The famous one-off Family Guy character Sneakers O'Toole is back in a big way, and he's going viral all across social media.

Sneakers O'Toole only appeared in one Family Guy episode in 2007, but now, almost 20 years later, he's become a fan favorite character and one of the show's biggest memes of 2026.

So, who is Sneakers O'Toole, and what's up with all the memes about the character? Here's what you need to know.

What Is The 'Sneakers O'Toole' Meme?

Sneakers O'Toole comes from the 2007 Family Guy episode "Boys Do Cry," which sees the Griffin family move to Texas after Stewie gets drunk on communion wine because the church-goers think he's demonically possessed.

At one point in the episode, Brian Griffing jokes that finding religious tolerance in Texas is just as hard as convincing Sneakers O'Toole to remove his sneakers.

This leads into a cutaway gag featuring Sneakers O'Toole, who sings a song about himself and is then confronted by two businessmen. They try to get him to take his sneakers off, but he refuses and runs away, leaving them in the dust.

The scene first became the subject of a meme edit on YouTube in 2019, but wouldn't be further popularized online until the 2020s.

How Is 'Sneakers O'Toole' Used In Memes?

Sneakers O'Toole became an increasingly popular meme throughout 2024 and 2025 on sites like TikTok. These memes include edits of the scene that replace Sneakers O'Toole with other characters and edit the scene in absurd ways.

Some other memes include references to the scene and the character himself, with many hyping Sneakers O'Toole up as one of the best Family Guy characters, despite his brief, singular appearance.

In April 2026, the Sneakers O'Toole memes came back in a big way after the scene was reposted on X. This led to further edits of the scene, which replaced Sneakers with other characters.

Some of the highest quality edits redraw the scene entirely and replace the character's audio to reference other memes and properties.

@fireshadow6240 Short animatic of Mario doing the Sneakers O'Toole bit! Felt inspired to do this one since it's blowing up on Twitter lol so I hope you enjoy it! #mario #supermario #mariobros #nintendo #animatic ♬ original sound – FireShadow64

What Are Some More 'Sneakers O'Toole' Memes?

https://t.co/vC4Y11dJFO pic.twitter.com/afu7KYyLFa

— Sing (@SingNO22) April 8, 2026

CD O'Toole https://t.co/bI1jdiKGEH pic.twitter.com/6hbR7SRDkw

— YoshiSonic (@YoshiSonicCD) April 7, 2026

oh good this one is relevant again i missed it last time https://t.co/XyjqTcZpa0 pic.twitter.com/EZ5XZrQcui

— SvyatDaBoev (@he_is_svyat) April 7, 2026

https://t.co/WzJ2zUGRxZ pic.twitter.com/w9zGlBRD3o

— UltimateB3D (MAIN CONTENT IS ON 🦋) (@UltB3D) April 8, 2026

Sneaker O'Toole Doesn't Take Off His Sneakers And Gets Grounded https://t.co/EWGXUAPnms pic.twitter.com/62gSac3ECK

— baldifyber's schoolhouse (@BaconHere1) April 7, 2026

---

For the full history of Sneakers O'Toole, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.