The “Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix” Meme: How Lysandre Became a Japanese Photoshop Legend

What do you get when you combine a fire-lion villain, a fanbase with Photoshop, and the chaos of Japanese meme culture?
Answer: “フラダリクソコラグランプリ” — The Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix.

At first glance, Lysandre (フラダリ / Furadari), the stylish villain from Pokémon X/Y, seems destined for dramatic gravitas. But the internet had other plans.
In Japan, he became the target of one of the most iconic Photoshop meme contests in the Pokémon community: the Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix.

In this article, we’ll break down:

• The meaning behind the meme
• Its explosive popularity
• Fan creativity and cultural significance
• Why it struck such a chord in Japan
• And how Lysandre’s image became internet royalty

🔥 Who Is Furadari (Lysandre)?

Lysandre is the leader of Team Flare, the antagonistic team in Pokémon X and Y.
He’s known for:

• A fiery red suit
• A lion-like mane of hair
• Apocalyptic ideals about “beauty” and “destruction”

His appearance, demeanor, and dialogue were all designed to be intense.

But perhaps… a bit too intense.

Japanese fans saw something else:

A character so over-the-top, so aestheticized, that he was prime meme material.

And so, he became a meme.

📸 What Is “フラダリクソコラグランプリ”?

Translated loosely as “Furadari Shitty Photoshop Grand Prix”, the event was a fan-driven meme festival where users competed to create the most ridiculous edits (a.k.a. kusokora) of Lysandre’s face and body.

• “クソ (kuso)” = shit / garbage (often affectionately used)
• “コラ (kora)” = collage / Photoshop edit
• “グランプリ (Grand Prix)” = competition

Think:
🧑‍🎨 Editing Lysandre into Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam.
🧛‍♂️ Putting his hair on Dracula.
🦁 Merging his head with a lion’s body (and calling it “Mega Pyroar”).

It was part parody, part affection, and 100% chaos.

🕓 Timeline of the Meme’s Rise

📅 October–November 2013

Pokémon X/Y released.
Lysandre appears as the game’s final boss figure.

📅 Shortly after release

Japanese Twitter users begin posting poorly cropped, absurdly edited images of Lysandre. The hashtag #フラダリクソコラグランプリ is born.

📅 Viral explosion

Thousands of memes flood the timeline. Some include:

• Lysandre heads on anime girls
• Photoshop battles using only MS Paint
• Combining him with Pyroar, the lion Pokémon, due to his hairstyle

The meme eventually gets noticed by the developers.

🏢 When the Meme Went “Official”

In an astonishing twist, the meme didn’t remain in fan circles.

According to Pixiv Encyclopedia, at a Pokémon fan event in Tokyo (November 2013), Game Freak director Junichi Masuda brought slides referencing Lysandre’s popularity—including memes.

“Furadari is really popular lately, huh?”
— Masuda, laughing while showing meme slides.

It’s rare for meme culture to be acknowledged so directly by a game developer in Japan. This act validated the meme and boosted its staying power.

📎 Pixiv Encyclopedia – フラダリクソコラグランプリ

🧠 Cultural Analysis: Why Did This Happen?

Let’s pause the laughter and ask:
Why did this explode in Japan—but not elsewhere?

1. Visual Overload

Lysandre’s character design is bold. His red mane and symmetrical goatee made him resemble:

• A Pyroar
• A French fashion designer
• A sentient fire hazard

This makes his official artwork highly “collageable”—the ideal Photoshop base.

2. Cultural Meme Norms

Japanese meme culture has a long history of:

• Image macros
• ASCII-based humor
• “クソコラ” edits (bad-on-purpose Photoshops)

Furadari fit this tradition perfectly. He wasn’t just a villain—he was a canvas.

3. Love Behind the Laughter

Despite the meme name including “kuso” (crappy), these edits aren’t mean-spirited.

They’re full of affection—mocking the ridiculous while loving the character.

In fact, the meme revived interest in Lysandre and Pokémon X/Y lore years after launch.

🖼️ Iconic Meme Examples: The Internet Goes Wild

The creativity behind the “Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix” was nothing short of astonishing. Here are a few standout formats that exploded across Japanese Twitter and fan boards:

1. The Pyroar Fusion

Fans merged Lysandre’s face with his signature Pokémon, Pyroar (カエンジシ). The resemblance was so strong that some jokingly claimed:

“Lysandre is just a Pyroar that learned how to wear a suit.”

These edits often featured roaring poses, fur textures, and captions like “Mega Kaenjishi” (Mega Pyroar), making the character even more flamboyant.

2. Historical and Art Parodies

Lysandre’s posture and facial structure were humorously pasted onto:

• The Mona Lisa
• The Scream
• The Last Supper
• Japanese ukiyo-e portraits

The result? A meme character elevated to fine art… or defiled by it, depending on your point of view.

3. Inserting Him into Other Franchises

Fans would:

• Replace Gendo Ikari from Evangelion with Lysandre
• Put him in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure poses
• Photoshop him into Dragon Ball power-up scenes

The sheer versatility of his image made him a meme engine.

📉 The Inevitable Decline… Or Was It?

As with most viral trends, the meme naturally lost steam after a few months. But it never disappeared.

• Many images are still archived on meme galleries and wiki pages
• The phrase “フラダリクソコラ” still circulates in nostalgic threads
• Fans occasionally revive the hashtag for tribute posts or anniversaries

The meme became part of Lysandre’s identity. You can’t mention him in Japanese fandom circles without someone bringing up “クソコラ”.

🧠 What the Meme Reveals About Fandom

Let’s shift to a more reflective lens.

🔍 1. Meme as Catharsis

Lysandre’s intense ideology in the game was borderline uncomfortable. Many players found his “destroy the world to preserve beauty” speech heavy-handed.

Photoshop parody became a way to:

• Deflate that tension
• Turn dread into laughter
• Emotionally process a dark villain

🔍 2. Meme as Ownership

By turning Lysandre into a meme, fans took ownership of the character.
He no longer belonged to Game Freak—he belonged to the community.

This matches broader trends where fans:

• Rewrite narratives (fanfiction)
• Redesign characters (fanart)
• Remix content (memes)

It’s not mockery. It’s interaction.

🔍 3. Meme as Memory

Years after Pokémon X/Y, many players remember Lysandre not for his role, but for his meme status.

This meme became:

• A timestamp of a generation
• A collective inside joke
• A symbol of how fandoms shape what we care about

🌍 Global Comparison: Did the Meme Translate?

Surprisingly, the “Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix” didn’t spread far outside Japan.

Why?

• The pun relies on Japanese slang
• Western meme culture tends toward different humor styles (e.g., ironic detachment, absurdism)
• Pokémon X/Y didn’t have a villain as “Internet-ready” in the West

However, Lysandre’s meme legacy did inspire:

• Western fans to joke about his resemblance to anime lions
• Fan art celebrating him as a “fashion disaster king”
• YouTube videos referencing “the guy with the fire hair”

🏁 Final Thoughts: From Villain to Victim to Victory

The “Furadari Kusokora Grand Prix” shows how:

When fandoms love too hard, they meme.

What started as mockery turned into:

• Artistic expression
• Emotional deflection
• A shared cultural ritual

Lysandre became unforgettable not because of his role, but because of the joy fans created around him.

So the next time you see a meme of a villain’s face pasted onto a cat, or a terrible Photoshop job that somehow went viral…

Remember:

It’s not just a joke.
It’s fandom therapy.

🔗 References

• Pixiv Encyclopedia – フラダリクソコラグランプリ
• AniwotaWiki – フラダリ