There's a trend happening now where users are saying some truly awful things paired with photos of a black and white lion. How exactly did this start?
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00:00People are saying some truly horrendous things online, per usual, but this time they're doing
00:04it with this picture of a lion, which I guess makes it okay? I mean, these are silly memes,
00:08they can't be that, okay yeah, that's messed up. So why are people doing this, and how did it start?
00:13To understand this, you first have to understand the Sigma grindset, which this Sigma lion meme
00:17is essentially making fun of. It originated from the alleged African proverb, the lion does not
00:22turn around when the small dog barks, which became a popular saying in Sigma grindset spheres around
00:27the web. The quote inspired various image macros in these internet spheres throughout the 2010s
00:31and 2020s, and then it got elevated. In November of 2024, a recaptioned version of the image started
00:37appearing on Reddit and Instagram. This version subverts the original image's overdramatic tone
00:42by likening its alpha mentality to SA. That poor dog. The heinousness of this macro got a lot of
00:48attention, and as it spread, users started making other versions of the lion image. Some would invert
00:53it or fully contradict it, like this one that advocates for the dog's consent. Some would just
00:57expand the lore of the dog and the lion. In April of 2025, TikTokers started leaning into the dark tone
01:03of the meme, using the black and white lion or similar images in slideshows to ironically express
01:08all sorts of awful things that the lion does. We're talking discriminatory or predatory things,
01:13which I guess makes sense. Variations of the meme spread, and soon users were posting similar content
01:17about a sigma wolf who also does awful things. The meme would throw in another layer of irony,
01:22as users started using it to express more minuscule transgressions. On TikTok,
01:26the meme is usually shared as a slideshow post paired with this punk track.