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I can't do that, not to THEM!

This is a relatable gaming meme that uses the classic dramatic painting *Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan* by Ilya Repin as its base. The painting depicts a horrified, guilt-stricken Tsar Ivan holding his fatally wounded son after attacking him in a rage. A text overlay at the top of the meme reads: "WHEN YOU ARE DOING THE EVIL PLAYTHROUGH BUT THAT MEANS YOUR FAVORITE NPC HAS TO BE KILLED". The meme humorously equates the extreme sorrow and guilt in the painting to the common gamer experience of feeling reluctant to harm a beloved non-player character when playing a morally dark, evil-aligned route in a video game.
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WHEN YOU ARE DOING THE EVIL PLAYTHROUGH BUT THAT MEANS YOUR FAVORITE NPC HAS TO BE KILLED

Overview

This is a relatable gaming meme that uses the classic dramatic painting Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan by Ilya Repin as its base. The painting depicts a horrified, guilt-stricken Tsar Ivan holding his fatally wounded son after attacking him in a rage. A text overlay at the top of the meme reads: "WHEN YOU ARE DOING THE EVIL PLAYTHROUGH BUT THAT MEANS YOUR FAVORITE NPC HAS TO BE KILLED". The meme humorously equates the extreme sorrow and guilt in the painting to the common gamer experience of feeling reluctant to harm a beloved non-player character when playing a morally dark, evil-aligned route in a video game.

Origin notes

This meme was sourced from an RSS feed for the Reddit: Meme community. It is a remix of the famous 1885 realist painting by Russian artist Ilya Repin, which has been widely repurposed online for memes that depict intense regret and guilt. This specific iteration applies the painting's dramatic tone to a common gaming experience, and is shared widely across gaming and meme communities on Reddit.

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