A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish is a three-panel image macro from September 2019 where a man wishes on a shooting star and the star U-turns to escape granting it. The format lets editors swap any wish into the middle panel, and Reddit repostings in early 2020 pushed it well past its Pokémon-fandom origin.
Origin
The earliest known post came from Redditor JohnnySparkxs on September 8th, 2019, in the /r/pokemonmasters subreddit[1]. In that version, the man says "Look, a falling star" before wishing "I wish I could scout Blue," a nod to the Pokémon Masters mobile game's gacha pull for the character Blue. The post pulled in over 570 points with a 98% upvote ratio[1].
- Platform: Reddit (viral spread)
- Creator: JohnnySparkxs
- Date: 2019
Overview
A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish is a three-panel image macro built around a small piece of visual comedy. The first panel shows a man spotting a shooting star, the second panel displays the wish he makes, and the third panel shows the star abruptly turning the opposite direction to escape the request[1]. The joke works as a punchline: the star literally refuses to grant whatever the wisher wants.
The format took off because the middle panel is a blank canvas for any punchline, from self-deprecating one-liners about happiness[2] to niche fandom requests tied to specific video games[3]. Editors swap in whatever wish fits their audience, while the first and third panels stay untouched.
How It Spread
Nineteen days after the Pokémon Masters original, on September 27th, 2019, Facebook user ab0rteddreams posted a version outside the gaming niche with the wish "I wish I was happy" and the caption "lolfuck you," pulling in more than 980 reactions and 490 shares[2]. The next day, Twitter user @ItsJustJ0rd swapped in a wish for a Little Nightmares 2 level creator, showing how fast editors were remixing the middle panel[3].
The "I wish I was happy" cut migrated to Reddit on October 8th, 2019, when javaalien reposted it and earned over 2,400 points with a 91% upvote ratio[4]. Momentum built through early 2020: on February 4th, Redditor M4tik_ posted a variation where the star explodes and the man says "Finally," collecting more than 22,900 points in about a month[5].
The template hit peak Reddit reach on March 4th, 2020, when RetardGoblin69 shared a version to /r/memes that pulled over 35,000 points in under 24 hours[6]. Variations kept spinning off across the site afterward.
How to Use
Editors typically leave the first and third panels untouched, keeping the man's spot and the star's later U-turn intact. The middle panel is where the wish text goes, and the common convention is to make the ask specific enough to earn the rejection, whether that's a self-deprecating one-liner or a niche fandom pull request[5].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish?
It is a three-panel image macro where a man wishes on a shooting star and the star turns the opposite direction to avoid granting the wish[1].
Where did A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish come from?
The earliest known version was posted by Redditor JohnnySparkxs on September 8th, 2019, in the /r/pokemonmasters subreddit with the wish "I wish I could scout Blue"[1].
What does A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish mean?
The template is a punchline about denial, using the star's exit to reject the wish text in the middle panel, often a self-deprecating line like "I wish I was happy"[2].
How do you use A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish?
Keep the first and third panels as they are, and edit the middle panel to whatever wish fits your joke, from mental-health humor[2] to fandom-specific asks[3].
Is A Shooting Star Rejecting Wish still popular?
It peaked on Reddit in March 2020 after a /r/memes post cleared 35,000 points in a day, and it has stayed in circulation as a reusable template since[6].
