# Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg Futurama Zoidberg, better known as "Why Not Zoidberg?", is an advice-animal image macro built around the unloved Futurama alien Dr. John A. Zoidberg. Captions pose a question and then answer with the resigned pitch "why not Zoidberg?", playing on the character's status as a last-resort choice nobody wants. ## Overview Futurama Zoidberg, usually called "Why Not Zoidberg?", is an advice-animal style image macro featuring Dr. John A. Zoidberg, the lobster-octopus alien physician from Matt Groening's animated series Futurama[1]. The joke leans on the character's canonical role as the crew's unloved, perpetually broke doctor whose services nobody actually wants[2]. The format is simple. Top text sets up some kind of question, request, or dilemma, and the bottom line delivers the punchline "why not Zoidberg?" as if suggesting the sad, obvious last-resort answer[3]. Part of the humor is linguistic: the rhetorical "why not" is often read as a Yiddish-inflected shrug, which fans on Futurama forums have connected to the character's schlemiel-style comedy[4]. ## How It Spread Once the phrase caught on, the character quickly picked up a dedicated ASCII sidekick. On September 20th, 2011, Redditor SmashBoomPower started a thread titled "In need of a new emoticon?" showing off the Zoidberg emoticon (V)(°,,°)(V)[6]. Three days later blog The Daily What linked the thread[7], and variant emoticons started spreading through comment threads alongside the image macro. From there the meme jumped off Reddit into the wider 2011-era macro ecosystem. Submissions and fan art showed up on Memebase, Tumblr, FunnyJunk and deviantART under tags like "#why not zoidberg"[3]. By February 8th, 2012 the Quickmeme page had accumulated more than 3,300 user submissions and a corresponding Facebook page had crossed 960 likes[3]. Unlike many advice animals of the era, "Why Not Zoidberg?" has stayed tied to its source material. It circulated as a shorthand for reluctant, last-choice suggestions inside Futurama fan communities on Reddit long after Quickmeme itself faded[8], and the punchline is still trotted out whenever someone floats an unpopular option. ## How to Use To build a "Why Not Zoidberg?" macro, people typically start with a screenshot of Zoidberg looking hopeful or awkward, put a setup question on top (any scenario where someone is picking between options, hiring, dating, casting, etc.), then close with the line "why not Zoidberg?" on the bottom. The comedy comes from the mismatch: the more prestigious or desirable the setup, the funnier the sad, obvious suggestion of Zoidberg as the answer[3]. A common convention online is to pair the caption with the Zoidberg emoticon (V)(°,,°)(V) in comment threads instead of the full image[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg? It's an advice-animal image macro featuring Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama, where the caption sets up a question and answers it with the punchline "why not Zoidberg?"[3]. ### Where did Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg come from? The Quickmeme page launched on July 5th, 2011, and the same day Redditor mrrabbitfluff posted the "Need a new meme? Why not Zoidberg?" thread that pushed the format to Reddit's front page[5]. ### What does Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg mean? It's a self-deprecating shrug on behalf of an unwanted option, using Zoidberg's canonical status as the crew's unloved doctor to joke about being anyone's last resort[2]. ### How do you use Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg? Pair a Zoidberg image with a top-text question and the bottom line "why not Zoidberg?", or drop the emoticon (V)(°,,°)(V) in a comment thread for the shorthand version[6]. ### Is Futurama Zoidberg Why Not Zoidberg still popular? It's a classic 2011-era advice animal that peaked with 3,300+ Quickmeme submissions by early 2012[3] and is still used inside Futurama fan communities as a running joke[8]. ## References 1. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoidberg]() 2. [https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/John_A._Zoidberg]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/futurama-zoidberg]() 4. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_not%3F]() 5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ijkhs/zoidberg_offers_himself/]() 6. [https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/knuwx/in_need_of_a_new_emoticon/]() 7. [http://thedailywh.at/2011/09/23/morning-links-172/]() 8. [https://www.reddit.com/r/futurama/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/futurama-zoidberg-why-not-zoidberg Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library