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Pepe the Frog

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Pepe the Frog
Boy's Club character
First appearance2005[1]
Last appearance2012[1]
Created byMatt Furie
In-universe information
SpeciesFrog
GenderMale

Pepe the Frog is an a fictional character from Matt Furie's comic series Boy's Club. He became an internet meme when his popularity steadily grew across Myspace, Gaia Online and 4chan in 2008, becoming one of the most popular memes used on Tumblr in 2015. Beginning in 2016, it has been used increasingly as a symbol of the alt-right.

Pepe is often portrayed as a green anthropomorphic frog, having a frog-like face and a humanoid body.[2] The meme's original use has evolved over time and has many variants, including Sad frog, Smug frog, Feels frog, and "You will never..." frog.[3]

History

Pepe the Frog was created by American artist Matt Furie. Its usage as a meme came from his comic, Boy's Club #1. The progenitor of Boy's Club was a zine that Furie made on Microsoft Paint called Playtime, which included Pepe as a character.[4] He posted his comic in a series of blog posts on Myspace in 2005.[3][5]

In the comic, Pepe was found urinating with his pants pulled down to his ankles and the catchphrase, "Feels good man" was his rationale.[6][7] Furie took those posts down when the printed edition was published in 2006.[3]

Pepe was used in blog posts on Myspace and became an in-joke on Gaia Online. In 2008, the page containing Pepe and the catchphrase was scanned and uploaded to 4chan's /b/ board, which was described by Motherboard as his "permanent home".[3] It took off among 4chan users, who adapted Pepe's face and the catchphrase to fit different scenarios and emotions, such as melancholy, anger, and surprise.[2] Color was also added, originally a black and white line drawing, Pepe became green with brown lips, sometimes in a blue shirt.[5][6] "Feels Guy", or "Wojak", originally an unrelated character typically used to express melancholy, was eventually often paired with Pepe in user-made comics or images.[7]

"My Pepe philosophy is simple: 'Feels good man.' It is based on the meaning of the word Pepe: 'To go Pepe.' I find complete joy in physically, emotionally, and spiritually serving Pepe and his friends through comics. Each comic is sacred, and the compassion of my readers transcends any differences, the pain, and fear of 'feeling good.'"

–Matt Furie, 2015 interview with The Daily Dot[2]

Around 2015, as Pepe's usage was increasing, a phenomenon began on 4chan where users would declare certain variants as rare, known as a "rare Pepe". These images, sometimes as physical paintings,[8][9] were put up for sale and auction on eBay and posted in listings on Craigslist.[2][3] 4chan users referred to those who used the meme outside of the website as "normies" in response to the meme's increase in usage.[3] That year Pepe was #6 on Daily News and Analysis' list of the most important memes and was the most reblogged meme on Tumblr.[10][11]

During the 2016 United States presidential election, associations with Donald Trump's campaign, white nationalism, and the alt-right to Pepe were described by various news organizations.[12][13][14] In May 2016, Olivia Nuzzi, of The Daily Beast, wrote how there was "an actual campaign to reclaim Pepe from normies" and that "turning Pepe into a white nationalist icon" was an explicit goal of some on the alt-right.[15] In September 2016, an article published on Hillary Clinton's campaign website described Pepe as "a symbol associated with white supremacy" and denounced Donald Trump's campaign for its supposed promotion of the meme.[16][17] Also, the Anti-Defamation League, an American organization opposed to antisemitism, included Pepe in its hate symbol database but noted that most uses were not intended as such.[18][19] In an interview with Esquire, Furie commented on Pepe's usage as a hate symbol, stating: "It sucks, but I can't control it more than anyone can control frogs on the Internet".[20]

Notable uses

References

  1. ^ a b Frank, Priscilla. "The Strange Internet Journey Of Pepe The 'Chilled-Out Stoner Frog'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Khan, Imad (April 12, 2015). "4chan's Pepe the Frog is bigger than ever—and his creator feels good, man". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kiberd, Roisin (April 9, 2015). "4chan's Frog Meme Went Mainstream, So They Tried to Kill It". Motherboard. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Furino, Giaco (August 3, 2016). "Pepe the Frog's Creator Talks Making Zine History". The Creators Project. Retrieved August 11, 2016.
  5. ^ a b Mazur, AJ (August 7, 2010). "Q&A with Matt Furie". Know Your Meme. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Collins, Sean T. (July 28, 2015). "The Creator of Pepe the Frog Talks About Making Comics in the Post-Meme World". VICE. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  7. ^ a b Haskell, Will (July 30, 2015). "This guy created the frog meme that's all over the internet — here's why he's 'kinda pissed off'". Tech Insider. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  8. ^ Blevins, Joe (October 28, 2015). "Read This: Could images of 4chan's "sad frog" meme actually be worth money?". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  9. ^ Bergado, Gabe (September 10, 2015). "The rare Pepe trade is booming on Craigslist". The Daily Dot. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  10. ^ Nair, Roshni (December 27, 2015). "Best of 2015: 15 memes that won the internet". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  11. ^ "Here are the 10 most important memes of 2015, according to Tumblr". Irish Examiner. December 8, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  12. ^ Sarlin, Benjy (August 25, 2016). "5 Things to Know About the 'Right'". NBC News. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  13. ^ Dovere, Edward-Isaac (September 12, 2016). "Why Clinton's bad weekend won't rewrite the race". Politico. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  14. ^ Kampeas, Ron (September 1, 2016). "Do alt-right's white identity politics sanction anti-Semitism?". J Weekly. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  15. ^ Nuzzi, Olivia (May 26, 2016). "How Pepe the Frog Became a Nazi Trump Supporter and Alt-Right Symbol". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  16. ^ Chan, Elizabeth (September 13, 2016). "Donald Trump, Pepe the frog, and white supremacists: an explainer". Hillary for America. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  17. ^ Revesz, Rachael (September 13, 2016). "Hillary Clinton attacks Donald Trump for posting Pepe the Frog meme". The Independent. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  18. ^ Smith IV, Jack (September 27, 2016). "Pepe the Frog meme is now on the ADL's hate symbol database. Feels bad, man". Mic. Retrieved September 27, 2016.
  19. ^ "Pepe the Frog". Anti-Defamation League. September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016.
  20. ^ Miller, Matt (September 28, 2016). "Exclusive: The Creator of Pepe the Frog Is Voting for Hillary". Esquire. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  21. ^ "Te Pepe by David Astil". New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on February 6, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2016.
  22. ^ Hunt, Elle (May 14, 2015). "New Zealand's new flag: 15 quirky contenders". The Guardian. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  23. ^ Power, Julie (May 16, 2015). "New Zealand flag designs: Kwi, piwi or kiwi?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  24. ^ Resnick, Gideon (October 20, 2015). "4chan 4 Trump". The Daily Beast. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  25. ^ Dickson, Caitlin (September 12, 2016). "Trump's son, adviser share image featuring white nationalists' favorite cartoon frog". Yahoo News. Retrieved September 15, 2016.

Further reading

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