Hopecore

About

Hopecore is a meme trend on TikTok that originated in late 2023 going into 2024. The aesthetic TikTok -core features feel-good or "hopeful" edits splicing together videos of people doing wholesome things. Early hopecore videos often revolved around sports clips and interviews, while later hopecore videos tended to be more wholesome, featuring animals and children. Later hopecore videos also often feature the phrase "life is beautiful" across each clip. Popular artists in the "hopecore" repertoire are Bob Marley, Neil Diamond, Frank Sinatra, and other older artists. The "hopecore" trend is similar to memes about the indomitable human spirit. Other "-core" trends on TikTok include stresscore and pinkcore.

Origin

One of the earliest known hopecore edits was posted to TikTok on January 27th, 2023, with TikToker^[1] @waxyegg posting an edit of a scene from Kung-Fu Panda 2, where Po tells Lord Shen that scars heal. The video gathered over 1 million views and 100,000 likes in two years.

Spread

Hopecore videos began to gain real traction in the following month, with several sports-themed hopecore videos gathering millions of views in February 2023. TikToker^[2] @2ceeblok's edit included several sports clips, including "Who Do You Think You Are I Am." The post gathered over 4 million views and 800,000 likes in over a year (seen below).

A February 18th, 2023 video by TikToker^[3] @mandohdropemoff showing scenes from the NBA and the NFL, including clips of Derrick Rose and Lebron James, gathered over 14 million views and 2 million likes in a year (seen below).

The hopecore trend began to stray away from sports themes in 2024, with a July 12th, 2024 clip from TikToker^[4] @hopecore.o showing a young girl wearing prescription glasses for the first time gathering over 100 million plays and 23 million likes in two months. The video remains one of the most viral hopecore edits on TikTok.

A July 17th, 2024 TikTok^[5] video by @tboi_terraria_player showing a monkey touching himself gathered over 7 million plays and 200,000 likes in two months. The post is a popular late-stage hopecore parody, intending to subvert the format's wholesome premise using a humorous and inappropriate video (seen below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References