Dat Boi is an Internet meme originating from the clip art website Animation Factory.[1][2] It depicts a frog riding a unicycle. The meme garnered popularity on Tumblr in 2015 before gaining more recognition through Twitter in 2016.[3] It is usually accompanied by a person saying "here come dat boi".
History
According to Animation Factory employee Ryan Hagen, the frog GIF used in the meme was created by designer Josh Doohen.[4]
The meme's name originates from an edited news screenshot.[5] The line of text often used in association with the image ("here come dat boi! o shit waddup!") was taken from memes involving "Here Comes Pacman", an animation based on the Pac-Man segment of the Bloodhound Gang song "Mope".[6][1][5] The frog image and its caption were first put together on Facebook, according to Vox.[7]The Verge writer Chris Plante referred to the caption in a June article, stating that the Dat Boi image itself was "not enough" and should be paired with the caption.[8]
In May 2016, the "here come dat boi!" caption came under criticism after various Facebook users claimed to find it an "appropriation of African-American Vernacular English".[9][10] As a result, certain Facebook groups discouraged use of the meme.[11]
Dat Boi was featured in The Guardian's "Month in Memes" article for June 2016.[12]Matt Furie, creator of Pepe the Frog, explained in a June 2016 interview with Comic Book Resources that he was "devastated" to find out that Dat Boi had "begun to overshadow Internet Pepe".[13]