Fat Gourg is a fictional monster

cartoon character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in ...

. It was created in 1999 by Luke, a 7-year English schoolboy during an English lesson at his primary school in

Oakthorpe Oakthorpe is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England. In 1086, Oakthorpe was part of Derbyshire and was amongst several manors given to Nigel of Stafford by William the Conqueror. Until 1897 Oakthorpe, and its neighbours Measham and Do ...

, Leicestershire. Despite the character's obscure origins, it became unexpectedly popular in France. The character has been referenced in the works of other

French cartoonists French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, such as Pierre Primen''(translated)''
and Boulet ( fr). This led to widespread internet popularity from around 2003. Eventually, around 2008, the character's original source was discovered. The character has grown to include figurines, fan art,

cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

and the usual trappings of fandom.''(translated)''
/ref> From 2008, 8 August (i.e. the first one on 8-8-08) has been celebrated as ''Fat Gourg Day'', as the figure '8' was considered to resemble Fat Gourg.

References

Comics characters introduced in 1999 {{comics-char-stub