What is Italian Brainrot? Ballerina Cappuccina, Tralalero Tralala and the TikTok trend explained

8 May 2025, 14:39

What is Italian Brainrot and who are the characters? Picture: AI Italian Brainrot/Wiki

By Katie Louise Smith

Who is Ballerina Cappuccina? What does Tralalero Tralala mean? Here's the full list of Italian Brainrot characters, and what the trend actually means.

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Who is Ballerina Cappuccina? What the hell is Bombardiro Crocodilo? And where did all those pictures of a shark wearing Nike shoes come from? Readers, allow us to explain the Italian Brainrot meme.

If you've been on TikTok recently, or have had a conversation with a young child, then you've probably encountered some Italian Brainrot in the wild.

The Italian Brainrot meme is an AI-trend that involves a series of completely ridiculous, nonsensical images of animals fused with other creatures, vehicles and objects. Almost all of the Italian Brainrot characters have rhyming names that either sound Italian (Ballerina Cappuccina is one of the most popular examples) or are variations on actual Italian words.

But what does it all mean? How did it start and who exactly are all the characters? Here's the full rundown of the meme.

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What is the Italian Brainrot trend?

The Italian Brainrot trend started with Tralalero Tralala. Picture: AI Italian Brainrot/Wiki

How did the Italian Brainrot trend start?

The Italian Brainrot trend first emerged back in January 2025 on TikTok with Tralalero Tralala (a shark with three legs wearing Nike shoes) becoming one of the first creations.

It's unclear who actually created the first image, but Know Your Meme reports that now-banned user @eZburger401 was the first to upload the Tralalero Tralala AI video which included a male text-to-speech voice saying a completely random phrase alongside the name.

That was then followed by Bombardiro Crocodilo (military plane with a crocodile face) and Lirili Larila (an elephant-shaped cactus with two giant feet wearing sandals).

TikTok users have now created lore and backstories for each character... Some are in relationships, some have had affairs, some are siblings, some absolutely hate each other. It's a whole thing.

Aaand what does 'brain rot' actually mean?

The definition of Brain rot (or Brainrot) is the "supposed deterioration of a person’s mental or intellectual state, especially viewed as the result of overconsumption of material (now particularly online content) considered to be trivial or unchallenging."

Basically, Brainrot is when you consume too much low-quality and low-value slop on social media.

In fact, it's become such a massive thing in online spaces that the term was named Oxford University Press' Word of the Year for 2024.

Who are the Italian Brainrot characters? Here's the full list so far:

There's currently around 35 known Italian Brainrot characters but the trend is open for people to create new ones to introduce to the lore. The current list includes, but is not limited to:

Tralalero Tralala
Bombardiro Crocodilo
Tung Tung Tung Sahur
Lirilì Larilà
Ballerina Cappuccina
Brr Brr Patapim
Trippi Troppi
Chimpanzini Bananini
Bombombini Gusini
Cappuccino Assassino
Boneca Ambalabu
Frigo Camelo
La Vaca Saturno Saturnita
U Din Din Din Din Dun Ma Din Din Din Dun
Trulimero Trulichina
Girafa Celestre
Bobrito Bandito
Frulli Frulla
Ta Ta Ta Ta Sahur
Brri Brri Bicus Dicus Bombicus
Tric Trac Baraboom
Cocofanto Elefanto
Burbaloni Luliloli
Orangutini Ananasini
Il Cacto Hipopotamo
Blueberrinni Octopussini
Glorbo Fruttodrillo
Rhino Toasterino
Zibra Zubra Zibralini
Graipussi Medussi
Tigrrullini Watermellini
Tracotucotulu Delapeladustuz
Chimpanzini Capuchini
Gorillo Watermellondrillo
Bananita Dolfinita
Tigroligre Frutonni

What is the 'Italian Brainrot Animal' tier list?

The trend gained even more traction on TikTok back in March when streamer @tjantv posted a video ranking the characters on a tier-list.

The video has over 10 million views, with people sharing their own opinions in the comments about who heir faves are, who they hate and who is actually lowkey underrated. (Justice for Brr Brr Patapim!)

You can do your own ranking of the Italian Brainrot characters here.

Is the Italian Brainrot trend offensive?

While this may seem like a funny, harmless, stupid, completely nonsensical trend, some users have expressed concern about some of the phrases used in Italian Brainrot videos and have even labelled some as Islamophobic due to the mentions of Allah.

Other users also been criticised for mocking or making light of conflicts across the world with the phrases they're using on videos of military-focused characters such as Bombardino Crocodilo and Bombombini Gusini.