The internet is awash with cries of “I’m already Tracer,” and you’re probably wondering where the peculiar phrase came from.
The meme has its roots in the music video for the song “No Mercy” by The Living Tombstone. The song is an ode to players who “should have been Mercy,” referring to players who go about their own business and play who they want to instead of who would better support the team and lead everyone to victory.
In the video game Overwatch, you can only choose one of each hero character for your team. If someone logs on before you and picks your main, you’re out of luck until the next round—if they decide to go with someone else. This can be frustrating, especially if your main happens to be a massively popular pick, such as D.Va, Mercy, or as the song starts out, Tracer.
Too many players opt to go on the offensive with their favorite characters and totally overlook support roles, which includes heroes like Mercy, Zenyatta, and Lucio. This, in turn, means there are no healers on the team or characters to offer support, and so the team in its entirety suffers. That’s why you should always try to pick a support character to complement the other players’ roles when possible.
Not long after the video made its way online to YouTube, users took to the popular short video platform TikTok to make their own videos that featured the song. Some of the videos were grating. One TikTok clip featured a D.Va cosplayer, who (embarrassingly) chose what appears to be a corded PlayStation 2 controller as a prop while lip-syncing to the song. The game isn’t available on PlayStation 3, as users have already pointed out several thousands of times.
In response to the cringe-inducing clip, @theasianthatyeet recorded their own response to the cosplayer’s video, taking the Xbox One version out of their console and tossing it into the yard with the caption “Fuck you and fuck this game.”
https://twitter.com/IronicTikTok/status/1051519833253273600
From this TikTok clip alone, it isn’t hard to see why Twitter (and the rest of the internet) is tired of looking at these videos and hearing this song.
Everytime I hear this song I want to kill myself alittle more.
— Jmoney (@WingWangTV) October 14, 2018
thats a ps2 controller
— eevay 💜 (@eevay) October 14, 2018
I like the song, it was catchy but tik tok ruined it. Ruined it completely.
— Taylor Mair (@Crossbowgirl99) October 14, 2018
https://twitter.com/litsucc420/status/1051605427710963712
The moment she said "NERF BASTION" I hated her, thanks
— S1-Y4N (@SurpriseGmg) October 30, 2018
I'm sorry but is that a PS2 controller?
— ItsaMeWill (@itsa_will) October 17, 2018
https://twitter.com/JoeyTheMythical/status/1051680387817242626
that's a ps2 controller.She ain't even playin the game
— Germanusx (@TheRealBonni3) October 14, 2018
Everyone is very upset about her using the wrong controller.
Many of the women uploading TikTok videos have made similarly embarrassing videos in the eyes of the Overwatch faithful, showing the wrong controllers in the video or flubbing the lyrics.
The guys aren’t really doing much better, although they are giving us something to laugh at in the meantime. They are singing along and doing the same thing…
…there’s a lot…
of “I’m Already Tracer” memes…
on TikTok. And if you watch too many of them, you just might go crazy. Or at the very least, you won’t be able to get this irritating little song out of your head.
But the meme didn’t stop there. It’s slowly but surely evolved past its initial status as a TikTok meme and has infiltrated the social lexicon as we know it. The phrase “I’m already Tracer” is a meme in and of itself now.
*in kindergarten class*
— anal taco bell (@sadqueef) November 17, 2018
teacher: what do you all want to be when you grow up?
me: i wanna be tracer
teacher: im already tracer
Me: So you'll sketch and I'll trace.
— HHFBwebcomics (@HHFlashbacks) November 24, 2018
Friend: I wanna be tracer
Me: I'm already tracer.
hey umm..😂 can i get uhh um 😂 a motherfrickin uhh 😂 😂 can i get uhh 😂😂😂 um can i get a um😂😂😂😂 yo uhhh 😂 im gonna need a big frickin uh 😂😂 hey can i get one of those um 😂😂 um can i get a um 😂 can i get uh 😂😂 im gonna uhhh um 😂😂😂😂 i wanna be tracer 😳
— GODS (@gods_live) November 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/miauchun/status/1063411402163941376
Her: You know what would be hot? Roleplay!
— A$AP Wylie 🤠 (@Z_Wylie_) November 15, 2018
Me: Okay! I wanna be Tracer.
Her: *Tracing finger around my chest* I’m already Tracer.
Me: *Nervously* What about Bastion?
Her: *Whispers in ear* NERF Bastion.
https://twitter.com/MrV705/status/1062976220336455686
my brother was talking to me and he said “you know... i had a long talk with my gf earlier about what i want to major in. it was a pretty hard thing to discuss, but i’ve finally made a decision.” and i was so proud of him for a moment until he said “i... wanna be tracer”
— jesse •ᴥ• (@homovaquero) November 23, 2018
Me: I wanna be tracer
— christian (@SuhPoze_) November 19, 2018
Enemy: I’m already brig
Me: ok, I’ll be genji
Enemy: I’m already brig
Me: hm.. maybe doom?
Enemy: I’m already brig
Me: sombra??
Enemy: I’m already brig
Me: pic.twitter.com/tIHrqxjecY
Me: Joins an overwatch game and presses "enter".
— Yessi (@YessicaAmperse) November 15, 2018
Brain: Don't type it
Don't type it
Don't type it
Don't type it
Don't type it
Don't type it
Don't type it
Me: 'I wanna be tracer'
It looks like, for better or for worse, the “I wanna be Tracer” meme firmly has everyone in its grasp and won’t be going away any time soon. At least now you know what it means though, right?
I wanna be tracer
— Daz Black (@daz_black) November 10, 2018
I wanna be bastion
And I wanna be shot in the dick if i hear that bullshit song one more time