The Are Ya Winning, Son? meme is an exploitable image series derived from an MS Paint webcomic featuring a stick-figure father walking in on his son playing a hentai virtual reality game while asking “are ya winning, son?” It often depicts the out-of-touch nature of parents when it comes to their digitally literate children’s everyday lives, but has been rearranged over time to play on variations of that theme.
Are Ya Winning, Son? Origins of the meme
Are Ya Winning, Son? has somewhat mysterious origins, as its exact birth point has never been documented. There’s speculation that it may have originated from 4chan based on its name “Anon-kun,” which references the anonymous users on the site. The first documented appearance of the meme was on January 11th, 2014, when it appeared on an Oculus Rift thread on the RPG Codex Forums.
Spread of the meme
The growth of Are Ya Winning, Son began in earnest on March 21st, 2014, when user Aejax submitted the comic on FunnyJunk in the comic section. A caption was added reading, “This is the future you chose.”
Ten months later, on January 29th, 2015, user bakoahmed posted an animated GIF on MemeCenter featuring a bunch of people viewing virtual reality porn for the first time positioned above the “Are Ya Winning Son?” template. The post gained over 1,600 likes and 80 comments over two years. (The original post has since been scrubbed from the internet.)
The comic appeared on Reddit later that year on August 15th, when user SheZowRaisedByWolves posted it to the subreddit /r/justneckbeardthings. It gained 950 votes and 60 comments before being archived.
A little over a month later, the image appeared on Tumblr via user eva-420, who reblogged a variation in which the song seems to have become one with his computer. The original post has since been removed but reblogs indicate it received over 2,600 notes.
Variations on Are Ya Winning, Son?
A variation on Are Ya Winning, Son appeared on FunnyJunk on September 22nd, 2015 when user magmamax posted a series of comics featuring the father from the original comic discovering that his son had taken his life.
The comments section of the post featured a variation posted by user hxhmaniac featuring Jotaro Kujo from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure alongside the caption, “Now I feel bad.”
Are Ya Winning, Son has since been used in countless variations, with users playing with the format in new and creative ways. If you want to make your own, you can find the template right here!
Are Ya Winning, Dad?
In 2018, Charlie Jones, the dad from 2009’s Coraline became a meme in the form of Charlie Jones On The Computer. The image was mainly used to depict someone mindlessly sitting at their desktop, bereft of vitality or verve.
In mid-2018, MythicalMicah posted an expansion of the original image on Reddit from the film featuring Coraline entering the room. The image was then combined with the Are Ya Winning, Son meme to become Are Ya Winning, Dad?
2020s resurgence
After a few years of dormancy, Are Ya Winning, Son? had a spike in popularity in May of 2020. This time, the meme had taken a more wholesome and anti-meme direction, in which the roles are often reversed between the father and son.
Some have speculated this is due to the acceptance and more inclusive nature of gaming in recent years. For instance, on May 2nd, 2020, a post appeared on Reddit from i9980XE featuring a wholesome variation. It received over 1,400 points.
On May 17th, Twitter user @helen posted another wholesome edit, which received over 7,000 retweets and 68,000 likes.
In 2024, the image has been recontextualized once again, with the son lying on the floor. A popular trend was a twist on the original, with the father entering and asking the son, “Are u ok.”
Meme examples
More MS paint memes:
- Graphic Design Is My Passion—the meme behind the internet’s greatest creations
- Bogos Binted
- A short history of the Spoderman meme
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
