Think Fast, Chucklenuts

Submission 21,066

Part of a series on Team Fortress 2. [View Related Entries]

About

Think Fast, Chucklenuts is a catchphrase spoken by the Scout in Team Fortress 2 upon stunning an enemy. The phrase has been used in video edits and memes throughout the 2010s, significantly increasing in popularity in 2020 along with a format where Scout says the phrase then a flashbang grenade goes off.

Origin

On October 10th, 2007, Team Fortress 2 was released. In the game, the Scout character class says the phrase "think fast, chucklenuts" after stunning an enemy with his Sandman weapon.^[1] One of the earliest memes to use the audio clip is a Source Filmmaker edit posted by YouTuber^[2] Enth on November 15th, 2012, where the Scout throws a grenade at the Soldier and hits him in the balls, gaining over 10,000 views in 10 years (shown below).

Spread

On October 10th, 2020, Twitter^[3] parody page @neftilix announced a fake animated series starring the Scout using the phrase, gaining over 8,000 likes in just over a year. On November 18th, iFunny^[4] user Magmapanda77 posted a video using an image macro of the Scout, captioned, "think fast, chucklenuts" where the audio clip plays followed by a flash of white and a whining sound, as if the he just threw a flashbang grenade (shown below, left). The video gained over 43,000 smiles in just over a year, and is based on an earlier Anime Girl Throwing Things meme submitted by iFunny^[11] user Bedtimeforbonzo on November 2nd, 2020, (shown below, right), which itself is a video version of an earlier Reddit^[12] post.

The meme saw use as an exploitable over the following months, attached to various clips as a form of bait-and-switch meme. On March 31st, 2021, YouTuber^[5] Fazzer attached the meme to a video of Nya Arigato, gaining over 108,000 views in a year (shown below, left). On June 6th, YouTuber^[6] Beacon posted another video using the meme, gaining over 52,000 views in a similar span of time (shown below, right).

On June 11th, Instagram^[7] user soldier4smash shared an edit of the meme originally by iFunny^[8] user IceKing where the Scout throws a dodgeball rather than a flashbang, replacing the sound with a dodgeball sound effect, gaining over 81,000 views in 10 months. On July 6th, YouTuber^[9] LayzuhCatz posted a fully animated video inspired by this meme, gaining over 500,000 views in nine months (shown below).

On October 21st, iFunny^[10] user The_Sauceror posted a version of the meme where the Scout throws a snail at the viewer followed by a You Died message, gaining over 450 smiles in six months (shown below).

Anime Girl Throwing Things

Anime Girl Throwing Things refers to a viral anime-style artwork of a woman throwing an energy drink can at the viewer. Created in July 2020 by artist @doshimash0, the artwork gained popularity as an exploitable, with users replacing the can with other objects.