Work
The same office problem again
A routine printer fault gets a fantasy-villain response.
Read caption text
- The minor provocation
- The printer jams again
So You Have Chosen Death Meme Template
The format
What does So You Have Chosen Death mean?
Also called Saruman Chosen Death · Saruman Reaction · So You Have Chosen… Death
Saruman delivers a deadly serious verdict. Add a small annoyance or questionable decision above him to make his response feel absurdly dramatic.
The humor comes from the mismatch between a minor provocation and Saruman’s enormous reaction. A jammed printer or missing snack hardly deserves the gravity of a fantasy villain.
Use it as an obviously theatrical response to an everyday inconvenience. The printed line is the punchline; your caption only needs to explain what prompted it.
Origin
Saruman gives Gandalf a final verdict.
Christopher Lee plays Saruman in the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. After Gandalf escapes his imprisonment, Saruman delivers the line used by the reaction image. The US theatrical release was December 19, 2001. [1]
A clip appeared on YouTube in December 2013, and a quotation image followed in August 2014. Know Your Meme documents reaction-image uses from 2017 onward, including edits applying the line to everyday frustrations. [1]
How the meme spread
The film reaches US theaters
Christopher Lee’s Saruman supplies the image and line. [1]
A clip of the line is uploaded
A YouTube post isolates the memorable reaction. [1]
The line appears in a quotation image
A documented blog post pairs the quote with Saruman. [1]
The verdict becomes a reusable reaction
Memes apply the line to new situations. [1]
Caption guide
Supply the provocation; leave Saruman the reply.
Add one short setup in the upper-right part of the image. Keep Saruman’s face and the existing subtitle clear.
Choose something trivial enough that the response reads as comic overreaction. There is no need to repeat the printed line in a second text box.
- The minor provocation
- Above the subtitle, in the upper-right area.
- Describe the annoyance in a few words.
- Leave the original subtitle visible.
- Keep the setup away from Saruman’s eyes.
- Let the difference in seriousness create the joke.
So You Have Chosen Death examples
Original captions to try with this template.
Food
The slice you were saving
A missing piece of cake becomes an exaggerated betrayal.
Read caption text
- The minor provocation
- You ate my saved slice
Daily life
An unwelcome weekend reminder
The alarm receives the dramatic response of someone who expected to sleep in.
Read caption text
- The minor provocation
- My alarm on Saturday
Related formats
Try another way to tell the joke.
Sources1 reference
References for this template. Example captions are original.
- So You Have Chosen Death: Know Your Meme
Identifies Saruman’s line and documents the early clip, quotation image, and later reaction memes.