# Momo > Momo is a 2016 Japanese sculpture by Keisuke Aiso with bulging eyes, a wide grin, and bird-like legs that sparked a debunked suicide-challenge hoax before being reclaimed as an internet meme. Momo is the nickname for a Japanese sculpture called "Mother Bird" created by artist Keisuke Aiso in 2016, which became the face of a widely reported but largely debunked internet "suicide challenge" hoax between 2018 and 2019. The sculpture's unsettling image, featuring bulging eyes, a wide grin, and bird-like legs, spread across WhatsApp and YouTube through moral panic about children being urged to self-harm. Despite mass media coverage and worldwide parental alarm, investigators and platforms found almost no evidence the challenge was real, and the internet eventually reclaimed the image as meme material. ## Origin The sculpture that became Momo was built in 2016 by Keisuke Aiso (also written as Aisawa), a 43-year-old special effects artist working at Link Factory, a Japanese company that creates props for horror films and TV shows[5]. Aiso designed the piece, officially titled "Mother Bird," based on the legend of the *ubume*, a wraith-like bird woman from Japanese folklore said to haunt the area where she died in childbirth[1]. The sculpture showed a woman's head and naked torso with exaggerated features perched atop a pair of bird legs, standing about one meter tall[12]. On August 25, 2016, Instagram user nanaakooo posted the first known photograph of the sculpture[8]. The following day, Instagram users @ma_kimodo_shi and @j_s_rock posted additional photos[8]. The images initially circulated without much fanfare, but they caught the attention of Spanish-speaking internet communities, where the sculpture became associated with a phone number that could be added to WhatsApp[8]. - **Platform:** Instagram (source photo), WhatsApp / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Keisuke Aiso (sculptor, Link Factory), nanaakooo (first Instagram post) - **Date:** 2016 (sculpture), 2018 (viral spread) ## Overview Momo refers to a sculpture of a young woman with long black hair, enormous bulging eyes, a wide toothless grin, and the legs of a bird. The piece was created by Keisuke Aiso of Link Factory, a Japanese special effects company, and displayed at the Vanilla Gallery in Tokyo's Ginza district in 2016[5]. The sculpture was inspired by the Japanese folklore figure of the *ubume*, the ghost of a woman who dies in childbirth[1]. After photos of the sculpture circulated online, the image was co-opted into an alleged WhatsApp-based "challenge game" in 2018, where anonymous accounts supposedly messaged children with dangerous instructions. The resulting panic, fueled by breathless news coverage and school warnings, turned out to be far more viral than any actual challenge. Momo became one of the internet's most prominent examples of a moral panic outpacing reality[4]. ## How It Spread The Momo legend went through two distinct waves of viral spread: the 2018 WhatsApp panic and the 2019 YouTube panic. **July 2018: The WhatsApp Wave** In early July 2018, posts daring users to text certain WhatsApp numbers gained traction among Spanish-speaking Facebook users[8]. The accounts used the Mother Bird photograph as their profile picture. On July 10, Reddit user AlmightySosa00 posted a cropped image of the sculpture to r/creepy, where it pulled in over 4,700 upvotes and 900 comments within two days[8]. YouTuber ReignBot uploaded a video titled "Exploring The Momo Situation" on July 11, which hit 96,000 views within 24 hours[8]. That same day, the image appeared on 4chan's /x/ (paranormal) board[8]. On July 13, 2018, the Computer Crime Investigation Unit for the Mexican state of Tabasco issued a public warning against interacting with Momo WhatsApp accounts, stating scammers could use them to steal personal data[8]. Reports soon emerged from Argentina, where a 12-year-old girl's suicide in the town of Ingeniero Maschwitz was investigated as potentially linked to the "Momo Game"[6]. Police suspected an 18-year-old she had met on social media may have encouraged her, though authorities never confirmed a direct connection to any organized challenge[4]. **February 2019: The YouTube Panic** The second and larger wave hit in late February 2019, when reports claimed Momo had been spliced into children's YouTube videos featuring characters like Peppa Pig and Fortnite gameplay[2]. UK primary schools sent Facebook warnings to parents, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland issued a public advisory[1]. The Daily Mail published a story about an 8-year-old boy whose mother said he had been instructed by a Momo video to put a knife to his neck[2]. YouTube responded on February 27, 2019: "Contrary to press reports, we've not received any recent evidence of videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge on YouTube"[2]. The panic escalated further when Kim Kardashian shared the Momo image with her 145 million Instagram followers, warning parents about the threat[7]. ## How to Use Momo is not a traditional meme template with a fixed format. Instead, the image gets used in several common ways: - **Jumpscare edits**: Creators splice the Momo face into otherwise normal videos for shock value, typically cutting to the image with a loud sound effect[10]. - **Photoshop makeovers**: Users edit the original sculpture photo to make Momo less scary or more absurd, such as adding makeup, wigs, or fashion accessories[3]. - **Reaction image**: The Momo face gets used as a general "cursed" or "creepy" reaction image, often paired with captions about encountering something disturbing online[3]. - **Ironic reclamation**: Some users cast Momo as a relatable or sympathetic character, treating the image as wholesome rather than horrifying[3]. The meme format is loose. Any creative recontextualization of the Mother Bird image typically qualifies. ## Cultural Impact The Momo panic triggered responses from governments, schools, and tech companies across multiple continents. Mexican state authorities issued formal warnings about data theft[8]. UK schools posted alerts on Facebook and the British government offered guidance to parents[2]. YouTube changed its monetization policies to strip ads from all Momo-related content[1]. WhatsApp reminded users they could block any phone number and report problematic messages[2]. Child safety organizations like the NSPCC weighed in, and the story received coverage from Rolling Stone, Snopes, CBS News, the Daily Mail, and dozens of other outlets[1][4]. The episode became a case study in media amplification, with researchers noting that the warnings themselves caused more exposure to the disturbing image than the alleged challenge ever did[9]. The sculpture also caught Hollywood's attention. Orion Pictures, partnering with the producers behind The Ring and It franchises, announced development of a Momo-inspired horror film in July 2019[7]. The project aimed to explore the Japanese *ubume* folklore underlying the sculpture rather than simply recreating the internet hoax[7]. ## Fun Facts - The name "Momo" means "peach" in Japanese, an unexpectedly cute name for such a terrifying figure[10]. - The Momo legend was practically unknown in Japan despite the sculpture being Japanese. This was partly because Japan uses the Line messaging app rather than WhatsApp[11]. - Aiso said he had "every intention to scare people" with the sculpture but "it wasn't supposed to be used to make children harm themselves"[5]. - The only physical remnant of the original sculpture is a single eye that Aiso kept to recycle into a new model[5]. - An early 4chan thread corrected the widespread misattribution of the sculpture, pointing out that Instagram user nanaakooo was not the artist but merely photographed it at the gallery[13]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Momo? Momo is the nickname for a Japanese sculpture called "Mother Bird" created by artist Keisuke Aiso of Link Factory in 2016. The sculpture depicts a bird-woman figure with bulging eyes and a wide grin, inspired by the Japanese *ubume* legend[5]. It became widely known through a debunked internet "challenge" hoax[4]. ### Where did Momo come from? The sculpture was created in 2016 and displayed at the Vanilla Gallery in Tokyo, Japan[1]. Photos first appeared on Instagram in August 2016, posted by user nanaakooo[8]. The image later became associated with a WhatsApp-based "challenge" in Spanish-speaking countries in 2018[8]. ### What does Momo mean? "Momo" is a common Japanese name meaning "peach"[10]. In the context of the internet legend, it refers to the creepy bird-woman character that was allegedly used in a dangerous online challenge targeting children[2]. ### How do you use Momo? As a meme, Momo is used as a jumpscare image, a reaction image for creepy content, or the subject of ironic Photoshop edits and makeovers[3]. There is no fixed template. ### Is Momo still popular? Momo's peak popularity was February-March 2019. The original sculpture was destroyed by its creator in late 2018[5], and the moral panic died down after extensive debunking by YouTube, Snopes, and child safety organizations[4]. The image occasionally resurfaces in memes but is no longer a significant internet presence. ### Was the Momo Challenge real? Extensive investigation by YouTube, Snopes, cybersecurity experts, and child safety organizations found no credible evidence that the Momo Challenge was a real, organized phenomenon[4]. YouTube stated it had "not received any recent evidence of videos showing or promoting the Momo challenge"[2]. The warnings and media coverage were far more viral than any actual challenge content[9]. ### Did anyone die because of the Momo Challenge? A 12-year-old girl's death in Argentina was investigated as potentially linked to the "Momo Game," but police only confirmed she may have been encouraged by someone she met on social media, not by an organized challenge[6]. Deaths in India and Colombia were also reported but never definitively connected to Momo[4]. ### Who created the Momo sculpture? Keisuke Aiso (also written as Aisawa), a special effects artist at Link Factory in Japan, created the sculpture in 2016[5]. He was inspired by the *ubume*, a figure from Japanese folklore representing a woman who died during childbirth[1]. ### What happened to the original Momo sculpture? Aiso threw it away in autumn 2018 because it had rotted. The sculpture was made from rubber and natural oils that naturally decomposed[5]. He told The Sun: "The children can be reassured Momo is dead, she doesn't exist and the curse is gone"[5]. ### Why did the Momo panic spread so fast? Child safety organizations noted that the warnings from parents, schools, and media created more exposure to the Momo image than the alleged challenge itself[9]. Children who had never encountered Momo searched for it out of curiosity after hearing warnings, feeding a self-reinforcing cycle of panic[11]. ### Is there a Momo movie? Yes. In July 2019, Orion Pictures announced a partnership with Roy Lee's Vertigo Entertainment and producer Taka Ichise to develop a horror film based on the Momo legend, focusing on the *ubume* folklore[7]. A separate film called *Getaway* was also produced based on the hoax[7]. ### Did Kim Kardashian help spread the Momo panic? Yes. Kardashian shared the Momo image with her 145 million Instagram followers in February 2019, warning parents about the supposed threat, which significantly amplified the panic[7]. ## References 1. [Is the Momo Challenge Real? YouTube Finally Responds]() 2. [Momo Memes: People Are Making the Creepy Character a Positive Meme]() 3. [Police suspect 12-year-old girl's suicide linked to WhatsApp terror game Momo | Buenos Aires Times]() 4. [Momo - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Momo]() 6. [Momo - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [How Much of a Threat Is the Purported 'Momo Challenge' Suicide Game? | Snopes.com]() 8. [Momo: This is the true origin of the terrifying 'entity' that terrifies thousands on WhatsApp | PHOTOS — Steemit]() 9. [The Real Story Behind Momo And It's Not What You'd Expect - Collective Spark]() 10. [meme | Rami Ungar The Writer]() 11. [Momo Doll Origin & Legend Explained | Suki Desu]() 12. [Q1 2019 Kids Trends: Momo, memes and magic - SuperAwesome]() 13. [Momo (Creepypasta) (Literature) - TV Tropes]() 14. [Momo 'suicide' puppet maker says kids shouldn't fear horrifying beast because it's been destroyed insisting ‘the curse is gone’]() 15. ['Momo' Movie? Orion Pictures & 'The Ring' Producers Latch On To Hoax]() 16. [Momo Challenge: Why Parents Are Freaking Over This New 'Game']() 17. [/x/ - Paranormal » Thread #21131236 » real momo artist]() 18. [Momo Memes: People Are Making the Creepy Character a Positive Meme]() 19. [Is the Momo Challenge Real? YouTube Finally Responds]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/momo Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library