Pedobear.
Know Your Meme's entry on Pedobear is very informative on the history of this internet fiend. They go on to say that he was originally ASCII on the Japanese image board 2channel as an emoticon called "Kuma" and was meaning "Warning: Troll Ahead". It was on meant to be a warning to other users that the post is just an attempt at attention. It evolved into more than just an emoticon. It became a symbol of safety by giving people a warning of what's to come. Simply post his pic on a post or article and readers are informed that this post contains trolls and some BS.
Then, the article goes on to what we've all been waiting for: the creation of Pedobear. We find out how Pedobear became so famous. As early as February 2005, the image messaging board 4chan (link not available because 1: you should be able to find it VERY easily, and 2: I don't recommend going there, not very pretty) had posts of Pedobear being a hentai "lolikon" (it's somewhat disturbing that "lolikon" popped up as spelling error, yet "hentai" didn't... tells you how the internet has evolved) and by February of 2006 he was being photoshopped into the background of pics that had young girls in them.
... This is where I was a little confused after reading this post about Pedobear. It does mention when it was noted that he started to be connected to child pornography, but it doesn't explain how exactly it occurred. It apparently just happened one day. Some guys decided: I'm gonna turn this Japanese emoticon of safety from trolls into a pedophile! GENIUS!!... I feel that this would have been better if they had conducted further research and figured out what triggered the transition to pedophilia, not just when it happened. All in all, Pedobear has had a good run on the internet and doesn't seem to be slowing down. So watch out for him, because he may be lurking around the corner.
