The Fascinating Story of Big Chungus

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Trend expert Shayan Faraz explains the lore behind the iconic Bugs Bunny meme

Co-authored by Shayan Faraz and Dev Murphy, MA

Last Updated: January 29, 2026 Fact Checked

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What is "Big Chungus"?

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Meme Origins & Spread

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If you've spent any amount of time at all on the internet in the last decade, you have seen Big Chungus, but that doesn't mean you understand Big Chungus. That's why we've created a brief guide to this iconic meme, including where it came from, why it looks like Bugs Bunny (spoiler, it is), and what it means, with insights from trend expert Shayan Faraz. Keep reading for everything you need to know about Big Chungus! 🐰

"Big Chungus" Meaning & Meme Origins

Trend expert Shayan Faraz says Big Chungus is an absurd meme taken from a screenshot of an obese Bugs Bunny. The image is from a 1941 Looney Tunes episode called "Wabbit Twouble." In it, he mocks the bloated Elmer J. Fudd by expanding his body to look like him.

Section 1 of 2:

What is "Big Chungus"?

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Big Chungus is a meme involving a screenshot of overweight Bugs Bunny.^{[1]
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Shayan Faraz
Trend Expert

Expert Interview} The term "chungus" is a nonsense word that was allegedly coined by video game journalist Jim Sterling sometime around 2012 (more on "chungus" in the next section). "Big Chungus" was used in 2018 by Redditor GaryTheTaco in reference to the overweight Bugs Bunny.
- How do you use the "Big Chungus" meme? You just…post it. The meme doesn't really mean anything, sort of like 6-7. It's just a silly, absurd image to share widely and randomly—or to put your own spin on.
- This meme's essential meaninglessness makes it easily and endlessly remixable, so get creative and make your own version of Big Chungus!
- Faraz says, “The meme was repurposed in 2025, particularly due to people finding the word ‘chungus’ humorous. People have since repurposed the word by saying phrases like ‘f*** my chungus life.”^{[2]
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- According to Faraz, this post by @mr_lindsay_sped offers another great explanation of “Chungus.”^{[3]
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Meet the wikiHow Expert

Shayan Faraz (also known online as Chum) is a slang and trend expert based in Michigan who posts content about cultural trends. He has over 35,000 followers and over 7 million likes on his TikTok page @chummertok.

Section 2 of 2:

Big Chungus Meme Origins & Spread

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The Elmer J. Fudd we know today was originally pretty plump, and in the Looney Tunes episode "Wabbit Twouble," Bugs Bunny mocks his size by temporarily expanding his body to look like him. (You can see the original clip on YouTube.)
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Jim Sterling allegedly coined the word "chungus" sometime around 2012. The slang term "chungus" was likely coined by video game journalist Jim Sterling prior to December 2012, though the exact date is uncertain. The term's actual definition is a little slippery, with an Urban Dictionary entry from the time defining it as "anything and everything, including but not limited to a chunky anus." Indeed, Sterling was known to use the word in various contexts without a set meaning. But the word generally is used to describe something or someone who is very big and/or chunky, like Bugs Bunny in "Wabbit Twouble"—though it would be years before the word was attached to Bugs.
- Is "chungus" a bad word? Not inherently. Obviously, "chungus" isn't exactly a kind word to use to refer to someone, so just use it with discretion, folks.

"Big Chungus" was first posted to Tumblr in 2016. The term "chungus" was already sort of in the internet zeitgeist thanks to Sterling, but the phrase "Big Chungus" wasn't officially used in a meme until 2016, when Tumblr user gayreinhardt posted an image of a Second Life character with the nickname "BigChungus" with the caption, "gender is for smaller, lesser beings." The post went viral, gaining more than 56,000 notes in five years.^{[4]
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The anonymous user posted the screencap to the 4chan /lit/ board on March 27, 2017, alongside an unrelated philosophical discussion. This was, essentially, the beginning of Big Chungus (though he wasn't called this yet). After this, more posts appeared on 4chan, and then Reddit, containing the screencap and using it as a random reaction image.^{[5]
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In March 2018, Redditor GaryTheTaco paired fat Bugs with the phrase "Big Chungus." The iconic Bugs Bunny screencap was first attached to "Big Chungus" by Redditor GaryTheTaco on March 20, 2018, when he created a fake PS4 game cover using the image and titled it Big Chungus. The image was posted publicly in r/comedyheaven later that year.
- GaryTheTaco explained in a Reddit post in 2018 that his meme took off after a kid asked his mom for the fictional video game Big Chungus and the mother apparently asked a GameStop employee if they had it in stock.
- Since 2018, the meme has spread widely, and many variations of the original Big Chungus meme now exist. And because millennial nostalgia has started trending with zoomers, the term "chungus" and the Big Chungus meme are now more popular than ever.
- How well do you know and remember iconic memes? Take our meme test to find out!