Yotsuba Koiwai (404 girl)

Origin

Yotsuba Koiwai is a character from the comedy manga Yotsuba&! who is often noted for her childlike, naive behavior.

Adopted by 4Chan

“Yotsuba Channel” is also 4chan’s name in Japanese. Due to this similarity in names, 4chan adopted the character Yotsuba Koiwai as their official mascot. Images of Yotsuba began appearing (and to this day appear) whenever a member is banned, a file is not found (also leading her to be called 404 girl), and for a time appearing on numerous banners and webcomics around the website.

Yotsuba’s innocence is one thing Anonymous will not touch; in a way, she is like Anonymous’ little sister. Usually, attempts at things such as Rule 34’s on Yotsuba will lead to extreme amounts of harassment, flaming, and even a ban.

Saying that she merely appears on things such as image macros and videos is an understatement; she is actually woven into the the history of 4chan, as the software that 4chan runs on was lovingly code-named “Yotsuba.”