Almost 21 years have passed since the earliest known photo of Ceiling Cat was posted to the internet. Although the meme isn't shared now as much as it was in its prime, it still holds a place in the most popular memes ever due to its longevity and lore depth created by fans.

So, how did an image of a cat poking its head through a ceiling make its way to the internet and how did it come to the point of being adored as a "God?" Here's the full story on the history of this ancient meme.

What Is The 'Ceiling Cat' Meme?

The Ceiling Cat meme is a photoshop meme based on an image of a cat peeking through a hole in the ceiling of a room. While the original photographer of the image is still unconfirmed, several people have laid claims to the image over the years.

Encyclopedia Dramatica states that the cat belongs to Wikipedia user Samguana. This claim, however, is unverified. In May 2012, Something Awful poster Quarex claimed to be friends with the cat's owner and posted a slightly different angle of the cat in the ceiling as proof.

Despite the issues with tracking down the ownership of the image, it's safe to say that the photo first appeared online no later than June 1st, 2003, where it was hosted on FunnyJunk.

How Did The 'Ceiling Cat' Meme Go Viral?

The image of Ceiling Cat came to be photoshopped in endless variations in the late 2000s, with different versions of the image often appearing on 4chan's /b/ board. Many Photoshops played on the notion that Ceiling Cat may be a god, a sentiment echoed in an Urban Dictionary post dedicated to that alluded to "Catnarok" mythology.

In July 2007, Kongregate posted a Flash game knockoff of Space Invaders called Ceiling Cat Invaders, while design blog Tubbypaws shared the schematics for making a DIY papercraft Ceiling Cat.

How Did The 'Ceiling Cat' Myth Start?

After becoming a popular meme in 2006, netizens started to create deep lore surrounding the cat, spawning a few different pseudo-religious mythologies like the Catnarok, which uses the Ceiling Cat meme as the "announcer" of the coming of the fight between Longcat and Tacgnol.

Some jokes converted biblical verses to LOLSpeak, posing Ceiling Cat in the place of God in the Bible.

"Oh hai. In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem. Da Urfs no had shapez An haded dark face, An Ceiling Cat rode invisible bike over teh waterz."

How Is Ceiling Cat Remembered Today?

The viral spread of another cat stuck in the ceiling in 2018 led to people diving back into Ceiling Cat memes, with many jokes continuing the theme of the Cat as the Divine. This can be seen in a Creation of Adam parody meme that shows Ceiling Cat showing Ceiling Cat 2.0 the ropes.

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For the full history of Ceiling Cat, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry here for more information.