Story highlights Illustrator Matt Furie killed off Pepe by drawing him in a comic strip lying in an open casket

Pepe gained fame as a harmless meme but was co-opted by far-right Internet trolls during the 2016 election

(CNN) Pepe, the involuntarily appropriated alt-right cartoon frog, was laid to rest this weekend.

His death was both a filicide and a mercy killing. His creator Matt Furie, having seen the rudderless, soulless troll meme Pepe had become, illustrated him in an open casket in a one-page comic strip released in conjunction with Free Comic Book Day . Pepe was 12.

Furie's Tumblr page, showing a comic panel with Pepe's funeral.

Born as an innocent comics character in 2005 , Pepe led a troubled life. He emerged as a favorite -- and mostly harmless -- meme of message boards and Internet wastrels in the 2010s, but his legacy took a hard downturn when he became an unholy experiment for far-right trolls during the 2016 election.

While it's nearly impossible to pin down a singular message from the political Pepes, the general feeling was one of trolling sadism and mischief. Remorseless social media users appropriated his image as Adolf Hitler, a Klansman and racist caricatures. Pepe was deployed again and again to represent beliefs that sometimes upset others, and he was often used to ridicule overly sensitive "snowflakes" or those with liberal or "social justice" views.

He also became closely tied with the self-identified "Deplorables," Donald Trump supporters who saw no reason to apologize for their views and in fact seemed to gain energy from others' hatred of them.