ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FPS LOGO CHARACTER / ISN'T ACTUALLY IN THE GAME
A Counter Strike post.
Your team of five hears one footstep upstairs and does the only sensible thing: everyone rushes B. You go A. By the time anyone checks the radar, you're the one standing there with a rifle and a dream. You buy a new gaming rig that cost more than your first car. You launch the game and drop it to the lowest resolution it will go, because the pros did, and you are, in your own mind, a pro. Your team is dead before the round is a minute old. You're left alone with 3 health and a clock, and you can feel four people watching your every move. You hold the corner for a very long time. You hear a single footstep. It's over, and you type "4 AT a" into chat at the speed of someone typing with one hand while the other is gripping the mouse for dear life. **Why it caught on:** the picture is a counter-terrorist character model from Counter-Strike, Valve's team shooter that grew out of a Half-Life mod released in 1999. It was posted on the "Advice Animals" style coloured background, with one line of setup and one of punchline, and gamers filled it with the game's rituals: the B rush, the panicked callouts, the lone survivor. It spread because anyone who has played a round of it recognises every one.