The Peace Goose, aka Peace Was Never An Option Goose meme features the Untitled Goose Game protagonist, a goose, wielding a butter knife. It is the standout meme in a long series of Untitled Goose Game memes, with some combining the character and the phrase and others featuring the goose as the focal point with different captions.
Meme basics
- Meme creator: @erkshnrt/X
- Meme type: Exploitable, Image macro
- First appearance: September 2019
- Origin source: X
- Peak popularity: November 2019
- Popular variations: The phrase is sometimes combined with different characters or animals, with the goose holding various weapons or other items
Origin
The Peace Goose is the main character in Untitled Goose Game. The sandbox game takes place in the English countryside, where the goose menaces everyone it encounters. Players control the goose as it completes different objectives. The game debuted in Sept. 2019.
That same month, X user @erkshnrt posted a meme with the goose standing on an axe, with the caption, “Peace was never an option.”
Cultural context
The phrase “Peace was never an option,” was already popular online. It originated from the February 2011 film, X-Men: First Class. In a conversation between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr.
Charles Xavier: Listen to me very carefully, my friend… killing Shaw will not bring you peace.
Erik Lehnsherr: Peace was never an option.
Spread
Days after the original meme went viral, @CampbellxEmma tweeted her version. The meme uses a close-up screenshot of the goose with a butter knife in its mouth,
Meme examples and variations
Both aspects of the meme continue to enjoy popularity to this day. The Peace Goose has been edited into different settings and combined with phrases. Similarly, “Peace was never an option” appeared in other memes with different characters.
More animal memes:
- I’m Nothing Like Y’all: a fish meme
- The rise of the Hampter
- The Smiling Dolphin meme is actually a porpoise and he’s tired
- Vamos…a mimir
- ‘The government wants him killed on sight,’ and by ‘him,’ we mean this meme
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