# Vadering Vadering is a 2013 photo fad where one person pretends to Force-choke another who leaps into the air clutching their throat like one of Darth Vader's victims. Church staffer Rob Martinez kicked it off from a Texas Easter weekend photoshoot on March 29, 2013, and within a week outlets from Kotaku to Mashable were covering what turned into one of the fastest-rising photo trends of that spring. ## Origin Vadering traces to Rob Martinez, a staff member at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas. On March 29, 2013, Martinez and coworkers tried to stage a Hadokening photo during Easter weekend preparations, which he posted to his Instagram account[6]. Later that day he posted two follow-up images staging fake Force-chokes to the same account, tagged them #Vadering, and asked followers to make their own[7]. The same day he shared a third Vadering image on Twitter, tagging the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A in hopes of a retweet[8]. The format drew directly from the Hadokening Dragon Ball Z action-pose trend that had jumped from Japanese Twitter to global audiences the week prior[1]. Kotaku described Vadering as the dark-side answer to the Dragon Ball meme[1]. Contemporary writeups credited Martinez as the originator even as the format spread far beyond his follower base[3]. - **Platform:** Instagram / Twitter (viral spread via Reddit and 9GAG) - **Creator:** Rob Martinez - **Date:** 2013 ## Overview The gag works by lining up two people with careful camera timing. One performer stretches out a hand in Darth Vader's Force Grip pose while a partner jumps and grabs their own neck in mock suffocation[1]. Shot from a low angle looking up, the airborne person appears to hover at the end of an invisible choke, matching scenes from the original Star Wars films[2]. Vadering sits in a short lineage of 2013 action-pose photo trends that spun off the Japanese Dragon Ball Z 'Hadokening' fad, where friends staged Kamehameha blasts and uploaded the results[1]. Unlike Hadokening, which needs multiple participants and energy-beam choreography, Vadering only needs two people, which several outlets credited for its quick uptake[3]. The tone sits closer to goofy cosplay than serious Star Wars fan art, with most entries showing regular folks in street clothes rather than costume[4]. Participants tagged entries with #Vadering on Twitter and Instagram during the format's active window in early April 2013[5]. Entries ranged from solo office cubicle gags to group shots with multiple victims lined up like Death Star prisoners[4]. ## How to Use Vadering typically needs two people, a camera held low to the ground, and timing. One person extends an arm with a clawed Force Grip hand pose aimed at the second person. The second person jumps as high as they can while clutching their throat and tilting their head back as if being lifted. The shutter fires at peak jump height so the choked person appears to float in midair[9]. Common conventions include matching the photographer's angle to the attacker's eye line and shooting outdoors in open space for cleaner silhouettes[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Vadering? Vadering is a photo fad where two people stage a Darth Vader Force-choke, with one person extending a Force Grip hand and the other jumping in the air while clutching their throat[1]. ### Where did Vadering come from? It started on March 29, 2013, when Rob Martinez posted the first examples from a Fellowship Church photoshoot in Grapevine, Texas, to Instagram and Twitter[8]. ### What does Vadering mean? The term refers to the staged Force-choke photo format named after Star Wars villain Darth Vader[2]. ### How do you use Vadering? Two people line up with a camera low to the ground, one does the Force Grip hand pose, the other jumps while grabbing their own throat, and the shot is timed at peak jump height[2]. ### Is Vadering still popular? No. It peaked in early April 2013 and faded within weeks as the shelf life of staged-photo fads kept shrinking, with Pottering replacing it almost immediately[12]. ### Who invented Vadering? Fellowship Church staff member Rob Martinez created and named the format in March 2013 while his group was prepping for Easter weekend[6]. ### How is Vadering different from Hadokening? Hadokening stages a Dragon Ball Z Kamehameha blast and often needs several participants, while Vadering only needs two people and a Force-choke pose[1]. ### Did Star Wars officially acknowledge Vadering? Yes. The official @StarWars Twitter account tweeted 'Planking is so last year. Try #vadering' on April 1, 2013[4]. ### How viral did Vadering get? The Daily Dot tracked more than 5,500 Twitter mentions of #vadering in a 24-hour window during the peak, with coverage from Kotaku, Mashable, Yahoo News, and other major outlets within days[2]. ### What came after Vadering? A short-lived Harry Potter wand-casting photo trend called Pottering displaced Vadering within the same news cycle in April 2013[12]. ## References 1. [https://kotaku.com/dragon-ball-photo-meme-has-new-competition-darth-vader-467759012]() 2. [https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/vadering-photo-meme-star-wars/]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/vadering]() 4. [https://mashable.com/2013/04/03/vadering/]() 5. [https://x.com/i/status/317825215503679488]() 6. [https://instagram.com/p/Xc9mJ3zK5Y/]() 7. [https://instagram.com/p/XeV_X2TK9D/]() 8. [https://instagram.com/p/XfdPpjzK2O/]() 9. [https://9gag.com/gag/6955984]() 10. [https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1b9cth/in_response_to_hadokening_i_give_you_vadering/]() 11. [https://www.neatorama.com/2013/04/02/The-Newest-Photo-Meme-Vadering/]() 12. [https://thefw.com/vadering/]() 13. [https://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/04/vadering-the-latest-internet-photo-meme/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/vadering Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library