Last Updated on 05/19/2021 by Dean
What does Kappa mean on Twitch?
The Kappa emote is a black and white face cut-out of a former Twitch Employee. The emote, which features a smug-looking face, is often used to mock the Twitch streamer.
On top of being a “troll” emote, using the Kappa emote may reveal a user has the golden Kappa. Due to its rarity, once a chatter begins using the Kappa emoji, it often gets spammed by others to check if they too have the golden Kappa.
Origin of Kappa on Twitch
The Kappa emote is a cut-out of former Twitch employee Josh Deseno who added this emote to Twitch back in 2011 while he was working on the Twitch chat as a programmer. He didn’t start this trend though, at the time Twitch was called Justin TV and multiple employees had uploaded their faces as emotes.
These others Justin TV employees are still found as emotes in Twitch today, but they aren’t nearly as common as the Kappa emote which has become a meme and big part of the Twitch community.
Not only that, the Kappa emote is one of the most used emotes on Twitch to this day!
According to Josh, Kappa became popular because ‘Kappa’ is fun to say.
As for the name Kappa, Josh named his emote after Japanese folklore.
Below is a video of Justin Khan (the founder of Justin.tv now called Twitch.tv) explaining the origin of the Kappa emote.
When to use Kappa on Twitch
If you believe a streamer is being sarcastic, ironic, or is trolling, that would be the right time to use the Kappa emote.
How to get Golden Kappa
The Golden Kappa is an easter egg within Twitch where at random, someone could be in the possession of a Golden Kappa emote. The only way to find out if you’re the chosen one is to type Kappa in the Twitch chat.
Basically, you just need to be lucky! But hey, if you Kappa in every stream, you have to get it at some point, right?
Trivia
- The Kappa emote has three variations: KappaClaus, KappaPride, KappaRoss, KappaWealth
- The Kappa emote was the most used emote on Twitch from 2011 – 2017 before being dethroned in 2018 by the LUL emote.
- The kappa guy, Josh Deseno, is a casual streamer on Twitch, you can check out his streams at Twitch.tv/lazythunk.
- Twitch Turbo users can use KappaHD which is a high-definition, colored version of the Kappa emote. If you want the KappaHD, you will have to purchase Twitch turbo.
- On October 26, 2020, all Kappa emotes were replaced by the Golden Kappa for a short amount of time.
FAQ
Is kappa on BTTV or Frankerfacez?
No, Kappa is an emote native to Twitch and does not require an external extension to show up.
Of course, there are versions of the Kappa emote uploaded to BTTV and Frankerfacez, an example is the Kappahd emote (which is stolen from Twitch turbo) this emote features a colored version of the emote.
Who is the Kappa Emote guy?
Josh Deseno is the face of Kappa. He is a former employee of Twitch who worked on the chat client and just like his co-workers, added his face as an emote.
Do you need Twitch Prime or Twitch Turbo to get the Golden Kappa?
Some people believe you need to be a paying Twitch user to get access to Golden Kappa, such as Twitch Prime or Twitch Turbo. However, this is false information. Being a paid subscriber will not increase your chances of receiving the Golden Kappa emote.
How rare is the Golden Kappe emote on Twitch?
There is no way to track how ‘rare’ the Golden Kappa emote is but its definitely not very common. The Golden kappa emote is given at random to certain people for a short amount of time. The only way to check if you’re lucky, is to type Kappa in chat.
