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Chungus

Big Chungus is an featuring a rotund depiction of the character from the 1941 short "," typically captioned with the phrase "Big Chungus" and mockingly presented as for a fictional . The term "chungus" itself is a coined by British-American video game critic in 2012 during a episode, where it was used humorously to describe something large, fleshy, and absurd, such as "Chicken Chungus." This word later evolved into for any short, thick object or as a nonsensical descriptor in humorous contexts. The meme's modern form emerged in November 2016 when user gayreinhardt (now logarto) posted the first instance of "Big Chungus" paired with unrelated imagery, but it did not gain traction until March 2018, when Redditor GaryTheTaco combined it with the obese image. Viral spread accelerated in December 2018 after a employee shared a story on about a customer inquiring about a "Big Chungus" game, which was retweeted over 13,800 times on and amplified across platforms like Reddit's /r/dankmemes and /r/comedyheaven. A dedicated subreddit, /r/BigChungus, was established in September 2018 to curate related content, further fueling its popularity among online communities. Big Chungus has permeated mainstream culture, appearing as a cameo in the 2021 Warner Bros. film : A New Legacy, where briefly transforms into the character during a sequence. In 2019, U.S. Army personnel from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment named an "Big Chungus," a reference highlighted in an official post that garnered over 132,000 likes. The meme's creator, Braden (known as GaryTheTaco), discussed its accidental rise from an inside joke in a 2020 interview, noting its ironic appeal in gaming and animation fandoms. Variants like "Ugandan Chungus" and "Karen Chungus" emerged in 2019, extending its absurd humor into broader ecosystems. By 2025, "chungus" had evolved further into teen slang for someone or something chubby or overweight, with new variants like "Quirk Chungus" emerging in 2024.

Origins

Looney Tunes Depiction

"Wabbit Twouble" is a animated short produced by Productions and released by on December 20, 1941. Directed by , the cartoon serves as a of traditional narratives, featuring as a bumbling vacationer seeking relaxation at Jellostone , only to encounter the mischievous . This marked Clampett's first directorial effort on a short, inheriting the project from Avery's unit and incorporating vibrant, oil-painted backgrounds characteristic of early 1940s . In a key scene, after Elmer Fudd blocks Bugs Bunny's rabbit hole with a boulder and laughs triumphantly, Bugs emerges from beneath the obstruction and mocks his adversary by imitating his overweight physique. Bugs transforms into a plump version of Elmer, complete with an exaggeratedly rounded body, puffed-out cheeks, and a comically distended belly, emphasizing the hunter's own corpulent design inspired by voice actor Arthur Q. Bryan's build. This brief metamorphosis highlights Bugs' shape-shifting antics, turning the tables on Elmer through visual exaggeration and slapstick imitation rather than direct confrontation. The "chunky" appearance of Bugs in this moment, with its inflated features and bulky silhouette, captures the cartoon's playful distortion of character proportions for humorous effect. As one of Bugs Bunny's early post-debut appearances—following his 1940 introduction in "A Wild Hare"—the short underscores the character's evolving role in Looney Tunes through relentless pranks and physical comedy, devoid of later formulaic elements like the iconic "What's up, Doc?" line. The fat Elmer Fudd redesign, used here and in a few subsequent shorts, added a layer of visual absurdity to the rivalry, contributing to the series' signature blend of surreal humor and character-driven gags. This visual of Bugs' imitation later inspired the internet adaptation known as "Chungus."

Coining of the Term

The term "chungus" was coined by , an English and known for their satirical reviews and commentary on industry practices through series like The Jimquisition on The Escapist. Sterling, formerly a reviews editor at , began incorporating the into their content around 2012 as a humorous descriptor for absurd, bulky, or awkwardly oversized elements, often in a variety of unrelated contexts to emphasize satirical critique. The earliest documented usage appeared in Destructoid's Podtoid podcast episode 205, titled "Chicken Chungus Vampire Sex Surprise," released on June 12, 2012, where Sterling shared a whimsical story involving "Chicken Chungus" as part of the show's irreverent discussions on gaming and pop culture. Subsequent episodes of Podtoid featured the term in playful phrases, such as "packing my chungus full of worms," which helped it evolve into an in-joke within the gaming podcast community, detached from any specific visual or meme associations. These early instances highlighted Sterling's style of using invented words to mock clunky game mechanics or exaggerated designs, like oversized bosses in titles with poor level implementation, without tying to broader cultural imagery. The word gained its first formal online definition on on December 26, 2012, submitted by user Whidmark, who described "chungus" as a versatile term "meaning anything and everything, including but not limited to a chunky anus," with example usages like "Don't be such a chungus" to denote something bulky and absurd. This entry captured the term's initial loose, humorous intent as coined by Sterling, reflecting its application in gaming critiques to evoke ridiculousness or excess in design elements. Prior to any meme evolution, "chungus" remained a niche verbal in Sterling's repertoire, occasionally riffing on puns like "Carl Hungus" from the 1998 film to underscore awkward or comically large features in reviewed games.

Meme Development

Early Online Instances

The earliest documented use of the term "Big Chungus" appeared on on November 19, 2016, when user gayreinhardt (now known as logarto) posted an image of a avatar captioned in an ironic context, stating "gender is for smaller, lesser beings," which garnered over 56,000 notes. This post marked the initial online application of "Big Chungus" as a humorous, absurd descriptor, drawing from nonsense wordplay in Tumblr's post-ironic humor circles. On May 27, 2017, an anonymous user on 4chan's /lit/ board shared an image of the obese from the 1941 short , where the character mocks by imitating his overweight appearance, sparking early ironic discussions around the visual without attaching the "Chungus" term. This posting introduced the fat imagery to anonymous imageboards, blending for classic with satirical exaggeration in online communities. The first notable pairing of the "Big Chungus" caption with the fat Bugs Bunny image occurred on March 20, 2018, when Reddit user GaryTheTaco created a piece of fake video game cover art styled as a 1990s platformer titled Big Chungus, though it remained private until later public sharing. This edit satirized retro gaming aesthetics, combining the term—coined years earlier by video game journalist James Stephanie Sterling in his Podtoid podcast episodes around 2012—with the Looney Tunes scene to heighten the absurdity. By September 16, 2018, the subreddit /r/BigChungus was founded by user youarepepemangay as a niche space for absurd edits and ironic content related to the emerging , initially attracting limited engagement. These early instances emerged within post-ironic online humor, which fused nostalgia with gaming to celebrate , over-the-top characters in a detached, self-aware manner.

Viral Spread in 2018

The viral spread of the Big Chungus meme accelerated in December 2018, transforming it from a niche into a widespread phenomenon across social platforms. On December 7, 2018, a store manager named Justin Laufer posted on about a customer inquiring about a game titled Big Chungus, describing the confusion it caused and attaching a of a fake game cover featuring the chubby image. This post, which amassed over 1,000 reactions within two weeks, inadvertently fueled the meme's momentum by blurring the line between online fiction and real-world interactions. The following day, December 8, 2018, user @fluffypkmn shared a screenshot of Laufer's post, captioning it to highlight the absurdity of GameStop's internal groups. This exploded in popularity, garnering more than 13,800 retweets and 28,000 likes over the next two weeks, amplifying the beyond communities. (archived at https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1442333-big-chungus) Concurrently, Reddit's /r/dankmemes subreddit became a key hub, with posts featuring edited game covers—including fake ESRB rating images depicting exaggerated content warnings for the nonexistent title—circulating widely and receiving thousands of upvotes. For instance, a December 7 post in /r/dankmemes showcased an ESRB-style parody rating the game as suitable for all ages despite absurd descriptors, contributing to the 's ironic framing as a legitimate product. (Note: Specific post archived via community discussions; virality confirmed in aggregate metrics) The surge extended to other platforms, where post-ironic humor emphasized the meme's sheer absurdity over any deeper meaning, drawing in users from 's /v/ board and 's meme feeds. On , threads repurposed the image in surreal edits, while users shared remixes that played on the fake game's "upcoming release," fostering a sense of shared, nonsensical excitement. Offline buzz was further ignited when stores responded to the viral confusion by printing and displaying posters of Big Chungus in locations across the , turning the prank into tangible cultural commentary on retail and internet trends. Peak engagement in December 2018 included standout Reddit posts, such as one on /r/comedyheaven on December 13 that earned 13,100 upvotes by juxtaposing the meme with oblivious customer service scenarios. YouTube contributed to the explanation wave, with a video uploaded on December 24, 2018, titled "True Origin of BIG CHUNGUS (Merrie Melodies)," which traced the visual back to the 1941 short Wabbit Twouble and quickly amassed views among curious audiences seeking context amid the frenzy. The dedicated /r/BigChungus subreddit, created earlier in September 2018, experienced rapid growth during this period, reaching over 9,000 subscribers by the end of the month as fans aggregated content celebrating the meme's escalating ridiculousness. This explosion marked Big Chungus's shift to mainstream ironic appeal, briefly referencing earlier isolated online instances like Tumblr posts as humorous precursors without overshadowing the 2018 catalyst.

Cultural Impact

Ironic Usage and Variations

Following the viral peak of the Big Chungus in late 2018, its usage shifted toward irony starting in early 2019, with users on platforms like employing it in self-aware, exaggerated contexts to highlight its perceived absurdity. A notable early example appeared on March 10, 2019, when user Scholar posted an ironic framing Big Chungus as an enduring cultural staple, garnering over 60 smiles within months. By mid-July 2019, this ironic wave intensified on , with posts like Need_For_Speedwagon's July 14 entry (over 40 smiles) and Twunk's July 29 creation (more than 110 smiles) integrating Big Chungus into "cringe" compilations that mocked outdated or overplayed formats through absurd, low-effort edits. The trend spilled over to communities such as r/bruhfunny and r/okbuddyretard by August 2019, where users amplified the irony via captioned GIFs depicting the character in comically persistent scenarios. Variations of the meme proliferated through user-generated adaptations, often subverting its original Photoshopped game cover aesthetic. Enthusiasts created fan-made covers for other consoles, such as a 2020 DeviantArt entry reimagining Big Chungus as an Xbox Series X exclusive developed by . videos emerged around 2021, including previews blending Big Chungus visuals with unrelated effects for surreal, humorous distortions. Crossovers with other memes were common, such as edits merging Big Chungus into templates like the "Distracted Boyfriend" stock photo to satirize fleeting internet trends, though specific instances remained niche within ironic communities. Community practices centered on creative extensions, including that stylized Big Chungus in or nostalgic contexts and sound remixes transforming it into a musical . The meme's "theme song," originally composed by on December 28, 2018, inspired sequels like BIG CHUNGUS 2 in March 2020 and BIG CHUNGUS 3 in November 2020, alongside remixes such as B!X's version in June 2021. These efforts positioned Big Chungus within "brainrot" humor, a style characterized by repetitive, absurd content that mocks digital overload and fosters ironic detachment among online audiences. Big Chungus experienced a temporary decline following its 2019 viral and ironic surge, as meme cycles shifted, with early 2019 commentary already speculating on its potential obsolescence amid broader fatigue with rapid trends. It resurged in user-driven formats from to 2024, particularly through edits that layered the character's image over modern audio trends and nostalgic montages, reviving its appeal among younger users blending old and new platform aesthetics. Examples include 2022 GamingBible clips referencing its enduring status and 2024 videos exploring its backstory, culminating in 2025 revival shorts emphasizing its absurd charm. Sociologically, Big Chungus exemplifies late-2010s culture's fusion of platforms, nostalgia for , gaming parodies, and deliberate absurdity, serving as a collaborative artifact that highlighted the era's shift toward post-ironic, multi-site evolution. This blending underscored how memes like Big Chungus facilitated community bonding through shared, self-deprecating humor amid accelerating digital fragmentation.

References in Media and Merchandise

Big Chungus has been incorporated into several gaming titles as an official character since 2019. On March 29, 2021, it was added to the mobile game Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem as a playable toon, featuring abilities like dealing attack damage and inflicting debuffs on enemies. In August 2022, Warner Bros. filed a trademark for "Big Chungus" with the European Union Intellectual Property Office on August 26, covering its use in video games; the trademark was registered on March 1, 2023, fueling speculation about a potential appearance in the platform fighter MultiVersus as a Bugs Bunny variant. The character also appeared in film, with a brief in Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), where it nods to the amid a crowd of figures during a scene. This inclusion highlights how ironic variations of the inspired official media adoptions. Beyond entertainment, on October 8, 2019, the U.S. Army's official account posted about an artillery piece nicknamed "Big Chungus" by soldiers in the 3rd Regiment, using the reference for lighthearted recruitment engagement. Merchandise featuring Big Chungus emerged commercially from 2019, with official Warner Bros.-licensed products such as plush toys produced by Youtooz, depicting the character at 9 inches tall with its signature buck-toothed grin. T-shirts and apparel bearing the image have been sold through authorized retailers, capitalizing on its status. Fan-driven items, including custom T-shirts, figures, and stickers, proliferate on platforms like , where creators offer handmade and personalized variations. The meme's legacy persists through creator insights and contemporary media. In an August 2020 Know Your Meme editorial interview, original Braden detailed how the nonsensical evolved from a private edit into a . As of 2025, hosts ongoing content with Big Chungus in nostalgic memes, parodies, and platform-specific fusions, maintaining its cultural relevance among younger audiences.

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