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{{trope|wppage=Anthropomorphism}}
{{needs a grammar pass}}
{{quote|''"You are utterly the stupidest, most self-centered, appallingest excuse for an [[Department of Redundancy Department|anthropomorphic personification]] in this or any other plane!"''
|'''Death''' berating '''Dream'''|''[[The Sandman]]''}}
{{quote|''"[[He Who Fights Monsters]] should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you."''
|Friedrich Nietzsche}}
* Good - May be one of either the [[Dungeon Master]], often kept off-stage; a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] who is [[Sealed Good in a Can]]; or sometimes a [[God of Good]].
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* Life/Nature - [[Mother Nature]]
* Time - Father Time
* Love - Cupid. Usually benevolent, but sometimes in a [[Stupid Good]] way.
* Justice - Woman in a toga, holding a sword and a balance, and a blindfold (because "Justice is Blind") Usually benevolvent.
* Peace - Always a beautiful, angelic woman (as it is something most desire) always benevolent.
* Politics - [[Uncle Sam]] for America, a bear for Russia, donkey for Democrats, Elephant for Republicans, often [[Funny Animal]] types wearing suits. (Except - usually - Sam, though he can sometimes be an eagle version.) Whether they are benevolent or malevolent is almost always [[Depending on the Writer]].
Good
Other less fundamental concepts can have an Anthropomorphic Personification, such as fear and panic, as can [[Nations as People|nations]] and [[Genius Loci|geographical features]].
This trope is [[Older Than Dirt]], and maybe even as old as religion itself.
Expect mortals in these settings to be [[Pals with Jesus]] or [[Enemies with Death]]. Killing or [[Tailor-Made Prison|imprisoning]] one of these concepts to discover [[The Problem with Fighting Death]], it's not a good idea to mess with the beings embodying the [[Magical Underpinnings of Reality]]. Sometimes [[You Kill It, You Bought It|if you kill one of these entities you end up replacing them]].
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* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrTPrp-fW8 Chiffon Margarine commercials] from the late [[The Sixties|sixties]] and early [[The Seventies|seventies]] featured Mother Nature being fooled into thinking Chiffon was butter after tasting it. "It's not nice to fool... '''''Mother Nature!'''''".
* In one Halls cough drop ad, the personification of Winter - an old man, gets tackled by the personification of the cough drop - a football player.
* Kool-Aid Man has, in the past, acted as the AP of refreshment—arguably, anyway—when in order to give him some justification for all his property damage, the advertising introduced what was unmistakably the AP of thirst: [
* Allstate gives us [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9eqj7xRzk0&feature=relmfu the anthropomorphic personification of mayhem.]
== Anime and Manga ==
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*** [[Hot-Blooded|Yammy Llargo:]] Rage/Wrath
* ''[[Binchou Tan]]'' is about a group of Anthropomorphic Personifications of various natural substances and phenomena, all of whom appear as cute Japanese children.
* In the ''[[
* The manga ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' had personifications of the [[Seven Deadly Sins]] whose names reflected on their appearances, personalities and powers. Lust took the form of a sexy woman, Gluttony could eat anything, Greed wanted to have everything he could, etc.
** Interestingly, it's later revealed that they are quite literally the "sins" of {{spoiler|Father}} given form. Which explains why he refers to them as "my avarice" or "my wrath", etc.
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*** Shinigami {{spoiler|and Death The Kid are personifications of Order, not death, though in Kid's case it manifests as an OCD towards symmetry.}}
* In [[Stan Lee]] and Hiroyuki Takei's ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]'' the titular 100 Karakuridouji robots were created to see which force was greater - good or evil. As such, there is a team of Evil Doji based on the [[Seven Deadly Sins]], and a team of Good Doji based on Buddhism's Six Perfections. The leaders personify good and evil - [[Character Title|Ultimo]] and Vice.
* In ''[[Now and Then, Here and There]]'', a popular fan theory (partially backed up by [[Word of God]]) is that {{spoiler|Lala Ru is the personification of water, or even Earth itself.}}
* The anime ''[[Sentou Yousei Yukikaze]]'' has a spin-off in which the various fighter aircraft in the story are represented by cute girls.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh GX]]'' has Darkness...the personification of well, Darkness.
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*** {{spoiler|[[Tsukihime|Arcrueid Brunestud]]}} is also ARCHETYPE-EARTH, basically the living embodiment of [[Mother Nature|Gaea]].
== Comic Books ==
== Comics ==▼
* The [[Marvel Universe]] has ''loads'' of these. Lord Chaos, Master Order, Eternity, Infinity, Oblivion, Anomaly, Despair... They even have Anthropomorpho, of the "dimension of forms", where they pick up physical forms to manifest themselves within the regular universe, making him the living embodiment of ''living embodiments''.
** Galactus has been shown to be similar -- the giant humanoid Earthlings perceive him as is not his true form.
* [[The DCU]] has them too, the most famous being [[Neil Gaiman]]'s "[[The Sandman|The Endless]]"; Destiny, Death, Dream, Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium. Note that this version of Death is ''not'' [[The Grim Reaper]], being instead a cute, [[Perky Goth]] girl who appreciates the value of life as far as her calling permits (''Dream'' is the grim, brooding one...). At one point, when Dream is being particularly emo, Death shouts the page quote at him.
** There's also the Black Flash, anthropomorphic personification of death for speedsters (or maybe of the Speed Force), who takes the form of a zombie-looking guy in a black Flash costume.
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** One non-Sandman comic tried to [[Retcon]] the existence of multiple personifications of Death by claiming Death of the Endless was "the peaceful death that comes to the righteous", and distinct from hostile, threatening forms of Death like the Black Racer. [[Neil Gaiman]] was extremely offended by this and responded directly by having his Death give a speech in a comic explicitly declaring that she represented the death of all living things, everywhere, without exception, and that she would eventually bring about the end of the universe itself.
*** Given the existence of Black Flash and Black Racer, this means that either she's been hiring subcontractors or she likes [[Cosplay]] and has a couple of less nice alternate personae.
*** Actually, it is repeatedly shown that the Endless appear
** Along these lines, [[Neil Gaiman|Gaiman]]'s Endless have explicitly been permitted to alter their personalities over time in order to match different aspects of the concept they embody. [[Neil Gaiman|Gaiman]]'s Death really ''was'' once a cruel, callous Grim Reaper figure - still a beautiful girl in appearance - who reveled in the fear and revulsion living beings had for her, though this immature period of her life took place eons ago, in prehistoric times.
*** One of the realizations from this comic is that Death is shown to have a more flexible personality than her younger brother, Dream, who (at the conclusion of the Sandman series) was shown to be incapable of accepting change. One can infer that this older version of Death became more life-affirming at some point after she was made to take mortal form once every century (as seen in the spin-off series, Death: The High Cost of Living).
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** Actually, the 'Century Babies' have been reincarnated every 100 years only recently, and would change more often before, to suit the change in times. [[Fridge Logic|Though, given that society has changed more in the last 100 years than other time periods of 1000 years...]]
* In one ''Ampney Crucis Investigates'' story, a group of contaminated souls ripped out of the afterlife attempt to create a physical embodiment of war.
* Newspaper cartoonists sometimes represent the new year as a newborn baby (and sometimes the old year as an old man) when producing cartoons to mark the turn of a new year.▼
* In previous decades, national personifications were often used in political cartoons, with their interactions giving a summary of the artist's opinion or interpretation of then-recent international occurrences - for instance, [[wikipedia:File:Germany GB France.gif|this cartoon]] portraying Germany's reaction to the formation of the Franco-British alliance. Most political cartoons these days, however, opt to depict national leaders instead, though political parties still find themselves personified, at least in the US.▼
* Carrying on from the above, [[DC Comics]] has an Anthropomorphic Personification [[Captain Patriotic]], Uncle Sam, the Spirit of America. According to his backstory, Uncle Sam has previously been known as Minuteman during [[The American Revolution]], then became Brother Jonathan between then and [[The American Civil War]], was split into Billy Yank and Johnny Reb during that war, and became Uncle Sam afterwards. [[Dork Age|He was also briefly the space-helmeted Patriot, but we don't talk about that]]. Interestingly, the reason America has an Anthropomorphic Personification but most other countries don't is actually explained- he isn't a natural phenomenon, but, rather, the Founding Fathers specifically created him with a magic ritual to help with the Revolutionary War.▼
* Also in DC Comics, Kismet [[I Have Many Names|aka Ahti aka Sharon Vance aka Strange Visitor]] is the personification of the entire universe, similar to Marvel's version: Eternity. In fact, in ''[[JLA-Avengers]]'', the two ''fell in love''.
* The final arc of Grant Morrison's run on ''[[Doom Patrol]]'' dealt with the Candlemaker, at first thought to be one of Dorothy Spinner's more sinister [[Imaginary Friend|imaginary friends]]. Turns out he's actually the personification of mankind's fears of nuclear holocaust. Yeah. Shit got real.
== Fairy Tales ==
* In ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20130528063426/http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/crane/storycatherine.html Catherine and Her Fate]'', Catherine is asked whether she wants to be miserable in youth and happy in old age or the other way round by a woman who is her Fate. [[Fallen Princess|Whereupon her fate gives it to her.]] Finally, however, her Fate gives her a [[MacGuffin]], [[Rags to Royalty|which wins her a king in marriage]].
== Fan
* In ''[[The Captain of the Virtual Console]]'', The Thoughtless are this to [[Moral Guardians]] and ignorant gamers, and Selene is this to gamers' hopes and dreams. In Chapter 2, Gancena briefly sees a Thoughtless take the form of [[
* ''[[Queen of All Oni]]'' has the glimpses [[Ghost in the Machine|inside Jade's mind]], and the Aspects (representations of different parts of her psyche) that inhabit it. The two most prominent are Hero (Jade's inherent good) and The Queen (her [[Super-Powered Evil Side]]), although at least a dozen more have shown up or been mentioned.
* A newspaper reporter quotes the ''[[Lord of Light]]'' example in the Literature section below and applies it to the [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Senshi]] in ''[[Drunkard's Walk|Drunkard's Walk S: Heart of Steel]]'':
{{quote|A Western writer once said in one of his books, "Godhood is more than a name. It is a condition of being.... Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing your name spoken.... One rules through one's ruling passion. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, 'He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction.'"
So it is with the Sailor Senshi; one cannot be in their presence and ever hope to deny it. Sailor Mars ''is'' Fire, burning passion and intensity. Sailor Venus is shining Light. Sailor Mercury is Water in all its forms. Sailor Jupiter is the Storm and the Lightning. Sailor Uranus is the power of Heaven brought to Earth. Sailor Neptune is the inexorable force of the Sea.
And Sailor Moon -- Sailor Moon is Love.}}
* In 2014, ''[[Undocumented Features]]'' acquired a [[Show Within a Show]] called ''Fly Girls!'', an entire anime/manga series being created out of wholecloth by the members of the [[Eyrie Productions, Unlimited]] forums in a [http://www.eyrie-productions.com/Forum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=143&forum=DCForumID19&viewmode=all strange, interactive semi-roleplay manner.] Inspired by a dream he had, Gryphon described it as
{{quote|"''[[Upotte!!]]'' with airplanes". The cast appeared to consist mainly of personified World War II fighter aircraft (with character traits inspired by quirks of the aircraft, in the style of the gun girls of ''[[Upotte!!]]''), who attend various rival high schools and do aerial battle (at the controls of, erm, "themselves", ''[[Arpeggio of Blue Steel|Arpeggio]]''-like) for interscholastic prestige (à la ''[[Girls und Panzer]]'').}}
:Posters on the EPU forum began creating the "canon" for ''Fly Girls!'' by spontaneously discussing their "memories" of their favorite episodes, characters and moments in the show and/or manga (and movies, and OVAs), which are slowly being accumulated into a [http://www.eyrie-productions.com/Forum-docs/DCForumID19/144.html single comprehensive document].
== Film ==
* ''[[The Nightmare Before Christmas]]'' features Jack Skellington, the Anthropomorphic Personification of Halloween trying to take Christmas from [[Santa Claus]]; several other Personifications make cameo appearances. The villain is Oogie-Boogie, the personification of a holiday that everyone but him has completely forgotten about (apparently bug-themed) according to the [[Expanded Universe]].
* Death in ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'' is one of the endless examples in which it takes human form.
** Actually, he takes the appearance of a man who recently died. We never see what Death actually looks like.
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* In ''[[Tron]]'', there are anthropomorphized programs that live in [[Cyberspace]]. Their faces usually look like the users that created them.
* The title character of ''[[Hesher]]'' (played by [[Joseph Gordon-Levitt]]) is implied to be the personification of a son's emotional turmoil following the death of his mother.
* ''[[The Santa Clause (film series)|The Santa Clause]] 2'' and ''[[The Santa Clause (film series)|The Santa Clause]] 3'' featured the Council of Legendary Figures, consisting of Mother Nature, Father Time, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Cupid. Jack Frost joins them in the third movie.
* The 2012 animated film ''[[Rise of the Guardians]]'' has personifications of Winter, Wonder, Hope, Memories, and Dreams (some of whom are holiday figures, and others figures of folklore or childhood myth) teaming up to defeat a personification of Fear and Nightmares.
* It is strongly hinted that Rey - as in, from ''[[The Force Awakens]]'' - is the living embodiment of the Force itself.
== Literature ==
* Ender Wiggin from [[Ender's Game]] is (arguably) this for the human race: empathetic and yet capable of doing terrible things in the name of survival.
* The [[Discworld]] series has plenty of these too, sprinkled in with the regular gods.
*
** ''[[
** [[Press Your Luck|And don't forget]] [[Born Lucky|the]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Lady]].
** In ''[[
** ''Discworld'' largely plays this trope straight—Death ''is'' an Anthropomorphic Personification, born of the theory that 'belief shapes form'; Death isn't a skeleton because of tradition, but because that's what people believe Death looks like.
*** However, in ''Pyramids'', a pharaoh is disappointed that Death doesn't appear as a giant scarab, as per Djelibeibian beliefs. Death wearily explains that he long since gave up trying to match everyone's personal expectations, and settled on the one form that was most common.
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* The Fae Queens in the [[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden books]] are, among other things, the Anthropomorphic Personifications of Summer and Winter. The reader is told that a change in the balance of power between them would affect the world's climate, and on two occasions in the series, [[Spring Is Late|winter becomes longer and more severe]] due to their intercession.
** Demonreach is [[Genius Loci]]. But certain characters have indicated that the island creature might be something more.
* ''[[The Palm
* In ''[[Lord of Light]]'' by [[Roger Zelazny]], ''becoming'' an anthropomorphic personification is how one becomes a god:
{{quote|Godhood is more than a name. It is a condition of being.... Being a god is the quality of being able to be yourself to such an extent that your passions correspond with the forces of the universe, so that those who look upon you know this without hearing your name spoken.... One rules through one's ruling passion. Those who look upon gods then say, without even knowing their names, "He is Fire. She is Dance. He is Destruction. She is Love."}}
* One illustration of ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]'' portrays the crew with two goddesses, one of them a tall, beautiful woman and the other an elderly, homely woman. These are supposed to represent Hope and Care, respectively.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Fourth Doctor dealt with the White Guardian, Anthropomorphic Personification of order, and the Black Guardian, Anthropomorphic Personification of chaos. Seemingly, the White Guardian functioned as the [[Dungeon Master]], guiding the Doctor and his companions on a quest to get the Key to Time, while the Black Guardian tried to trick and corrupt them. However at the end the Doctor realized the Black Guardian had been impersonating the White Guardian all along.
* An embodiment of Death appeared in the ''[[Torchwood]]'' episode "Dead Man Walking".
* ''[[Dead Like Me]]'' is about a [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] of [[The Grim Reaper|Grim Reapers]].
* Even [[Professional Wrestling]] has had a couple of examples: [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] wrestler [[The Undertaker]] is made out to be an Anthropomorphic Personification of death, though how much of this is actual supernatural power and how much of this is simply theatrics and mind games tends to vary with the tone WWE is taking at that time. A more bizarre example is Goldust, who, when he first debuted, was portrayed as a strange sort of Anthropomorphic Personification of movies. Then they decided to turn him into [[Gorgeous George|just a creepy, possibly-gay dude who liked to quote movies and run around in gold facepaint.]]
* We do not talk about the [[Coupling|Melty Man]].
* In ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'', the Four Horsemen (in addition to their rather unpleasant traditional duties) happen to wear the keys to Lucifer's prison as jewelry. It's implied that, except for Death (who claims to be possibly older than God himself and says he will eventually reap Him) their power actually resides in the rings, opening up the possibility that their roles might conceivably be passed along to someone else.
** This is confirmed when Death tells Dean that he wants him to take his job for one day, and the only way to do that was to put on his ring. Ostensibly this was to teach Dean a lesson about the natural order of things and why Death ''hates'' the angels and demons who mess around with it on a daily basis (especially [[Bratty Half-Pint]] Lucifer).
* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', The First is basically the very idea of evil itself.
== Music ==
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* The [[Vocaloid]]s are the Anthropomorphic personifications of software. Specifically, each one represents a particular voice synthesis program designed for the use of singing. They take the form of [[Ridiculously Human Robot]] [[Idol Singer]]s.
▲== Newspaper Comics ==
▲* Newspaper cartoonists sometimes represent the new year as a newborn baby (and sometimes the old year as an old man) when producing cartoons to mark the turn of a new year.
▲* In previous decades, national personifications were often used in political cartoons, with their interactions giving a summary of the artist's opinion or interpretation of then-recent international occurrences - for instance, [[wikipedia:File:Germany GB France.gif|this cartoon]] portraying Germany's reaction to the formation of the Franco-British alliance. Most political cartoons these days, however, opt to depict national leaders instead, though political parties still find themselves personified, at least in the US.
▲* Carrying on from the above, [[DC Comics]] has an Anthropomorphic Personification [[Captain Patriotic]], Uncle Sam, the Spirit of America. According to his backstory, Uncle Sam has previously been known as Minuteman during [[The American Revolution]], then became Brother Jonathan between then and [[The American Civil War]], was split into Billy Yank and Johnny Reb during that war, and became Uncle Sam afterwards. [[Dork Age|He was also briefly the space-helmeted Patriot, but we don't talk about that]]. Interestingly, the reason America has an Anthropomorphic Personification but most other countries don't is actually explained- he isn't a natural phenomenon, but, rather, the Founding Fathers specifically created him with a magic ritual to help with the Revolutionary War.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], [[Myth and Legend]] ==
== Radio ==▼
* A [[Big Finish Doctor Who]] audio revealed the Master as Death's Champion.▼
* [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse]] in the [[The Bible|Book of Revelations]] are often treated this way. If a series has a Death, the rest will probably show up in at least one episode.
* [[Japanese Mythology]] is utterly ''ripe'' with these, along with a number of other Asian cultures.
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* Also, [[Hindu Mythology]] is ripe with several minor deities that represent concepts, Agni for Fire, Pawan for air. Probably, these were the first deities that the Hindus prayed to, and their myths got merged with other Gods as they emerged. Agni is particular holds a special status because of the use of fire in sacrifices. Agni is considered to be responsible for bringing sacrifices from the physical plane to the astral plane, and hence is invoked many times in rituals.
* [[Roman Mythology]] has the goddess Roma, who's the personification of Rome itself, later on embodying the Roman state as a whole.
* [[Norse Mythology]]: Thor is thunder personified. Lightning striking the ground is Thor throwing his hammer. Similarly, Logi is the personification of fire, and has an enormous appetite because fire consumes everything it touches. Likewise, Aegir, the sea-god, is the son of Frosti, an ice giant and frost personification, and the father of Snær, a personification of snow.
==
▲* A [[Big Finish Doctor Who]] audio revealed the Master as Death's Champion.
* [http://www.guardianproject30.com/bios.php The Guardian Project]: Thirty [[Superhero]] personifications of [[NHL]] teams.▼
== Tabletop Games ==
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** ''[[Changeling: The Lost]]'' has it that [[The Fair Folk]] gained power by managing to make [[Magically-Binding Contract|Contracts]] with concepts such as dreams, beasts, stone, death, and the edge of a blade (how these are different from spirits is never really explained, but it's likely a matter of the crazy-ass fae mindset). The founders of the changeling Great Courts—Mother Susan, Sam Noblood, Clay Ariel, and Snowflake John—managed to use this to their advantage by making various deals with the seasons for protection from the Gentry.
** The Umbra of the [[Old World of Darkness]] was inhabited almost entirely by spirits of things or concepts, from huge, powerful ones like Luna (Anthropomorphic Personification of the moon and everything that goes with) through weaker but still impressive types like Stag (Anthropomorphic Personification of deers, obviously, but also mythically connected concepts like male virility, the hunt etc) down to fairly pathetic ones like the Anthropomorphic Personification of that pebble over there.
* ''[[Dungeons
* [[D20 Modern]] features a class of enemy known as "Platonics", creatures of Shadow who are the embodiment of an allegiance or ideal. They typically work behind the scenes, promoting their causes without making their natures known. A platonic of Healing would work as a cancer researcher, for instance. But if you manage to get a Platonic angry... Well, you're going to have some trouble...
* Many of the Nightmares from ''[[Don't Rest Your Head]]'' are Anthropomorphic Personifications of [[The Heartless|the worst sort]], embodying concepts ranging from unfeeling bureaucracy, to hatred, to sleazy journalism. The fact that they're mostly [[Body Horror|humans transformed by severe insanity]] only makes it worse.
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* The [[Our Titans Are Different|Titans]] in [[Scion]] would fit in this trope, being Light, Darkness, Water, Fire. etc.
* In [[Unknown Armies]], each member of the Invisible Clergy is one of these, personifying a sometimes simple, sometimes complex idea of what a human being can be. The very concepts of things like [[The Fool]], [[The Hecate Sisters|The Mother]] and [[The Trickster]] (among others) are represented by ascended mortals in the Clergy. Really abstract conceptions of non-human things (Good/Evil, Elements, Animals, Geographical Things, etc.) do not have similar representation. It's a very [[Humans Are Special|human-centric]] cosmos.
== Toys ==
* Even ''[[Transformers]]'', of all things, has these, though mostly in the comic continuities. The most noteworthy is Vector Prime, one of the thirteen original Transformers and the legendary guardian of Space and Time, whose job it is to keep the timestream flowing, resolve temporal paradoxes, and suchlike. He fares rather worse in a fight than most anthropomorphic personifications. Another of the original thirteen, The Fallen, is entropy personified. His true name was taken away from him after he betrayed their creator, Primus, to side with his enemy, Unicron, leaving him known only as "The Fallen". Unlike Vector Prime, the Fallen is portrayed as exceedingly powerful.
* ''[[Milky Way and The Galaxy Girls]]'' is based on humanized versions of the solar system.
== Video Games ==
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*** A better example would be Zeromus, from ''[[Final Fantasy IV|FFIV]]''. He's the incarnation of hate given form after the man behind the curtain dies.
**** Also, Necron, the [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]] from ''[[Final Fantasy IX|FFIX]]'', is revealed in the Ultimania to be the personification of death.
* Many examples in ''[[
** The Queen of Snow and Queen of Sunrise are personifications of winter and spring respectively. The former once tried to [[Spring Is Late|make the world stay in winter]] because she cannot comprehend the beauty of spring.
** Death is, well, the personification of death.
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* ''[[Moe Moe Niji Taisen]]'' features the moetan versions of [[World War Two]] tanks and planes as cute girls who invoke [[Defeat by Modesty]] via [[Clothing Damage]].
* In ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' and its sequel ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Radiant Dawn]]'' the society worships a goddess named Ashera and is in fear of an evil goddess sealed in the titular emblem. As it turns out, Ashera is the embodiment of Order, while the sealed goddess, Yune, is not evil, but the embodiment of Chaos. Neither is intrinsically good or evil, they are, after all, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Order and Chaos]]. In the past, heroes fought with Ashera against Yune, because she was trying to spread chaos, but in the present, its reversed, Yune assists the heroes in stopping Ashera, who wants to freeze the world into perfect stillness, order.
* In ''[[
** One of Giygas' titles is "The Literal Definition of Fear".
* Due to its extensive [[Rule of Symbolism]], ''[[Silent Hill]]'' was bound to cover this trope. Perhaps the most potent examples are [[Silent Hill 2|Pyramid Head]], who represents frustrated sexual urges, and [[Silent Hill 3|Valtiel]], who represents a woman's primal fear of an obsessive [[Stalker with a Crush|stalker]].
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* Let's not forget Scythe from the ''[[Fable (video game series)|Fable]]'' series, a personification of Will (the raw form of magic) and ai to Theresa for some odd reason.
* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (video game)|Knights of the Old Republic]] II'', Darth Nihilus is a [[Humanoid Abomination]] that personifies Hunger. He feeds on the life force of those he faces, and his entire goal is to [[Omnicidal Maniac|devour all life in the universe]] to satiate his endless hunger.
* {{spoiler|Angra Mainyu}} from ''[[Fate/stay night
* It is revealed in the ''[[Darksiders]]'' series that War and his horsemen brothers Death, Strife, and Fury, aside from being the harbingers of the apocalypse, once belonged to a race of beings that were APs of their names.
* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'', {{spoiler|Black Battler and Eva-Beatrice}} are those to the ''theories'' about their respective characters being the culprits.
* Parsee from ''[[Touhou Project]]'' has essentially [[Abstract Apotheosis|become]] the Anthropomorphic Personification of [[Green-Eyed Monster|jealousy]].
* ''[[Kantai Collection]]'', also known as ''Kancolle'' features various [[World War II]] ships, especially those of the Imperial Japanese Navy, as anthropomorphic girls.
** ''Kancolle'' in turn has generated a whole genre of games cloning its mechanics featuring anthropomorphic representations of weapons of some sort. Two of the more popular are ''Tōken Ranbu'', which feature historical Japanese swords as [[Bishonen|attractive young men]], and ''Girls' Frontier'', a Chinese game that star the personifications of firearms and guns as attractive women.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[A Moment of Peace]]'': There are gods personifying [https://web.archive.org/web/20131101214239/http://www.amomentofpeace.net/comic.php?num=85 in-between places], [https://web.archive.org/web/20131101231327/http://www.amomentofpeace.net/comic.php?num=88 trust and betrayal], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20131102004149/http://www.amomentofpeace.net/comic.php?num=86 stories].
* ''[[Dominic Deegan|Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire]]'': The "Storm of Souls" arc centers around a match between two champions who become the personifications of Chaos and Balance.
* The "Holiday Wars" arc of ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' is about Bun-Bun murdering his way through a long list of Anthropomorphic Personifications of various holidays - starting with Easter and Groundhog Day, working his way up through Halloween and Thanksgiving, before facing off against his archnemesis, Christmas (in the form of [[Santa Claus]], of course).
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131023144450/http://www.sincomics.com/index.php?357 The Sins]'' is a [[Web Comic]] following the antics of the personification of the [[Seven Deadly Sins]]. Vices and Virtues also feature occasionally.
* ''[http://www.sacredpie.com Sacred Pie]'' features the personifications of Order and Chaos. Order wears white and Chaos wears black, but don't let the colors fool you; neither of them are what you might call "good".
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170802124754/http://www.revenant-braves.schala.net/ Circumstances of the Revenant Braves]'' has evil spirits called "vices" that are essentially personifications of various kinds of negative personality traits, such as apathy or deception.
* ''[http://indepos.comicgenesis.com/ Indefensible Positions]'' features Robert E. Lee as the avatar of Chaos and Ulysses S. Grant as Order, the existence of other avatars is speculated on but never confirmed. {{spoiler|However Lee suggested that Debbie may be a minor avatar of bliss}}
* ''[[Jack (webcomic)|Jack]]'' uses anthropomorphic personifications of the [[Seven Deadly Sins]] (including the titular character, who is not only [[The Grim Reaper]], but the personification of the sin of Wrath), based on what the characters did while they were alive. Being a [[Furry Comic]], in this case they not only can they be "confused with [[Funny Animal]]s", they ''are'' [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Funny Animals]].
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* ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'' is a webcomic about the Scandinavian and Nordic lands(Not necessarily the countries, as certain islands are considered cast members despite never being independent nations) As well as their interactions with other countries.
* ''[[A Beginner's Guide to the End of the Universe]]'' personifies humanity as—who else? -- [[The Everyman]].
* ''[[Questionable Content]]'' has [https://web.archive.org/web/20131003205050/http://jephjacques.com/post/8333786306/happy-birthday-qc one that Jeph drew for the 8th anniversary]
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', every universe is {{spoiler|a giant frog that the Dersite agents call Bilius Slick.}} {{spoiler|And the [[Big Bad]] Jack Noir is the physical manifestation of the cancer that's plauging the kids' universe.}}
* ''[[Taylor's Polynomials|Taylors Polynomials]]'' personifies mathematical equations, including polynomial and trigonometric functions.
== Web Original ==
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* [http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s229/Aangfish/Fanb0ys/for%20Image%20Threads/Internetpersonified.jpg?t=1256528465 This picture] personifies a number of popular sites on the internet: [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Myspace]], [[That Other Wiki]], [[Deviant ART]], [[YouTube]], [[Google]], and [[The Imageboard That Must Not Be Named]]. Pretty spot on, all told.
** Speaking of [[The Imageboard That Must Not Be Named]], many of its individual boards have their own personifications. [http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8008/1276184072778.png /an/], [http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/831/1276184440270.jpg /k/] and [http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/8823/1276184800807.jpg /x/], for instance.
** Even ''[[Reddit]]'' came to have its own in the form of [http://i.imgur.com/DiLhGAS.png Gilda Mars], as a partial response to Vivian James below. This may be too late, but at least she doesn't resemble one of the ''[[Teletubbies]]'', unlike the Reddit icon.
* In the [[Dominion and Duchy]] setting, there seem to be twelve Elemental Manifestations, covering things like Light, Darkness, Twilight, Order, Chaos, Neutrality and Balance and several others.
* ''[[New York Magician]]'': From the {{spoiler|god of the Nile}} to Michel himself (sort of), there are quite a few of these.
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* {{spoiler|The Internet}}, who takes on the form of author Gladstone (the only other person in the room and also a very [[Unreliable Narrator]]) in the serialized novel ''[http://www.cracked.com/blog/if-internet-suddenly-disappeared-how-wed-get-laid/ If The Internet Disappeared]'' on ''[[Cracked.com]]''.
* The Lady of Angels from [[Behind the Veil]], representing the city of Los Angeles and manifesting as a woman with constantly changing features.
* ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' picture booru, [
* One of the more peculiar consequence of [[Gamergate]] has been the emergence of these among gamers and others invested in GG.
** This one is known outside the relevant fandom. Some particularly "safe space"-y cons even banned '[https://web.archive.org/web/20160310094607/http://dashcon--2015.tumblr.com/post/120153572051/rules-and-regulations-how-to-have-a-safe all “vivian James” cosplay, no matter how subtle]'. How one can reliably tell "subtle" Vivian James cosplay from [[Ben 10|Gwendolyn Tennyson]] cosplay, [[Scooby-Doo (animation)|Daphne Ann Blake]] cosplay or a natural redhead in sweater without growing a pair of large, sensitive political antennae or [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail|measuring body density]] remains a mystery so far.
* Also from [[The Imageboard That Must Not Be Named]] are personifications of various religious groups and organizations. Among the most (in)famous being Ebola-chan, [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/isis-chan ISIS-chan] (who represents ISIS and Islamic terrorism in general) and [http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/christ-chan Christ-chan] (personifying Christianity in general and a modern version of Ecclesia below).
== Western Animation ==
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** And Technus for technology, Skulker for the hunt, and the Box Ghost for... boxes.
* The Avatar in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' is the spirit of the planet the series takes place on born into human form. There are other [[Anthropomorphic Personifications]]; most notably, The Ocean Spirit and The Moon Spirit (Sokka's ex-girlfriend).
* Much like ''TRON'', ''[[
* ''[[Star Wars: The Clone Wars]]'': Season three had a three-part arc involving characters known only by their titles, the Father, the Daughter, and the Son, they are the anthropomorphic personification of, respectively; {{spoiler|The balance of the force, the Light side, and the Dark side}}.
* ''[[My Little Pony:
* ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin: the Animated Series]]'' has many of these. Most notable are Mirage as "Evil Incarnate" and a one shot character called [[Trickster|Chaos.]] Chaos also mentions another one:
{{quote|'''Chaos:''' I never liked
== Real Life ==
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* Britannia, the anthropomorphic personification of the peoples of Great Britain, and the once and future British Empire.
* Political cartoons love playing on relationships between national personifications. In early Canada, where political cartoons were the best way to spread propaganda, the personification of the Lady Canada had a [[My Beloved Smother]] in Britain, and [[Abhorrent Admirer]] in America, and a [[Disappeared Dad]] in France, who often played [[Meddling Parents]] with Britain. The provinces were often seen as her bickering children.
▲* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120617195837/http://www.guardianproject30.com/bios.php The Guardian Project]: Thirty [[Superhero]] personifications of [[NHL]] teams.
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