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Gandalf Big Naturals is an Internet meme originating on Tumblr revolving around maniuplated images of the Lord of the Rings character Gandalf (as portrayed by Ian McKellen) with large breasts.
History
The meme originated in December 2021 as a set of three images—labeled "Gandalf Big Naturals"— depicting Ian McKellan as Gandalf with large breasts and exposed cleavage. The images were posted to Tumblr by becca.teeth, who stated that they created the images while in a delirious state due to recovering from anesthesia from top surgery. The meme makes use of the slang term "big naturals", referring to naturally large breasts.
According to becca.teeth, they were watching The Lord of the Rings film series with their fiancé after the surgery and thought that it would be "cool" if Gandalf had large breasts. They described the Gandalf Big Naturals meme as "an angel, or some kind of final parting gift" from their own breasts.
Popularity
Gandalf Big Naturals became widely popular online after being advertised by a print shop, and it was interpreted as a piece of queer art. The original images inspired other artists to create fan art of Gandalf with breasts and spawned edits of other pieces of Lord of the Rings media, such as the 1978 film. Among the online LGBTQ community, the meme has been interpreted in different ways, including as a symbol of gender dysphoria or as a gender-nonconforming icon.
The meme inspired appearances in popular culture including Halloween costumes and a mod for Baldur's Gate 3 that gave "big naturals" to the character Withers. The mod surpassed over 100 million downloads in January 2025, and Larian Studios added it to the game's official mod list that allows console players to use it.
References
- ^ Nico (2022-12-02). "An Interview with the Creator of the Gandalf Big Naturals Meme". Autostraddle. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- ^ Carpou, Madeline (2023-02-07). "The Only Wizard I Want to Hear About Right Now Is Gandalf ('s Big Naturals)". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- Kheraj, Alim (2024-10-29). "The 'I hate gay Halloween' memes prove queer people always understand the assignment". Attitude. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- "Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Celebrates 100 Million Mod Downloads With "Withers Big Naturals" Mod". GameSpot. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
- Chalk, Andy (2025-01-14). "Larian celebrates 100 million Baldur's Gate 3 mod downloads by bringing 'Withers Big Naturals' to consoles". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2025-01-19.
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