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What Is The 'Tornado Squirrel' Meme? The Viral Reaction GIF Of A Squirrel Waving Bye In Tornado From 'Superman' Explained
An absurd edit of a squirrel waving before getting sucked into a tornado has become one of the internet's favorite ways of expressing that you're completely cooked.
The viral reaction GIF, known as the "Squirrel Waving Bye In Tornado" meme, shows a squirrel calmly holding up its paw before being swept away by a storm.
Although it's recently taken off as a reaction meme for accepting defeat or realizing there's no coming back from a mistake, the clip actually started as a joke combining scenes from two very different Superman movies.
So, why is a squirrel replacing Jonathan Kent in the infamous tornado scene from Man of Steel, and how did the edit become a reaction meme online? Here's where the "Tornado Squirrel" meme comes from and why it's suddenly all over social media.
Where Does The 'Squirrel Waving Bye In Tornado' Meme Come From?
While some might already know from simply watching the GIF, the meme and edit combine two different scenes from two separate Superman films.
The first comes from Zack Snyder's 2013 film Man of Steel. During the scene, Jonathan Kent, played by actor Kevin Costner, becomes trapped near an approaching tornado after rescuing the Kent family's dog.
Clark Kent, played by Henry Cavill, is capable of saving him with his superpowers, but Jonathan raises his hand to stop Clark from intervening because doing so would expose his abilities to the public. Jonathan is then dramatically swept away by the storm.
Notably, this is the same scene used in the "Stop, My Invincible Son" meme that went viral back in the 2010s.
The second scene comes from James Gunn's 2025 Superman movie, in which David Corenswet's Superman briefly saves a squirrel from being crushed during a large-scale battle.
That small moment attracted attention after the film's release and ultimately inspired users to contrast Gunn's compassionate depiction of Superman with Snyder's much darker interpretation.
The earliest known edit combining the two appeared on July 21st, 2025, when a Redditor replaced Jonathan Kent with the squirrel and captioned the image, "No, Clark. Let me die."
A similar version posted to Instagram that day also received tens of thousands of likes in the following year as the format initially circulated on social media.
Why Was The Squirrel Edited Into The 'Man Of Steel' Tornado Scene?
The original joke was essentially a parody of the tonal differences between the two Superman films and their portrayals of the iconic DC Comics character.
Because James Gunn's Superman goes out of his way to rescue a random squirrel, users joked that Zack Snyder's version of the character would simply stand by while the same animal sacrificed itself in a tornado, mirroring Jonathan Kent's contentious death in Man of Steel.
On July 22nd, 2025, X / Twitter user billythebutcher shared the edit with the caption, "Superman 2025, if directed by Zack Snyder," helping the joke reach millions of viewers.
Creators soon began animating the image as it began to spread. TikTok user notteeenham posted a version showing the squirrel being sucked into the storm while Superman mourns, and later edits refined the sequence by having the squirrel slowly raise and lower its paw before disappearing into the tornado.
@notteeenham Release the Squirrel Cut, James Gunn #dc #dccomics #dcuniverse #manofsteel #superman ♬ original sound – notteeenham
That animated version would then eventually become the basis for the reaction GIF used in later memes in 2026, detached from the original joke.
How Is The 'Tornado Squirrel' Meme Used?
As the edit spread into 2026, users increasingly removed it from its original Superman context and treated the squirrel as a simple reaction meme with GIF captions.
The image and GIF are generally used for situations where someone realizes there's no recovering from a mistake, accepts that they're doomed or silently gives up before things get worse. The squirrel's calm wave functions like a final goodbye before being "cooked."
One July 2026 TikTok used the squirrel to represent a friend finally logging off after spending hours playing Roblox, receiving more than 129,000 likes in two months.
@g4be2fak #squri#tornado #roblox#relatable #lospollostv ♬ original sound – 𝖦0𝖱𝖤𝖦0𝖱𝖤
The format saw an even bigger resurgence on X / Twitter in late August. One viral example captioned the GIF, "Me making several mistakes on my first day at my new job," using the squirrel flying away to represent accepting immediate professional disaster.
Me making several mistakes on my first day at my new job pic.twitter.com/scnpH12BZs
— meow’dib (@girljosefk) August 26, 2026
By this point, the meme was recognizable enough to inspire anti-memes as well. One August 29th post simply captioned the clip, "me when I'm a squirrel and I'm in a tornado," stripping away the metaphor entirely and taking the animation at face value.
me when im a squirrel and im in a tornado pic.twitter.com/Oy5dwY6iAR
— mad d (@420masterbop) August 29, 2026
What Are Some More Examples Of The 'Tornado Squirrel' Meme?
@alchemicalphoenix if Zack Snyder directed superman with Henry cavill
@ratdrone3 its squirrel #meme #squirrel #funny #brainrot #viral @⛓️🔋 DeeJay YK 🔋⛓️ ♬ оригинальный звук – adlanyxxx
walked out of work with one airpod in just to realize i left the case on my desk pic.twitter.com/Ix8R4XjGC1
— ᕙ(‾̀◡‾́)ᕗ (@hausofmim) July 30, 2026
The 'Tornado Squirrel' Meme Template
For the full history of the Tornado Squirrel meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for even more information.
