# Arrow to the Knee > Arrow to the Knee is a late 2011 snowclone meme from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, spawning image macros from a guard's iconic line: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee. "Arrow to the Knee" is a catchphrase and snowclone meme from *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim*, based on a guard NPC's dialogue line: "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee." Released alongside the game on November 11, 2011, the line spread across forums, YouTube, and social media within weeks, becoming the defining gaming meme of late 2011 and spawning countless image macros, video parodies, and remixes. ## Origin Late in *Skyrim*'s development, Bethesda Game Studios leadership decided that guard NPCs needed more personality beyond grunting and giving directions[7]. Todd Howard tasked senior game designer Emil Pagliarulo with writing dialogue that would have guards acknowledge the player's actions and reflect their own backstories[5]. Howard picked Pagliarulo specifically because of his skill with memorable one-liners[1]. Pagliarulo wrote a batch of idle lines where guards would compliment the player, comment on current activities, or reminisce about their past lives. One of these lines was the now-famous "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee"[7]. Pagliarulo intended it as flavor text to give guards personality. The concept of a "worn out fantasy beat cop" who'd been forced into semi-retirement by an injury struck him as funny and somewhat believable[5]. According to audio director Mark Lampert, the guard dialogue is procedurally generated and adjusts based on player behavior[1]. The line was supposed to trigger only occasionally. Most players visit at least one dungeon before arriving in Whiterun, which gives their character an "adventure flag." Whiterun guards are programmed to react to flagged players by acknowledging their adventurer status, but the guards' unpredictable AI meant players heard the line far more often than intended[5]. *Skyrim* launched on November 11, 2011. That same day, the phrase appeared on GameFAQs in a forum thread titled "I used to be an adventurer like you"[4]. - **Platform:** *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* (source), GameFAQs / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Emil Pagliarulo (writer), Todd Howard (creative director who assigned the task) - **Date:** 2011 ## Overview The meme centers on a single line of procedurally generated NPC dialogue from *Skyrim*. Town guards throughout the game will randomly say "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee" when the player character walks near them. Because of how the game's radiant AI system works, players hear this line repeatedly, especially in the early city of Whiterun[5]. The phrase quickly became a snowclone template online, with people swapping in any activity: "I used to X, but then I took an arrow to the knee"[2]. ## How It Spread The meme exploded within the first two weeks of *Skyrim*'s release. On November 18, 2011, a thread titled "'I was an adventurer too, until I took an arrow to the knee.' Pfft, pussies" hit the front page of Reddit's r/skyrim[4]. By November 25, Urban Dictionary had an entry defining "knee-arrow" as "the affliction of taking an arrow in the knee"[6]. The earliest known image macro using the phrase appeared on FunnyJunk on November 26, and Memebase posted a Y U NO Guy version captioned "Skyrim soldiers / Y U NO get better knee armor?!" on November 30[4]. December 2011 saw the meme go nuclear. The domain ArrowToTheKnee.com was registered on December 3[4]. A SoundCloud user named Eledium posted a dubstep track called "Arrow To The Knee" that same day[4]. Fan art flooded DeviantArt[8]. On December 4, the first Urban Dictionary definition for the full phrase went up[2]. Content around the meme surged across YouTube, Reddit, FunnyJunk, and SoundCloud, with dozens of video parodies and edited animations appearing on YouTube by late December[4]. On December 7, 2011, a Reddit user pointed out a passage from Patrick Rothfuss's 2007 novel *The Name of the Wind* where an innkeeper mentions taking "an arrow in the knee" after falling from a chair. This sparked speculation that Pagliarulo had borrowed the phrase from the book[4]. Pagliarulo denied the connection[5]. By February 2012, Kotaku's Stephen Totilo called it "the big video game joke of 2011" and the single most repeated line from *Skyrim*[7]. The snowclone format spread beyond gaming communities, with "I used to X, then I took an arrow to the knee" appearing as top-rated YouTube comments across unrelated videos. A YouTube comment search for the phrase yielded over 70 video results by May 2012[4]. ## How to Use The core format is a snowclone: take any activity or situation that stopped, and plug it into the template. **Template:** "I used to [activity], then I took an arrow to the knee." Common variations include: - Swapping the activity for anything relatable ("I used to have free time, then I took an arrow to the knee") - Using image macros of Skyrim guards with the caption overlaid - Applying the format to real-life setbacks or career changes - Creating video parodies with the guard's original voice line remixed or re-enacted The humor typically comes from either the absurdity of the comparison or the meta-commentary on how overplayed the joke itself is. ## Cultural Impact The meme's reach extended well beyond gaming forums. LMFAO included an arrow-to-the-knee visual gag in their "Sorry for Party Rocking" music video in 2012[5]. The procedural drama *NCIS* worked it into a ninth-season episode that same year[1]. *Crysis 3* acknowledged the meme through an in-game achievement[5]. Bethesda themselves merchandised it, selling an Xbox Avatar skin with an arrow-impaled knee by July 2012[5]. The *Elder Scrolls: Legends* card game later added a card called "Arrow in the Knee"[1]. Fans produced T-shirts, tattoos, and even an unlicensed fangame[5]. The Skyrim total-conversion mod *Enderal* also referenced the phrase[1]. Perhaps the meme's most lasting impact was on game design itself. The repetitive nature of *Skyrim*'s guard dialogue became a cautionary tale. Studios began building systems to prevent NPCs from repeating the same lines, a direct response to the mockery that the arrow-to-the-knee line attracted[9]. ## Fun Facts - The line was written late in *Skyrim*'s development. Bethesda leadership only decided guards needed more personality close to the game's ship date[7]. - Todd Howard said of the meme's popularity: "Can anybody do that? 'We will write this line. And it will catch fire'"[7]. - Players technically hear the line more often than intended because the guards' AI is unpredictable and doesn't always respect the randomization triggers[5]. - The guard dialogue also includes a line about "curved swords" and one about stolen sweetrolls, but neither caught on nearly as hard[4]. - The 2007 novel *The Name of the Wind* by Patrick Rothfuss contains a similar "arrow in the knee" phrase, but Pagliarulo denied any connection[5]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Arrow to the Knee? "Arrow to the Knee" is a catchphrase meme from *The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim* based on the guard NPC dialogue line "I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee." It became a widely used snowclone template online[2]. ### Where did Arrow to the Knee come from? The phrase was written by Bethesda senior game designer Emil Pagliarulo during late-stage development of *Skyrim*, which released on November 11, 2011. It appeared on GameFAQs forums that same day[4]. ### What does Arrow to the Knee mean? In the game, it literally means a guard's adventuring career was ended by a knee injury. Online, it became a template for describing anything that stopped you from doing what you used to do[2]. ### How do you use Arrow to the Knee? Replace the activity in the snowclone format: "I used to [activity], then I took an arrow to the knee." The humor comes from applying a fantasy injury to mundane situations[6]. ### Is Arrow to the Knee still popular? The meme peaked in late 2011 through mid-2012 and was considered overplayed by 2013. It's now referenced mostly as a nostalgic callback to early 2010s internet culture[9]. ### Who wrote the Arrow to the Knee line? Emil Pagliarulo, senior game designer at Bethesda Game Studios, wrote the line as part of a batch of guard dialogue meant to give NPCs more personality[7]. ### Does Arrow to the Knee mean marriage? No. A widely shared internet theory claimed it was Old Norse slang for getting married, but Snopes found zero historical evidence for this claim. Bethesda developers confirmed it's literally about getting shot with an arrow[3]. ### Was Arrow to the Knee inspired by *The Name of the Wind*? A similar phrase appears in Patrick Rothfuss's 2007 novel, and a Reddit user pointed out the connection in December 2011. Emil Pagliarulo denied any inspiration from the book[5]. ### Why do Skyrim guards say the line so often? The guard AI is procedurally generated and reacts to the player's "adventure flag," which activates after clearing a dungeon. The unpredictable nature of the AI causes guards to repeat lines more than developers intended[5]. ### Did Bethesda make money from the meme? Bethesda released an Xbox Avatar skin with an arrow-impaled knee by July 2012 and referenced the meme in *The Elder Scrolls: Legends* card game[1]. ### How did the meme affect game development? After *Skyrim*, studios began implementing "dialogue exhaustion" systems to prevent NPCs from repeating the same lines, a direct response to the arrow-to-the-knee backlash[9]. ### What was the first Arrow to the Knee image macro? The earliest known image macro was uploaded to FunnyJunk on November 26, 2011, just 15 days after *Skyrim*'s launch[4]. ## References 1. [Прострелили колено — Википедия]() 2. [Arrow To the Knee – Meaning, Origin, Usage]() 3. [Skyrim: Does "An Arrow In The Knee" Mean Marriage?]() 4. [Arrow to the Knee - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Arrow in the knee]() 6. [Arrow to the Knee - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Urban Dictionary: Knee-arrow]() 8. [How They Came Up With Skyrim's 'Arrow In The Knee' Line - Kotaku]() 9. [Y U NO See I Have Thirty Arrows in My Face?! - Memebase - Funny Memes]() 10. [Search 'arrow knee skyrim' on DeviantArt - Discover The Largest Online Art Gallery and Community]() 11. [Why the Arrow to the Knee Meme is the Most Misunderstood Piece of Gaming History - Thepilotworks]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/arrow-to-the-knee Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library