The Soviet Bear meme often manifests as a variation of the 'Confession Bear' or an independent image of a bear wearing a Russian ushanka. It is primarily associated with the 'In Soviet Russia' trope, popularized by comedian Yakov Smirnoff, where the subject and object of a sentence are reversed to create a humorous, dystopian scenario. Over time, the character has evolved to represent a stoic, no-nonsense figure that delivers hard truths or ironic observations about life, politics, and internet culture. Its popularity stems from the recognizable visual of the bear as a national symbol of Russia, combined with the timeless humor of the linguistic reversal.