Nerf's New Mascot Murph Is Already Horrifying the Internet

Nerf has impacted the world of play for generations, ever since the toy brand first entered the scene in 1969. While the company's plastic toys and foam darts have become ubiquitous, the brand has actually never had a mascot — and they decided to change that in a pretty unexpected way. On Friday, Nerf unveiled the first look at Murph, an anthropomorphic character who will now serve as the company's official mascot. Murph, who uses nonbinary they/them pronouns, is a figure whose body is made entirely out of Nerf darts.

"We wanted to introduce a mascot that represents this ageless, unbridled fun that lives in all of us and creates a physical embodiment of that feeling you get when you play with Nerf," Adam Kleinman, SVP and GM of Nerf at parent company Hasbro, said in a statement. "Nerf recognizes that while screens are great, there remains a need for kids, and their parents, to get out, get active and make memories."

Created in a partnership with the ad agency The Martin Agency, Murph is poised to begin appearing in Nerf's commercials, retail outlets, and social media channels later this month. Murph's debut will be part of a multi-year marketing campaign titled "Unleash the Play in You."

Murph's unveiling has already taken the Internet by storm, with the unconventional mascot sparking a wide array of reactions on social media. They have already courted comparisons to all kinds of cryptics, been thrown into a hypothetical beef with now-iconic Philadelphia Flyers mascot Gritty, and been met with specific questions about their physiology. Here are just a few of those reactions.