From movie star to meme legend: the best «Chuck Norris Facts» that made Internet history

The year was 2005 and a burst of memes with a single protagonist: Chuck Norris. In a matter of hours he became the undisputed king of a virtual phenomenon that not even he himself could explain. After the death of the actor at the age of 86many of these user creations multiplied again on the social network X.

At the time, Ian Spectora high school senior, logged on to SomethingAwful.com, a forum he ran for fun, similar to what is now Reddit.

Until that moment the great «honoree» was Vin Diesel, who after his performance in the film A bulletproof babysitterhad become the focus of ridicule and jokes on the internet. They called them the «Vin Diesel Facts.»

He conducted a survey for users to choose who would be the next protagonist of that composition of images with juxtaposed phrases that we would later call «memes.»

Norris had not even been one of the options that Spector proposed, but Internet users themselves nominated him and he obtained 50 votes, an overwhelming majority for the numbers at that time, who did not know the massive and global scale that could be generated when so many young people were just a click away.

The parody of Walker, Texas Ranger that comedian Conan O’Brien did on his television show, The Tonight Show.

Faithful to his audience, Spector inaugurated the «Chuck Norris Fact Generator» in December. The rest is known history, an explosion of memes like never before on the Internet.

Phrases like «Chuck Norris doesn’t sleep, wait«, «Chuck Norris counted to infinity… twice«, «There is no chin under Chuck Norris’ beard, there is just another fist» or «Chuck Norris can burn an ant with a magnifying glass… at night», are some of those that circulated at that time.

From bullying to global stardom: the «indestructible» Chuck Norris

However, he had a childhood plagued by bullying. His Irish descent, in part cherokeean indigenous people originally from the southeastern United States, were a constant source of harassment.

He enlisted in the Air Force and was sent to Osan Air Base in South Korea, where he defended his country for two years. It was then that his nickname «Chuck» arose, which changed the course of his history, and in 2007 he was named Honorary Marine.

He became an excellent fighter and was a world karate champion. In 1962 he opened his own chain of Chun Kuk Do schools, which combined all the different combat styles he had learned.

After a streak of 183 wins and only ten losses, he retired at age 34. There began another golden era, that of action star in the Hollywood industry.

The lawsuit filed by Chuck Norris after becoming the «king of memes»

In an interview with The Huffington Post, That student who was a fundamental part of the phenomenon, Spector, said that while he was studying cognitive neuroscience at Brown University, he was offered to publish a book that would compile the best memes.

«The truth about Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the greatest man in the world», was titled, and was published in 2007. It was the first of four others that followed.

The Norris Facts took him to meet the legendary actor in person. They had a long and friendly conversation, where they agreed on some economic issues that worried Norris himself.

However, later they met again, but in Justice. Norris sued the publisher Penguin and the Internet pages that promoted the book. «The defendants have appropriated and exploited Mr. Norris’s name and image without authorization for their own commercial benefit,» his lawyers argued in federal court in Manhattan.

«Some of the ‘facts’ in the book are racist, lewd or refer to Norris as participating in illegal activities,» the document specified.

The lawsuit created serious legal problems that were to cost tens of thousands of dollars in attorney fees. After several months of preliminary procedures, both parties reached a confidential agreement.

Later copies were labeled «unauthorized parody,» to make it clear that Norris had nothing to do with the book, which became a bestseller. New York Times.

Apparently the actor’s family was satisfied with what was decided that time, because Chuck even once asked his Instagram followers what their favorite meme was and generated a wave of repercussions.

The most emblematic phrases of Chuck Norris memes