Why Did This Ancient Nyan Cat Meme Resurface In 2025?

Know Your Meme

This breathtaking art of Nyan Cat being chased by his nemesis, Tac Nayn (aka Evil Waffle Cat) goes back to 2011, but creators in 2025 have been using it as an object labeling meme to describe something creeping up on them.   Check out our new MEME STORE: https://thememestore.com/  #trending #nyancat #memes   Subscribe to our channel to learn more about trending memes, hear interviews from meme personalities and more! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbrPqq29C9Q_TQP7OFFRzcw?sub_confirmation=1

Transcript

00:00Sometimes a meme is so good that it gets recycled back into popularity over a decade after its

00:04origin, hence why Nyan Cat in 2025 is still being chased by his nemesis Tak Nain, just as he was

00:10in 2011. But where did this image originate and why has it popped back up into meme relevance?

00:15For those who don't know, Nyan Cat is an 8-bit animation of a cat with a Pop-Tart body flying

00:19through space and leaving behind a trail of rainbows. After it dropped in April of 2011,

00:24Nyan Cat quickly became one of the biggest memes of all time. Just 16 days after the original Nyan

00:29Cat video was uploaded to YouTube, Cheeseburger CEO Ben He conceived of the idea for an opposite

00:34or evil version of Nyan Cat, and it was created by Senior GIF blogger Frankie Crescioni. He chose the

00:39name Tak Nain for the evil Waffle Cat, which is Nyan Cat backwards. In the GIF, he appears to be flying

00:44through a red background with floating skulls. In August of 2011, after both characters had garnered

00:49some viral spread, DeviantArt user J.R. Barker posted a piece of artwork that depicts realistic

00:54versions of the two cats, where evil Waffle Cat Tak Nain is seen chasing the beloved Nyan Cat.

00:58So why are we seeing this art being used in memes in 2025? The image would largely live in obscurity

01:03after its short viral stint in 2011. That is until March 2025, when TikToker IamayunicornXO posted a

01:10version of it set to Hero by Skyper. The user captioned it,

01:13How It Feels Having Friends Who Are Low-Key Haters.

01:22The post garnered over 3.3 million views in just two weeks. The meme was further popularized on TikTok

01:27and Instagram later in March 2025. As this iteration spread, other users would employ the image in object

01:33labeling memes as well. These memes would usually be set to the same hero track as the original,

01:37and often they label Tak Nain to represent an intrusive thought or bad urge. For example,

01:42on March 25th, TikToker Verlaine posted a version of the meme labeling Tak Nain as the

01:47sudden urge to pee, which garnered over 4 million views in under a week. How would you label this

01:51image? Let us know in the comments and make sure to like and subscribe for the latest in internet culture.

Category

Transcript

Recommended