Who is Jonathan Galindo aka Cursed Goofy, and what is the Blue Whale Challenge?

The Jonathan Galindo or Cursed Goofy meme is composed of variations on a photo of a man wearing Disney Goofy makeup which has come to be associated with a threatening online "game" directed at young people called the Blue Whale Challenge.

TW: Mention of suicide

• Meme creator: Samuel Canini aka DustySam/Dusty Sam, unintentionally
• Meme type: Profile picture
• First appearance: 2011-2012
• Origin source: Cosplayer Samuel Canini
• Peak popularity: 2020
• Notable Variations
  • Comparing people's looks to Galindo

Origin and spread

Samuel Canini is a famous cosplayer who makes creepily realistic masks. He especially likes to do fleshy versions of Disney characters, and a photograph of him wearing one of these Goofy masks was the first version of Jonathan Galindo. Canini posted under the name DuskySam in late 2012/early 2013.

Though Canini’s makeup skills are admirable, the mask is undeniably unsettling. It went viral and became known as the Cursed Goofy. It's unclear who started calling the character Jonathan Galindo, but it began to take off as this character's name around 2019, according to Know Your Meme.

People on all sorts of platforms began to make accounts on various platforms using the name and some version of the character. However, in recent years, some platforms have begun to crack down on the use of Jonathan Galindo as a term. As of Nov. 2024, searching the name on TikTok leads to a safety warning and information resources leading to crisis hotlines. This is because of the Blue Whale Challenge.

What is the Blue Whale Challenge?

The Blue Whale Challenge is a dare-based online "game," where accounts posing as Galindo target young people and encourage them to complete a list of fifty tasks or fifty days that get gradually more extreme, ending with suicide. These administrators or "curators" threaten their targets with doxxing if they refuse to go along.

It has been speculated that the title of the challenge is a reference to blue whales, who purposefully beach themselves and cause their own deaths as a result.

According to a 2018 study published in the National Library of Medicine titled Blue Whale Challenge: Perceptions of First Responders in Medical Profession, the Blue Whale Challenge—also referred to as "A Sea of Whales," "A Silent House," and "Wake Me Up At 4:20 am" was conceived in 2013 by Russian university student Philipp Budeikin (nicknamed Philip Lis or Fox), on his chat group “F57” on the Russian social networking site VKontakte.

The study's authors also note that fatalities of the challenge were "reported first in Russia and followed by at least twenty countries... including India."

Budeikin was arrested in May 2017 for urging “at least 16 teenage girls to kill themselves.” Despite confessing to provoking 17 more and having links to another 20, Budeikin was only sentenced to three years in jail related to two attempted suicide charges. According to The Daily Mail, Budeikin denied reports that up to 130 teenagers had participated in the challenge yet alleged another 28 teens were “ready” to do so.

Is the Blue Whale Challenge a hoax?

Yes...for the most part. While a few cases of teen suicide were linked to the challenge, authorities did not find much evidence supporting the existence of a larger network of bad actors or a formal "game" connecting them.

Snopes maintains an "unproven" rating, citing widespread amplification and misinformation by legacy media outlets that lead to isolated copycat instances. The BBC wrote in 2019 that when it comes to Budeikin, nearly all the charges against him collapsed and that his involvement was largely predicated on associating himself with the "shock" content campaign intended to advertise his music.

How did Jonathan Galindo/Cursed Goofy become associated with the Blue Wave Challenge?

According to a 2020 post by u/Thebigyoinker on the r/JonathanGalindo subreddit, DuskySam created a slew of unsettling Cursed Goofy content in the form of photos and videos that he said were for "his own twisted enjoyment." This media was pulled from his blog and dispersed onto the /b/ 4chan board, classified as 'Random.'

u/Thebigyoinker's research led them to the discovery that searches for 'Jonathan Galindo' spiked in Mexico in late Jan. 2017. "I believe that this is when our creepypasta style character began to circulate around Latin forums," they wrote. "This trend of most creepypasta sh*tposts beginning in South America is proven by the rise in popularity of MoMo"—a character associated with a similar challenge.

In June 2020, a Facebook account with the same name began cyberbullying women. Others took its place when it was taken down, with the suggestion that the real Galindo's social media accounts had been hacked.

"This may be an internet mystery, but it is also a reminder of something very important. All around you, there are people suffering in silence," concludes u/Thebigyoinker. "Whether they are alone or have pushed everyone away. They are vulnerable, worn out, and tired. They have no way of fighting against scenarios like these when they struggle to deal with their own emotions and thoughts."

"Therefore it is our responsibility as a community to look after those around us, and educate each other on how to stay safe on the internet."

Popularity

Rumors about the Blue Whale Challenge and Galindo started to circulate heavily in 2020. In this post from Reddit at the time from Thebigyoinker on r/SomeOrdinaryGmrs, commenters break down why the challenge is likely a hoax and that it seems to be mostly unverified reporting. They do suggest that anyone contacted by a Jonathan Galindo account block it, more because they're annoying than dangerous.

Dusky Sam responds

The hysteria around it was enough to make Canini speak up on Twitter, explaining he had nothing to do with the Blue Whale Challenge and discouraging people from interacting with anyone involved.

Meme examples

Four years later, folks mostly post about Jonathan Galindo as a joke since they're all familiar with what he looks like. It is not a compliment to be compared to him, despite Canini's artistry.

For more information about suicide prevention or to speak with someone confidentially, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (U.S.) or Samaritans (U.K.).

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