What's The 'Wow Cool Robot' Meme? The 'Mobile Suit Gundam' Satire Drawing Explained

The Mobile Suit Gundam is fairly known for its spectacular space violence and super robots merchandise. But Gundam is not just that, as ever since the first anime series, which aired in 1979, "anti-war" plots have been addressing the dangers and consequences of war. However, not all fans watch the anime for the plot, hence the "wow cool robot" meme was coined.

Let's understand how the wow cool robot exploitable meme became a viral satire about people who miss some subtext in certain pieces of media.

Where Is The 'Wow Cool Robot' Meme From?

"Wow cool robot" is an exploitable drawing inspired by the "You missed the joke" meme, which shows a person and the text "joke" flying over its head, used to poke fun at someone's inability to appreciate or understand a joke (shown below, left).

In this version of the meme, instead of a joke, X user @Random_Factor drew in May 2016 a Gundam robot shooting a laser with the text "War is bad," which misses the person in front of it, saying "Wow cool robot." (shown below, right)

How Did 'Wow Cool Robot' Became A Satire Meme?

The comic spread in the Gundam fandom over the following year, with some variations appearing on X and Tumblr, like X user @frogkaro redrawing of the comic referencing Blade Runner 2049 (shown below, left) and Tumblr user samael made a variation based on Warhammer 40,000 (shown below, right).

What Are Some Notable Examples Of The 'Wow Cool Robot' Meme?

For the full history of "wow cool robot," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.