▲
1
▼
In 2012, TV Tropes user Tunafish edited the site's page for the Civilization series to claim that Gandhi can become the most aggressive character in the original game due to a rollover error. World leaders' aggression levels drop by two points upon adopting democracy; because Gandhi's aggression is set to 1, the lowest possible value, the pacification allegedly lowers it to -1, which defaults to 255, the highest possible value.
Despite the edit not providing any evidence, the claim nonetheless circulated online in subsequent years. Because leaders will vehemently pursue a nuclear weapons policy when their aggression is high enough, the claim spawned the "Nuclear Gandhi" meme among Civilization fans, poking fun at the apparent dissonance between the real Gandhi's pacifism and his fictional counterpart's apocalyptic jingoism. A KnowYourMeme page on the memes further distorted the rumors by claiming that the bug first appeared in Civilization II rather than the first game; as of March 2024, the page now acknowledges that the rumors are false.
The Nuclear Gandhi claim was eventually debunked by series creator Sid Meier in his 2020 autobiography, Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games. In the book, Meier revealed that Civilization and Civilization II are respectively programmed in C and C++, which are immune to the kinds of rollover errors that the urban legend describes. Consequently, Gandhi's aggression level remains at 1 after the adoption of democracy. Nevertheless, Meier admitted that he found the memes surrounding the urban legend funny.
Despite the edit not providing any evidence, the claim nonetheless circulated online in subsequent years. Because leaders will vehemently pursue a nuclear weapons policy when their aggression is high enough, the claim spawned the "Nuclear Gandhi" meme among Civilization fans, poking fun at the apparent dissonance between the real Gandhi's pacifism and his fictional counterpart's apocalyptic jingoism. A KnowYourMeme page on the memes further distorted the rumors by claiming that the bug first appeared in Civilization II rather than the first game; as of March 2024, the page now acknowledges that the rumors are false.
The Nuclear Gandhi claim was eventually debunked by series creator Sid Meier in his 2020 autobiography, Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games. In the book, Meier revealed that Civilization and Civilization II are respectively programmed in C and C++, which are immune to the kinds of rollover errors that the urban legend describes. Consequently, Gandhi's aggression level remains at 1 after the adoption of democracy. Nevertheless, Meier admitted that he found the memes surrounding the urban legend funny.
Edit history on the TV Tropes page for Civilization showing Tunafish's edit:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120901052801/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=VideoGame.Civilization&more=t
KnowYourMeme page about Nuclear Gandhi:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nuclear-gandhi
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/nuclear-gandhi-meme-civilization/
GameRant article:
https://gamerant.com/civilization-gandhi-nuclear-aggression-bug-myth/
https://web.archive.org/web/20120901052801/http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=VideoGame.Civilization&more=t
KnowYourMeme page about Nuclear Gandhi:
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nuclear-gandhi
TheGamer article:
https://www.thegamer.com/nuclear-gandhi-meme-civilization/
GameRant article:
https://gamerant.com/civilization-gandhi-nuclear-aggression-bug-myth/
Related Games
Sid Meier's Civilization IV
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Sid Meier's Civilization III
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Over the Hedge
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
True Crime: New York City
Destiny 2
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
iCarly 2: iJoin the Click
The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct
Worms Armageddon
Commando
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5
Call of Duty
Spider-Man
Monsters vs. Aliens
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 3: Night of the Quinkan
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Monsters vs. Aliens
Star Trek: Elite Force II
Shrek 2
The Curse of Monkey Island
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
Bee Movie Game
The Simpsons Wrestling
True Crime: Streets of LA
King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
Fallout
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
A Bug's Life
Magical Tetris Challenge
Freeway
Phantasmagoria
Deadpool
Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix
Shrek SuperSlam
Prototype
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
X-Men: Wolverine's Rage
Shrek: Ogres and Dronkeys
Sid Meier's Civilization
Star Wars: Republic Commando