God That Would Be Awful

About

God That Would Be Awful refers to a series of memes based on a prominent version of the Hmm Today I Will exploitable. In 2023, a panel in which a person holds an infant and introspects about intrusive thoughts and awful possibilities gained virality online.

Origin

The God That Would Be Awful meme is derived from a prevalent version of the Hmm Today I Will format that evolved over a series of memes in which a man murders his infant son (shown below). The first version of the meme in which the entire format was subverted to be the man's intrusive thoughts was posted in late 2019. On December 15th, 2019, iFunny^[1] user SweatShop made the earliest post of this meme, gaining over 150 smiles on the app (original author of the edit is unknown).

Spread

The panel appeared in further edits of ironic Hmm Today I Will memes circulated in 2019 and 2020 (examples shown below).^[2]

Starting in May 2023, the panel regained popularity online as an independent meme format, with users editing various things "that would be awful" into the thought bubble. On May 4th, Twitter user @zuza_real posted a meme about installing Skyrim that received over 3,500 retweets and 23,300 likes in two months (shown below). On May 5th, 2023, iFunny^[4] user ASIS made a reupload that received over 4,200 smiles in two months.

More similar edits, primarily about installing various video games, were shared on Facebook,^[5] Instagram^[6] and other sites in the following months.

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References