Sad Frog
Pepe stopped being a character and became a vocabulary. Each variant has a traceable first appearance: Sad Frog, the mouth flipped downward, in a 4chan thread archived on 22 January 2009; Smug Frog on /tv/ on 2 June 2011; Angry Pepe on /r9k/ by 28 April 2014; Apu Apustaja, the deliberately badly drawn version, on the Finnish board Ylilauta from January 2016; and Pepe Punch, winding up at the viewer, by 2018. This facet is the drawing itself, in the hands of everyone who redrew it.
Part of Pepe
100 moments in this segment.
- - Sad Frog in a golden crown. The drooping-mouthed frog drawn head-on wearing a bright yellow crown set with a red heart. Flat cartoon colours, no background.
- - Sad Frog head above a pink banner. A large close-up of the sad frog's face on black, with a strip of pink text running along the bottom edge of the frame.
- - Sad Frog at Machu Picchu. The frog is drawn into a photograph of the Machu Picchu terraces, wearing a shoulder bag and a gold pendant, with a gold sun motif beside his head.
- - Pencil comic strip with the sad frog. A six-panel hand-drawn strip in blue pencil line-art; the frog's droop-mouthed face appears in the right-hand panels reacting to another character.
- - Crying frog with long brown hair. A green frog face given long brown hair, a black top and a cross earring, with a tear running down one cheek.
- - Zoomed-in frog with bulging eyes. An extreme close-up crop: two huge white eyes fill most of the frame above an open red-lined mouth.
- - Sad Frog beside an emergency exit sign. The frog stands in a pale grey doorway under a lit red EXIT sign, drawn small at the bottom of the frame.
- - Sad Frog with a golden cross. The frog's face in profile with a glowing gold Christian cross floating beside him against a plain background.
- - Sad Frog resting his chin on his hand. The standard sad frog pose in flat green with a blue shirt, one webbed hand propped under the chin, on black.
- - The 1990 was thirty years ago image. Text reading '1990 was 30 years ago' with the 30 correcting a crossed-out 20, and a small sad frog tucked underneath.
- - Sad Frog in a rainbow beanie. A pale pink-faced variant of the frog wearing a knitted beanie striped in rainbow colours with a chin strap.
- - The plain Sad Frog portrait. The best-known configuration: flat green frog, blue shirt, half-closed eyes and the long down-turned mouth.
- - Sad Frog with purple anime hair. The frog redrawn with a lilac bob haircut and glossy pink lips over a pale purple background.
- - A grid of Sad Frog variants. A tiled sheet of small frog heads, each with a different accessory: gas mask, sunglasses, spectacles, headgear, arranged like a collection sheet.
- - Sad Frog in a red necktie. A larger drawing of the frog wearing a red tie and dark jacket, eyes cast down, against a washed grey background.
- - Realistic frog in a suit. A dark, near-photographic render of a frog in a suit jacket, lit from the side and framed as a portrait.
- - Sad Frog as a LEGO minifigure. A photograph of a LEGO minifigure with a moulded frog head and green and blue bricks for a body, standing on a table top.
- - Sad Frog on an oxygen mask. A photograph of a person's face wearing a clear breathing mask, with the frog drawn over it feeding the tube from a red canister labelled 'Memes'.
- - The Feels Sad Man paint drawing. A crude MS Paint rendering: a lumpy green blob with two white eyes and a wide mouth, captioned 'Feels sad man'.
- - Pepe Patrol firefighter mashup. A dog-frog hybrid in a red firefighter helmet with the words 'pepe patrol' beneath, a Paw Patrol crossover.
- - Bowser with a frog face. The Mario villain redrawn with the sad frog's eyes and mouth on his head, keeping his orange hair and shell spikes.
- - Perry the Platypus frog hybrid. A teal creature with the platypus's orange bill and body but the frog's heavy-lidded eyes.
- - Frog head in an animated scene. The frog's face is composited into a purple-toned cartoon frame, resting on what looks like bedding.
- - Cropped frog eyes and lips. A hard crop of the frog's face pushed to abstraction: two eyes on green, a pink mouth on a green field.
- - Small frog head on dark green. A little sad frog head floating in the middle of a dark green vignetted background.
- - The Tokio Hotel was fifteen years ago image. Plain text reading 'Tokio Hotel was 15 years ago' with a small sad frog placed in the lower left corner.
- - The Pepesi can. A blue Pepsi can mocked up with the frog's eyes and mouth replacing the logo and the word 'pepesi' in the Pepsi script.
- - Korean listing for frog tissue cases. A social media post in Korean advertising 'BAD FROG' tissue-box covers moulded as the sad frog's head, shown in two product photos.
- - Sad Frog as a bearded warrior. The frog in a metal helmet with a long grey beard and cloak, drawn in the style of a fantasy role-playing portrait.
- - Squirtle frog hybrid. A blue-green creature with a turtle's shell and belly plate carrying the frog's droopy mouth and tired eyes.
- - Sad Frog in a Michigan State cap. A drawn frog in a green ball cap sitting cross-legged, with a Spartan helmet logo and a caption block beside him.
- - Neon outline Sad Frog. The frog's face traced in glowing green and purple neon lines on a black field, like a light sign.
- - Frog onesie with a plate of cookies. A photograph of someone in a blue plush onesie wearing a moulded frog head, seated on a sofa holding a plate of cookies.
- - Sad Frog in a black and gold hat. A close-up drawing of the frog in a wide black hat trimmed with gold cord, red shapes filling the foreground.
- - Autumn ends, frogs settle down. A line reading 'Autumn ends: frogs settle down into the earth' above a frog sitting in a blue robe holding a long pipe.
- - Sad Frog in a Mega Man helmet. The frog wearing the blue and white helmet of the video game character, drawn against black.
- - Feels Bane Man. The frog's head fitted with the breathing apparatus mask worn by Bane, captioned 'feels Bane man' in a speech bubble.
- - Frog bodysuit on a city street. A street photograph of a person in a muscled green frog suit and red shorts, with pedestrians in the background.
- - September thirtieth versus October first. Captioned 'me september 30th vs. october 1st', pairing a plain sad frog with the same frog recoloured as an orange pumpkin.
- - Screaming pink frog with red eyes. A pink and purple recolour of the frog mid-scream, red pupils and a glowing outline, mouth stretched wide open.
- - Green-skinned man pointing and yelling. A photograph of a person recoloured frog-green with the angry frog's face drawn on, one arm raised and pointing.
- - The classic REEE face. The angry frog leaning forward with its mouth split open, tongue out and sweat drops flying off the head.
- - Angry frog wifi signal panels. A three-row image pairing wifi strength icons with the frog getting progressively angrier, ending at 'Connected, but no internet'.
- - Red-tinted shouting frog. A tight crop of the yelling frog washed in red, the open mouth and tongue dominating the frame.
- - Angry frog on orange. The shouting frog in bold black line-art with a white body against a flat orange field, spit flying from the mouth.
- - Frog made of lava. A deep-fried edit in which the frog's face is rendered in molten orange cracks and flame against a dark background.
- - Smeared red scream. The angry frog dragged into red streaks by a smear filter, the open mouth still readable at the centre.
- - Frog burning in flames. The frog's outline glowing orange inside a wall of fire, the whole frame lit like an ember.
- - Grinning angry frog on red. A bright green frog with bulging eyes and a wide toothy grin against a flat red background.
- - Teal frog screaming with red eyes. A blue-green version of the frog with a leafy crest, red pupils and an open shouting mouth, sweat drops around the head.
- - The FAAAA shouting frog. A brown and red angry frog with its mouth wide open, captioned about ordinary conforming members of society and a long drawn-out 'FAAAA'.
- - Birthday cake with a frog on it. A photograph of a lit birthday cake in a dark room with an angry frog image printed across the top.
- - Rage-face frog with REEE column. The frog drawn in rage-comic style, jagged teeth and wide eyes, beside a stacked column of red 'Reeee' text.
- - Angry frog dissolving into red. A painterly red-on-red edit of the shouting frog, the face pulled sideways into ribbons but still recognisable.
- - Flat brown angry frog. A minimal flat-colour drawing on pink: a brown frog head with a jagged tongue lolling from an open mouth.
- - A little upset. A red-toned angry frog above a black caption bar reading 'a little upset.'
- - Apu Apustaja in a white shirt. The rounder, simpler frog known as Apu drawn in a white shirt with big glossy eyes, isolated on black.
- - Apu as a hooded fortune teller. Apu in a brown hood leans over a glowing crystal ball in a cluttered room lined with shelves.
- - The standard Apu portrait. Apu shown from the chest up in his blue shirt, mouth closed, drawn against a plain light grey ground.
- - Apu in a hospital corridor. Three Apu frogs in a clinic scene: one pushed in a wheelchair, one in a white coat, one visiting, with a framed certificate on the wall.
- - Apu holding a bottle. A photograph of a hand gripping a spirits bottle with Apu drawn in alongside it, arms around the glass.
- - Apu making a heart with his hands. Apu sits with his legs out, forming a heart shape with both hands, outlined in a green glow on black.
- - Apu wrapped in a United States flag. Apu shouting with his mouth open, a stars and stripes flag draped around his shoulders like a cape.
- - Downcast Apu on black. Apu in his blue shirt with the eyes angled down and the mouth flat, cut out against a black background.
- - Bandaged Apu with a cigarette. Apu with a pink dressing taped to his forehead, smoke curling from a cigarette in his mouth, holding a small green circuit board.
- - Wide-eyed Apu on purple. A close crop of Apu with oversized eyes and tiny pupils against a soft purple background.
- - Apu lying down with his mouth open. Apu sprawled on his side, blue shirt rucked up, mouth hanging open with the tongue visible.
- - Apu staring at the floor. Apu shown against a grey wall with a maroon band below, head tilted forward and eyes lowered.
- - SpongeBob and Apu hybrid. A yellow sponge body with Apu's frog eyes and mouth, finished with a red necktie and white collar.
- - Apu with green hair. A close-up of Apu given a spiky bright green fringe and a red collar, on a green background.
- - Apu eating pancakes. Apu in a blue cap gulping down a stack of pancakes, with the sound effect 'GLOM' drawn in red comic lettering.
- - Plain Apu on white. A minimal drawing of Apu's head and shoulders with large round eyes, no background detail at all.
- - Apu with a small smile. Apu in his blue shirt with the mouth curved slightly upward, a calm rather than sad expression.
- - Apu beside a pink wall. A close crop of Apu looking sideways, framed by a pink panelled surface and a strip of wooden trim.
- - Apu in a top hat with a cigar box. Apu dressed in a black top hat and coat, carrying an open box of cigars and a bottle of whisky.
- - Apu portrait cut out on black. Apu in blue with wide bright eyes, the drawing cleanly cut out against a black field.
- - Apu with his arms crossed over. Apu leaning with both arms swung across his body in a dabbing gesture, drawn on a pale green ground.
- - Apu as a robed desert traveller. Apu wrapped in an orange and pink robe with beads and a staff, standing in an open sandy landscape.
- - Big-eyed Apu close-up. Apu drawn very large in frame with heavy black eyes and the long brown mouth, on a lilac background.
- - Apu holding a sign reading FACT. Apu in thick-rimmed glasses holds up a white sheet of paper with the word 'FACT' written on it, one fist raised.
- - Apu shrugging in blue. A plain Apu bust drawn with rounded shoulders and half-closed eyes on a light background.
- - Apu with a lantern. Apu draped in a blue cloak, holding an old oil lantern out in front of him.
- - The JEB plaes vot frog. A hooded frog in glasses with its tongue out holding a snack, captioned in red '¿JEB! plaes vot'.
- - Finnish Apu in a straw hat. Apu wearing a wide yellow conical hat and a shirt printed with the white and blue Finnish cross.
- - Apu as an old man with a clipboard. A grey-bearded Apu in glasses holds a dark clipboard and a pencil, drawn in blue and green flat colour.
- - Clean Apu and muddy Apu. Two panels side by side: a tidy Apu waving beside a version of himself splattered with brown marks, with a sink drawn below.
- - Apu spinning over a coffee mug. Apu drawn as a helicopter with his body horizontal and limbs spread, hovering above a white mug while a smaller frog watches.
- - Apu looking straight ahead. A simple Apu bust with large eyes and the long mouth, in blue on a plain light grey field.
- - Apu giving a thumbs up. Apu raises one green hand with the thumb extended, the figure isolated on black.
- - Apu standing with arms down. A full upper-body Apu in a loose blue shirt, both arms hanging at his sides, on white.
- - Apu about to cry. Apu with glassy blue tears welling along the lower lids, mouth pressed flat.
- - Apu smoking a pipe. Apu holds a wooden pipe in his mouth with soap-like bubbles drifting up around his head.
- - Anesthesia invented in 1846. The punching frog, arm blurred as it swings, under the caption 'Anesthesia: *Invented 1846* / Doctors in 1845:'.
- - Punching frog with a slipper. The frog lunging forward swinging a dark sandal overhead, under a caption about being told there is ice cream at home.
- - Frog facing a line-drawn baby. A white outline figure on the left reaches toward a green frog on the right, a bright burst between them on a purple background.
- - Glowing punch frog on black. The punching frog drawn large with a shimmering iridescent outline and a glowing eye, isolated on black.
- - Punch frog with a blue orb. The frog lunges from the right with a small glowing blue sphere at its mouth, radial white lines behind it.
- - Punching frog answering a gacha comment. A quoted exchange about liking a gacha game character sits above the frog mid-swing, with small labels on the frog itself.
- - Vibe check punch. The lunging frog with the words 'VIBE CHECK' hand-lettered across the top of the frame.
- - The 2020 coronavirus punch. The punching frog labelled '2020' on the body with a small 'coronavirus' tag on the raised fist.
