History AscendedMeme / VideoGames

* The language learning app ''{{VideoGame/Duolingo}}'' briefly went viral due to the unintentionally threatening wording of the app's push notifications. While the push notifications were eventually rewritten to be more friendly and neutral, the app's marketing fully embraced into the MemeticPsycopath take on their mascot Duo, with several subsequent advertisments and merchandise featuring Duo threatening various people (to comedic effect).

* ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' added a secret achievement for using your Reversal Burst (ie. your combo-escape mechanic) only for the opponent to block it. It's titled 'Nice Burst!', a continuous recurring gag of ''P4U'' streamer Milpy.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'': The ''Definitive Edition'' expansion added an achievement called Castle of Doubt, given for losing a Castle that was at least 95% through being built. It's named after an ''Age of Empires'' tournament player called DauT, who had a reputation for doing precisely that.

* In ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'', someone made a bogus Purple Freddy that they claimed appeared randomly in the office. Coincidentally, a real Purple Freddy showed up in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' within the mini-games between nights.

*** To lesser extent, Illidan's "YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!" If you talk to him in the past while wielding his signature legendary weapons, he will comment "You seem prepared." It's since more become more or less his CatchPhrase, despite Illidan initially only saying it ''once'' in ''World of Warcraft'' and never at all in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III''. The battlemaster at Valhallas will also yell "YOU WERE NOT PREPARED!" if you wiped in one of the encounters. And, of course, Blizzard just had to reference it in Illidan's trailer for ''Legion'':

*** Mal'Ganis' entry quote "I am Mal'Ganis! I am eternal!" is often [[MondegreenGag misheard]] as "I am a turtle!". When he was added to ''Heroes of the Storm'', he was given two lines referencing this, including one where he practices his {{Catchphrase}} a few times and accidentally says "I am a turtle!" for real, and another where he says he's not a turtle, he's actually a [[BeastMan tortollan]].

** One of items you can pick up that is used for Garnet are pastel blue-and-red colored Cotton Candy Gauntlets, a reference to her FanNickname "Cotton Candy Garnet" (her form when Ruby and Sapphire first fused). [[invoked]]

* ''{{VideoGame/Battletech}}'':

* Since ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' values RuleOfCool [[AwesomeButImpractical above all else]] (besides {{grim dark}}ness), you get pictures like [[http://s320.beta.photobucket.com/user/Sanguiluna/media/drive-me-closer.jpg.html this one]], which became a meme when it was captioned "Drive me closer! I want to hit them with my sword!" ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar II: Retribution'' references several ''[=WH40K=]'' memes, and if you send a Commissar into a Chimera APC, [[https://youtu.be/xrrCY7dgaqs that's exactly what he says]].

* Speaking of Deadpool, he ended up [[HostileShowTakeover hijacking]] the ''VideoGame/MidnightSuns'' Twitter account during which he "leaked" the lineup of the game's season pass. In the [[https://twitter.com/midnightsuns/status/1585043538290647042 tweet]] that revealed ComicBook/MorbiusTheLivingVampire, he flat out states "It's Morbin' Time!", a meme that originated from the audience reactions to the SoBadItsGood ''Film/{{Morbius}}'' film.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

** On the ''Street Fighter V Character Encyclopedia'' website, there was a Shadaloo Combat Research Institute profile for Shen Long as an April Fools' Day joke.

* In ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' players have a fondness for spamming some voice lines, notably "Mushroom" (for xenofungus) and "We're Rich!" (for compressed gold). In Season 3 the developers put in some new voice lines where doing this enough will make MissionControl get annoyed and tell you to get on with the mission.

** Probably the most famous of these is Ermac. A counter in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat1 MK1]]'''s option menu, right under "Reptile Battles," listed the number of "Ermacs" -- short for "error macros" -- that have appeared, leading players to [[UrbanLegendOfZelda speculate]] about the existence of a hidden fighter named "Ermac." ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' deliberately fueled similar speculation by showing a counter for "Kano Transformations," which never happened in that game. When ''Ultimate [=MK3=]'' was released, Ermac was made into an unlockable character. He's made frequent appearances since then.

** One of the most memorable moments of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' is the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuXkVzBdJQ boulder-punching incident]]. This gets referenced in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' when Heisenberg refers to Chris as "that boulder-punching asshole". This also applies to the Japanese script, where he calls Chris "that gorilla", an AffectionateNickname given to Chris in reference to the same scene. This even goes for Chris' GuestFighter inclusion in ''VideoGame/Fortnite'', as his skin's item description dubs him a "boulder enthusiast".

** One of the most memorable moments of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' is the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xuXkVzBdJQ boulder-punching incident]]. This gets referenced in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'' when Heisenberg refers to Chris as "that boulder-punching asshole". This also applies to the Japanese script, where he calls Chris "that gorilla", an AffectionateNickname given to Chris in reference to the same scene.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Kiryl's crippling Artificial Stupidity (Party members were A.I.-controlled in the original game, so he spammed useless insta-death spells rather than, say, heal the party) has become a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' in-joke even among the makers. In subsequent appearances, Kiryl's Limit Break will feature him repeatedly failing to cast Whack with textboxes relating his failure until he gets so frustrated that he crushes the textboxes under heel and finally casting a successful Thwack.

*** "Republican Double for DLC!" started as an in-joke from the game's voice actors, and quickly began circling the internet. Now, thanks to the Indiegogo fundraiser reaching $250,000, Republican Double actually ''is'' a DLC voice-pack for Double.
*** Robo-Fortune as well: she started off as a gag by Ms. Fortune's VA Creator/KimlinhTran, then became an option for a voice-pack like Republican Double before being upgraded to a full-blown character, with her own story mode, stage, and theme music!

*** Robo-Fortune as well: she started off as a gag by Ms. Fortune's VA Kimlihn Tran, then became an option for a voice-pack like Republican Double before being upgraded to a full-blown character, with her own story mode, stage, and theme music!

** The most blatant example, on the other hand, is definitely the meme referenced by both the announcer of the game and by one of the achievements: "REAL '''SOVIET''' DAMAGE!" [[note]]For those not in the know, Skullgirls' lead developer, Mike "Mike Z" Zaimont, was one of the professional gamers Creator/ArcSystemWorks hired to make official strategy video for ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. Mike Z decided to have a little fun and make his video while speaking in a hilarious LargeHam Russian accent, promoting the superiority of communism over capitalist America. The quote above is one of the most memetic lines of the entire video. Further ascending is that future DLC will include Mike Z as '''REAL SOVIET ANNOUNCER'''.[[/note]]

*** This even got referenced in rival MMORPG ''VideoGame/EverQuestII''. Some dinosaur mobs in that game have an ability called Tail Swipe, and if you examine the effect after getting hit by it, the description is "That's a 50 DKP minus!"

--->'''Tyrannus: "Perhaps you should've stayed...in the mountains!"'''

*** To lesser extent, Illidan's "YOU ARE NOT PREPARED!" If you talk to him in the past while wielding his signature legendary weapons, he will comment "You seem prepared." It's since more become more or less his CatchPhrase, despite Illidan initially only saying it ''once'' in ''World of Warcraft'' and never at all in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III''. The battlemaster at Valhallas will also yell "YOU WERE NOT PREPARED!" if you wiped in one of the encounters.
*** And, of course, Blizzard just had to reference it in Illidan's trailer for ''Legion'':

*** Drahga Shadowburner yells "You should have come better prepared!" when killing players and "By fire be... burned!" when summoning adds.

*** Hogger, a level 11 mob infamous for being hard to kill (because he was for many players the first elite mob they fought), was upgraded to a dungeon boss in ''Cataclysm''. The quest that has you kill him apparently includes the line "No one can destroy him". He also makes appearances in Hearthstone as a tutorial boss and Legendary minion.

*** Gamon was sort of a reverse Hogger; famous for getting killed all the time for no reason (he was the only NPC in Orgrimmar to be attackable, and had to be weak to not cause trouble). Like Hogger, he got beefed up in ''Cataclysm''... becoming a ''level 85 Elite'' that required a large group to kill. Gamon TookALevelInBadass after taking all those beatings...
*** And as of the final patch of ''Mists'', Gamon is now a level 90 elite with as much health as some raid bosses, has a voice actor and character, and was trained by [[spoiler:and canonically lands the killing blow on]] General Nazgrim. Fans have managed to make a one-off NPC go from a joke to a ''major lore character''.

*** This gets referenced ''again'' in ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft''. In the prologue of Knights of the Frozen Throne, when overwhelmed by a Death Knight Jaina, upon his HP reaching 0, Tirion ends the fight by, you guessed it, bubble-hearthing.

*** Nomi appears in ''Hearthstone'' where his card art depicts him holding a tray of burned food while a massive plume of fire erupts from a stove behind him. His special ability is summoning Greasefire Elementals.

*** Fans have joked about how Tauren (a race of bipedal cows) and Draenei (Blue-skinned aliens) have had Rogue-Class characters the entire time, they just never appeared due to being too stealthy. Then [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p7_6zBe7Lk&t=667s this interview]] came out revealing that all playable races (logically including Taurens and Draenei) will have access to, among other classes, Rogues, in the upcoming ''Dragonflights'' expansion. Brian Holinka, the developer being interviewed, even explicitly mentioned Tauren Rogues.

*** When Deathwing actually was added, they reused the clawed door ''again'', although the meme worked to their advantage since most people just assumed it was something related to D.Va. Also, the appearance of [[https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/399424650762911747/648606766602518537/unknown.png one of Deathwing's abilities is based on the door]].

*** [[ColdSniper Nova]] is an infamous SkillGateCharacter and HighTierScrappy. When they added a bunch of [[TheApunkalypse Warchrome]] emojis, Nova's depicts her sitting in a trashcan, and has the shortcut :trashsniper:.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' fans simply know Allan as "the guy who simply doesn't add details". Originally an oversight in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' (a lobster crate's flavor text reading [[LeftItIn "Allan please add details"]])[[/note]], but the joke kept returning as an easter egg in future games; ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'' has it when you score 666 in the shooting range, and the ''VideoGame/WorldOfAssassinationTrilogy'' has it referenced on various post-it notes in many of tis levels. It's even referenced in the HD remaster, being changed to "Any details yet, Allan?".
** "Jack Please" was originally an in-forum joke, a MondegreenGag at the prnounciation of 47 saying "Check Please" in the ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' Sapienza trailer. The waiter in question was later given the name "Jack Please" in Contracts Mode.