Espurr S Stare

2013reaction imageclassic

Espurr's Stare is a meme built around a Psychic-type Pokemon whose blank, thousand-yard look debuted in Pokemon X and Y in October 20131. Fans on Reddit and Tumblr latched onto the character's vacant expression within days of the games' launch4, spawning image macros, joke blogs, and fan art around the idea that Espurr had 'seen some shit'5.

pokemonreaction memesfacial expression memescharacter design memesimage macro memes

Overview

Espurr's Stare centers on Espurr, a small gray-and-white kitten Pokemon introduced in the 2013 Nintendo 3DS titles Pokemon X and Pokemon Y1. Its Pokedex sprite and battle animations keep the same wide, unblinking face regardless of what's happening around it, which fans quickly read as traumatized or quietly disturbed4.

The look drew comparisons to earlier fan crushes on Pokemon character designs, especially Snivy, the smug-faced Gen 5 starter that fans nicknamed Smugleaf3. Where Snivy came off as arrogant, Espurr read as shellshocked, and that reading shaped almost every joke that followed.

How It Spread

Pokemon X and Y launched worldwide on October 12th, 2013, and the same day a Redditor posted a battle screenshot of Espurr to /r/Pokemon under the title 'Espurr has seen some shit,' clearing 1,000 upvotes and 100+ comments arguing about what the cat had witnessed4. Two days later, an image macro titled 'Espurr, are you okay?' showing the Pokemon mid-flashback hit /r/Pokemon and /r/Gaming, pulling more than 24,000 and 1,500 upvotes respectively before being mirrored on FunnyJunk, Pokememes, and Dorkly5.

Tumblr and Twitter picked up the joke almost immediately. The role-play blog Actual-Deranged-Espurr launched on October 20th, 2013, posting in-character as an unhinged Espurr6, and the same day @Espurr_eBooks went live on Twitter as a Horse_ebooks-style parody account7. On October 21st, a single-topic Tumblr called espurrs-face-on-things started photoshopping the Pokemon's blank eyes onto other characters and photos8.

Fan art followed on deviantART and Pixiv, with artists drawing Espurr in horror-movie poses and dead-inside gags that kept the 'seen some shit' reading front and center9.

How to Use This Meme

The Espurr's Stare format typically pairs the Pokemon's flat, wide-eyed sprite with a caption implying trauma, quiet judgment, or awkward disbelief. Common conventions include the 'Espurr has seen some shit' framing that speculates on horrors the cat has witnessed4, 'are you okay, Espurr?' captions built around a war-flashback bit5, and photoshops that graft Espurr's eyes onto other characters to make them look dead inside8.

Frequently Asked Questions

Espurr S Stare

2013reaction imageclassic

Espurr's Stare is a meme built around a Psychic-type Pokemon whose blank, thousand-yard look debuted in Pokemon X and Y in October 20131. Fans on Reddit and Tumblr latched onto the character's vacant expression within days of the games' launch4, spawning image macros, joke blogs, and fan art around the idea that Espurr had 'seen some shit'5.

pokemon reaction memes facial expression memes character design memes image macro memes

Overview

Espurr's Stare centers on Espurr, a small gray-and-white kitten Pokemon introduced in the 2013 Nintendo 3DS titles Pokemon X and Pokemon Y1. Its Pokedex sprite and battle animations keep the same wide, unblinking face regardless of what's happening around it, which fans quickly read as traumatized or quietly disturbed4.

The look drew comparisons to earlier fan crushes on Pokemon character designs, especially Snivy, the smug-faced Gen 5 starter that fans nicknamed Smugleaf3. Where Snivy came off as arrogant, Espurr read as shellshocked, and that reading shaped almost every joke that followed.

How It Spread

Pokemon X and Y launched worldwide on October 12th, 2013, and the same day a Redditor posted a battle screenshot of Espurr to /r/Pokemon under the title 'Espurr has seen some shit,' clearing 1,000 upvotes and 100+ comments arguing about what the cat had witnessed4. Two days later, an image macro titled 'Espurr, are you okay?' showing the Pokemon mid-flashback hit /r/Pokemon and /r/Gaming, pulling more than 24,000 and 1,500 upvotes respectively before being mirrored on FunnyJunk, Pokememes, and Dorkly5.

Tumblr and Twitter picked up the joke almost immediately. The role-play blog Actual-Deranged-Espurr launched on October 20th, 2013, posting in-character as an unhinged Espurr6, and the same day @Espurr_eBooks went live on Twitter as a Horse_ebooks-style parody account7. On October 21st, a single-topic Tumblr called espurrs-face-on-things started photoshopping the Pokemon's blank eyes onto other characters and photos8.

Fan art followed on deviantART and Pixiv, with artists drawing Espurr in horror-movie poses and dead-inside gags that kept the 'seen some shit' reading front and center9.

How to Use This Meme

The Espurr's Stare format typically pairs the Pokemon's flat, wide-eyed sprite with a caption implying trauma, quiet judgment, or awkward disbelief. Common conventions include the 'Espurr has seen some shit' framing that speculates on horrors the cat has witnessed4, 'are you okay, Espurr?' captions built around a war-flashback bit5, and photoshops that graft Espurr's eyes onto other characters to make them look dead inside8.

Frequently Asked Questions