TriHard Meaning

TriHard Twitch Emote Meaning

The TriHard Twitch emote was created to be used when something exciting is happening on the screen or to help generate hype in a channel. It is the image of the streamer Trihex smiling. Use it when you’re hyped or when the streamer does something exciting.

Note: This emote has unfortunately been used as racial discrimination. In fact, it is considered the most controversial emote ever used in Twitch chat. Please be aware of who is broadcasting and make sure to use it appropriately.

Released: 2012

TriHard Emote Origin

The Twitch emote is based on the streamer, TriHex. In June 2012, TriHex went to Dallas, Texas, to attend the Akon-23 anime convention. During this convention, the image that later inspired the emote was taken.

The image was created afterward. When the Twitch staff was looking for new emotes to add to their global collection, TriHex’s community spammed his emote everywhere so that it would be noticed. The movement worked and the emote was officially included. People love it because of the excitement on the face of this Twitch streamer.  

There is a variation to TriHard, the TriHard7. This FrankerFaceZ emote depicts TriHex wearing a military helmet. The seven is supposed to signify a salute. Unfortunately, this emote was spammed on channels with a black streamer. In mixed-race discussions, it would be spammed when the black reporter was speaking. For that reason, many channels have banned both emotes. 

Rise in Popularity of the TriHard Twitch Emote

Beyond the TriHard emote origin, the emote started gaining popularity in the Twitch chat of IcePoseidon, a IRL personality on Twitch. Whenever a black person appeared on his stream, the emote was spammed and was used more than 38 million times in his chat alone.

Unfortunately, this practice has moved past IcePoseidon and is often used in any channel whenever a black person appears on stream. While we all know that internet culture can be toxic, it is a shame this happy emote with such an excited face has been turned into a tool for racists.

In fact, even popular streamers have been banned for using the emote or the TriHard7 variant in a racist way. XQC was banned from the Overwatch League for using TriHard7 when Malik Forte was streaming.

Trihard is One of the Most Used Emote on Twitch

In July 2020, when looking at the most used Twitch emotes, TriHard was in the lead by nearly half a billion usages! It has consistently remained in the top three since that time.

How to Use the TriHard Emote

To intact the true TriHard meaning on Twitch, all you need to do is write the word “TriHard” in any Twitch chat of your choice. The emote will pop up in chat unless the term has been banned on the channel.

Alternatively, you can open the emote menu in Twitch chat and scroll through the available emotes until you find TriHard. Just click it and select it, then press send.

Should the Trihard Emote be Banned?

There is a lot of debate on whether or not the TriHard emote should be banned on Twitch due to the racist usage of some Twitch viewers. Those who wish the emote to be removed argue that it would stop its toxic usage. Those against the removal point out that removing the emote doesn’t address the actual issue of racism.

Trihex shared his own opinion on stream. While he doesn’t really care what other streamers do with their own channels, he supports his emote. He understands that the emote is used for negativity, but he believes that removing the emote doesn’t fix racism. The emote itself isn’t racist, the usage by some viewers is racist. He points out that if the emote was banned, other emotes (such as CmonBruh – another popular Twitch emote which is also used occasionally in a racist way) would be used in the same way.

The good news is that many users do use the emote appropriately, allowing the TriHard emote to spread joy to other users.