What is Judgmental Volturi?

Judgmental Volturi, also called Smug Vampires, is an image macro featuring Aro, Caius and Marcus from The Twilight Saga: New Moon staring down smugly from a balcony.

Where did Judgmental Volturi come from?

The source image is from The Twilight Saga: New Moon, released on November 20, 2009, and YouTuber Hanny Fanny uploaded the isolated scene on June 7, 2013.

What does Judgmental Volturi mean?

It expresses smug superiority or unearned pride, used to mock someone who acts condescending while holding only a trivial advantage over others.

How do you use Judgmental Volturi?

Pair the screengrab with a caption placing the vampires in the position of someone judging a group only slightly beneath them, like iPhone users looking at Android users.

Is Judgmental Volturi still popular?

Its biggest documented viral moment came in October 2020 with a r/dankmemes post that earned over 31,000 points, and it circulates as a reliable reaction image on Reddit and Twitter.

Judgmental Volturi

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Published November 2, 2026

Judgmental Volturi, also known as Smug Vampires, is an image macro taken from a 2009 scene in The Twilight Saga: New Moon where vampires Aro, Caius and Marcus look down from a marble balcony. The screengrab turned into a reaction image expressing smug superiority. By October 2020, r/dankmemes users were captioning it with grammar-nitpicking jokes that earned over 31,000 upvotes.

reaction memes image macro memes exploitable templates sarcasm memes delayed virality memes

Overview

Aro, played by Michael Sheen, holds the center of the frame as he peers downward at the viewer6. Caius and Marcus flank him in matching aristocratic robes, and the trio's unimpressed body language reads as unearned pride. Captions commonly place the vampires in the role of someone bragging from a position only slightly better than their audience, like iPhone owners mocking Android users4 or VIP clubgoers judging regular patrons3.

The format also works as a straight reaction image for smugness or feigned superiority. Punchlines often involve pettiness, such as correcting grammar after losing an argument5. Most of the humor mocks the vampires themselves, casting their aristocratic posturing as a stand-in for petty internet gatekeeping.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

YouTube (source clip) / Reddit (viral spread)

Date

2013

Summit Entertainment released The Twilight Saga: New Moon in United States theaters on November 20, 20091. In the film, Edward and Bella look at a painting of three Volturi members, Aro, Caius and Marcus, standing on a balcony, with the figures beginning to animate. Michael Sheen, Jamie Campbell Bower and Christopher Heyerdahl play the three vampires6.

On June 7, 2013, YouTuber Hanny Fanny uploaded a clip of the scene, which collected over 679,000 views2. That isolated balcony shot gave meme creators a clean, high-resolution reaction panel to caption.

How It Spread

Redditor JoeyCrakk shared the earliest widely circulated caption on r/blackpeopletwitter on June 4, 2016, crediting @InShowWeTrust: 'How light skin chicks act in the VIP club when they're in VIP'3. That post earned over 6,300 points at 91% upvoted and 90 comments. From there, the image moved to Twitter and other subreddits as a general smugness reaction.

On April 22, 2019, Twitter user @4our_Zw captioned the image 'How people with iPhones look at peasants, sorry, I meant people with Androids'4. The format locked in around a pattern of looking down from a position only barely elevated above the target.

Redditor GravyxNips brought it to r/dankmemes on October 6, 2020 with the caption 'Me after getting destroyed in an argument but correcting their one grammatical error'5. That post earned over 31,000 points at 97% upvoted and is the biggest documented viral moment for the format to date.

Timeline

2009-11-20

The Twilight Saga: New Moon releases in United States theaters, introducing the source painting scene with Aro, Caius and Marcus[1].

2013-06-07

YouTuber Hanny Fanny uploads a clip of the Volturi painting scene, later passing 679,000 views[2].

2016-06-04

Redditor JoeyCrakk posts an early viral caption on r/blackpeopletwitter crediting @InShowWeTrust, earning over 6,300 points[3].

2019-04-22

Twitter user @4our_Zw adapts the format for an iPhone vs Android caption[4].

2020-10-06

Redditor GravyxNips posts a grammar-correction caption to r/dankmemes that earns over 31,000 points[5].

How to Use This Meme

Posts typically pair the Volturi screengrab with a caption describing a situation where the speaker holds a trivial or barely-better position over someone else. Common conventions include 'How X look at Y' phrasing or 'Me after X' narration where the achievement is petty or technical. The joke works best when the target of judgment sits one small tier below the speaker, matching the vampires' aristocratic condescension.