Pepe - The Original Dank Meme

NSFW - Language and Adult Themes

This is perhaps going to longest and worst post on this blog simply because there is so much to cover. In total our friend Pepe the Frog spans over a comic, at least 1252 submemes and so many variants that it would literally take weeks to finish this post so here's the deal. This post is going to be the highlight reel of some of the most memorable and altered Pepe's on the internet crème de la crème if you will. So sit back, relax and enjoy the sweet sweet sounds of the internet moaning in disapproval because their favourite variant was not mentioned.

Pepe originated as a character within the 2005 Gross-out comic Boy's Club. Written by Matt Furie, the cast consisted of a group of teenage monsters named Brett, Andy, Landwolf and Pepe the Frog. This comic and Pepe in particular first became relevant in early 2008 when one of the comic strips was uploaded on the 4chan's /b/ board. It depicted Pepe pulling his pants down in order to use the bathroom. This along with the expression "Feels Good Man" were the first among many Pepe variants to become popular on 4chan.

An example of Furie's Comic Boy's Club

Throughout most of 2008, Pepe was mostly affiliated with the "Feels Good Man" reaction image. Shitposters began to use photoshop to edit the final frame of the comic so that Pepe's face was on the body of different characters. During the initial photoshopping of the Feels Good Man meme, the face and caption would be edited onto primarily pokemon. The phrase itself had also become separate from Pepe himself as shitposters would use the phrase to justify their actions or behaviour.

An example of early implimentation of the "Feels Good Man" Pepe Varient

The "Feels Good Man" variant, "Feels Bad Man" was first posted on January 22nd 2009. The varient is depicted as a photoshopped version of the original "Feels Good Man" meme with the smile being turned 180 degrees into a frown and the accompanying text saying "Feels Bad Man". This was taken even further when on August 17th 2009, a user on the 4chan body building forums posted a sad frog image of Pepe which said "Not Good Man".

A comparison between the "Feels Bad Man" and "Not Good Man" Meme

It was not until early 2009 that Pepe would be paired with the "You will never X" meme. This pairing is first seen on June the 11th 2009 on the /a/ forums.

An example of the "You will Never X" meme being paired with "Feels Bad Man"

Another notable variant of Pepe is Angry Pepe also known as Angry Frog or REEEEEE. Angry Pepe is a reaction image of a hostile looking variant of Pepe the frog which is used in combination with expressions of rage or frustration. The oldest use of this meme comes from 2014 where it was posted on 4chan's /R9k/ (ROBOT9001) board. The image is a greentext rant about normal people or as the user would refer to them as being; 'normal fags'. 

This image continues to be reused by all members of the 4chan community and beyond as it is such a strong statement of pure frustration and irritability. On February 9th an anonymous Tumblr user created variations of the Angry Pepe meme gathering over 12,500 notes over the following week. 

 

Variants of the Angry Pepe Meme

There are just too many Pepe memes to cover. I may come back to this in the future as a part 2 but, this is all I can do for now. So until the next time this has been Cluedo100 over and out. 

NOTABLE MENTIONS

To the following people; thank you so much for helping me gather information and images for this final post as well as help me choose what to write about!

Hannah, Jake, Jank and Riley - Thank you so so so much :) 

Dat Boi and the Rise of the Frog Memes

WARNING! Meme contains course langauge.

"Dat Boi" is the latest dank meme from this side of the internet. A distant cousin to another famous frog, Pepe. This unicycle riding frog, 'rode' onto the scene in April 4th 2016.

  Original Image of 'Dat Boi' Interestingly enough, this meme actually consists of a blend of two other memes. The term phrase "dat boi" actually originates from a photoshopped news report on FunnyJunk in 2014. The image in question depicts a young boy with an edited mustache and named "dat boi" with the heading being"Most Wanted Criminal Arrested"

The Original 'Dat Boi'

This then developed into the 2015 Tumblr image now known as "O Shit Here Comes Pacman" which depicts the video game character Pacman walking towards the screen wearing sunglasses. Though the original  post has now been removed, the image of the post managed to accumulate 75,800 posts well into the next year. 

Original Image of "O Shit Here Comes Pacman"

"Dat Boi" became a 'dank' meme on April 3rd 2016. This is when he was uploaded by the shitposting Facebook page entitled Fresh Memes About the Mojave Desert and other Delectable Cuisines. This then spawned a plethora of different variants and became viral within the underground shit posting community. 

An example of 'Dat Boi' during the peak of popularity
Dank memes typically become known as 'dead' once an individual of the general populous starts critiquing or making content about said meme. In the case of 'Dat Boi', this occurred when internet news site The Daily Dot released an opinion piece entitled "I killed your meme and I don't care" on the 5th of May 2016. The author Miles Klee goes on to describe and critique the meme for the general populous.  Currently, 'dat boi' variants are being created by the general public and the dank meme / shitposting community has outcast the meme. However, the subculture of shitposters known as ironic meme shitposters have dubbed 'dat boi' as being a major contender to the frog meme Pepe. Pepe and 'Dai Boi' battling to the death whilst other frog memes look on If you like what you have read, there will be more ironic shitposting and dank meme blog posts coming up over the next few weeks so stay tuned and trust me, the rabbit hole goes way deeper than this...