The Vertikal Rotierender Fisch is the latest surreal, rotating aquatic star in a German TikTok trend redefining brain rot humor.
The meme draws viewers into a dense and absurdist world of a vertically rotating fish that appears in the oddest places. The Vertikal Rotierender Fisch (“Vertically Rotating Fish” in English) represents a weirdly familiar force of existential disruption. Users typically pair it with a deadpan line like “Oh no, not the vertically rotating fish again,” spoken in a monotone, AI-generated male voice.
@kaanomeg Oh nein! #fisch #fish #balik # #germantok #meme #ps1 #psx #retrographics ♬ original sound – Bewegtbilder.Deutschland
The Vertikal Rotierender Fisch meme centers on a 3D model of a fish spinning head-to-tail, usually floating in mid-air or imposed in strange scenes like grocery stores, hallways, or underwater cityscapes. The fish has no apparent narrative purpose. It simply arrives, spinning silently or with ominous music.
Meme basics
- Meme/trend creator: Unknown; likely part of the broader German brain rot genre
- Meme type: Brain rot, video meme, catchphrase
- First appearance: Late 2024
- Origin source: German TikTok
- Used to convey: Sudden, surreal existential dread, or absurdity embedded in modern life
- Peak popularity: April 6-12, 2025
@streameranimation
What are brain rot memes?
Brain rot memes thrive on overstimulation, nonsense logic, and dense cultural layering. They often parody digital information overload and late-capitalist life. German brain rot memes take this to new levels, using rapid cuts, mascots from grocery chains, and made-up compound words that stretch the German language to its limits.
Origin and spread
The meme seems to have started on German brain rot TikTok in late 2024, embedded within the broader rise of POV-style “German Brain Rot” edits. These videos often feature AI voices reading out deeply strange animal perspectives or existential rants. One early viral German brain rot video showed a pigeon trying to access health care. Another followed a goldfish in a domestic spiral of regret.
From Bernd das Brot to a duck accompanied by, “Ich habe Paranoide Schizophrenie,” these silly brain rot memes are distinctly German. The Vertikal Rotierender Fisch began showing up in these videos as a recurring intruder.
@aidanetcetera german brainrot #germanrot #meme #brainrot ♬ original sound – Aidan Walker
Although it started in German-language spaces, the meme crossed over internationally by January 2025. English-speaking creators began remixing the fish into their own chaotic edits. Even people who don’t speak German commented on the posts and shared their favorite versions of the meme. The brain rot meme format reached a peak in popularity in mid-April 2025.
What makes German brainrot memes so uniquely strange?
Like other brain rot formats, Vertikal Rotierender Fisch critiques digital culture by leaning all the way into overstimulation and nonsense. However, the German version of brain rot memes does something unique. Many of the TikToks are stripped of English loanwords, instead emphasizing hyper-specific German language compound nouns in a way that only works in German.
@wunder_zimmer Vertikal rotierende Schlafparalyse #fyp #deutschememes #deutschland #taube #schlafparalyse ♬ Originalton – Wunder_Zimmer
There is a disorienting grammar to the memes, both linguistically and visually. The AI narration adds a strange authority to the absurdity, giving the fish’s presence an oddly solemn weight. In this way, the meme mirrors the fragmentation of modern life. Products float beside pigeons. Bureaucracy collides with barn animals. And somewhere in it all, the fish spins on.
Meme examples
Meme variations
Another version of the Vertikal Rotierender Fisch is the Horizontal Rotierender Fisch, which is simply rotating horizontally instead of vertically.
@tevitheo #vertikalrotierenderfisch ♬ original sound – Bewegtbilder.Deutschland
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