Kumā(Bear) (クマー) is a whimsical AA character that surfaced on 2channel in the early 2000s. He likes to babble, takes the bait, and often fights with Nukedonald and Pīpo-kun.¹⁾ In the Western internet, early 4chan users somehow managed to turn him into Pedobear during the 2000s.

Around 2000, there was an old meme of a white bear slipping on ice that was edited to look like it got snagged on a fishing line, so users started using a bear kaomoji, then the PS2 game Kuma Uta became 'popular', and bear sightings were common in 2004.²⁾³⁾⁴⁾

The details behind his first sighting is unclear, but Kuma somehow reached 4chan and became 'Pedobear',⁵⁾⁶⁾ before he was used in the Flash animation 'Futari wa Purikuma'⁷⁾ which parodied the Futari wa Precure opening, then he later spread to PTT during the 2006 Asia Series. He stopped being relevant after that, last appearing during the whole digital television transition in Japan around 2010.

Pedobear was an image rendition of Kuma that reached 4chan in late 2004,⁹⁾¹⁰⁾ but the idea of a 'pedophilic bear' has unclear origins. Several theories have surfaced where 4chan either: mistook Kuma as a child porn indicator,¹¹⁾ was edgy, was also pedophilic,¹²⁾ misspelled 'bipedeal bear', or inferred the Kuma Uta lore.¹³⁾

Regardless of the circumstances, Pedobear become a way to 'mock pedophiles' and it was picked up by mainstream media since people kept jamming the character into places for fun. However, do note that Pedobear has been 'out-of-style' for over a decade now, being replaced with the mutated parody of himself called Spurdo Spärde.

　Incredible, you're the first one out!　　　　　And I only got 4 points from Japan!
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　　　　　　　　| ノ　⌒　 ⌒ヽHA　　　　__ _,, -ー ,, 　　　HA　　/ ⌒　　⌒ 丶|
　　　　　　　 /　 (●)　　(●) 　HA 　 (／　　　"つ`..,：　 HA　(●)　　(●)　丶
　　　　　　　| 　 　　( _●_)　ミ 　　　：/　　　　　　　:::::i：.　　 ミ　(_●_ )　　　　|　　*twist*
　＿＿＿ 彡　　　　　|∪|　ミ　　　　：i　　 　　　 　─::!,, 　　　ミ､ |∪|　　　　､彡＿＿__
　ヽ＿＿＿　　　 　 　ヽノ､｀＼ 　　 　ヽ.....::::::::: 　::::ij(_::●　　　/　ヽノ　 　　　＿＿＿/
　　　　 　 /　　JPN　　.／ヽ　<　　 r "　KOR　r　ミノ~.　　　　〉 ／＼　CHN丶
　　　　　 /　　　　　　／　　 ￣ 　 ：|::|　　　　::::|　:::i ﾟ。　　　　￣　　　 ＼ 　　 丶
　　　　　/　　　　 ／ 　　　　 　 　 ：|::|　　　　::::|　:::|：　　　　　　　　　　　 ＼ 　 丶
　　　　　（＿ ⌒丶...　　　　　　　　：` |　　　　::::|　:::|_：　　　　　　　　　　　/⌒＿）　　　TPE
　　　　　　|　/ヽ　}.　 　　　　　　 　：.,'　　　　::（　　:::}　　 　　　　　　　　　}　ﾍ　/　　∩＿＿＿∩
　　 　 　　 し　　））.　 　　　　　　 ：:i　　　　　　`.-‐"　　　　　　　　　 　 　J´（（　　/ ⌒　　⌒ 丶|
　　　　　　　　　 ｿ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　ｿ　 (●)　　(●)　丶
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　 How'd you drift here?　　ミ　(_●_ )　　　　|
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Watch out! The tide's coming in!)　ミ､ |∪|　　　　､彡

The 'Three Bear Diagram' (三熊圖)¹⁴⁾ is a unique case where an ANSI art conversion had been made for sports-related banter on PTT and, despite the name, it technically has four bears. It originally made fun of South Korea's Samsung Lions being eliminated by La New Bears in the 2006 Asia Series. Nowadays, the artwork is quite rare, but does return for special occasions.

Spurdo Spärde is a Pedobear parody that came from the Finnish bulletin board, Kuvalauta, in 2009, following the Jonneweb shoutout.¹⁵⁾ The original userbase would associate Pedobear with their unrefined humor, so they'd mock their visitors using mistyped posts¹⁶⁾ and their poorly-drawn imitations of Pedobear.¹⁷⁾

The names would gradually mutate into 'Spurdo Spärde', then Kuvalauta died on August 31, 2010, but the meme was later revived once people started using the Pepe-based Spurdo at Ylilauta around July 2011. This variant was given a body, became 'Aligersantti Spurdo' or 'Gorporal Spurdo',¹⁸⁾ then it infested Krautchan.

Back then, the most popular variant was the 'Lugiolainen(Highschooler) Spurdo'¹⁹⁾ who works at Siwa,²⁰⁾ and he would meet this fat Statesian tourist called 'Le American Bear'²¹⁾ which enabled a lot of negative stereotype jokes. But in 2015, a surreal mutation that only had a head and legs, called “Gondola”, emerged on Ylilauta.²²⁾

• Kuma on Japanese Wikipedia
• Kuma on the 2ch AA Illustration Project
• Kuma on Pixiv Encyclopedia
• Kuma on Niconico Encyclopedia