Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex/Memes
- The Laughing Man is an in-universe example.[1]
- He's become quite the meme in Real Life, too. Especially his unmistakable logo.
- ↑ Explanation (spoilers) The original laughing man was a genius hacker who found out the medical industry was screwing the public over concerning a particularly nasty disease and its cures. He kidnapped one of the major presidents of said industry to make a statement, culminating in a rather public outburst in public, digitally replacing his face with a logo. Since he was never caught, various people took his persona to commit various crimes, all under the impression that they were the original Laughing Man. Eventually, one of them threatened to kill a police chief at a public event. The attempt took place, but at least two dozen people came out of the woodwork to do so, each claiming to be the original Laughing Man. It was eventually determined through insanely complex philosophical, psychological, and technological babble that the Laughing Man had become a meme, and spread into people's minds due to their ability to directly interact with each other's brains on the net.