Red, long-nosed, and scowling, the goblin emoji actually depicts a tengu, a mischievous mountain spirit from Japanese folklore. Online it's mostly untethered from that origin and repurposed for 'goblin mode' โ the 2022 word of the year for embracing chaos, mess, and zero self-discipline.
What ๐บ means
A red, elongated face honing a large, long nose, staring eyes, an angry frown, a mustache, and a downward-curved mouth with teeth. This emoji is mostly shown facing either the left or the right side.
The ๐บ Goblin emoji refers to the mythical character of Tengu in Japanese folktales. This half-man and half-bird supernatural creature had a past denotation of evil. However, over the years it has come to possess the qualities of goodness and protection too.
The Tengu is also said to be a symbol of mastery in martial arts, thus symbolising strength, power and physical empowerment.
How and when to use it
- Since the emoji looks pretty angry, you can use this emoji while comically showing that you're angry or upset (for minor stuff).
- You can send this emoji while talking about martial arts too (like, "Watch out, I'mma beat yo ass to pulp ๐บ".
- This emoji can also be used in a caring and protective context (scary, but cute too).
- The character, Tengu is half human and half avian, so if you feel like something or someone, or even you for that matter are feeling like half yourself and half of something else, send this emoji in that context.
- This emoji can also be used while talking about strength and fierceness.
Other Names
- ๐บ Tengu
- ๐บ Red Mask
- ๐บ Red Face
- ๐บ Angry Monster
- ๐บ Protective
- ๐บ Martial Arts
- ๐บ Long Nose Face
- ๐บ Japanese Goblin
- ๐บ Evil
- ๐บ Devil
๐บ in real conversations
What's the difference between ๐น and ๐บ?
Both come from Japanese folklore, but they're different creatures. ๐น is an oni โ red-skinned, horned, the classic demon figure. ๐บ is a tengu, identifiable by its long nose and lack of horns, a half-human, half-bird spirit tied to the mountains and, in legend, to sword and martial-arts training. Same red faces, entirely different mythology.
Why does ๐บ have such a long nose?
That's the tengu's signature feature in later Japanese art โ earlier depictions gave it a bird's beak, and over time that beak stretched into the long human nose most people picture today. The design still nods to its half-bird origins even though there isn't a single feather left in the emoji.
Why do people bring up martial arts when they use ๐บ?
Tengu show up across Japanese legend as teachers of swordsmanship โ one famous story has the tengu king Sลjลbล training the young warrior Minamoto no Yoshitsune on Mount Kurama. That reputation carries into the emoji, so it gets used half-jokingly for anyone flexing fighting skill or discipline, not just for looking angry.
The lowdown
- Category
- Smileys & Emotion โบ face-costume
- Codepoints
U+1F47A- Emoji version
- Emoji 0.6
- Shortcodes
:japanese_goblin::goblin:Discord- Keywords
- angry, creature, face, fairy, fairytale, fantasy, goblin, mask, mean, monster, tale
How it looks across platforms
Seeing a blank box instead of the emoji somewhere? Here's why that happens. Curious why the designs above don't match to begin with? Here's why that happens too.
โก Quick round
Which joined the keyboard first โ ๐บ Goblin or ๐งบ Basket?
Runs with a crowd
๐บ keeps company in skull emojis โ tap-to-copy sets for when one emoji isn't enough.