Death Knocking On Doors

2013image macroclassic

Death Knocking On Doors is an object-labeled image macro of the Grim Reaper politely knocking at one closed door while every other door on the street has already been kicked in and is pooling blood. It started as a 2013 political cartoon aimed at U.S. foreign policy before editors turned it into a general-purpose template for sports, video games, and pop culture.

object labelingpolitical satire memesexploitable templatesdark humor memesearly 2010s memes

Overview

Death Knocking On Doors, sometimes called Grim Reaper Knocking On Door, is an object-labeled image macro built around a cartoon of the Grim Reaper standing politely at a closed door while every other door on the street has already been smashed open with blood pooling out at the frames1. The labels on the Reaper, on the door he is knocking on, and on the wrecked doors behind him get swapped out to point the joke at whoever is supposedly next in line.

The format works because the Reaper reads as calm and almost courteous while the aftermath behind him tells the real story4. Editors relabel the destroyed doors as countries, defeated sports opponents, video game characters, or pop-culture figures depending on the joke, and the base drawing is generic enough that it kept getting reused for years after its first political context2.

How It Spread

Five days after the Taringa post, Reddit user supersaiyanbr0ku brought the image to r/conspiracy on August 21, 2013, where it collected around 330 upvotes at a 94 percent ratio and about 30 comments over the following years2. On September 3, 2013, the political blog 1389blog ran a counter-edit in which a boot painted with the Russian flag kicks the Reaper away from a doorway, flipping the original's anti-American read into a pro-Russian one3. Ten days later the base cartoon was uploaded to 9GAG, where it slowly picked up roughly 120 points8.

The template broke out of geopolitics in April 2014, when Reddit user ado90 posted a version starring soccer player Sergio Ramos on the closed door with beaten opponents represented by the pooling blood behind him, earning about 230 upvotes on r/soccer at a 96 percent ratio5. Object labeling kept the format alive into the late 2010s: on October 18, 2018, Twitter user @Rioted_ posted a Fortnite edit that pulled over 120 retweets and more than 1,000 likes6. Some months later Redditor Fingolf645 built a version around Will Smith, the 2019 Aladdin remake, and YouTube Rewind that climbed past 30,000 upvotes and 325 comments7.

How to Use This Meme

Editors typically drop three sets of labels onto the cartoon: one on the Grim Reaper (who or what is doing the killing), one on the closed door he is knocking on (the next target), and one on each of the smashed, bloody doors behind him (the previous victims). The joke lands when the pattern of doors behind the Reaper makes it obvious what is about to happen to whatever is written on the door in front of him.

Frequently Asked Questions

Death Knocking On Doors

2013image macroclassic

Death Knocking On Doors is an object-labeled image macro of the Grim Reaper politely knocking at one closed door while every other door on the street has already been kicked in and is pooling blood. It started as a 2013 political cartoon aimed at U.S. foreign policy before editors turned it into a general-purpose template for sports, video games, and pop culture.

object labeling political satire memes exploitable templates dark humor memes early 2010s memes

Overview

Death Knocking On Doors, sometimes called Grim Reaper Knocking On Door, is an object-labeled image macro built around a cartoon of the Grim Reaper standing politely at a closed door while every other door on the street has already been smashed open with blood pooling out at the frames1. The labels on the Reaper, on the door he is knocking on, and on the wrecked doors behind him get swapped out to point the joke at whoever is supposedly next in line.

The format works because the Reaper reads as calm and almost courteous while the aftermath behind him tells the real story4. Editors relabel the destroyed doors as countries, defeated sports opponents, video game characters, or pop-culture figures depending on the joke, and the base drawing is generic enough that it kept getting reused for years after its first political context2.

How It Spread

Five days after the Taringa post, Reddit user supersaiyanbr0ku brought the image to r/conspiracy on August 21, 2013, where it collected around 330 upvotes at a 94 percent ratio and about 30 comments over the following years2. On September 3, 2013, the political blog 1389blog ran a counter-edit in which a boot painted with the Russian flag kicks the Reaper away from a doorway, flipping the original's anti-American read into a pro-Russian one3. Ten days later the base cartoon was uploaded to 9GAG, where it slowly picked up roughly 120 points8.

The template broke out of geopolitics in April 2014, when Reddit user ado90 posted a version starring soccer player Sergio Ramos on the closed door with beaten opponents represented by the pooling blood behind him, earning about 230 upvotes on r/soccer at a 96 percent ratio5. Object labeling kept the format alive into the late 2010s: on October 18, 2018, Twitter user @Rioted_ posted a Fortnite edit that pulled over 120 retweets and more than 1,000 likes6. Some months later Redditor Fingolf645 built a version around Will Smith, the 2019 Aladdin remake, and YouTube Rewind that climbed past 30,000 upvotes and 325 comments7.

How to Use This Meme

Editors typically drop three sets of labels onto the cartoon: one on the Grim Reaper (who or what is doing the killing), one on the closed door he is knocking on (the next target), and one on each of the smashed, bloody doors behind him (the previous victims). The joke lands when the pattern of doors behind the Reaper makes it obvious what is about to happen to whatever is written on the door in front of him.

Frequently Asked Questions