Meaning
What does It Hurt Itself in Its Confusion mean?
It hurt itself in its confusion refers to a popular battle message, originating from the role-playing video game titles of the Pokémon franchise.
Online, the message is spread as a meme template for image macros and reaction images, related to self-sabotage, in a similar fashion to Congratulations You Played Yourself, and Trust Nobody, Not Even Yourself.
Origin
What's the origin of It Hurt Itself in Its Confusion?
The phrase “It hurt itself in its confusion” was first featured in the Pokémon Red Version, and the Pokémon Blue Version which were released in the United States on September 28th, 1998.
Memes, referencing the line were sporadically used in the 2000’s and the early 2010’s, however it was first shared as an image macro on the r/funny subreddit on August 11th, 2015, by u/tatlo17.
Spread & Usage
How did It Hurt Itself in Its Confusion spread?
“It hurt itself in its confusion” became popular on Reddit, spreading to Twitter by 2016 and appearing on various sites in the following years.
By 2019, the meme’s popularity surged, as the phrase was seen on reaction images, image macro and exploitable memes alike on sites ranging from Reddit to Imgur, Twitter, Facebook and 9GAG.

External resources
- Reddit – r/OutOfTheLoop