# Monkey Puppet > Monkey Puppet is a 2016 reaction GIF of a wool puppet from Japanese children's show Ōkiku naru Ko, with wide eyes and sideways glance expressing awkwardness. Monkey Puppet is a reaction meme featuring a wool puppet of a monkey with wide eyes and a nervous sideways glance, used to express awkwardness, embarrassment, or the desire to avoid an uncomfortable situation. The image and GIF originate from the Japanese children's puppet show *Ōkiku naru Ko* (Growing Children), which aired from 1959 to 1988[1]. The meme first spread through Spanish-speaking internet communities under the name "No Ahora Porfavor" before breaking into the English-speaking web in 2016 and hitting peak popularity on Reddit and Tumblr by mid-2019[2]. ## Origin The puppet comes from *Ōkiku naru Ko* (大きくなる子, literally "Children Who Grow"), a Japanese educational puppet show produced by Studio Nova for NHK's educational channel[3]. The series ran for 14 seasons from April 7, 1959 to March 18, 1988, targeting elementary school students with lessons about morality and school life[4]. The character's Japanese name is Kento. In the penultimate season, *Tora no Daisuke* (aired 1984-1986), which followed five children at a school on a cape, some episodes were dubbed into Spanish and broadcast across Latin America[3]. In the Spanish dub, the character was renamed Pedro, and the show was called *Niños en Crecimiento* (Growing Children)[1]. The meme originated in Spanish-speaking internet communities, where screenshots from the show circulated with the caption "No ahora por favor" ("Not now, please")[4]. The exact date of the first Spanish-language usage is unclear, but it predates the meme's jump to English-speaking platforms. On April 8, 2016, Chilean news outlet T13 covered the meme's origins, noting it had been circulating on social media for "some weeks" at that point[1]. - **Platform:** Spanish-language internet (early spread), YouTube / Twitter (English-language viral spread) - **Creator:** TobiSilvero (YouTube clip upload), Unknown (original Spanish-language meme format) - **Date:** 2016 (viral spread) ## Overview The Monkey Puppet meme centers on a small, fuzzy brown puppet with a frozen expression of alarm. In the original clip, the puppet glances nervously to the side, then turns to face the camera with wide eyes and a tight-lipped grimace. This two-beat motion, the sideways look followed by the dead-ahead stare, is what makes the GIF so effective as a reaction image[5]. People use it when they want to silently communicate "I did not want to see/hear/experience that" or "please pretend I'm not here." The puppet is made of wool and has a distinctly handmade, slightly uncanny quality that adds to the humor[2]. Its stiff pose and forced composure capture a very specific flavor of social discomfort: the kind where you can't leave but desperately wish you could. ## How It Spread On March 31, 2016, YouTube user TobiSilvero uploaded a clip from the show that became the primary source material for the meme's GIF versions[4]. The video was later deleted but reuploads kept the clip alive. The meme hit English-language internet in the summer of 2016. On June 23, 2016, a GIF of the puppet's reaction was posted to Giphy[4]. On July 1, 2016, Twitter user @ultkjongin posted the GIF in response to Staples Canada roasting Kris Jenner's paper-clip-style pearl necklace on Twitter[6]. The Daily Mail covered the Staples tweet and its flood of reaction GIFs, including the monkey puppet, calling out a user named Chanel who shared a "meme of a shocked puppet"[6]. This was one of the earliest documented English-language viral moments for the image. On November 2, 2016, a version of the puppet appeared on Reddit's r/MemeEconomy, picking up around 120 upvotes[4]. The meme also gained traction on Tumblr, where user toggenburg paired it with the classic "the word gullible looks the same upside down" trick, racking up over 47,000 notes[4]. By mid-2019, Monkey Puppet had become one of the most widely used reaction GIFs on Reddit and Tumblr[2]. Twitter user @DimitriaKimill posted a Game of Thrones joke using the image that pulled over 340 retweets[4]. The meme's format proved extremely flexible: any situation involving secondhand embarrassment, guilt, or the urge to look away could be paired with the puppet's nervous glance. ## How to Use Monkey Puppet works best as a reaction to something uncomfortable, embarrassing, or cringe-inducing. The typical format involves: 1. **As a reply GIF:** Drop the animated GIF in response to an awkward story, a self-own, or an uncomfortable truth someone just shared. No caption needed. 2. **As a captioned image macro:** Place text above the puppet image describing the uncomfortable situation. The puppet's expression does the rest. Common setups include "When someone brings up [embarrassing topic] and you're the guilty party." 3. **As a two-panel or labeled meme:** The first panel or label describes the situation, and the puppet's reaction shot serves as the punchline. ## Cultural Impact Monkey Puppet crossed over from niche reaction GIF to mainstream digital shorthand for social anxiety. Its adoption across platforms from Reddit to Tumblr to Twitter to workplace Slack channels shows how universally relatable the "I wish I weren't here" feeling is[5]. The meme also brought unexpected international attention to *Ōkiku naru Ko*, a show that had been off the air for decades. Chilean and Latin American media covered the meme's origins, reconnecting audiences with a show many remembered from childhood[1]. The Spanish Wikipedia article for *Niños en Crecimiento* specifically notes how screenshots of the Pedro/Kento character became popular internet memes in the 2010s, first in Spanish-speaking countries and then worldwide[3]. ## Fun Facts - The show *Ōkiku naru Ko* ran for 14 seasons across nearly three decades, making it one of Japan's longest-running educational puppet programs[3]. - The character has at least three different names depending on who you ask: Kento (Japanese original), Pedro (Spanish dub), and just "Monkey Puppet" (English internet)[1][4]. - One source identifies the show as *Okaasan to Issho* ("With Mother"), but this appears to be a conflation with a different NHK children's program. The puppet specifically comes from *Ōkiku naru Ko*[3][4]. - The meme's earliest known English-language viral moment involved office supplies. It appeared in the replies to Staples Canada dunking on Kris Jenner's $175 necklace[6]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Monkey Puppet meme? Monkey Puppet is a reaction GIF and image macro featuring a wool puppet monkey with a nervous sideways glance, used to express awkwardness, embarrassment, or shock[2][4]. ### Where did the Monkey Puppet meme come from? The puppet comes from *Ōkiku naru Ko* (Growing Children), a Japanese educational puppet show that aired on NHK from 1959 to 1988. It first became a meme in Spanish-speaking internet communities before spreading to English-language platforms in 2016[1][4]. ### What does the Monkey Puppet meme mean? It conveys the feeling of being caught off-guard, embarrassed, or wanting to disappear from an uncomfortable situation. The puppet's stiff pose and wide-eyed stare capture the gap between looking calm and feeling panicked inside[5]. ### How do you use the Monkey Puppet meme? Post the GIF or image as a reaction to something cringeworthy, embarrassing, or awkward. It works as a standalone reply GIF, a captioned image macro, or part of a multi-panel meme where the puppet reacts to an uncomfortable setup[2]. ### Is the Monkey Puppet meme still popular? The meme reached peak popularity on Reddit and Tumblr around mid-2019[2]. It's still recognized and used as a reaction GIF, though it appears less frequently than during its peak. ### What is the monkey puppet's name? The character is called Kento in the original Japanese version and Pedro in the Spanish-language dub that aired across Latin America[1][3]. ### What show is the Monkey Puppet from? *Ōkiku naru Ko* (Growing Children), a Japanese children's puppet show produced by Studio Nova for NHK's educational channel. It ran from April 7, 1959 to March 18, 1988[3][4]. ### Why was it called "No Ahora Porfavor" first? Because the show was dubbed into Spanish and broadcast across Latin America, Spanish-speaking internet users recognized the puppet first and paired it with the caption "No ahora por favor" ("Not now, please"), which matched its alarmed expression[1][2]. ### Who uploaded the original YouTube clip? A user named TobiSilvero uploaded the source clip on March 31, 2016. The original video was later deleted, but reuploads preserved the footage[4]. ### How did it spread to English-speaking internet? The GIF appeared on Giphy in June 2016 and went viral on Twitter in July 2016 when it was used in reactions to Staples Canada mocking Kris Jenner's necklace. It then spread to Reddit's r/MemeEconomy and Tumblr through late 2016 and 2017[4][6]. ## References 1. [¿De donde salió el monito del meme "No ahora por favor"?]() 2. [Monkey Puppet – Meaning, Origin, Usage]() 3. [Why the Monkey Puppet Meme Is the Internet’s Favorite Way to Show Discomfort - Houlton Media – AI, Tech News, Science, Startups]() 4. [Monkey Puppet - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Monkey D. Luffy]() 6. [Niños en crecimiento - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre]() 7. [Where did the awkward monkey come from? - Celeberinfo % %]() 8. [Kris Jenner mocked by Staples Canada on Twitter over her new 'paperclip' necklace | Daily Mail Online]() 9. [The Best Examples of the Oh No Monkey Meme]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/monkey-puppet Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library