Let’s first of all be excited that a fencer is part of the standard emoji set! The fencer was added to Emoji 3.0 and Unicode 9.0 in 2016. What that means that this is a standard emoji that you can use everywhere no matter what your device. You can send the little fencer emoji to anyone and everyone in your contacts list not matter what you’re using OR they’re using. It shows how prominent fencing is becoming!
Emojipedia tells us that this fencer’s official name is “person fencing”, which isn’t much of a name but it sure is an accurate description. What you might not know is that not every fencing emoji is the same, depending on what platform you’re using. We were honestly shocked to discover how widely these fencers vary! Could they even really be considered the same fencer, or are there different fencers in different emoji universes?
The following pictures are taken from Emojipedia and cover all of the major platforms. Go ahead, check your devices and see what your fencer looks like. (I did when I started writing this.)
Below we rank the eight most common fencer emoji from silliest to most realistic. We also talk a little bit about what each of these fencers is probably thinking, what’s going on with them, and at times we question the reality of the emoji universe.
8. Samsung Fencer Emoji
For some reason, Samsung’s fencer seems jolly about fencing. That’s not a bad thing, because naturally we fencers are generally jolly people.
But that weapon has quite a thick blade – it’s definitely not an epee , a foil, or a sabre! Maybe a broadsword? This fencer is quite open to attack, all while looking off into something interesting at the ceiling rather than at the opponent. (maybe that opponent is eight feet tall or our fencer is three feet tall though?) That footwork is poor as well. Samsung’s fencing emoji takes last place in our rating, but with hard work we’re sure there’s a great fencer in there somewhere! Oh, and a new sword.
7. Google Fencer Emoji
Speaking of new swords, Google’s poor fencer hardly has one at all! It’s also golden. Maybe we should all have a golden foil! We’re calling this a foil because that guard looks too small to be an epee. The good posture and facing that opponent win points, and that footwork is improved over the last one, but really that sword is a dagger and the hand position could be improved. The opponent would just bowl you over. Also, what’s up with that left fist? Is he fencing or boxing? Maybe a bit of both?
6. Microsoft Fencer Emoji
This fencer might not be as sleek as the others – he or she looks like an old school arcade video game – but we’re impressed with the detail given the low resolution!
It seems “short sword syndrome” might be catching when it comes to fencing emoji, because this fencer holds a sword that looks small indeed. This one looks to be a baby sabre. How could anyone possibly get to an opponent with that! Footwork is a bit better here though – good job Microsoft fencer! We love the red stripe on the fencing shoes too.
5. Twitter Fencer Emoji
First off, we must give some love to the Twitter fencer for pretty clearly being a woman! This fencer definitely has the shaped jacket of a female fencer. Her sword is once again shorter and thicker than a standard foil. Let’s agree that her footwork isn’t everything it could be or should be . In fact she kind of looks like she’s going to fall over! She’s not looking at her opponent, but we think she’s checking with the ref right before the match.
4. Apple Fencer Emoji
Let’s start at the bottom – those feet! Apple’s fencer is on point with that footwork. You can even see the knee bend on the left leg and the push up onto the toes. The detail on this emoji is a little too good to be believed – the fencing lame has even got the strap underneath! Wow! The knickers are perfect. We are quite impressed.
The only reason that the little Apple fencer doesn’t land higher on the list is that sword, lame and left hand glove. We like that you can’t tell which weapon it is, but is that sword made of rubber?? It’s curved! It’s looks as though their fencing opponent used mind control to bend their sword to keep them from getting a point. Or maybe it is a flick action with a practice french grip weapon (hmm, foil or epee?). Most probably epee, as the mask is also an epee, and looks like a foil lame provides an extra layer of protection for this fencer, or maybe he will go to fence foil later with his left hand. Who knows – Apple is always full of secrecy about their end product 🙂
3. WhatsApp Fencer Emoji
The sword bending opponent is at it again! WhatsApp has a fencer who’s got a lot more motion going on though, and were here for it. The footwork on this guy is solid.
That lunge is convincing and the detail is wonderful. You can almost feel this tiny fencer jumping towards their opponent, ready to go in for that point. Of course the weapon position is going to make that almost impossible and some coaches will grin about how he holds his foil (it’s foil, right?), but the effort looks to us like this guy deserves the point, even if he doesn’t get it.
2. Facebook Fencer Emoji
This fencer emoji gets close to the top because that personality totally shows through. This fencer is SUPER confident and you can almost hear this one calling to the opponent after winning a point. That triumphant pose and head held high makes his coach proud!
The other really cool thing about this fencer is that the design is stylized, but it’s cool looking. This emoji is a fencing cartoon character that kids love watching on Saturday morning and makes them excited to try fencing. Obviously an epee fencer wearing a foil lame (or knight’s armor with metal knee pads), but this theme of foil lames is common in fencing emojis. Maybe this is a way for them to depict the detail of protective clothing?
1. Emojipedia
Our top fencing emoji comes to us from Emojipedia itself! This fencer snagged the top spot because this emoji looks the most like an actual fencer in competition, and he is a leftie! This could almost be a screenshot from a fencing video!
It’s the movement that looks so cool for this one. This fencer is in the moment, looking at his opponent, and focused on getting that point. No bendy sword or tiny sword going on here! Great job to Emojipedia for giving us the coolest, most realistic and compelling fencer emoji! One small point taken off from imperfection is that this foil fencer does not wear a lame, maybe to compensate other emojis or maybe he is fencing dry 🙂
Which one of these fencing emojis is your favorite? Share your ranking in the comments below.
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