Doki Doki Literature Club is an indie game with a surprising twist and a huge cult following. Developed by Team Salvato and first released in 2017, the game has since generated countless memes about its characters. This year, Doki Doki Literature Club Plus was released, which is an expanded version of the original game. It isn't a DLC or a sequel but offers more content within the same story fans know and love.
By this point, anyone who has played the original game knows about the huge plot twist and meta nature of the game. It goes from innocent and cute to depressing, scary, and definitely not kid-friendly. Part of the appeal of Doki Doki Literature Club is that it lulls players into a comfortable story, which is then completely turned on its head into psychological horror. As a result, many memes have spawned, full of dark humor and ironic, spoiler-filled jokes.
6 Game Expectations vs. Reality
This meme highlights the typical player expectations and experience of clicking through Doki Doki Literature Club. For those who haven't been looped in on the true nature of the game beforehand, it appears like a cute anime story game at first. Some play the game thinking it will have a lot of romance, as that is not unusual for visual novels.
But in reality, the game doesn't indulge players seeking romantic fan-service content. Instead, it subverts expectations, revealing all the girls to have truly horrifying, dark secrets. Players may find themselves uncomfortable, afraid, or frustrated by the disturbing ending to the game. This funny meme depicts this shared player experience.
5 Natsuki Believes Manga Is Literature
This meme is ironic and makes light of some of the darker events in the game. For most of the game, Natsuki is pretty low-key and doesn't have a lot of lines. Her main trait seems to be that she likes food and baking. As the game progresses, a lot of crazy things start to happen that she doesn't even seem to notice or comment on.
But suddenly, when the topic of manga being or not being literature is brought up, Natsuki becomes emboldened and full of passion. Manga has been Natsuki's escape from reality and is very precious to her. So when someone says that manga isn't literature, Natsuki adamantly defends the medium.
4 Yuri Loves Pens
In the game, Yuri is very shy and soft-spoken but has a strange interest in pens, for some reason. This is in part because she is a poet and likes to write. If players want to get on Yuri's good side, they should write a poem using words that speak to Yuri. But players have extensively memed about other interpretations behind Yuri's fascination with people's pens.
In this meme, Yuri is pretending she has no idea who took the pens that have gone missing. But clearly, she is the only person who has enough of a motivation to take a whole box of pens from a classroom.
3 Meta Monika Takes Control
This meme pokes fun at the fact that Monika is aware she is a character trapped inside a video game. This meme implies that the game developers, Team Salvato, did not intend for Monika to take over Doki Doki Literature Club.
Because of the strange and meta realism at the end of the game, it does seem at least slightly plausible that somehow, Monika acquired sentience and began manipulating game files without anyone else realizing it. So while Team Salvato actually did intentionally code this plot twist, they try to make it seem like they didn't. And if players want to delete pesky Monika, there is a way to do it.
2 Monika Feigning Innocence
This meme plays upon the fact that Monika pretends for a long time that she isn't actually manipulating the events of the game. The player slowly realizes that all the other girls (Yuri, Sayori, and Natsuki) are disappearing from the story in horrific ways. And there are plenty of Easter eggs that hint at what's really going on.
Monika tries hard to maintain the illusion of innocence until it's impossible for her to hide it anymore. It's also just funny to see Monika's head (with her creepy facial expressions) on stock photo bodies.
1 Yuri's Pen Obsession Intensifies
Not many things get Yuri excited in the game. She is usually sullen and morose, thinking about poetry and books. She is low energy for most of the game, until the topic of pens comes up. Like how Natsuki becomes more animated when the topic of manga is brought up, Yuri becomes animated when someone drops a pen.
This meme is ridiculous and funny because it points out the absurdity of Yuri not caring about any of the actually bad things that are happening, but instead choosing to get agitated over a pen dropping on the floor.