If 'Empire' Characters Were Emojis...

I have to admit that I am a sucker for emojis. I don't know how I texted without them, and I definitely think they have upped my game. Plus, you know that old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words?" It perfectly explains why emojis are so handy. I even have emojis next to names in my phone contacts. This shows that a contact is important to me. I've had a heart next to a boyfriend's name. A wine glass next to my best girlfriend's contact. You get what I'm saying. This got me thinking: if emojis can describe the people in my life, can't they also describe TV characters. For instance, if the Empire characters were emojis, which ones would they be?

Empire was my favorite TV show this year. Even though Fox has only aired one season, I have really gotten to know the characters. In fact, I feel like I know them well enough to save them in my phone contacts — if they were actually real people, I mean. So which emojis I would assign to each of the characters? I've given this way more thought than I'm comfortable admitting, but if I know Empire superfans, I'm sure that there are other people out there who will be equally as amused by this.

Lucious Lyon

Don't act like you are at all surprised by this one. Lucious Lyon has been set up to be the villain on this show. As a viewer, I think that he has his endearing moments, but if I were one of the other characters, I would definitely hate him. He is always stirring the pot and trying to manipulate situations.

Cookie Lyon

You were probably expecting me to throw in that chocolate chip cookie emoji and call it a day, but I got a little more creative than that. The crown emoji is so much more on point. Cookie Lyon is the queen of the empire. Lucious may openly wield the power, but Cookie is the one who really makes things happen. She has the best ideas, one liners, and outfits. Everyone should bow down to the queen that is Cookie Lyon.

Jamal Lyon

Let's keep it real. Jamal clearly has the most musical talent out of everyone on the show. He is really in this for the art of it all. He genuinely loves music and is not caught up in the business or fame. He has a beautiful voice and writes from the heart.

Hakeem Lyon

Hakeem is all about living for the thrill. He has been spoiled his whole life, and has had access to everything he wants: clothes, parties, girls. Hakeem is just looking out for himself and trying to have a good time.

Andre Lyon

At the beginning of the season, I would have chosen one of the credit card or cash emojis to describe Andre. Then as time went by, we got to know him better as a character and we discovered that there is much more to Andre than his business side. A lot of the family's problems actually fall on him and he is spread pretty thin. That's why this overwhelmed emoji face is sadly perfect to describe him.

Anika

I had to do it. There's no way Cookie Lyon was going to go on all season calling Anika "Boo Boo Kitty" and I was not going to choose one of the cat emojis. I don't know what to make of Anika, but I'll say one thing: the woman is a total hustler. She's pretty clever, like a cat, and can think well under pressure. Just when you think she's done, she lands on her feet and is ready to go with a new plan.

Rhonda

Rhonda is a character who was more in the background during the first season. She didn't have a lot of story lines on her own, but she was always up to something and always had a plan. The woman was scheming 24/7. She secretly called the shots and set up a lot of the season's major controversy. So of course, this smirking emoji is for her.

Becky

I love Becky. She is adorable. I wish she had more screen time, but I'll take what I can get. She is great as Lucious Lyon's affable and eager assistant. Becky always has a great attitude and smile on her face, ready to help whenever needed. That's why this extreme smiling emoji is pretty on point.

I don't think I can look at my emoji keyboard the same way after going through this thought process. It's going to make me want new Empire episodes more than I already did — something I did not think was possible. And I'm sure that by the time season two gets going, there will be plenty of twists and turns in the plot to justify using new emojis to represent each character.