The 10 Most Popular Memes From Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker

Summary The Rise of Skywalker's impact on culture is undeniable, especially through its iconic memes from the sequel trilogy.

Kylo Ren's redemption and Ben Solo's debut have become iconic meme moments from the movie, resonating with audiences.

The absurd moments in The Rise of Skywalker, like "They fly now?" and General Hux's betrayal, have been turned into popular memes.

Even as one of Star Wars' most controversial movies, there's no denying that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has had an incredible impact on culture - especially with its memes. The Star Wars franchise has a reputation for generating some of pop culture's most recognizable memes, particularly with the prequel trilogy of the Skywalker saga. This is a tradition that the sequel Star Wars trilogy has followed, especially with 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.

Though much about this movie continues to be debated, The Rise of Skywalker has already deeply ingrained itself into pop culture with its memes. Many of them have to do with the absurdity of certain lines and moments in the context of the movie, but others have also stemmed from the internet's shared reaction to random moments in the story. While an entire wealth of memes has been generated from The Rise of Skywalker, there are 10 that remain supreme, five years after its release.

Related The 25 Best Star Wars Memes Star Wars is known for its iconic dialogue that's made the franchise a rich source of meme material for decades, and here are 25 of the best examples.

10 Ben Solo Comes To The Rescue On Exegol

Ben Solo's Swift Arrival Gains A New Soundtrack Quite Often

The redemption of Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker is perhaps one of the most shocking moments, even for those who had long since been rooting for the Star Wars villain's return to the light side. His first scene as Ben Solo is thus highly memorable, particularly for the way in which he's shed his Kylo Ren outfit for something much more subtle. While the scene itself is a thrill, his entrance as an unexpected hero has made a different kind of impact, thanks to the video-editing skills of Star Wars audiences.

Ben Solo's debut quickly earned the typical Star Wars meme treatment, with videos of his arrival on Exegol being set to a wide variety of different songs. The most iconic, however, is Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero." Made famous in meme culture by Shrek 2, "Holding Out for a Hero" has become an anthem for scenes such as this. It's impossible to rewatch The Rise of Skywalker after watching this video and to not hear Bonnie Tyler's voice singing over Ben Solo's entrance.

9 General Hux's True Pettiness At Last Shines Through

Hux Reveals He's The Resistance Spy For The Most Petty Reason

Another of the most shocking reveals in The Rise of Skywalker is General Hux serving as the Resistance spy inside the First Order. This reveal is coated in plenty of humor, with Poe Dameron insisting he knew it and Finn assuring him that there was no possible way he actually did, but the absurdity of it alone is highly comedic. Hux's sudden switch-up, done only as an act of revenge on Kylo Ren, is utterly wild, which is made obvious when he insists that "I don't care if you win. I need Kylo Ren to lose."

This pettiness, in terms of rooting for the success of a small enemy in order to thwart a larger one, has earned this scene the meme treatment. In the above example, this meme is set in the context of the sports world, where fans will root for one team in the World Cup just so they can see another team fail. It's the perfect template for anyone who's praying on the downfall of an enemy, and has thus cemented its place in popular meme culture.

8 Kylo Ren Walks Out Of Kef Bir's Waters

The Wet Hair Look Has Inspired Many Memes About Weather (& Childhood Nostalgia)

The Rise of Skywalker's pinnacle lightsaber duel actually appears more towards the middle of the movie rather than the end, when Kylo Ren and Rey face off in the ruins of the Death Star on Kef Bir. Due to the raging seas of the planet, the two have to constantly dodge massive waves, causing water to drizzle around them for much of the fight. One such scene sees Kylo Ren emerge from the hazy cloud of a wave's mist, which has since generated a plethora of memes.

This particular example compares the moment to one of childhood nostalgia, when a water park's filled bucket would dump itself out and create an effect similar to this Kef Bir wave. Other memes also depict things such as unexpected rain showers and even just normal showers, with some even poking fun at Kylo Ren himself finally taking a shower in this scene. This small moment proves that anything can become a meme, especially in this particular movie.

This small moment proves that anything can become a meme, especially in this particular movie.

7 The Absolute Absurdity Of "They Fly Now?" "They Fly Now!"

Finn & Poe Dameron Are Shocked By Jetpacks They've Already Seen Before

Finn and Poe Dameron are completely flabbergasted when the stormtroopers pursuing them on Pasaana begin to use jetpacks in their chase. This leads to them exchanging the iconic "They fly now? They fly now!" phrase, which is nonsensical in the greater context of the Star Wars galaxy. Not only have stormtroopers, and even clone troopers, been using jetpacks for many years, but Poe himself came across jumptroopers, who also utilize jetpacks, in the comic series Star Wars: Poe Dameron.

The absurdity of this moment has thus caused it to become a beloved meme. Even actor John Boyega has pointed this out, reminding his co-star Oscar Isaac that "They been using [jetpacks] since the Clone Wars" in an interview. Boyega and Isaac's playfulness with this line has made it all the more hilarious, causing it to become one of the movie's most memorable meme moments.

6 Babu Frik Celebrates His Success With C-3PO

The Anzellan Has Become Iconic To All Star Wars Audiences

One of the best things to come out of The Rise of Skywalker for many viewers was the debut of Babu Frik, the beloved Anzellan droidsmith. The character was so celebrated by Star Wars audiences that the return of Anzellans in The Mandalorian season 3 trailer became one of its biggest highlights. Babu's way of speaking and interacting with his environment made him an instant classic, especially his iconic "Hey hey hey!" celebration.

As any good Star Wars viewer would do, the meme treatment was quickly extended to Babu. These Babu Frik memes usually dwell on his catchphrase and uplift him in a dramatic way, giving his role in the movie much more weight than it actually carried. At the time, Babu was also compared to Grogu, or "Baby Yoda," whose debut was taking place at the same time - thus adding even more emphasis to Babu's popularity campaign.

Related Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Ending Explained (& What Happens Next) Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ends the 42-year saga with epic bombast, but leaves behind a lot of questions about what happened - and the future.

5 Kylo Ren Throws His Lightsaber - & It's Caught

General Grievous Strikes Again In This Memorable Meme

Kylo Ren's turning point in The Rise of Skywalker arrives when Leia uses the rest of her strength to reach out to him through the Force. Her death is what turns him back to the light, and an appearance from his late father - not quite a Force ghost, but an apparition of sorts - encourages him even further in that act. This leads to Kylo throwing his crossguard lightsaber into the Kef Bir sea, which many viewers already deemed a questionable choice.

This moment, of course, couldn't go un-memed when General Grievous exists. As Star Wars' iconic lightsaber collector, audiences were quick to get Grievous in on this one-of-a-kind lightsaber. The edited video sees Grievous leaping into the Kef Bir sea after Kylo's lightsaber, eager to add "another fine addition to my collection." This marriage between the prequel and the sequel trilogies in a meme format is highly memorable and, of course, perfectly hilarious.

4 Anakin's Lightsaber Is Buried In Sand

Rey Unintentionally Makes Anakin's Worst Fear Come True

At the end of The Rise of Skywalker, Rey is the only one left who has some kind of tie to the Skywalker family. Having been trained by Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, Rey has taken on both their lightsabers, one of which used to belong to Anakin Skywalker himself. In a moment of tribute, Rey boxes up the two lightsaber hilts and buries them in the Tatooine sand outside Luke's former home, but many Star Wars viewers know this may not be what Anakin wanted for his old weapon.

The iconic "I hate sand" meme from the prequel Star Wars trilogy strikes again in this moment. As soon as Rey began to bury Anakin's blade, viewers were quick to jump on what Anakin's reaction to the sand would be. This has made the burial of the lightsabers highly memorable, mostly for the way Anakin's Force ghost was no doubt screaming in rage about the rough, coarse, and irritating material getting all over his precious blade.

This has made the burial of the lightsabers highly memorable, mostly for the way Anakin's Force ghost was no doubt screaming in rage.

3 Klaud's Iconic "Live Slug Reaction"

Klaud The Slug Has Now Reacted To Many Events

In a similar vein to Babu Frik, the slug Klaud quickly became a random fan-favorite after The Rise of Skywalker. Klaud's role in the movie is mostly composed of him screaming on board the Millennium Falcon before standing alongside various Resistance allies throughout the movie. His most famous appearance, however, is at the end, when he's caught staring off into the distance.

This made him the defining figure of the already-existing "live reaction" meme template, adding the phrase "live slug reaction" to make Klaud's blank stare react to just about anything. The most popular trend of this meme sees Klaud reacting like this to couples, as seen in the above example. Though not as widely shared now as it used to be, "live slug reaction" is still one of the internet's most recognizable memes from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

2 Rey Takes On The Skywalker Family Name

Rey's Adoption Of "Skywalker" Has Inspired Others In... Different Ways

Just after burying the lightsabers in the Tatooine sand, Rey is given the chance to cement her legacy as a Skywalker. She's approached by a stranger who asks her to introduce herself, and when Rey fails to provide a surname, the stranger adds, "Rey who?" Rey then gives the name "Rey Skywalker," which is still a highly debated decision - but is also one of the movie's most iconic memes.

It didn't take long for Star Wars viewers to start substituting other names and ideas at the end of the "Rey who?" question. In the particular example above, Rey shares her identity with the Razor Crest, the trusty ship of The Mandalorian's Din Djarin that was unfortunately destroyed on Tython. This template continues to be used to this day, proving that only one other meme has superiority over it.

1 Oscar Isaac Will Never Escape His "Somehow, Palpatine Returned" Line

Poe Dameron's Anticlimactic Announcement Of Palpatine's Return Will Follow Him Forever

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most popular meme from The Rise of Skywalker is Poe's "Somehow, Palpatine returned" line. With Palpatine playing such a key role in The Rise of Skywalker, much to the shock of viewers who witnessed his death in Return of the Jedi, it seems as if there will be a good explanation for how he returned. Instead, Poe offers the simple explanation of "somehow" - and thus content such as The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Bad Batch has been working to define what "somehow" really means.

Time hasn't had any effect on how this meme is used, with the post above serving as a very recent example. It's become one of the most popular Star Wars memes to date, fitting in truly any scenario possible. Though, in the greater context of The Rise of Skywalker, this moment is a disappointment, it's ironically become the movie's most memorable moment - and it will no doubt continue to inspire memes for many more years to come.