In the online world, December brings with it not only the anticipation of the holidays, but also the proliferation of the famous Christmas meme. Padoru. It is a series of modified images that, accompanied by a music video that features a Japanese version of a popular Christmas song, refers to a scene from the video game to PlayStation Portable, Fate/Extra. Within this scene, the character of Nero Claudius sings a parody of a Japanese Christmas carolJingle Bells“, ending with herself shouting out loud the phrase “Padoru, Padoru!“.
“Hashire Sori Yo, Kaze no You ni, Tsukimihara wo, Padoru, Padoru!“is the song he sings Nero Claudius during this sequence. It is worth mentioning that “Padoru Padoru” is a Japanese onomatopoeia for the noise of a reindeer’s hooves, which refers to Santa Claus’s reindeer.
The custom is then that, since December 1 of each year, users on different social media, mainly Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and recently Discord, put a “Padoru” as their profile photo, sharing the images in threads on the first.
These types of chibi designs are updated every year by artists on the Internet, who make illustrations of the anime characters of the moment adapting them to the design of Nero Claudius in the video game scene, which eventually gave rise to this trend. For this reason, December also becomes a juicy month of commissions for artists on the Internet (thousands of people want their “personalized Padoru” and are willing to pay for it).
It would be impossible to list all the “Padorus” on the Internet, since there is practically at least one version for any relevant character in each season. These designs must meet, at least, the basic characteristics of the original, which include the chibi appearance, a Santa Claus suit (color selection is free), a Christmas hat (usually matching the suit) and a bag of gifts (where the artist’s signature is normally noted). For the rest, all the details are at the discretion of the artist.
Fountain: Know Your Meme
