About

Basic Human Needs: Water, Oxygen, X is a series of memes in which three basic human needs are shown, the first two being "water" and "oxygen," with the third being a subject of the user's choice, often being a character or image that represents a given emotion or state of being. Memes using this premise have been posted online since as early as 2017, but were further popularized on sites including TikTok, Reddit and X throughout 2024 via a specific format that lists water and oxygen in bullet points, leaving the third bullet point open.

Origin

On November 13th, 2017, Facebook^[1] page Fnatic posted a meme showcasing basic human needs on a pie graph. The pie graph includes "water," "oxygen," "food" and "gaming," garnering over 4,600 reactions in seven years. This is the earliest known meme to use this premise.

On October 31st, 2022, the meme was edited by X^[2] user @MinecraftMeme16 to include Minecraft in the graph, garnering over 460 likes in two years.

As early as July 2024, a similar version of the meme using a list-based format, listing "water" and "oxygen" then a third thing of the user's choice, often as an image. The earliest known version of the meme was posted by Facebook^[3] page Ringodanyan on July 14th, 2024, who used a video of their cat for the third list item, garnering over 12,000 views in five months.

Spread

The meme became increasingly popular throughout 2024, with a CapCut template allowing users to add anything as the third item in the list going viral on TikTok. For example, on October 2nd, 2024, TikToker^[4] @aryobimo188 posted a version of the meme featuring an image of influencer Emme, garnering over 7.4 million views in two months.

On October 16th, 2024, Redditor u/SnooDonuts3871 posted a version of the meme to the subreddit /r/Dandadan^[5] showing Momo from DanDaDan hugging another character, garnering over 4,300 upvotes in two months.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References