A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.

Howard the Alien

What this meme means

Howard the Alien is an animation of a metallic alien with long limbs who dances to a bass-boosted version of Lil Uzi Vert’s track “Money Longer.” The clip appeared in late 2017 and gained wide recognition in July 2018 on Instagram, Twitter, and iFunny.

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Origin of the animation

The earliest source of the animation is the 3D Animation Land channel, which on December 2, 2017 published a video titled “FREE GREEN SCREEN – METAL ALIEN DANCING.” The character was reportedly created in the 3D program iClone based on the ready-made animations “Opening” and “King Tut 01.” It is unclear whether the channel created the model itself or only uploaded it with ready-made assets.

The video was originally posted with a green background, that is, as footage for editing, which explains why the clip was so easy to insert into other people’s videos. The name “Howard” was coined by users themselves, and sources do not explain where it came from.

The Lil Uzi Vert track

“Money Longer” became Lil Uzi Vert’s debut commercial single, released February 5, 2016, and later appeared on the mixtape “Lil Uzi Vert vs. the World.” The track was not made for animation, but its futuristic synths suited the image of an alien well, and this pairing quickly became recognizable.

In July 2018, journalists at The FADER wrote that the song’s sound paired well with the character’s movements. That roundup became one of the first detailed analyses of the meme in the media.

First spread in 2018

The first known post with the animation reportedly appeared on iFunny on July 3, 2018: a user posted a dance on a green background, and within two weeks the post gathered more than 12 thousand votes. On Instagram on July 8 a video with the song appeared, and that same day YouTuber Kawhi posted the original animation with the track. The next day the bass-boosted version gathered its first few thousand views.

The FADER gives a different chronology: it mentions Instagram posts from July 1 and 14, 2018 and a tweet from Cursed Videos from July 13. The discrepancies in dates arise because different platforms recorded the first appearances differently, so it is more accurate to say the start was in early July 2018.

Remixes and formats

The meme quickly spread into dozens of formats: remixes, distorted-sound versions, parody edits, and a crossover with vocaloids. There are also videos in which the alien “escapes” from Area 51, and edits with fake news segments about his appearance in a city.

Captions usually play on the genre of the space story. The FADER journalist cites the joke “Close Encounters of Howard the Alien,” which combines a film title with the character’s name. A typical news-style caption reads “BREAKING: alien dancing in a warehouse, witnesses in shock,” and this format lets Howard be inserted into any narrative frame.

Why the meme works

The meme’s main strength is the simplicity of its movement. The character repeats the same series of gestures in time with the bass, and the viewer doesn’t need context to feel the rhythm. The long limbs and metallic shine make him visually noticeable even in a small preview.

Besides, the animation loops and edits easily, which makes it convenient for short videos where speed of perception matters. That is why Howard remains a frequent guest in remixes even after the first surge of interest passed.

What to remember about the meme

For the catalog it is important not to mix up three different points: the date the animation was created, the date of the song, and the date of mass spread. They belong to different events, and each is confirmed by separate sources.

One meme encyclopedia notes that some view counts and votes in the sources are outdated, and one of the earliest videos has now been deleted. So the figures in the text are given as recorded at the time the materials were published, not as current.