The Kappa emote is one of the most popular Twitch emotes in existence, but it is kind of an odd one. A lot of people might wonder what does Kappa mean? This one is a bit vaguer than with a lot of reactions. It is more used to designate tone rather than express a specific thought.
The Kappa meme is one of the oldest on Twitch. It actually originates in Twitch’s precursor site. The image itself is also a little strange once you think about it. A lot of memes have become completely detached from their original meaning, like the MonkaS emote. Kappa is definitely one of these but its actual background and Kappa’s meaning is pretty interesting.
© Esports.net
The Kappa meme is a greyscale face. When compared to other top used emotes on Twitch like PogChamp or ResidentSleeper, the meaning can be a bit vague.
The Kappa face actually belongs to John DeSuno. This is a greyscale image of his face, a picture was taken from his ID badge. The emote itself has very little relation to the specific person though. It is one of many Easter eggs emotes dotted around, Kappa on Twitch is actually older than Twitch itself. These have been changed by the community, and are now used in a pretty different way.
The kappa emote can be used to mean quite a few different things. Variants like Kappapride can have entirely separate meanings. The Kappa meaning is mainly down to how you use it. It can be used to indicate that you’re not being serious. It is attached to a sentence or message to say that it should be read with irony or sarcasm. Essentially it means that what you’re saying shouldn’t be taken at face value.
This is pretty vague, so the Kappa emote’s meaning can be quite diverse depending on the context of where it is used.
You can use Kappa just like any other emote on Twitch. However, the meaning of it makes this a little different. You use Kappa to indicate that what you’ve said shouldn’t be taken seriously. Although, it is worth bearing in mind that the Kappa emote doesn’t instantly signify how the statement should be taken. You could be just trolling, or making a light-hearted comment, or being sarcastic. The emote indicates you’re doing tone of these, but not the exact text. There is different variations of Kappa that sprawled out over the years, each with a different take on the legendary emote. Kappa, Keepo. MiniK, KappaHD or KappaRoss were all added with different styles. KappaClaus, a festive variant of the original, or KappaPride have been created since.
The precursor to Twitch was Justin.Tv. The Kappa origin dates back this far too. This was a very early live streaming site, named specifically for Justin Kav. With a camera attached to his face, he was one of the earliest life streamers. The website was set up to broadcast his stream and allow people to watch his life.
The site gradually expanded and become a bigger platform for streaming. There were various live streamers on the site, doing different things. Twitch began as the gaming side of the website, which was spun off into its own thing. John DeSuno worked for Justin.tv. The website’s emotes often featured images of staff, put in as Easter eggs. The Kappa emote is exactly that. Justin-Tv is barely remembered these days compared to Twitch, and John DeSuno has long since left the company. However, the Kappa emote remains. Like Press F to Pay Respect or Jebaited, this is a meme that hasn’t completely spun out its original context and become something multipurpose.
The fame of Kappa prompted Twitch devs to develop an “easter egg” version called Golden Kappa. Nobody really knows how to get Golden Kappa, apart from it being randomly awarded to people. You don’t get to keep it however, Golden Kappa comes and goes in a 24 hours cycle.
Rumors and speculation about how to get golden Kappa are circulating ever since it was first seen. The most reliable way to obtain the golden Kappa emote is to try writing Kappa every day in different streams. Eventually it will be your turn to get it. Don’t get too drunk with power when you get it however. Just like drinking, Kappa is best used when consumed in moderation.
Read next: The Origins of the KEKW Emote
EN Global 
JP 日本語
BR Português