# Gary Oak Gary Oak is a copypasta and catchphrase meme built around the smug Pokémon rival from the 1996 Game Boy games, used online to mock anyone's achievements by insisting Gary is always one step ahead. The joke took off on 4chan in the late 2000s and lives on through YouTube parodies and the phrase 'Gary Motherfucking Oak'. ## Overview Gary Oak, sometimes called Blue Oak or Gary Motherfucking Oak, is a running joke used online to undercut anyone bragging about an accomplishment by claiming the smug Pokémon rival already did it better[3]. The bit leans on the character's canonical habit of showing up at the worst possible moment with more badges, more Pokémon, and a smirk[1]. A big part of the joke is fake awe at Gary's dominance, often described as his 'girth,' a bit lifted from a demotivational poster showing a roleplay chat where someone tries and fails to put Gary on ignore[1]. The humor works a lot like Chuck Norris facts, only Ash Ketchum is the eternal loser and Gary is the impossible benchmark[3]. ## How It Spread On February 17th, 2008, Urban Dictionary user 'the dan' wrote up Gary Oak as 'a pokemon based forced meme originally from 4chan's /v/ board' who 'shows up at the worst possible time' to make you look bad[2]. That entry pulled in over 1,100 upvotes and helped push the joke outside of 4chan[1]. YouTube did most of the heavy lifting after that. In June 2008 a clip appeared of Gary singing 'My United States of Whatever,' and on August 11th, 2010 the band I Shot The Duck Hunt Dog released the song 'Gary Motherfucking Oak,' both keeping the character's dominance framing alive[1]. Fan videos kept coming, including a March 28th, 2014 upload from JustFunnyShit titled 'Gary Oak the Pokemon F***er!' which pulled in more than 26,000 views by 2021[1]. The copypasta itself never really died. Follow-up Urban Dictionary entries kept adding gag definitions like 'to outdo someone to the point of humiliating defeat and shame,' with the sample sentence 'while you have your measly 6 badges he has 8'[2]. ## How to Use The typical format is a boast-and-deflate structure. Someone brags about a small win, and the reply invokes Gary, often with the exact tag 'Gary Motherfucking Oak,' to point out he already did it bigger[3]. A common convention is to escalate with badge counts, like 'you have 6, Gary has 8,' or to reference his 'girth' when someone tries to ignore or dismiss the point[1]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Gary Oak? Gary Oak is a copypasta and catchphrase built around the smug Pokémon rival from Red and Blue, used to mock anyone's achievements by claiming Gary is always ahead[1]. ### Where did Gary Oak come from? The character debuted in the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green on February 27th, 1996, and the meme copypasta was first archived on 4chan's /b/ board on November 23rd, 2007[1]. ### What does Gary Oak mean? Calling something 'Gary Oak' means outdoing someone to the point of humiliation, as defined by Urban Dictionary contributors in 2008[2]. ### How do you use Gary Oak? The typical usage is dropping 'Gary Motherfucking Oak' as a reply to any brag, often with a badge-count comparison to insist Gary already did it better[3]. ### Is Gary Oak still popular? Gary Oak is a classic 4chan-era copypasta whose YouTube tributes, including the 2010 song 'Gary Motherfucking Oak,' kept the reference in circulation for years after the original 2007 post[1]. ## References 1. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gary%20Oak]() 2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/gary-oak]() 3. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEhQgmkuMuw]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/gary-oak Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library