What is My Ancestor :)?

An image macro template where a character looks up at a statue, bust or sarcophagus of a figure that does not resemble them, thinking 'My Ancestor :)'.

Where did My Ancestor :) come from?

An anonymous poster uploaded the first MS Paint drawing on 4chan's /pol/ on April 4, 2016. The source was an earlier captioned photograph of a woman of Sub-Saharan African descent viewing Tutankhamun's sarcophagus.

What does My Ancestor :) mean?

The joke sits on the visual gap between the two figures: the pride in the caption is undercut by the fact that the 'ancestor' clearly is not related. Early edits ran as racial jabs, later ones leaned into absurd parody.

How do you use My Ancestor :)?

Pick any figure, draw or paste them in profile looking up at an unrelated bust, statue or sarcophagus, and add 'My Ancestor :)' as the thought in crude MS Paint style.

Is My Ancestor :) still popular?

Documented activity is concentrated in 2016 and 2017 on 4chan and Reddit. No source in this record shows current circulation, so the format sits as a classic /pol/ exploitable rather than a currently trending one.

My Ancestor :)

2016image macroclassic

Published November 14, 2026

'My Ancestor :)' is an image macro format showing a figure gazing up at a bust, sarcophagus or statue of someone who looks nothing like them, captioned with the proud thought 'My Ancestor :).' It started in April 2016 on 4chan's /pol/ as a WE WUZ KINGS race joke, then mutated by December 2016 into Nordic versus Mediterranean rivalries and nonsense parody edits5.

4chan memes ms paint memes race and identity memes exploitable templates 2016 memes

Overview

A typical edit sets up a visual gap between the viewer and the claimed ancestor. In the earliest drawn version, a modern figure of one ethnicity looks up at a sarcophagus or bust of a very different one in side profile, with the thought 'My Ancestor :)' sitting above their head3. Deliberately crude MS Paint linework is part of the template's signature look.

Later edits swapped the figures for species, time periods or fictional groups. The December 2016 Nordic and Mediterranean variant showed a modern man staring at a Neanderthal bust4, and Mediterranean /pol/ posters flipped the setup to mock Finns or Nordics who claimed Rome, Greece or the Mongols as forebears5. Captions range from pointed racial jabs to absurd parody pairings with no plausible link between the two figures5.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Facebook (source photo caption) / 4chan /pol/ (drawn template and viral spread)

Key People

Unknown

Date

2016

On January 15, 2014, knotofstone.com published a set of photographs about researchers analyzing Pharaoh Tutankhamun's remains. One image showed a woman of Sub-Saharan African descent viewing the sarcophagus from the side1. The Facebook page Unapologetically Black later captioned the photo 'That moment You realize That Royalty is In your DNA,' and a copy was reposted to Imgur on March 29, 2016 under a WE WUZ KINGS title2.

Anonymous 4chan users turned the captioned photograph into a drawn template. On April 4, 2016, a /pol/ poster uploaded an MS Paint version labeled 'My ancestor'3. That crude drawing, not the original photograph, is what later editors remixed as the recognizable format.

How It Spread

From /pol/ the template moved to other 4chan boards and to Reddit, where editors swapped the figures and captions5. On December 17, 2016, an anonymous /pol/ user drew a Nordic and Mediterranean variant showing a modern man gazing at a Neanderthal bust4. Mediterranean posters aimed the same setup at Nordic and Finnish users who claimed Rome, Greece or the Mongols as kin5.

On May 29, 2017, a poster claiming to be the original artist complained that Nordics were being drawn with the same skull shape as Black figures in the template, and uploaded a redrawn blonde and blue-eyed version5. The complaint changed nothing about how /pol/ used the format, and anonymous editors made their own versions anyway.

Timeline

2014-01-15

Knotofstone.com publishes photographs of researchers analyzing Tutankhamun, including the profile shot later used as the source image[1].

2016-03-29

The captioned Unapologetically Black Facebook photo is reposted to Imgur under a WE WUZ KINGS title[2].

2016-04-04

An anonymous 4chan /pol/ poster uploads an MS Paint drawing captioned 'My ancestor,' the first drawn template[3].

2016-12-17

A /pol/ anon draws the Nordic and Mediterranean variant with a modern man looking at a Neanderthal bust[4].

2017-05-29

A poster claiming authorship of the original drawing uploads a redrawn blonde and blue-eyed version in protest of Nordic edits[5].

How to Use This Meme

Editors typically pick a figure and an unrelated statue, bust or sarcophagus, place the figure looking up at the second one in profile view, and add a 'My Ancestor :)' caption as the thought. The common convention is a crude MS Paint rendering rather than a polished edit.