The Creepy Marshtomp meme emerged following the 2014 release of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, where the fan-favorite starter evolved into a 3D model with an unsettlingly blank, wide-eyed expression. Unlike its more expressive 2D counterparts, this version appeared to be staring directly into the viewer's soul, sparking a wave of 'thousand-yard stare' jokes across the internet. It is commonly used to represent moments of shock, existential crisis, or the realization of a dark truth, often paired with 'Vietnam flashback' style edits or captions about seeing things that cannot be unseen.