Pedobear Crosses Over

2002

Date: Japanese origin 2002 (Kuma) · 4chan adoption 2003 onward · Place: 2chan (Japan) · 4chan /b/ (United States) · Figures: anonymous 2chan ASCII artists, original · anonymous /b/ posters, importers and reframers · Tags: Mascot, Transgressive 01. Kuma Becomes Pedobear On 2chan, the Japanese image-board predecessor to 4chan, an ASCII bear named Kuma appears around 2002 with a generic mascot function. When the character is ported to 4chan in 2003 via the /b/ board's general absorption of 2chan culture, the bear is renamed Pedobear and recontextualised as the chan's mascot for posts involving underage subjects. Pedobear becomes /b/'s warning sign, in-joke, and self-conscious indictment all at once. The bear appears in chan-produced fake Olympic logos, fake police-blotter graphics, fake news chyrons. The joke runs on the audience's discomfort. 02. Polish Police File a Report By 2010 Pedobear has escaped /b/ entirely. The Polish national police issue a public warning that the bear is a symbol of paedophile predators online. Newspapers and broadcasters worldwide repeat the warning earnestly. The misunderstanding is the joke /b/ wanted. Pedobear is the case study for a 4chan injoke becoming a moral-panic object. The chan-produced mascot generates more mainstream press coverage than most of its sincere products combined. Sources • KnowYourMeme, Pedobear • Guardian, 'Polish police warn of Pedobear' (October 2010) • Encyclopedia Dramatica, Pedobear entry (archived)