This Is Sparta

In 2006, Zack Snyder gave the internet exactly what it didn't know it needed: a shirtless Gerard Butler screaming into the void before kicking a man into a bottomless pit. The Persian messenger had come seeking Sparta's surrender. He found only abs, rage, and gravity.

Months before 300 even hit theaters, the trailer had already spawned parodies. By October 2006, YTMND had its first "This Is Sparta" page. When the film released in March 2007, the floodgates opened. The kick became shorthand for any dramatic rejection. The scream became a punchline. "This is SPARTA!" became "This is PATRICK!" became "This is CNN!" became whatever word you could yell while pretending to punt someone into oblivion.

The Sparta Remix transformed Leonidas's battle cry into an auto-tuned banger. South Park paid tribute. Robot Chicken paid tribute. Night at the Museum 2 paid tribute, which is how you know a meme has peaked—when Ben Stiller references it. By 2009, over 85 YTMND pages existed in the Sparta extended universe.

But you can only kick so many messengers before the format wears thin. The well filled up. The screaming grew hoarse. By the early 2010s, using "This Is Sparta" unironically marked you as culturally behind—still funny to your dad, maybe.

The 300 fell. But for a glorious moment, this was internet.