And Why Is It Suddenly All Over The Internet

Minecraft has remained a cultural juggernaut for over a decade, thriving not only through its gameplay but by harnessing the boundless imagination of its community, and there’s one aspect of this that has allowed the game to stay relevant for all these years: memes and memes on top of more memes.

From “Creeper, Aw Man” to the countless other memes, the game’s memes have always pervaded every bit of this community. However, a new meme emerging from a unique series of videos is now about to transcend nearly all that came before it, gripping and not letting go of anyone’s attention with its narrative and lore.

How did Minecraft’s Parkour Civilization meme come to be?

So, Parkour Civilization, as a proper meme, originated from a series of shorts created by YouTube and TikTok user “Evbo” in 2023. It’s a fully-fleshed-out series that narrates the story of a “parkour noob” struggling to survive in a dystopian world where social standing is determined by a person’s parkour skills.

In this near-liminal hellscape, only those who excel in parkour can rise to the safety of the “pros,” while “noobs” must train in a floating underworld, hoping to conquer the Impossible Course in the Temple of Parkour.

A huge shoutout to the now-viral line, “No one chooses to jump for the beef,” as well, which allowed the story to truly reach its meme status and helped it explode in popularity last week upon reaching X.

here in parkour civilization, NO ONE chooses to jump for the beef… pic.twitter.com/9uAWFvWRHc

— Saint Misinformation (@clown_depot) September 26, 2024

It’s about as wacky and insane as you’d expect from anything Minecraft-related, with an ending that, without spoiling anything, is basically what you’d expect from a top-tier Shōnen anime.

Parkour civilization at the start: haha I sure hope he doesn’t fall if he goes for the beef

Parkour Civilization ending: pic.twitter.com/B7wZKNLBfD

— joseph. (@Zeleistt) October 1, 2024

Plus, the bizarre combination of a serious narrative with Minecraft’s blocky aesthetic, paired with Evbo’s deadpan voice acting, really, really adds to how hilarious yet engrossing it all feels.

every line in parkour civilization is delivered like this pic.twitter.com/8QI55i0tJj

— asym! 🍉 (@radialasymmetry) October 1, 2024

But yes, once it caught the wind of virality, the memes proliferated and spread all across X like wildfire, with users creating all sorts of variations and twists to the lore. Here are a few that we let out a chuckle to:

“Am I… Not at the top of parkour civilization?” pic.twitter.com/a10EbeQTxN

— travis mutual (@simmytronSB) October 1, 2024

had to grind for this view #ParkourCivilization pic.twitter.com/Wa5zWeDk31

— Chrss (@lohc_chrss) October 2, 2024

“here in parkour civilization, NO ONE chooses to jump for the beef” pic.twitter.com/2KBRzz9FYR

— Kiso🐉|#ThankYouMori|CONSUMER OF PILK (@Kiso_cunt) September 30, 2024

After watching both videos, I’m confident in saying that the Minecraft Movie has a very real chance of leaving less cultural impact than Parkour Civilization pic.twitter.com/90RuoBlC4Q

— Thaddeus Crews (@Repiteo) October 1, 2024

With the way this fan fiction has spread across the internet and been so positively received, perhaps this is the kind of direction that unbelievably cursed movie from Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. should have taken before pushing that teaser out the door.

But why did Parkour Civilization really go viral the way it did?

Well, here’s a simple answer to this one: this game’s memes, especially the ones as zany as Civilization, often tend to tap into the game’s overall culture of being random and bring anything into reality with the power of imagination.

Not to mention, much of the credit behind its explosion of popularity can simply go to its perfect blend of absurdity and relatability, which is served on a platter of dead humor.

Let’s also not forget that this isn’t the first time a meme of this scale related to Minecraft has gone viral, though. From time to time, such memes continue to arrive just in time to keep Minecraft and its community alive.

Truly, these moments of viral interest are perhaps the reason why this game continues to thrive and stay culturally relevant, even years after its initial release. Keeping that in mind, one can also imagine what the next meme or fan fiction from this community might be like.

But with all that out of the way, what are your thoughts on Parkour Civilization? Do you think memes are the main reason why the game continues to stay relevant? Let us know in the comments below!