Pepe the Frog
TL;DR · OriginPepe the Frog is a character created by the American cartoonist Matt Furie. He first appeared in the 2005 webcomic Boy’s Club, which Furie posted as a series of blog en…
Origin
Pepe the Frog is a character created by the American cartoonist Matt Furie. He first appeared in the 2005 webcomic Boy’s Club, which Furie posted as a series of blog entries on Myspace. Pepe is a green anthropomorphic frog in a blue t-shirt, one of four teenage characters who hang around together alongside Brett, Andy and Landwolf.
The meme began with a single panel. A strip in which Pepe pulls his trousers down to his ankles to urinate and says ‘feels good man’ spread on 4chan’s /b/ board in early 2008, and for the rest of that year Pepe was effectively the ‘Feels Good Man’ reaction image. Versions with altered expressions followed, splitting the character into an emotional set: sad Pepe, angry Pepe, smug Pepe.
Spread and misuse
The trouble came around the 2016 US presidential election, when Pepe was used at scale by the alt-right and by supporters of Donald Trump, to the point of being classified as a hate symbol. Furie objected to what had been done with his character and set out to reclaim it, a process documented in the 2020 film Feels Good Man, directed by Arthur Jones.
What makes Pepe unusual is that the same character was also used in exactly the opposite direction. During the 2019 Hong Kong protests he appeared as a symbol of freedom and resistance. One drawing, entirely different meanings depending on place and context.
Usage
- Expression-specific versions used as emotional reaction images
- Paired with a line, as in ‘feels good man’ and ‘feels bad man’
- Deployed as a wholly different symbol depending on the community or political camp
In Korea and most other places he is used as an apolitical reaction image, but it is worth knowing that in English-language contexts the same picture can be badly misread.
Sources
- Wikipedia, ‘Pepe the Frog’ — the 2005 Boy’s Club debut and Myspace serialisation; the cast; the early-2008 ‘feels good man’ spread on 4chan /b/; the appropriation and Furie’s response; the 2020 documentary Feels Good Man
- Know Your Meme, ‘Pepe the Frog’ — the expression variants and their use as reaction images
- Artsy, ‘Pepe the Frog’s Creator, Matt Furie, Is Trying to Save His Lovable Creation from the Alt-Right’ — on the creator’s attempt to reclaim the character
