Pyong

2006Original character / mascotdead

Also known as: Pyong Raposa

Pyong is a cute red fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory around 2006, spawning fan art, animations, emoticons, and a dress-up Flash game.

Pyong is a cute cartoon fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory, originating around 2006. The red fox mascot built a dedicated fan community on DeviantArt complete with fan art, animations, emoticons, and a dress-up Flash game, making it a minor but notable example of mid-2000s DeviantArt character culture.

TL;DR

Pyong is a cute cartoon fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory, originating around 2006.

Overview

Pyong is a small, stylized Japanese red fox character designed by a São Paulo-based digital artist known as TiggerFactory on DeviantArt2. The character's simple, round design lent itself to fan art, animated GIFs, emoticon sets, and interactive Flash content1. Pyong's appeal fit squarely into the mid-2000s DeviantArt ecosystem where cute original characters could attract dedicated fan communities through clubs and collaborative art submissions.

The name "Pyong" also picked up slang definitions on Urban Dictionary unrelated to the character, including a reference to "a Japanese red fox (Anime)" that likely traces back to the character's Brazilian fan base, where "raposa" (Portuguese for "fox") was commonly appended3.

The character was created by TiggerFactory, a digital artist based in São Paulo, Brazil, whose DeviantArt profile lists influences including Disney animators Glen Keane and David Colman2. The earliest Pyong fan club submissions on DeviantArt, including emoticon sets and an "Angel Pyong" illustration, carry art IDs in the 29-30 million range, placing their upload around 20061.

A DeviantArt user known as KSteinhoff organized the Pyong Fan Club group, establishing membership rules that required joining by note and adding the club icon to members' journal pages1. The club accumulated fan art including animations, stamp graphics, themed drawings ("Gotta Catch Pyong," "Pyong is King"), and a Flash-based "Dress Pyong Game" created by TiggerFactory1.

Origin & Background

Platform
DeviantArt
Key People
TiggerFactory
Date
~2006

The character was created by TiggerFactory, a digital artist based in São Paulo, Brazil, whose DeviantArt profile lists influences including Disney animators Glen Keane and David Colman. The earliest Pyong fan club submissions on DeviantArt, including emoticon sets and an "Angel Pyong" illustration, carry art IDs in the 29-30 million range, placing their upload around 2006.

A DeviantArt user known as KSteinhoff organized the Pyong Fan Club group, establishing membership rules that required joining by note and adding the club icon to members' journal pages. The club accumulated fan art including animations, stamp graphics, themed drawings ("Gotta Catch Pyong," "Pyong is King"), and a Flash-based "Dress Pyong Game" created by TiggerFactory.

How It Spread

Pyong's spread was modest and largely contained within DeviantArt's community structure. The fan club operated through DeviantArt's group system, with moderators managing membership lists, curating submitted fan art, and answering comments. At one point, the moderator (known on DeviantArt as po-po-tan) posted a journal announcing their resignation due to university workload, asking for a volunteer replacement to avoid shutting the club down.

Years after the initial DeviantArt popularity faded, TiggerFactory announced a partnership with Sulistas to bring Pyong images to Nokia's Ovi Store as cellphone wallpapers. The journal post framed it as a comeback: "after so many years....he is back" with a link to the Ovi Store listing and a call to "Spread the word!". This represented a rare example of a niche DeviantArt character crossing into commercial mobile content, though on a very small scale.

On Urban Dictionary, the term "Pyong" picked up several user-submitted definitions, one describing it as "a Japanese red fox (Anime)" with a usage example referencing "pyong raposa pics," directly tying back to the Brazilian fan community.

How to Use This Meme

Pyong was used primarily as a subject for fan art and creative remixes rather than as a meme template. Common formats included:

- Drawing the fox character in different situations, costumes, or art styles - Creating animated GIFs of Pyong dancing or performing actions - Making DeviantArt stamp graphics featuring the character - Using Pyong emoticon sets in DeviantArt comments and journals

The character's simple design made it accessible for artists of varying skill levels, which helped sustain the fan club's submission flow during its active period.

Cultural Impact

Pyong's cultural footprint was small but illustrative of how DeviantArt's club and community features enabled niche original characters to develop dedicated followings in the mid-2000s. The character's journey from fan art subject to Nokia Ovi Store wallpaper product, through the Sulistas partnership, showed an early attempt at monetizing DeviantArt-born IP through mobile platforms.

The fan club's lifecycle also reflected common patterns in DeviantArt community management: enthusiastic founding, moderator burnout, calls for replacement volunteers, and eventual dormancy.

Fun Facts

The "Dress Pyong Game" was a Flash-based dress-up game created by TiggerFactory, a popular format on DeviantArt in the mid-2000s.

TiggerFactory, Pyong's creator, was also a volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center in São Paulo and once ran commissions with proceeds going to the center.

Late comments on the fan club page include one user asking in Spanish if the club was still active, and another specifically looking for "a pyong icon where he dances caramelldansen," referencing the popular Caramelldansen dance meme.

Members eventually requested the fan club convert from DeviantArt's older "club" format to the newer "group" system for easier management.

Frequently Asked Questions

Pyong

2006Original character / mascotdead

Also known as: Pyong Raposa

Pyong is a cute red fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory around 2006, spawning fan art, animations, emoticons, and a dress-up Flash game.

Pyong is a cute cartoon fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory, originating around 2006. The red fox mascot built a dedicated fan community on DeviantArt complete with fan art, animations, emoticons, and a dress-up Flash game, making it a minor but notable example of mid-2000s DeviantArt character culture.

TL;DR

Pyong is a cute cartoon fox character created by Brazilian DeviantArt artist TiggerFactory, originating around 2006.

Overview

Pyong is a small, stylized Japanese red fox character designed by a São Paulo-based digital artist known as TiggerFactory on DeviantArt. The character's simple, round design lent itself to fan art, animated GIFs, emoticon sets, and interactive Flash content. Pyong's appeal fit squarely into the mid-2000s DeviantArt ecosystem where cute original characters could attract dedicated fan communities through clubs and collaborative art submissions.

The name "Pyong" also picked up slang definitions on Urban Dictionary unrelated to the character, including a reference to "a Japanese red fox (Anime)" that likely traces back to the character's Brazilian fan base, where "raposa" (Portuguese for "fox") was commonly appended.

The character was created by TiggerFactory, a digital artist based in São Paulo, Brazil, whose DeviantArt profile lists influences including Disney animators Glen Keane and David Colman. The earliest Pyong fan club submissions on DeviantArt, including emoticon sets and an "Angel Pyong" illustration, carry art IDs in the 29-30 million range, placing their upload around 2006.

A DeviantArt user known as KSteinhoff organized the Pyong Fan Club group, establishing membership rules that required joining by note and adding the club icon to members' journal pages. The club accumulated fan art including animations, stamp graphics, themed drawings ("Gotta Catch Pyong," "Pyong is King"), and a Flash-based "Dress Pyong Game" created by TiggerFactory.

Origin & Background

Platform
DeviantArt
Key People
TiggerFactory
Date
~2006

The character was created by TiggerFactory, a digital artist based in São Paulo, Brazil, whose DeviantArt profile lists influences including Disney animators Glen Keane and David Colman. The earliest Pyong fan club submissions on DeviantArt, including emoticon sets and an "Angel Pyong" illustration, carry art IDs in the 29-30 million range, placing their upload around 2006.

A DeviantArt user known as KSteinhoff organized the Pyong Fan Club group, establishing membership rules that required joining by note and adding the club icon to members' journal pages. The club accumulated fan art including animations, stamp graphics, themed drawings ("Gotta Catch Pyong," "Pyong is King"), and a Flash-based "Dress Pyong Game" created by TiggerFactory.

How It Spread

Pyong's spread was modest and largely contained within DeviantArt's community structure. The fan club operated through DeviantArt's group system, with moderators managing membership lists, curating submitted fan art, and answering comments. At one point, the moderator (known on DeviantArt as po-po-tan) posted a journal announcing their resignation due to university workload, asking for a volunteer replacement to avoid shutting the club down.

Years after the initial DeviantArt popularity faded, TiggerFactory announced a partnership with Sulistas to bring Pyong images to Nokia's Ovi Store as cellphone wallpapers. The journal post framed it as a comeback: "after so many years....he is back" with a link to the Ovi Store listing and a call to "Spread the word!". This represented a rare example of a niche DeviantArt character crossing into commercial mobile content, though on a very small scale.

On Urban Dictionary, the term "Pyong" picked up several user-submitted definitions, one describing it as "a Japanese red fox (Anime)" with a usage example referencing "pyong raposa pics," directly tying back to the Brazilian fan community.

How to Use This Meme

Pyong was used primarily as a subject for fan art and creative remixes rather than as a meme template. Common formats included:

- Drawing the fox character in different situations, costumes, or art styles - Creating animated GIFs of Pyong dancing or performing actions - Making DeviantArt stamp graphics featuring the character - Using Pyong emoticon sets in DeviantArt comments and journals

The character's simple design made it accessible for artists of varying skill levels, which helped sustain the fan club's submission flow during its active period.

Cultural Impact

Pyong's cultural footprint was small but illustrative of how DeviantArt's club and community features enabled niche original characters to develop dedicated followings in the mid-2000s. The character's journey from fan art subject to Nokia Ovi Store wallpaper product, through the Sulistas partnership, showed an early attempt at monetizing DeviantArt-born IP through mobile platforms.

The fan club's lifecycle also reflected common patterns in DeviantArt community management: enthusiastic founding, moderator burnout, calls for replacement volunteers, and eventual dormancy.

Fun Facts

The "Dress Pyong Game" was a Flash-based dress-up game created by TiggerFactory, a popular format on DeviantArt in the mid-2000s.

TiggerFactory, Pyong's creator, was also a volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center in São Paulo and once ran commissions with proceeds going to the center.

Late comments on the fan club page include one user asking in Spanish if the club was still active, and another specifically looking for "a pyong icon where he dances caramelldansen," referencing the popular Caramelldansen dance meme.

Members eventually requested the fan club convert from DeviantArt's older "club" format to the newer "group" system for easier management.

Frequently Asked Questions