Domo

1998reaction imageclassic

Domo is a brown, jagged-toothed Japanese mascot who became an unlikely internet fixture in the early 2000s after fans started photoshopping him into scenes of chaos and disaster. Originally created for Japan's NHK broadcaster in 1998, he crossed over to English-speaking web culture through Fark, Newgrounds, and YTMND before landing real-world retail deals with Target and 7-Eleven.

japanese internet memesphotoshop memesearly internet memesytmnd memesmeme merchandise

Overview

Domo (short for Domo-Kun) is a boxy brown character with a wide sawtooth mouth, tiny arms, and no dialogue beyond low grunts that sound like his own name3. On the English-speaking internet he built a reputation as a chaos gremlin, with users photoshopping him into pictures of house fires, hurricanes, and other catastrophes as the apparent culprit3. The joke plays off the contrast between his cutesy plush-toy design and the destruction pinned on him.

His official backstory adds to the absurdity: he supposedly hatched from an egg, lives underground with an old rabbit named Usajii, loves TV, passes gas when nervous, and is deathly afraid of apples because his ancestors went extinct eating them3. That bizarre character sheet gave fans plenty to riff on, and Domo was treated as a blank template for gags and Photoshop composites rather than a strictly canonical mascot2.

How It Spread

The English-language web really latched onto Domo on November 28, 2002, when a photoshopped image of two Domo-Kuns chasing kittens hit Fark with the caption "Every Time You Masturbate, God Kills A Kitten," a line that took on its own life as a standalone catchphrase3. A few weeks later, on December 16, 2002, Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp teamed with i-Mockery.com to release the browser game Domo-Kun Angry Smashfest, which won the site's Weekly User's Choice vote that week3.

YTMND picked him up next. The first Domo-themed YTMND page went live on July 13, 2004, and more than 150 spinoffs followed3. His official English-language site DomoNation.com was registered on October 31, 2005 and grew into a hub for forums, news, and games3.

Retail chased the trend in September 2008, when Target made Domo its official Halloween mascot with posters, plush toys, and endcap displays rolling out across US stores1. A shopper on the Slave to Target blog wrote that a child walking past the display called him a "Poop Monster," a nickname that stuck in casual fan chatter1. 7-Eleven followed in 2009 with a tie-in that put Domo on commercials, limited-edition cups, and food packaging, and TokyoPop published an English-language Domo manga that same September3. Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic kept carrying Domo plushies, apparel, and accessories well past the initial retail push4.

How to Use This Meme

The typical Domo edit drops the character, usually the widely circulated photograph of two plush Domo-Kuns standing in front of a black cat, into a picture of some disaster (a house fire, tornado damage, wrecked cars) as the implied cause of the mess. The gag works because the tiny brown mascot is visually incongruous with destruction, so most edits skip a caption entirely and let the image do the joke3.

Frequently Asked Questions

Domo

1998reaction imageclassic

Domo is a brown, jagged-toothed Japanese mascot who became an unlikely internet fixture in the early 2000s after fans started photoshopping him into scenes of chaos and disaster. Originally created for Japan's NHK broadcaster in 1998, he crossed over to English-speaking web culture through Fark, Newgrounds, and YTMND before landing real-world retail deals with Target and 7-Eleven.

japanese internet memes photoshop memes early internet memes ytmnd memes meme merchandise

Overview

Domo (short for Domo-Kun) is a boxy brown character with a wide sawtooth mouth, tiny arms, and no dialogue beyond low grunts that sound like his own name3. On the English-speaking internet he built a reputation as a chaos gremlin, with users photoshopping him into pictures of house fires, hurricanes, and other catastrophes as the apparent culprit3. The joke plays off the contrast between his cutesy plush-toy design and the destruction pinned on him.

His official backstory adds to the absurdity: he supposedly hatched from an egg, lives underground with an old rabbit named Usajii, loves TV, passes gas when nervous, and is deathly afraid of apples because his ancestors went extinct eating them3. That bizarre character sheet gave fans plenty to riff on, and Domo was treated as a blank template for gags and Photoshop composites rather than a strictly canonical mascot2.

How It Spread

The English-language web really latched onto Domo on November 28, 2002, when a photoshopped image of two Domo-Kuns chasing kittens hit Fark with the caption "Every Time You Masturbate, God Kills A Kitten," a line that took on its own life as a standalone catchphrase3. A few weeks later, on December 16, 2002, Newgrounds founder Tom Fulp teamed with i-Mockery.com to release the browser game Domo-Kun Angry Smashfest, which won the site's Weekly User's Choice vote that week3.

YTMND picked him up next. The first Domo-themed YTMND page went live on July 13, 2004, and more than 150 spinoffs followed3. His official English-language site DomoNation.com was registered on October 31, 2005 and grew into a hub for forums, news, and games3.

Retail chased the trend in September 2008, when Target made Domo its official Halloween mascot with posters, plush toys, and endcap displays rolling out across US stores1. A shopper on the Slave to Target blog wrote that a child walking past the display called him a "Poop Monster," a nickname that stuck in casual fan chatter1. 7-Eleven followed in 2009 with a tie-in that put Domo on commercials, limited-edition cups, and food packaging, and TokyoPop published an English-language Domo manga that same September3. Urban Outfitters and Hot Topic kept carrying Domo plushies, apparel, and accessories well past the initial retail push4.

How to Use This Meme

The typical Domo edit drops the character, usually the widely circulated photograph of two plush Domo-Kuns standing in front of a black cat, into a picture of some disaster (a house fire, tornado damage, wrecked cars) as the implied cause of the mess. The gag works because the tiny brown mascot is visually incongruous with destruction, so most edits skip a caption entirely and let the image do the joke3.

Frequently Asked Questions