Swole Doge, sometimes called Chad Doge, is a version of the Doge meme edited to give the dog an exaggerated muscular human body. This meme represents a strength of character and a traditional version of masculinity. Swole Doge is frequently paired with Cheems, another Shiba Inu meme dog portraying the opposite vibe.
This newer version of Doge first appeared in 2019 on a Reddit forum dedicated to the dog memes. He’s been a more popular variety ever since and is one of the more recognizable memes out there.
Swole Doge origins
Swole Doge first emerged on the Dogelore sub on Reddit on July 7, 2019. User purnya232 enjoys credit for being the first one to post him on this forum, though it’s unclear if they came up with the idea or design. His first appearance was in a comic with the regular Doge that used some unfortunate language around a particularly unfunny topic.
Despite Reddit being Reddit, Swole Doge quickly gained popularity. His face is borrowed from the original Doge, who first graced the internet on February 13, 2010 thanks to owner Atsuko Sato. The word “Doge” comes from an episode of Homestar Runner that aired on June 24, 2005.
The original Swole Doge memes had him appearing alone or with other artificially beefed-up characters. Captions would have him saying something that the poster found agreeable or sometimes vaguely threatening. In early versions of his memes, he was often found making highly progressive statements rather than espousing toxic masculinity.
Swole Doge Vs Cheems
One of the most popular meme formats featuring Swole Doge is the one that puts him up against Cheems, and always favorably. Cheems is another Shiba Inu Doge but with a scrunched face appearing to be in a cringing or cowering stance.
Similar to the Virgin vs Chad memes, Swole Doge represents the strong or otherwise “correct” opinion or way of being, while Cheems represents weakness or passiveness. Meme creators sometimes separate them with a line in a chart format, or just leave them floating in white space, but the strong dog always represents the desirable side.
For example, Swole Doge might be labeled as one of those old flip phones from the 2000s that were practically indestructible while Cheems serves as the representation of some new smartphone models with screens that crack if you breathe on them too hard.
Are Cheems and Doge the same dog?
Swole Doge and Cheems, while being of the same breed and coloring, are characters derived from different dogs. Both the original Doge and his muscular counterpart come from a photo of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu owned by Atsuko Sato. Kabosu lived a long life and passed away on May 24, 2024.
Cheems, meanwhile, comes from a photo of a dog named Balltze (or “Ball Ball”) who was owned by a woman named Kathy and is the face of the Bonk meme. Balltze first surfaced years after the original Doge, showing up on Instagram on September 4, 2017. The character Cheems was born just under a month before Swole Doge, appearing in a Dogelore comic on June 8, 2019.
Meme examples
Related memes:
- Meme History: The story behind Doge, the Internet’s most beloved dog
- Internet bids sad farewell to Frisbee Doge, a meme among canines
- ‘Snek’ is the slithering, scaly, surprisingly adorable heir to Doge
- Meme History: Gigachad
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