Confused Mr. Krabs

Origin

The source is a shot from "Patty Hype," a season 2 episode of SpongeBob SquarePants that first aired on February 24, 2001 (Encyclopedia SpongeBobia entry). In the episode SpongeBob quits the Krusty Krab and sells his own brightly colored "Pretty Patties," which become a huge hit — until the burgers turn out to have unforeseen side effects and the customers descend the next day demanding refunds. The frame used as a meme is Mr. Krabs in the middle of that mob, eyes darting around.

One detail matters: the motion blur seen in the meme does not exist in the original animation. The spinning distortion and blur were added in post when the image was made into a meme, and they are what produce the impression of a mind that cannot process what is happening. The original shot is simply sharp.

Spread

The format was fixed on January 31, 2016, when Twitter user @isthatahmed posted the scene with motion blur added and the caption "When you just wake up from a nap and your parents already yelling at you." That tweet spread widely and locked in the template (Know Your Meme entry). Variations with nothing changed but the caption were then mass-produced on Twitter and on Reddit's r/blackpeopletwitter.

The meme has lasted because the feeling it names is unusually narrow and precise. It is not surprise and not anger, but exactly one state: being completely unable to follow what is happening right now. No obvious replacement image exists, so a cartoon frame more than twenty years old remains the standard reaction image for it.