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What's 'Pingas?' The Old YouTube Poop Meme And Why It's Relevant Again Explained
A seemingly ancient meme called Pingas has resurfaced online, featuring the Sonic the Hedgehog character Dr. Robotnik (aka Dr. Eggman) saying the gibberish word in a nonsensical YouTube Poop.
For over ten years now, Pingas has somehow stayed relevant, respawning once again via a slew of videos posted to Twitter / X this year. In turn, many are curious about the meme's origin. Where did Pingas come from and what does it mean? Let's explain.
What's The 'Pingas' Meme?
Pingas is a meme from the late 2000s, during an era known as the YouTube Poop era, defined by chaotic re-edits of movies, video games and TV shows that spliced together random scenes to create annoying (yet captivating) collages.
"Pingas" is a spliced quote from Dr. Robotnik and earned various usage on YouTube in the early days of the video platform's existence. Pingas fan art surfaced across sites like DeviantArt during the same timeframe where meme creators used early exploitable templates like demotivational posters to spread the meme.
Where Does 'Pingas' Come From?
The original YouTube Poop that started the Pingas meme was posted by a YouTuber named Stegblob on May 27th, 2007. The YTP was a cult classic and showed Robotnik saying, "Now you may lick my… Pingas!"
Unfortunately, the original video was taken down by a copyright strike. Luckily, there are plenty of reuploads online.
The "Pingas" soundbite is sourced from a 1993 episode of the cartoon Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog called "Boogey-Mania," in which Dr. Robotnik catches his robotic minions Scratch and Grounder eavesdropping on his conversation, telling them, "Snooping as usual, I see!"
Why Is 'Pingas' Relevant Again?
The Pingas meme has had a revival recently, mostly due to a select group of Twitter / X users who've made it their new inside joke. The revival can be traced back to a video posted by X user @chronakey in November of last year, who added Robotnik's "Pingas" to a video about a kid losing his vape.
— gabe (@chronakey) December 26, 2023
In a post shared by the X user in April 2024, he explained that the revival was not ironic and was instead an earnest homage to the famous meme.
Using modern video editing platforms like CapCut and Kinemaster, these new Pingas creators are bridging the gap between YTP history and the current Hood Irony, brainrot edits that utilize a similar set of editing skills and irony-poisoning akin to the early masters of the art form.
— cake (@NintendoGCN) March 22, 2024
Spamton infected by [[ SNOOPING AS USUAL I SEE ]] VIRUS???!? pic.twitter.com/8aLBR0KZB5
— i-win (@i_winxd) April 13, 2024
For the full history of Pingas, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.
