What Do You Think Wackus Bonkus? — Young Roman emperor with curly hair and golden laurel wreath smirking in a palace setting

What Do You Think Wackus Bonkus?

2011catchphrasedeclining

Published October 18, 2026

In a 2011 Horrible Histories sketch, a deranged Caligula played by Simon Farnaby chats with a bloody mallet he nicknames Wackus Bonkus, voicing both sides of the exchange before killing a visiting detective. The clip sat quietly for a decade before TikToker @ev1em0 uploaded the isolated audio in August 2021, fueling a lip-dub trend where creators used their hand as a cartoon devil advising petty revenge.

tiktok sound trends lip sync memes british memes delayed virality memes tv show memes

Overview

On TikTok, creators hold up their hand as a makeshift puppet while the 'naughty wackus bonkus' audio plays, performing both sides of Caligula's exchange with the mallet3. The hand whispers a bad decision in a gravelly voice, the user acts aghast, then does whatever the hand suggested anyway2.

The format works because the original sketch supplies both a question ('what do you think?') and an answer ('kill him'), letting creators pre-script the back-and-forth of a mental debate2. Common subjects include workplace revenge fantasies and relationship hesitations, with the hand puppet reading as the user's id3.

Origin & Background

Platform
BBC Horrible Histories (source sketch) / TikTok (viral spread)
Date
2011

On June 2, 2011, BBC's Horrible Histories aired season three, episode four, which included a sketch called 'The case of Caligula and the mystery assassins'1. Simon Farnaby plays a crazed Caligula who has already murdered several people with a bloody mallet by the time '70s-style investigator D.I. Bones arrives at the palace2.

After Bones walks away, Caligula lifts the hammer to his face, dubs it Wackus Bonkus, voices its advice in a goblin growl to 'kill him,' then declares 'oh, naughty Wackus Bonkus' before setting off to kill the detective2. The sketch was written for the show's third series alongside parody segments like a mock Who Do You Think You Are? episode starring George IV1.

How It Spread

On August 28, 2021, TikToker @ev1em0 uploaded the isolated audio clip of the Caligula and mallet exchange as an original sound titled 'naughty wackus bonkus,' which earned over 10.1 million views in its first month3. Lip-dub skits using the audio took off in late September, with @sunflowerminded and @juliafox038711 posting early examples on September 29 that each gathered millions of views within two weeks4.

On October 3, 2021, @marquiehibler posted a hair salon skit about overcharging a former high-school bully for a haircut4. Hooters employee @gracie.herrick followed on October 9 with a video griping about new work shorts she described as underwear, which drew over 14.5 million views in five days4.

Timeline

2011-06-02

BBC's Horrible Histories airs season three, episode four, including the Caligula and D.I. Bones sketch where the Wackus Bonkus line appears.

2021-08-28

TikToker @ev1em0 uploads the isolated Caligula audio as an original sound titled 'naughty wackus bonkus.'

2021-09-29

Lip-dub skits using the audio take off, with @sunflowerminded and @juliafox038711 posting early viral examples.

2021-10-03

@marquiehibler posts a hair salon skit about overcharging a former bully using the Wackus Bonkus sound.

2021-10-09

Hooters employee @gracie.herrick posts a Wackus Bonkus lip-dub about new work shorts, drawing over 14.5 million views in five days.

2021-10-14

The 'naughty wackus bonkus' sound has powered over 210,000 TikTok videos by this date.

How to Use This Meme

A typical video has the creator face the camera with one hand raised like a hand puppet. The hand lip-syncs 'kill him' or an equivalent whispered line in Caligula's gravelly voice, suggesting something petty like overcharging a rude customer or sending a risky text. The creator then lip-syncs 'oh, naughty Wackus Bonkus,' usually with a reluctant grin, before cutting to a reenactment of the bad decision getting carried out.

Frequently Asked Questions