Sprigatito

About

Sprigatito, sometimes commonly referred to as Weed Cat, is the new grass starter for the next generation of Pokemon, coming in the new games Scarlet and Violet, which is expected to come out in late 2022. Many memes and jokes have been made using the character for its grass-type and leaf symbol in reference to marijuana and its playful-looking nature.

Origin

On February 27th, 2022, the 25th anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Green in Japan, Nintendo did a presentation^[1] centered around updates on its mobile games, Pokémon Legends: Arceus and on the announcement of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet including a look at the three new starters, which included Sprigatito (shown below).

Spread

After Sprigatito's introduction, people quickly began to joke about it becoming the target of Rule 34 fan art like Gardevoir was in the past since it was the first mammal Pokémon introduced for this generation. Other users were quickly drawn to make weed jokes for its green fur, leaf pattern on the face and reddish eyes.

On February 27th, 2022, Twitter^[2] user MadamaStyx_ posted one such fan art depicting Sprigatito in a bowl with the caption "he will be baked soon," receiving over 48,500 likes in two days (seen below, left). That same day, Twitter^[3] user Smuttysquid also tweeted fan art of the Pokemon with references to weed, receiving over 700 likes in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).

Throughout the day, the nickname "Weed Cat" also began seeing use in reference to Sprigatitio in fan art and memes. For example, on February 27th, Twitter^[4] user MarshmallowEars posted one such version in a fan art piece, receiving over 50 likes in two days (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References