Crow Of Judgement

2017reaction imageclassic

Crow of Judgement is a reaction image of an angry-looking bird (actually a common grackle) captioned with the words 'Crow of Judgement,' used to signal silent disapproval. The format took shape on Imgur in March 2017 and spread across Reddit through 2018, with a popular red-tinted 'YAMERO' variant meaning 'stop' in Japanese.

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Overview

Crow of Judgement is a reaction image built around a menacing, wide-eyed bird staring straight at the viewer, typically captioned with the words 'Crow of Judgement' underneath4. People drop it into replies to signal disapproval, silent judgment, or disagreement with whatever they are quoting. It works as a wordless glare aimed at posts the sender finds stupid, offensive, or embarrassing8.

Despite the name, the bird in the frame is not a crow. It is actually a common grackle, and the original photograph predates its meme career by nearly a decade1. A widely shared variant flips the image blood red and replaces the text with the Japanese word 'YAMERO,' roughly translating to 'stop' or 'no'3.

How It Spread

Momentum built through 2018. On April 1st, 2018, Redditor /u/Maximd1122 shared a screenshot to /r/me_irl of someone deploying the image as a reply, pulling in over 10,000 upvotes across the following years6. That December 10th, Imgur user LordCabbageGoat posted a version of the reaction image that gathered more than 1.4 million views over the next five years5.

The meme kept popping up in comment threads well into the early 2020s. On April 18th, 2023, Redditor /u/weavile901 posted an example to /r/ihadastroke showing another user replying with the Crow of Judgement, and the thread pulled in over 3,000 upvotes within two months7. Know Your Meme catalogs the image alongside its 'YAMERO' variant as the two standard forms of the meme8, and Urban Dictionary has an entry for the term as well9.

How to Use This Meme

Common usage is simple. Users typically paste the Crow of Judgement image in reply to a post they think deserves silent disapproval, whether it's a bad take, a cringey confession, or a post that is just plain gross4. The bird's blank stare does the work with no caption needed beyond the label itself. People often reach for the red 'YAMERO' version when the target post feels especially egregious, since the Japanese word gives it an added 'please stop' energy3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Crow Of Judgement

2017reaction imageclassic

Crow of Judgement is a reaction image of an angry-looking bird (actually a common grackle) captioned with the words 'Crow of Judgement,' used to signal silent disapproval. The format took shape on Imgur in March 2017 and spread across Reddit through 2018, with a popular red-tinted 'YAMERO' variant meaning 'stop' in Japanese.

reaction memes animal memes dismissal memes image macro memes 2017 memes

Overview

Crow of Judgement is a reaction image built around a menacing, wide-eyed bird staring straight at the viewer, typically captioned with the words 'Crow of Judgement' underneath4. People drop it into replies to signal disapproval, silent judgment, or disagreement with whatever they are quoting. It works as a wordless glare aimed at posts the sender finds stupid, offensive, or embarrassing8.

Despite the name, the bird in the frame is not a crow. It is actually a common grackle, and the original photograph predates its meme career by nearly a decade1. A widely shared variant flips the image blood red and replaces the text with the Japanese word 'YAMERO,' roughly translating to 'stop' or 'no'3.

How It Spread

Momentum built through 2018. On April 1st, 2018, Redditor /u/Maximd1122 shared a screenshot to /r/me_irl of someone deploying the image as a reply, pulling in over 10,000 upvotes across the following years6. That December 10th, Imgur user LordCabbageGoat posted a version of the reaction image that gathered more than 1.4 million views over the next five years5.

The meme kept popping up in comment threads well into the early 2020s. On April 18th, 2023, Redditor /u/weavile901 posted an example to /r/ihadastroke showing another user replying with the Crow of Judgement, and the thread pulled in over 3,000 upvotes within two months7. Know Your Meme catalogs the image alongside its 'YAMERO' variant as the two standard forms of the meme8, and Urban Dictionary has an entry for the term as well9.

How to Use This Meme

Common usage is simple. Users typically paste the Crow of Judgement image in reply to a post they think deserves silent disapproval, whether it's a bad take, a cringey confession, or a post that is just plain gross4. The bird's blank stare does the work with no caption needed beyond the label itself. People often reach for the red 'YAMERO' version when the target post feels especially egregious, since the Japanese word gives it an added 'please stop' energy3.

Frequently Asked Questions