When did troll face start?

This internet sensation was a mistake.

THE comic, "troll face", responsible for many of your LOLs when you sign into facebook was apparently created through an artist's mistake.

"Whynne", a Deviantart user posted what's widely-reported as the original troll face in 2008.

He admitted the art work was a poor attempt at another ironic toon, Rape Rodent.

On his Deviantart page, Whynne admits his pride for starting the internet sensation through his original comic (see below) but also wishes others found the humour in the initial image he was trying to create.

"Why raperodent isn't as popular is beyond me, but it's still one of my favorite images," the artist writes.

Some Trollface comics were posted on online image networks 4chan and eBaum's World in 2009 under the name "Coolface".

Trollface secured its spot in internet popculture when the first Urbandictionary definition dedicated to the illustration was posted in 2009.

Since then the image has appeared in countless comics created by an equally infinte number of creators and has spawned variations of humorous face illustrations.

LOL: not their real origins but still.

Trollface mirrors similar ironic attitudes displayed in the activity of "trolling" which refers to posting inflamatory and off-topic messages in an online community.

Whynne's Devianart page boasts 32 "deviations" or art pieces and has collected almost 700,000 page views.

It's unclear whether Whynne actually owns copyright ownership of the image, if he did he'd have a hard time claiming compensation or asking the 309483847 recreations to be taken down.

Knowyourmem.com reported that mid last year, a screenshot of an email claimed to be written by Whynne was posted to Reddit. The email said the use of Trollface on a Reddit group's page infringed his copyright on the image.

The group mentioned in the email responded simply by changing its background image to a picture of trollface with the words "HEY WHYNNE... U MAD BRO?".

Searching the internet, to find what eventuated from the claim draws no answers.

On his Deviantart page, Whynne has somewhat endorsed Trollface figurines which have been made without his permission. Which gives mixed signals to say the least.

"I didn't exactly authorize them, but I'm working with the guy who's making them to get that sorted out," he says.