What meme character did Elon Musk put as his profile picture with new name Kekius Maximus? Decode the meaning

Elon Musk. A name that evokes images of tech mogul, meme lord, and occasional internet controversy. But he's been stirring up a different kind of storm lately by renaming his X (formerly Twitter) profile Kekius Maximus. With this new, completely extra name came an avatar that sent shockwaves through the internet: Pepe the Frog.

Yep, you read that right. The internet's frog meme is now Elon Musk's DP. But what's the deal here?

Let's dive deep and decode this meme.

---

The meme character: Pepe the Frog

It all started way back in 2005 when cartoonist Matt Furie dropped him into his comic series Boy's Club. At first, Pepe was just a chill, green frog with a laid-back vibe. He even coined the iconic catchphrase: "Feels good, man" while urinating. (We know)

This simple line was an enormous piece of his early rise to meme stardom, amassing a strong internet following that extended to MySpace and 4chan by 2008.

By 2015, Pepe had transformed into meme royalty, appearing on Tumblr to 4chan. Sad Pepe, Smug Pepe, Angry Pepe—the frog became the go-to image to express literally any emotion.

Whether you were feeling down or just vibing, Pepe was there with the perfect face for your mood.

---

The rise and fall of Pepe

Now, let's talk about the dark side of Pepe's journey. As with any iconic meme, people got creative-but sometimes, that creativity goes a bit rogue. By 2016, Pepe was hijacked by some not-so-well-meaning groups during the U.S. presidential election, making Pepe a hate symbol.

This took a huge turn when the Anti-Defamation League even labeled him as a hate symbol.

Matt Furie, the OG creator, tried reclaiming Pepe. He even killed off the frog in a comic, protesting how the wrong things were being done with his creation. Nonetheless, Pepe had a life of its own by then.

By the time the documentary Feels Good Man (2020) came out, it showed how Pepe had evolved into something much bigger than Furie ever imagined—becoming a symbol for protests, cryptocurrency projects, and, of course, internet culture at large.

---

Kekius Maximus: Elon Musk’s new persona

Fast-forward to the present, and we’ve got Elon Musk stepping onto the scene with his totally extra new name: Kekius Maximus.

But what does it mean?

So, let's break the name down a bit. That "Kekius" business? It is a cheeky nod to the internet meme born out of the 4chan culture, basically representing absurdity and humor in one word.

And then we have Maximus, a term referencing Maximus Decimus Meridius– the legendary gladiator from Gladiator– Russell Crowe.

Being Elon Musk, he's not exactly averse to internet chaos, so it makes sense that he would combine meme lore with a classic hero trope.

And to make things even wilder, Musk's profile picture features Pepe in golden armor, gripping a video game controller.

---

The crypto twist

While Elon hasn't spelled out fully his motives for doing this rebrand, there's a sneaky possibility that he's also tauntingly hinting at the emergence of a new cryptocurrency: Kekius Maximus (KEKIUS).

The value of KEKIUS had increased by 500% just after the name change by Musk.

---

Why did Elon Musk brand it that way?

Okay, okay, you’re probably thinking: Why would Musk—of all people—choose this chaotic meme identity? Well, Musk is no stranger to diving into the wild side of internet culture.

This is the man who tweets about Dogecoin, posts cringe-worthy memes, and keeps us all on the edge of our seats through his platform. Typical Musk style, this name change is much more than just that: it is going to be one of those things that people talk about for sure. And boy, does it!

Musk also seems to be living for the what if journalists referred to him as Kekius Maximus?