# Ugly Bastard

Ugly Bastard is a shaming meme that spread through the subreddit /r/Animemes starting in late 2017, with anime fans mocking people who watch a hentai subgenre featuring older unattractive men pursuing young anime characters. The format picked up through spring and summer 2018, with users photoshopping the Hentai Haven category tag into unrelated meme templates to call out the genre's audience.

## Origin
The earliest documented post calling out the hentai subgenre appeared on /r/Animemes on December 27, 2017, titled 'Ugly Bastard is for degenerates' and pulling over 400 upvotes[1]. The post treats the Hentai Haven tag as a punchline rather than as a recommendation, setting the shaming tone that later posts followed.

Urban Dictionary's first entry for the term followed on March 16, 2018, with the single line 'The most horrible thing to ever exist'[2]. A longer entry posted after that described Ugly Bastards as fat middle-aged men with 'certain bodily features that most people find appalling'[2].

- **Platform:** Reddit /r/Animemes
- **Creator:** Unknown
- **Date:** 2017

## Overview
The meme runs in two main shapes on /r/Animemes[3]. The first format lines up hentai manga characters who fit the Ugly Bastard profile, generally fat middle-aged men drawn with features meant to look repulsive[2]. The second photoshops the actual Hentai Haven category tag into unrelated meme templates like SpongeBob reactions or the Most People Rejected His Message image.

The tone is almost always mocking rather than endorsing. Posters frame the subgenre as something to shame other anime fans over, with jokes often leaning on the word 'degenerate'[1]. The subject matter kept the meme concentrated inside anime community spaces instead of crossing over to mainstream platforms.

## How to Use
Common convention is to take the Hentai Haven category tag image for 'Ugly Bastard' and photoshop it into an unrelated meme template, framing a character or object in that template as the one choosing the category. Other versions skip the tag and typically pick a hentai manga character who fits the fat-middle-aged-man description, then slot that character into a reaction or reveal format.

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Ugly Bastard?
It is both a hentai subgenre featuring older unattractive men pursuing young anime characters and a shaming meme that mocks people who watch the genre[1].

### Where did Ugly Bastard come from?
The earliest known commentary post appeared on /r/Animemes on December 27, 2017, titled 'Ugly Bastard is for degenerates'[1].

### What does Ugly Bastard mean?
In Urban Dictionary's wording, Ugly Bastards are fat middle-aged men with 'certain bodily features that most people find appalling,' used as a catch-all label for the hentai subgenre and its characters[2].

### How do you use Ugly Bastard?
Common usage is to photoshop the Hentai Haven category tag into an unrelated meme template, or to drop a stereotypical character from the subgenre into a reaction format on /r/Animemes[3].

### Is Ugly Bastard still popular?
The format peaked on /r/Animemes through spring and summer 2018 and stayed inside anime community spaces rather than crossing to mainstream platforms[1].

## References
1. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Animemes/comments/7mfaxc/ugly_bastard_is_for_degenerates/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/Animemes/comments/7mfaxc/ugly_bastard_is_for_degenerates/>)
2. [https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ugly%20Bastard](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ugly%20Bastard>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ugly-bastard](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ugly-bastard>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/ugly-bastard
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library