The big new purple thing on Denton’s Square is now named Onion, after the internet gets its way

Just over a week ago, the city of Denton erected a huge, friendly-looking purple monster on a sign on the Square welcoming folks to the Halloween Capital of Texas.

The sign was a hit right away, but it was the city’s request of locals that got a little out of hand in a very Denton way: They asked for suggestions to name the monster.

The internet did its thing, and after first trying to deny its popularity on social media — the monster was formally introduced as Onion.

"He has become very rapidly important to the city of Denton," Kayla Herrod, the city's deputy director of marketing and communications, said Friday morning.

With the city’s first post calling for name ideas, hundreds of comments flooded Facebook and Instagram right away with pretty good suggestions, but one started to tak