Karate Kyle first emerged in 2011, featuring a portrait of a young boy in a karate gi with thick glasses. This Advice Animal style meme follows a dark and humorous pattern where a minor social slight or instance of bullying is met with an extreme, often violent, act of retribution. The humor stems from the contrast between the boy's innocent, nerdy appearance and the cold, calculated threats in the captions. It parodies the 'underdog' trope found in 80s martial arts films, turning the quiet kid into a personification of over-the-top vengeance. To this day, it remains a classic example of early image macro culture.