The Story of Pepe: The True Face of Twitch

CONTENT WARNING

Please be advised that this video discusses a symbol that has been associated with racism, antisemitism, misogyny and hate speech. We do not endorse those uses of Pepe, nor do we endorse those ideologies. Hate has no place in esports, Twitch, gaming or anywhere else.

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He was the every-frog.

The amphibian that felt all the things we felt.

Pepe the Frog became one of the most popular memes in the world — and perhaps nowhere did he become as indispensable as on Twitch.

As he grew in popularity, so too did his variations, and the breadth of emotions he could help communicate.

But while Twitch was keeping it Hypers, to the rest of the world… Pepe was getting pretty monkaS.

And when the frog was added to a hate symbol database, the real world collided with Twitch.

This is the story of the meme that went from emotional touchstone to alleged hate symbol and was revived again by the very community that loved him the most.

This is the Story of Pepe the Frog.

Thumbnail by: Brandon Mistele

Music used under license from Associated Production Music LLC (”APM”).

[ilfourios]

Pepe will prbly stick around in history for a while FeelsGoodman

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Pepe The Frog is too iconic to be erased from history, no matter how hard anyone tries.

[tjgodofchaos]

Pepe is a reflection of the us FeelsStrongMan

[deekio]

“I would die for this frog” is iconic

[Error-zgpo]

Pepe is one of the best examples of people not using context or critical thinking

[ricardoosegueda]

Pepe is a great example that we shouldn't let other people, especially mainstream media, dictate the meaning of something. The iconic frog started as a comic and then started to be perceived as a hate symbol. If people gave up, that could've been a very sad conclusion to the story. But fortunately enough, meme culture and internet pop culture refused to give in and we somehow reclaimed it. Don't let anyone trick you into thinking that expressing your feelings with a cartoon frog or doing an ok sign is hate speech.

[sockknight]

At this point I cannot imagine Twitch without Pepe

[vphrism]

Pepe is a symbol of expression.
Not an ideology or tool for agendas.
Pepe is a picture of a thousand words.

[ZeraAxon]

He shows emotion. He was never meant to be a negative symbol. It has brought people and the internet together.

[Madlock_]

*sexist attitude towards women in general*
ActBlizz: i sleep

*cartoon frog exists*

Act Blizz: REAL SHIT

[DeckDaHalls]

2:25 This painter is, well inspirational when it comes to The Almighty Pepe...

[learner]

pepe, my favorite esports player, the most mechanically skilled player to ever exist

[Jack-bgbp]

Here before “The Reactor”. Probably 4 hours into his stream without any games yet.

Chatting OkayChamp

[kektalks]

I'm crying... now everyone will know the greatness of Pepe!

[ScribbleYT_]

Pepe is part of our culture, I’ll forever love him

[panchorosselli]

There is a full lenght documentary about the story of pepe. It's called "Feels GoodMan" and it's beautifull.

[kurtmatulac]

"I Enjoyed my stay" almost made me cry.

[ronn]

I remember when CNN first tried to campaign that Pepe was a hate-symbol prior to Hillary's announcement.
Kinda weird that their examples on a reverse-image search turned up nothing.

[angrychickengod]

ah yes. my favorite esports athelete: Pepe The Frog

[ajay-vlogger]

90% of XQC's TTS voice messages I hear during his stream will be like: message + xqcl