Invisible star: How Ironmouse conquered Twitch despite illness

Viewers never see the face of streamer Ironmouse, who struggles with a severe immunological disease. Despite this, her channel is the most subscribed on Twitch.

For most streamers, promoting their image is crucial. After all, their face, voice, and behavior on-screen are what they sell to the audience. However, some creators never appear on camera. Instead, they hide their identity behind digital avatars. This is the essence of VTubing, a phenomenon that originated in Japan.

One of the most popular YouTubers is Ironmouse, a Puerto Rican-American streamer with over 2.1 million followers on Twitch and 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube. Fans were shocked when, on September 20th, Ironmouse's channel suddenly disappeared from YouTube without any explanation. The streamer primarily performs live on Twitch and uploads recordings of her streams to YouTube.

It turned out that YouTube removed Ironmouse's channel due to copyright infringement reports. After a few days, both of her accounts were restored. In the meantime, her Twitch channel became the most subscribed, with 225,000 people paying to participate in her streams. According to twitchtracker.com, the next on the list, Jynxzi and Kai Cenat, have less than 100,000 subscribers.

The mysterious streamer originally planned a career as an opera soprano, but these dreams were crushed by a diagnosis of common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). This immunological disorder left her largely bedridden and isolated from others. She started streaming in 2017 because she felt "lonely and wanted something to do." Reluctant to show her real face online, she hid behind an avatar. She was inspired by the Japanese artist Kizuna AI, the first YouTuber to refer to herself as a "Virtual YouTuber" (VTuber). That's how Ironmouse was born.

Ironmouse was developed into a character the streamer described as a "stronger version of me." Her avatar is usually a horned anime demon with pink and purple hair. Ironmouse's distinctive, high-pitched voice is the result of a lung infection caused by CVID complications. Many people are shocked when they discover this is her real voice and not a digitally modified sound.

Ironmouse strives to turn her immense success into something valuable not only for herself. She donates 50% of her streaming earnings to the Immune Deficiency Foundation, an organization committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for people affected by primary immunodeficiencies.