Twitch emotes are the vocabulary of stream chat: small faces, most of them from a frog, that let thousands of people react at once without typing a word. This guide explains the big ones, Kappa, PogChamp, KEKW and OMEGALUL among them, plus 30 more, with the year each arrived, what it means and how chat actually deploys it.
Some background first. An Emote (Twitch) is a small image triggered by typing its name. Twitch's own global emotes (Kappa, LUL, PogChamp) are available everywhere; most of the famous ones, though, are third-party, added through browser extensions called BetterTTV (2011), FrankerFaceZ (2013) and 7TV (2021). That is why half of these are never officially on Twitch at all. The list is grouped by mood, which is how chat thinks.
The founders
1. Kappa
A greyscale photo of Josh DeSeno, a former Justin.tv employee, added to the site's emote set in 2011. Kappa means sarcasm: anything followed by Kappa is a joke. It is the oldest and still the most-used emote on the platform, and "Kappa" is spoken aloud by streamers as a word. Status: alive.
2. PogChamp
Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez, a fighting-game player, reacting in a 2010 video, added as an emote in 2011. PogChamp means excitement, a play, a clutch. In January 2021 Twitch removed his face after his comments about the Capitol riot and ran a "PogChamp of the day" before settling on a komodo dragon; most chats kept the original via extensions. Status: alive, in several faces.
3. Poggers
The Pepe version of PogChamp, from 2017. Poggers escaped Twitch entirely and became a Discord word and then a sincere word teenagers said, at which point it died as slang while surviving as an emote. Status: alive on Twitch, dying elsewhere.
4. LUL
John Bain, the critic TotalBiscuit, laughing at a 2013 convention. LUL was added as a global emote in 2016 after a copyright dispute with the photographer; LULW is the zoomed-in extension version. Bain died in 2018. Status: alive.
5. OMEGALUL
A LUL stretched into a circle, from 2016, meaning the biggest possible laugh. OMEGALUL is the escalation of LUL and LULW, and it is usually spammed rather than typed once. Status: alive.
6. KEKW
A clip of Spanish comedian Juan Joya Borja, "El Risitas", laughing on a 2007 talk show, cut into an emote in 2019. KEKW combined the 4chan "kek" with the W suffix that BetterTTV emotes use for "wide". It became the standard laugh within months. Borja died in 2021. Status: alive.
7. 4Head
Cadburry, a League of Legends streamer, smiling in 2015. 4Head means a corny joke, the emote equivalent of a dad laugh. Status: alive.
8. 5Head
The 4Head face with an enlarged forehead, from 2019, meaning genius, usually sarcastic. 5Head is spammed at a good play or a terrible plan. Status: alive.
The Pepe family
9. FeelsBadMan
Pepe the Frog looking down, sad, from 2015, the first Pepe emote to become universal. FeelsBadMan and Pepe the Frog both predate Twitch; the Feels vocabulary came from 4chan around 2010. Status: alive.
10. FeelsGoodMan
The original smug Pepe, the same frog happy. It is the counterpart to FeelsBadMan and the ancestor of all of them. Status: alive.
11. PepeHands
Pepe crying with his hands up, from 2016, for sorrow with drama. PepeHands is the emote for a streamer losing a run they were about to finish. Status: alive.
12. Pepega
A distorted Pepe with a lolling tongue, from 2018, meaning stupid. Pepega is what chat spams when a streamer misses something obvious, and the word is spoken aloud as an insult. Status: alive.
13. monkaS
Pepe sweating, wide-eyed, from 2016. monkaS means tension: a horror game corner, a risky play. The S is for "scared"; the name comes from the user who uploaded it. Status: alive.
14. monkaW
The monkaS face zoomed in for more panic, from 2018. Chat uses monkaW when monkaS is not enough. Status: alive.
15. Sadge
A small sad Pepe, from 2020. Sadge replaced FeelsBadMan as the default sad emote and became a spoken word ("that's sadge"). Status: alive.
16. Copium
A Pepe with a gas mask hooked to a "Copium" tank, from 2020. Copium means coping with a loss by inhaling denial, and it is the most quoted emote of the 2020s, having reached sports, politics and the office. Hopium is the optimistic version. Status: alive.
17. PepeLaugh
Pepe laughing with his eyes closed, from 2017, meaning "you have no idea what is about to happen". PepeLaugh is chat's dramatic irony emote. Status: alive.
18. widepeepoHappy
A wide, delighted, small Pepe (a "peepo") from 2018, for pure joy. The wide version is the excited version. Status: alive.
19. peepoClap
Peepo clapping, from 2019. Chat applauds with it, usually sarcastically, sometimes not. Status: alive.
20. Madge
Pepe furious, from 2021, in the "-ge" family with Sadge. Madge is anger with the drama dial turned down. Status: alive.
21. Bedge
Pepe in a nightcap, from 2021, for "goodnight" or "this is boring". Bedge ends the stream. Status: alive.
22. Prayge
Pepe with hands together, 2021, for hoping. Prayge is spammed before a clutch. Status: alive.
23. Okayge
Pepe with a blank, accepting expression, 2021, for reluctant acceptance. It is the "sure" of emotes. Status: alive.
24. Clueless
A smiling, oblivious Pepe from 2021 that means the opposite of what it shows: chat spams Clueless when the streamer is about to be surprised. Aware is its counterpart, for a streamer who knows. Status: alive.
25. ICANT
Pepe with a hand over his mouth, from 2021, meaning "I can't stop laughing". Status: alive.
The reactions
26. EZ Clap
A smug face with a clapping hand, from 2019, for a win that was never in doubt. EZ Clap is chat's victory taunt and also a way to congratulate. Status: alive.
27. WeirdChamp
A PogChamp variant with a raised eyebrow, from 2018, for "why did you say that". WeirdChamp is disapproval. Status: alive.
28. Jebaited
A wide-eyed grin belonging to Alex Jebailey, a fighting-game organiser, from 2016, meaning "you fell for it". Status: alive.
29. TriHard
Mychal "TriHex" Jefferson grinning at a 2012 event. TriHard is one of the most-used global emotes and one of the most-abused, because chats spammed it in racist contexts for years. Status: alive, with baggage.
30. BibleThump
A crying face from The Binding of Isaac, one of the earliest global emotes, for sadness. Status: alive.
31. Kreygasm
Kreyg, a streamer, mid-ecstasy, from 2011. Kreygasm is for a play so good it hurts. Status: alive.
32. ResidentSleeper
Oddler, a streamer, asleep on a 72-hour stream in 2012. ResidentSleeper means "this is boring". Status: alive.
33. DansGame
Dansgaming's disgusted face, from the Justin.tv days. DansGame is "gross". Status: alive.
34. NotLikeThis
A streamer with his hands on his head, from 2015, for despair. Status: alive.
35. catJAM
A white cat bobbing its head to music, from 2020, for a good song on stream. catJAM is the Cat Vibing meme as an emote. Status: alive.
The words chat says out loud
Beyond emotes, Twitch Chat has its own grammar. "Chat" itself became a word for the audience and, by 2022, a word for any audience: Chat (Address) is the habit of addressing "chat" in real life, and Chat, Is This Real (2023) is the question asked of the void. Just Chatting (2018) is the category where streamers talk instead of play. Sub (Twitch), Bits and Raid (Twitch) are the economy. Malding (mad plus balding, 2020) is what happens to streamers who read chat. And Stream Sniping is the crime of joining a streamer's game to ruin it.
The emotes have also leaked. Copium is used in newspapers. Sadge and Pepega are spoken by people who have never watched a stream. And Poggers went the whole way, from emote to Discord word to a thing teachers heard in 2021. For where they landed, see Discord Slang: 40 Terms Every Server Member Should Know.
FAQ
What does Kappa mean?
Sarcasm. A message ending in Kappa is not sincere. It has been Twitch's most-used emote since 2011, and streamers say "Kappa" out loud.
Why was PogChamp removed?
Twitch removed Ryan Gutierrez's face in January 2021 after he posted about the Capitol riot. The emote name stayed and now shows a komodo dragon; most chats use the original through browser extensions.
What does KEKW mean?
A big laugh. It comes from a 2007 clip of Spanish comedian El Risitas, with "kek" (the 4chan word for lol) and the W that marks a wide emote.
Why are so many emotes Pepe?
Pepe the Frog is easy to redraw with any expression, and the frog was already the face of 4chan and Reddit feels culture when Twitch extensions arrived. The "-ge" family (Sadge, Madge, Bedge) is all Pepe.
What is the difference between LUL, LULW and OMEGALUL?
Intensity. LUL is a laugh, LULW is a bigger, zoomed-in laugh, OMEGALUL is the largest possible laugh, stretched into a circle.
