Dankey Kang

2014photoshopped imageclassic

Dankey Kang is a photoshopped Jeopardy! screenshot from January 2014 that pairs a Sonic the Hedgehog clue with the misspelled answer 'Who is Dankey Kang?', a mangling of Nintendo's Donkey Kong. Cartoonist Mike Rosenthal made the fake image, which went viral on Twitter and was often mistaken for a real game show flub.

photoshop memeshoax memesmisspelling memesnintendo memesgaming

Overview

Dankey Kang is a photoshopped image that shows a Jeopardy! question about Sonic the Hedgehog paired with the answer 'Who is Dankey Kang?', a misspelling of Nintendo's Donkey Kong5. The picture looks like a real screencap from the game show but was fabricated by cartoonist Mike Rosenthal in January 20141. Despite being a hoax, it spread widely on Twitter and got mislabeled by many accounts as a genuine FAIL clip5.

The fake screencap inspired follow-up edits from Rosenthal in the same style1 and drew fan art from DeviantArt user Kevin Bolk, who drew a blue gorilla version of 'Dankey Kang' combining traits of Donkey Kong and Sonic6.

How It Spread

Also on January 8th, Redditor lividd3ad posted Rosenthal's tweet to r/gamegrumps, where it collected more than 150 upvotes and 20 comments in the first week3. On January 9th, Rosenthal shared a screenshot showing '#DankeyKang' trending in the United States on Twitter1.

On January 11th, the image hit r/funny with over 26,000 views and 900 comments4. That same day, DeviantArt user Kevin Bolk uploaded illustrations of the blue gorilla version of Dankey Kang, essentially a Donkey Kong and Sonic mashup6. Blogger Tyler Oakley reposted the joke on his Tumblr the same day8.

On January 12th, NeoGAF user Vanillalite started a thread titled 'Who is Dankey Kang?' on the gaming forum7. By January 14th, an eBay listing appeared for a T-shirt printed with the phrase, showing how quickly the joke moved into merchandise9.

How to Use This Meme

The template is a Jeopardy! screencap edited so a real-looking clue is paired with an obviously wrong or deliberately misspelled written answer. People typically swap in nostalgia-tinged targets like classic video game characters and phrase the fake response in the show's 'Who is / What is' format for maximum deadpan effect. Rosenthal's own follow-up 'Who is Princess Zorldo?' is a common convention for the format1.

Frequently Asked Questions

Dankey Kang

2014photoshopped imageclassic

Dankey Kang is a photoshopped Jeopardy! screenshot from January 2014 that pairs a Sonic the Hedgehog clue with the misspelled answer 'Who is Dankey Kang?', a mangling of Nintendo's Donkey Kong. Cartoonist Mike Rosenthal made the fake image, which went viral on Twitter and was often mistaken for a real game show flub.

photoshop memes hoax memes misspelling memes nintendo memes gaming

Overview

Dankey Kang is a photoshopped image that shows a Jeopardy! question about Sonic the Hedgehog paired with the answer 'Who is Dankey Kang?', a misspelling of Nintendo's Donkey Kong5. The picture looks like a real screencap from the game show but was fabricated by cartoonist Mike Rosenthal in January 20141. Despite being a hoax, it spread widely on Twitter and got mislabeled by many accounts as a genuine FAIL clip5.

The fake screencap inspired follow-up edits from Rosenthal in the same style1 and drew fan art from DeviantArt user Kevin Bolk, who drew a blue gorilla version of 'Dankey Kang' combining traits of Donkey Kong and Sonic6.

How It Spread

Also on January 8th, Redditor lividd3ad posted Rosenthal's tweet to r/gamegrumps, where it collected more than 150 upvotes and 20 comments in the first week3. On January 9th, Rosenthal shared a screenshot showing '#DankeyKang' trending in the United States on Twitter1.

On January 11th, the image hit r/funny with over 26,000 views and 900 comments4. That same day, DeviantArt user Kevin Bolk uploaded illustrations of the blue gorilla version of Dankey Kang, essentially a Donkey Kong and Sonic mashup6. Blogger Tyler Oakley reposted the joke on his Tumblr the same day8.

On January 12th, NeoGAF user Vanillalite started a thread titled 'Who is Dankey Kang?' on the gaming forum7. By January 14th, an eBay listing appeared for a T-shirt printed with the phrase, showing how quickly the joke moved into merchandise9.

How to Use This Meme

The template is a Jeopardy! screencap edited so a real-looking clue is paired with an obviously wrong or deliberately misspelled written answer. People typically swap in nostalgia-tinged targets like classic video game characters and phrase the fake response in the show's 'Who is / What is' format for maximum deadpan effect. Rosenthal's own follow-up 'Who is Princess Zorldo?' is a common convention for the format1.

Frequently Asked Questions