What is Patrick Bateman with An Axe?

It is a reaction image built from a still of Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman raising an axe in the 2000 film American Psycho, posted as a reply when someone says something the poster finds intolerable [1].

Where did Patrick Bateman with An Axe come from?

The still comes from Mary Harron's 2000 film American Psycho, from a scene where Bateman kills a colleague with an axe [1]. The freeze-frame of his grin before the swing is what memers cut out for reuse [2].

What does Patrick Bateman with An Axe mean?

It reads as controlled contempt. Bateman's small smile before he swings the axe in the film [2] carries over into replies as the moment you would like to end an argument yourself.

How do you use Patrick Bateman with An Axe?

Post the still as a reply to a comment or statement you cannot tolerate, letting the grin do the work [2]. The captioned macro version pairs a top line quoting the offending statement with a bottom line about reaching for the axe.

Is Patrick Bateman with An Axe still popular?

It is a classic reaction image, in meme use since its earliest known online appearance on Taringa in 2008 and its earliest surviving example on Fark in 2009 [3].

Patrick Bateman with An Axe

2008reaction imageclassic

Published September 21, 2026

The Patrick Bateman with An Axe meme pulls a single frame from the 2000 film American Psycho showing Christian Bale mid-swing with a faint grin. First traced online to a 2008 upload on Taringa, the still became a widely used reaction image for moments when a comment pushes someone past their limit.

reaction memes movie quote memes exploitable templates rage comics villain memes

Overview

The image works as both a plain reaction image and a captioned macro. Posters drop the still into replies when a comment pushes them past their limit, letting the character's calm-before-violence expression do the talking 2. The tone hinges on the grin. Bateman looks pleased about what he is about to do, which reads as barely-hidden contempt inside a reply thread.

The frame also had a long run inside Rage Comics as a punchline panel, and it gets treated as an exploitable, with users photoshopping different objects into Bateman's hands or dropping him into scenes from other franchises. The captioned macro variant usually pairs a top line quoting the offending statement with a bottom line about wanting to reach for the axe.

Origin & Background

Platform

Taringa / Cheezburger (viral spread)

Date

2008

The still comes from American Psycho, the Mary Harron film released April 14, 2000 1. In one of the movie's murder scenes, Bateman raises an axe to kill a colleague, and the freeze-frame of his slight grin before the swing is the shot memers cut out for reuse 2. The exact first meme built from the scene is not documented. A TinEye reverse image search cited by Know Your Meme places the earliest known online upload on Taringa on February 5, 2008, though that post has since been deleted, and the oldest surviving meme example is a Demotivational Poster shared to a Fark thread on August 10, 2009 by user drjekel_mrhyde 3.

Patrick Bateman with An Axe

Overview

Origin & Background

How It Spread

Frequently Asked Questions

References (3)