Chuck Norris facts are satirical factoids about martial artist and actor Chuck Norris that have become an Internet phenomenon and as a result have become widespread in popular culture. The 'facts' are normally absurd hyperbolic claims about Norris' toughness, attitude, virility, sophistication, and masculinity.
Chuck Norris facts have spread around the world, leading not only to translated versions, but also spawning localized versions mentioning country-specific advertisements and other Internet phenomena. Allusions are also sometimes made to his use of roundhouse kicks to perform seemingly any task, his large amount of body hair with specific regard to his beard, and his role in the action television series Walker, Texas Ranger.
Background
Chuck Norris facts originally started appearing on the Internet in early 2005. Initially distributed in the Something Awful forums, the "facts" centered on Vin Diesel, in response to his film The Pacifier. After a few months, forum members chose Chuck Norris to be the new subject. Conan O'Brien's Chuck Norris jokes on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (which generally center on Walker, Texas Ranger) have been seen as an inspiration for the fad. The exaggerated style of these claims is similar to a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch called "Bill Brasky". Due to the popularity of this phenomenon, similar jokes have been created for various other celebrities, as well as fictional characters.
Norris' response
Norris responded to the Chuck Norris facts on his official website with a statement. Admitting some of the statements were indeed humorous, he said he tries not to take any of them seriously, and he hopes that such statements will interest people in real facts about him contained in his literary works.
On October 23, 2006, Chuck Norris' first column for WorldNetDaily consisted of yet another response. It began similarly to the above statement from chucknorris.com, but then disclaimed Norris' own prowess in favor of God and Jesus Christ.
On November 29, 2007, Gotham Books, the adult division of Penguin USA, released a book entitled The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human. Norris subsequently filed suit in December against Penguin USA claiming "trademark infringement, unjust enrichment and privacy rights". Norris dropped the lawsuit in 2008.
On October 7, 2009, Tyndale House Publishers issued The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book, which was co-written and officially endorsed by Norris. The 2012 film The Expendables 2 features a Chuck Norris fact that Norris' character Booker uses to describe himself.
Norris has stated that his personal favorite "fact" is that people wanted to add Chuck Norris to Mount Rushmore, but the granite was not tough enough for his beard.
Prominent mentions
In the March 20, 2006 issue, Time magazine interviewed Chuck Norris, calling him an "online cult hero". In the answer to their last question, he called the Chuck Norris Facts "weird but wildly popular sayings" and quoted one: "Chuck Norris can divide by zero."
In 2011, a commercial for World of Warcraft featured Chuck Norris and included its own "Chuck Norris facts" in the dialogue.
Inspirations and similar trends
In India, there exist similar jokes in the form of factoids and quotes about Indian film actor Rajinikanth. The factoids about Rajinikanth are inspired by Chuck Norris facts in that those follow the same pattern as Chuck Norris facts. While some Rajinikanth jokes are original, many of them are circulated with Norris' name replaced by Rajinikanth's. The beginning of 2013 saw similar cluster of jokes gaining trend in the country on Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja after Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni tweeted a few "facts" about him on his Twitter page.
During the 2012 Armenian parliamentary election, some ballots with Chuck Norris' name written on them as a candidate were found.
In Egypt, and prior to the Egyptian presidential election, 2012, similar jokes were made upon Omar Suleiman the Ex-Director of the General Intelligence Directorate in the same style of Chuck Norris facts, making fun of the powers and skills that his supporters claimed to be his to promote him before the elections.
In the episode "The Weird World of Wyrm" of the 2012 CGI series version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a holographic Chris Bradford - a parody of Norris - delivers a Norris Facts-esque quotation: "Chris Bradford fact #48: Chris Bradford always carries around four weapons of mass destruction: His arms and his legs."
Buffalo Bills fans began promoting similar tall tales about former linebacker Kiko Alonso during the 2013 season, after Alonso joined the team as a rookie. The tall tales were collectively known as "The Legend of Kiko Alonso". Makmende, a Kenyan male fictional character, hero has been likewise purported to perform locally related feats and more, including in sheng.
In 2006 a naming poll was held to decide the name of a new bridge in Hungary. Since nominations were accepted from everyone, Chuck Norris soon became the top candidate (beating several historical figures along with candidates like David Hasselhoff and Eric Cartman), before being taken over by Stephen Colbert after he called his fans to vote. The bridge was eventually named Megyeri Bridge.
WWE wrestler Brian Myers, known as Curt Hawkins, incorporated the Chuck Norris facts into his gimmick in August 2016, where he uses his name instead of Norris, e.g. "Children have to put sunscreen on at the beach to protect themselves from Curt Hawkins".
Bibliography
- Ian Spector: The Truth About Chuck Norris: New York: Gotham Books: 2007: ISBN 1-59240-344-1
- Chuck Norris & Todd DuBord: The Official Chuck Norris Fact Book: 101 of Chuck's Favorite Facts and Stories: Tyndale House Publishers: 2009: ISBN 1-4143-3449-4
See also
- Bill Brasky
- The Stig
- The Most Interesting Man in the World
References
External links
- Official website
- Farhi, Paul (Jan 2, 2006). "Tough Love: Norris Fans Board the Chuck Wagon". Washington Post.Â
