# Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson is the American astrophysicist whose viral YouTube clips, tweets, and rage-comic reaction face turned him into one of the internet's favorite pop-science figures. Between 2011 and 2016 he became a fixture on Reddit and Twitter, spawning the 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here' image macro and a long-running run of well-actually tweets that made him a running joke online.
## Origin
Tyson's rise as a meme was tied to a run of viral video clips on YouTube. On November 22, 2006, user agillesp123 uploaded a clip of Tyson describing to Richard Dawkins how to talk to the public about science, which pulled in more than 1.9 million views over the following years[1]. On March 2, 2012, Max Schlickenmeyer's video of Tyson answering 'What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?' passed 4 million views within a year, cementing him as YouTube's go-to talking-head astrophysicist[6].
The reaction-image version has a more specific birth. The rage-comic outline was traced from a frame in a Big Think interview about longevity uploaded to YouTube on June 3, 2011, in which Tyson pulls a non-plussed face while explaining that Isaac Newton invented calculus before turning 26[1]. That still was cropped into the 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here' template that later flooded rage comics and image boards[1].
- **Platform:** YouTube (source clip) / Reddit (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2011
## Overview
The Neil deGrasse Tyson meme is really a bundle of overlapping formats built around the same person. The best known is a rage-comic style outline of Tyson's face lifted from a 2011 Big Think interview, usually captioned 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here'[1]. The line is used sarcastically to mock people bragging about minor accomplishments online, with the drawing's raised eyebrows and dismissive posture doing the heavy lifting[1].
Around the same image macro sits a second layer: quote pictures pairing Tyson's face with lines about science, atheism and the universe, which spread heavily on r/atheism and other science-leaning corners of Reddit in the early 2010s[1]. A third layer is Tyson himself online, where his tweets about grammar, holidays and pop culture became recurring punchlines. Coverage of his 2018 rant against the word 'awesome' was a good example, with Merriam-Webster subtweeting him by simply replying 'Neil.'[2][3].
The running joke across all three formats is the same: Tyson as the guy who cannot help but insert an actually, whether he's talking about Newton on Christmas or telling a rapper the Earth is round[4][5]. That well-actually tone is what makes the meme legible even without the picture.
## How It Spread
Reddit did most of the work turning Tyson from scientist into meme. He hosted his first r/IAmA AMA on November 13, 2011, which pulled over 44,000 upvotes and 10,900 comments before being archived, followed by a second on December 17, 2011 and a third on February 29, 2012[1]. Between the AMAs and heavy sharing of his quotes on r/atheism, Tyson's face and phrasing became house style for a certain kind of science-fan image macro[1].
On Twitter he kept feeding the meme himself. On Christmas Day 2014 he wished Isaac Newton a happy birthday in a tweet that pulled roughly 77,900 retweets and 77,100 favorites in its first week, then followed up with jokes about the arbitrary premise of Christmas that drew backlash from Christian users[1]. In January 2016 he corrected rapper B.o.B, a self-identified flat earther, tweeting that Polaris disappears by 1.5 degrees south latitude and that B.o.B had 'never looked up'[4]. B.o.B responded with a diss track called 'Flatline', which was covered by Vox, Gawker and the A.V. Club and answered by Tyson's nephew Steve with his own diss that racked up 837,000 SoundCloud plays in 24 hours[1].
The well-actually Tyson persona kept getting fresh oxygen from mainstream press. In 2016, Wired ran a lengthy satire imagining life 'in the world of' Tyson, where sunrises are terminators and birds don't sing, they emit vocal noises[7]. In April 2018 he complained on Twitter that 'awesome' should be reserved for curing polio or walking on the moon, which prompted Merriam-Webster's now-famous 'Neil.' reply and mocking write-ups from Mashable, CNET and the Daily Dot[2][3][5].
## How to Use
The rage-comic version is the simplest to deploy: drop the traced Tyson face onto any screenshot where someone is bragging about a low-stakes achievement and add the line 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here', typically as a sarcastic reply[1]. Quote-image versions typically pair a photo of Tyson with a science-flavored one-liner about atoms, the universe or religion, and were a common convention on r/atheism in the early 2010s[1]. On Twitter the joke is often inverted: users write their own well-actually corrections in a Tyson-style voice, or simply reply to his real posts with a single-word burn like Merriam-Webster's 'Neil.'[2].
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Neil deGrasse Tyson?
In meme terms he is an astrophysicist turned recurring online character, best known from a rage-comic reaction face captioned 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here' and a long run of well-actually tweets[1].
### Where did Neil deGrasse Tyson come from?
The meme grew out of viral YouTube clips starting in 2006 and Reddit AMAs on r/IAmA beginning November 13, 2011, plus a rage-comic face traced from a 2011 Big Think interview[1].
### What does Neil deGrasse Tyson mean?
Online, invoking Tyson usually signals a smug well-actually correction, whether the joke is on him for a pedantic tweet or on someone else being called out for bragging[3].
### How do you use Neil deGrasse Tyson?
People typically use his rage-comic face with the 'dealing with a badass over here' caption to mock bragging posts, or pair his photo with science quotes as an image macro on Reddit[1].
### Is Neil deGrasse Tyson still popular?
The reaction image is a classic from the early-2010s rage-comic era, and Tyson himself still generated viral moments as late as 2018 with the 'awesome' tweet dunked on by Merriam-Webster[2][3].
### What is the 'Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here' meme?
It is a rage-comic outline of Tyson's face taken from a June 3, 2011 Big Think YouTube interview, used sarcastically against people boasting about minor feats[1].
### What happened between Neil deGrasse Tyson and B.o.B?
In January 2016 Tyson corrected the flat-earther rapper by tweeting that Polaris is gone by 1.5 degrees south latitude, prompting B.o.B's 'Flatline' diss track that was covered by Vox, Gawker and the A.V. Club[1][4].
### Why did Merriam-Webster tweet 'Neil.' at him?
In April 2018 Tyson tweeted that 'awesome' should be reserved for curing polio or walking on the moon, and Merriam-Webster replied with a single-word 'Neil.' burn that became its own mini meme[2][3].
### What were Tyson's Reddit AMAs?
He did AMAs on r/IAmA on November 13, 2011, December 17, 2011, and February 29, 2012, with the first alone hitting more than 44,000 upvotes and 10,900 comments[1].
### Did his 2014 Christmas tweet cause backlash?
Yes, on December 25, 2014 he tweeted a Newton birthday note that pulled about 77,900 retweets in its first week, followed by jokes about Christmas that drew criticism from Christian users on Twitter[1].
## References
1. [https://www.wired.com/2016/04/neil-degrasse-tyson-black-hole-sucking-fun-universe/]()
2. [https://mashable.com/2018/04/13/merriam-webster-neil-degrasse-tyson/]()
3. [https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/neil-degrasse-tyson-awesome-tweet/]()
4. [https://x.com/i/status/293178359393951746]()
5. [https://www.cnet.com/news/neil-degrasse-tyson-wants-awesome-to-be-reserved-for-science-twitter-mocks-him/]()
6. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D05ej8u-gU]()
7. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/neil-degrasse-tyson]()
8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_2xGIwQfik]()
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Source: https://meme.com/memes/neil-degrasse-tyson
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