The emoji 👾 refers to the’the world of video games, the retro gaming and the geek culture. Depending on the context, it can also express victory, indicate a computer bug, or simply evoke space and science fiction.
Here's everything you need to know about this emoji and how to use it!
You can also find out more by clicking here are the 10 emojis that 9 out of 10 people misunderstand. And you, do you really know them?
To test your knowledge of emojis like 👾, you can take the quiz here :
👾: The Meaning and Different Uses of the Space Monster Emoji
The emoji space monster belongs to the group of smileys with the theme of “costume”. It's often used with the emoji extraterrestrial 👽 and the emoji flying saucer 🛸. It is also part of the subset of “fictional characters”.
Visually, it represents a purple alien creature with two eyes, with both arms raised and no mouth. Its appearance is reminiscent of a octopus with its tentacles, or a jellyfish. Its pixelated design is directly inspired by the aliens from Space Invaders (1978), the first fixed-screen shoot 'em up developed by Taito, including the 8-bit graphics have defined the entire genre.
In practice, this emoji is used to refer to several topics:
- them video games and the world of’arcade ;
- there extraterrestrial life, l'space and everything related to space; ;
- anything related to electronics, computers, or high-tech, including a bug or a malfunction; ;
- a victory or a victory, often after an online game; ;
- an invitation to play—like a little nod among gamers.
On most platforms, the 👾 seems to raise one's arms as if to shout “Yay!”. He then expresses the’excitement, the fun or the completely crazy side of a situation. It also carries a slight sense of strangeness, halfway between a fantasy creature and a monster. According to the message, it serves as much to express an emotion as to reference to the world of video games.
The 👾 Emoji by Platform
Depending on your phone, the 👾 doesn't quite look like the same monster. The design It varies from platform to platform, but the meaning remains the same everywhere.
| Platform | Emoji Appearance |
|---|---|
| Apple / Google | A purple alien pixelated, in the style of Space Invaders in 8-bit, with two big eyes |
| A green alien without antennas. It is also used as an icon in the push notifications related to GIFs | |
| Samsung | A small 6-tentacled octopus, a design that's much more organic than a real space monster |
On major platforms, the purple and retro style dominate. Only Samsung moves away from the pixelated monster with its octopus version. The look varies, but the idea of a an alien from outer space never changes.
The Origin of the Emoji
The emoji 👾 comes straight from the classic arcade games. Side unicode, it has a long history. It was first introduced in 2007 (proposal L2/07-257) by Markus Scherer, Kat Momoi and Mark Davis, he returns in a second sentence in 2009 (L2/09-026), this time featuring contributions from’Apple and of Google. It is then formalized in Unicode 6.0 in 2010, under the code U+1F47E.
In practice, this emoji is used in contexts related to gaming or to aliens. Here are a few concrete examples:
- «Do you like playing Raid Shadow Legends 👾 ?»
- «This weekend is the marathon." gaming »At home 👾. Do you have a controller, or would you rather play online?"
- «Do you believe in the existence of aliens, », you 👾?"
- «First place in the tournament. I told you so 👾!!»
Everything You Need to Know About 👾 at a Glance
Here are the technical details for the space monster emoji, along with its Unicode code and its various names.
| Version | Emoji 1.0 (09/06/2015) |
| Usual name | Space Monster |
| Category | Smileys and Emotions |
| Sub-category | Face-suit |
| Apple designation | alien monster |
| Unicode code point | U+1F47E |
| Decimal (keyboard shortcut) | ALT+128126 |
| Unicode Version | 6.0 (11/10/2010) |
| Related keywords | Space, monster, extraterrestrial, video game, alien, pixelated |
| Other names | Space Invader Emoji, alien, space octopus |
Copy the 👾 emoji
The easiest way is to select it right here: 👾. Right-click, then select “Copy,” and you can paste it into any message or text. On a smartphone, open the emoji keyboard and search for “monster” or “alien.”.
👾 or 👽: Which one should you use?
The space monster emoji often appears alongside its alien cousins, but each one has its own meaning. Here's how to tell them apart:
- 👾 : THE gaming, retro, the arcade culture, video games, and geek culture.
- 👽 one classic alien, a bizarre or ironic situation, a genuine sense of strangeness.
- 🛸 : UFOs, flying saucers, and an alien invasion on the way.
- 🤖 : robots, artificial intelligence, and technology in general.
The main difference lies in the design. The 👾 is a pixelated creature derived from arcade games such as Space Invaders. the 👽, on the other hand, features a smooth, green surface with no gaming-related elements.
In practice, take out the 👾 when you talk about video games, extraterrestrial life, a computer glitch, or simply to say that a situation is completely spiraling out of control.
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