12 Games That Spawned Well-Known Catchphrases

Key Takeaways

• Gamers love adopting catchy catchphrases from games, and there are plenty of options to choose from.
• Memorable gamer catchphrases like “Leeroy Jenkins” and “Finish him!” have endured for decades.
• From “All your base are belong to us” to “Praise the Sun,” these phrases have become iconic in gaming.

Gamers can be a wacky bunch, and it doesn’t take much for an amusing or ironic phrase in a game to become part of gamer vocabulary and eventually part of gaming culture history. There have been countless games released over the years that have lived long beyond their expiration date simply because they spawned a catchphrase.

Often, these catchphrases are used as all-encompassing references to a specific type of situation that only gamers will understand. A good example is when a player gets angry at a game, and other players on voice chat instantly shout “Leeroy Jenkins!” Some of these catchphrases have been around for decades and are still used today, further proving just how iconic they are.

Updated on September 2, 2024, by Mac Wheeler: The original list had 8 entries which are well-known game catchphrases that are either still used today, or part of gaming history. Some of these, such as “I took an arrow to the knee,” are from mainstream games. Others are from cult classics. However, there are a lot of such phrases that are well-remembered, even if they have fallen into disuse over the years, so this list has been updated to add a few of these.

12 Street Fighter

Catchphrase: “Hadouken!”

The term “Hadouken!” has come to be used by gamers any time they perform a powerful action such as a finishing move that results in a victory of some sort. However, originally, it was shouted by Ken or Ryu in the original Street Fighter game, when performing the relevant special move.

Later in the franchise, Akuma, Sakura, and Gouken were all given the same move. The attack sees the character push both hands forward, as they direct energy at their opponent. Interestingly, the designer of the game, Takashi Nishiyama, has said that they took the idea for this special attack from one of the weapons and attacks used by Space Battleship Yamato.

11 Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Catchphrase: “The Prophecy Is True”

The 2003 game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, spawned a gamer catchphrase that is often used to express satisfaction when something that was predicted comes true. It can be used in many ways, and generally in an ironic manner, which is different from the way it was used in the game. This phrase is “The prophecy is true.”

Star Wars as a franchise has spawned many phrases that are used generally now, such as “It’s a trap!” Or “I have a bad feeling about this.” But surprisingly, very few of them came from game titles, they are mostly from the movies.

10 Zelda 2: The Adventure Of Link

Catchphrase: “I Am Error”

• Platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Switch
• Released: January 14, 1987
• Developer: Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development, Nintendo
• Genre: Action-adventure game, Fighting game, Action role-playing game, Japanese role-playing game

This is a pretty cool game catchphrase, as its popularity is down to the poor English translation of the game Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, and specifically, the phrase “I am error.” The phrase is spoken by a villager, named Error, and if it had been translated from Japanese accurately, would have said “My name is Error.”

Of course, this catchphrase isn’t used in the original context these days, instead, it is an ironic term used when something is broken in an amusing way. This can range from amusing bugs to mistakes made by developers, or anything game-related that can be seen as a humorous mistake in some way.

9 Duke Nukem 3D

Come Get Some

The phrase “Come get some,” is spoken by Ash in the game Duke Nukem 3D. It is intended to imply that Ask is beckoning enemies to take their best shot at him. And of course, this is exactly the kind of catchphrase that is likely to be adopted by a much wider audience.

There is nothing complicated about this catchphrase, it is simply used in its original context, when players are about to enter a fight, often a PvP battle, and will taunt their enemies with this phrase, as a way of showing confidence in a positive outcome.

8 Zero Wing

Catchphrase: “All Your Base Are Belong To Us!!”

• Platform: Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, PC Engine CD-ROM
• Released: September, 1989
• Developer: Williams Electronics
• Genre: Side-Scrolling Shooter

Released in 1989, Zero Wing is a side-scrolling shooter that is now mostly remembered for spawning the gamer catchphrase “All your base are belong to us!!” This phrase was the result of the game’s poor translation from Japanese to English for the 1989 Sega Mega Drive port.

First popularized by players of competitive FPS games such as CounterStrike and Unreal Tournament, this phrase was rolled out any time one team was dominating the other. This phrase has endured for almost four decades.

7 World Of Warcraft

Catchphrase: “Leeroy Jenkins!”

The game World of Warcraft needs no introduction, and the gamer catchphrase and meme “Leeroy Jenkins!” likely doesn’t either. This phrase came about thanks to a viral video that showcased a World of Warcraft player by the name of Leeroy Jenkins having a meltdown following a disastrous raid attempt.

This phrase is used to mock gamers who get angry at games or rage quit. What makes the catchphrase even more noteworthy is how Blizzard picked it up and ran with it, immortalizing the player Leeroy Jenkins as an NPC in World of Warcraft.

6 Mortal Kombat

Catchphrase: “Finish Him!”

The 1992 fighting game, Mortal Kombat, is now mostly remembered for the gamer catchphrase it spawned: “Finish Him!” Although it must be said that, in its day, this was also a great game in its own right. The phrase was used in the game to prompt the player to execute a defeated opponent in a death match.

Gamers soon adopted this phrase, often muttering it in a deep, serious voice, mimicking the Mortal Kombat sound sample when defeating enemies in other games. It has to be said that, without voice communication apps for gamers such as the original Battlecom app, then TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, and now Discord, this phrase would likely never have spread. Rather than being comedic or ironic, it was simply a fun thing to say at the end of a tough fight.

5 Star Fox 64

Catchphrase: “Do A Barrel Roll!”

Released in 1997, the space combat game, Star Fox 64, spawned a gamer catchphrase that also infected the larger internet. During gameplay, the player is told by Peppy Hare, an NPC helping them learn how to fly, to “do a barrel roll” as a way to avoid incoming damage.

Gamers quickly picked up on this phrase and turned it into a sarcastic answer to stupid questions asked by other gamers. Eventually, this phrase made its way to internet forums, where it was picked up by non-gamers as well, and it is still sometimes used as a sarcastic response to silly questions posted online.

4 Portal

Catchphrase: “The Cake Is A Lie!”

Portal, released in 2007, was a successful game and noted for being somewhat unique at the time. However, it has the dubious honor of being the game that spawned the popular phrase, “The cake is a lie!” Originally, this phase was left as graffiti in the game, serving as a visual prompt to try and warn the player that they were being deceived by GLaDOS.

Gamers quickly realized that, as a catchphrase, it could be used in any situation where disinformation was encountered or if somebody was chasing goals that could never be achieved. As with other phrases adopted by gamers, it eventually spread to other internet denizens and is still regularly used today.

3 Dark Souls

Catchphrase: “Praise The Sun!”

The original Dark Souls game was released in 2011 and is responsible for the inspiration behind the gamer catchphrase “Praise the Sun!” But rather than being based on text or spoken dialogue in the game as other phrases have been, this phrase is based on the almost comedic summoning animation of Solaire of Astora.

This NPC performs a pose known as Praise the Sun when summoned to assist the player. Gamers quickly adopted this phrase to be used any time something uplifting happened or whenever an event occurred that warranted some form of celebration.

Catchphrase: “They Played Us Like A Damn Fiddle!”

Metal Gear Solid 5 was a great game for many reasons, and the fact that it spawned one of the most popular game catchphrases of all time is simply the cherry on top. During gameplay, the character Kazuhira “Kaz” Miller, who is fully voice-acted, utters the phrase “They played us like a damn fiddle!” This is said as a direct response to a failed mission, where a trojan horse is used to infiltrate Mother Base.

Gamers adopted this phrase as an ironic celebration of losses in competitive FPS games. However, it spread to a bigger group of gamers in general and is often used to lightheartedly acknowledge the failure of a challenge. Although rarely used now, it was prolific in its heyday.

Catchphrase: “I Took An Arrow To The Knee”

Skyrim was first released in 2011, and it is still incredibly popular today. Something that Skyrim has given the gamer community and the internet in general is the phrase “I took an arrow to the knee.” This is a truncated version of some of the idle chatter spoken by guards in the game, with the original quote being “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.”

Gamers picked up on this phrase and found many uses for it. Late for a raid? Use the “took an arrow in the knee” phrase to explain why. Killed by a boss? This snappy quote can explain it away. Eventually, due to internet forums, the phrase spread outside of the game community and is still in use today.