David Martinez Stare — David Martinez from Cyberpunk Edgerunners staring with a tired, serious expression while wearing cyberware armor.

David Martinez Stare

2022reaction imageclassic

Published November 9, 2026

A tearful screencap of David Martinez from the sixth episode of Netflix's 2022 anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners exploded into a reaction image after fans watched Maine and Dorio die around him. By late September 2022, iFunny and Instagram accounts were pasting the crying face into templates like My Daily Schedule and My Reaction To That Information.

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Overview

David Martinez Stare, also called David Martinez Face, is a screencap of the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners protagonist sitting in a car next to Lucy with tears streaming down an empty, glassy expression1. The frame comes from the back half of Episode 6, right after Maine and Dorio get killed, and fans quickly adopted the blank, wet-eyed look as a stand-in for any emotional gut-punch2.

Most posts paste the crop into existing exploitable layouts rather than add captions on top of the image itself. Common hosts include the My Daily Schedule block, the Live Tucker Reaction corner inset, and the X Staring At The Wings On The Table framing, each of which lets the David crop do the emotional work3. Tone swings between sincere tribute to the character and ironic deflation, since a face that broken reads as funny the more trivial the cause is1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Netflix (source) / Reddit, iFunny (viral spread)
Creator
Studio Trigger; earliest meme poster Redditor FiShJjeSUs
Date
2022

At the 23:59 mark of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Episode 6, "Girl on Fire," David Martinez sits in a car with Lucy and stares blankly into the camera while crying, a reaction to the deaths of Maine and Dorio earlier in the same episode1. Netflix released the season on September 13, 2022, and discussion of the episode began the same day in a /r/cyberpunkgame thread by user ThucydidesJones that drew more than 80 upvotes1.

The screencap itself circulated as a standalone image within the week. On September 16, 2022, news site EpicStream ran the shot to illustrate an article asking whether David dies in the series2. Five days later, on September 21, Redditor FiShJjeSUs posted the frame to /r/Cyberpunk with the single-word caption "choom," collecting roughly 1,200 upvotes over the next 12 days1.

How It Spread

Later on September 21, 2022, FiShJjeSUs returned to /r/Cyberpunk with the first exploitable edit, slotting the David crop into the My Daily Schedule template and earning more than 40 upvotes3. Four days after that, iFunny user EliteOG reposted the same meme and pulled roughly 8,600 smiles in eight days, carrying the format from Reddit to iFunny's reaction economy4.

iFunny usage widened on September 29, 2022, when user jemboch stuck a "Live David Reaction" inset into the corner of a Rebecca screencap in the style of Live Tucker Reaction, gaining roughly 7,100 smiles in four days5. Instagram video memes followed the same week. User largetrap posted a clip in the My Reaction To That Information mold on September 28 that collected about 52,400 likes in five days6, and user masonch1llout flipped the stare into an X Staring At The Wings On The Table post on September 29 for roughly 2,300 likes7.

More edits kept surfacing on /r/cyberpunkgame and iFunny into October 2022, with the before-after structure proving the format's elasticity81.

Timeline

2022-09-13

Netflix releases Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and Episode 6 "Girl on Fire" delivers the tearful car scene with David and Lucy.

2022-09-16

EpicStream uses the stare screencap in an article asking whether David Martinez dies in the series.

2022-09-21

Redditor FiShJjeSUs posts the raw frame to /r/Cyberpunk with the caption "choom," then follows up with a My Daily Schedule exploitable.

2022-09-25

IFunny user EliteOG reposts the My Daily Schedule edit, which racks up about 8,600 smiles in eight days.

2022-09-28

Instagram user largetrap drops the David stare into a My Reaction To That Information video post for roughly 52,400 likes.

2022-09-29

Instagram user masonch1llout reworks the frame as an X Staring At The Wings On The Table edit, and iFunny user jemboch posts a Live David Reaction corner inset.

2022-10

Additional exploitable posts keep surfacing on /r/cyberpunkgame and iFunny into October 2022.

How to Use This Meme

People typically grab the exact tearful frame and drop it into an existing image macro template where a reaction panel is expected. A frequent move is pairing the stare with an absurdly small inciting event in the top panel, so the blank, grieving face answers a trivial prompt. Captions are optional, since the expression usually carries the joke on its own3.

Frequently Asked Questions