Sora Shaking Hands With Mario

2021Reaction image / Object labeling exploitablesemi-active

Also known as: Sora and Mario Handshake · Sora x Mario Handshake Meme

Sora Shaking Hands With Mario is a 2021 reaction image from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Sora reveal trailer, exploited to depict opposing forces reconciling or comment on Nintendo-Square Enix collaboration.

Sora Shaking Hands With Mario is a reaction image and object labeling meme taken from the October 5, 2021 reveal trailer announcing Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The still frame of the two characters clasping hands went viral on Twitter within minutes, with users labeling them as opposing forces setting aside their differences or using the image to comment on the Square Enix-Nintendo relationship.

smash bros memesobject labelingkingdom hearts memesreaction memes

Overview

The meme uses a single frame from Sora's character reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, showing the Kingdom Hearts protagonist shaking hands with Mario. The image works in two main ways: as a straight reaction image commenting on the Square Enix and Nintendo partnership, and as an exploitable object labeling template where users replace the characters' identities with two opposing forces coming together2. The handshake's visual simplicity and clear symbolic meaning made it instantly adaptable.

On October 5, 2021, Nintendo announced Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate2. During his reveal trailer, a moment shows Sora shaking hands with Mario. The frame was immediately screenshotted and spread across Twitter, where users began creating memes within minutes of the trailer's debut2.

The handshake carried extra weight given the long history between the two franchises. Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura was directly inspired by Super Mario 64 when developing the original game. In an interview with the late Satoru Iwata, Nomura said, "My favorite part of Mario 64 was in front of the castle. You didn't have any particular goals there; you could just run around, jump and slide. Whoosh!"1. The idea for Kingdom Hearts itself originated when Square producer Shinji Hashimoto and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed making a game with Disney characters that played like Super Mario 641. So the Sora-Mario handshake was, in a roundabout way, a meeting decades in the making.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (Nintendo Direct reveal trailer), Twitter (meme spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2021

On October 5, 2021, Nintendo announced Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. During his reveal trailer, a moment shows Sora shaking hands with Mario. The frame was immediately screenshotted and spread across Twitter, where users began creating memes within minutes of the trailer's debut.

The handshake carried extra weight given the long history between the two franchises. Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura was directly inspired by Super Mario 64 when developing the original game. In an interview with the late Satoru Iwata, Nomura said, "My favorite part of Mario 64 was in front of the castle. You didn't have any particular goals there; you could just run around, jump and slide. Whoosh!". The idea for Kingdom Hearts itself originated when Square producer Shinji Hashimoto and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed making a game with Disney characters that played like Super Mario 64. So the Sora-Mario handshake was, in a roundabout way, a meeting decades in the making.

How It Spread

The meme spread explosively on Twitter in the hours following the reveal. User @El_Banchito posted the handshake image with the caption "Together we can copystrike everything," a joke about Square Enix and Nintendo's shared reputation for aggressively pulling fan games and content from the internet. That tweet picked up over 5,000 retweets and 19,000 likes within two hours.

User @Akfamilyhome tweeted the image with "The moral of the story is that Scrimblo Bimbos and JRPG McSwordguys can co-exist," referencing two popular hypothetical Smash character archetypes that frequently appear in roster debates. The tweet gained over 650 retweets and 1,900 likes in two hours.

The exploitable template format took off just as quickly. User @awesomepapers replaced Sora with the Heavy from Team Fortress 2 in the handshake frame, earning over 1,400 retweets and 8,000 likes in two hours. User @thejedahliker labeled the two characters "reagan and gorbachev," gaining over 140 retweets and 680 likes in the same timeframe.

The speed of adoption reflected how long fans had waited for this specific crossover. Sora had been among the most requested Smash fighters for years, and his inclusion as the final DLC character gave the handshake a sense of finality and celebration that fed the meme's momentum.

How to Use This Meme

The meme typically works in one of two ways:

As a reaction image: Post the unedited frame to comment on unlikely alliances, corporate partnerships, or two entities with a complicated history coming together. Often used when rival companies, fanbases, or public figures find common ground.

As an object labeling exploitable: Label Sora and Mario as two specific things, people, or groups. The handshake implies the two labeled forces are putting aside their differences or joining for a common cause. Common approaches include labeling them as rival fandoms uniting against a shared enemy, or as two unrelated things the poster personally enjoys.

Some users also edit one or both characters out of the frame entirely, replacing them with other characters or objects to create entirely new handshake scenarios.

Cultural Impact

The meme's cultural punch came partly from what the handshake represented behind the scenes. Kingdom Hearts exists because Square employees in the late 1990s wanted to make a game that captured the same feeling as Super Mario 64. Nomura overheard Hashimoto and Sakaguchi discussing a Disney character game inspired by Mario's 3D freedom, volunteered to lead the project, and pitched a completely original vision to Disney that became Kingdom Hearts.

Disney was initially restrictive with the arrangement. Mickey Mouse was only allowed to appear once in the first game, and only briefly near the end. The franchise's success eventually loosened those restrictions, and Kingdom Hearts grew to 13 games in the series.

Sora's Smash inclusion on October 18, 2021 closed a loop that started with Super Mario 64 inspiring Kingdom Hearts in 1996. The handshake meme captured that full-circle moment in a single frame, which is partly why it spread so fast and hit so hard with gaming communities.

Fun Facts

Tetsuya Nomura's original character design for Sora featured him wielding a chainsaw, which Disney understandably pushed back on before giving the project the green light.

The meeting between Square and Disney that led to Kingdom Hearts happened because Hashimoto ran into a Disney executive in an elevator and literally made an elevator pitch.

Co-workers told Nomura it would be impossible to rival someone as iconic as Mario in a 3D platformer, which is what made the pivot to Disney characters appealing.

When Nomura met with Disney to discuss the game, he interrupted their prepared presentation midway through, rejected their ideas, and pitched his own vision instead.

Derivatives & Variations

TF2 Heavy edit:

User @awesomepapers swapped Sora for the Heavy from Team Fortress 2, one of the earliest and most popular edits, gaining 8,000 likes in two hours[2].

Reagan and Gorbachev label:

User @thejedahliker applied Cold War political labels to the characters, establishing the "unlikely allies" version of the template[2].

Copystrike reaction format:

@El_Banchito's "Together we can copystrike everything" caption spawned its own sub-format of jokes about Nintendo and Square Enix's shared litigiousness[2].

Scrimblo Bimblo vs. JRPG Swordguy format:

@Akfamilyhome's tweet fed into the existing Smash community debate about character archetype representation in the roster[2].

Frequently Asked Questions

Sora Shaking Hands With Mario

2021Reaction image / Object labeling exploitablesemi-active

Also known as: Sora and Mario Handshake · Sora x Mario Handshake Meme

Sora Shaking Hands With Mario is a 2021 reaction image from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Sora reveal trailer, exploited to depict opposing forces reconciling or comment on Nintendo-Square Enix collaboration.

Sora Shaking Hands With Mario is a reaction image and object labeling meme taken from the October 5, 2021 reveal trailer announcing Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The still frame of the two characters clasping hands went viral on Twitter within minutes, with users labeling them as opposing forces setting aside their differences or using the image to comment on the Square Enix-Nintendo relationship.

smash bros memes object labeling kingdom hearts memes reaction memes

Overview

The meme uses a single frame from Sora's character reveal trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, showing the Kingdom Hearts protagonist shaking hands with Mario. The image works in two main ways: as a straight reaction image commenting on the Square Enix and Nintendo partnership, and as an exploitable object labeling template where users replace the characters' identities with two opposing forces coming together. The handshake's visual simplicity and clear symbolic meaning made it instantly adaptable.

On October 5, 2021, Nintendo announced Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. During his reveal trailer, a moment shows Sora shaking hands with Mario. The frame was immediately screenshotted and spread across Twitter, where users began creating memes within minutes of the trailer's debut.

The handshake carried extra weight given the long history between the two franchises. Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura was directly inspired by Super Mario 64 when developing the original game. In an interview with the late Satoru Iwata, Nomura said, "My favorite part of Mario 64 was in front of the castle. You didn't have any particular goals there; you could just run around, jump and slide. Whoosh!". The idea for Kingdom Hearts itself originated when Square producer Shinji Hashimoto and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed making a game with Disney characters that played like Super Mario 64. So the Sora-Mario handshake was, in a roundabout way, a meeting decades in the making.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (Nintendo Direct reveal trailer), Twitter (meme spread)
Creator
Unknown
Date
2021

On October 5, 2021, Nintendo announced Sora from Kingdom Hearts as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. During his reveal trailer, a moment shows Sora shaking hands with Mario. The frame was immediately screenshotted and spread across Twitter, where users began creating memes within minutes of the trailer's debut.

The handshake carried extra weight given the long history between the two franchises. Kingdom Hearts creator Tetsuya Nomura was directly inspired by Super Mario 64 when developing the original game. In an interview with the late Satoru Iwata, Nomura said, "My favorite part of Mario 64 was in front of the castle. You didn't have any particular goals there; you could just run around, jump and slide. Whoosh!". The idea for Kingdom Hearts itself originated when Square producer Shinji Hashimoto and Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi discussed making a game with Disney characters that played like Super Mario 64. So the Sora-Mario handshake was, in a roundabout way, a meeting decades in the making.

How It Spread

The meme spread explosively on Twitter in the hours following the reveal. User @El_Banchito posted the handshake image with the caption "Together we can copystrike everything," a joke about Square Enix and Nintendo's shared reputation for aggressively pulling fan games and content from the internet. That tweet picked up over 5,000 retweets and 19,000 likes within two hours.

User @Akfamilyhome tweeted the image with "The moral of the story is that Scrimblo Bimbos and JRPG McSwordguys can co-exist," referencing two popular hypothetical Smash character archetypes that frequently appear in roster debates. The tweet gained over 650 retweets and 1,900 likes in two hours.

The exploitable template format took off just as quickly. User @awesomepapers replaced Sora with the Heavy from Team Fortress 2 in the handshake frame, earning over 1,400 retweets and 8,000 likes in two hours. User @thejedahliker labeled the two characters "reagan and gorbachev," gaining over 140 retweets and 680 likes in the same timeframe.

The speed of adoption reflected how long fans had waited for this specific crossover. Sora had been among the most requested Smash fighters for years, and his inclusion as the final DLC character gave the handshake a sense of finality and celebration that fed the meme's momentum.

How to Use This Meme

The meme typically works in one of two ways:

As a reaction image: Post the unedited frame to comment on unlikely alliances, corporate partnerships, or two entities with a complicated history coming together. Often used when rival companies, fanbases, or public figures find common ground.

As an object labeling exploitable: Label Sora and Mario as two specific things, people, or groups. The handshake implies the two labeled forces are putting aside their differences or joining for a common cause. Common approaches include labeling them as rival fandoms uniting against a shared enemy, or as two unrelated things the poster personally enjoys.

Some users also edit one or both characters out of the frame entirely, replacing them with other characters or objects to create entirely new handshake scenarios.

Cultural Impact

The meme's cultural punch came partly from what the handshake represented behind the scenes. Kingdom Hearts exists because Square employees in the late 1990s wanted to make a game that captured the same feeling as Super Mario 64. Nomura overheard Hashimoto and Sakaguchi discussing a Disney character game inspired by Mario's 3D freedom, volunteered to lead the project, and pitched a completely original vision to Disney that became Kingdom Hearts.

Disney was initially restrictive with the arrangement. Mickey Mouse was only allowed to appear once in the first game, and only briefly near the end. The franchise's success eventually loosened those restrictions, and Kingdom Hearts grew to 13 games in the series.

Sora's Smash inclusion on October 18, 2021 closed a loop that started with Super Mario 64 inspiring Kingdom Hearts in 1996. The handshake meme captured that full-circle moment in a single frame, which is partly why it spread so fast and hit so hard with gaming communities.

Fun Facts

Tetsuya Nomura's original character design for Sora featured him wielding a chainsaw, which Disney understandably pushed back on before giving the project the green light.

The meeting between Square and Disney that led to Kingdom Hearts happened because Hashimoto ran into a Disney executive in an elevator and literally made an elevator pitch.

Co-workers told Nomura it would be impossible to rival someone as iconic as Mario in a 3D platformer, which is what made the pivot to Disney characters appealing.

When Nomura met with Disney to discuss the game, he interrupted their prepared presentation midway through, rejected their ideas, and pitched his own vision instead.

Derivatives & Variations

TF2 Heavy edit:

User @awesomepapers swapped Sora for the Heavy from Team Fortress 2, one of the earliest and most popular edits, gaining 8,000 likes in two hours[2].

Reagan and Gorbachev label:

User @thejedahliker applied Cold War political labels to the characters, establishing the "unlikely allies" version of the template[2].

Copystrike reaction format:

@El_Banchito's "Together we can copystrike everything" caption spawned its own sub-format of jokes about Nintendo and Square Enix's shared litigiousness[2].

Scrimblo Bimblo vs. JRPG Swordguy format:

@Akfamilyhome's tweet fed into the existing Smash community debate about character archetype representation in the roster[2].

Frequently Asked Questions