The Ghost of the Goon: When a Meme Haunts More Than Just the Internet

The black Dodge Challenger was never meant to be a legend. Yet in 2025, it became one in the strangest way possible: through a viral phenomenon now known simply as the ghost of the goon.

At first glance, it might seem like just another TikTok trend: users filming black Dodge Challengers as they passed by, shouting “the ghost of the goon!” with a mixture of glee and disbelief.

But buried beneath the viral soundbites and meme compilations is a story that’s much darker, messier, and oddly telling about the state of internet culture today.

The Birth of the Goonmobile

It started, grimly enough, with an incident at a drive-thru coffee shop in Arizona, where a man, reportedly in a state of undress, caused a commotion.

The footage quickly spread online, and while the memes rolled in, real life took a harsher turn: reports emerged that the man later died by suicide.

Instead of fading into solemnity, the internet did what it often does—it repackaged tragedy into content.

@lrdc784 even the goonmobile?? #goonidice #goonicide #goonmobile #goontheftauto #fyp #coffeshop #gta ♬ original sound – monsta_233

By late January 2025, TikTok users, including @lrdc784, began dubbing the man’s vehicle, a black Dodge Challenger, the “Goonmobile.”

This was no ordinary internet joke; it carried a bizarre tension between humour, discomfort, and collective fascination.

Enter the Ghost

@blockcrusher49 #fyp #icantgoon ♬ No More Parties – Reese youngn

The transformation from “Goonmobile” to ghost of the goon happened quickly. TikTok user @blockcrusher49 captured footage of a Challenger at night and tagged it with the now-legendary phrase.

A teen’s shout, punctuated by a bell sound, became the defining audio—thanks largely to user @praisegodmaneee, who popularised it across social feeds.

“The ghost of the goon!” became less of a reference to the original incident and more of a standalone folklore moment.

Each spotting of a black Challenger turned into a digital campfire story, one where everyone was in on the joke, regardless of whether they knew the unsettling backstory.

A Meme That Crossed Borders

@gtrxturbo #the ♬

Unlike many viral trends, the ghost of the goon didn’t stay local. TikTok users around the world joined in, filming black Challengers in their cities and towns.

The meme had mutated into a worldwide scavenger hunt, a ghost story for the social media age.

Its spread felt almost like the early days of Pokemon Go, except instead of hunting imaginary creatures, players were chasing down a haunted piece of pop culture.

The black Dodge Challenger—a muscle car once associated with power and Americana—was now “cooked,” its reputation tarnished by association.

Future owners of the vehicle might find themselves subject to whispers, laughs, or outright shouts of “the ghost of the goon” from passing teenagers. Not quite the legacy Dodge had in mind.

Why “Goon” Works So Well

Part of the meme’s stickiness comes down to the language itself. The word “goon” carries an inherent goofiness that undercuts its darker implications.

Much like other NSFW-adjacent terms that have been domesticated by memes, “goon” here is silly, absurd, and cartoonish—a linguistic dissonance that makes it perfect for internet humour.

When you say “ghost of the goon” out loud, it doesn’t feel serious. It feels like something from a Scooby-Doo episode, not real life.

This surreal gap between the origin and the way it’s memorialised explains why the meme could thrive despite—or perhaps because of—its tragic roots.

The Ghost We Chose to Remember

The ghost of the goon reflects how the internet processes tragedy: by turning it into something collective, repeatable, and often absurd.

There’s a strange kind of power in that—the ability to take an uncomfortable moment and remake it into an ongoing joke that crosses continents.

But it’s also a reminder of how quickly context is lost. Many users shouting “the ghost of the goon” today might have no idea about the real-life events that birthed the meme.

To them, it’s simply an inside joke about a car. This erosion of meaning isn’t new, but in the age of viral audio and endless scrolling, it happens faster than ever.

In the end, the ghost of the goon is less about a specific incident and more about the internet’s uneasy relationship with memory, tragedy, and humour.

A fleeting, ridiculous phrase that—for better or worse—now haunts the streets wherever a black Dodge Challenger dares to appear.

Note: If you spot a black Challenger tonight and feel the urge to yell “ghost of the goon,” just remember: you’re not just making a TikTok. You’re participating in one of the strangest modern folklore experiments the internet has ever spun.