The Real Cats Behind 10 Of The Most Iconic Meme Characters

Cats have always been a central part of online humor. There's something so easy to joke about when it comes to our favorite furry friends. They make great pets, depending on who you ask, and they do plenty of adorable or funny things that are easy to make into memes. We've always loved posts about cats because they're easy to use and reuse in numerous different forms of online humor-related content, and these cats are the most popular of all.

Each of the cats on this list has become a particularly recognizable viral meme. They've left a weird and hilarious legacy on the online community. Some of them are still around, some of them are unfortunately no longer with us and some of them are still enshrouded in mystery. But all of them are influential and more famous than any of us will ever be. Here are some of the biggest cat memes and the stories behind each of them.