Creepy Cool Crosses: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

At the very least, Christian imagery tends to be visual short-hand for occult overtones if it's intentionally symbolic. Occasionally it's used as simply a fashion choice, much in the way "foreign" symbols are used in other countries.

 

See also [[Crucified Hero Shot]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* The demon-fighting demon symbiotes of ''[[Tokko]]'' all wear crosses.

* In ''[[Princess Resurrection]]'' the vampiress Reiri seems especially associated with crosses; [[I Have the High Ground|standing on them for effect]] or having them in her background.

** This is actually lampshaded by the production team, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they [[Blatant Lies|might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.]]

** Lampshaded in the [[Evangelion Abridged|Abridged Series]]:

'''Gendo''': Oh, don't start start that tired argument again! It was added because the director thought it was shiny, so just move on and continue the operation. }}

** Misa and Mello's respective necklaces (and, in Misa's case, also earrings). Interesting in that while Misa's is generally seen as her being into typically commercialized gothic trends, Mello's is often seen as an indication he is Catholic by fandom. This is probably because Misa's are just random crosses, while Mello is seen at least once with an actual rosary. Not to mention that while Misa is Japanese, Mello is European (what kind is up for debate) and thus more likely to actually have some personal connection to the religion itself. In the anime, the crosses are [[Bowdlerise|omitted]], with Misa's cross replaced with a fleur de lis and all crosses worn by Mello removed - though interestingly, the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series, and she is also depicted wearing it in the anime's first opening.

*** It's also worth noting that, in the scene where he interrogates Soichiro, he's sitting benearth a ''crucifix.'' [[Christianity Is Catholic|All Christianity may be Catholic]] in American and European media, but crucifixes are much less common that regular crosses in Japanese media. The fandom also cites the fact that his real name, {{spoiler|Mihael Keehl}}, appears to be Croatian and German. Both countries have a high percentage of Catholics.

** Death Note Relight features a cross {{spoiler|at L's headstone.}}

* ''[[Hellsing]]'': Alexander Anderson ([[Church Militant|given his profession]]) wears one.

** Ditto most members of AX in ''Trinity Blood'' ([[Church Militant|for the same reason]]).

** While generally East Germans are even less religious than West Germans, the GDR was never able to completely root out Christianity during the 40 years of its existence (and neither did the Soviet Union that lasted almost twice as long). There are still many Christians in eastern Germany and they actually proved to be one of the major forces responsible for the end of Communism (much like the Catholic Church in Poland).

* Isuzu (Rin) and Hatsuharu Sohma from ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' occasionally wear crosses.

** For added symbolism, regarding the team's red crosses on their working clothes: [[Blood Knight|Ken's]] extends around his neck and [[Failure Knight|Youji's]] (the one who paints it on his bare chest every time he gets dressed) is slanted. Aya has a main one on his cravat, which is extended across his entire chest because of the way his [[Badass Longcoat]] is styled, and he has two more on the wrists of his gloves.

* In ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'', crosses are symbols of the Panthalassa race.

* Tooya in ''[[Ayashi no Ceres]]'' wears a choker with a cross on it.

* Hayate's Intelligent Device in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is shaped like a cross (and she's got crosses all over her mage outfit, too) and named accordingly: "Schwertkreuz" means "Sword Cross" in [[Gratuitous German]]. What with being a [[Person of Mass Destruction]] and all... Her [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|quirky miniboss]], [[Cute Bruiser|Vita]], has crosses all over her [[Elegant Gothic Lolita]] costume, which [[Cosplay Otaku Girl|Hayate]] created for her.

** ''[[Nanoha Force]]'' additionally gives us an ancient [[Artifact of Doom]] inconspicuously dubbed "the [[Gratuitous English|Bible of Silver Cross]]". It's nature and origins are yet to be revealed, however.

* Nicholas D. Wolfwood from ''[[Trigun]]'', [[Justified Trope|partially justified]] in that he's supposed to be a [[Church Militant|man of God]]. Naturally, though, research was sacrificed for the sake of the [[Rule of Cool]]... and [[More Dakka]].

* Ikuto and Utau in ''[[Shugo Chara]]''.

* Zange in ''[[Kannagi]]''.

** In Evangeline's case, it's probably just a matter of fashion. She tend to wear the gothic lolita style when not in uniform, and crosses are popular images in that fashion style.

* ''[[Violinist of Hameln]]'': The kingdom and royalty of Sforzendo use crosses as a holy seal. Flute goes one further and pulls out huge, mallet-sized crosses to beat down on the object of her ire. Queen Horn shoots laser beams from hers.

* Choutaro Ohtori from ''[[Prince of Tennis]]'' wears a silver cross, despite not being Christian (he says so in the OAV when asked by Shishido). Subverted since he's not creepy, but quite a [[Gentle Giant]].

* ''[[Soul Eater]]'': Death Scythe wears a cross shaped tie and has crosses on his shirt lapels, and had a similar style as a child. It also reflects his Weapon form, which looks like a cross when the blade isn't present. Also the aptly named Death Room is full of hundreds of grave marker style crosses. Justin the priest wore a cross and had some on his clothing but these vanished as part of a [[Madness Makeover|Madness/Villanous Makeover]] IIRC replaced by the eye symbol of the Bigger Bad.

* In ''[[Gungrave]]'', the protagonist Beyond the Grave has a silver cross motif on the front of his hat, the back of his coat, on the red "kneepads" of his pants, the back of his boots, and ''the soles of his boots''. It's probably mainly because of simply being [[Rule of Cool|cool]].

* Duo Maxwell from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' was raised in a Catholic orphanage, is a devout Christian, even wears priest-like clothes (if you exclude Endless Waltz, that is) and ''lots'' of crosses, he is known as ''Shinigami'', or, in good ol' English, Death God. Can't get more creepy than that.

** Actually, Duo ''isn't'' a devout Christian; he himself states that he doesn't believe in God because he hasn't seen a miracle, but ''has'' seen lots of dead people. (In other words, Duo is more of a [[Hollywood Atheist]].) He wears the crosses and collar as a memento of the priest and nun who cared for him. (Later, in ''Frozen Teardrops'' he appears to be a preacher, but {{spoiler|it's more of a front for his [[Bounty Hunter]] work than anything else.}})

* ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'''s Éclair wears a pair of crosses as earrings. Apparently, they also function as communication devices, and also indicate the status of her nanomist shield.

** What about her gigantic cleavage which has a shape of an upside-down cross?

* ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' - Dr Kazutaka Muraki sure loves those crosses to set a mood, and even gives a monologue at one point during the anime about how Christians in Japan in the past had to hide their faith. There's no indication that Muraki himself is a Christian, though.

* ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. The Devil Bats use a play called the Cris Cross, some translators having put in as "Christ Cross," as it was pictured as the religious cross with the quarterback at the center. The play is simply two runners taking the ball from the quarterback, or faking the play so the quarterback can pass. {{spoiler|Monta and Sena never successfully play it until one of the last plays of the Christmas bowl. It also turns out that that one time was actually a variation of the move called the Evil cross.}}

* Strangely enough, this is completely averted in [[Berserk]], this troper cannot remember even one cross of religious context throughout the series, when you consider that the resident [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]] is based largely on inquisition era Catholicism, and the portrayal of the Kushan religion, this is surprising.

** Allen's left arm, his weapon, has a cross symbol on the back of his hand. When activated into Crown Clown's Sword of Exorcism, a cross like design appears on his surfboard sized sword. Cross Grave is an attack that destroys Akuma all at once, leaving behind white glowing cross symbols.

** Lenalee's newly evolved Dark Boots when deactivated turn into a anklets, and a black cross is tattooed into the sides of her feet.

** Given it's a Krad thing, this raises the question of why Satoshi would [[Enemy Within|ever wear crosses ever]].

* Subverted in the ''[[Sands of Destruction]]'' anime. Funeral crosses are just straight lines going through circles.

** Biagio Busoni has dozens of crosses on his person. His fighting style is to throw them at his opponents, then magically make them enlarge to the size of cars in midair.

 

== Music ==

* Black Sabbath are masters of this trope.

* In ''Märchen'', the Nun is killed when an old woman driven mad by starvation runs her through and pins her to an inverted cross.

 

== Professional Wrestling ==

* During his [[Ministry of Darkness]] days, [[The Undertaker]] had a creepy cool cross. His was more of a T with an X in the middle of it, and no matter how often [[Jim Ross]] tried to sell the thing as a "symbol", it still looked like a cross.

** I think that X was supposed to be more a stylized U (for Under-Taker). But yeah, he had way too much religious symbolism for people to NOT see that as a cross.

 

== Video Games ==

* Seifer Almasy in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' is distinguished by the [[The Knights Templar|Templar]] cross that he wears.

*** Speaking of Croix, his name means "Cross" in French. There's a lot of [[Bilingual Bonus]] in this game if you know a bit of French.

** The White Dragon's Holy Flare attack creates a similarly shaped explosion.

* Large crosses double as boomerang-style throwing weapons in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series of video games. Richter Belmont's [[Limit Break|Item Crash]] for this particular subweapon summons a screen-filling cross, with a carving of Jesus Christ on it, to smash down foes. Also, rosaries (with large crosses on them) will instantly destroy all enemies in the room.

* Despite being a [[Your Vampires Suck|vampire]], Remilia Scarlet of ''[[Touhou Project]]'' likes cross imagery, and uses them in her spellcards. (This doesn't seem to be the only religious imagery that she likes; she's got a spellcard named "Star of David" as well.)

** So does her little sister, though her attack is called "Counter Clock", it definitely involves crosses.

** Yumemi Okazaki, despite being a scientist from another reality and likely not Christian, uses crosses.

** This is actually explained in [[All There in the Manual|backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". Japanese Christians who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. Of course, that doesn't explain the crosses on the school uniforms...

*** The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.

* Brandished upside-down by the Evil Clerics of ''[[The Dungeon Revealed]]''.

* Slayer from ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' makes use of cross motifs, being [[Our Vampires Are Different|a sufficiently different vampire]] and all.

* Skeith from the ''[[.hack]]'' series of games gets a pagan cross as his primary weapon (or a 'red wand' in the English version). When he uses his Data Drain move, the cross teleports behind the victim, giving the impression of a cruxifiction.

* In the free-to-play MMORPG Forsaken World the Kindred race, Vampire class uses a large stylized crucifix as their main weapon, in which it is used as a more conventional staff to help increase their magical power.

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Religion Tropes]]

[[Category:Creepy Cool Crosses]]