# End of ze World "End of ze World" is a Flash animation created by Jason Windsor in 2003 that depicted a satirical, crudely animated scenario of global nuclear annihilation. Often called one of the internet's first viral videos, it spread across pre-YouTube platforms like Albino Blacksheep and eBaum's World, spawning iconic catchphrases like "But I am le tired" and "FIRE ZE MISSILES!" Windsor released a sequel in January 2018 addressing modern political anxieties. ## Origin Jason Windsor created the animation in late 2003 when he was a teenager who had just graduated high school in Tracy, California[3]. The idea came from a late-night hangout session at a park, where Windsor and his friends were discussing the state of the world during the Iraq War. They started drawing pictures of missiles with bark on the sidewalk[3]. Windsor recorded the voiceover himself, adopting an accent inspired by a "vaguely Slavic" voice a character used in the film *Rounders*[6]. He animated it using Adobe Flash, keeping the drawings intentionally crude to match the era's style of low-budget Flash videos[3]. The animation was uploaded to Albino Blacksheep on October 30, 2003, credited to the username "Fluid"[4]. Windsor hadn't actually posted it himself. He'd shared it with friends, and one of them, who Windsor described as being into "the hacker scene" and overseas pirating channels, passed it along until someone uploaded it[3]. Windsor's name wasn't attached to the video at all. - **Platform:** Albino Blacksheep (initial upload), eBaum's World (viral spread) - **Creator:** Jason Windsor (animator, voice actor) - **Date:** 2003 ## Overview "End of ze World" is a roughly 90-second Flash animation featuring a crudely drawn Earth and stick-figure representations of various countries launching nuclear missiles at each other. The entire video is narrated in an exaggerated, nasally pseudo-accent that became instantly recognizable. The animation opens with the now-iconic line "Hokay, so, here's the Earth" before spiraling into a chain reaction of geopolitical absurdity where countries nuke each other in rapid succession. The humor comes from the contrast between the terrifying subject matter and the deliberately crude art style, goofy voice work, and flippant attitude toward armageddon. Characters include a nuke-hugging George W. Bush, a sleeping France ("But I am le tired"), and various nations reduced to absurd caricatures. The whole thing wraps up with Australia asking "WTF, mate?" as meteors rain down. ## How It Spread The video took off quickly on the Flash video hosting sites that dominated the pre-YouTube internet. It hit Albino Blacksheep and eBaum's World, where it topped trending charts for several weeks[4]. FunnyJunk also picked it up[4]. Without any centralized platform like YouTube, the animation spread through email forwards, forum posts, and direct links, the standard viral distribution method of the era[6]. By 2004, the animation had gained enough traction that advertising firm Wieden+Kennedy reached out to Windsor for freelance work on Nike spots. A creative director there had tracked Windsor down through "Internet magic" and a personal portfolio website[3]. This marked one of the earliest cases of a viral video directly launching a professional career in animation, though Windsor felt conflicted about being pigeonholed into crude Flash work when he wanted to pursue more polished filmmaking[3]. After YouTube launched, a version of the video was uploaded and accumulated over 16 million views[6]. The animation's script was posted to Rooster Teeth's forums in 2005[4]. Several catchphrases entered internet slang and were added to Urban Dictionary in the mid-2000s, including "WTF, mate?", "But I am le tired", and "FIRE ZE MISSILES!"[5]. For over a decade, Windsor's identity as the creator was not widely known. It wasn't until a 2015 interview with Mic that he publicly discussed his role in making the video, talking about its origins, the impact on his career, and the post-9/11 political climate that inspired it[3]. ## How to Use "End of ze World" is not a remixable template in the way modern memes are. Its cultural usage typically falls into a few categories: - **Quoting catchphrases** in conversation or online comments: "But I am le tired," "FIRE ZE MISSILES!", "Hokay, so," and "WTF, mate?" are dropped as references whenever geopolitical chaos, nuclear threats, or general apocalyptic vibes come up. - **Linking the video** as a nostalgic callback when world events feel especially dire or absurd, often with commentary like "we're living in End of ze World." - **Using it as a litmus test** for internet age, since knowing the video signals someone was online in the early-to-mid 2000s. The video itself is a self-contained piece rather than a format others remix, though its influence shows up in the broader tradition of political Flash animations and voice-over comedy. ## Cultural Impact "End of ze World" holds a unique place as one of the earliest pieces of content to go truly viral on the internet. Multiple publications, including Gizmodo, have referred to it as "the first viral video"[2], though that title is contested. What's not contested is its role in defining the Flash animation era alongside videos like "Badger Badger Badger," the Numa Numa guy, and "All Your Base Are Belong to Us"[3]. The video directly influenced Windsor's career. His work with Wieden+Kennedy on Nike spots in 2004 was one of the first documented cases of a viral creator getting hired by a major ad agency based on internet fame[3]. This happened during a period when marketers were scrambling to understand viral content, and Windsor was among the first to cross from amateur Flash animator to professional[3]. Windsor's mother was "horrified at all the foul language" when she first saw it[3], a reaction that mirrored broader generational tensions about internet content in the early 2000s. The 2018 sequel attracted coverage from The Verge[1], Gizmodo[2], New York Magazine[6], and other outlets, treating it as a significant internet cultural event. The coverage framed the sequel as a mirror for how internet culture and political anxiety had both intensified over 15 years. ## Fun Facts - Windsor never intended to post the video publicly. It reached the internet through a friend's overseas piracy contacts[3]. - The signature accent was based on a character from the 1998 poker film *Rounders*, which Windsor and his friends used to imitate for fun[6]. - The idea literally started as bark drawings on a sidewalk at a park in Tracy, California[3]. - Windsor didn't put his name on the video and remained anonymous for years. He joked that he "probably wouldn't have wanted any YouTube money" anyway[3]. - Some of the real-world events depicted in the 2018 sequel, like the Hawaii false missile alert, happened after Windsor had already finished animating[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is End of ze World? "End of ze World" is a 2003 Flash animation by Jason Windsor depicting a satirical scenario of countries nuking each other into oblivion, narrated in an exaggerated pseudo-accent[4]. ### Where did End of ze World come from? It was first uploaded to Albino Blacksheep on October 30, 2003, under the username "Fluid." Windsor created it after a late-night conversation with friends about the Iraq War at a park in Tracy, California[3]. ### What does End of ze World mean? The animation satirizes nuclear brinkmanship and geopolitical stupidity, using humor and crude animation to process the real fear of global destruction that many felt in the post-9/11 era[6]. ### How do you use End of ze World? People typically quote its catchphrases ("But I am le tired," "FIRE ZE MISSILES!", "WTF, mate?") in response to chaotic world events or as a nostalgic internet culture reference[5]. ### Is End of ze World still popular? The original video accumulated over 16 million YouTube views[6], and the 2018 sequel brought renewed media attention[1]. The catchphrases still circulate among people who remember the pre-YouTube internet, though it's more of a nostalgia reference than an actively spreading meme. ### Who created End of ze World? Jason Windsor, a teenager from Tracy, California, created it around 2003 under the alias "Fluid." His identity wasn't widely known until a 2015 interview with Mic[3]. ### What accent is used in End of ze World? Windsor described it as inspired by a "vaguely Slavic" accent used by a character in the 1998 film *Rounders*, which he and his friends liked to imitate[6]. ### Was there a sequel to End of ze World? Yes. Windsor released "End of Ze World... Probably for Real This Time" on January 20, 2018, addressing Trump, climate change, the opioid crisis, and other modern issues[2]. ### How did End of ze World go viral? Windsor shared it with friends, one of whom distributed it through overseas file-sharing contacts. It eventually landed on Albino Blacksheep and eBaum's World, spreading through email forwards and forum links in the pre-YouTube era[3]. ### Did the creator make money from End of ze World? Not directly from the video itself, since it predated YouTube monetization. However, it led to freelance animation work with Wieden+Kennedy on Nike spots in 2004[3]. ### Why is End of ze World considered one of the first viral videos? Multiple publications, including Gizmodo, have called it "the first viral video" because it achieved massive reach across the early internet before YouTube existed, spreading through Flash hosting sites and email[2]. ## References 1. [End of Ze World gets a sequel more than a decade later | The Verge]() 2. [Here's the Sequel to 'End of Ze World,' the First Viral Video Ever]() 3. [12 Years Later, Here's What Happened to the Viral Mastermind Behind 'The End of the World']() 4. [End of ze World - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Doge (meme)]() 6. [End of ze World - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [FTPF - End Of Ze World | eBaum's World]() 8. [‘End of the World’ Viral Video Sequel by Jason Windsor]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/end-of-ze-world Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library