About

Breloom is a dual-type Grass/Fighting Pokémon introduced in the third generation of Pokémon games, starting with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. The Pokémon's design features a combination of mushroom-like characteristics and some kangaroo/dinosaur-like qualities. Since its release in late 2002, Breloom has been the subject of numerous memes, fan art depictions and other content on the internet. Breloom gained viral attention in December 2024 after the arrest of Luigi Mangione, the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter, after netizens found Luigi had an image of Breloom in the X / Twitter banner of his account. The character's appearance in the alleged suspect's X account sparked a series of conspiracy theories and memes regarding the Pokémon's traits and abilities.

Origin

Breloom is characterized by its mushroom-like appearance, featuring a red and green color scheme that reflects its Grass typing.^[1] It is often depicted as a fighting Pokémon capable of delivering powerful punches and kicks using its mushroom-inspired fists. The Pokémon was introduced in the third generation of Pokémons on November 21st, 2002, in the Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire games developed by Game Freak for the Game Boy Advance console.

On February 4th, 2018, the YouTube^[2] page False Swipe Gaming uploaded a video (seen below) explaining Breloom's main characteristics and features in the game. The video amassed over 968,000 views and 20,000 likes in six years.

Spread

Breloom has generated a significant amount of fan art and memes within the Pokémon community, with many fans creating various fan-made content that showcases the Pokémon in different scenarios.

For example, on September 8th, 2016, DeviantArt^[3] user @jaidenanimations posted a fan art inspired by the grass-type Pokémon (seen below), which amassed more than 57,000 views and 2,500 likes in eight years.

On September 30th, 2021, Redditor mehchinegun posted a meme to the /r/ShitPostCrusaders^[6] subreddit depicting Breloom in a comic under the title "Breloom used the Secret Joestar Technique," receiving over 480 upvotes in three years (seen below).

On August 9th, 2023, X / Twitter^[7] user GlazeVEVO posted a Waiter! Waiter! More Toddlers Please! meme featuring Breloom, which accumulated over 295,000 views, 10,000 likes, 1,900 retweets and 30 replies in roughly a year (shown below).

Luigi Mangiano's Breloom X Banner

On December 9th, 2024, after the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, the alleged gunman who assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, netizens found his X account, which featured a banner with an X-ray image of his back, a shirtless picture of Luigi while hiking and the third-gen Pokémon Breloom. X^[4] user @esjesjesj posted Luigi's banner (seen below), writing "Can’t get over his banner. Pokemon, the surgery that most likely radicalized him, thirst trap." The tweet amassed over 10 million views and 157,000 likes in a day.

On the same day, X^[5] user 2beesqo posted a Breloom fan art adding the "Deny, Defend, Depose" phrase found on the bullet cases of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson crime scene. The tweet (seen below) received more than 17,000 views and 1,000 likes in a day.

Also on December 9th, 2024, X / Twitter^[8] user WhiteRaceSavior posted a I'll Handle Them, Mr. President meme referencing the event with the caption, "United CEO shooter lore just dropped," receiving nearly 400,000 views, 31,000 likes and 2,000 retweets in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References