What is TikTok’s Rat Dance? IShowSpeed sends trend mega viral

TikTok has got a new dance craze – the Rat Dance – and YouTube star IShowSpeed has helped it go super viral. Here’s what you need to know.

Seeing as TikTok started out life as a platform for creatives to show off their dance routines, art, and lip sync to songs, it’s no surprise that dance trends are still going viral.

Some have backstories and beginnings that are easier to understand than others. You might see an athlete try a move out, fail, and then within a few hours TikTokers are making it look so much better. 

Others, however, have more unusual backgrounds. That includes the newest trend, the Rat Dance, which has been going viral for a little bit on TikTok. However, it’s popularity has skyrocketed thanks to IShowSpeed.

TikTok’s Rat Dance origins explained

The Rat Dance first popped up on TikTok at the end of 2024 as the account Ratomilton started posting videos of their 3D rat busting out different moves. 

It took until a post on January 1, however, for it to really take off as Ratomilton’s video used the ‘Chess’ beat from producer Joyful. 

The song, combined with the rat’s dance moves – which is basically the Criss Cross emote from Fortnite – has got fans replicating it far and wide. As of writing, almost 100,000 attempts have been posted to TikTok.

IShowSpeed’s Rat Dance video

IShowSpeed’s attempt has been the most popular, with the YouTube star racking up almost 150 million views as of writing. 

As a result, many TikTokers have started tagging him in their attempts or called it the IShowSpeed dance, while others have used him as a comparison in video comment sections.

“No one beat IShowSpeed,” is a popular comment being used by fans under other attempts. Naturally, that sparks plenty of debate. 

Was Milton or Janro first to the Rat Dance?

Other popular attempts include one from janro2109, another 3D rat. That account has even made a cartoon version of Speed to use in a popular clip that has around 8 million views. 

Their videos have caused some fans to ask if Janro or Milton was first with the dance. However, as pointed out, it was Milton who posted first. 

The trend will not go away any time soon, especially with Speed behind it. 

He’ll probably bust it out on stream too, which will make it go even more viral than before.