessed us with more incredible memes to add to the iconic ones we got from the first leg of the press tour (who could forget holding space for the lyrics of “Defying Gravity”?). Here are our top 3 Wicked memes of 2025:

   • The Concept Of: This meme comes from an interview moment where Cynthia Erivo taps on her head while trying to remember the movies she saw in 2024. Social media users immediately turned the moment into a reaction GIF that they use when discussing a totally groundbreaking or wild idea.
   • Madame Morrible 🔁 Wicked Witch: Throughout the For Good press tour, Michelle Yeoh shared the theory that Madame Morrible is actually the Wicked Witch in Wicked, citing the fact that the initials MM flipped upside down are WW (as seen in this TikTok by @fandango). The moment went super viral, and the official Wicked account seemed to back up the theory, posting a video of Madame Morrible with the caption “MM 🔁 WW.”
   • Cynthia Erivo Finding Her Lost Hat: When Cynthia Erivo learned that a woman had found the hat she had lost at the Wicked: Part One premiere in London a year before, she stepped back and put her hand out in shock, creating a moment that turned into a hilarious reaction meme. Once she got the hat back, Cynthia posted this viral video commemorating the occasion.

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