Creepypasta meets Hood Irony in this weird TikTok throwback trend. If you've seen slideshows of people sharing cute baby photos and weirdly distorted men, you have stumbled across "Hood Cryptid" TikTok. It's a strange new trend where people bait-and-switch viewers using a #ThrowbackThursday photo, the punchline being a ridiculously engorged man in a ski mask, or a freaky-looking dude holding a bag of Skittles.

Often posted alongside the phrases "When I grow up I wanna be a police officer" and the line "Forgive me mother," here's the lore on the latest surreal TikTok trend.

What's The 'Hood Cryptid' TikTok Trend?

The "Hood Cryptid" trend is a TikTok slideshow trend used to satirize throwback posts. The trend often contrasts a cute baby photo with an edited "Hood Cryptid" image. The text overlay on the first photo typically reads, "Mother, when I grow up, I want to be a police officer so I can catch bad guys," followed by a photo of an unconvincing tough guy.

TikToker @qtbrozy was one of the first to post a meme following the trend, posting an image of an overweight man dressed in a Nike ski mask set to a Biggie Smalls song. The post gathered over 11 million views in ten days.

More TikTokers caught on to the trend that week, including @mustard_expert who gathered over 10 million plays and 1 million likes in a week.

Where Did The 'Hood Cryptid' Photos Originate?

Many of the 'Hood Cryptid' photos originated from the Instagram page @digitalwockhardt, whose been posting freaky edits of famous rappers for years now.

The Instagram user's influence on subsequent 'Hood Cryptid' edits is undeniable, with many of the TikToks directly lifting from his work, as seen in a post by @n0n3.th3rless.

What Are Some More 'Hood Cryptid' TikToks?

@moslapp Pls dont delete this app😭🙏🏾#fyp ♬ som original – Kakasz7🥀

@messibebsigaming ♬ original sound – Messibebsigaming

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For the full history of Hood Cryptid TikToks, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.