Piccolo vs Spaghetti
Contents
About
This is a family of memes based on a photograph of a bundle of uncooked spaghetti with a toy figure at its end, arms outflung as if holding the spaghetti back. There is another, smaller, figure crouched behind the first toy. Meme makers provide a variety of labels for the spaghetti and the two toys.
Origin
The original photo was taken by Japanese photographer Tatsuya Tanaka. It is based on a dramatic scene in the anime series Dragonball Z where the character Piccolo sacrifices his life to block an energy blast from hitting his friend Gohan, striking much the same pose that the toy Piccolo is using to "block" the spaghetti.
Meaning
Meme makers use the photo to play with the idea of protection. In most memes based on this photo, the spaghetti is labeled with the name of something hostile or undesirable, the Gohan figure is labeled as something that's vulnerable to this force, and the Piccolo figure is labeled as something that can stop the force from affecting Gohan.
Some memes also subvert this idea by labeling the spaghetti as something desirable, while Piccolo is labeled as an interfering force that blocks this desirable thing from reaching Gohan.
Examples
Popularity
See also