Most of the time memes are harmless and silly. They give as a satirical take on things that allow us to casually chuckle as we go on with our day.

On the rare occasion, a meme is so savage that we actually feel bad for laughing at it. The Arrowverse is rife with inspiration for these types of memes. It was initially supposed to be the fun alternative to the darker DCEU, but it’s since become just as dark, dealing with death and hardship in very serious ways.

And plot holes. It’s got a lot of plot holes.

But the fans still love it because the hero always wins. No matter how bad the losses are, somehow good always triumphs over evil. We come back every week to root for Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, Kara Danvers, and all of the Legends. Sure, we like to laugh at memes that point out their flaws, but we know that TV land wouldn’t be the same without them.

Here, wer’re looking at 17 Savage Arrowverse Memes That Make You Feel Bad For Laughing.

The Flash’s mom’s living room that one time

Seriously, how many times has The Flash gone back to the night his mom died? Barry is worse at making decisions than Tony Stark. His future self literally told him to stop going back there. He did it anyway. And all he did was further confuse his poor mother before she died.

The rest of Team Flash isn’t any better. Cisco told Barry to go back. Barry didn’t want to. Then Barry changed his mind and went back, and Cisco got mad at him for it.

Barry’s gone back to that moment so many times that he’s irreversibly altered his own timeline. He’s responsible for messing up a lot of pretty serious things for his friends. It’s all so sad and terrible. At least in the meme, Barrys seem to be having a good time.

One of these dudes is not like the others…

Every other hero in the Arrowverse is full of hope. When the chips are down, they know they can count on their friends! If the the Arrowverse is the TV Justice League, Green Arrow is Batman. There is no hope in Green Arrow Batman’s world, only distrust.

The other heroes will actually go out of their way to prevent even villains from meeting their end. Barry constantly puts himself on the line for people who would kill him in a heartbeat. Kara is the same way.

Oliver doesn’t care. He has no superpowers and his life is a constant struggle. You might get one more chance from him , and that’s if you’re really lucky. If you’ve failed the city, as far as Oliver is concerned, you’ve failed at life and don’t deserve to keep living it.

Run Faster, Barry!

This is hilarious! Until you remember that this was literally over 60 episodes worth of the show.  That’s a lot of hours of your life that you could have been spending getting rich.

In season one, Barry had to learn to control his speed to face the Reverse Flash. As pictured here, it was the Eobard Thawne, disguised as Harrison Wells, who egged him on. The Flash got faster and won. Hurray! Then Zoom came along in season two disguised as Jay Garrick and did exactly the same thing.

Then Barry literally did it to himself. That was the moment when a lot of fans gave up. Thankfully, the current season of The Flash has not been about Barry getting faster. The Thinker story line has given the show - and Team Flash - a lot of new concepts to explore.

It’s not like we’re family! Wait…

Thea Queen had a huge crush on Tommy Merlyn - so huge and so obvious that it’s a wonder the guy was oblivious to it at first. Tommy’s a lot of things, but a genius isn’t one of them. One thing he is good at is caring for the people he considers family, which includes Thea.

When Oliver left for the island, Thea was just a kid. When he came back, she was 17 and getting into all sorts of trouble. Tommy was there for her the whole time. When she finally did try to make a move, he told her he saw her as a little sister.

Which makes sense because she actually is his sister. Tommy is Malcolm Merlyn’s son. Thea is Malcolm Merlyn’s daughter. There must have been some serious egg on her face when she found out. It’s a wonder Team Arrow doesn’t bring that up more. It’s probably still too soon.

Here’s your villain

The first Harrison Wells was a great guy. He was kind and caring, he helped and nurtured Barry, and he saved Team Flash and Central City on numerous occasions. Also he was an evil version of The Flash from the future in disguised. He loved Big Belly Burger, though, and for that, and everything else, we miss him.

Of course, he’s not actually dead. Barry and Eobard Thawne had their showdown, and it was as epic as it looks in this meme. But as comic book shows are wont to do, the Arrowverse reversed the Reverse Flash’s death in the latest crossover Crisis on Earth X. He basically tells Barry that, because of time travel, he can’t die.

It’s comforting to know that old Thawne is always out there somewhere eatin’ a good burger and plottin’ against The Flash.

Poor, powerless Oliver

Oliver had it all planned out. He had spent five years on an island learning to hone his skills. He had abandoned his old playboy lifestyle. He had trained his body and mind to withstand all kinds of hardships. For a while, he seemed like the scariest guy in Starling City.

Then Malcolm Merlyn revealed himself as The Dark Archer; still human, but very much Oliver’s Equal. Then Barry Allen came along, the fastest man alive (sometimes.) Then, of course, there was Damien Darhk, able to move things with his mind.

Oliver’s arrows fell to the bottom of the weapons chain very quickly. It’s probably part of the reason he’s still so upset all the time. It wouldn’t seem out of character for him to just say “the heck with it,” pick up a gun and rise to the top of the food chain once more.

Seeing double

No, you’re not looking into a mirror. Those are two completely different characters. Kind of.

One is Felicity Smoak, the tech genius on Team Arrow and the love interest of Oliver Queen. The other is Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl. On the surface, totally different.

Of course, their character designs are very similar. They’re both dorks. They’re both blonde. They both rock a ponytail and glasses. They even pretty much wear the same clothes. It’s almost as if one was directly inspired by the other.

The Arrowverse is great, without at doubt. Never before have we seen so many live-action renditions of DC comic characters in one place. However, when you delve into it, all of the shows follow the same format. Nowhere is it more obvious than when comparing these two characters from different worlds.

His name is Berry Allen

The Flash has been dubbed the fastest man alive for decades in comic books. The catch is, he hasn’t always been Barry Allen. Barry’s opening monologue actually comes from the pages of Wally West’s solo series as the hero.

Knowing that, the fact that it’s always never true when Barry says it makes a little more sense. Fans of the show have just come to accept it, but it is a bold faced lie. In season one, Eobard Thawne is the fastest man alive. In season two, Zoom is the fastest man live. By season three, Wally is arguably faster than all of them.

Obviously, “my name is Barry Allen and I’m pretty fast” doesn’t have as nice a ring to it, but it’s a little depressing to think that the entire premise of your favorite show is based on a lie. Run faster, Barry!

Now you can’t unsee it

This one is actually not exclusive to Arrowverse fans. , but it points out how arbitrary super hero names can be. “Hey, I’m an archer who shoots green arrows at people. You’re my sidekick. You shoot red arrows at people. What should we call ourselves?”

Before the boost in popularity of super hero TV, most people probably weren’t aware of just how many super people, bat people, flash people, and arrow people actually exist in the world of fiction. They also probably don’t realize the writers aren’t just making this stuff up as they go.

For die-hard fans, it’s similar to hearing a line from your favorite song and not being able to stop yourself from singing the rest of it. Sure, everybody looks at you funny, but you know how to amuse yourself, and that’s pretty cool.

Barry will be barry

When you look at them side by side like that, it’s kind of silly. Laurel Lance is such a virtuous person, her evil doppelganger threw everyone for a loop. The same can be said for Cisco, who doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.

Caitlyn’s makes a little more sense, as Killer Frost has a mean streak no matter what universe she’s in. She seems to be reigning it in fairly well, though. Beyond that, Supergirl is a Nazi in another universe. Oliver is Supergirl’s evil Nazi boyfriend another universe. Everyone gets to be evil.

Everyone except Barry. That’s right, the guy who ruined history for everyone just doesn’t seem to be evil in any universe. The Earth 2 Barry is a bit of a coward, but that’s the worse he gets, and he eventually overcomes that as well.

When you put it that way…

Shared universes are great. While Marvel has opted to keep their shared TV and film universe all on the same timeline, DC has taken a more varied approach. That means that the Arrowverse gets to focus on tighter narratives and characters who actually interact with each other every now and then.

No matter what though, there are bound to be some holes. One major one is the timeline. Seriously, when The Flash changed his past, he messed up everyone’s lives. It’s gotten so messed up that he’s got evil versions of himself running around. (See season three.)

You won’t see that on Legends of Tomorrow though. These guys make it their business to mess with time, and nothing Earth shattering ever happens. If The Joker did exist in this universe, he’d probably have more than a few things to say about that.

My team is bigger than yours

Again, we’ve got shared universes everywhere now. It’s cool, but it can also be a little confusing. Two versions of The Flash means that they both have to be different enough to convince fans to pay money to watch both of them.

The Flash on The Flash is calm and confident. He’s the leader of Team Flash not only because that’s his name, but because he exudes natural leadership skills and whenever he’s around, things just seem to work out alright. The Flash in the DCEU possesses almost none of these traits.

When he shows up in Justice League, he’s jobless and friendless. He’s just getting used to the whole superhero thing, and he’s actually afraid of saving people.

It wouldn’t even be a competition. The Arrowverse’s Barry Allen is just better at living than the DCEU’s. Sure, he’s good for a few laughs, but that’s about it.

Go home Barry

It’s almost like there’s a superhero handbook somewhere. In that handbook, it says that spandex is a must. Dead parents probably have a chapter all their own. Sacrificing yourself for the greater good is also definitely a fixture. But the biggest focus of that handbook has to be looking cool.

Deadpool has pointed out that superhero landings are very hard on the knees. The Arrowverse has no shortage of those. What it also has is The Flash looking really cool when he zigzags his way through Central City, as illustrated by this wicked poster.

Except that The Flash’s one mission most of the time is to go faster. Science tells us that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Barry is a scientist, so he knows this.

Come on Barry, what are you doing? There are lives at stake.

Oliver’s just not a nice guy

Slade Wilson and Oliver Queen are more similar than either would probably like to admit. They both lack actual super powers. They’re both highly trained and skilled. They both use melee weapons. They both have a very sour demeanor. Most importantly, they both know what it’s like to have loved and lost.

You could argue that Oliver knows this pain more than Slade. Oliver does tend to get the girl. More accurately, Oliver gets all the girls. Even more accurately, Oliver got Shado, the girl Slade was in love with. Obviously, Slade harbored some resentment.

There’s also that whole thing where Slade blames Oliver for Shado’s death. The two have made peace with each other, but that doesn’t mean we’d put it past Oliver to make a joke like this. The Green Arrow may be a hero, but he’s not a nice guy.

But Slade’s not very nice either

It’s always funny to see dramas re-imagined as sitcoms. This one hits right where it hurts though. For those unfamiliar with it, here’s a brief recap of How I Met Your Mother. It spent 9 seasons in one continuous flashback. It details a father telling his kids how he met their mother. Spoiler alert: she dies.

Arrow also has flashbacks. Oliver spent five years away from civilization. The wealth of stories to draw from that is almost as grand as his present day exploits. Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke, has a great deal to do with both eras.

This image of Slade with the Queen family would definitely make a perfect sitcom poster. The part where Slade drives a sword through Moira Queen’s chest would probably have to be left out of that version though. Still, you can’t argue that the moms in both shows suffered a pretty similar fate.

Barry does what barry wants

Here’s another nod to how differently The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow treat time travel. It’s made even worse when you consider who it’s coming from. Arrow kicked the whole Arrowverse off, obviously. At the beginning of the show, Sara Lance was presumed dead. Then she actually died. Then she came back, but her sister died.

Both Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow have continued the saga of the Lances. Generally on Arrow when someone comes back to life, time travel has nothing to do with it. On Legends of Tomorrow and especially on The Flash, it has everything to do with it.

Of course, due to the writing teams being different, the heroes’ hands are often tied. It’s too bad, because we know Barry just loves to mess with a good timeline. Knowing comic books though, Laurel will probably be back at some point.

Sometimes bad things just happen

Everyone has their moment when an elected official blows their mind. They just can’t believe that that’s the person people voted into office.

Here’s a moment that could easily have happened. Oliver and Barry staring at election results, unable to use their powers to do anything to stop the inevitable outcome. Two superheroes rendered as utterly powerless as everyone else.

It’s funny because in the Arrowverse it’s totally plausible that the election was Barry’s fault. He’s changed so many other things, after all. In real life, we’d love to believe it was that simple. If someone could just go back in time and fix things, the world could be however we wanted. Sadly, science isn’t there yet.

That’s our list! Got any other hilariously savage Arrowverse memes? Let us know in the comments!