We have a lot of fun killing memes around here—to the point where the meme community is now circulating a petition begging us to stop.
But when it comes to this new meme, even a heartless meme assassin like myself must pause and reflect: Le monke does not deserve to die.
Perhaps it is the lingering trauma of Harambe the gorilla‘s death at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday that sparks pity for this bizarrely Photoshopped orangutan. In any event, le monke’s face is a transfixing sight.
Where did le monke come from? It’s difficult to say. There appears to be an indirect lineage from “le monkey face,” a fairly obscure ragetoon drawing of years past, and the French article “le” is favored by 4channers mocking redditors (as well as by Reddit itself).
At least one 4channer recently lamented that the meme has been appropriated by “normie” Facebook groups, which suggests that le monke had its beginnings on the board.
At any rate, it’s no surprise that le monke has already bumped off SpongeGar (technically Primitive Sponge) to ascend to his rightful place as king of memes.
The Internet moves so fast, and everything’s always changing. Yet somehow, le monke stays the same. Just don’t look at pre-Photoshop le monke, because it kind of ruins the whole thing:
