Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny

The Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny meme is a multi-phase format where a happy image of Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) from Pixar's The Incredibles gradually transforms into increasingly disturbing, distorted versions of itself — each paired with progressively darker music. It originated from a "reverse toonified" realistic edit of Mr. Incredible posted by Twitter user @CitizenPlain on October 15, 2020, and was formalized into the escalating format by YouTube channel músicos Cínicos on September 27, 2021. By December 2021, it had become one of the internet's most prolific horror-comedy meme templates.

The Reverse Toonification That Started Everything

Before there was a meme format, there was a single deeply unsettling image. On October 15, 2020, Twitter user @CitizenPlain posted a "reverse toonified" version of Mr. Incredible — taking the animated character and rendering him as a realistic human. The result was immediately unnerving: Bob Parr's exaggerated proportions and superhero jawline, translated into photorealistic detail, landed squarely in the uncanny valley.

Less than a month later, on November 10, 2020, Redditor PARILIZEDpArrOT243 took that image and degraded it further, creating a "Teacher's Copy vs. What They Give You" meme. The juxtaposition — normal animated Mr. Incredible next to his photorealistic-but-wrong doppelgänger — established the visual grammar that would eventually power the entire format. People didn't just see a meme. They saw a spectrum from "normal" to "wrong," and that spectrum was begging to be extended.

People Who Know vs. People Who Don't Know

The two-panel version took on a life of its own in mid-2021. On June 18, 2021, Redditor a_cuppa_java posted a version to r/memes using the format to contrast innocence with dark knowledge — happy Mr. Incredible for "people who don't know" and the traumatized realistic version for "people who know." It hit 39,000 upvotes in three months.

This was the format's first real evolutionary step. It wasn't just about Mr. Incredible looking creepy anymore — it was about knowledge as horror. The meme became a vehicle for sharing disturbing facts, dark historical events, and uncomfortable truths. The face wasn't the joke; it was the emotional punctuation mark. By September 2021, the two-panel version had been adapted to hundreds of topics, with Redditor Dapper_Dildo's four-panel variant hitting the front page on September 5th.

September 27, 2021: The Format Is Born

Here's where it gets interesting. On September 27, 2021, a Latin American YouTube channel called músicos Cínicos 鯉 uploaded a video simply titled "mr incredible becoming uncanny." The concept was deceptively simple: show the original animated Mr. Incredible, then progressively reveal more distorted and unsettling versions of the face — each one paired with music that matched its energy level.

The video didn't just show two states (happy vs. traumatized). It showed a gradient of horror, and that was the breakthrough. By introducing multiple phases — each slightly worse than the last — músicos Cínicos transformed a two-panel meme into a scalable storytelling format. You could now rank anything on a spectrum from "perfectly fine" to "absolute nightmare," with Mr. Incredible's deteriorating face as your emotional guide.

That original video has since passed 624,000 views and 32,000 likes. Not bad for what amounts to a slideshow of one increasingly cursed Pixar character.

December 2021: The Explosion

The format simmered for about two months before detonating. On December 8, 2021, TikToker @fishystik1a uploaded a version captioned "hearing your name called at:" — using the phases to escalate from hearing your name in a classroom (normal) to hearing your name whispered in an empty house at 3 AM (uncanny). The video got 60,000 views and, more importantly, sparked a wildfire of remakes.

Within a week, the format was everywhere. Facebook page Pains of Hell Wellness Clinic's repost on December 14th got 5,800 reactions and 3,800 shares. Anime communities adapted it for Touhou Project and Houseki no Kuni. Lessons in Meme Culture's explainer video on December 19th passed 150,000 views in a single day.

Then came the heavy hitters. On December 30, YouTuber ItsFarhang uploaded what became the most-viewed version on YouTube — over 8.6 million views and 505,000 likes in just one month. By early January 2022, the format was one of the most-searched meme terms on Google Trends worldwide.

Why This Format Actually Works (A Theory)

Most memes work on a single axis: funny or relatable. Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny works on two: comedy and genuine unease. The early phases are humorous — mild annoyances paired with slightly distorted faces. But as the phases escalate, the images genuinely become disturbing. Late-phase Mr. Incredible faces use heavy distortion, deep shadows, hollowed eyes, and corrupted features that tap into real horror aesthetics.

The music is doing just as much work as the visuals. Each phase's audio track sets an emotional tone — cheerful, then neutral, then melancholic, then genuinely creepy, then existentially dreadful. It's essentially a miniature horror film compressed into 30-60 seconds, and the "relatable scenario" premise gives the viewer an entry point that makes the descent into horror feel personal.

There's also the scalability factor. Unlike memes that require a specific joke or punchline, Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny is a framework. Any topic that can be ranked from "good" to "nightmarish" works. School subjects, foods, sleeping positions, historical events, video game levels — the format is infinitely adaptable because it's structurally a tier list crossed with a horror movie.

The Reverse: Mr. Incredible Becoming Canny

Every great horror format eventually gets a feel-good inversion. On November 27, 2021, YouTuber MexicoEmpireFOREVER uploaded the first "Becoming Canny" (or "Ascending") variant, where Mr. Incredible progresses from normal to increasingly radiant and powerful. But the version that truly blew up came from Redditor insaneliving_ on December 31, 2021.

In insaneliving_'s version, 10 phases showed Mr. Incredible becoming increasingly euphoric and cosmically powerful, with music escalating from calm melody to face-melting heavy metal. The Reddit post titled "Mr Incredible Becomes Ascended" hit 8,000 upvotes in four days. TikToker @nobleretat's repost of the format absolutely exploded — 3.8 million views and 521,000 likes in one month. Suddenly the meme had a complete emotional range: terror in one direction, transcendence in the other.

The Variant Universe

What happened next was something like meme mitosis. The community didn't just remix the original — they splintered it into an entire taxonomy of emotions. January and February 2022 saw the creation of Mr. Incredible Becoming Sad, Becoming Old, Becoming Fat, Becoming Scared, Becoming Cute, Becoming Sussy, Becoming Rich, and at least a dozen more variants.

Mrs. Elastigirl got her own Becoming Uncanny (1.9 million views). Trollface got one. Even the concept itself became meta, with "Becoming Poorly Drawn" and "Becoming Nothing To Be" pushing the format into abstract territory. YouTuber MexicoEmpireFOREVER created the longest known version: 30 minutes and 59 seconds of continuous phases, racking up 239,000 views.

The dedicated subreddit r/mrincredibleuncanny developed its own phase database, cataloging 18 official phases plus 5 subphases, complete with debates about which phases count as "canonical." A Fandom wiki was created. The meme had developed lore.

The Cultural Machine Behind It

• October 15, 2020: @CitizenPlain posts the original "reverse toonified" Mr. Incredible on Twitter
• November 10, 2020: PARILIZEDpArrOT243 creates the first comparison meme on Reddit
• June 18, 2021: a_cuppa_java's "People Who Know" version hits 39,000 upvotes on r/memes
• September 27, 2021: músicos Cínicos uploads the first multi-phase "Becoming Uncanny" video (624K+ views)
• December 8, 2021: @fishystik1a's TikTok triggers the format's viral explosion
• December 30, 2021: ItsFarhang's YouTube version hits 8.6M views in one month
• December 31, 2021: insaneliving_ creates the "Becoming Ascended" reverse format
• January 2022: 15+ variant formats created (Sad, Old, Fat, Scared, Cute, Sussy, etc.)
• January 13, 2022: MexicoEmpireFOREVER creates the 31-minute extended version
• 18 official phases documented by the community, plus 5 debated subphases

Frequently Asked Questions

Who created the Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny meme?

The foundational image — a "reverse toonified" realistic version of Mr. Incredible — was posted by Twitter user @CitizenPlain on October 15, 2020. The multi-phase escalating format was created by YouTube channel músicos Cínicos on September 27, 2021, who arranged progressively distorted versions of the face with increasingly unsettling music.

When did Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny go viral?

The format exploded in December 2021. TikToker @fishystik1a posted a version on December 8th that triggered a wave of remakes. By December 30th, YouTuber ItsFarhang's version had amassed over 8.6 million views in a single month, making it one of YouTube's fastest-growing meme formats of the year.

What is the music in Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny?

Each phase uses a different track that matches its energy level. Phase 1 typically uses upbeat or neutral music, while later phases use increasingly dark and distorted audio — often slowed-down versions of songs, ambient horror sounds, or corrupted audio. The specific tracks vary by creator, which is part of the format's creative appeal.

How many phases does Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny have?

The original format featured around 6-7 phases, but the community expanded it to 18 officially recognized phases plus 5 subphases. Extended versions on YouTube have gone as far as 124 phases, with a 31-minute video by MexicoEmpireFOREVER being among the longest.

What is Mr. Incredible Becoming Canny / Ascended?

Mr. Incredible Becoming Canny (also called "Ascending") is the reverse version where Mr. Incredible becomes progressively happier, more radiant, and eventually godlike. Created by Redditor insaneliving_ on December 31, 2021, it uses music that escalates from calm melodies to triumphant heavy metal. TikToker @nobleretat's repost got 3.8 million views.

Can I face swap into the Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny meme?

Yes — and it's one of the most fun face swaps on MEEMES. The format works great because each phase is a clear forward-facing portrait. Swap your face onto the happy Phase 1 or go full horror mode with the later uncanny phases. Medium difficulty due to the lighting changes across phases.