Forums / Discussion / Meme Research

Red = Ceiling Cat
Blue = Longcat

Notice how interest in Longcat coincides with interest in Ceiling Cat. It could be said that Longcat exists for the benefit of Ceiling Cat.

Ceiling Cat was originally depicted orange
https://knowyourmeme.com/system/icons/638/original/Ceilingcat.jpg?1250012197

In instances where Ceiling Cat is not in the Ceiling, he is often depicted as a white cat, just as Basement Cat is a black Cat.

The Catnarok Images are usually mashups of Loncat vs. Tacgnol, although some instances have appeared which clearly name the two.

It would appear obvious that Longcat is to Ceiling Cat as Jesus is to God, or Vishnu is to Krishna.

But, there is no mention of Longcat nor Catnarok anywhere in the Lolcat Bible.

In Matthew 1:18 of the Lolcat Bible, we hear about some cat named "Baby Jeebus"

Da burth of Baby Jeebus

18 Now, teh burth of teh Christ was liek dis: After Marry and Joseph waz all "We's gonna get marrieded, kthnx", but befoor dey cood hav hankiez pankiez Mary was all preggarz from Teh Ceiling Cat.19 Joseph was liek "I has virjn – NOOOO dey be stealin my virjn! Must hied hur".20 But when he was tihnkin, zomg, a BirdCat frm Ceiling Cat was liek, "Oh hai! Iz in ur dreemz, givin u messij. Don be scairdy cat. Taek Mary as ur wife – is virjn. But teh Forse is strong in tihs wun, lol! HovrCat is on hur, givn hur babby, srsly." So Joseph was liek " Oh yey. Iz gonna luv him and squeez him and call him George."21 But BirdCat was liek "No, you gonna call him bahbeh Jeebus. cuz he save kittehs frum bein bad kittehs. Kthxbai."

As extensive as the Lolcat Bible is, I'm thinking this Jeebus fellow never heard of Longcat. Or could it be that Longcat appeared to others under a different name?

What do you think?

Well when longcat was born, he probably wasn't very long now was he?

It would takke several years before he be of great length demi-god or not. Take Disney's Hercules, when he was a teen he was hella scrawny but quite strong. Then he trains with Phil and gets tougher.

Longcat probably started out as Jeebus and then when he got long "Longcat" seemed a better moniker.

In the LOLcat bible, Jesus is portrayed by Happy Cat.

from the LOLCat Bible Guidelines :

"Common Word Translations in the LOLCAT BIBLE
(TODO: As this section grows, we'll need to split it out.)

Earth
-Urf(s)
God
-Ceiling Cat
Satan
-Basement Cat
Jesus
-Happy Cat
Holy Spirit
-Hover Cat
Heaven
-Ceiling
Sin
-Invisible Error
Blessing
-Cheezburgrz
Seriously
-Srsly
Angel
-Birdcat or BirdKat
Sheep/Rams/Other sacrificial animals
-Mices"

edit: BTW, how do you do that indented quote thing. I can't figure it out, even after reading the advanced textile formmating tips.

@ Average Joe, good find!

@ Everyone

I've consulted with Ben Huh of IcanHazCheezburger.com and he's already responded. The following is our email exchange.

Dear Mr. Huh:

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Chris Menning, researcher / assistant writer for Know Your Meme. I have recently stumbled across some interesting discoveries in the mythology of Ceiling Cat, and after discussing it with Yatta, he suggested that I ask you for your expert opinion on the matter.

The idea that Ceiling Cat is God, and Basement Cat is the Devil has been widely documented through Encyclopedia Dramatica, through many images found on IcanHasCheezburger, and is written in the Lolcat Bible at http://www.lolcatbible.com.

I'm sure you're also aware of the legend of Catnarok, a day of reckoning resulting in the final battle between good and evil as fought by Longcat and his Nemesis Tacgnol.

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:Ultimatedestiny.jpg

As you can see from this Google Trend…

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22Ceiling+Cat%22%2C+longcat

shortly after queries for Longcat first appear, they begin to correlate with those for “Ceiling Cat.”

Now by comparing “Ceiling Cat”, Longcat, “basement cat”, tacgnol, and Catnarok in Google Trends,

we see that Ceiling Cat and Longcat seem to become inter-dependent as soon as queries for Tacgnol appeared.

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=%22ceiling%20cat%22%2Clongcat%2C%22basement%20cat%22%2Ctacgnol%2CCatnarok&cmpt=q

Queries for Ceiling Cat peak in Aprtil of 2007 just as queries for Catnarok have begun.

By May, queries for Basement Cat appear, at the same level as those for Tacgnol. Catnarok has reached its peak, and Ceiling Cat, Longcat, and Tacgnol all seem to slow while Basement Cat held firm.

With all of this playing out as it did, we could interpret this as the First Battle of Catnarok.

All of this evidence seems to point out that Longcat is the earthly avatar for Ceiling Cat, and Tacgnol is the avatar of Basement Cat.

I have even found this instance of the Catarok image macro, in which Tacgnol and Longcat are labeled as Basement Cat and Ceiling Cat.

https://knowyourmeme.com/i/8338/original/basement-vs-ceiling.jpg?1250197091

So it would seem that many who believe in Ceiling Cat believe that Longcat is the Messiah.

So the crux of the situation lies here:

The Lolcat Bible

http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

It is a complete translation of the Holy Bible in Lolcat. Ceiling Cat and Basement cat are addressed where appropriate, but there is a major discrepancy. There is no mention of Longcat, Tacgnol, or Catnarok anywhere.

Instead we read about a cat named Jebus.

So my question to you is this: does the Lolcat Bible represent a seperate branch of Ceiling Cat worship that is not compatible with belief in the prophecy of Catnarok? Or is this Jebus character in the Lolcat Bible another avatar of Ceiling Cat?

Matthew 1:18 of the Lolcat Bible states:

18 Now, teh burth of teh Christ was liek dis: After Marry and Joseph waz all "We's gonna get marrieded, kthnx", but befoor dey cood hav hankiez pankiez Mary was all preggarz from Teh Ceiling Cat.19 Joseph was liek "I has virjn – NOOOO dey be stealin my virjn! Must hied hur".20 But when he was tihnkin, zomg, a BirdCat frm Ceiling Cat was liek, "Oh hai! Iz in ur dreemz, givin u messij. Don be scairdy cat. Taek Mary as ur wife – is virjn. But teh Forse is strong in tihs wun, lol! HovrCat is on hur, givn hur babby, srsly." So Joseph was liek " Oh yey. Iz gonna luv him and squeez him and call him George."21 But BirdCat was liek "No, you gonna call him bahbeh Jeebus. cuz he save kittehs frum bein bad kittehs. Kthxbai."

It would seem that the Holy Cat Trinity is made up of Ceiling Cat the Father, Jebus the Son, and Hovercat the Holy Spirit. Have you found evidence of a cat named Jebus, or is Jebus simply another name for Longcat? Or is the legend of Catnarok seen as blasphemy by those who would read the Lolcat Bible? Is the Lolcat Bible blasphemy? Is there a universal truth in which Jebus and Longcat can coexist? We would love to have your insight.

Sincere Thanks,

Chris Menning

www.rocketboom.com
www.knowyourmeme.com

From Ben to me:

1) Holy shit. Good work.
2) I believe the reference to Jeebus is not to a cat, but the Internet Jeebus (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jeebus). In no definable reference that I can recall is Jeebus interchangeable as Longcat. I have never seen Jeebus appear in cat form…
3) Catnarok and the battle is a separate mythology of good and evil separate from the LCBible. I do not believe that LC is the earthly avatar of Ceiling Cat. I DO think that the parallel stories forked early on in the meme history in teh Chans.
4) I find it funny you called me Mr. Huh, liek I'm some dude from not the Interwebs. LULZ.
5) This was the subject of much rage: https://knowyourmeme.com/i/8338/original/basement-vs-ceiling.jpg?1250197091 because of the clear mislabeling of Longcat and Tacgnol: http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/04/07/funny-pictures-the-final-battle-for-our-souls-begins/ There were much calls for An Hero-ing.
6) There is much danger in the assumption that there is concrete singular linear line of story arc from Ceiling Cat to other named cats. There are some people who are trying to organize LC and CC as the same entity, but my recollection and popular assumption is not so.

Ben Huh
CEO
I Can Has Cheezburger?

In response

Dear Mr. Huh:

I insist on calling you Mr. Huh, as would only be appropriate from a junior member of the Rocketboom Institute such as myself; especially considering the implications that any misinterpretations of Lolcat beliefs are concerned. With that said, thx much for the halp! I have some srs bsns to attend to in cleaning up our entries for all of the characters I've mentioned.

-Chris

And with Average Joe's discovery of the Lolcat Bible Guidelines, it seems that Ben's interpretation differs from those who put together the Lolcat Bible.

We have a variety of views to represent here. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.

Now all we need to do is to create a photo to accompany every page of the LOLCat Bible, and it will be the best bible ever.

I'd personally like to see the start of a reformation of the Lolcat church in which Longcat IS recognized as the messiah, but I guess that was all just my petty misguided idea.

I just want Longcat to be Jebus so bad!
Sigh.
I suppose I'll document what is written.

*Gearing myself up to rework all four entries mentioned and create one for Catnarok.

Hey Chris you know what always cheers me up?

Dicking with the dispays at hardware stores. I do it so I can get called "sir".

"Sir, get off that toilet."

"Sir, please don't sing in the shower display."

"Sir, the store is about to close, quit playing with the lights."

That cheers me right up.

There is, however, the Leviathan and the Behemoth: Two mythic, biblical beings, the Behemoth representing good, and the Leviathan representing evil, who will, in the same matter as Longcat and Tacgnol, have a great battle. Then after the battle, the two beasts are feasted upon for an "End of the World" banquet. So I guess in our case, all the remaining kittehs can make the dead Longcat and Tacgnol into chezburgerz.

What about Monorail cat? He's important too, for he drove everyone to places!

Behemoth should be towercat.

@Average Joe, Leviathan and Behemoth appear in the book of Job as animals. They're not said to represnt good or evil by any interpretations I'm familiar with.

Behemoth appears in Job 40:15 as a description that many scholars have wondered what sort of animal is being described. The Lolcat Bible replaces Behemoth with "dinosaur"

Excerpt: Judaica Press Bible

15 Behold now the behemoth that I have made with you; he eats grass like cattle.
16 Behold now his strength is in his loins and his power is in the navel of his belly.
17 His tail hardens like a cedar; the sinews of his tendons are knit together.

Excerpt: Lolcat Bible

15 "Lookie itz teh dinosaur! RAWR! He haz grassez and sez yumyumyum

16 "He haz super hips and super tummy.

17 "Big and awesome tail, he has it. And don't even think of messin wit his thighs!

While some Bible scholars interpret Behemoth to be a hippopotamous, "young earth" creationists interpret this as a dinosaur. So it would seem that the Lolcat Bible has been interpreted for fundamental creationist kittehs.

However Leviathan is simplified a bit.

The Leviathan appears in in Job 41:1

In The Lolcat Bible, "Leviathan" is substituted with "great big fish"

1 Can u catches teh great big fish with ur claws?

Really? Well, this means I have been lied to. Now I'm off to kill the founders of those mythical creature collectible cards.

I always thought Ceiling cat was god, Longcat was The battle guy(St. Michael) and monorail cat was for transportation of Longcat's armies(not sure if there is a saint for this but it makes sense)

this is blasphemy of the best kind

I always thought they were memes, not anything divine, just memes.