About

Pepe the King Prawn or Pepino Rodrigo Serrano Gonzales is a character from The Muppets portrayed by Bill Barretta. He is a king prawn from Spain with orange skin, four arms, big eyes and messy red hair who has worked as both a chef and an actor. He is often seen flirting with women in the series. In December 2024, Pepe the King Prawn became the subject of image macro memes on TikTok in which a photo of Pepe staring blankly is associated with captions that often tell embarrassing stories from the user's life, often set to the song "Like a Prayer" by Madonna, specifically "Like a Prayer (Choir version)" from the 2024 Deadpool & Wolverine movie.

Origin

Pepe the King Prawn first appeared in the 1996 television series Muppets Tonight. Pepe has become a fan-favorite character since his introduction, with Muppets puppeteer Frank Oz saying Pepe is his favorite Muppet in a 2024 interview.^[1]

Spread

2024 Pepe the King Prawn TikTok Meme

On November 30th, 2024, TikToker^[2] @caitycline21 posted an image of Pepe the King Prawn giving a blank stare, writing, "Sometimes I'm late because I'm spending too much time like this," garnering over 148,000 views in six days. This is the earliest known example of the meme.

Later that same day, the TikToker^[3] posted another version of the meme, this time set to a rendition of Madonna's "Like a Prayer," captioned, "The face I make when I'm trying to maintain great customer service while getting screamed at," garnering over 3.4 million views in the same span of time.

The format became notably popularized under the same original sound over the following days, leading into December 2024. For example, on December 3rd, TikToker^[4] @nursynurseemily posted a version of the meme reading, "The face I make when I say 'okay awesome' after my patient just told me they had 2 heart attacks and a stroke 9 months ago," garnering over 966,000 views in three days.

On December 4th, 2024, TikToker^[5] @kalimilan posted a version of the meme captioned, "me at work after accidentally saying 'slay' to a grown ass professional that makes 5x my salary," garnering over 13.8 million views in two days.

Pepé King Prawn Creator Response

On December 27th, 2024, Philadelphia Enquirer^[6] reporter Emily Bloch interviewed Bill Barretta, creator of the Muppet Pepé King Prawn, and asked him about the character's newfound internet fame. According to the interview, Barretta said he learned of Pepé becoming a meme format from his wife.

“My wife Cristina was like ‘Honey, have you seen this thing? You don’t understand, it’s getting a little crazy.’ It’s funny because this is her aunt. Pepé without my wife’s family and bloodline, her cousin’s mom, he doesn’t exist. [adding that he’s still in disbelief over his character’s resonance] How sweet that someone used him and people just loved it. I can’t believe it.”

Various Examples

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Ima Keep It Real With U Chief

Ima Keep It Real With U Chief refers to an image macro of Kermit the Frog appearing to console fellow Muppet Pepe the King Prawn with the text "Ima Keep It Real With You Chief!!" followed by an uncomfortable truth. The image spread primarily in deep fried with different captions.

Search Interest

External References