100 men versus a gorilla

The question's first known appearance was on the subreddit r/whowouldwin in a 2020 post by u/probablycashed. The question went viral on TikTok in 2022. In April 2025, the question went viral again on social media, namely Facebook and YouTube. ==Scientific assessment==

Tara Stoinski, president of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, said that people often overestimate the power of gorillas, saying that despite gorillas having strong muscles and jaws, these traits are used more for protection than a hunting attack. Primatologist Michelle Rodrigues agreed that gorillas are "not typically aggressive" and "pick their battles", and that in this situation a gorilla would try to flee. Primatologist Cat Hobaiter argued that if the human attackers were prevented from rushing the gorilla simultaneously and were required to attack one by one, they "wouldn't stand a chance". ==Reception==

The hypothetical question has received attention from popular news organizations and celebrities. Montana senator Tim Sheehy stated in a Twitter video that he thought the men would "clearly win", although suffering "a high casualty rate". On 1 May 2025, the official White House Twitter account referenced the debate in a tweet with the following: "100 men vs 1 gorilla is still up for debate. Meanwhile, 142,000+ illegal alien criminals went up against 1 President Trump — They all got deported.🤭" accompanied with an AI-generated picture of many illegal immigrants boarding a plane, referencing Trump's immigration policies. The conservationist Robert Irwin responded that people should be working out how many people are needed to protect an endangered species. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International representatives hoped that the meme would spark interest in gorilla conservation efforts. Elon Musk's response to MrBeast's tweet was "Sure, what's the worst that could happen?" In video games Blizzard Entertainment announced a special livestream of the video game Overwatch 2 for 6 May 2025, in which 100 Soldier 76es would fight the gorilla character Winston. Scott Duwe, a staff writer at Destructoid, asked editors and writers if 100 Marios could beat one Donkey Kong. Some thought Donkey Kong would easily charge and beat many of the Marios, while some interviewed thought the Marios would win. ==See also==