Here’s How The Heroes From 15 Well-Known Memes Look Today

We see hundreds of memes online every day, and we’ve become so used to many of them that we tend to forget that the people in them are real humans, just like you and I. And while they look as if they’re frozen in time in the memes, in reality they’ve changed a lot since the memes first went viral. And if you’ve ever wondered how the heroes from your favorite memes look today, then you’ve come to the right place.

#1 Success Kid (Sam Griner)

Image source: Sam Griner, Success Kid

The origins of the “Success Kid” go back to 2007, when Laney Griner uploaded a photo of his son Sam to Flickr. Sam’s portrait first went viral with the caption “I Hate Sandcastles” but Laney didn’t like the context of the meme, as she felt it made her son look like a bully. However, eventually the meme caught on as the “Success Kid”, and Laney ended up embracing it.

#2 Disaster Girl (Zoe Roth)

Image source: zoeroth

This photo of a girl named Zoe Roth observing firefighters putting out a fire was captured by her dad Dave back in 2004. In 2007, the father entered the photo into a competition run by a photography magazine, and the photo ended up being published in it. It did not take long for the photo to go viral all over the internet, and a few years ago Zoe said that she’d love for the meme to help her get into college somehow.

#3 Doge (Kabosu)

Image source: kabosumama

This photo of a Shiba Inu named Kabosu went viral back in 2013 as the “Doge” meme. Despite the rumors of its death, this adorable doggo is still alive and well, and you can even follow her on Instagram!

#4 Grumpy Cat (Tardar Sauce)

Image source: realgrumpycat

Tardar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat, became famous back in 2012 when her photos were uploaded to Reddit. People instantly fell in love with Grumpy Cat’s unique appearance, and it ended up gathering millions of fans worldwide before sadly passing away in 2019 at the age of 7.

#5 Roll Safe (Kayode Ewumi)

Image source:  BuzzFeed UK

The “Roll Safe” meme comes from a BBC documentary series called “Hood Documentary” that was shot back in 2016. It features an actor named Kayode Ewumi, pointing to his head and smiling after calling a woman beautiful because “she’s got good brains.”

#6 Blinking White Guy (Drew Scanlon)

Image source: drewscanlon

The real name of the guy in the “Blinking White Guy” gif is Drew Scanlon, and it comes from a live stream shot back in 2013. The stream showed Gaming Bomb’s editor-in-chief Jeff Gerstmann playing a game called Starbound, and the blinking part came after Drew heard him say “I’ve been doing some farming with my h*e.”

#7 Ridiculously Photogenic Guy (Zeddie Smith

Image source: Zeddie Little

This photo of Zeddie Little, aka “Ridiculously Photogenic Guy”, was taken back in 2012 during the Cooper River Bridge Run. It went viral after it was uploaded to Reddit by Will King, and received over 40k upvotes.

#8 Side-Eyeing Chloe (Chloe)

Image source: Lily & Chloe

This sided-eying girl, whose real name is Chloe, went viral back in 2013 when KAftC uploaded a video titled “Lily’s Disneyland Surprise… AGAIN” to YouTube. The video showed the reactions of Chloe and her sister Lily after they’ve been told they’ll be going to Disneyland instead of school. The girl now has her own Instagram account with nearly 600k followers, you can find it here!

#9 Bad Luck Brian (Kyle Craven)

Image source: mnhaverland

Kyle’s yearbook photo went viral all over the internet back in 2012 after his friend Ian Davies uploaded it to Reddit with the caption “Takes driving test .?.?. gets first DUI”. Kyle says that he rubbed his face with a sweater to make it red and put on an obnoxious smile on purpose.

#10 Confused Nick Young (Nick Young)

Image source: Nick Young

The “Confused Nick Young” meme comes from an episode of “Thru The Lens” that was shot back in 2014. The screenshot comes from a scene where his mother says that Nick was “a clown” in his younger years.

#11 Harold Hiding The Pain (András Arató)

Image source:  BuzzFeedVideo

András Arató, aka “Hide The Pain Harold”, is a stock photography model whose facial expression ended up becoming a popular meme back in 2011. Over the years, the man has embraced the meme and back in 2018 has even given a TedTalk about his newfound fame in Kyiv, Ukraine.

#12 Overly Attached Girlfriend (Laina Morris)

Image source: Laina

The “Overly Attached Girlfriend” meme was born back in 2012 after YouTuber Laina Morris uploaded a parody of Justin Bieber’s “Boyfriend”, to a contest promoting Bieber’s new perfume called “Girlfriend”. Sadly, after her video went viral, Laina says she had to deal with a lot of privacy issues, such as fans finding her personal information and trying to access her college records. Back in 2019, she announced that she will stop creating YouTube content.

#13 Trying To Hold A Fart Next To A Cute Girl In Class (Michael McGee)

Image source: aaduk_ala

This meme featuring a guy named Michael McGee went viral on Reddit back in 2014 after user aaduk_ala submitted it to the the /r/funny subreddit with the caption “Trying to hold a fart next to a cute girl in class”. “Well, the guy who took the picture has been a good friend of mine since I first moved out here to Texas, so he knew I was able to make the face anytime I wanted,” said Mike in an earlier interview with Unilad. “So he wanted to make a funny Twitter caption and told me to make the face. He posted it and like two or three months after he posted it, it took off!”

#14 Good Luck Charlie (Mia Talerico)

Image source: Mia Talerico

The “Good Luck Charlie” meme featuring Mia Talerico comes from the Disney Channel show of the same name.

#15 First World Problems (Silvia Bottini)

Image source: silviabottini_

The woman in the “First-World Problems” meme is none other than Italian actress Silvia Bottini.