Destiny 2 is ever-evolving in many ways, be it incredible seasonal story arcs, the introduction of brand new Exotic guns via secret missions like Presage, or memes. Destiny and Destiny 2 have been cranking out very funny memes for a long time now, like the all-famous Destiny meme about Zavala introducing the context behind the Cerberus Vae 3 Strike saying: "Whether we wanted it or not, we've stepped into a war with the Cabal on Mars." Over the years, some Destiny 2 memes were embraced by Bungie to the point that they became even more viral than ever before, and overall the engagement with the community has been great.
More recently, there was another hilarious meme incident that occurred when a Twitter user by the name of Destiny Pants Man got a comment under their tweet from the official Xbox account, asking them to make a Wyvern with pants on. The challenge was quickly met by the content creator who, despite the potentially misleading name of Destiny Pants Man, posts plenty of other memes as well, and the whole thing ended up with Bungie's official Destiny 2 Twitter account replying to the tweets. These interactions can be very positive for both the content creators and the game itself, and Bungie has indeed interacted with Destiny Pants Man and other meme enthusiasts prior to this, showing that memes can be fun and lighthearted.
The History of the Destiny Pants Meme
The famous Riven with pants meme was born in February of last year, and it was a drawing of pants on The Last Wish's boss made by Destiny Pants Man, asking a very important question. The query was to know whether Riven would wear pants the way humans do or if she wore them on all four limbs, instead. The tweet got over 6000 likes and was retweeted over 750 times, and then Bungie replied to it asking Destiny Pants Man why they would do that, creating what the internet refers to as a "cursed image."
There have been plenty of memorable Destiny 2 memes over the years since its release, and while some were rather quickly forgotten, many more were made to stick because of Bungie's positive response. One of such instances is what happened with the community's comments on an Exotic fusion rifle by the name of Jotunn, which shares a striking resemblance with toasters because of its shapes, and Bungie actually went ahead and started selling an official Destiny 2 Jotunn-inspired toaster. That's just the tip of the iceberg and other examples date back a long time, but another great demonstration on Bungie's part of being able to make fun of itself and thrive on it happened at the very beginning of the Season of the Splicer.
How Bungie Responds To Destiny 2 Memes
The official trailer for the Season of the Splicer showed an Eliksni caring for cute baby Fallen that quickly became an internet sensation, almost on par with The Mandalorian's Baby Yoda memes. Content creators started posting drawings of them online, which Bungie happily shared, and then things got out of hand when fans started asking for baby Fallen cookies, t-shirts, and also plushies. But Bungie delivered once again and made the baby Eliksni plushies a thing, which players and collectors will soon be able to purchase in the official Bungie Store.
These are just some of the instances where Bungie showed that harmless content like drawing pants on Destiny 2 characters can be engaging and fun, while also allowing the game and the creators to grow. Storytelling-wise, Destiny 2 is in a great spot right now, and salty memes are only reserved to burning topics like the PvP meta, PvP maps, and Gambit, mainly. Still, Bungie demonstrated to be listening, and Gambit in Destiny 2 is set to change for the better in the future, which bodes very well for other problems to solve further down the line and for memes to come out about those.
Destiny 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.