Memes usually die fast. Most of them have the shelf life of an open gallon of milk in a heatwave, but then you have the weird outliers. One day you’re scrolling through Twitter or Reddit and you see two pixelated characters standing in a place they definitely don't belong. Maybe it's the hallway from The Shining. Maybe it's a grocery store aisle or the surface of Mars. Then you read the text: god dammit kris where the hell are we. It’s simple. It’s loud. It’s incredibly stupid in the best possible way.
Honestly, it shouldn't have worked this well.
The meme features Kris and Susie, the protagonists of Toby Fox's Deltarune. If you haven’t played it, Deltarune is the spiritual successor (or parallel universe, or whatever Toby’s brain has cooked up this week) to the indie titan Undertale. In the game, these two characters fall into "Dark Worlds," which are basically magical realms born from everyday rooms like a school closet or a computer lab. Because the game's central mechanic involves tripping into strange new dimensions, the internet realized very quickly that Kris and Susie could—and should—trip into every dimension.
The Origin of a Pixelated Crisis
It all started on Twitter. Specifically, a user named @A_Screaming_Ant (now deleted or changed) posted an image on September 24, 2021. This was right after Deltarune Chapter 2 dropped, and the hype was at an absolute fever pitch. The original image showed the two characters standing in the middle of Minecraft. Susie, the purple monster with a penchant for eating chalk and being generally aggressive, is yelling the now-iconic line. Kris, the silent protagonist, just stands there.
It was a perfect storm.
The phrasing "god dammit kris where the hell are we" captures Susie's personality perfectly. She’s impatient, she’s foul-mouthed (by E-rated standards), and she’s constantly confused by the nonsense happening around her. The "hell" part actually became a bit of a sticking point for some fans because the game's dialogue is usually a bit more curated, but for a meme? It was the secret sauce.
Within 48 hours, they weren't just in Minecraft. They were in Family Guy. They were in the Silent Hill fog. They were even appearing in other indie games like Hollow Knight and Stardew Valley. The joke works because it’s a template. You take a background, slap on the transparent sprites of Kris and Susie, and you’re done. It’s low-effort but high-impact.
Why We Can't Stop Editing Susie and Kris
Humor is weirdly structural.
The reason this specific meme has legs is the "Fish Out of Water" trope taken to its absolute extreme. Toby Fox’s character designs are distinct. They have a very specific color palette—Susie is bright purple and pink, Kris is blue and silver in the Dark World. When you put those 16-bit sprites against a hyper-realistic background like Call of Duty or a live-action shot of a Wendy’s parking lot, the visual contrast creates an immediate "punchline" before you even read the text.
There is also the element of Susie's sprite. She’s looking back, hunched over, looking genuinely stressed out. It’s relatable. Everyone has had that moment where they wake up, look at their life or their current situation, and think, How did I get here? ### The Meta-Layer of Toby Fox Games
You have to understand the community. Undertale and Deltarune fans are some of the most dedicated, lore-obsessed people on the planet. They dissect every pixel. They analyze every music track. So, when a meme like god dammit kris where the hell are we takes off, it’s not just a joke—it’s a celebration of the characters.
The fans know Susie would actually say this. In Chapter 2, the duo enters the Cyber World, which is a world inside a library's computer lab. The transition is jarring. The characters are confused. The meme simply takes that canon confusion and applies it to the entire multiverse. It’s a way for fans to keep the characters alive while waiting years for Chapter 3, 4, and 5.
The Technical Side of the Meme’s Spread
If you look at the Google Trends data from late 2021, the spike is vertical. It didn't grow slowly; it exploded. This happened because of the "Exploitables" category of memes.
- Accessibility: You don't need Photoshop. You can make this on a phone with a free background eraser app.
- Crossover Potential: It allows for "fandom colliding." If you love Deltarune and Breaking Bad, you put them in Walter White's lab. If you love Deltarune and The Backrooms, you put them in the yellow hallways.
- Audio Evolution: Eventually, the meme moved to TikTok and YouTube. Voice actors began dubbing the line. The most famous version is often attributed to the "standard" Susie voice that the community has collectively agreed upon—raspy, loud, and irritated.
Interestingly, even Toby Fox acknowledged the chaotic energy of his fanbase. While he didn't explicitly tweet the meme (he’s usually pretty quiet about specific fan trends), the game’s own meta-humor feels like it’s in conversation with this kind of stuff. The game knows it’s a game. The characters know things are weird.
Beyond the Screen: Cultural Impact
Is it just a gaming thing? Sorta, but not really.
The meme broke out of the gaming sphere and entered general pop culture for a minute. You’d see it used in political commentary or social observations. People started using "Where the hell are we?" as a genuine reaction to the chaotic state of the world in 2021 and 2022. It became a shorthand for feeling lost in a reality that feels increasingly like a simulation or a poorly written video game script.
There is a certain irony in the fact that Deltarune is a game about choice—or the lack thereof. The game’s tagline is "Your choices don't matter." By shoving Kris and Susie into scenarios where they have no control over their environment, the meme actually reinforces the core theme of the game. They are puppets moved from one scene to another by a force (the internet) they can't understand.
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That’s deep for a meme about a purple dinosaur and a silent kid, right?
Real-World Examples of the Best "Where the Hell Are We" Edits
To understand the depth of this, you have to look at some of the most creative iterations. People didn't just stop at images.
- The 3D Renders: Some artists created full 3D environments where the 2D sprites inhabit a 3D space, mimicking the "Paper Mario" aesthetic.
- The Live-Action Integration: There is a famous one of them standing in the middle of a crowded New York City subway. The lighting is edited to match the sprites. It looks hauntingly real.
- The Horror Crossovers: Putting them in Resident Evil or P.T. (the Silent Hills demo). The contrast between the colorful sprites and the grim, hyper-detailed horror settings makes the humor even darker.
One of the funniest versions involves the "Dark World" transformation itself. In the game, when they enter a Dark World, their outfits change. Some clever creators made "Light World" versions of the meme where they are just in their normal school clothes standing in a DMV, which is arguably a more terrifying "Dark World" than anything Toby Fox could dream up.
Addressing the Critics: Is It Dead?
Some people say the meme is "dead." In internet years, 2021 is ancient history.
But here’s the thing: Memes like this don't die; they just become part of the language. When Deltarune Chapter 3 eventually launches, this meme will see a massive resurgence. It’s "evergreen." As long as there are new places for them to go, the joke stays relevant. It’s a tool for commentary.
The longevity of god dammit kris where the hell are we proves that character-driven humor always outlasts random "shock" humor. We care about Susie and Kris. We like seeing them together. The meme is just an excuse to spend more time with them in different contexts.
How to Make Your Own (The Right Way)
If you’re looking to contribute to this bit of internet history, there’s a right way to do it. Don't just slap them on a background.
First, get the high-resolution sprites. You want the ones from the Cyber World entrance or the generic "standing" poses. Second, match the lighting. If you’re putting them in a dark cave, drop the brightness on the sprites and maybe add a slight purple tint to their edges. It makes the "edit" feel more intentional.
Most importantly, choose a location that says something. The best versions of this meme are the ones that highlight how ridiculous a specific place is. Put them in the Metaverse. Put them in an NFT gallery. Put them at a board meeting for a company that’s failing. The location is the "straight man" to Susie’s "funny man" energy.
What We Can Learn From Kris and Susie
At the end of the day, this meme is a testament to indie game development. Undertale and Deltarune have stayed relevant for years without the multi-billion dollar marketing budgets of Call of Duty or Fortnite. They do it through character writing.
The fact that two sprites and one line of (fan-written) dialogue can capture the attention of millions tells you everything you need to know about the power of personality. We don't need 4K textures to feel something. We just need a purple monster who’s as confused as we are.
Next Steps for Content Creators and Fans:
- Archive the Best Edits: Many of the original 2021 threads are disappearing as accounts get deleted. If you find a high-quality version, save it. These are digital artifacts of a specific era of gaming culture.
- Study the Sprite Work: If you're a budding game dev, look at how much emotion Susie’s sprite conveys with just a few pixels. The "hunched over" look is a masterclass in character silhouette.
- Stay Updated on Deltarune: Follow Toby Fox on official channels. The release of future chapters will inevitably trigger new variations of this meme, likely involving new characters like Ralsei or Noelle in similar "lost" situations.
- Explore the Multiverse: If you enjoyed the "Where the hell are we" edits, look into the "Susie and Kris walk into [Game]" videos on YouTube. Some of the animation work is genuinely professional-grade.