“Joe[1]” is the name of the trendiest emoji[2] character on Twitter / X[3] right now, but the character has a richer history than what’s been spammed[4] this past month.
The emotional emoticon[5], with his signature yellow color and white-gloved hands, has captured the internet’s attention since the early 2010s, when he was simply called “EmotiGuy[6].”
But it’s true, Joe is his new name, and the animations and GIFs[7] of him going viral right now are indicative of his new life in the X algorithm.
So, where did the “Joe[8]” emoji come from? What was the “EmotiGuy” series, and how deep does the rabbit hole go? Let’s explain.
Where Did The ‘EmotiGuy’ Come From?
“EmotiGuy” is the name of a free 3D model that was created by the group Daz Originals[9] (also known as Daz3D) way back in February 2005. That makes this character over 20 years old as of writing.
The idea was that anyone could go into Daz3D’s 3D render lab and create their own version of the character. Users were able to choose from different expressions and visual signifiers. It all led to some pretty unique combinations.
When Did ‘EmotiGuy’ Become A Meme?
In 2012, a Facebook[10] page called “Do You Think I Give A Heck[11]” shared its first post. The page was dedicated to posting EmotiGuy images and pairing them with captions that riffed on the page’s namesake.
The page quickly gained a following back then, as screenshots of their posts spread to other major platforms of the time, like Tumblr[12] and 4chan[13].
EmotiGuy went viral again a few years later, in 2014, when Argentinian internet users created the character “Picardía[14]” on one of the country’s most well-known websites, Taringa[15].
The yellow emoji is seen grinning in the image with his thumb up and his other hand on his sunglasses. “Picardía” means “mischief” in Spanish, and the character was said to embody just that.
EmotiGuy memes are still popping up in the 2020s. For instance, there’s the “Yellow Emoji Typing[16]” meme, which shows EmotiGuy innocently browsing the web.
Another popular example is “Yellow Emoji in Darkness[17],” which shows the character seemingly having an unsettling realization in the shadows.
There are plenty more to choose from, like the “Sad Emoji[18],” which shows the character looking dejected. In turn, many internet users are already familiar with the EmotiGuy, well before he was named Joe.
Where Did The ‘Joe’ Emoji Meme Come From?
The name “Joe” comes from a Discord[19] server called “JOE HUB[20],” which began in May 2020. It’s full of users sharing custom renders of the character using a modern EmotiGuy maker on the site duckwithsunglasses.com[21].
The server now has tens of thousands of members, and the creative animations and GIFs from it have seeped out to the mainstream web. One in particular shows Joe shaking his rear end. It did crazy numbers on X last week when a user named @GiFShitposting[22] posted it.
“This is the best day of my life,” proclaimed one X user[23] in a viral quote-tweet[24] of the post.
What Are Some More ‘Joe’ Emoji Memes?
For the full history of Joe Emoji, be sure to check out Know Your Meme’s entry[25] for even more information.
References
- ^ Joe (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ emoji (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Twitter / X (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ spammed (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ emoticon (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ EmotiGuy (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ GIFs (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Joe (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Daz Originals (docs.daz3d.com)
- ^ Facebook (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Do You Think I Give A Heck (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Tumblr (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ 4chan (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Picardía (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Taringa (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Yellow Emoji Typing (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Yellow Emoji in Darkness (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Sad Emoji (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Discord (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ JOE HUB (discord.com)
- ^ duckwithsunglasses.com (testing.duckwithsunglasses.com)
- ^ @GiFShitposting (x.com)
- ^ one X user (x.com)
- ^ quote-tweet (knowyourmeme.com)
- ^ Know Your Meme’s entry (knowyourmeme.com)