The Bape Kid meme features a young boy aggressively posing in an A Bathing Ape (Bape) shark hoodie, personifying the 'hypebeast' subculture. It first gained traction on social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to satirize kids and teenagers who take high-end streetwear fashion too seriously. The image is commonly used to poke fun at people who try to act 'hard' or wealthy because of the clothes they wear, often highlighting the contrast between the expensive designer gear and the age or suburban setting of the wearer. It remains a go-to template for jokes about reselling culture, SoundCloud rap aesthetics, and the general absurdity of modern fashion trends.