Tidal Wave is a notoriously difficult demon level in Geometry Dash, a rhythm platform game where players navigate levels in time with music, and it is tracked by the community-run Demonlist for its extreme difficulty. Because its hardest sections demand near-perfect timing, failed runs are a familiar part of playing it, and the jumpscare sound has become shorthand for that sudden failure in edits and compilations. It spread through Geometry Dash gameplay videos and short-form clips, where creators reuse the scare to mark a death, a missed jump or an unexpected twist.