Wrkfish circulates online as a soundboard clip with no clear credited source, which has helped it function as a pure nonsense reaction rather than a reference to a specific scene. Shared in short form edits and meme compilations, it picked up its audience through repetition, with creators reusing the same abrupt clip in unrelated contexts. That lack of context is part of its lasting appeal, because viewers do not need to know a character or storyline to get the joke, only the timing of an unexpected sound interrupting a normal moment.