Dancing Triangle meme

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The dancing triangle character, a 3D-rendered anthropomorphic yellow triangle whose looping dance animation became a viral internet meme.

History

Dancing Triangle is a looped CGI animation of an anthropomorphic Triforce piece from a fan-made Legend of Zelda web series, used as a meme format layered over various songs. The clip first spread through Spanish-language Facebook groups in 2018 and returned as a viral Twitter and TikTok trend in early 2020, most often paired with Missy Elliott's 'Lose Control.'

Origin

The source animation comes from the second part of the fan-made web series The Legend of Zelda: The Light of Courage, uploaded to YouTube on May 29, 2006, and shows a small Triforce piece walking across the screen with a distinctive sideways strut that fans later isolated and looped for music edits[3].

Platform: YouTube (source) / Facebook (viral spread)
Creator: Unknown
Date: 2018

Overview

Dancing Triangle, also called Triangulo Bailando, is a looped CGI clip of a walking anthropomorphic golden triangle. The character is a personified piece of the Triforce, the sacred artifact from Nintendo's Zelda franchise[4]. Meme edits pair the loop with different songs, letting the character's rhythmic bounce sync to any beat.

The format is closely tied to Missy Elliott's 2005 hit 'Lose Control,' a Grammy-winning single from her album The Cookbook[2]. A February 2020 Twitter post by @melancholyhill paired the two and pulled over a million views in two months[1].

How It Spread

Meme use took off in mid-2018 when YouTuber Tino uploaded a June 6 version synced to Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga music, and Facebook user EricoTereran reposted it to the 'Nintendo Switchposting' group on June 25, prompting the launch of the Spanish-language Facebook page 'El Mismo Triángulo Bailando Con Diferentes Canciones' (translated from Spanish: 'The Same Dancing Triangle With Different Songs'), which eventually hosted over 600 song-swap videos[3].

The format returned on February 11, 2020, when Twitter user @melancholyhill paired the animation with Missy Elliott's 'Lose Control,' a post that reached over a million views in two months[1]. TikTok users adopted the format within days, with early edits by @danieldessau in late February and a March 2020 wave of viral videos set to a Tongo cover of 'Pumped Up Kicks,' and the meme later returned in August 2021 as Indonesia's 'Keju Joget' (translated from Indonesian: 'Dancing Cheese') trend[3].

How to Use

People typically loop the short clip of the triangle walking and layer it over a song with a steady beat, letting the character's bounce sync to the rhythm[1]. A common convention is to caption the video with the reason a specific song fits the triangle's mood, or to pair it with 'Lose Control' as a callback to the 2020 Twitter post.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Dancing Triangle?

Dancing Triangle is a looped CGI clip of a walking anthropomorphic Triforce piece from a fan-made Legend of Zelda animation, most often paired with Missy Elliott's 'Lose Control' as a meme format[1].

Where did Dancing Triangle come from?

The source animation was uploaded to YouTube on May 29, 2006 as part of the fan-made web series The Legend of Zelda: The Light of Courage[3].

What does Dancing Triangle mean?

The meme has no fixed meaning; the joke comes from pairing the Triforce piece's rhythmic walk with a song where the sync lands well, most often Missy Elliott's 'Lose Control'[1].

How do you use Dancing Triangle?

Loop the animation of the triangle walking and layer a song with a steady beat over it so the character's bounce syncs to the rhythm, then add a caption that makes the pairing land[1].