12:18 PM CDT on April 8, 2025
In early 2025, TikTok users became obsessed with a strange, bat-wielding wooden creature known as Tung Tung Tung Sahur.
The strange AI-generated figure, combined with a creepy AI voice-over, led to a series of surrealist memes just in time for Ramadan. The meme is mainly used to teasingly "threaten" those who sleep through Sahur, which is the early morning meal before fasting during the month of Ramadan.
The original video shows an anthropomorphic wooden creature with large, staring eyes and bare feet. It is holding a baseball bat and standing at what appears to be a bus or train stop at night. This clip forms the base of most edits, either remixed and included in their renditions of the AI character’s lore or altered in some way, be it pencil drawings or even tattoos.
The phrase mimics the sound of the bedug, which is a large traditional Indonesian and Malaysian drum used to signify that it is time for prayer. It is especially commonly heard during the religious month of Ramadan. The “Tung Tung Tung” of the meme’s name is the sound that imitates the beat, while “Sahur” refers to the early morning meal before fasting begins.
The meme takes this real-life practice and spins it into absurdist horror, imagining a folklore-style monster that punishes those who oversleep. The fictional cryptid, according to the original TikTok video, visits the homes of those people who ignore the bedug call to Sahur three times, armed with a baseball bat.
hati hati #tungtungtung #sahurr #brainrot #bismillahfyp
TikToker @noxaasht uploaded the first known video featuring the AI cryptid on Feb. 28, 2025. It instantly resonated with viewers and has been viewed over 49.2 million times and has 3.5 million likes.
The AI-generated creature quickly caught the attention of Indonesian and Malaysian TikTokers. Many saw it as a parody of traditional Sahur wake-up calls but pushed to surreal, brainrot extremes.
From there, people were generating dramatic animations of Tung Tung Tung Sahur shouting and attacking people and other odd AI-generated creatures, such as its nemesis Brr Brr Patapim. It is an AI-generated monkey that is covered in moss that almost looks like it takes some visual elements from Green Man folklore.
Others like @drw.artz hand-drew the creature using their hands and a mechanical pencil. One person even immortalized the meme in ink and got it tattooed on their body.
As Ramadan 2025 wound down, so did the meme’s visibility. As the holy month was ending, creators began posting farewell videos. On March 22, @sebuahvideorandom2 posted a “goodbye” tribute, stating that Tung Tung Tung Sahur needed to return home now that he was no longer needed, according to Google Translate. That video received over 1.5 million views.
The meme reflects a blend of religious tradition, digital folklore, and TikTok’s love of absurdist AI horror. Additionally, it plays on the sacred practice of Sahur but leans into Gen Z’s taste for strange, layered humor. It also taps into TikTok’s interest in AI-generated creatures, much like the ongoing Hotspot Bro memes.
In some ways, it also is a mirror of modern cryptids like Slender Man, except localized for Ramadan and with cultural specificity. Tung Tung Tung Sahur isn’t a monstrous creature made for most Westerners, and that isn’t a bad thing.
Brr Brr Patapim VS Tung Tung Tung Sahur ??#brainrot #tungtungtungsahur #brrbrrpatapim #italianbrainrot #aianimation #fishyai #fypppppppppppppp
Sedih rek harus berpisah sama tung tung tung sahur ?? SC : @wahyu.payull #tungtungtungsahur #anomali #ramadhan2025 #thanksudahfolow
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Anna is a freelance writer with far too much time on her hands. When she’s not writing about memes and internet slang, she can be found running TTRPGs online.
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