# Death To The Mpla > Death to the MPLA is a 2018 iFunny meme that splices Jonas Savimbi's Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 battle cry into sexually suggestive videos as comedic bait-and-switch interruption. "Death to the MPLA" is a bait-and-switch meme based on a scene from *Call of Duty: Black Ops 2* where the character Jonas Savimbi rallies his troops against the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The format took off in late 2018 on iFunny, where users began splicing Savimbi's battle cry into sexually suggestive videos as a comedic interruption. While it never broke into mainstream viral territory, the meme built a dedicated following on iFunny and Instagram through 2019 and 2020. ## Origin *Call of Duty: Black Ops 2* launched on November 13, 2012[2]. The game's very first mission drops players into the Angolan Bush War, fighting under the command of Jonas Savimbi against MPLA forces. Savimbi's voice lines during this opening sequence are loud, dramatic, and quotable. "Death to the MPLA!" "Here they come, here they come my brothers!" and "Our journey to victory has begun!" all became memorable moments for players[6]. The scene sat dormant as meme material for six years. On October 24, 2018, iFunny user Khorshow created a bait-and-switch edit that interrupted the then-viral "Hit or Miss" TikTok with a still frame of Savimbi and the caption "Stop Watching This Brother, We Must Fight the MPLA"[4]. The post picked up over 460 smiles on iFunny[1]. That same day, YouTuber Big Head ET reposted the video, where it eventually reached over 203,000 views[4]. - **Platform:** iFunny (meme format), *Call of Duty: Black Ops 2* (source material) - **Creator:** Khorshow (iFunny, original bait-and-switch edit), Big Head ET (YouTube repost) - **Date:** 2018 ## Overview The meme draws from the opening mission of *Call of Duty: Black Ops 2*, where players fight alongside Jonas Savimbi, an Angolan military leader based on the real historical figure[2]. During the mission, Savimbi shouts battle cries like "Death to the MPLA!" and "Fight, my brothers!" while charging into combat[1]. The most common meme format uses a still image of Savimbi holding a grenade launcher, captioned "Stop Watching This Brother, We Must Fight the MPLA" in Impact font[4]. This image gets spliced into videos, particularly ones with suggestive or risqué content, as a bait-and-switch punchline that redirects the viewer from whatever they were watching toward Savimbi's righteous cause. The humor works on a simple premise: you think you're about to see something titillating, and instead you get a fictional African warlord telling you to focus on what really matters. The format taps into a broader tradition of "stop watching this" interruption memes that were popular across iFunny, with similar clips from *Halo* and other military shooters serving the same role[4]. ## How It Spread The meme's early life was concentrated on iFunny. On October 27, 2018, just three days after the original, iFunny user SPEEDWEED posted an alternative version of the image macro[4]. By February 2019, user BasedSatan had adapted it into a "Don't Look at Her" format[4]. The format jumped to Instagram in May 2019 through the Boys Locker Room meme trend. On May 12, user gaydoger posted a version using an extended clip from the Black Ops 2 mission, pulling in over 18,900 views and 3,500 likes[4]. The next day, Instagram user fishn.chipss posted another Boys Locker Room edit using different footage from the same mission, earning 12,500 views[4]. An iFunny repost of gaydoger's version collected 490 smiles[1]. The Boys Locker Room crossover was a natural fit: the "girls locker room vs. boys locker room" format played perfectly against footage of Savimbi screaming about fighting the MPLA[6]. On May 17, 2020, iFunny user Landland_Official posted the original gameplay clip that had been used in the Hit or Miss edit, gaining over 1,200 smiles[8]. Comments on the post reflected pure nostalgia: "I swear the graphics looked better when I was a kid, it looked basically like real life in my memory but now it looks a bit dated"[8]. Throughout 2019 and into 2020, the clip found steady use as a bait-and-switch punchline alongside similar gaming interruptions from *Halo* and other shooters[4]. An October 8, 2019 version reposted by iFunny user phantom115 became one of the format's biggest hits with over 32,500 smiles[4]. A November 2019 *Hazbin Hotel* edit by Instagram user andrew_lastname pulled 16,900 views[4]. The meme's community appeal went beyond just the format. Comment sections on these posts often turned into miniature recreations of the mission dialogue, with users quoting Savimbi's lines back and forth[7]. "FIIIGHT MY BROTHERS!" and "Disregard anime woman, save Woods" became recurring comment refrains[7]. ## How to Use The standard approach involves creating a video that starts with seemingly suggestive or attention-grabbing content, then cuts abruptly to either: 1. The still image of Savimbi with the "Stop Watching This Brother, We Must Fight the MPLA" caption 2. Actual gameplay footage from the first mission of *Black Ops 2*, usually the charge sequence ## Cultural Impact The meme never achieved wide mainstream recognition, staying largely within iFunny and Instagram gaming communities[1]. But it built genuine affection among players who remembered the *Black Ops 2* campaign. Jonas Savimbi's over-the-top performance in the game made him a fan favorite character, and the meme gave that fondness a second life online[8]. The real Jonas Savimbi was an Angolan political and military leader who led UNITA (the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola) against the MPLA government during Angola's long civil war. He died in combat in 2002[5]. iFunny commenters occasionally noted this historical connection: "Fun fact: Joseph Savimbi was a real person who actually fought in these rebellions but died in 2003"[5]. The meme also fed into a broader iFunny tradition of using military game footage as comedic interruptions for anime and suggestive content. Master Chief from *Halo* served a similar role in parallel memes, with users creating a loose "brotherhood" of gaming characters who pull viewers away from hornyposting and back toward duty[7]. ## Fun Facts - The "Hit or Miss" video that Khorshow originally interrupted was itself a viral TikTok moment from 2018, making the meme a collision of two completely different internet trends[1]. - One of the most popular iFunny versions, by user phantom115, earned over 32,500 smiles, dwarfing the original post's 460[4]. - Multiple commenters noted that the mission opens with a soldier burning alive in a truck, making the tonal whiplash between the game's violence and Savimbi's enthusiasm part of the meme's appeal[8]. - Urban Dictionary's entry for "Death to the MPLA" is essentially a full transcription of the mission's opening dialogue, treated as a definition[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Death to the MPLA? It's a bait-and-switch meme format using footage and still images from the first mission of *Call of Duty: Black Ops 2*, where the character Jonas Savimbi shouts "Death to the MPLA!" while rallying his troops[1]. ### Where did Death to the MPLA come from? The source material comes from *Black Ops 2*, released in November 2012[2]. The meme format was created on October 24, 2018 by iFunny user Khorshow, who spliced a Savimbi image into a "Hit or Miss" video[4]. ### What does Death to the MPLA mean? In the game, MPLA stands for the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, the opposing faction Savimbi fights against. As a meme, the phrase is used humorously to tell people to stop watching frivolous content and join a greater cause[1]. ### How do you use the Death to the MPLA meme? The most common method is editing the Savimbi image or gameplay clip into a video as a bait-and-switch, cutting away from suggestive content to Savimbi's rallying cry[4]. ### Is Death to the MPLA still popular? The meme had its peak activity on iFunny and Instagram between 2018 and 2020. It still circulates in gaming communities but at a lower frequency than its peak years[1]. ### Who was the real Jonas Savimbi? Savimbi was an Angolan military and political leader who led UNITA against the MPLA during Angola's civil war. He died in combat in 2002 and was portrayed as a character in *Black Ops 2*[5]. ### What is the "Stop Watching This Brother" image? It's a still frame of the in-game Savimbi holding a grenade launcher, captioned "Stop Watching This Brother, We Must Fight the MPLA" in Impact font. It was first used in the original October 2018 bait-and-switch edit[4]. ### How many views did the YouTube version get? The repost by YouTuber Big Head ET gained over 203,000 views in approximately two years[1]. ### What was the Boys Locker Room crossover? In May 2019, multiple Instagram and iFunny users adapted the Savimbi footage into the "Girls Locker Room vs. Boys Locker Room" meme format, with several posts earning thousands of views[4]. ## References 1. [Death To The MPLA – Meaning, Origin, Usage]() 2. [Video memes 5y2WUeyH7 by Avalre: 1.4K comments - iFunny]() 3. [Video memes Xle432o57 by Grauiores_2012: 0.7K comments - iFunny]() 4. [Death to the MPLA - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Henry Kissinger]() 6. [Death to the MPLA - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [Call of Duty: Black Ops II]() 8. [Call of Duty: Black Ops II - Wikipedia]() 9. [Fem Gyro on Instagram: “I miss when black ops was good” - Girls locker room: "P_E. sucks" “I hate PE." Boys Iockr room: - iFunny]() 10. [Video memes 8FFuq4bB6 by Khosrow: 1 comment - iFunny]() 11. [Video memes XhzPuyYi6 by Landland_Offical: 60 comments - iFunny]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/death-to-the-mpla Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library