the lion.. meme
✓ Brand-safe. This meme format is generally wholesome and widely recognizable, making it safe for most brands.
What does the the lion.. meme mean?
The 'Lion King's Circle of Life' meme (often just 'the lion..') uses two text boxes over a still from The Lion King where Rafiki holds up Simba, to humorously depict a cyclical or inevitable situation, often with a 'before and after' or cause-and-effect structure.
Where did the lion.. come from?
the lion.. is an image-macro template on Imgflip, one of the largest meme generators. memeidea's records of Imgflip's most-used templates first show it on Dec 8, 2025, when it ranked #98. For the original image and how it spread, see Know Your Meme.
Is the the lion.. meme dead?
Less than it was. the lion.. is fading: its rate of new memes made on Imgflip has slowed by more than 15% compared with the period before, and it has dropped out of the 100 most used templates.
the lion.. was last among Imgflip's 100 most popular meme templates on Dec 8, 2025, with 10,000 memes made.
Stats
| First in our data | Dec 8, 2025 |
| Measurements | 1 snapshots |
| Best popularity rank on Imgflip | #98 on Dec 8, 2025 |
| Latest popularity rank | #98 on Dec 8, 2025 |
| Total memes made | 10,000 |
| Time in the top 100 (measured) | first measurement |
the lion.. captions for businesses
| real estate | Finding the perfect home / Selling it for even more |
| dentists | That first cavity-free check-up / Maintaining those pearly whites |
| restaurants | The chef's special tonight / You, ordering it again tomorrow |
| fitness studios | Day 1 of your fitness journey / You, flexing after a month |
| software startups | Launching a new feature / Our users loving it instantly |
| coffee shops | That first sip of morning coffee / Your entire day, powered |
| hair salons | Before the transformation / You, feeling fabulous after |
| accountants | Tax season approaching / Your finances, perfectly balanced |
Riffs on the lion..
| Monday mornings | Me, refreshed on Sunday night / Me, remembering my alarm at 6 AM Monday |
| working from home | My carefully planned outfit for the video call / My pajama bottoms just out of frame |
| the gym | My enthusiasm to start a new workout routine / My muscles two days later |
| coffee | Me before my first cup / Me after my third cup |
| holidays with family | Me arriving, full of festive cheer / Me leaving, full of 'are you still single?' |
| online shopping | Me adding everything to cart / Me looking at my bank balance |
| taxes | Me earning money / Me realizing how much of it isn't mine |
| group chats | Someone sends a funny meme / The chat devolves into 50 unread messages about dinner plans |
| sports fans | My team wins / My team loses (same level of emotional intensity) |
| school and exams | Me studying all night / The first question on the exam |
| dating apps | Me swiping right on someone who seems perfect / Me finding out their only hobby is competitive lint collecting |
| cooking at home | Me proudly presenting my culinary masterpiece / The mountain of dishes afterwards |
More questions
Can a business post the the lion.. meme?
Usually, yes. This meme format is generally wholesome and widely recognizable, making it safe for most brands. memeidea's brand-safety calls are AI-assisted suggestions, so check how the format is being used this week before posting.
What is a good the lion.. caption for a business?
For real estate: “Finding the perfect home / Selling it for even more”. For dentists: “That first cavity-free check-up / Maintaining those pearly whites”. For restaurants: “The chef's special tonight / You, ordering it again tomorrow”. More captions are in the table above.
Sources
- Imgflip template page: usage counts and template image
- Know Your Meme: origin and spread
- memeidea method: how stages and momentum are measured