The 'Your Foster Parents Are Dead' meme originates from a tense scene in the 1991 sci-fi classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. In the scene, the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) calls John Connor’s foster home to check on him, only to realize the T-1000 has already infiltrated the house. By tricking the shapeshifter into saying the dog 'Wolfie' is fine—when the dog's actual name is Max—the T-800 bluntly informs John that his foster parents are dead. Online, the template is used to depict situations where a deception is uncovered or to deliver a cold, hard reality check to someone who is blissfully unaware of the truth.