At first glance, some mascots may not appear aligned with a brand or product. Some cross the line of creativity to the point of genuinely sparking curiosity about the how and why.

That's the case of Kuruminha, the mascot of the Brazilian imageboard BRchan, an indigenous young Brazilian woman wearing red face paint and dressed in a loincloth who sparked worldwide curiosity in late 2020.

Who Is 'Kuruminha'?

Kuruminha is a mascot of the Brazilian imageboard website BRchan, a local version of the imageboard community 4Chan, created by an unknown user at some point prior to 2011. The character is depicted as a half-naked young black-haired woman wearing red face paint and dressed in a loincloth, with two feathers adorning her hair (one of the earliest known images shown below, left).

The character's name, "Kuruminha," originates from the native Tupi word "kurumi," meaning "boy," which led to jokes about the mascot being a trap.

How Did 'Kuruminha' Became A Meme?

The character had a limited online presence since it was created in 2011, with images originally posted on BRchan and archived by Wikinet being reused on other imageboards such as 4chan starting at least in 2014.

In late 2020, Kuruminha achieved more widespread popularity on 4chan and other social media, being the subject of fan arts and ironic memes depicting the character interacting with colonizers and the indigenous American population (examples shown below), and in hornyposting.

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For more information about the character, check out Kuruminha on Know Your Meme.