The Ben Drowned meme originates from a 2010 creepypasta titled 'Majora’s Mask Haunted Cartridge' created by Alex Hall, also known as Jadusable. The story follows a college student who encounters a malicious entity named BEN inhabiting a copy of the game, manifesting as the creepy 'Elegy of Emptiness' statue that follows the player relentlessly. This story became one of the most famous examples of the 'haunted gaming' subgenre, popularized by phrases like 'You shouldn't have done that' and 'You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?' In internet culture, the meme is used to evoke nostalgic horror, reference mid-2000s internet lore, or sarcastically highlight technical glitches in modern video games.