Ironmouse

Ironmouse originally planned to pursue a career as a coloratura soprano opera singer, but was diagnosed with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), an immune disorder that has left her largely bedridden and isolated. It has also led to a lung infection called mycobacterium avium complex as she revealed to Projekt Melody in 2021.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgCCul-n5E8&t=3m44s |title=Ironmouse talks about her Sickness and Condition with Projekt Melody |date=4 June 2021 |quote=it's called mycobacterium avium complex |first=Iron |last=Mouse |website=YouTube }} This required her to remain isolated from others, a situation which intensified in 2020 amid the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.{{Cite web |last=Grayson |first=Nathan |date=April 20, 2022 |title=How a pink-haired anime girl became one of Twitch's biggest stars |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/04/20/twitch-ironmouse-vtuber-subathon-interview/ |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Launcher (Washington Post)}}

In 2017, she began to pursue a career as a streamer instead, as she was "lonely and wanted something to do". Hesitant to use her real face online, she was inspired by the Japanese entertainer Kizuna AI, the first YouTuber to refer to themselves as a "virtual YouTuber"{{cite news |last=Lufkin |first=Bryan |date=October 2, 2018 |title=The virtual vloggers taking over YouTube |language=en |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20181002-the-virtual-vloggers-taking-over-youtube |access-date=February 14, 2018}}—to stream with a digital avatar to conceal her identity. Her username comes from the villain Sailor Iron Mouse from the manga series Sailor Moon. {{Cite web |title=We Spoke To The Anime Avatar Twitch Streamer Who Surpassed Kai Cenat |url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/levi-winslow/twitch-streamer-ironmouse-most-subscribed-creator-surpassed-kai-cenat |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.complex.com |language=en}}

After discovering that there were a growing number of users referring to themselves as VTubers like Kizuna, she began to consider herself one. The Ironmouse persona was expanded into a character, which she referred to as a "bigger version of me" and being like a superhero costume;{{Cite web |date=April 6, 2022 |title=Twitch's New Star Is Anime Avatar Ironmouse |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-06/twitch-s-new-star-of-streaming-charts-is-anime-avatar-ironmouse |access-date=April 22, 2022 |website=Bloomberg}}{{Cite web |last=Chen |first=James |date=November 30, 2020 |title=The Vtuber takeover of 2020 |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/30/21726800/hololive-vtuber-projekt-melody-kizuna-ai-calliope-mori-vshojo-youtube-earnings |access-date=14 December 2020 |website=Polygon |language=en}} her avatar usually takes the form of a horned demon with pink and purple hair, while its backstory—influenced by her having jokingly referred to herself on-stream as such—suggests that the character is a personification of Satan itself. Ironmouse's distinctive, high-pitched speaking voice is the result of a lung infection due to CVID complications which also resulted in her being on oxygen support 24/7; she has remarked that some people have refused to take her seriously because of her voice, and that some fellow streamers have been shocked to find out that it was her real voice, and not being manipulated with a voice changer.{{Cite web |last=Israni |first=Prakash |date=March 22, 2023 |title=What Happened To Ironmouse? Virtual YouTuber Illness And Health Update |work=Today News, Latest News, Breaking News, Today News Headlines - PKBnews.in |url=https://pkbnews.in/what-happened-to-ironmouse-virtual-youtuber-illness-and-health-update/}}

Amid a growth trend for streamers in general, and especially VTubers,{{Cite web |last=Hernandez |first=Patricia |date=September 14, 2020 |title=Why Pokimane's Vtubing Twitch stream has everyone talking |url=https://www.polygon.com/2020/9/14/21436437/pokimane-imane-anys-twitch-vtubing-vtuber-anime-livestream-mainstream-popularity |access-date=September 1, 2021 |website=Polygon |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=White |first=DeForest |date=October 29, 2020 |title=Column: Bonus Stage: The Sudden Rise of Vtubers |url=https://www.easternprogress.com/opinion/column-bonus-stage-the-sudden-rise-of-vtubers/article_ff508dd8-1a38-11eb-8f26-6f366eb5f250.html |url-status=live |journal=The Eastern Progress |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101134922/https://www.easternprogress.com/opinion/column-bonus-stage-the-sudden-rise-of-vtubers/article_ff508dd8-1a38-11eb-8f26-6f366eb5f250.html |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |access-date=November 1, 2020}} Ironmouse's audience on Twitch began to see increases over 2020 and 2021. The increasing revenue from her streams also allowed her to afford higher-quality health care. In turn, improvements to her condition enabled her to perform longer streams on a more regular basis. In November 2020, Ironmouse was announced as one of the charter members of VShojo, a new U.S.-based agency of English-language VTubers, joining other streamers and personalities such as Nyanners and Projekt Melody.{{Cite journal |last=Beresford |first=Trilby |date=November 24, 2020 |title=Talent Agency Launches With Focus on Vtubing |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/talent-agency-launches-with-focus-on-vtubing |url-status=live |journal=The Hollywood Reporter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125135143/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/talent-agency-launches-with-focus-on-vtubing |archive-date=November 25, 2020 |access-date=December 1, 2020}}{{Cite web |last=Agonoy |first=Jay |date=November 28, 2020 |title=US-based VShojo VTuber Group Debuts |url=https://animecorner.me/2020/11/vshojo-vtuber-group-launches/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129020037/https://animecorner.me/2020/11/vshojo-vtuber-group-launches/ |archive-date=November 29, 2020 |access-date=December 6, 2020 |work=Anime Corner}}

File:CDawgVA and Ironmouse during AX panel, 2024.jpg (seated, left) and Ironmouse (on screen) during a panel for Anime Expo in 2024]]

Ironmouse is known for her frequent collaborations with Welsh YouTuber CDawgVA; he had learned of VTubers via Gigguk—one of his colleagues on the Trash Taste podcast. After watching an Ironmouse stream on Twitch out of curiosity and finding her to be "really funny", CDawgVA brought her up during a Trash Taste episode with Hololive English member Mori Calliope as a guest. The acknowledgement led to interest from Ironmouse, who had been also been following CDawgVA's own streams. Her involvement began with a voice cameo in one of his videos, and later collaborative streams; CDawgVA described himself in an interview with Dexerto as the "straight man" to Ironmouse's "chaotic" personality, while Ironmouse has considered him "genuine".{{Cite web |last=Shrivastava |first=Aarnesh |title="Thank you for taking me out": VTuber Ironmouse cries joyfully in an IRL stream with CDawgVA |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/vtuber-ironmouse-cries-joyfully-irl-stream-cdawgva |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=www.sportskeeda.com |date=28 January 2022 |language=en-us}}

In February 2022, Ironmouse held a subathon event, a nonstop stream in which a countdown clock was extended whenever viewers purchased paid subscriptions or otherwise made donations to the channel. The stream remained online even when she was asleep, during which other content, such as videos, and appearances by her friends and other guests, were featured.{{Cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=February 9, 2022 |title=Vtuber Ironmouse hosts a sleep stream during a subathon with avatar |url=https://www.polygon.com/22924015/vtuber-sleep-stream-subathon-vshhojo-ironmouse |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} Over the course of the event, which ran for a total of 31 days through March 7, 2022, Ironmouse became the most-subscribed to female streamer on Twitch, and had the largest number of active subscribers of all Twitch channels at the time (although short of an overall record set by Ludwig during a similar event he held in 2021),{{Cite web |last=Galloway |first=Ryan |date=February 16, 2022 |title=VTuber Ironmouse is now most subbed female Twitch star ever |url=https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/vtuber-ironmouse-most-subbed-female-twitch-streamer-ever |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Dot Esports |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last1=Lorenz |first1=Taylor |date=March 18, 2021 |title=The Endless Stream |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/style/ludwig-ahgren-twitch-livestream.html |access-date=April 13, 2021}} with nearly 172,000 subscribers in total by the end of the event. Ironmouse has occasionally hosted a talk show—Speak of the Devil—which features various guests.{{Cite web |last=Amos |first=Andrew |date=July 11, 2022 |title=Ironmouse asks fans to stop dictating VTubers' lives after Mori Calliope collab |url=https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ironmouse-asks-fans-to-stop-dictating-vtubers-lives-after-mori-calliope-collab-1867104/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103150558/https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ironmouse-asks-fans-to-stop-dictating-vtubers-lives-after-mori-calliope-collab-1867104/ |archive-date=November 3, 2022 |access-date=November 3, 2022 |website=Dexerto |language=en}}

According to data from StreamElements and Rainmaker, Ironmouse was the eighth-most watched streamer on Twitch during the month of February 2022—marking the first time that a VTuber had made their monthly top 10.{{Cite web |date=March 25, 2022 |title=The VTubers are coming: Ironmouse was one of the 10 most-watched Twitch streams in February |url=https://www.tubefilter.com/2022/03/25/twitch-statistics-rainmaker-stream-elements-ironmouse-vtuber-xqcow/ |access-date=April 21, 2022 |website=Tubefilter |language=en-US}} Discussing the event, Ironmouse felt that it was "the only time I didn't feel lonely because I felt like I had somebody there all the time. It was the least lonely I've ever felt in a long time." In March 2022, she was nominated for Best VTuber at The Streamer Awards.{{cite web |last=Polhamus |first=Blaine |date=March 13, 2022 |title=All 2022 Streamer Award Winners |url=https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/all-2022-streamer-award-winners |access-date=March 12, 2023 |website=Dot Esports |publisher=Gamurs}}

In December 2022, she was listed among the "heroes" on the Plasma Hero website for raising awareness about CVID and encouraging viewers to donate plasma. She has also received praise for encouraging donations to The Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF), a charitable organization which helps people suffering from conditions like hers through research and improving the quality of life of people suffering from primary immunodeficiency.{{Cite web |title=Hero stories - ironmouse |url=https://www.plasmahero.org/hero/ironmouse |website=Plasma Hero |access-date=January 31, 2023}} According to StreamsCharts, Ironmouse was the second most-watched female Twitch streamer of 2022, behind Amouranth.{{Cite web |last=Pery |first=Kurt |date=June 27, 2023 |title=Ironmouse Subathon success sees her smash Twitch subscriber record |url=https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ironmouse-subathon-success-sees-her-smash-twitch-subscriber-record-2191504/}}{{cite news |last=Deangelo |first=Daniel |url=https://gamerant.com/twich-most-watched-female-streamers-2022/ |title=Here Are the 10 Most-Watched Female Twitch Streamers of 2022 |date=January 5, 2023 |publisher=Game Rant |access-date=January 31, 2023}} In March 2023, she won Best VTuber at The Streamer Awards.{{cite web |last=Snavely |first=Adam |date=March 11, 2023 |title=Streamer Awards 2023: All results and winners for every category |url=https://dotesports.com/streaming/news/streamer-awards-2023-all-results-and-winners-for-every-category |access-date=March 12, 2023 |website=Dot Esports |publisher=Gamurs}}

In June 2023, Ironmouse held a second subathon event as a charity event, with half of all revenue from Twitch subscriptions and Bits, as well as merchandise sales during the event, being donated to the Immune Deficiency Foundation. The subathon broke her previous record of 172,000 subscribers and set a new record of 205,488 subscribers. {{Cite web |date=July 2, 2023 |title= Twitch All-time Streamers With Most Active Subscribers. |url=https://twitchtracker.com/subscribers/all-time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230702082024/https://twitchtracker.com/subscribers/all-time |archive-date=July 2, 2023 |website=twitchtracker}}{{Cite web |date=July 4, 2023 |title=Ironmouse subathon reaffirms her status as pre-eminent female VTuber and Twitch star |url=https://streamscharts.com/news/ironmouse-record-subathon-recap |website=streamscharts}}

On December 7, 2023, Ironmouse won the award for Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards 2023, becoming the first VTuber to win in the category.{{Cite web |last=Bhattacharya |first=Richik |date=December 7, 2023 |title=VTuber Ironmouse wins Content Creator of the Year at The Game Awards 2023 |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-vtuber-ironmouse-wins-content-creator-year-the-game-awards-2023}} In February 2024, she repeated as Best VTuber and was also nominated for Streamer of the Year at The Streamer Awards.{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Richik |date=January 25, 2024 |title=The Streamer Awards announces nominees for all categories: Full 2024 nominee list includes Kai Cenat, Iron Mouse, and more |url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/esports/news-the-streamer-awards-announces-nominees-categories-full-2024-nominee-list-includes-kai-cenat-iron-mouse |website=Sportskeeda |publisher=Nazara Technologies}}

On September 10, 2024, YouTube suspended Ironmouse's VOD channel, supposedly due to copyright strikes.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-10 |title=Why has YouTube blocked IronMouse's popular VoD channel? VShojo & editors chime in |url=https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/why-has-youtube-blocked-ironmouses-popular-vod-channel-2893373/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Dexerto |language=en}} On September 20, her main YouTube channel was also suspended; in response, she tweeted that she was "incredibly sad and shocked".{{Cite web |date=2024-09-20 |title=Ironmouse "shocked" after YouTube suddenly terminates her main channel |url=https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/ironmouse-shocked-after-youtube-suddenly-terminates-her-main-channel-2906605/ |access-date=2024-09-21 |website=Dexerto |language=en}} Both of Ironmouse's YouTube channels were later reinstated on September 23.{{Cite web |last=Starkey |first=Adam |date=2024-09-23 |title=Ironmouse officially back on YouTube after her accounts were terminated |url=https://metro.co.uk/2024/09/23/ironmouse-officially-back-youtube-accounts-terminated-21656070/ |access-date=2024-09-23 |website=Metro |language=en}} On September 24, Ironmouse broke the all-time subscription record for a female streamer on Twitch for the third consecutive year, exceeding her previous record of 205488 subscribers. {{Cite tweet |user=ironmouse |number=1839150302563352844 |title=WE DID IT WE SMASHED IT 💖💖💖 THANK YOU TO MY AMAZING COMMUNITY FOR CHANGING MY LIFE. }} That same month, Ironmouse overtook Kai Cenat as the most-subscribed channel on Twitch, setting a new all-time record for the service on September 30.{{Cite web |date=September 23, 2024 |title=Ironmouse passes Kai Cenat & Jynxzi to become most subbed Twitch streamer |url=https://www.dexerto.com/twitch/ironmouse-passes-kai-cenat-jynxzi-to-become-most-subbed-twitch-streamer-2908259/ |access-date=September 24, 2024 |website=Dexerto |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=TwitchCon Attendees Have Declared Who The Biggest Streamer Is Right Now |url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/a/levi-winslow/twitchcon-ironmouse-ishowspeed-kai-cenat-caseoh-pokimane-ray-biggest-streamer-right-now |date=September 25, 2024 |access-date=September 25, 2024 |website=Complex.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=2024-09-30 |title=Ironmouse is now the most subscribed-to channel on Twitch ever |url=https://www.polygon.com/twitch/458345/ironmouse-breaks-subs-record-twitch-subathon |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}} Her record lasted until November 2024, when it was broken by Cenat.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-12 |title=Kai Cenat Mafiathon 2 explained: Everything you need to know, guests and updates |url=https://www.dexerto.com/twitch/kai-cenat-mafiathon-2-explained-everything-you-need-to-know-2971955/#h-mafiathon-2-updates-and-guests |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Dexerto |language=en}} In December 2024, Ironmouse once again won the Streamer Award for Best VTuber, and was also nominated for Best Marathon Stream and the Sapphire Award.{{Cite magazine |last=DeSena |first=Gabby |date=December 8, 2024 |title=Recap: All 2024 Streamer Awards Winners |url=https://www.si.com/esports/news/all-2024-streamer-awards-winners |access-date=December 8, 2024 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2024-11-12 |title=The 2024 Streamer Awards: All Nominations |url=https://www.si.com/esports/news/2024-streamer-awards-nominations |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Esports Illustrated On SI |language=en-US}} An annual report from StreamsCharts showed that Ironmouse was the most-watched female streamer on Twitch in 2024.{{Cite web |last=Dempsey |first=Iarfhlaith |date=February 6, 2024 |title=Most Popular Female Streamers in 2024 |url=https://streamscharts.com/news/top-female-streamers-2024 |access-date=Feb 4, 2025 |website=StreamsCharts |language=en-us}}

From early in her career Ironmouse has been keen on educating more people on CVID and PI. In an interview with plasma-hero she said, "At the time, I think I was so worried I didn't realize how talking about it could raise awareness; I don't make my illness the main focus of my content, but I do speak about it from time to time for education and awareness and to explain why I may not be feeling my best at times". On August 4, 2021, she held a charity event for Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF) and raised over $100,000. This caused many creators like CDawgVA to follow in her footsteps and raise more money for the charity, In an interview with the Immune Deficiency Foundation, CDawgVA stated "I find that often it’s the people that we really care about who… force us to learn about stuff we’ve been ignorant about or that we’ve allowed to be ignorant about because we haven’t had to deal or be exposed to any of the ideas.", acknowledging her role in educating him about PI and the Immune Deficiency Foundation.{{Cite web |date=July 11, 2024 |title=Foundation honors PI community supporters at 2024 conference |url=https://primaryimmune.org/resources/news-articles/foundation-honors-pi-community-supporters-2024-conference |website=Immune Deficiency Foundation}} She also did a 30-day subathon in June 2023 and a 39-day subathon in September 2024, where she donated half of all the subscription income to the Immune Deficiency Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Amos |first=Andrew |date=September 6, 2023 |title=How Ironmouse and CDawgVA's special bond came to be |url=https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/ironmouse-connor-special-bond-feature-2280586/ |website=dexerto.com}}{{Cite web |last=Diaz |first=Ana |date=October 1, 2024 |title=Ironmouse is now the most subscribed-to channel on Twitch ever |url=https://www.polygon.com/twitch/458345/ironmouse-breaks-subs-record-twitch-subathon |website=Ploygon}}{{Cite web |last=Cruz |first=Christopher |date=October 10, 2024 |title=Ironmouse Is Twitch's Top Streamer, But She Doesn't Know Why You're Watching |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming/ironmouse-twitch-vtuber-most-subscribed-of-all-time-1235129114/ |website=RollingStones}}

Ironmouse also has raised a significant amount of awareness for donations and the importance of plasma. She stated in an interview with plasma-hero, "I know so many people encourage blood donation, and I want to make sure I can reach as many people as I can to tell people about living with a PI and donating plasma. I want more people to know that we are here and we need support, but I also want people to know that they are not alone." She used her platform to encourage more people to donate plasma and her efforts were well received as more people started to donate plasma, as she quoted in an interview with Dexerto, "It's really nice to be able to see so many people tweet at me every time I donate plasma, which is something I never saw before, It's just really nice to see the reception that everyone has given me, and the fact that people wanna know more about it, and people wanna donate plasma, and people wanna help out because it's a rare disease, and not a lot of people know about it." Her efforts for raising awareness were also well recognized by the Immune Deficiency Foundation (IDF), which earned her the "Plasma Hero Award" at the 2024 PI Conference. She is also artistically involved in raising awareness. On June 12, 2024, Ironmouse released her single "Carry On," which was the ending song for the "Compromised: Life Without Immunity” documentary by the Immune Deficiency Foundation.{{Cite web |last=Lada |first=Jenni |date=June 12, 2024 |title=New Ironmouse Song Appears in Immune Deficiency Foundation Documentary |url=https://www.siliconera.com/new-ironmouse-song-appears-in-immune-deficiency-foundation-documentary/ |website=Siliconera}}

;Video games

• Internet celebrity
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{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Twitter|Ironmouse}}
• [https://www.ironmousemodelindex.com/ Ironmouse Model Index]

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