Dat Boi

Here come dat boi! Oh shit waddup!

On April 3, 2016, a Facebook page posted an image that defied explanation: a low-resolution green frog, riding a unicycle, accompanied by the greeting "here come dat boi!!!!!!" and the response "o shit waddup!" The frog itself came from the Animation Factory Essential Collection 3, a stock graphics package. The catchphrase had been floating around Tumblr since 2015.

But something about this combination—this completely absurd, utterly inexplicable fusion of elements—captured the post-ironic spirit of 2016 internet culture.

Dat Boi made no sense. That was the point. In an era of increasingly surreal memes, Dat Boi represented the final evolution: a meme that was funny precisely because there was no logical reason it should be funny. It was pure internet chaos, distilled into a unicycling amphibian.

The meme exploded through April and May 2016, earning coverage from The Guardian, New York Magazine, Paper, and Vox. Academics tried to analyze it. Think-pieces were written. Nobody could explain why it worked, only that it did.

Dat Boi burned bright and burned fast. By fall 2016, the unicycle had slowed. The meme that had seemed fresh and chaotic now felt like a relic of a simpler time. It experienced a brief renaissance in September 2017, but the magic was gone.

Dat Boi came. We said "oh shit waddup." And then dat boi left.

Some memes are remembered for their longevity. Dat Boi is remembered for its intensity—a pure, uncut hit of absurdist humor that peaked and vanished like a fever dream.

Oh shit. Farewell.