Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Over 9000!

Dragonball Z is an animated Japanese TV show (an anime), which has been dubbed into many languages and has become popular in many countries around the world. The English translation of the show can be somewhat clumsy and comical.



The ‘Over 9000’ meme originally came from an episode of the Dragonball Z in which Vegeta (one of the show’s ‘bad guys’) is asked "Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power level?" and Vegeta responds "It's over 9000!". This rather nonsensical statement gained internet fame when the clip was ‘remixed’ and placed on YouTube by a fan.

‘Over 9000’ has become a phrase used to describe impressive power or skill or something that’s really awesome (or 'made of win'). For example – “That game is over 9000” or “My level of awesomeness is over 9000!”

And of course, many YouTube Videos have sprung up featuring the catchphrase in different ways including a Southpark and Myst parody.


Interestingly, in the original Japanese version, Vegeta actually
says "Over 8000" but the American dubbers chose 9000 because it worked better with the lip movement of the characters on screen.

A similar clip from Dragonball Z features the character Piccolo saying "The balls are inert".

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great! I think that so many people don't realize the depth that so many of these memes reach. Just about EVERY message board is rife with hints or variations of jokes found elsewhere. What seems like nonsense to some can actually be a witty quip to those "in the know". Thks for throwing in 9000 for me. I hope you keep up with this as there are so many more to do.

Anonymous said...

That comment was OVER 9000!

Anonymous said...

That last comment was made on the 24th of March.
The 24th of March is my birthday.
On the 24th of March 2009, I turned OVER 9000 years of age.
My dad got me a Supersoaker OVER 9000 to shoot bumblebees in the garden with.
Thanks dad.
I love you.
Byebye nao.

Anonymous said...

I am trying to figure out what meme is cause my friends won't explain it. So, could any of you tell mne what a meme is?

my balls are inert said...

a meme is OVER 9000!

Anonymous said...

So this is witty because it should have been "over 8000"?

Freid-Egg Rebecca Black said...

booga booga booga

Anonymous said...

The amount of banks in the US that closed between 1930 and 1934... was OVER 9000!

Seriously. I basically quoted that sentence from an econ textbook. It literally says that. Then again, maybe it was created before the meme.