Sprunki began as a fan-made horror mod inspired by Incredibox, replacing its playful beatbox characters with darker, unsettling versions in its horror phase. Gray is one of the mod's original characters, and his jumpscare became a recognisable moment for players who trigger the horror transformation. Clips of these scares spread through gameplay videos, reaction edits and short-form posts, where the sudden audio was reused outside the game itself. It remains popular because the scare is instant, easy to recognise for fans, and simple to drop into memes, edits and reaction content.