# Spycrab Spycrab is a Team Fortress 2 animation glitch where the Spy class resembles a crab when crouch-walking while looking straight up and holding the Disguise Kit. First caught on video in July 2008 by YouTube user Zealot, the sight became a server-culture ritual tied to friendly, non-combat play. By August 2014, Valve had added an official Spycrab taunt, in-game cosmetic, and plush toy sold through its online store. ## Origin Team Fortress 2 shipped in 2007, and the Spycrab animation existed from the start as an oversight: no idle pose covered a crouching Spy who looks up and walks while holding the Disguise Kit[7]. Players likely discovered the quirk during casual messing around on servers through late 2007 and early 2008, but no footage from that window surfaced publicly. On July 5th, 2008, YouTube user Zealot uploaded a video titled 'Spy Crabs,' which showed a Spy player sidling along the ground like the titular crustacean[1]. The next day, July 6th, YouTube user Kilorat posted a clip featuring a Spy named 'RARE ENDANGERED CRAB SPY,' and that phrase stuck to the bit for years afterward[2]. - **Platform:** Team Fortress 2 servers / YouTube (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2008 ## Overview Performing a Spycrab means equipping the Spy's Disguise Kit, holding crouch, aiming the camera straight up, and walking in any direction. The resulting silhouette looks like a sidling crustacean instead of a human operative, since Team Fortress 2's animation system had no idle pose covering that specific combination of inputs[7]. Server culture split into friendlies, who leave the crabbing Spy alone and sometimes form crab parades across the map, and griefers, who pick them off instantly for an easy kill. The phrase 'RARE ENDANGERED CRAB SPY,' coined in Kilorat's July 2008 upload as a player name, named the mock-wildlife bit for the community[2]. ## How to Use To do a Spycrab, pick the Spy class, equip the Disguise Kit, hold crouch, point the camera straight up at the sky, and walk in any direction. Common convention treats the gesture as a signal of friendly intent, often used to request a non-combat moment on casual servers or to invite a 1v1 crab-off against another player. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Spycrab? Spycrab is a Team Fortress 2 animation glitch that makes the Spy class look like a crab when the player crouch-walks while holding the Disguise Kit and looking straight up[1]. ### Where did Spycrab come from? The animation existed since Team Fortress 2 launched in 2007, but it went viral through YouTube uploads by Zealot on July 5th, 2008, and Kilorat on July 6th, 2008[2]. ### What does Spycrab mean? Spycrab refers to both the glitched sidling animation and the player tradition of performing it as a signal of friendly, non-combat intent on TF2 servers[7]. ### How do you use Spycrab? Pick the Spy, equip the Disguise Kit, hold crouch, aim the camera straight up, and walk in any direction to produce the crab-walk silhouette[6]. ### Is Spycrab still popular? Spycrab is a classic TF2 in-joke, officially cemented when Valve added a crab taunt in May 2009 and a cosmetic plus plush toy in August 2014[6]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSw9pAnMwZU]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dyQlZziHnw]() 3. [https://gamebanana.com/sprays/37653]() 4. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_9i7wU8sfE]() 5. [https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Spycrab_Community]() 6. [https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Community_fads#Spycrab]() 7. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/spycrab]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/spycrab Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library