Man Breaking Chains
Part of a series on Reaction Images. [View Related Entries]
About
Man Breaking Chains or Man Breaking Free is a stock photo of a man breaking shackles at sunset with the chain snapping above his head. In 2022, the reaction picture gained popularity as an image caption format, typically being used to celebrate gaining freedom from certain burdens.
Origin
On August 16th, 2022, Twitter[1] user @FRKSCHEEKS posted the earliest known meme based on a stock image of a man breaking shackles, captioning it, "POV: you just dropped Chrom for Roy." The meme, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate joke, gained over 60 retweets and 1,300 likes in seven months (shown below).
![POV: you just dropped Chrom for Roy #1 Sora Hater @FRKSCHEEKS POV: you just dropped Chrom for Roy 3:00 PM - Aug 16, 2022 :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/592/6c3.jpg)
Spread
On October 26th, 2022, Twitter[2] user @upblissed captioned the image, "my ex jus died in a car crash," with the tweet gaining over 1,600 retweets and 37.200 likes in five months (shown below, left). On December 19th, @upblissed again tweeted[3] the image, captioning it, "SHE F--KING DIED." The post gained over 2,300 retweets and 56,600 likes in four months (shown below, right).
![MY EX JUS DIED IN A CAR CRASH Corn →* @upblissed MY EX JUS DIED IN A CAR CRASH on Creative Creative Creative Owalite Chutney 6:11 PM Oct 26, 2022 Greative Curative Ceative Creaties Oealice Oveldive Creative Creative C Creatine Carona Creative www Coalive Creation : Cuation Creature Quafive](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/593/b7d.jpg)
![SHE F------ DIED Corn * @upblissed SHE F------ DIED 12:10 AM · Dec 19, 2022 5.5M Views 000 :](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/596/195.jpg)
Following the post, the image format achieved widespread virality on Twitter as it became a meme used to celebrate getting rid of certain burdens, most often ironically. For example, on January 4th, 2023, Twitter[4] user @thaboyjozu posted a meme that gained over 240 retweets and 4,000 likes in two months (shown below, left). On January 18th, Twitter[5] user @slvppy made a tweet that received over 1,100 retweets and 24,500 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).
![SHE GOT IN A FATAL CAR CRASH Jozu @thaboyjozu SHE GOT IN A FATAL CAR CRASH Cuative Creative Gwalite Gradive Creative 11:52 PM. Jan 4, 2023 135.1K Views G eative Creative Creative Creative Creative Creative Cualue Owolare Creative Cuctive ... Creatine Creative](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/609/425.jpg)
![i stopped beating my meat $lap @slvppy i stopped beating my meat 1:38 AM • Jan 18, 2023 · 1M Views : ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/614/18f.jpg)
The reaction image maintained prevalence on Twitter in February and March 2023.
Various Examples
![SHE BLOCKED ME ON EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA KNOWN TO MAN huey' @wydhuey SHE BLOCKED ME ON EVERY SOCIAL MEDIA KNOWN TO MAN 4:34 AM. Mar 7, 2023 8,957 Views ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/633/425.jpg)
![THE US BANNED TIKTOK Space @spaceeong THE US BANNED TIKTOK Deudas Outline Ouelon Outles : Chualien](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/634/2c8.jpg)
![SHE FINALLY LET THAT BUM GO renzy @tize4PF SHE FINALLY LET THAT BUM GO 10:43 PM. Mar 13, 2023 387.4K Views ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/636/69a.jpg)
![deleting twitter from my phone Jayson Dagher @jaysondagher deleting twitter from my phone 7:07 PM. Jan 18, 2023 · 424 Views : ...](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/615/a0a.jpg)
![we got the retweets - quotes - likes order back @laeswrld we got the retweets - quotes - likes order back 7:54 AM. Mar 1, 2023 3,207 Views â €:](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/550/630/b3a.jpg)
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Search Interest
External References
[1] Twitter – @FRKSCHEEKS
[2] Twitter – @upblissed
[3] Twitter – @upblissed
[4] Twitter – @thaboyjozu
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