The line comes from Metal Gear Rising Revengeance, released in 2013, where the cyborg villain Monsoon confronts Raiden and declares memes the DNA of the soul during a speech about free will. The scene stayed a favourite among Metal Gear fans before wider meme edits revived it on YouTube and TikTok, pairing the serious quote with unrelated viral trends. Its mix of action game drama and early internet terminology made it endlessly quotable, and creators still use it whenever an idea spreads faster than anyone can control it.