The Rat Dance Meme, also known as the Milton’s Dancing Rat Trend, features a dancing 3D animated rat, whose moves have since turned into a viral dance trend. The crude video, made in the tradition of low-res internet videos, has made the internet laugh again and again as people replicate the silly moves.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: @ratomilton/TikTok
- Meme Type: Viral Dance
- First Appearance: January 2025
- Origin Source: TikTok
- Peak Popularity: February 2025
Origin
Beginning in Dec 2024, TikToker @ratomilton began sharing videos of a 3D-animated rat dancing. He set the videos to different backgrounds and various songs.
While early videos got fewer views, the page picked up in early 2025 when the dance was set to the song “Chess Type Beat” by Joyful. Both that video and the ones before it began to go viral.
The Rat Dance Meme spreads
By mid-January 2025, the @ratomilton videos caught the attention of streamer @iShowSpeed. He shared a video duplicating the rat’s dance moves, which went viral and has over 250 million views on TikTok to date. This began what’s been referred to as the Milton’s Dancing Rat Trend.
Other influencers, including PSYCHIC FEVER, Nick Kosir, Brinti D’Angelo, and more quickly started getting in on the Rat Dance Meme.
As the Rat Dance Meme trend spread, a version that included a filter where dancers could dance with the rat also appeared, making it seem like a duo or group dance video.
Rat Dance Meme examples
More dance memes:
- Trump Dance memes return after Election Day 2024
- The man who shoved Brittany Broski out of frame during the ‘Apple’ dance is now a meme
- Australian breakdancer ‘Raygun’ earned zero points but launched hundreds of memes
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.