Ugandan Knuckles began as a VRChat avatar meme in late 2017, using a small distorted version of Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog. Players adopted an exaggerated accent, clicked and repeated phrases like do you know da wae while swarming other users. Clips spread to YouTube and social media in early 2018, turning the line into a standalone reaction sound. The spelling da wae comes from how fans transcribed the pronunciation. It remains popular in gaming edits as a shorthand for a crowd insisting it knows the route.