Angry Pepe

About

Angry Pepe, also known as Angry Frog, is a reaction image featuring a hostile-looking variation of Pepe the Frog, known more for the relaxed Feels Good Man meme. The image is often accompanied by expressions of rage and intense frustration.

Origin

The oldest retrievable use of the image on 4chan can be traced back to April 28th, 2014, when it was posted on the /r9k/^[10] (ROBOT9001) board, referring to normal people as 'normalfags'.

Spread

The second instance can be traced back to May 9th, 2014, when it was resubmitted in a reply on the /pol/^[2] board to complain about recreational alcohol consumption (shown below).

Later that same day, picture was reused on the /r9k/ (robot9001) board.^[3] On December 30th, Redditor AliThePanda submitted the reaction image to the /r/pepethefrog^[8] subreddit. On January 19th, 2015, an anonymous 4chan user posted the image in a thread to express frustration with reading too slowly on /pol/.^[9] On January 31st, BodyBuilding Forums^[6] user goondip posted the Angry Pepe reaction image in a thread about the Asian Cup 2015 final soccer game. On February 9th, Tumblr^[5] user enemy-stand posted several variations of the Angry Pepe image, garnering upwards of 12,500 notes over the next week (shown below). On February 12th, an anonymous 4chan user submitted the Angry Pepe reaction image with a rant about gaining employment in the information technology sector to the /g/ (technology) board.^[7]

Interview with Anonymous creator

Anonymous : I’m the creator of this image and first used it here: https://archive.moe/r9k/thread/11493563/.

Miluk : As a fact, t's its first appearance, so I have no reason to disapprove. Can you go for a short interview with Know Your Meme user Miluk as a creator? First question: Where's the normalfags, 'normies' thing coming from? Did you come with this up all by yourself?

Anonymous : The actual origin of the term is from long ago, probably 2008 or 2009 on /b/. It has since become an integral part of /r9k/ culture. There has been much debate as to what constitutes a normalfag; some argue that people with friends are normalfags, some argue that non-virgins are normalfags, and some argue that anyone with even a remotely fulfilling life is a normalfag. Here's an example of normalfag bingo. The specifications of a normalfag have changed a lot over the years, however. Normalfags initially referred to those people who treated online interactions as they would real interactions (following the same "rules" or customs that they would in real life), incessantly obsessed over the slightest deviation from some arbitrary ideal or norm (i.e. "I'm such a nerd! xD"), or constantly talked about mundane, everyday topics that didn't provide for a lot of meaningful discussion. This is a portion of the image without the blur or tint that I have no intention of releasing, as additional proof.

Miluk : Thanks for such a detailed response! How do you want to be addressed over this? Willing to own a nickname? Full name?

Anonymous : No problem. I'd prefer to remain anonymous and thus be called just that, "anonymous." I'd also prefer that no links be provided to my Google+ page.

Miluk: I have found this on /s4s/. Are you user Bippy? Is he any way related to you? I combined your cutout of the version without blur and it matches. Full image:

Anonymous : Can't say that I am. They definitely made use of the correct colors from the snippet you uploaded on the page, but the contours are very different from mine. Interesting find.

Miluk : Compared the second time. As you said, each one is different. Thanks for the conversation!

Notable Examples

Search Interest

External References