# Nessa Nessa is the Water-type Gym Leader from Pokémon Sword and Shield who exploded into fan art fame after her E3 2019 reveal[1]. Within days, her design pulled attention away from fellow reveal Sonia and became one of the most-drawn characters of that summer[2], later at the center of a heated whitewashing controversy that reshaped how the fandom talked about skin tone in fan art[3]. ## Origin Nessa debuted during Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct on June 11, 2019, presented as the playable Water-type Gym Leader in a Sword and Shield demo shown at the show[1]. The Direct is archived on Nintendo's official YouTube channel[1]. Fan art started rolling out within hours. Twitter user @AkaiRiot posted an early portrait that Know Your Meme's writeup credits with over 6,000 retweets and 24,000 likes, and @ScruffyTurtles followed with a piece cited at over 2,600 retweets and 10,000 likes[2]. - **Platform:** Nintendo Direct / Twitter (viral spread) - **Creator:** Game Freak (character design); fandom-driven meme - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview Nessa is the dark-skinned Water-type Gym Leader introduced in the 2019 Pokémon Sword and Shield Nintendo Direct at E3[1]. The character became a magnet for fan art almost immediately, with Twitter artists posting portraits and pin-ups that pulled tens of thousands of likes within days of her reveal[2]. The wider meme around Nessa splits into two threads. The first is straightforward horniness and hype: joke posts about how fast the character would be Rule 34'd, plus comics staging her as the new fandom darling stealing attention from Sonia, the professor's assistant revealed a week earlier[3]. The second thread is uglier. A wave of fan art visibly lightened Nessa's skin, sparking a whitewashing argument that spread from Twitter to a widely-read r/OutOfTheLoop explainer thread[3]. ## How It Spread The art rush was framed by fandom timing. Sonia had been revealed the week before and briefly dominated fan feeds; once Nessa dropped, comics and edits joked about the abandonment, including a Fairly OddParents edit on Tumblr and a widely-shared comic from Twitter user @MinaCreamu cited at over 3,600 retweets and 17,000 likes[2]. Redditor Manny4044 also posted a 'You Are Already Dead' Rule 34 joke to r/Animemes that cleared 3,600 points[2]. By June 12, 2019, the tone shifted. Twitter user @Anonemose posted a version of Nessa's official artwork with lightened skin, captioning it as a 'fix,' then said in a follow-up the post was satire aimed at 'improved character' artists[2]. Backlash was immediate, with the Build Casters podcast account calling the post anti-Black and the argument spreading well past the original tweet[2]. The debate widened as other pieces, including one by @Naju0517, were called out for the same softening of Nessa's skin tone[2]. Users like @itmethanh pushed back on the 'it's just a palette choice' defense, and r/OutOfTheLoop hosted a long explainer thread that pulled in readers outside the Pokémon fandom[3]. Some artists responded with deliberately absurd satire, painting Nessa in every skin color at once or as an invisible outline; others posted intentionally provocative racist caricatures that drew thousands of interactions of their own[2]. ## How to Use There is no fixed template. Nessa content typically takes one of three forms: straight fan art of the Gym Leader; 'Sonia vs Nessa' jokes staging her as the fandom's new obsession[2]; or discourse posts referencing the June 2019 whitewashing argument, often citing @Anonemose's 'fixed' repost as shorthand[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Nessa? Nessa is the Water-type Gym Leader from Pokémon Sword and Shield, revealed at E3 2019 and quickly adopted as a fan art favorite on Twitter[1][2]. ### Where did Nessa come from? She was introduced during Nintendo's E3 2019 Direct on June 11, 2019, as part of a playable Sword and Shield demo[1]. ### What does Nessa mean? As slang, 'Nessa' is used in Urban Dictionary entries as a name for a striking, loyal friend, but in meme contexts it refers to the Pokémon Gym Leader character[4]. ### How do you use Nessa? Fans mostly post original fan art, Sonia-vs-Nessa attention-shift jokes, or references to the June 2019 whitewashing debate around @Anonemose's 'fixed' repost[2][3]. ### Is Nessa still popular? She stayed a classic Sword and Shield fan art subject after the 2019 rush, with the whitewashing debate cited long after in explainer threads like r/OutOfTheLoop[3]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeqM_oHv6Mw]() 2. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nessa]() 3. [https://www.reddit.com/r/OutOfTheLoop/]() 4. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nessa]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/nessa Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library