Give Squirtle A Face — Faceless blue Squirtle Pokémon template with blank head

Give Squirtle A Face

2010exploitable image macroclassic

Published August 24, 2026

Give Squirtle A Face is a 2010 exploitable image macro built from a faceless Squirtle drawing, which 4chan and Facepunch users filled in with absurd, grotesque, or joke expressions1. The template spread through /b/ threads and forum contests, mirroring an earlier faceless Pikachu edit from 20082.

exploitable templates pokemon 4chan memes photoshop memes drawing fad memes

Overview

Give Squirtle A Face is an exploitable image macro built from a drawing of the first-generation Pokemon Squirtle with its facial features erased, leaving a blank oval for editors to fill in1. The base image was lifted from a 2004 DeviantArt post by an artist known as Bioviral, who had drawn both a Pikachu and a Squirtle in a similar style2.

The fun of the format is entirely in what people draw into that empty face, ranging from cartoon expressions to horrifying rictus grins and pop-culture references1. Because the source is a single flat image, editing it takes almost no skill, which is why it spread through Photoshop-heavy forums so quickly3.

Origin & Background

Platform
4chan /b/ (source) / Facepunch (viral spread)
Creator
Unknown 4chan /b/ poster
Date
2010

The template's ancestor was a faceless Pikachu edit that appeared on 4chan in 2008, using another Bioviral drawing2. The Squirtle companion piece sat unused for years until a 4chan user erased its face the same way and posted it to /b/ on January 8, 2010, with the instruction to "Give Squirtle a face"1.

The first thread had a rough start with early replies dismissing it, before /b/ warmed up and began posting edits1. That original thread eventually died, but it seeded a recurring format that returned in follow-up threads1.

How It Spread

On January 9, 2010, a Facepunch user going by Little Washu reposted the blank Squirtle to the site's Fast Threads section with the invitation "Have at it! Give him a face!"3. Edits started pouring in almost immediately, and a Facepunch moderator called RawRKat later moved the thread over to the Photoshop Contests subforum as the volume grew3.

Because Little Washu also reposted many of the original 4chan edits to Facepunch, some users suspected she was the anonymous /b/ original poster, though this was never confirmed1. Attention then bounced back to 4chan when a user known as The Big Bomb linked a fresh /b/ thread, which produced over 100 derivative edits before it 404'd off the board1.

After that peak, Give Squirtle A Face settled into the broader library of Pokemon exploitables alongside the earlier faceless Pikachu template, resurfacing whenever imageboards revisit old shop-it threads2.

How to Use This Meme

To make one, editors typically start with the blank Bioviral Squirtle base and draw or paste any face into the empty oval, from cartoon eyes and a mouth to distorted, unsettling, or celebrity-swapped expressions1. Threads often ran as informal Photoshop contests where posters riffed on each other's edits rather than working from a fixed punchline3.

Frequently Asked Questions