Amogus grew out of Among Us, the social deduction game released in 2018 that exploded in popularity during 2020. Players shortened and distorted the title as a joke about the crewmate character, and the word spread through comics, edits and short videos on social platforms. The simplified crewmate drawing and the deadpan way people say the word became a shorthand for anything that looks vaguely suspicious. It remains popular because the reference is instantly understood, needs no setup, and can be dropped into almost any edit as a quick impostor joke.