# Chupa-Cu

Chupa-Cu is a fictional creature associated with Brazilian internet humor, especially the 2017 meme known as the Chupa-Cu de Goianinha. Posts presented fabricated sightings in Goianinha, Rio Grande do Norte, using mock news reports and manipulated images. The story spread on Twitter as a joke, although some readers treated it as real.<sup>[1](https://catracalivre.com.br/entretenimento/10-casos-famosos-de-noticias-falsas-na-historia/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://colecionadordesacis.com.br/2017/10/24/anatomia-dos-mitos/)</sup>

## Online circulation

The Goianinha story circulated widely in February 2017. Its presentation imitated journalistic reporting: users made images that appeared to show established news organizations covering the creature. *Catraca Livre* included it in a survey of widely circulated false stories, describing the contrast between people who recognized the joke and those who were confused or frightened by it.<sup>[1](https://catracalivre.com.br/entretenimento/10-casos-famosos-de-noticias-falsas-na-historia/)</sup>

The meme also acquired variations. In October 2017, a false Twitter account imitating UOL Notícias announced a supposed flying Chupa-Cu in Manaus. Folklore writer Andriolli Costa documented the post and its circulation through screenshots on his website *Colecionador de Sacis*.<sup>[2](https://colecionadordesacis.com.br/2017/10/24/anatomia-dos-mitos/)</sup>

## Meme and folklore

Costa disputed descriptions of the creature as an established contemporary legend. Writing in 2017, he characterized it as a joke deliberately created by a humor account and distributed as a meme. His distinction concerned persistence and collective cultural meaning: popularity alone, he argued, did not make a story folklore. This was an interpretation of the meme’s cultural status, rather than a claim that the reported creature existed.<sup>[2](https://colecionadordesacis.com.br/2017/10/24/anatomia-dos-mitos/)</sup>

A related Chupa-Cú story became part of student storytelling at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. In a 2023 report, the university’s journalism publication *Transite* described conflicting campus versions, including a student who transforms at night and a mysterious animal roaming the grounds. It did not establish when this local story began.<sup>[3](https://transite.fafich.ufmg.br/as-lendas-urbanas-que-existem-na-ufmg/)</sup>

The campus story inspired *Projeto C* (2022), a film made by UFMG journalism students. Director Carolina Cerqueira told *Transite* that the work drew on supposed sightings shared through student social media, while emphasizing that the film itself was fiction.<sup>[3](https://transite.fafich.ufmg.br/as-lendas-urbanas-que-existem-na-ufmg/)</sup>

## References

1. [10 casos famosos de notícias falsas na história — Catraca Livre](https://catracalivre.com.br/entretenimento/10-casos-famosos-de-noticias-falsas-na-historia/)
2. [O Imaginário e o Cu — Colecionador de Sacis](https://colecionadordesacis.com.br/2017/10/24/anatomia-dos-mitos/)
3. [As lendas urbanas que existem na UFMG — Transite](https://transite.fafich.ufmg.br/as-lendas-urbanas-que-existem-na-ufmg/)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Online creators and internet personalities*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license