Sometimes a blank stare speaks a thousand words when someone's spiritually checked out of a situation. In 2025, perhaps no one embodied that sentiment better than B.O.B., the blue gelatinous himbo from the 2009 comedy film Monsters vs. Aliens.

His deadpan expression, lifted from the 16-year-old DreamWorks film and filtered through meme distortions and Android emojis, became the go-to reaction meme for people who were quietly overwhelmed by the absurdity of life.

Here's a recap of how the B.O.B. Staring meme went viral.

What's The Origin of the Bob Staring GIF?

The earliest known version of the meme surfaced on December 26th, 2023, when Tenor user @Big_Bob228icq uploaded a low-res GIF of B.O.B. blankly staring with a row of Android laughing crying emojis (also known as the "Face with Tears of Joy" Emoji).

The gelatinous creature had his mouth agape while his eyes shifted minutely, as if he were trying to assess the situation but failing.

But the first time the meme went viral was when TikToker @radaliensrift paired it with the caption, "Old people when the card reader says ‘remove card,’" on May 16th, 2024, racking up over 4 million plays and 700,000 likes on the platform since.

How Did the Bob Staring Meme Spread Online?

B.O.B.'s faint, clueless smile also made him the perfect avatar for reactions that scream, "Are you serious right now, bro?"

After gaining momentum on TikTok, the meme migrated to Instagram in late May 2024, with Instagram user @memesforjesus using it to joke about a fellow Christian saying something "borderline blasphemous."

The meme truly took off in late 2024 and early 2025 as users began sharing alternate versions of it, most notably the two-eyed variant uploaded by Tenor user @car_denied on November 25th, 2024.

The meme hit critical mass in February 2025 when X user @jilroberts posted, "this is my reaction to everything in life recently," earning over 470,000 likes in a month.

A week later, X user @yubeeri's caption, "white people getting into Janet Jackson," racked up over 40,000 likes in just a couple of days as the format continued spreading online.

What's With People Redrawing the Bob Staring Meme?

As with all great reaction formats, the internet eventually took a Sharpie to it. In June 2025, hand-drawn and crudely recreated versions of B.O.B.'s stare began circulating online.

On June 9th, X user @featureme posted a scribbly illustration captioned, "just discovered I have free will," gathering over 107,000 likes in two days.

The following day, another X user by the name of @idkwahatimdoing uploaded a digital recreation, titled "Help my gifs aren’t working," which blew up with 2.7 million views and 270,000 likes in just a day.

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For the full history of the B.O.B. Staring meme, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.