Pantskat
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Editor's Note: This entry contains spoiler information.
About
Pantskat is a fanmade character based on an odd drawing of Karkat Vantas, a cartoon character featured in the popular webcomic Homestuck. The character is noted for his extremely large pants that cover his entire body, inspiring comical fanart depicting him as a head floating on a pair of legs.
Origin
On June 12th, 2011, popular webcomic blog MS Paint Adventure[1] published an issue of Homestuck, one of the pages featuring an oddly drawn Karkat wandering off in the distance, appearing as if his shirt and trousers blended together into one piece.
Spread
Fan art began popping up on deviantART[2] and Tumblr[3] immediately after the comic was published on June 12th. The following day, derivatives were posted via fan art threads on MS Paint Adventure forums[4], Something Awful[6] forums and Reddit[11].
The single topic Tumblr Fuck Yeah Pantskat[5] was created on June 13th, showcasing nearly 400 images and videos in homage to the webcomic character. There is a Facebook fan page titled "Panskat Vantas" with over 300 fan members.
The creator of Homestuck Andrew Hussie also acknowledged the popularity of Pantskat by referencing the meme in his tweet:
tall pants karkat is the new fat vriska
Variations
Aside from Pantskat parodies, some fans also pointed out other imperfections seen in the same panel of the comic; Kanaya (shown second from the left) has been depicted by fans as being split through the stomach because of her sash that appears to blend in with the floor, while Terezi (shown second from the right) has been depicted without arms or trousers similar to the state of Karkat. Some fanart shows other Homestuck characters dressed in oversized pants, regardless of whether they were featured in the scene or not.
Pantsestor
Homestuck's update on August 12th featured an image of the body of Karkat's ancestor, the Sufferer, a.k.a The Signless. The unusual grey lines over the character's silhouette resembles a pair of very long pants, while the text refers to "blood soaking his Righteous Leggings."[9] Hussie later confirmed the connection between the two on his Formspring account[10].
Notable Fanart
Animated GIFs
Search Interest
External References
[1] Homestuck – Update 6/12 spoilers
[4] MSPA Forums – MSPA Fanart
[6] Something Awful – MS Paint Adventures – Homestuck Edition
[7] Formspring – Andrew Hussie's Pantskat answer
[8] MS Paint Adventures Wiki – Longpants Karkat
[9] MS Paint Adventures – Update 8/12
[10] Formspring – Righteous Leggings?
[13] Facebook – Pantskat Vantas