What Is The 'Stilgar Stare' Meme? The 'Dune Part 2' Character And The 'As It Is Written' Catchphrase Meme Explained

The internet has been obsessed with Dune Part Two ever since the sequel was released in theaters on March 1st, 2024. The phenomenal acting, memorable story and visuals are just some of the things being discussed online, especially on Twitter / X.

Dune Part Two's take on a messianic narrative, heavily inspired by religious themes that draw from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity is a key aspect of the film that is being memed and joked on the internet. One character in particular, Stilgar, is one of the leaders of the Fremon in the Dune universe and is the center of all the memes about being a fanatic religious person.

Here's how actor Javier Bardem's character became a viral meme on the internet.

Who Is Stilgar?

Stilgar is a character in the Dune novel created in 1965 by Frank Herber who's one of the leaders of the Fremon tribe on the planet of Arrakis. He is considered a close friend and chief advisor of the main character Paul Atreides, whom Stilgar had faith was a Messiah fulfilling the Lisan al Gaib prophecy.

The character has been portrayed by actor Everett McGill in the 1984 Dune film directed by David Lynch and, more recently, actor Javier Bardem took the role of Stilgar for the 2021 Dune film, directed by Denis Villeneuve.

How Did Stilgar Become A Viral Meme On Twitter / X?

Moving forward to February 2024, after the Dune Part Two sequel was released in theaters across the world, several posts started to go viral on X centered on the idea of Stilgar having devoted and blind faith in Paul Atreides being the Lisan al Gaib, his Messiah.

One of the earliest viral memes about the character was posted by X user @zach_goins on February 25th, 2024. It captioned a video of an excited woman shouting, "Yeah!" with, "Stilgar watching Paul Muad’Dib Atreides do literally anything in Dune 2 (shown below).

Stilgar watching Paul Muad’Dib Atreides do literally anything in Dune 2
pic.twitter.com/jbwgF3M6oE

— Zach Goins (@zach_goins) February 26, 2024

Where Does The 'Stilgar Stare' Meme Come From?

In June 2023, a trailer was released online for Dune: Part Two. One of the stills in the trailer showed Javier Bardem as Stilgar staring passed the camera (shown below).

The clip became a popular GIF and reaction image on X going into March 2024, as creators humorously portrayed Stilgar as amazed by simple feats done by Paul Atreides. For example, For instance, on March 1st, 2024, X user @pugmane tweeted the GIF, joking about Atreides saying, "And is THIS your card Stilgar?" (shown below, left). On the same day, X user @SammyJReacts tweeted the same GIF, making a joke about Stilgar being amazed by resetting a WiFi router, gaining over 7,300 likes in two days (shown below, right).

What Does The 'As It Was Written' Catchphrase Meme Mean?

Stilgar's blind faith and devotion to the Lisan al Gaib prophecy has been summarized with the catchphrase "As it was written," which is often joked alongside the GIF and still image of the Dune character. The phrase is a quote said by Stilgar each time he realized Paul Atreides could've been the prophesied Messiah in Fremen culture.

The catchphrase was memed in comedy skits and parodies on TikTok. For example, on March 2nd, 2024, TikTok user @sancheezzzy posted a video of Stilgar saying "As it was written" after watching Paul Atreides recycling a metal can. On March 3rd, 2024, TikTok user @alberkent posted a similar skit in which Paul sits on the couch to watch TV and Stilgar appears saying "As it was written."

For the full history of Stilgar (Dune Character), be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.