emoji

Hi hopperock,

Thanks for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. I understand you'd like to remove emoji suggestions when using Messages on your iPhone. I can understand why you'd reach out for more information about this; I'm happy to help. What you're describing sounds like Predictive emoji, which is linked to Predictive text; you can disable this feature with these steps:

"Use Predictive emoji

With Predictive text, you can write and complete entire sentences with just a tap. As you type, you see choices for words and phrases you might type next, based on your past conversations and writing style. You also see suggestions for emoji you may want to use. To use a Predictive emoji, write your message and look for the suggested emoji in the predictive input field, then tap it to replace the word or add an emoji. 

To turn off Predictive text, touch and hold  or , tap Keyboard Settings, then turn off Predictive."

Use emoji on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

If you'd like to remove the emoji keyboard entirely, you can do so with these steps: About the keyboards settings on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Best Regards.