Goblin 👺
Copy & Meaning

The goblin/tengu emoji, depicting a Japanese 'tengu' with a red face and long protruding nose. Common usage includes 'Tengu mask👺' 'Tengu pose👺' or 'Long nose growing👺' Added in Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The tengu is a Japanese yokai (supernatural creature) born from ancient mountain worship and Buddhist influence, characterized by a long nose, red face, mountain ascetic (yamabushi) clothing, and feather fan. They're considered transformations of mountain ascetics or birds and are said to dwell on sacred mountains throughout Japan—Kurama in Kyoto, Atago in Kyoto City, Oyama in Kanagawa, and Myogi in Gunma.

Mount Kurama tengu are famous as the supposed teachers of legendary samurai Minamoto no Yoshitsune and are often depicted as masters of martial arts. The emoji is used for Japanese yokai culture, traditional Noh and Kyogen performances, kabuki plays, the Setsubun festival (driving away evil spirits), manga like 'Inuyasha,' 'Demon Slayer,' 'Hell Teacher Nube,' children's tengu masks, and tourist spots with tengu statues like Mount Takao. The Japanese idiom 'tengu ni naru' (becoming a tengu) means to become arrogant.