A video just went viral on Twitter / X, showing that a meme called "Kid Named Pubert" might have magical phone-screen healing powers.

The Twitter user who discovered this was really lucky. His screen's display was all deep-fried, as if the device had just fallen off a cliff. After noticing that Pubert the monkey fixed the glitch, his girlfriend got out her camera and posted it on the internet.

Seriously, though, what's going on here? Is the "Kid Named Pubert" meme actually an antidote to iPhone pixel damage? Where did the "Kid Named Purbert" meme come from anyway? Let's explain.

Where Did The 'Kid Named Pubert' Meme Come From?

The original "Kid Named Pubert" meme was posted by Instagram user @monkeyposted, who created and named the character back in 2022.

The "Kid Named Pubert" meme was just one of many "Pubert" image macros, in which Pubert, the smiling monkey, was added to different exploitable templates.

"Kid Named Pubert" riffed on the then-popular "Kid Named Finger" meme, which was an anti-meme version of the "Kid Named X" phrasal template, involving the character Mike Ehrmantraut (portrayed by Jonathan Banks) from the Breaking Bad universe for some reason.

Does The 'Kid Named Pubert' Meme Fix Phone Screens?

On Wednesday, May 28th, 2025, a Twitter user named @twin_presence posted a video of her boyfriend's phone, showing that when he viewed the "Kid Named Pubert" in his camera roll, the wonky, pink pixel lines on his screen went away.

Some people were unconvinced. "This looks like a screen recording," said one skeptical user.

In a follow-up tweet, @twin_presence aimed to debunk the naysayers, showing her boyfriend looking at other images in his gallery, only for Pubert to come on screen and save the day.

But how is this happening? Does Pubert really have powers?

Some internet users on Twitter and Reddit levied their theories about why it seemingly fixed the screen. One leading answer is that the iPhone's auto-dim feature is responsible.

"Looks more like the light is dimming," said one Redditor. "Exactly this," responded another. "I dropped my iPhone once, and something about changing the brightness made it go absolutely haywire … Turning off automatic adjustment fixed it."

"I had a similar issue before," said one Twitter user, trying to quell some of the confusion in the original tweet's replies. "It's because of the black borders around the image. When I had the issue, for some reason, whenever there was a significant amount of black displayed on the screen, it would fix itself, but then revert back to broken when it was a bright colour."

What Are Some More 'Kid Named Pubert' Memes?

There are plenty of memes with Pubert the monkey that are from Instagram user @monkeyposted. The account's admin was on a tear back in 2022 and 2023, as Pubert was one of the page's many arcs.

However, @monkeyposted has been dormant since February, so maybe this new interest in Pubert will spark their inspiration once more.

Perhaps, they know the secret to Pubert's powerful aura.

---

For the full history of Kid Named Pubert, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's entry for even more information.