My Little PogChamp Meme
Popular:
My Little PogChamp
About
My Little PogChamp refers to a catchphrase used in memes in which various characters address the viewer in an endearing manner, calling them «my little PogChamp.» The catchphrase received viral popularity in November 2020 following two viral videos, inspiring similar memes and being used for bait-and-switch videos.
Origin
On September 24th, 2020, Facebook [1] page Smol dom gf reposted an image macro based on 홍두제비’s (@hong_doo_jv2) [17] fan art of Kill la Kill character Ryūko Matoi, captioned «Ugh fine I guess you are my little pogchamp, come here» (exact origin unknown). The post received over 460 reactions and 400 shares in two months (shown below).
On the same day, Instagram [2] user mcchickenism reposted the image, gaining over 1200 likes in two months. Also on the same day, Twitter [3] and Instagram [4] user gothmei posted a dubbed version of the meme (shown below), with the post gaining over 236,000 views and 6,000 retweets on Twitter and 47,800 views and 9,700 likes on Instagram.
Spread
The post received viral spread online, with multiple users reposting the video on Twitter, iFunny and other platforms in the following days. For example, a September 24th, 2020, repost by Twitter [5] user @dexter_kw gained over 350 retweets and 1,200 likes in two months. A same-day repost by iFunny [6] user iRubes gained over 1,900 smiles. Reposts by iFunny [7] [8] users HatKid and LordAndSlayer made on the following day received over 1,100 smiles and 1,600 smiles, respectively.
Starting on September 26th, the audio from the dub gained popularity in lip sync videos on TikTok. On September 26th, 2020, TikTok [9] user rad_cool_bad posted one of the earliest TikToks using the script, gaining over 81,900 views (shown below, left). In two months, more than 1800 videos using the audio were posted [10] (examples shown below. center and right).
Prior to October 21st, 2020, an unknown user posted the first bait-and-switch meme based on @gothmei’s video, with clip cutting off to an fan art of Dragon Ball characters Goku and Vegeta, accompanied by «Shootaz» by Northside Boys. On October 21st, iFunny [11] user AddictedToZQuil made the earliest found repost of the video. An October 22nd, 2020 repost by Instagram [12] user nitro_if gained over 46,900 views and 10,300 likes (shown below).
On November 14th, 2020, animator PEAR哥 (@Peargor) tweeted [13] a fan-made animation of Ryūko Matoi saying the phrase (shown below). The post received over 477,200 views, 12,100 retweets and 68,800 likes in one week.
In the following days, both gothmei’s and PEAR哥’s videos gained popularity as source material for bait-and-switch memes, [14] [15] being cut off to memes that shame the viewer. Additionally, more My Little PogChamp dubs were posted in the following days; for example, a Team Fortress 2 version posted by Twitter [16] user @skurletonVA gained over 67,500 views.
PogChamp Meme
Popular:
PogChamp
About
PogChamp, also known as Pog Champion, is one of the oldest emotes on Twitch. The emote is used as a way to express excitement or surprise both genuinely or sarcastically. Typically PogChamp is spammed during a stream when something exciting happens, such as pulling off a clutch kill or play, but the emote can also be used in a trolling fashion where there is no hype, like a streamer failing a challenge or being killed in a mundane setting.
In 2020, phrases PogChamp and its derivatives POGGERS and Pog gained significant presence in online slang, often used to express hype and other positive emotions. The word PogChamp saw use as a term of endearment, as in My Little PogChamp.
The emote was banned by Twitch in January 2021 after a controversial tweet from Gootecks regarding the storming of the U.S. Capitol was posted, citing that he was “encouraging further violence.”
Origin
The iconic image behind PogChamp was first seen in a Cross Counter TV video from 2010, which features an outtake of streamer and professional Street Fighter player Ryan Gutierrez, better known as Gootecks, making an exaggerated face with his mouth and eyes wide open in surprise after the cameraman bumped into his tripod and shook the camera (alongside fellow streamer Mike Ross). On November 26th, 2010, the outtake was uploaded to YouTube found below.
Though popularized on Twitch, the image is rumored to have originally surfaced on the website 4chan before spreading elsewhere. The image was used on 4chan within the gaming community shortly after the 2011 “Pogs Championship” video (shown below) was uploaded when users stripped stills of Gutierrez’s shocked face and began using these to express surprise or excitement throughout the website in a number of threads.
Spread
By 2012, Twitch added the now-famous face of the surprised Gutierrez from the original video to its pool of global emotes with the name “PogChamp.” As of January 2020, the emote is used on average over half a million times per day on Twitch [1] but consistently spikes to over a million uses on certain days. After a massive boost to his renown as the image became widespread on the internet, Gutierrez boomed in popularity and later went on to sell merchandise around the image.
YouTube channel theScore esports released a video discussing the story behind the Twitch emote back on May 26th, 2017 where resident meme expert Josh Bury takes a deep dive into PogChamp history. Since being uploaded, the video has garnered over 663,000 views despite releasing many years after the meme’s origin.
Strongly associated with gaming culture and Twitch’s platform specifically, the meme has near-ubiquitous association as an expression of hype within these circles, but can now be seen as a reaction for many situations outside its gaming origins as both image and word.
PogChamp Twitch Ban
On January 6th, 2021, during the protests taking place in Washington D.C., Gootecks posed a question on his Twitter [3] account regarding the woman who was shot and killed by police during the storming of the Capitol Building (seen below).
At around 9 p.m. that same day, Twitch then announced on its Twitter [4] account that they’d made the decision to ban the emote from the platform citing Gootecks “encouraging further violence” via his tweet (shown below).
24-Hour Rotation Solution
On January 8th, 2021, Twitch announced it would be introducing a new «PogChamp» face every 24 hours, picking from popular streamers on the platform. The first face chosen was that of Kenny «Unroolie» McWild.
You know what? In the spirit of figuring out 2021 together, let’s just roll with it for now!