The 'Don't Say the N Word' meme originates from a series of surreal 3D animated parody videos, most notably 'Skipper Stops Racism' by YouTuber kmlkmljkl. The meme features characters from The Penguins of Madagascar in a high-stakes, cinematic confrontation where Skipper attempts to prevent another character from uttering a slur. It gained massive popularity due to its absurdly dramatic voice acting and low-budget animation style. Today, the template is used ironically to depict moments of extreme tension before someone says something controversial or to parody the over-the-top tropes of action cinema.