The Origin of the “Always Has Been” Meme

If you’ve spent much time on Reddit, Twitter, or Instagram in recent years, you’ve probably seen a still image or comic of two astronauts floating in space. One looks at Earth and says something like “Wait… it’s all X?”, while the other — holding a gun — replies, “Always has been.” This image is now a broad meme template used to express surprising truths, conspiracies, or sudden realizations in a humorous way. But where did it come from, and how did it become so popular? Let’s walk through its story. (Know Your Meme)

1. What the Meme Looks Like

At its most basic, the Always Has Been meme shows:

Two astronauts floating in space.
One astronaut looks at Earth (or some image of the world) with a surprised caption like “Wait, it’s all X?”
Behind him, another astronaut points a gun at him and responds “Always has been.”

That simplicity — an unexpected reveal, and a darkly humorous confirmation — makes this a flexible template. Users can swap out whatever the first astronaut is surprised about (“It’s all Ohio,” “It’s all pasta,” “It’s all resumes,” etc.) to fit many jokes. (Know Your Meme)

2. The Very Earliest Form: 2016 Reddit Drawing

What became the Always Has Been meme didn’t start as a polished image with realistic astronauts. Instead, its earliest known ancestor was a crudely drawn comic posted to Reddit on December 11, 2016 by a user named Wiegand6. That comic featured two simple MS-Paint-style astronauts looking at a flat Earth. One astronaut exclaimed something like “wtf it’s flat!” while the other, holding a gun, said “Sry fam.” (Meme Studio)

That drawing didn’t go massively viral, but it laid the foundation for the idea: two astronauts, one discovering a surprising truth, and the other reacting with a literal “silencing.” It was funny, it was absurd, and it stuck in people’s minds. (Meme Studio)

3. The Template as We Know It: 2018 4chan Post

The meme format in its recognizable modern form — with the line “Wait, it’s all X?” / “Always has been” — appears to have first been posted anonymously on 4chan on August 7, 2018. In that early version, one astronaut looked down at Earth and said something like “Wait it’s all America?” and the other astronaut, raising his gun, replied “Always has been.” (Know Your Meme)

This image became the basis for later versions because it had two key elements:

A starting revelation — the first astronaut is surprised by something about the world.
A punchline — the second astronaut confirms that surprise was true all along, often in a darkly humorous or ironic way. (Meming Wiki)

The context of the gun added an exaggerated sense of danger or betrayal — it’s a joke playing on the classic story trope where a character learns a truth someone else doesn’t want revealed. (The Daily Dot)

4. Ohio Variation: A Turning Point

One of the earliest viral uses of the format that really spread it beyond niche forums was the “Wait, it’s all Ohio?” variation. In October 2019, a user named iOhioan posted a version in which the first astronaut looked at Earth and exclaimed “Wait, it’s all Ohio?” The second astronaut, sporting an Ohio flag patch, raised his gun and said “Always has been.” (Know Your Meme)

This Ohio version caught on for several reasons:

Ohio has been a frequent target of internet jokes and absurd humor independently — people enjoy absurd memes about entire states. (The Daily Dot)
The phrase “Wait, it’s all Ohio?” was surreal and unexpected.

This Ohio twist helped the meme jump from niche memeing boards into mainstream platforms like Reddit, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. It showed that you could plug anything into the format and make it funny or absurd. (Vision Viral)

5. How the Meme Spread Everywhere

Once the Ohio version caught on, the Always Has Been template became widely used because it was:

Easy to edit — anyone could swap in a different word for X in “Wait, it’s all X?”
Highly expressive — it captured a moment of sudden realization or ironic truth.
Versatile — it could be used for jokes about pop culture, personal feelings, politics, games, and more. (The Daily Dot)

Users began creating versions that revealed Earth is entirely:

Another meme (like Mountain Dew Baja Blast),
A food,
A feeling,
A fictional universe,
Or anything they wanted to make fun of. (Vision Viral)

By mid-2020, more polished, realistic astronaut images became popular for this meme, replacing the original flat drawing with a more cinematic space look. That helped it spread even more on mainstream social media. (The Daily Dot)

6. Why the Meme Resonates

So why does this strange astronaut meme stick around? A few reasons:

Humor in absurdity. The whole idea is ridiculous: one astronaut floating in space discovers an absurd truth about Earth, only for his partner to calmly confirm it before shooting him. That absurdity is part of the joke. (The Daily Dot)

It plays on hidden knowledge. People have always enjoyed stories where a hidden truth is revealed, only to be silenced or dismissed — the meme puts that trope in an exaggerated, visual form. (Meming Wiki)

It’s adaptable. Because you can replace X with anything, the meme works for almost any context. Want to joke about how every TV show is the same? Put that in the meme. Want to poke fun at your own habits? Can do. This wide applicability keeps it alive. (Know Your Meme)

7. The Meme’s Meaning Over Time

Although the phrase “Always has been” originally just reacted to a surprising reveal about Earth (or Ohio), over time the meme’s meaning expanded. It no longer needs literal truth; it’s now a way to express ironic, surprising, or unwelcome revelations — especially ones that seem obvious once you think about them. (Know Your Meme)

For example, people have used it to say things like:

“Wait, it’s all cats?” / “Always has been.”
“Wait, it’s all repurposed memes?” / “Always has been.”

The idea is the same: someone thinks they’ve discovered something new, only to be told it’s been true all along — sometimes humorously, sometimes darkly, sometimes both. (Vision Viral)

8. Variations and Evolution

The Always Has Been meme has evolved in a few interesting ways:

Realistic vs. MS Paint style. Early versions were crude drawings; later ones used higher-quality space art or even photoshopped astronaut images. (The Daily Dot)
Expanded punchlines. While the original was just about Earth, people now use it to reveal anything — including fictional worlds, social commentary, or personal jokes. (The Daily Dot)
Text-only adaptations. Some memes use the structure in text form on Twitter or TikTok without the image. (The Daily Dot)

The format keeps evolving, as meme templates often do: one idea becomes many, shaped by internet creativity.

9. What This Says About Internet Humor

The Always Has Been meme is a good example of how internet humor often works:

Simplicity helps spread. The basic structure — surprise followed by punchline — is easy to edit and share. (Know Your Meme)
Absurdity attracts attention. Strange combinations or unexpected truths make people laugh. (The Daily Dot)
Community remixing is essential. What started as a Reddit MS-Paint joke became a flexible global meme through people editing and sharing it. (Know Your Meme)

In that way, the Always Has Been meme shows how online humor evolves: from small inside jokes to widely recognized shared formats.

10. Final Thoughts

The Always Has Been meme didn’t begin as a polished graphic or a well-planned joke. It grew organically — from a crude Reddit drawing to a widely adaptable template that millions recognize today. Its journey took it through 4chan threads, Ohio in-jokes, and endless user creations before becoming one of the most recognizable modern meme formats. (Know Your Meme)

Whether you use it to point out an obvious truth, poke fun at internet culture, or just have a laugh at something absurd, that meme lets you express a moment of “I see it now” in a visual way that brings people together with a smile or a laugh. (The Daily Dot)

References

Wait, It's All Ohio? Always Has Been meme article, (Know Your Meme). (Know Your Meme)
“Always has been” meme overview, (Meming Wiki). (Meming Wiki)
Explanation of meme history and meaning, (Daily Dot). (The Daily Dot)