2000px-Logo_of_YouTube_(2015-2017).svgYouTube has become so entrenched as the place to view music videos, movie trailers, hilarious home movies and sports highlights that many people forget that YouTube was once brand new. It had a tiny video library, and plenty of people ended up on shady shopping sites or porn websites when they entered the website name incorrectly. The website, however, exploded, and it was not long before people were sending each other the latest must-see YouTube videos. In honor of YouTube’s sometimes-lustrous, sometimes-as-toxic-as-the-comments, sometimes downright bizarre history, Thrillist put together a list of what they see as the top 100 greatest YouTube videos of all time. The list excluded music videos, web series, tutorials, sketch comedies and old flash animation videos that migrated to YouTube from places such as AlbinoBlackSheep. While this unfortunately excluded some fabulous YouTube hits, such as “End of Ze World,” there were still plenty of early YouTube, viral treasures left. Here are some of the videos that made Thrillist’s top 100.

“Charlie the Unicorn”

The original “Charlie the Unicorn” spawned a number of sequels, but the first video is considered a YouTube classic. Equal part amusing, creep and downright bizarre, the video tells the story of a trio of unicorns, including the titular Charlie, who make their way to Candy Mountain. Once they arrive, Charlie is knocked out and has his kidney stolen. Yes, the oddly animated video is as strange as it sounds.

“Numa Numa”

The rise of YouTube meant that embarrassing moments that people once would have stolen their friends’ cameras to keep from being shared were instead willingly and cheerfully plastered across the internet for anyone with a computer to view. “Numa Numa” is one such video. It consists solely of a young man lip-synching to the Romanian pop song “Dragostea Din Tei” with weird face and flailing arm movements. YouTube is now flooded with similar videos, but “Numa Numa” was viewed over 700 million times and left thousands convinced that the song was actually titled “Numa Numa.”

“RickRoll’d”

“RickRoll’d” is the video that made people wary of clicking on any link that someone sent to them. The pop hit “Never Gonna Give You Up” from this video quickly became associated with various pranks that ranged from a movie trailer link instead leading to the video or the more infuriating version where the video that opened bounced around the computer screen and was nearly impossible to get rid of without shutting down the computer entirely. The video and associated pranks were so widespread that it became its own verb “rick rolling.”

“Charlie Bit Me”

YouTube is filled with the videos parents took of their children doing strange things, but “Charlie Bit Me” is probably the best known. The short video shows a boy holding his little brother, Charlie, and talking to the camera. Charlie later bites his brother’s finger, prompting the boy to exclaim “Charlie bit me” in a moment that was preserved and beloved by almost every YouTube user.

“Late For Meeting”

Plenty of internet humor is off-the-wall, but “Late For Meeting” is just plain weird. The video shows an animated rubber man walking through a grocery store, down the street, driving “my car” and finally floating away with a bunch of balloons. There is no explanation offered, no apologies made. The video simply is in a display of exactly how bizarre the internet can become.

Check out Thrillist’s complete list, and see how many of these iconic videos in YouTube history you remember watching.

 

 

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