{"slug":"iceberg-tiers","name":"Iceberg Tiers","url":"/templates/iceberg-tiers.jpg","w":1580,"h":2238,"top":"","bottom":"","description":"The Iceberg Tier List meme template. Eight levels from surface-level knowledge to deep, obscure, unsettling lore. Build your own iceberg chart about any topic with increasingly bizarre tiers.","keywords":"iceberg meme, iceberg tier list, iceberg chart, conspiracy iceberg, deep lore meme, iceberg levels meme, iceberg template","year":2020,"origin":"The iceberg chart format became a major meme trend around 2020, inspired by YouTube \"iceberg explained\" videos. The image shows a photographic iceberg with 8 tiers descending from bright sky above water into progressively darker deep ocean. Each tier is paired with a Wojak figure on the right side that becomes increasingly disheveled and unhinged the deeper you go, from a happy normal face at the surface to eldritch cosmic horror at the bottom. Users label each tier with knowledge, facts, or lore about a topic, arranged from commonly known at the top to obscure or disturbing at the bottom. For a similar escalation format, see Expanding Brain (ideas getting more absurd). For tiered comparisons, see Tuxedo Winnie The Pooh (basic vs fancy).","format":"template","textBoxes":[{"label":"Tier 1 (Surface)","x":3,"y":1.3,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Common knowledge","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 2","x":3,"y":13,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Slightly deeper","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 3","x":3,"y":27,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Getting obscure","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 4","x":3,"y":39.9,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Deep lore","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 5","x":3,"y":51.5,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Few people know this","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 6","x":3,"y":64.8,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Rabbit hole territory","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 7","x":3,"y":76.6,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"Deeply unsettling","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30},{"label":"Tier 8 (Abyss)","x":3,"y":88,"w":60,"h":10,"placeholder":"The void","fontFamily":"Arial","fontColor":"#FFFFFF","strokeColor":"#000000","strokeWidth":1,"isBold":true,"fontSize":30}],"howToMake":["The Iceberg Tiers template has 8 labeled text boxes, one per tier. Pick your topic and start filling them in","Tier 1 at the top gets the most common, surface-level fact about your topic. Each tier below should get progressively more obscure, niche, or unsettling","The Wojak figures on the right side get more unhinged with each tier, from a cheerful normal face at the surface to a cosmic horror entity in the abyss. Match your content to the vibe","White text with a thin black stroke keeps labels readable from the bright sky at the top through the pitch-black ocean depths. Adjust font size per tier if needed","Iceberg complete? Download your tier list as a PNG or Share it so people can argue about which tier they stopped at"],"exampleCaptions":["Disney movies everyone knows","Direct-to-video sequels","Cancelled Disney attractions","Deleted scenes that change the plot","Hidden messages in the animation","Unreleased films stuck in development","Internal studio feuds behind the scenes","The Disney Vault conspiracy"],"exampleAltText":"Iceberg tier list meme about Disney knowledge from common movies at the top to vault conspiracy at the deepest level","exampleRefreshDate":"2026-03-13","seo":{"aliases":["Iceberg Chart","Iceberg Tier List","Iceberg Levels Meme","Deep Lore Iceberg","Iceberg Explained Meme"],"description":"A photographic iceberg with 8 distinct tiers, descending from bright blue sky and white clouds above the waterline into progressively darker ocean depths. Pink divider lines separate each level. On the right side, 8 Wojak-style figures deteriorate in parallel: a happy, well-adjusted person at the surface, gradually transforming through stages of dishevelment, wild eyes, and matted hair, until the deepest tiers show eldritch, glowing cosmic entities. The format maps to any topic where surface knowledge is cheerful and the deep lore is unsettling.","definition":"Eight tiers, one iceberg, and a descent from normal to cosmic horror. The iceberg chart lets you organize any topic from commonly known facts at the surface to deeply obscure, niche, or disturbing lore at the bottom. The accompanying Wojak figures on each tier show what happens to your mental state the deeper you go.","useCases":[{"category":"Pop Culture & Fandoms","examples":["Surface: The main character names / Tier 4: Production drama between the cast / Tier 8: The unfilmed pilot that was so bad the studio buried it","Surface: The hit singles everyone knows / Tier 4: B-sides that are better than the singles / Tier 8: Unreleased demos from a scrapped concept album","Surface: The popular fan theories / Tier 5: Deleted scenes that contradict the canon / Tier 8: The original script that tells a completely different story","Surface: Recognizing the main cast / Tier 3: Behind-the-scenes trivia / Tier 7: The on-set incident that was covered up","Surface: Watching the movies / Tier 4: Reading the expanded universe books / Tier 8: Analyzing frame-by-frame animation errors that reveal cut plotlines","Surface: Knowing the catchphrases / Tier 5: Understanding the cultural references / Tier 8: The real-life event the creators deny inspired it"]},{"category":"Internet & Meme Lore","examples":["Surface: Recognizing popular memes / Tier 4: Knowing the original source of each format / Tier 8: The lost forum thread where the first meme was posted","Surface: Using social media / Tier 3: Understanding the algorithm / Tier 7: Shadow-banned corners of the internet that birthed viral trends","Surface: Watching YouTube / Tier 5: Knowing about the content farm networks / Tier 8: The automated channels run entirely by bots that nobody watches but generate millions","Surface: Viral TikTok trends / Tier 4: The trend cycle and how sounds go viral / Tier 8: The accounts that seed trends artificially before anyone notices"]},{"category":"History & Conspiracy","examples":["Surface: Major historical events / Tier 4: Declassified government documents / Tier 8: Events that multiple governments refuse to acknowledge happened","Surface: Famous landmarks / Tier 3: Hidden rooms and passages / Tier 7: Architectural decisions that don't make sense unless you know the original blueprints","Surface: Well-known historical figures / Tier 5: Their private letters that contradict public image / Tier 8: The correspondence that historians argue about to this day","Surface: Standard textbook history / Tier 4: Primary sources that tell a different story / Tier 8: The evidence that was deliberately excluded from the record"]},{"category":"Video Games","examples":["Surface: Playing the main story / Tier 3: Finding all the Easter eggs / Tier 6: Unused assets buried in the game files / Tier 8: The debug room the developers left in that reveals scrapped features","Surface: Knowing the popular characters / Tier 4: Cut characters from development / Tier 8: The internal build that had a completely different ending","Surface: Playing online multiplayer / Tier 3: Speedrunning strategies / Tier 6: Exploits the developers know about but won't patch / Tier 8: The glitch that crashes the game in a way that corrupts save files","Surface: Reading the in-game lore / Tier 4: Connected universe theories / Tier 8: Developer interviews where they accidentally confirmed something they shouldn't have"]},{"category":"Food & Cooking","examples":["Surface: Following recipes / Tier 3: Understanding why recipes work / Tier 6: The food science behind texture and flavor chemistry / Tier 8: Industrial food processing methods you wish you didn't know about","Surface: Ordering at restaurants / Tier 4: How restaurant pricing actually works / Tier 8: The supply chain logistics that determine what's \"fresh\" on the menu","Surface: Grocery shopping / Tier 3: Reading nutrition labels / Tier 6: Understanding FDA labeling loopholes / Tier 8: What \"natural flavors\" actually means"]},{"category":"Science & Nature","examples":["Surface: Basic biology from school / Tier 3: How ecosystems really interact / Tier 6: Organisms that break the rules of biology / Tier 8: Deep-sea creatures that challenge our definition of \"alive\"","Surface: The solar system planets / Tier 4: Exoplanets in habitable zones / Tier 8: Theoretical physics models that suggest our universe is a simulation","Surface: Knowing dinosaurs existed / Tier 3: Feathered dinosaurs / Tier 6: Dinosaur behaviors we can infer from fossils / Tier 8: The extinction events before the asteroid that nobody talks about"]},{"category":"Your Own Life","examples":["Surface: What you post on social media / Tier 3: What you tell your close friends / Tier 6: The thoughts you only have at 3am / Tier 8: The memory from 2nd grade that still keeps you up at night","Surface: Your public persona / Tier 4: Your real opinions / Tier 7: The thing you've never told anyone / Tier 8: The intrusive thought you had once that you will take to the grave","Surface: Your daily routine / Tier 3: Your actual screen time / Tier 6: The rabbit holes you go down at midnight / Tier 8: The Wikipedia page you ended up on after starting from \"French Revolution\""]}]}}