# Philosoraptor > Philosoraptor is a 2008 advice animal image macro created by Sam Smith, featuring a contemplative velociraptor posed with philosophical questions, logical paradoxes, and wordplay riddles. Philosoraptor is an advice animal image macro featuring an illustration of a velociraptor in a contemplative pose, paired with captions posing philosophical questions, logical paradoxes, or wordplay riddles. Created by artist Sam Smith as a T-shirt design in 2008, the image was adopted by 4chan users in early 2009 and quickly became one of the most popular advice animal formats on the internet, reaching "God Tier" status on Memegenerator by 2011. ## Origin The word "philosoraptor" existed online well before the meme. One of the earliest known uses dates to December 28, 1998, when a ten-year-old named Hope from Kentucky used the term on the children's educational site EnchantedLearning[3]. Because "philosoraptor" and "velociraptor" sound so similar, multiple people arrived at the portmanteau independently over the years. A philosophy-politics blog called Philosoraptor ran on Blogspot starting in March 2003[7], and a user with the same name gained notoriety on the Democratic Underground forums[3]. The illustration that became the meme was created by Sam Smith, a designer who ran an online T-shirt shop called Lonely Dinosaur. Smith conceived the idea in early summer 2008, inspired by his college friend Devin, a philosophy major who was always hunched over his desk deep in thought[1]. Smith's friends had already nicknamed Devin "philosoraptor" because of this habit. Smith built the final image by combining several velociraptor images he found online, compressing them into single-color silhouettes and layering them together. He removed the jaw from one image and repositioned it to create an open-mouthed look, used an eagle talon as the basis for the raptor claw, and nudged the eye slit slightly to the right to give it that signature faraway stare[1]. He copyrighted the design on October 8, 2008, and began selling T-shirts through Lonely Dinosaur[3]. The earliest known pre-Smith visual of a philosophical raptor appeared on March 30, 2007, on a YTMND page titled "New species of dinosaur discovered!" which showed a photoshopped velociraptor from Jurassic Park holding a copy of Plato's complete works[3]. This predates Smith's design but used a different image entirely. - **Platform:** Lonely Dinosaur (original design), 4chan /b/ (meme format) - **Creator:** Sam Smith (artist/designer) - **Date:** 2008 (design), 2009 (meme format) ## Overview Philosoraptor features a single-color illustration of a velociraptor with one talon raised near its chin and a distant, thoughtful gaze, mimicking the classic "thinker" pose[4]. Captions are split into two lines of white Impact text, top and bottom, with the upper line setting up a premise and the lower line delivering a paradox, pun, or rhetorical twist. Typical examples include questions like "If guns don't kill people, people do, do toasters not toast toast?" and "If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?"[6]. The format belongs to the advice animal family, a category of image macros built around a central character on a colored background with humorous captioned text. What set Philosoraptor apart from other advice animals was its focus on intellectual humor rather than social situations or motivational messages[10]. ## How It Spread The jump from T-shirt graphic to internet meme happened in February 2009. On February 18, the earliest archived image macro using Smith's Lonely Dinosaur illustration appeared on 4chan's /b/ board[3]. Around the same time, Memegenerator.net launched and gave users an easy tool for slapping text onto the image, which accelerated adoption across the web[9]. By November 2009, Philosoraptor was added to the Advice Dog "variations" section on Encyclopedia Dramatica, an important marker of legitimacy in the advice animal ecosystem[6]. That same month, on November 26, an Urban Dictionary entry was created defining the meme[3]. Smith learned about his design's viral second life around December 2009. Rather than fighting it, he embraced the community's use. In an email, he wrote: "We're not exactly sure who started putting text over it, and far be it from us to try and control a meme." He and the Lonely Dinosaur team applied a Creative Commons non-commercial license to the image[3]. But Smith also noted a downside in an interview: "now everyone thinks that the shirt we're selling is just something we cut and pasted off the web, which kind of sucks for us"[1]. The meme's popularity surged through 2010 and 2011. On October 25, 2010, Smosh published a listicle of 20 notable Philosoraptor examples[3]. The following month, The Mary Sue posted a gallery of 50 Philosoraptor musings, calling it "the contemplative dinosaur that makes us think even as we laugh"[8]. By July 2011, Memegenerator recorded over 38,000 Philosoraptor instances across 12 different templates, earning it "God Tier" status on the platform[3]. The meme kept generating creative output into 2012. On December 29, 2011, YouTuber Chris Schultz released an original pop song with lyrics drawn from Philosoraptor captions[3]. On August 28, 2012, the animeme YouTube channel uploaded animated versions of Philosoraptor image macros[3]. The meme hit peak search interest in early 2012, after which it began a gradual decline[6]. In October 2013, a thread on Quora invited users to share their best Philosoraptor jokes, showing the format still had legs in discussion communities[3]. Observer published a retrospective on the meme's origin story in March 2016 alongside other classic memes like Trollface and Doge[1]. ## How to Use The Philosoraptor format follows a simple template. The image stays the same: Smith's velociraptor illustration on a green gradient background. The humor comes entirely from the text: 1. **Top text** sets up a premise, observation, or conditional statement 2. **Bottom text** delivers a paradox, logical twist, or absurd conclusion ## Cultural Impact Philosoraptor was one of the defining advice animals of the late 2000s and early 2010s, helping establish image macros as a mainstream internet format. Its success on Memegenerator, where it reached "God Tier" with 38,000+ instances[9], demonstrated that meme templates with a specific intellectual niche could sustain long-term engagement. The meme also highlighted tensions around creator rights in meme culture. Smith's situation, where his original commercial design was repurposed without credit, became an early example of the friction between meme virality and intellectual property[1]. His decision to apply a Creative Commons license rather than issue takedowns set a tone for how creators could engage with meme communities without alienating them[10]. The Mary Sue's 50-item gallery[8] and Smosh's listicle[3] helped push the meme beyond imageboard culture into a wider audience. Philosoraptor's format also influenced the broader advice animal ecosystem by proving that image macros could carry intellectual or philosophical humor, not just social commentary or motivational messages[6]. ## Fun Facts - The word "philosoraptor" was used online as early as 1998, a full decade before Smith created the iconic image[3]. - Smith's design process involved combining multiple velociraptor images with an eagle talon, which he flattened and edited to look like a raptor claw[1]. - The Blogspot blog "Philosoraptor" that ran starting in 2003 was a politics and philosophy blog completely unrelated to the meme[7]. - Google search interest for Philosoraptor peaked in December 2008, just two months after Smith filed his copyright[3]. - The meme was grouped alongside "stoner memes" like Conspiracy Keanu, with users joking that Philosoraptor "asks the questions the sheep don't even think about"[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Philosoraptor? Philosoraptor is an advice animal image macro featuring an illustrated velociraptor in a thinking pose, captioned with philosophical questions, paradoxes, and wordplay riddles[6]. ### Where did Philosoraptor come from? The illustration was created by artist Sam Smith in summer 2008 as a T-shirt design for his shop Lonely Dinosaur, copyrighted on October 8, 2008. It became a meme when 4chan users began adding text captions to it in February 2009[3]. ### What does Philosoraptor mean? It's a portmanteau of "philosopher" and "velociraptor." The meme uses a dinosaur as a stand-in for deep thinking, posing questions that range from genuinely puzzling to intentionally absurd[4]. ### How do you use Philosoraptor? Place a premise or setup question on the top of the image and a paradoxical or humorous conclusion on the bottom. The best captions ask questions that sound simple but reveal logical contradictions[5]. ### Is Philosoraptor still popular? Philosoraptor's peak was between 2009 and 2012. After early 2012, search interest and new content creation declined steadily, though the format is still recognized and occasionally used[6]. ### Who created the Philosoraptor image? Sam Smith, a designer who ran the online T-shirt retailer Lonely Dinosaur, created the illustration in summer 2008. He was inspired by his philosophy-major friend Devin, who earned the nickname "philosoraptor" among their social circle[1]. ### Did Sam Smith profit from the meme? Smith's original intent was to sell T-shirts, but the meme's viral spread actually undercut his business. People assumed his shirts were copied from the internet rather than being the original source[1]. ### What is the oldest use of the word "philosoraptor"? The earliest documented online use is from December 28, 1998, when a ten-year-old named Hope from Kentucky used it on the children's site EnchantedLearning[3]. ### What does "God Tier" mean on Memegenerator? It was the highest popularity ranking on Memegenerator.net. Philosoraptor reached it by July 2011 with over 38,000 instances and 12 template variations[3]. ### How did Sam Smith react to the meme? He embraced it. In December 2009, Smith applied a Creative Commons non-commercial license to the image, allowing free meme use while preserving his commercial rights for merchandise[3]. ## References 1. [Philosoraptor | Meme Generator]() 2. [5 Meme Origin Stories: Doge, Scumbag Steve, Trollface, Philosoraptor | Observer]() 3. [The History of Stoner Memes: Stanley, Dogs, Keanu, Greg, & Celebrities]() 4. [Philosoraptor - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Philosoraptor - Urban Dictionary]() 6. [Urban Dictionary: Philosoraptor]() 7. [Philosoraptor – Meaning, Origin, Usage]() 8. [Philosoraptor]() 9. [50 Best Philosoraptor Musings | The Mary Sue]() 10. [Google Search]() 11. [Philosoraptor Meme — Origin, Meaning, History | MemesGuy]() 12. [Philosoraptor | Meme Reference]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/philosoraptor Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library