Happy Cat

About

Happy Cat is the subject of a series of image macros and exploitable images, and among the most well-known of LOLcats.. Happy Cat achieved fame via Something Awful in 2003, when forum user FancyCat is speculated to have original posted the image, although new inforamtion regarding the account brings this fact into question.

In 2007, a superimposed caption was placed on the image reading “I Can Has Cheezburger?” This image spawned both the LOLcats meme and the website"I Can Has Cheezburger":http://www.icanhascheezburger.com, as well as the NEDM meme. Happy Cat is of the British Shorthair breed.

Origin: Conflicting Information

The earliest known appearance of Happy Cat on the web actually comes from a a Russian cat food company, also called Happy Cat. Although the cat was not the primary mascot for the company, it did appear on the website as early as 2003, as evidenced in this archived Happycat.ru thread.

The Cat’s Identity

Happy Cat was a British shorthair named Frank who was born in 1994 and died in 2007. (Still Researching)

According to Encyclopedia Dramatica and Oh Internet articles, the Happy Cat meme began when the image was posted to the Something Awful forums in 2003, by user FancyCat. The YTMND Wiki page on the subject also points to Something Awful as the birthplace of Happy Cat.

There is no record of a goon named FancyCat on SomethingAwful. However there is a “Fancy Cat” (two words) who has been a registered user since 2002, but his post history is incomplete.

One of the earliest verifiable appearances of Happy Cat on Something Awful occured on May 12th, 2004 in an article entitled The Grocery Gauntlet written by Reid “Frolixo” Paskiewicz.

Sub-memes

In addition to receiving interest itself, some derivatives of Happy Cat have been created.

LOLcats

After a caption reading “I Can Has Cheezburger?” was superimposed onto the Happy Cat image, more images in similar fashion began appearing on the web, launching the LOLcats meme and the popular I Can Has Cheezburger website.

NEDM

NEDM is an acronym for “Not Even Doom Music”, which is used as a catchphrase online. The face of Happy Cat is now commonly associated with this phrase.

Oh God How Did This Get In Here I Am Not Good With Computer

Oh God How Did This Get In Here I Am Not Good With Computer is a catchphrase derived from an image featuring a poorly cropped picture of Happy Cat. This catchphrase is often used as an ironic way of informing a user that they are technologically inept.