TikTok’s horror content section, dubbed Horror Tok, has been flooded with films sporting a new frightening mascot – Huggy Wuggy. The character’s deceptively benign name may cause people to dismiss it as harmless, yet its actual nature deserves parental worry. This isn’t the first time that strange occurrences have swept the internet. The Momo Challenge became viral in 2019, but frightening roaming clowns won the top spot in 2020. Huggy Wuggy is claiming the title of 2022 mascot on TikTok and YouTube.
Where did TikTok’s viral Huggy Wuggy originate?
The menacing enemy of MOB Games’ Poppy Playtime, which will be published in 2021, is the lanky blue-haired bear. Poppy Playtime is a horror survival game in which players must spend the night in a bloodied, abandoned toy factory without being pursued by the spooky opponent. Huggy Wuggy is distinguished by an unsettlingly big mouth filled with nasty razor-sharp fangs and long hanging arms with which to embrace players.
The mascot sparked a flurry of fan-created material on YouTube before moving to TikTok, where the hashtag #huggywuggy has over 2.9 billion views. TryHardNinja, a YouTuber, even made a theme song for the terrifying blue plush entitled Free Hugs, with scary lyrics like:
“Running about in a dimly lit room/ Make a buddy, I’ll be there soon/ Sink my teeth in, and you’re eaten”
This unauthorized theme pushed Huggy Wuggy to TikTok stardom, with fans producing TikToks based on the video game’s existing jumpscares. Other people demonstrated their skills by creating Huggy Wuggy makeup makeovers, cosplays, claymation, or artwork. TikToker Jake Fellman’s videos with the hashtag have received approximately 85 million views and 6.8 million likes. Even though Poppy Playtime has been in operation for over six months, Huggy Wuggy films continue to dominate the short-video platform.
Police provide warnings to youngsters who are exposed to this tendency.
Given the trend’s enormous virality, it’s no wonder that Huggy Wuggy has become a household name among youngsters, mainly via YouTube rather than TikTok. However, the exposure has had unintended consequences, with schools in the United Kingdom expressing concern about “children replicating a game on the playground with embracing and whispering terrible things in the recipient’s ear.”
The authorities have now taken notice of these concerns and issued an official warning to parents to keep their children away from material centered on the threatening image.
Dorset Police Cyber Protection Officer Chris Conroy told The Sun:
“There are movies and songs that have been created, and they’re sprouting up all over YouTube and Tik Tok with this rather horrific picture of this bear-like figure with razor-sharp teeth.”
He continued, saying:
“It’s based on jump scares and other stuff you wouldn’t want youngsters exposed to.”
Rhea Fern, who has a five-year-old son, told Derbyshire Times:
“I think it’s on YouTube, and it’s incredibly scary that this Huggy Wuggy has slipped in under my radar as a parent and invaded my child’s psyche without my knowledge.”
According to another parent:
“It’s quite troubling because this guy is incredibly evil and, quite honestly, horrifying.” It’s nearly the internet equivalent of the Killer Clown craze.”
Huggy Wuggy’s misleading name has caused a lot of parents to be unaware of the excessive amounts of violence to which their children are subjected. Parents have been urged by school administrators and cyber police to be wary of the information their children are exposed to.
