A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.

Nyan Cat

What this meme means

Nyan Cat is a looping 8-bit animation of a Pop-Tart-bodied cat flying through space and leaving a rainbow trail, set to the song "Nyanyanyanya." It became a symbol of internet nonsense, with a rich fan culture around it.

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What is shown

The image shown isn't the classic Nyan Cat but a fan reworking with Russian themes. Instead of the usual Pop-Tart body, the kitten's body is styled as a matryoshka doll: a red shell painted with a white pattern, with the head and face peeking out from under a gray fur ushanka hat topped with a golden star. Behind it flies the tricolor flag of Russia, its stripes taking the place of the original's rainbow. The cat holds a bottle that resembles a vodka bottle in one paw.

The background is done in the same palette as the original: a bright blue sky, a limited color range, and square pixels, like in old arcade games. Below is a pixel-art city with multistory buildings, a tree, and a tall tower topped with an orange spire. That visual code keeps the clip recognizable even in reworkings, since the main device — the contrast between a cute character and crude pixel graphics — is preserved.

The specific author and date of this Russian variant are unknown. Reworkings like this were made by fans in large numbers and spread without attribution, so tracing their original source is difficult.

History of the original

The original Nyan Cat was created by American artist Chris Torres, known online by the handle prguitarman, from Dallas. In April 2011, during a Red Cross charity livestream, viewers asked him to draw a "Pop-Tart" and a "cat." Torres carried out the request as a short GIF animation and posted it to his site, LOL-Comics, on April 2, 2011. The character was originally called "Pop Tart Cat." The cat was modeled on his own pet, whom he called Marty.

Music played a key role in the meme's spread. The melody "Nyanyanyanyanya" is a remix of a song first posted to the Japanese video site Niconico in July 2010, with vocals by Hatsune Miku. A version performed by the UTAU voice Momone Momo, known as "Momomomo," formed the basis for the video. On April 5, 2011, YouTube user saraj00n combined the GIF with that music and posted the video under the title "Nyan Cat." "Nya" is an onomatopoeia for a cat's meow, so the title and chorus immediately set the tone: a cute cat singing an endless little song.

Torres later noted that it was users themselves who came up with the name "Nyan Cat," and he accepted the name. The video quickly racked up hundreds of thousands of views, was featured on G4 and CollegeHumor, and by the end of 2011 ranked among the five most-viewed videos on YouTube.

How the meme spread

Nyan Cat quickly became a model case of fan creativity. Remixes, ringtones, wallpapers, mobile and flash games appeared, along with progress bars where a running cat replaced the loading strip. In 2012, the meme won a Webby Award in the "Meme of the Year" category. The character was used in the game Scribblenauts, in Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F, and even in the cryptocurrency Nyancoin, launched in 2014.

Questions of authorship and rights also became part of the story. Torres criticized the site nyan.cat, which used a version of the character with toast, and in 2013, together with the creator of Keyboard Cat, he filed a lawsuit over the characters' appearance in Scribblenauts; the case was settled, and the creators received compensation. In 2021, the artist sold an updated version of the GIF as an NFT for about 300 ether, which at the time was worth roughly $587,000.

The original video's peak view count passed 210 million in November 2023, after which the original channel made the video private and the animation itself moved to a new channel. That history shows the meme has long since become more than a joke — it's an object of collecting and intellectual property in its own right.

Why the meme works

Nyan Cat's comedy is built on contrast: the absurd image of a flying cat with a pastry body, an endless melody, and simple 8-bit graphics that evoke the nostalgic aesthetic of early video games. The looping animation creates an almost hypnotic effect, leaving the viewer in a strange state somewhere between irritation and fondness.

Another reason for its popularity is how easy it is to rework. Changing the background, the character, or the symbolism is enough to keep the meme recognizable. The Russian-themed variant in the image works as a local version: it takes the familiar structure and fills it with national symbols, adding irony and making the joke land with a Russian-speaking audience.

The meme also became part of the internet's shared vocabulary: the word "nya" is understood as a playful way to describe cat-like cuteness, and the image of the rainbow-trailing cat is recognizable even to people unfamiliar with the original. That recognizability is what underlies Nyan Cat's long life.