Meaning
What does He Protec, He Attac mean?
He protec, he attac, often seen as “he protec but he also attac” refers to a popular meme format, where the captions are deliberately misspelled, paired with images of characters acting defensively and offensively.
The meme has numerous formats that can be encountered online.
One of the most popular of these iterations is the “he protec, he attac, but most importantly…” format, where the third panel usually involves characters doing their signature actions.
Origin
What's the origin of He Protec, He Attac?
The earliest post containing the phrase in its specific form was uploaded to Instagram by @fijichecks on November 8th, 2016.
The captions were attached to two photos of a naked man wielding a lightsaber in a protective and an aggressive stance.
In February, 2017, the “he protec, he attac” meme would start appearing on various Instagram meme pages, like sketchymemes and bepis.
Spread & Usage
How did He Protec, He Attac spread?
The meme would start seeing a wider audience in March, 2017 when it first emerged on the /pol/ board of 4chan and the r/MemeEconomy sub of Reddit.
By July, 2017 “he protec, he attac” would be a common meme to see online, appearing on tweets as well as posts on Facebook, Instagram, 9GAG, 4chan and Reddit.
Its significance would see a resurgence in May, 2019, with more posts appearing on the topic, however since then, the meme’s popularity has been dwindling.
External resources
- Dailydot.com – The ‘he protec, but he also attac’ meme is back
- Know Your Meme – He Protec but He Also Attac