What is Ironic Doge Memes?

Ironic Doge Memes are image macros that distort the original 2013 Doge Shiba Inu using Photoshop liquify, deep-frying, and dark or absurd captions.

Where did Ironic Doge Memes come from?

The earliest known ironic edit was posted by iFunny user hiyro on June 2nd, 2016, and an iFunny post by Paddy on March 26th, 2017 is generally credited as the true start of the ironic Doge meta.

What does Ironic Doge Memes mean?

The format flips the wholesome 'such wow' tone of the original Doge into something surreal or unsettling, with warped shapes like 'le toucan' and 'le spider' captioned in a mock 2000s rage comic style.

How do you use Ironic Doge Memes?

Users typically take the original Doge image, distort it with Photoshop's liquify tool or deep-fry filters, and add a 'le [noun]' or otherwise absurd caption.

Is Ironic Doge Memes still popular?

The trend hit its peak between 2017 and 2018 with r/dogelore, the Tumblr account newdoges, and Twitter's @dogepoasting, and is now treated as a classic ironic meme era.

Ironic Doge Memes

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Published August 1, 2026

Ironic Doge Memes are image macros that warp the original 2013 Shiba Inu Doge into surreal, liquefied, or deep-fried forms with dark and absurd captions. The trend took off on iFunny in 2016 and 2017 before spreading to Reddit, Facebook, and Tumblr in 2018.

doge family memes ironic memes deep fried memes photoshop memes shiba inu memes

Overview

Ironic Doge Memes take the original 2013 Shiba Inu photo and warp it into surreal, absurd, or unsettling forms using Photoshop's liquify tool, deep-frying filters, and heavy freehand edits1. A major subgenre called 'Wacky Dog Does an Uncharacteristic Thing' grew out of the format, pairing the mutated dog with dark or nonsensical situations3.

The revival deliberately rejected the cheerful 'such wow' Comic Sans tone of first-wave Doge and replaced it with mangled shapes like 'le spider,' 'le toucan,' and 'le Minecraft'1. The gratuitous French 'le,' a callback to 2000s rage comic captions, added a second ironic layer on top of the visual distortion1.

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Origin & Background

Platform

iFunny (source) / Reddit / Tumblr (viral spread)

Date

2017

The earliest known ironic Doge edit came from iFunny user hiyro, who on June 2nd, 2016 posted a photograph of Doge with a person burning drugs in a spoon overlaid on the image3. A later iFunny post by user Paddy on March 26th, 2017 is generally credited as the actual starting point of the ironic Doge meta3.

The format's first breakout moment on Facebook came on August 4th, 2017, when the account wedummasshitboi posted a liquefied Doge captioned 'Le Toucan has arrived,' pulling in over 325 reactions and 85 shares5.

How It Spread

On March 20th, 2018, Reddit user /u/freesmileyde posted to r/OutOfTheLoop asking where the strange new Doge edits were coming from, and attached an Imgur folder of examples2. The following day, PewDiePie covered the trend on his show Meme Review, which pushed the format in front of a huge YouTube audience3.

The Daily Dot ran a rundown on April 11th, 2018 that traced the revival to Doge's low-key Tumblr following and PewDiePie's fanbase, and noted a January 2018 Google Trends spike for 'Doge' after years of flat search interest1. On August 15th, 2018, r/dogelore was created specifically to host ironic Doge comics4.

Late 2018 pushed the format further into dedicated accounts. The Tumblr account newdoges launched on December 2nd, and two days later the Twitter account @dogepoasting appeared and picked up more than 14.6 thousand followers in its first month7. On iFunny, users complained that Redditors on r/okbuddyretard were reposting their edits without credit3.

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How to Use This Meme

Creators typically start with a stock photo of the original Doge Shiba Inu and distort it using Photoshop's liquify tool, deep-fry filters, or freehand redraws that stretch the dog into a new animal or object1. Captions often use the 'le [noun]' construction, as in 'le toucan' or 'le spider,' and pair the mutated image with absurd, dark, or deliberately incoherent text1.