Dancing Toothless

The "Dancing Toothless" meme originates from the 2018 "Dancing Lizard" meme. The "Dancing Lizard" meme featured a 3D-animated lizard dancing to various songs, gaining popularity on YouTube in 2018. The meme resurfaced in December 2023 when YouTuber Cas van de Pol uploaded a video of Toothless from the "How to Train Your Dragon" series dancing to the "Pokémon: Black & White" Driftveil City theme.

The "Dancing Toothless" meme quickly gained traction on TikTok. On December 13, 2023, TikToker @uwaa.w posted an edited video featuring both the original lizard and the dancing Toothless, amassing over 2.6 million views. Soon after, many TikTok users used green screen effects to place Toothless dancing in different backgrounds, leading to millions of views and a surge in popularity.

The meme is mainly used to edit Toothless dancing to Driftveil City music in various contexts. For example, the UK "League of Legends" account posted an edited version featuring a different character instead of Toothless, leading to controversy when Cas van de Pol requested credit for the original work.