Surprised Pikachu

It’s the ultimate reaction image for when life throws you a curveball you totally saw coming. Everyone loves that relatable moment of surprise, even when they knew better!

A shocked Pikachu face that perfectly captures disbelief at predictable outcomes.

People use Surprised Pikachu to react to situations where the outcome was obvious but still surprising. For example, someone might caption it, 'When you forget to study and still fail the test.'

The meme comes from a scene in the Pokémon anime, specifically Season 1, Episode 10, where Pikachu looks shocked. The first known use as a meme was on Tumblr by user popokko on September 26, 2018.

1. 2018-09First use of Surprised Pikachu on Tumblr by popokko.
2. 2018-10The meme spreads to Reddit and Facebook, gaining massive popularity.

After its Tumblr debut, it quickly spread to Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter, with posts gaining thousands of likes and shares. By October 2018, it was everywhere, especially on the me_irl community and meme pages.