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What's The Origin Of The 'Oh No He's Hot' Meme? Squidward's 'Sponge Bob Square Pants' Line Explained
Squidward Tentacles eternal arch nemesis, Squilliam Fancyson, embodies everything Squidward aspires to but can never be: wealthy, talented, and worst of all, hot. After all, one of the worst things to encounter in life is learning that your hater just had the glow-up of their life.
Here's how Squidward's Oh No He's Hot line became the ultimate meme to address how sometimes, someone's abs can add the worst insult to injury. Here's where the meme comes from.
Where Did The 'Oh No He's Hot' Meme Come From?
The "Oh No He's Hot" meme originates from the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Squilliam Returns," which aired on March 15, 2002. In this episode, Squidward encounters his old high school rival Squilliam Fancyson. To try and calm his nerves before confronting Fancyson, Squidward tries imagining Squilliam in his underwear.
But instead of diminishing Squilliam’s imposing aura, Squidward's imagination depicts him as super beefed up. Flustered, Squidward exclaims, "Oh no, he’s hot!"
How Is 'Oh No He's Hot' Become A Meme?
Squidward's line became a popular meme a decade after the episode originally aired, with people sharing exploitable jokes inserting their own "Oh No He's Hot" moments into Squidward's internal monologue.
For example, on May 20th, 2012, YouTube[2] user Shallowpaw666 posted an edit featuring Avatar: The Legend of Korra characters, gathering over 100,000 views.
In June 2017 YouTuber Monkey Trouble uploaded a similar edit using Attack on Titan characters, gathering over 50,000 views.
What Are Some More Examples of the 'Oh No He's Hot' Meme?
The meme also made the rounds as a static image, as seen in a January 8th, 2021 post by Redditor /u/Bayoubanshee, whose League of Legends meme gathered over 1,700 points.
That same year in October, Redditor mdevey91 uploaded a four-panel edit using the character Ozai from Avatar: The Last Airbender to the /r/AvatarMemes subreddit. The post received more than 3,900 points in two years.
The meme also saw a resurgence in 2024 after people learned that the chief suspect in the UHC CEO shooting was an attractive 26-year-old Ivy-league graduate with rock-hard abs.
For the full history of Oh No He's Hot!, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.
