Cat Shadow Trend

2025Photo fad / challengesemi-active

Also known as: Cat Shadow Photo · Cat Shadow Pose Challenge · Cat Shadow With Hands

Cat Shadow Trend is a 2025 photo fad where participants crouch and position their arms above their head to cast a shadow shaped like a sitting cat with pointy ears.

The Cat Shadow Trend is a shadow art photo fad where participants crouch on the ground and position their arms and hands above their head to cast a shadow shaped like a sitting cat, complete with pointy ears and whiskers. The trend originated on Douyin in late April 2025 and went globally viral in May 2025 after one particular photograph crossed over to Tumblr and X, where it pulled in over 31 million views1. K-pop idols, artists, and models quickly joined in, turning a simple shadow illusion into one of the biggest participatory photo trends of 20252.

photo fad memescatsbody pose memesglobal crossover memeschinese origin memes

Overview

The Cat Shadow Trend is built on a simple optical trick. A person squats or crouches low to the ground, crosses their elbows near their head, and extends their fingers outward so their shadow takes on the silhouette of a cat sitting upright. The crossed elbows form the cat's pointed ears while the outstretched fingers suggest whiskers1. When photographed from the right angle with strong directional light, the result is surprisingly convincing. The human body disappears into the abstraction of a feline shape, making the shadow the star of the image6.

The trend draws on the same basic principle as shadow puppetry, but applied to the full body rather than just hands2. Most photos are taken outdoors on pavement or roads where harsh sunlight creates clean, sharp shadows.

The trend first picked up steam in late April 2025 on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to TikTok1. Users began posting photos and videos under the hashtags #猫影子照片 ("cat shadow photo") and #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone")4. On May 2, 2025, Douyin user @小雨绵绵 posted a photograph of two girls performing the shadow pose together, which collected over 105,000 likes in nine days4.

The single image that launched the trend into global territory came one day later. On May 3, 2025, Douyin user @果汁酒 posted a photograph of herself crouching on a road, crossing her elbows beside her head and fanning out her fingers to form a near-perfect cat shadow1. The post received over 386,700 likes in nine days and became the defining image of the trend4.

Origin & Background

Platform
Douyin (source trend), X / Tumblr (global viral spread)
Key People
@果汁酒, @bugbug000
Date
2025

The trend first picked up steam in late April 2025 on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to TikTok. Users began posting photos and videos under the hashtags #猫影子照片 ("cat shadow photo") and #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone"). On May 2, 2025, Douyin user @小雨绵绵 posted a photograph of two girls performing the shadow pose together, which collected over 105,000 likes in nine days.

The single image that launched the trend into global territory came one day later. On May 3, 2025, Douyin user @果汁酒 posted a photograph of herself crouching on a road, crossing her elbows beside her head and fanning out her fingers to form a near-perfect cat shadow. The post received over 386,700 likes in nine days and became the defining image of the trend.

How It Spread

The jump from Douyin to Western platforms happened fast. On May 4, 2025, Tumblr user insecure001 reposted @果汁酒's photograph. The Tumblr post picked up over 3,500 reposts and 5,600 likes in nine days. Four days later, on May 8, X user @bugbug000 reposted the same image with the caption "milady." That post exploded, pulling in over 31 million views, 66,000 reposts, and 670,000 likes within five days. Some outlets reported the total reach across reposts at over 75 million views.

K-pop fans immediately recognized an opportunity. In the days after @bugbug000's post, fans on X and Weverse flooded their favorite idols with requests to try the pose. Starting May 10, K-pop groups and solo artists answered. Members of LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX, and Enhypen were among the first idol participants. Norwegian-Chinese model Cindy Zhangyin posted an Instagram video of her attempt on May 10 that pulled 5.1 million views in three days.

The trend also sparked a redraw wave among artists on X. On May 9, 2025, artist @Akiko_oc posted the earliest notable redraw using their original character, collecting 1,700 reposts and 28,000 likes in four days. On May 12, @tabakko posted a fan art version featuring VTuber Shirakami Fubuki in the pose, which hit 4,700 reposts and 44,000 likes in a single day.

Boy band Seventeen put their own spin on it. Members The8 and DK posed as a frog and dog respectively instead of a cat, playing on their personal mascot animals. TXT's Taehyun used bright sunlight to cast his shadow on May 14. Exo's Xiumin joined on May 12 with a simple "meow" caption on Instagram.

Singer and actress IU posted her rendition on May 14 through the fan communication app Beriz, two days before her 32nd birthday. She shared behind-the-scenes commentary describing "a tearful process" and joked about getting a cramp in her side from trying to fine-tune the shadow's ears and whiskers. Fans responded with "The shadows are cute, too" and "The trend will end when IU does it" (translated from Korean).

Enhypen's Jungwon had promised fans he would try the challenge and followed through with a video posted to Weverse.

How to Use This Meme

The Cat Shadow Trend follows a straightforward process:

1

Find a spot with strong, directional light. Outdoor pavement in direct sunlight works best.

2

Crouch or squat low to the ground, facing the light source so your shadow falls behind you.

3

Raise both arms and cross your elbows near your head. The crossed elbows form the cat's ears.

4

Extend your fingers outward from each hand to create the cat's whiskers.

5

Have someone photograph you from an angle that captures both your crouching body and the cat-shaped shadow on the ground.

Cultural Impact

The Cat Shadow Trend crossed the usual internet-to-mainstream gap faster than most photo fads. Within two weeks of the original Douyin posts, professional models and some of the biggest names in K-pop were participating. The trend's spread from China to South Korea to Western social media traced a now-familiar path for East Asian internet culture, following the same pipeline that earlier trends like the "Finger Heart" gesture traveled.

The redraw trend that sprouted alongside the photo challenge gave the meme a second life in fan art communities. Artists across X used the iconic @果汁酒 pose as a template for their own characters, turning a real-world photo fad into a drawing prompt. VTuber fan art versions spread particularly fast in Japanese-language corners of X.

South Korean media outlets covered the trend extensively, treating it as both a social media moment and a window into cross-border internet culture between China and Korea.

Fun Facts

The Douyin hashtag #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone") was used alongside the cat shadow tag, likely because the crouching pose with arms up also resembles a soft-serve cone from certain angles.

@bugbug000's X repost captioned "milady" helped the trend take off in English-speaking internet spaces, giving the cat silhouette a slightly different comedic framing than the original Chinese posts.

IU timed her participation to land just before her birthday on May 16, turning the challenge into a fan gift of sorts.

Seventeen's The8 chose a frog shadow because a frog is his official group mascot animal.

The trend's core mechanic is essentially full-body shadow puppetry. Traditional shadow puppets use hands and cut-outs, but this trend uses the entire human form as the puppet.

Derivatives & Variations

Redraw challenge:

Artists on X redrew the viral @果汁酒 photograph using their original characters, anime characters, and VTubers. The @tabakko Shirakami Fubuki version was the biggest single redraw, hitting 44,000 likes in one day[2].

Animal shadow variations:

Some participants created rabbit, bat, and fox silhouettes instead of cats, using modified arm and hand positions[1].

K-pop idol versions:

Multiple idol groups created their own takes, with Seventeen's The8 and DK notably deviating to frog and dog shadows instead[5].

Frequently Asked Questions

Cat Shadow Trend

2025Photo fad / challengesemi-active

Also known as: Cat Shadow Photo · Cat Shadow Pose Challenge · Cat Shadow With Hands

Cat Shadow Trend is a 2025 photo fad where participants crouch and position their arms above their head to cast a shadow shaped like a sitting cat with pointy ears.

The Cat Shadow Trend is a shadow art photo fad where participants crouch on the ground and position their arms and hands above their head to cast a shadow shaped like a sitting cat, complete with pointy ears and whiskers. The trend originated on Douyin in late April 2025 and went globally viral in May 2025 after one particular photograph crossed over to Tumblr and X, where it pulled in over 31 million views. K-pop idols, artists, and models quickly joined in, turning a simple shadow illusion into one of the biggest participatory photo trends of 2025.

photo fad memes cats body pose memes global crossover memes chinese origin memes

Overview

The Cat Shadow Trend is built on a simple optical trick. A person squats or crouches low to the ground, crosses their elbows near their head, and extends their fingers outward so their shadow takes on the silhouette of a cat sitting upright. The crossed elbows form the cat's pointed ears while the outstretched fingers suggest whiskers. When photographed from the right angle with strong directional light, the result is surprisingly convincing. The human body disappears into the abstraction of a feline shape, making the shadow the star of the image.

The trend draws on the same basic principle as shadow puppetry, but applied to the full body rather than just hands. Most photos are taken outdoors on pavement or roads where harsh sunlight creates clean, sharp shadows.

The trend first picked up steam in late April 2025 on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to TikTok. Users began posting photos and videos under the hashtags #猫影子照片 ("cat shadow photo") and #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone"). On May 2, 2025, Douyin user @小雨绵绵 posted a photograph of two girls performing the shadow pose together, which collected over 105,000 likes in nine days.

The single image that launched the trend into global territory came one day later. On May 3, 2025, Douyin user @果汁酒 posted a photograph of herself crouching on a road, crossing her elbows beside her head and fanning out her fingers to form a near-perfect cat shadow. The post received over 386,700 likes in nine days and became the defining image of the trend.

Origin & Background

Platform
Douyin (source trend), X / Tumblr (global viral spread)
Key People
@果汁酒, @bugbug000
Date
2025

The trend first picked up steam in late April 2025 on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to TikTok. Users began posting photos and videos under the hashtags #猫影子照片 ("cat shadow photo") and #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone"). On May 2, 2025, Douyin user @小雨绵绵 posted a photograph of two girls performing the shadow pose together, which collected over 105,000 likes in nine days.

The single image that launched the trend into global territory came one day later. On May 3, 2025, Douyin user @果汁酒 posted a photograph of herself crouching on a road, crossing her elbows beside her head and fanning out her fingers to form a near-perfect cat shadow. The post received over 386,700 likes in nine days and became the defining image of the trend.

How It Spread

The jump from Douyin to Western platforms happened fast. On May 4, 2025, Tumblr user insecure001 reposted @果汁酒's photograph. The Tumblr post picked up over 3,500 reposts and 5,600 likes in nine days. Four days later, on May 8, X user @bugbug000 reposted the same image with the caption "milady." That post exploded, pulling in over 31 million views, 66,000 reposts, and 670,000 likes within five days. Some outlets reported the total reach across reposts at over 75 million views.

K-pop fans immediately recognized an opportunity. In the days after @bugbug000's post, fans on X and Weverse flooded their favorite idols with requests to try the pose. Starting May 10, K-pop groups and solo artists answered. Members of LE SSERAFIM, NMIXX, and Enhypen were among the first idol participants. Norwegian-Chinese model Cindy Zhangyin posted an Instagram video of her attempt on May 10 that pulled 5.1 million views in three days.

The trend also sparked a redraw wave among artists on X. On May 9, 2025, artist @Akiko_oc posted the earliest notable redraw using their original character, collecting 1,700 reposts and 28,000 likes in four days. On May 12, @tabakko posted a fan art version featuring VTuber Shirakami Fubuki in the pose, which hit 4,700 reposts and 44,000 likes in a single day.

Boy band Seventeen put their own spin on it. Members The8 and DK posed as a frog and dog respectively instead of a cat, playing on their personal mascot animals. TXT's Taehyun used bright sunlight to cast his shadow on May 14. Exo's Xiumin joined on May 12 with a simple "meow" caption on Instagram.

Singer and actress IU posted her rendition on May 14 through the fan communication app Beriz, two days before her 32nd birthday. She shared behind-the-scenes commentary describing "a tearful process" and joked about getting a cramp in her side from trying to fine-tune the shadow's ears and whiskers. Fans responded with "The shadows are cute, too" and "The trend will end when IU does it" (translated from Korean).

Enhypen's Jungwon had promised fans he would try the challenge and followed through with a video posted to Weverse.

How to Use This Meme

The Cat Shadow Trend follows a straightforward process:

1

Find a spot with strong, directional light. Outdoor pavement in direct sunlight works best.

2

Crouch or squat low to the ground, facing the light source so your shadow falls behind you.

3

Raise both arms and cross your elbows near your head. The crossed elbows form the cat's ears.

4

Extend your fingers outward from each hand to create the cat's whiskers.

5

Have someone photograph you from an angle that captures both your crouching body and the cat-shaped shadow on the ground.

Cultural Impact

The Cat Shadow Trend crossed the usual internet-to-mainstream gap faster than most photo fads. Within two weeks of the original Douyin posts, professional models and some of the biggest names in K-pop were participating. The trend's spread from China to South Korea to Western social media traced a now-familiar path for East Asian internet culture, following the same pipeline that earlier trends like the "Finger Heart" gesture traveled.

The redraw trend that sprouted alongside the photo challenge gave the meme a second life in fan art communities. Artists across X used the iconic @果汁酒 pose as a template for their own characters, turning a real-world photo fad into a drawing prompt. VTuber fan art versions spread particularly fast in Japanese-language corners of X.

South Korean media outlets covered the trend extensively, treating it as both a social media moment and a window into cross-border internet culture between China and Korea.

Fun Facts

The Douyin hashtag #甜筒冰琪凌 ("ice cream cone") was used alongside the cat shadow tag, likely because the crouching pose with arms up also resembles a soft-serve cone from certain angles.

@bugbug000's X repost captioned "milady" helped the trend take off in English-speaking internet spaces, giving the cat silhouette a slightly different comedic framing than the original Chinese posts.

IU timed her participation to land just before her birthday on May 16, turning the challenge into a fan gift of sorts.

Seventeen's The8 chose a frog shadow because a frog is his official group mascot animal.

The trend's core mechanic is essentially full-body shadow puppetry. Traditional shadow puppets use hands and cut-outs, but this trend uses the entire human form as the puppet.

Derivatives & Variations

Redraw challenge:

Artists on X redrew the viral @果汁酒 photograph using their original characters, anime characters, and VTubers. The @tabakko Shirakami Fubuki version was the biggest single redraw, hitting 44,000 likes in one day[2].

Animal shadow variations:

Some participants created rabbit, bat, and fox silhouettes instead of cats, using modified arm and hand positions[1].

K-pop idol versions:

Multiple idol groups created their own takes, with Seventeen's The8 and DK notably deviating to frog and dog shadows instead[5].

Frequently Asked Questions