The Trihard emote is somewhat difficult to define since it can be used in many different ways. Its main use is whenever a streamer or someone on a stream is trying really hard. However, this emote can also be used to convey other feelings, such as surprise, nervousness, fear, and so on.
The emote is spelled Trihard for a reason, which we’ll be talking about below.
What Does The TriHard Emote Mean On Twitch?
The Trihard emote is generally used to show someone being really “tryhard” in a game. This means they’re exerting maximum effort to win a game, get a high score, win a level, and so on. However, it can also be used for other things, like expressing someone’s nervousness, fear, and surprise.
Unfortunately, the Trihard emote has been mired in a bit of controversy, and many have used it maliciously.
How to Use the Trihard Emote
The Trihard emote is available for use from both Better Twitch TV and FrankerFaceZ. If you want to use Trihard in a chat, the streamer would need to have Trihard enabled on their stream. Using it is as simple as installing one or the other browser extension. Here’s how:
- Go to the Better Twitch TV or the FrankerFaceZ website and download the specific browser extension for your default browser of choice.
- You can change some settings around for both FrankerFaceZ or BTTV by clicking the gear icon underneath the chatbox (on desktop) on any streamer’s chat.
Sometimes, the browser extensions won’t work right away, and emotes might not show up immediately. You’ll have to restart the browser or clear your cache, and it should all work.
Where Did the Trihard Emote Come From?
The Trihard emote is literally the face of the streamer TriHex. After attending an anime convention in 2012, TriHex was looking at photos live on stream. A friend of his pointed out the picture in which he was making the famed Trihard expression and said that he should use it for something since the face popped out. TriHex launched Photoshop and started cropping it out immediately, with the intent to just meme.
Near the end of 2012, some of TriHex’s fans suggested to Twitch that they should make it an actual Twitch emote. A Twitch admin went to TriHex’s stream, and when TriHex realized it, he decided to try as hard as he could while speedrunning the most difficult level of Yoshi’s Island. The Twitch admin asked, “why are you trying so hard?” And thus, the Trihard (a combo of TriHex and tryhard) emote was born.
However, Trihard’s history is enveloped in malicious use – most particularly, anonymous users might spam Trihard whenever a black person shows up on a stream. Streamer IcePoseidon’s toxic chatters have been responsible for more than 38 million uses of this emote. One of the biggest streamers, xQc, was suspended from the Overwatch League for four matches because he used the emote in the chat when black caster, Malik Forte, showed up on a stream.
Because of the malicious uses of this emote, some streamers have banned its use from their channel altogether to prevent its abuse.
When Should I Use the Trihard Emote?
Use this emote to show that someone is being really tryhard in a game or express your fear, nervousness, and surprise.
