A sculpture of a koala kitted out to look like the video game character Mario has gone viral multiple times in the last 18 months. It's... quite a sight to behold.
Most recently the koala went viral on Twitter, when someone discovered its bizarre form. This tweet alone has over 40,000 retweets.
God has abandoned us
And it has found its way around Tumblr, too.
This particular koala appears to be homed at a gaming arcade at Australia's Surfer's Paradise. Over the past few months, people have tracked down the sculpture and taken photos with it. It has a few people upset.
@arfsama Koala Mario will haunt our nightmares for a while @kirbaroonie @PhilippeHache
@daniamichelle18 @arfsama
@RaeTheTimeLord @arfsama @JH0wl_
@AnonWomanLove @arfsama It's so wrong it makes me want to throw up. Combination of many things that in no way go together, yet cartoon-like and colorful as if to attract children.
And there are Reddit threads out there going back 12 months discussing the koala and how it came to be. There are fans, obviously.
But there is also polite opposition...
The image is even on the brink of becoming a cult meme, featuring as a regular image in modified tweets – like this one from actor James Woods.
There were rumours online that the sculpture was part of some sort of charity effort – and the acting manager at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Graeme Higgs, confirmed the sculpture was one of many that had been rolled out as part of a fundraiser for the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital Foundation. Currumbin is a coastal suburb on Australia's Gold Coast.
There are apparently two versions of Mario Koala in existence, one at full stride and the other stationary.
"Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary has a large number of these [koala sculptures] dotted throughout the park," Higgs told BuzzFeed News.
"These generally reflect the aspects of the park, for example, we have Blinky Bill and KoalaKeet (lorikeet colours). However this is by no means the only variety that we have. For example outside my office I have Sailor Moon!"
Many of the koalas have made their way to councillors, who have them in their council offices, said Higgs. People were able to bid for the sculptures at an annual Gala Dinner. In 2016, some went for as much as $20,000.
After a quick Google search, it does appear the Sailor Moon Koala exists. It is also...uh... interesting.
Higgs said there have been multiple koala sculptures, all of which have been used to raise money. There's a gallery of a bunch of them here. My favourite is frog koala. Haha. It's a koala...but it's also a frog. Great stuff.
So here's to the Mario Koala. May it forever haunt your life, a a constant reminder of humanity's urge to create.
Leaving this here for anyone who feels like having nightmares tonight. #koala #Mario