About

Axolotl is the name of a salamander-type species of amphibian. It is often called a "walking fish" because it has both gills and feet. A native to Mexico City, it almost went extinct in 2010 before emergency action was taken to bring them back to critically endangered. Unlike most other amphibians, Axolotls can become fully mature adults while staying in the water with gills, never setting foot on dry land. For such a niche animal that lives in a small part of the world, they have a large following online due to their representations in pop culture, such as the Pokemon Mudkip, and their humorous blank expression.

Origin

The first meme that put axolotls into internet culture was I herd u liek mudkips, because they are considered the inspiration for the Pokemon Mudkip. This is primarily due to their round face, small, four-legged, scaly body and gills that stick out of the side of the face. This is explicitly stated in the Know Your Meme^[1] image upload by user Atomsk that calls it an IRL Mudkip (shown below).

Spread

Since the initial wave of memes helped highlight the axolotl, additional references in meme culture and began to slowly include it over the next decade. Most of the memes depicted have to do with the facial expression of the axolotl, which can often be found doing a smile or POG face. This can be seen in the meme by Redditor u/MATR1XT3R to the /r/dankmemes^[2] subreddit, which received over 42,800 upvotes in seven months (shown below).

This meme trend illustrates the second development that helped spread awareness of axolotls: their inclusion in the game Minecraft. ^[4] Through being added to the game, awareness of them spread and a new wave of making memes kicked off in late 2020 following the announcement. Although not many people knew what they were at first, many memes were first made talking about them using their nickname of "the water dog." This can be found in the meme by Redditor u/demigod999999/ posted to the subreddit /r/MinecraftMemes^[3] on October 3rd, 2020, acquiring 238 upvotes in six months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References