The Brief: The Ugandan Knuckles meme is an anti-meme featuring a version of the character Knuckles from the Sonic franchise.
DEEP DIVE
Leading up to January 1, 2019, trolls on Reddit planned to make the Ugandan Knuckle meme go viral at the start of the new year, in order to trick normies and Instagram users into thinking it was a good meme. However, when the new year arrived, some Reddit users reported that mods banned them for posting Ugandan Knuckles memes on various subreddits including r/funny. The r/funny subreddit was the main target for trolls who view its 22+ million subscribers as a sign that it is too mainstream for Reddit.
The meme is based on a Ugandan version of the character Knuckles from Sonic The Hedgehog. Elements of the meme are based on Ugandan media and stereotypes. This meme has been characterized by many as racist for how it plays on Ugandan caricatures – and the connotations of such depictions.
After that, the meme went viral in the gaming world, especially on VRChat when users flooded the chats with Knuckles characters who spoke in mock African accents saying things like “do you know the way” and referencing the film Who Killed Captain Alex? as well as Zulul. Videos of groups of Knuckles characters on VRChat went viral, spreading the meme into the broader gaming world.
r/me_irl is planning to fire up r/funny with Uganda Knuckles on New Years. This one is coming back, buy now while it’s still cheap! from r/MemeEconomy
Da wæ from r/dankmemes
When it’s january 1st but you don’t see any ugandan knuckles memes from r/Lithuaniakittens
When no one in r/funny appreciates ugandan knuckles dead memes and you get banned… from r/PrequelMemes