Nyan Cat Was Originally Called Pop-Tart Cat

Those of us familiar with the internet know there are innumerable food-related memes. We've got the Kermit Lipton tea meme. The "None Pizza with Left Beef" meme. The "good soup" meme. The list goes on and on and on. Younger generations have likely also witnessed the evolution of certain memes (particularly during the pandemic), and many of the ones we love today are actually quite different from their original form. The Spider-Man pointing meme, for example, started with just the real Spider-Man and the imposter Spider-Man, says Screen Rant. However, today's version commonly has anywhere from three to seven Spider-Man characters.

Constant change is the hallmark of memes, and Nyan Cat is no exception. Today we know and love the Nyan Cat GIF, but the character actually came from much humbler beginnings. Its origin story might not be as cool as Spider-Man's, but we appreciate it all the same. 

According to Know Your Meme, Nyan Cat was born in 2011 when illustrator Chris Torres drew a picture of his cat during a Livestream fundraiser for the Red Cross. With a cherry Pop-Tart for its body and a majestic rainbow tail, Torres' cat Marty was immortalized as a GIF animation on Tumblr. Pop-Tart Cat was soon set to music on YouTube, racking up an impressive 1 million views within just two weeks. The music — popular Japanese song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" by daniwellP — is how Pop-Tart Cat came to be known as Nyan Cat.

Since then, Nyan Cat has made its merry way to countless other platforms. Phone company Sprint featured the Nyan Cat GIF in one of its commercials (via YouTube). Several gaming companies have created video games around Nyan Cat. Heck, even Nintendo Switch launched a game called "Nyan Cat: Lost in Space." Seems to us you should settle down on the couch with a cherry Pop-Tart and enjoy the beauty of Nyan Cat.