Meme Watch: Ron Swanson Is Probably A Direct Descendent Of The Overly Manly Man

The Overly Manly Man meme emerged only a week ago, and it already has about 1000 pictures to its very manly name. The pictures juxtapose various macho stereotypes, Ron Swanson quotes, and Chuck Norris jokes with an olde-timey portrait of Mike Conley, the “Ithaca Giant.” He lived in a time when guys who were 6’0″ tall could bill themselves as a giant. People didn’t have smartphones and Twitter back then. How did they survive? By being tough as hell, that’s how.

Conley was a boxer who lived from 1860 to 1920 and was the Heavyweight Champion of the Northwest according to a website written in Comic Sans, so you know they’re legit. Reportedly, this Overly Manly Man’s greatest weakness was his “lack of boxing finesse.” We’re assuming that means he pummeled through all opponents like a juggernaut. On a more disturbing note, in 1901 he was “wanted by the authorities for the murder of Charles Gildea.” That gives many of these pictures a much darker tone, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We’ve sifted through the thousand image macros at Quickmeme to bring you our 33 favorite examples of the Overly Manly Man. Thanks to Pleated-Jeans for the assist.

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