Big Floppa is an ironic meme built around photos of Gregory, a Russian pet caracal owned by Instagram user prozhony. Starting in late 2019 on ironic Instagram meme pages and going wide in mid-2020, the surreal captions and edits of the tuft-eared cat turned Gregory into one of the defining animal memes of the pandemic era.
Origin
On December 23rd, 2019, Instagram user prozhony posted a photo of his pet caracal Gregory and another cat lying on a window sill, and that single image became the visual seed for the entire meme[3]. In late December 2019, ironic Instagram accounts including big_sahnr and dogie.official started remixing the photo, initially calling the caracal sahnr or big sahnr, a name coined by user pantothepizza[3].
The now-familiar name arrived in late January 2020, when Instagram user young.taxi posted memes captioning Gregory as Floppa and Big Floppa, and neighboring ironic pages adopted the label[3]. On February 14th, 2020, user tfosing (previously esoteric.irony) posted a demotivational poster captioned FLOP Exclusive, the earliest Floppa meme still available, which was reposted the same day by pantothepizza and floppa.official[3].
- Platform: Instagram (source) / Twitter and Reddit (viral spread)
- Creator: prozhony (Andrey Bondarev)
- Date: 2019
Overview
Big Floppa, often shortened to Floppa, is an ironic image macro series built on photographs of a pet caracal named Gregory (Гоша in Russian)[1]. The cat belongs to Moscow couple Andrey and Elena Bondarev, who post Gregory alongside their two housecats, Zhora and Matvey, on the Instagram account prozhony[1]. The nickname comes from the caracal's oversized, tufted ears, which flop as the animal moves[2].
The format is loose by design. Captioned photos, cursed edits, low-poly 3D renders, and demotivational posters of Gregory all count as Floppa content, usually with absurd or non-sequitur text[3]. In Russian-speaking meme circles the caracal is known instead as Bolshoy Shlyopa (Большой Шлёпа), which became its own parallel meme ecosystem[1] (translated from Russian).
How It Spread
Floppa stayed inside ironic Instagram until spring 2020. On March 24th, tfosing posted an edit splicing clips of Gregory and a serval being petted, captioned HOW THE F--K IS IT SO SOFT, which was reuploaded the next day by Instagram user hambubrger and pulled over 38,100 views[3]. On April 6th, 2020, iFunny account ShitpostSanctuary reposted the edit, marking one of the first jumps off Instagram[3].
The meme broke out on Twitter and Reddit in mid to late April 2020. On April 16th, Twitter user @pawpawchan48 posted the Big Floppa Flop fo no hoe demotivational, and on April 24th Redditor LlamaKnight11 posted a Gregory photo titled The big floppa to r/aww, which cleared 150 upvotes[3]. Traffic accelerated in May, and on June 4th, 2020, the dedicated subreddit r/bigfloppa was created as a hub for fan art and edits[3].
Big Floppa kept going through 2020 and 2021, feuding good-naturedly with fellow cat meme Bingus[3]. Russian users built the Шлёпер format, editing beverages next to Floppa so the caracal appears to pronounce their names with an -er suffix[1]. On February 12th, 2021, Twitter user @KittsterM posted a low-poly Blender model of Floppa, and a week later @alob_e cropped it into a standalone image that pulled 52,700 likes in four days and was reuploaded to r/blursedimages for over 17,000 upvotes[3]. The Bondarevs, aware of the viral run, opened the Big Floppa Store to sell merchandise built around Gregory[1] (translated from Russian).
How to Use
Most Floppa posts pair a photo of Gregory with either surreal captions, an unrelated pop-culture reference, or edited props such as clothing and drinks. Common conventions include the low-poly 3D Floppa cutout, the Шлёпер beverage format popular on RuNet, and simple two-line demotivational captions that lean into the caracal's blank stare[1][3].
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Big Floppa?
Big Floppa is an ironic meme series based on photos of Gregory, a pet caracal owned by Moscow Instagram user prozhony[3].
Where did Big Floppa come from?
The source image is a December 23rd, 2019 Instagram post by prozhony, and the Floppa nickname was coined in late January 2020 by user young.taxi on ironic Instagram meme pages[3].
What does Big Floppa mean?
Floppa refers to the way the caracal's oversized tufted ears flop, and the term is used broadly for any caracal in meme contexts[2].
How do you use Big Floppa?
People typically caption photos of Gregory with absurd or non-sequitur text, use the low-poly Blender Floppa as a sticker, or build the Russian Шлёпер beverage edits[1][3].
Is Big Floppa still popular?
The meme kept significant traction through 2020 and 2021 with dedicated subreddits, fan art, and official merch from the Bondarev family's Big Floppa Store[1][3] (translated from Russian).
