The Internet Remembers a Robber Emoji, but Apparently It Never Existed
By Gina VaynshteynJun. 16 2020, Published 8:12 p.m. ET
Remember the robber emoji? It wore a striped black and white shirt and held a brown bag that had the money sign on it? Okay, so here’s the weird thing: Apparently it never existed, even though everyone on the internet swears that not only do they remember it, but they’ve totally used it before. Wild, right?!
i swear this emoji existed pic.twitter.com/Cnw5WihTgx
— gréta (@dinasimp) June 16, 2020
What happened to the robber emoji?
According to every source we’ve looked into, it appears that the robber emoji just never existed in any shape or form. In this Reddit thread posted five days ago, the OP wrote, “I can swear there was a robber emoji. It had like a grey beanie, a beard and wore a black and white striped shirt.” The post has 144 comments, almost all of which also claim that there *definitely* used to be a robber emoji. But why can’t we find any proof of its existence?
One Reddit user claims that maybe what we’re all remembering is the custom-made graphics in the app Bitlife, which included a robber: “there were custom made graphics in the app “bitlife,” including the robber, so you probably saw one while playing/watching the game, or seeing one of the mobile ads they used to constantly play on other apps and games.”
Another mystery? Apparently there used to be a hiker emoji, and nobody is able to find that one either!
Twitter is currently trying to crack the case of the missing robber (and hiker) emoji.
Mostly, Twitter users are drawing what they remember. Interestingly enough, everyone seems to remember the same emojis. It’s possible that as soon as one person saw someone else’s sketch, they clung on to that image — but still. With this many people remembering the elusive emojis to exist, it’s strange to think they could have just evaporated from the digital atmosphere.
ARE YALL TELLING ME THE ROBBER EMOJI NEVER EXISTED BC I SWEAR I REMEMBERED USING IT BEFORE pic.twitter.com/L1gYCPGYf4
— ًwas @oibanai (@bluelcok) June 16, 2020
Can somebody tell me what the fuck happened to the robber emoji?? pic.twitter.com/ne4kDUbCNi
— j (@jltlfc) June 16, 2020
SO YOURE TELLING ME.... the hiking emoji and the robber emoji NEVER EXISTED??????? i’m really confused rn i can litersllt imagine them clear as day pic.twitter.com/w9yJYyFhs1
— millie (@almostmillie) June 16, 2020
ok so i can't draw. and i did it with a mouse in like 5 mins but. YOURE GOING TO TELL ME THIS DOESN'T LOOK FAMILIAR??????????? HELLO WHERE IS THE ROBBER EMOJI pic.twitter.com/PQKn8UoXyj
— 𝘣𝘪𝘢 *♡~ (@uhhbia) June 10, 2020
Fam how tf did the robber emoji and the emoji of the guy hiking never exist?! I literally have them pictured in my head but there’s no trace of them on the internet 😂😩
— 维沙尔 (@Vjoshiofficial) June 16, 2020
Apparently there is no record what so ever of the robber emoji but like???? I know he's real I know what he looks like AnD hE LOOKS LIKE THIS excuse my basic sketch but I am not insane I know he's real pic.twitter.com/lFu0aPlWlf
— 💕Bunni💕 (@bunniiiibabe) June 16, 2020
I vividly remember a robber emoji, but for some reason it no longer exists and I can’t find it anywhere. pic.twitter.com/FIXZUBUSYW
— Henry Clay (@HenryCl64215066) June 16, 2020
After scouring the Apple emoji evolution from 1997 to 2018, we couldn’t find the robber emoji anywhere. Could it have just not existed? Or was it quietly deleted without a trace, for seemingly no reason? (Except maybe for the reason of not glorifying being a robber, but come on.)
Sorry, folks. Looks like that’s as far as we’ll get for now. Unless Anonymous wants to get involved.
