# Waterguy12

Waterguy12 is the Reddit username of a user who kicked off a two-week r/me_irl tagging saga in July 2017 by asking the subreddit to tag him on good memes while he was without WiFi. The bit snowballed into a mock war with an account called FireGuy12 and got a smaller sequel in June 2019.

## Overview
Waterguy12 is the Reddit username of a user who accidentally spawned one of r/me_irl's most-remembered sagas in the summer of 2017[1]. Before leaving for two weeks without internet, he asked the subreddit to tag him in any good memes so he wouldn't miss out[1]. The tag flood that followed pulled in a rival account called FireGuy12 and turned into a mock war fought with water and fire emojis[3].

The bit is remembered less for a single image and more as a community in-jokes event, where users spun up dozens of accounts following a "SomethingGuy12" naming pattern to pick sides in the fake fight[3]. A second departure in June 2019 kicked off a smaller sequel round of the same tagging bit[1].

## How It Spread
On August 4th, 2017, an account called FireGuy12 appeared on r/me_irl and threatened to set the sub ablaze unless users upvoted him, pulling in over 11,000 upvotes overnight[3]. Copycat accounts using the "SomethingGuy12" naming pattern flooded in and users picked sides. When Waterguy12 finally returned on August 14th, his re-entry post about reading responses on a train pulled in roughly 59,000 votes in six hours and left him with 3,200+ notifications that kept glitching[1].

He then redirected the r/waterguy12 subreddit to raid r/fireguy12 with images of water, hauling in another 33,000 upvotes[4]. FireGuy12 begged for a truce "for their old friend Fernando" and Waterguy12 agreed, ending the fight[1]. On June 28th, 2019, Waterguy12 announced a second trip from June 30th to July 15th, gathering 52,600+ upvotes in three days and prompting a wave of nostalgic me_irl posts tagging his username across older meme threads[1].

## How to Use
The convention is to reply to a strong meme on r/me_irl by tagging /u/waterguy12 in the comments, often paired with water emojis or a jab at FireGuy12[1]. Newer versions of the joke typically frame the tag as 'saving' a meme for someone who is offline, then get answered by other users tagging back with the SomethingGuy12 format[3].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Waterguy12?
Waterguy12 is the Reddit username of a user whose 2017 request to be tagged in good memes while offline snowballed into a mock war with an account called FireGuy12 on r/me_irl[3].

### Where did Waterguy12 come from?
He first posted the request on r/me_irl on July 29th, 2017, and the tagging blew up so fast that r/OutOfTheLoop had a 'why is everyone tagging u/waterguy12' thread by August 5th[2].

### What does Waterguy12 mean?
On r/me_irl, tagging u/waterguy12 became shorthand for flagging a meme worth saving for someone offline, and later got used as a general in-joke long after the original trip ended[1].

### How do you use Waterguy12?
Reply to a good r/me_irl post by tagging /u/waterguy12, often with water emojis, mimicking the 2017 pattern that filled his inbox with 3,200+ notifications on his return[1].

### Is Waterguy12 still popular?
Waterguy12 briefly came back with a second departure post in June 2019 that pulled 52,600+ upvotes in three days, but the 2017 saga is what the meme is best known for[1].

## References
1. [https://www.reddit.com/r/me_irl/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/me_irl/>)
2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/waterguy12](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/waterguy12>)
4. [https://www.reddit.com/r/waterguy12/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/waterguy12/>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/waterguy12
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library