Hydrogen Bomb vs. Coughing Baby

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About

Hydrogen Bomb vs. Coughing Baby refers to a versus image macro hyping up a duel between a hydrogen bomb and a coughing baby. Online, the image and its redrawn versions have been used to humorously comment on unfair matchups.

Origin

The creator of the image is currently unknown. The image, which is a versus screen for a hypothetical battle between a hydrogen bomb and a coughing baby, was likely first posted in late October or early November 2022. On November 7th, Twitter^[1] user @lesbobomb referenced the image in a tweet. On November 13th, Twitter^[2] user @SKULLHORNETS made the earliest found upload of the image, making a joke about Pokémon Scarlet and Violet versions, with the post gaining over 1,700 retweets and 12,200 likes (image shown below, left; tweet shown below, right).

Spread

On November 15th, 2022, Twitter user @MailOrdrhusband tweeted the image, captioning it, "Loud battle of the century." Later that day, Tumblr^[3] user babypenguinfrommario64 posted a screenshot of the tweet, with the post gaining over 19,000 reblogs and 24,300 likes on the website in one month.

Starting in mid-November 2022, the image was used as a humorous comment on unfair matchups. For example, on November 2022, Twitter^[4] user @_xiadynasty posted the image next to a thumbnail for a YouTube video "NATO + BRICS vs Rest of World," with the tweet gaining over 850 retweets and 9,700 likes in one month (shown below, left). On December 18th, Twitter^[5] user @DatChaosGuy quote tweeted a post about a matchup between Pikachu and Akamaru, posting the image. The tweet gained over 4,500 retweets and 53,600 likes (shown below, right).

On November 22nd, 2022, YouTuber^[6] Sad's Channel posted a mock Epic Rap Battles of History video based on the meme which gained over 77,000 views on YouTube in one month (shown below). On December 12th, TikTok^[7] user @.gonk.droid.official reposted the video, with the upload gaining over 370,000 views and 69,000 likes in two weeks.

In late December 2022, the image achieved more significant popularity on Twitter, with several users posting redrawn versions of the meme.