Galaxy Brain

2017Multi-panel exploitable image macrosemi-active

Also known as: Expanding Brain · Whomst Brain

Galaxy Brain, also known as Expanding Brain, is a multi-panel image macro meme that ranks ideas or preferences using progressively elaborate brain imagery. Originating on Reddit's r/dankmemes in January 2017 as part of the "Whomst" joke, the format pairs escalating concepts with brain images that grow from a simple X-ray to a cosmic, universe-sized brain. The meme works as both ironic satire of pseudo-intellectualism and a genuine ranking tool, making it one of the most versatile exploitable templates of the late 2010s.

big brain memesprogression memespseudo intellectual memesintelligence memestier ranking memes

Overview

The Galaxy Brain meme follows a simple visual formula: a left column lists ideas, beliefs, or preferences in escalating order, while a right column shows brain images that get progressively larger, brighter, and more cosmically elaborate4. The first panel typically features a plain brain scan or X-ray. The second shows a brain with pink and purple neural activity. By the third or fourth panel, the brain has gone full supernova, radiating green or blue beams and merging with images of galaxies and nebulae9.

The joke structure is inherently ironic. As the brain imagery gets more visually impressive, the corresponding text gets more absurd or nonsensical7. A "normal brain" might correspond to a reasonable opinion, while the "galaxy brain" pairs with a take so convoluted it loops back to being stupid. This creates a built-in punchline: the person with the biggest, most enlightened brain has actually arrived at the dumbest conclusion3.

The format works equally well for genuine preference ranking and sarcastic mockery, which is a big part of why it spread so fast and stuck around so long2.

The meme's roots trace back to mid-2016, when an Urban Dictionary user named "lightning guy" defined "whomst" as "for times when you want to ask 'who or whom,' but need a fancier connotation"6. The fake word caught on as a joke about intellectual pretension, and users on 4chan and Tumblr began creating escalating chains of increasingly ridiculous "who" variants: who, whom, whomst, whomst'd, whomst'd've2.

These text-based jokes eventually got paired with images. On January 31, 2017, Reddit user janskishimanski posted an early visual version to r/dankmemes, matching the "who/whom/whomst/whomst'd" progression with four brain images of increasing complexity4. The post picked up nearly 1,200 upvotes and established the visual template that would define the format7. That combination of the "Whomst" linguistic gag with stock medical and New Age brain imagery created something new: a reusable, remixable framework that could be applied to literally any topic9.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (r/dankmemes), with roots in Urban Dictionary and 4chan/Tumblr ("Whomst" precursor)
Key People
janskishimanski, "lightning guy"
Date
2017

The meme's roots trace back to mid-2016, when an Urban Dictionary user named "lightning guy" defined "whomst" as "for times when you want to ask 'who or whom,' but need a fancier connotation"6. The fake word caught on as a joke about intellectual pretension, and users on 4chan and Tumblr began creating escalating chains of increasingly ridiculous "who" variants: who, whom, whomst, whomst'd, whomst'd've2.

These text-based jokes eventually got paired with images. On January 31, 2017, Reddit user janskishimanski posted an early visual version to r/dankmemes, matching the "who/whom/whomst/whomst'd" progression with four brain images of increasing complexity4. The post picked up nearly 1,200 upvotes and established the visual template that would define the format7. That combination of the "Whomst" linguistic gag with stock medical and New Age brain imagery created something new: a reusable, remixable framework that could be applied to literally any topic9.

How It Spread

The format took off quickly through February 2017 on Reddit. Users on r/dankmemes and r/MemeEconomy swapped out the "Whomst" text for other subjects while keeping the escalating brain imagery4. Video games, politics, food preferences, college majors, and pop culture all got the Galaxy Brain treatment3. A video version by YouTube user BagelBoy, featuring an echoing voice attempting to pronounce "whomst'd've" over Richard Strauss's *Also sprach Zarathustra* (the *2001: A Space Odyssey* theme), pulled in over 2.1 million views7.

The meme jumped from Reddit to Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram within weeks1. Several media outlets ran pieces on it in March 2017: PopSugar described it as "a series of images showing differently stimulated brainwaves relative to specific beliefs or habits"1, while New York Magazine's Select All blog published a deep-dive connecting it to the "layers of irony" tradition on 4chan and the visual language of nootropic supplement ads2. Mic noted how it worked as both a comment on "every jerk with a Wi-Fi connection" declaring themselves an authority and, weirdly, as something almost optimistic about human intellectual ambition3.

By 2018, the format had evolved beyond the original brain images. In a notable variation, an Instagram user took screenshots from a Sprite commercial featuring Drake and created a Galaxy Brain spinoff where Drake's body progressively cracks to reveal he's made of Sprite6. That post alone pulled over 45,000 likes and kicked off a wave of imitations using the Drake-Sprite imagery7. The meme also stripped down to text-only versions, dropping the brain images entirely while keeping the escalating structure6.

On YouTube, the meme took yet another form. Creators started using just a few seconds of the glowing cosmic brain imagery as a visual shorthand, overlaying it on clips of people saying or doing something stupid7. The brain images became an instant, recognizable signal: whatever comes next is going to be hilariously wrong.

Platforms

RedditTwitterTumblrImgurInstagramDiscord

Timeline

2017

Galaxy Brain format emerges on internet

2018-2019

Meme gains widespread popularity as comparison format

2019-01-01

Galaxy Brain reached mainstream popularity and media coverage

2020+

Continues as evergreen format with consistent usage

2022-01-01

Galaxy Brain entered the broader pop culture conversation

2025-01-01

Galaxy Brain is still actively used and shared across platforms

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

The Galaxy Brain template typically follows a four-panel layout, though versions with three, five, or even more panels exist. The standard approach:

1

Pick a topic with multiple options or takes (food, music, games, opinions).

2

Arrange three to five related ideas from most common/sensible to most absurd or niche.

3

Pair the most basic idea with a plain brain image (small, dim, realistic).

4

Pair each subsequent idea with a progressively more elaborate brain (glowing neural activity, cosmic aura, universe-encompassing light beams).

5

The final "galaxy brain" panel usually features the most ridiculous or overthought take presented as peak enlightenment.

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

Galaxy Brain broke through to mainstream media coverage faster than most meme formats. New York Magazine's analysis connected the meme to broader internet culture patterns, arguing it drew power from "the snippy need to be right online, the quixotic search for a perfect nootropic stack, the jockeying for position in the eternal tournament of irony, and the glowing aesthetics of vaporwave"2. The imagery deliberately echoed the visual language of scammy supplement ads and New Age brain-enhancement products, which added another layer of irony2.

The term "galaxy brain" itself entered internet vocabulary as standalone slang. On Twitter and in political commentary, calling someone's take "galaxy-brained" became shorthand for an opinion that's so overthought it's come full circle to being wrong5. Left-leaning communities adopted it particularly for mocking neoliberal hot takes that dressed up bad policy positions in elaborate logic5.

An academic case study published by the Cultural History of the Internet project in 2020 examined the meme's unusual longevity, noting that most memes fade within weeks but Expanding Brain had maintained recognizability for over three years through constant format evolution7. The study pointed to the meme's flexibility as a key factor: it could absorb new topics, new image sets, and even entirely new visual formats while keeping its core escalating structure intact7.

Fun Facts

The stock brain images used in the original meme weren't created for it. They're a mix of medical imaging, New Age digital art, and Shutterstock photos that early meme creators compiled together2.

New York Magazine compared the meme's visual aesthetic to "homeopathic imagery" and the kind of ads that promise "Limitless pills" for cognitive enhancement2.

The BagelBoy video version used Richard Strauss's *Also sprach Zarathustra*, the iconic opening theme from *2001: A Space Odyssey*, which was a perfect match for the meme's theme of ascending to cosmic intelligence7.

The "Whomst" precursor word was defined on Urban Dictionary in June 2016, a full seven months before the visual meme format appeared6.

Derivatives & Variations

Reverse Galaxy Brain showing devolution of ideas

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Variations with different sized objects instead of brains

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Multiple branching progressions instead of linear escalation

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Frequently Asked Questions

Galaxy Brain

2017Multi-panel exploitable image macrosemi-active

Also known as: Expanding Brain · Whomst Brain

Galaxy Brain, also known as Expanding Brain, is a multi-panel image macro meme that ranks ideas or preferences using progressively elaborate brain imagery. Originating on Reddit's r/dankmemes in January 2017 as part of the "Whomst" joke, the format pairs escalating concepts with brain images that grow from a simple X-ray to a cosmic, universe-sized brain. The meme works as both ironic satire of pseudo-intellectualism and a genuine ranking tool, making it one of the most versatile exploitable templates of the late 2010s.

big brain memes progression memes pseudo intellectual memes intelligence memes tier ranking memes

Overview

The Galaxy Brain meme follows a simple visual formula: a left column lists ideas, beliefs, or preferences in escalating order, while a right column shows brain images that get progressively larger, brighter, and more cosmically elaborate4. The first panel typically features a plain brain scan or X-ray. The second shows a brain with pink and purple neural activity. By the third or fourth panel, the brain has gone full supernova, radiating green or blue beams and merging with images of galaxies and nebulae9.

The joke structure is inherently ironic. As the brain imagery gets more visually impressive, the corresponding text gets more absurd or nonsensical7. A "normal brain" might correspond to a reasonable opinion, while the "galaxy brain" pairs with a take so convoluted it loops back to being stupid. This creates a built-in punchline: the person with the biggest, most enlightened brain has actually arrived at the dumbest conclusion3.

The format works equally well for genuine preference ranking and sarcastic mockery, which is a big part of why it spread so fast and stuck around so long2.

The meme's roots trace back to mid-2016, when an Urban Dictionary user named "lightning guy" defined "whomst" as "for times when you want to ask 'who or whom,' but need a fancier connotation"6. The fake word caught on as a joke about intellectual pretension, and users on 4chan and Tumblr began creating escalating chains of increasingly ridiculous "who" variants: who, whom, whomst, whomst'd, whomst'd've2.

These text-based jokes eventually got paired with images. On January 31, 2017, Reddit user janskishimanski posted an early visual version to r/dankmemes, matching the "who/whom/whomst/whomst'd" progression with four brain images of increasing complexity4. The post picked up nearly 1,200 upvotes and established the visual template that would define the format7. That combination of the "Whomst" linguistic gag with stock medical and New Age brain imagery created something new: a reusable, remixable framework that could be applied to literally any topic9.

Origin & Background

Platform
Reddit (r/dankmemes), with roots in Urban Dictionary and 4chan/Tumblr ("Whomst" precursor)
Key People
janskishimanski, "lightning guy"
Date
2017

The meme's roots trace back to mid-2016, when an Urban Dictionary user named "lightning guy" defined "whomst" as "for times when you want to ask 'who or whom,' but need a fancier connotation"6. The fake word caught on as a joke about intellectual pretension, and users on 4chan and Tumblr began creating escalating chains of increasingly ridiculous "who" variants: who, whom, whomst, whomst'd, whomst'd've2.

These text-based jokes eventually got paired with images. On January 31, 2017, Reddit user janskishimanski posted an early visual version to r/dankmemes, matching the "who/whom/whomst/whomst'd" progression with four brain images of increasing complexity4. The post picked up nearly 1,200 upvotes and established the visual template that would define the format7. That combination of the "Whomst" linguistic gag with stock medical and New Age brain imagery created something new: a reusable, remixable framework that could be applied to literally any topic9.

How It Spread

The format took off quickly through February 2017 on Reddit. Users on r/dankmemes and r/MemeEconomy swapped out the "Whomst" text for other subjects while keeping the escalating brain imagery4. Video games, politics, food preferences, college majors, and pop culture all got the Galaxy Brain treatment3. A video version by YouTube user BagelBoy, featuring an echoing voice attempting to pronounce "whomst'd've" over Richard Strauss's *Also sprach Zarathustra* (the *2001: A Space Odyssey* theme), pulled in over 2.1 million views7.

The meme jumped from Reddit to Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram within weeks1. Several media outlets ran pieces on it in March 2017: PopSugar described it as "a series of images showing differently stimulated brainwaves relative to specific beliefs or habits"1, while New York Magazine's Select All blog published a deep-dive connecting it to the "layers of irony" tradition on 4chan and the visual language of nootropic supplement ads2. Mic noted how it worked as both a comment on "every jerk with a Wi-Fi connection" declaring themselves an authority and, weirdly, as something almost optimistic about human intellectual ambition3.

By 2018, the format had evolved beyond the original brain images. In a notable variation, an Instagram user took screenshots from a Sprite commercial featuring Drake and created a Galaxy Brain spinoff where Drake's body progressively cracks to reveal he's made of Sprite6. That post alone pulled over 45,000 likes and kicked off a wave of imitations using the Drake-Sprite imagery7. The meme also stripped down to text-only versions, dropping the brain images entirely while keeping the escalating structure6.

On YouTube, the meme took yet another form. Creators started using just a few seconds of the glowing cosmic brain imagery as a visual shorthand, overlaying it on clips of people saying or doing something stupid7. The brain images became an instant, recognizable signal: whatever comes next is going to be hilariously wrong.

Platforms

RedditTwitterTumblrImgurInstagramDiscord

Timeline

2017

Galaxy Brain format emerges on internet

2018-2019

Meme gains widespread popularity as comparison format

2019-01-01

Galaxy Brain reached mainstream popularity and media coverage

2020+

Continues as evergreen format with consistent usage

2022-01-01

Galaxy Brain entered the broader pop culture conversation

2025-01-01

Galaxy Brain is still actively used and shared across platforms

View on Google Trends

How to Use This Meme

The Galaxy Brain template typically follows a four-panel layout, though versions with three, five, or even more panels exist. The standard approach:

1

Pick a topic with multiple options or takes (food, music, games, opinions).

2

Arrange three to five related ideas from most common/sensible to most absurd or niche.

3

Pair the most basic idea with a plain brain image (small, dim, realistic).

4

Pair each subsequent idea with a progressively more elaborate brain (glowing neural activity, cosmic aura, universe-encompassing light beams).

5

The final "galaxy brain" panel usually features the most ridiculous or overthought take presented as peak enlightenment.

Create Your Own

Cultural Impact

Galaxy Brain broke through to mainstream media coverage faster than most meme formats. New York Magazine's analysis connected the meme to broader internet culture patterns, arguing it drew power from "the snippy need to be right online, the quixotic search for a perfect nootropic stack, the jockeying for position in the eternal tournament of irony, and the glowing aesthetics of vaporwave"2. The imagery deliberately echoed the visual language of scammy supplement ads and New Age brain-enhancement products, which added another layer of irony2.

The term "galaxy brain" itself entered internet vocabulary as standalone slang. On Twitter and in political commentary, calling someone's take "galaxy-brained" became shorthand for an opinion that's so overthought it's come full circle to being wrong5. Left-leaning communities adopted it particularly for mocking neoliberal hot takes that dressed up bad policy positions in elaborate logic5.

An academic case study published by the Cultural History of the Internet project in 2020 examined the meme's unusual longevity, noting that most memes fade within weeks but Expanding Brain had maintained recognizability for over three years through constant format evolution7. The study pointed to the meme's flexibility as a key factor: it could absorb new topics, new image sets, and even entirely new visual formats while keeping its core escalating structure intact7.

Fun Facts

The stock brain images used in the original meme weren't created for it. They're a mix of medical imaging, New Age digital art, and Shutterstock photos that early meme creators compiled together2.

New York Magazine compared the meme's visual aesthetic to "homeopathic imagery" and the kind of ads that promise "Limitless pills" for cognitive enhancement2.

The BagelBoy video version used Richard Strauss's *Also sprach Zarathustra*, the iconic opening theme from *2001: A Space Odyssey*, which was a perfect match for the meme's theme of ascending to cosmic intelligence7.

The "Whomst" precursor word was defined on Urban Dictionary in June 2016, a full seven months before the visual meme format appeared6.

Derivatives & Variations

Reverse Galaxy Brain showing devolution of ideas

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Variations with different sized objects instead of brains

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Multiple branching progressions instead of linear escalation

A variation of Galaxy Brain

(2017)

Frequently Asked Questions