Shobōn (ショボーン), or Syobōn, is an AA character and kaomoji, which represents a 'downhearted' feeling¹⁾ and was used to gather sympathy. However, the kaomoji should only be used in moderation, or else people will start going “what's this bastard trying to act cute for?” instead.

As an AA character, they grow ears. However, due to their high versatility, the aforementioned meaning doesn't necessarially apply to every single situation that they end up in, and some of these derivatives actually have a tuft of hair on them in the form of commas.

Deliberating (審議中, Shingichū) refers to a group of Shobon-like characters that will gather to discuss a bad shitpost or lame joke that somebody made, pretending that their post was placed on trial. They will reach a verdict of 'approved', 'rejected', 'overturned', 'guilty', etc. Of course, this doesn't need to be text artwork, but the kaomoji version is often limited to three jurors in total, instead of the usual six or so jurors.

【審議中】 (Deliberating)
　　　 ∧,,∧　 ∧,,∧
　∧ (´・ω・) (・ω・｀) ∧∧
(　´・ω)　Ｕ) ( つと ﾉ(ω・｀ )
｜　Ｕ (　　´・) (・｀　　)　と ﾉ
　ｕ-ｕ （l 　　 ) (　　　ﾉu-ｕ
　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'.　`ｕ-u'

【結果】 (Outcome)
　　　　　 ∧,,∧ 　.∧,,∧
　 ∧∧(´・ω・｀)(´・ω・｀)∧∧
　(´・ω・｀).∧∧) (∧∧(´・ω・｀)　＜ Postponed.
　｜　Ｕ (´・ω・｀)(´・ω・｀) と ﾉ
　　ｕ-ｕ　（l 　　 ) ( 　　　ﾉ u-ｕ
　　　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'　`ｕ-u' 

【可決】 (Approved)
　　　　　 ∧,,∧ 　.∧,,∧
　 ∧∧(｀・ω・´)(｀・ω・´)∧∧
　(｀・ω・´).∧∧) (∧∧(｀・ω・´)　
　｜　Ｕ (｀・ω・´)(｀・ω・´) と ﾉ
　　ｕ-ｕ　（l 　　 ) ( 　　　ﾉ u-ｕ
　　　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'　`ｕ-u'

【却下】 (Rejected)
　　　　　 ∧,,∧ 　.∧,,∧
　 ∧∧(´‐ω‐｀)(´‐ω‐｀)∧∧
　(´‐ω‐).∧∧) (∧∧　(‐ω‐｀)　
　｜　Ｕ (´‐ω‐｀)(´‐ω‐｀) と ﾉ
　　ｕ-ｕ　（l 　　 ) ( 　　　ﾉ u-ｕ
　　　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'　`ｕ-u'

【異議あり】 (Objection)
　　　　　 ∧,,∧ 　.∧,,∧
　 ∧∧(｀・ω・´)(｀・ω・´)∧∧
　(｀・ω・´).∧∧) (∧∧(｀・ω・´)　＜ Objection!!
　｜　Ｕ (｀・ω・´)(｀・ω・´) と ﾉ
　　ｕ-ｕ　（l 　　 ) ( 　　　ﾉ u-ｕ
　　　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'　`ｕ-u' 

【否決】 (Overturned)
　　　　　 ∧,,∧ 　.∧,,∧
　 ∧∧(´‐ω‐｀)(´‐ω‐｀)∧∧
　(´‐ω‐).∧∧) (∧∧　(‐ω‐｀)　
　｜　Ｕ (´‐ω‐｀)(´‐ω‐｀) と ﾉ
　　ｕ-ｕ　（l 　　 ) ( 　　　ﾉ u-ｕ
　　　　　　 `ｕ-ｕ'　`ｕ-u'

【有罪】 (Guilty)
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ∧＿∧　∧＿∧∧＿∧ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ∧＿∧´・ω・)(´・ω・｀)・ω・｀∧＿∧ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎｺﾎﾞｺ（´・ω・）∧＿,∧lll　∪)∧＿∧・ω・｀)ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ∧＿∧ ´・ω∧∪∧(・ω・∧＿∧⊂)ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ｺﾎﾞｺ（´・ω・）≡つ);;)ω(;;(⊂≡（・ω・｀）___＼ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞ(っ　 つ＝つ(っ　 ⊂)⊂＝⊂≡　⊂) ＼ )ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ/∧＿∧∧＿∧ ∧ ∧＿∧∧＿∧＼ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞ( ( ´・ω)(　　´・)(　　　 )｀　　)(ω・｀ )　)ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ｺﾎﾞｺ(っ　 つ/　　　 )(　　　　)　　　＼　⊂)ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞ/　　　)`ｕ-ｕ'.　ﾊﾞ∪￣∪ﾊﾞ`ｕ-u' 　　＼ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺ( /￣∪ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ∪￣＼ )ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ
ｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺﾎﾞｺ 

“I'll make fried rice!!” (チャーハン作るよ！, Chāhan tsukuru yo!) is a simple Shobon variant that would make fried rice, but has a high chance of failing. The pan is called a 'Niniv' (ニニフ, Ninifu). They own a pet pig named 'Tonky' (トンキー) after sparing them from a pork fried rice recipe. Some people may know this version from Torikara's version of the Vocaloid song, “Double Lariat” by Agoaniki-P.²⁾

　 ∧,,∧
　(；`・ω・）　　｡･ﾟ･⌒） I'll make fried rice!!
　/　　 ｏ━ヽニニフ))
　しー-Ｊ

　 ∧,,∧ 　Let's add some pork!
　(；`・ω・）　　　　　　　　　　 　　ﾍ⌒ヽﾌ⌒γ
　/　　 ｏ━ヽニニフ　　 　　　　(・ω・　）　　）
　しー-Ｊ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　しー し─J 

　 ∧,,∧ 　・・・
　( ´・ω・）　　　　　　　　　　 　　ﾍ⌒ヽﾌ⌒γ
　/　　 ｏ━ヽニニフ 　　　　　　(・ω・　）　　）
　しー-Ｊ 　　　　　　　　　　　　　しー し─J

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　∧,,∧　　It's still delicious with just the vegetables.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　（・ω・　 ）
　　　　　　　　　　　　　／￣￣￣￣ヽ･ﾟ･ ｡･ﾟ/(_,　　　）
　　　　　　　　　　　 ／　　　　　　　　￣￣￣　＼、＿）
　　　　　　　　　　　|￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣|
　　　　　　　　　　　 ￣|￣|￣￣￣￣￣￣|￣|￣

　 ε　⌒ﾍ⌒ヽﾌ　ブヒ♪
　（ 　　( 　・ω・）　
　　しー し─Ｊ　ヽ･ﾟ･ ｡･ﾟ/

Kawaisosu (カワイソス) is a Shobon variant with a single eyebrow, roughly named after 'kawaisou' (可哀想), which obviously represents a feeling of pity of sympathy. The character is sometimes seen with a sniper rifle aimed at Saito Matanki and becomes a sauce bottle due to the obvious 'sauce' (ソース, sosu) pun. Historically, it was made after 2channel started getting hit with the 'Yamada Virus' trojan in 2005.

（´・ω・） ｶﾜｲｿｽ

　 　 ,-ｰ──‐‐-､
　　 ,! ||　　　　　　|
　　 !‐---------‐
　　.|:::i ./´￣￣.ヽ.i
　　|::::i | |＼∧/.|..||
　　|::::i | |__〔@〕__|.||
　　|::::i |.（´･ω･`）||
　　|::::i |　 ｷﾝｸﾞ　 ||
　　|::::i | ｶﾜｲｿｰｽ.||
　　|::::i L___________」|
　　|::::i : : : : : : : : : |
　　｀'''‐ｰ------ｰﾞ 

 　　　　ﾊﾞﾁｭﾝ　`･，･,
　　　　　　　　｀，ﾞ｀･;`'.　＜
　　　 　　　(( ノ(　　ヽ ))
　　　　　　　　　<　 >

　　　　　　　　　__Ｏ)二)))(・ω・｀)ｶﾜｲｿｽ
　　　0二━━ )＿＿＿＿）┐ノヽ
　　　　　　　　　A　　　||ﾐ|＼　くく 

Syakīn (シャキーン), or Shakīn, is a Shobon variant that has inverted eyebrows. They represent a refreshed 'uplifted' feeling, often associated with high tension. Outside of that, there isn't really much to this character. Furthermore, their name is a bit inconvenient since it's already the sound for a 'cool' pose, and romanizing their name isn't any better since 'shakin' looks like the English word 'shaking'.

　 ∧＿∧　　　／￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣￣
　（`･ω･´)　＜　Feeling motivated, once a day!
　（つ旦と）　　 ＼＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿
　と＿）＿）

Ranbuta (らん豚), or Ranran (らんらん), is a literal pig persona that bashes video games, usually an MMO, some gacha game, or any game that gets 'balancing' updates. They'll often gather in a dedicated 'pigpen' thread to avoid clogging up the main thread with negativity, but they can get rowdy and unreasonable. While it isn't known why they're called that, we do know the first complained about Fantasy Earth Zero.

　　_＿,､＿,､
　(　 ( ´･ω･｀)　This is the new pigpen.
　｀u-｀u--u´

In early 2011, there was a /news4vip/ thread where a tripcode user, ◆fqmjWRH5ujSm, made up a story about stalking a girl nicknamed 'Denko' (デン子). A matome blog picked this up,³⁾ “vgperson” made an English translation that went viral on Tumblr,⁴⁾ then a YouTube user named “Brendaniel” dubbed it and calls it a 'stupid fucking hamster face'.⁵⁾ For a while, Shobon was associated with stalking.

The story lasted over a month and readers were left speculating after it ended. However, the aforementioned tripcode did surface on other boards, posting in a toy exchange⁶⁾⁷⁾ and in a '30+ and unemployed' thread.⁸⁾⁹⁾ There's no way of knowing if this is the same user, but assuming it was, these reveal that he lived in Kyoto Prefecture, which is very far from Yoyogi Park, and might've been lying the whole time.

• Shobon no Action

• Shobon on the 2ch AA Illustration Project
• Shobon on Pixiv Encyclopedia
• (´・ω・`) on Niconico Encyclopedia