Apu Takes A Bullet Meme Template

Apu dives between a gunman and the man behind the counter. Label the threat, the defender, and the thing being defended to show someone stepping in much too eagerly.

The character in green is the defender. The person behind him is the protected subject, while the gunman supplies the criticism, inconvenience, or pressure being blocked.

The defense can be helpful or absurd. A tiny problem met with this much commitment makes the intervention look excessive; a useful safeguard can also be the hero.

The scene is from Homer and Apu, season 5, episode 13 of The Simpsons, first broadcast on February 10, 1994. James Woods plays himself working at the Kwik-E-Mart after Apu loses his job. When a robber fires at Woods, Apu jumps in front of him. [1]

Know Your Meme records an Imgur post by EdgyCreativeName on July 11, 2018, labeling the scene as a defense of Elon Musk. Later versions reuse the three roles for other targets of criticism. That post is an early documented example, not a confirmed first use of the image. [2]

Put the protected subject on the clerk at the left, the defender on Apu’s green clothing, and the threat on the gunman at the right. Keep the labels away from faces and the gun.

The direction matters: the threat moves from right to left, and Apu blocks it. Short names or noun phrases make those relationships easier to read than three separate speeches.

What is being protected

On the clerk’s light shirt at the left.

Who steps in

Across Apu’s green clothing, clear of his face.

The threat or criticism

On the gunman’s back at the lower right.

• Use the gunman for the pressure or criticism.
• Use Apu for whoever steps in to block it.
• Put the protected subject on the man behind the counter.
• Keep each label short enough to stay with its character.