What is Im Dying Squirtle?

It's a four-panel Pokemon comic where a burning Pokemon sings pun-injected song lyrics, Squirtle sings along instead of putting out the fire, then the Pokemon breaks character in the last panel and says the flat line 'im dying squirtle'.

Where did Im Dying Squirtle come from?

It came out of 4chan's /v/ board as an anonymous Pokemon 4koma, with the original poster unattributed.

What does Im Dying Squirtle mean?

The line is the deadpan payoff to a musical bit: the fire Pokemon drops the song and pun and addresses Squirtle sincerely, because Squirtle is the water-type who could have helped and didn't.

How do you use Im Dying Squirtle?

Draw a burning Pokemon singing rewritten song lyrics as puns in panel one, Squirtle singing the next line in panel two, a silent beat in panel three, then the Pokemon saying 'im dying squirtle' straight in panel four.

Is Im Dying Squirtle still popular?

It's a classic inside Pokemon fan circles, with new song-swap versions still turning up, though it never fully crossed over into general reaction-image use.

Im Dying Squirtle

2013four-panel comicclassic

Published August 31, 2026

Im Dying Squirtle is a four-panel Pokemon comic that started on 4chan's /v/ board, built around a burning Pokemon quoting pun-heavy song lyrics while Squirtle refuses to put out the flames. The gag pays off when the on-fire Pokemon drops the bit and delivers the flat line 'im dying squirtle,' turning a dumb visual joke into a template artists rebuilt with dozens of Pokemon and songs.

pokemon 4chan memes exploitable templates multi panel memes tonal whiplash memes

Overview

Every Im Dying Squirtle strip follows the same four-beat rhythm. Panel one shows a Pokemon engulfed in flames delivering the opening line of a song, usually rewritten as a pun about being on fire3. Panel two brings in Squirtle, the water-type who could obviously help, singing the next line instead of dousing the fire3. Panel three is often a silent beat, then panel four breaks the whole bit: the burning Pokemon looks at Squirtle deadpan and says 'im dying squirtle' with no music, no pun, just plain text.

The original and most-shared version pairs Bidoof, a Pokemon known for looking dopey and blissfully unbothered, with lyrics from Bloodhound Gang's 'Fire Water Burn'1 3. Bidoof's flat, dumb face makes the last-panel switch to sincerity land harder, because the joke is really about a character too calm to react to their own death. Later strips swap in different Pokemon paired with different songs, but the deadpan final line is fixed3.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

4chan /v/ (viral spread on Reddit and Tumblr)

Date

2013

The comic first appeared on 4chan's /v/ (video games) board2, the same corner of the site where anonymous artists have been posting Pokemon 4komas for years. As with most /v/ output, the original poster is not attributed. The earliest widely reshared version used Bidoof singing rewritten lyrics from Bloodhound Gang's 'Fire Water Burn'1, a song title that already reads like a joke about a fire Pokemon standing next to a water Pokemon.

How It Spread

From /v/, the strip escaped into general Pokemon fan spaces, where readers started building their own versions using different Pokemon and different songs while keeping the four-panel scaffold and the title line intact3. The template survives because it forces almost no drawing skill: the punchline is a text switch, not a visual gag, so anyone can bang out a version in MS Paint.

Squirtle's role stayed locked in across every remake. He is never the hero who saves the fire Pokemon; he is the co-star singing the next verse, complicit in the bit3. That reading of Squirtle as an unhelpful bystander is most of why the fourth panel works, because the burning Pokemon is really addressing the one character in the frame who could have helped and chose not to.

The meme kept low-key traction inside Pokemon fandom rather than crossing over to mainstream reaction-image use, and new song-swap variants still surface whenever a fitting track lines up with a fire-type3.

How to Use This Meme

To make one, pick any Pokemon that can plausibly be on fire and any song with lyrics you can bend into a pun about burning, water, or dying. Panel one: your Pokemon in flames, singing line one. Panel two: Squirtle refusing to help, singing line two. Panel three: a beat, often wordless. Panel four: the burning Pokemon, no music, saying 'im dying squirtle' in plain text3. The deadpan switch is the whole joke, so keep panel four sincere.