The It's Like Finding A Gold Scar meme, often shortened to Gold Scar meme features image slideshows set to the sound of John Bellion's "All Time Low." The meme references image macros that compare rare, lucky events with finding a Gold Scar weapon in the popular video game Fortnite and spread on TikTok in late September 2024.
Meme basics
- Meme/trend creator: @sportsculture / Instagram
- Meme type: Image macro / TikTok meme challenge
- First appearance: Sept. 28, 2024
- Origin source: Instagram
- Used to convey: A sense of joy finding/experiencing something rare and treasured.
- Peak popularity: Nov. 17-23, 2024
- Notable variations:
- "I was the knight in shining armor" copypasta lyrics in captions of TikTok posts, typically used as they accomplish an unexpected goal.
What does the It's Like Finding A Gold Scar meme mean?
The Gold Scar meme is a reference to the video game Fortnite’s rare-to-find Gold Scar weapons. Most iterations of the meme format are written in the template of "How it feels [when]…" and are set against the song "All Time Low" by John Bellion, with a particular focus on the lyrics, "I was the knight in shining armor in your movie," which has become a meme of its own.
Origin and spread
Instagram user @sportsculture on Instagram on Sept. 28, 2024, whose post included an image from Fortnite of their character finding a Gold Scar gun in the game. They shared in their carousel of memes a series of sports-themed “How it feels” image macros. The first image says, "How it feels watching your NFL team win on Sundays."
@sportsculture’s post has been liked over 31.7K times since being posted.
The meme format spread quickly to TikTok, where on Oct. 1, 2024, @mrwalkyoudownwiththe223 posted the meme with the caption, "How it feels to hit your Geek Bar while drinking a half and half Twisted Tea." Their TikTok has been viewed over 807.4K times and liked over 175.8K times in the two months since it was posted, and other TikTokers soon followed suit.
Popularity
People on TikTok latched onto the meme format, sharing their own “Gold Scar” moments with their followers and making the "All Time Low" sound go viral on the social media app.
Other examples of viral TikToks utilizing this meme format include @crzxywrld, who posted their version on Nov. 9, 2024, with a text overlay that reads, "How it felt going into English class and seeing a clueless sub." Their post has amassed over 1.2 million likes and 5.3 million views in one month.
Video versions of the meme began to go viral during this time, such as @sniff_maxwell, whose video on Nov. 17, 2024, showcased his purposely terrible singing of the "All Time Low" lyrics as his player character runs around in Fortnite and finds a Gold Scar weapon.
The particularly meta text overlay reads, “How it feels to find a gold scar in Fortnite.” His TikTok has been viewed over 8.8 million times and liked over 1.6 million times.
Meme examples
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