If you were one of the people watching The Game Awards live, especially on Twitch, you most likely saw a barrage of meme comments that simply said Clem. With little to no context, even with chat being on Slow Mode, many people out of the loop were confused about that word. What is the Clem meme, and what does that mean on Twitch?
What does “Clem” mean on Twitch?
This is a meme that came from the free-to-play looter shooter, Warframe. One of the enemy factions, the Grineer, has troops that oftentimes yell out small phrases to communicate to their allies what’s going on in battle. They oftentimes don’t speak coherent English since they are genetically modified and cloned soldiers. The defects of mass cloning do impede their speech.
One of the lines that many troopers say upon engaging with you, the Tenno, is “Get them!” The thing is, it’s oftentimes misheard as “Get clem!”
The meme of Clem snowballed around the community for some time until the team at Digital Extremes released a quest called “A Man of Few Words”. This was the introductory quest to one of Warframe’s most beloved characters. He’s a Grineer defector who literally just says his own name (Clem) and Grakata, which is the weapon he dual-wields.
Upon completing his quest, there’s a weekly mission that you can take on where you help Clem out. The reward for that mission is a Clem Clone blueprint, so you can summon him as an NPC in future missions.
The Game Awards “Clem” meme explained
The reason you may have seen this lovable Warframe character’s name being spammed in the live stream’s chat is that he was a Twitch drop reward during The Game Awards. The campaign is over now, but anyone with a linked Warframe account to their Twitch who watched 30 minutes of the show should have received a free Sevagoth frame.
Warframe has a tight-knit community that is oftentimes seen as one of the more wholesome ones in gaming. Digital Extremes leaned in on the joke of an in-game enemy’s phrase and turned it into an iconic character who only speaks two words.
It’s best to embrace Clem and befriend him. He’s a trusty and powerful ally.
