Baldi comes from Baldi's Basics in Education and Learning, a 2018 free horror parody game by developer Mystman12. Styled like a bad 1990s educational game, it stars Baldi as the ruler slapping teacher who hunts the player after wrong answers. The game went viral on YouTube and Twitch, and clips of Baldi screaming and chasing were cut into memes, remixes and soundboards. His extreme anger over simple math made the character a lasting shorthand for an unhinged teacher meltdown.