Ogre 👹
Copy & Meaning

The ogre emoji, depicting a Japanese 'oni' (red-faced ogre) with horns and fangs. Common usage includes 'Setsubun bean throwing👹' 'Demons out👹' or 'Oni cosplay👹' Added in Unicode 6.0 in 2010. The 'oni' is a traditional Japanese yokai (supernatural creature), originating from the Indian 'Yaksha' that came with Buddhism, then evolving uniquely with Japanese culture. In Japan, the Setsubun festival on February 3 features the tradition of throwing beans while shouting 'Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi' (Demons out, fortune in) to drive away evil spirits.

The emoji is widely used during Setsubun. It gained global recognition through the manga/anime 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,' becoming a representative emoji of Japanese culture. The emoji is perfect for representing oni characters from Japanese folktales like 'Momotaro' (Peach Boy), 'Issun-bōshi' (One-Inch Boy), and 'Shuten-dōji.' In modern Japanese youth slang, 'oni-' is used as a prefix meaning 'extremely' (like 'oni-yabai' for 'extremely amazing'). The emoji is used for Japanese festivals, traditional cosplay, Japanese cultural introductions, and Halloween costumes.