What is the ‘Megamind’ meme?

People are quick to comment on the sex lives of others (or lack thereof) when the other person is being difficult or posits an unpopular opinion, and no meme better encompasses this concept than the Megamind meme, also known as the “No B*tches” meme.

But if you've found yourself wondering where this popular reaction meme comes from, wonder no more.

First of all, what is 'Megamind'?

Megamind is the title character from the 2010 animated movie Megamind, with Will Ferrell cast as as the voice for the animated character. In the movie, the character Megamind starts off as a stereotypical villain who kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (voiced by Brad Pitt). Having no one else to fight, Megamind creates a new archenemy whom he calls Tighten (voiced by Jonah Hill). 

However, instead of using his powers for good, Tighten wants to destroy the world and so Megamind inadvertently becomes a hero for the first time in his life.

The Los Angeles Times, in a January 2011 article, characterized its box office earnings as "a tepid total international gross of $134.5 million." That's, of course, tepid by DreamWorks standards; the article went on to note it was on track to become "one of the three worst-performing computer-animated movies from DreamWorks in the last decade," along with Bee Movie and Flushed Away.

The character received the meme treatment in 2021 when an image of Megamind was paired with the phrase, “No B*tches?” The meme quickly became viral and was widely used as a reaction image.

How did the Megamind meme (aka ‘No B*tches’ meme) originate?

The Megamind meme started as an image of the character from the movie. The image was pulled from the movie’s trailer and posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, by user @artist_donna, and it shows Megamind peeking into a door’s peephole.

Ghostbur pic.twitter.com/3DrHPRsfbI

— ????ᗪOᑎᑎᗩ ᗪᖇᗩᗯS???? (@artist_donna) October 28, 2021

According to Know Your Meme, the tweet gained over 80 retweets and 3,400 likes in three months and the still became a popular reaction image. X user @badguybubbles used it to react to a post about Halloween. 

literally cause how you got all that money for all those clothes but can’t dress good COMICALLY for one night!??? pic.twitter.com/2gudiFGsOg

— ☆⋆｡????°‧★ (@badgyalbubbless) October 30, 2021

Meanwhile on Instagram, a user, who posts under the handle leaderofmoosey, transformed it into a video meme, generating over 138,000 likes to date.

Finally, the meme reached full form when an iFunny user paired the image of Megamind with the phrase “No B*tches?” (Hence, the secondary "no b*tches meme" name.)

While the phrase “No B*tches” had been popular online before, its use with the image of Megamind made it a bonafide meme. The phrase itself is a popular slang expression used to mock people who have no perceived interactions with members of their desired sex. It is usually targeted towards those who seem like they aren’t having many sexual or romantic interactions in their lives, and that they should focus on doing so instead of posting online.

The spread of the 'Megamind' meme

By 2022, the image had gone viral. People posted their own iterations such as the Instagram account @no_bitches_daily, which received over 69,000 likes on their German version of the meme.

Others also played with the phrase, such as the “Memes for sophisticated gentlemen” Facebook account which posted a re-captioned meme about McDonald’s hash browns.

Whether a reaction phrase or just a joke, the malleability of the Megamind meme allows it to be adjusted to fit any situation, which will probably ensure its popularity for some time—even if the movie's been forgotten.

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