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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"If you have to ask what it symbolizes, it didn't."''|'''[[Roger Ebert]]'''}}
There are times when works rely a lot on symbolism, taking note of things that have
Because of this, less experienced creators may try and slip some symbolism into a story, when in reality the event in question has nothing to do with the symbol, in hopes that people will look at it more seriously. That is where this trope comes in: when a creator just decides to throw a historical, religious or random reference into a scene just for the heck of it. Perhaps the creator misinterpreted the message that the symbol stood for, the creator wanted their work to be taken seriously as [[True Art]], or the creator [[Rule of Cool|just wanted the scene to look cool]].
This is especially problematic when in addition to '''faux symbolism''', the author throws in symbolism that ''is'' meaningful and well thought-out. If such a piece of fiction happens to become popular, this usually results in a polarized fanbase where a large amount of people either over-analyze it (try to find a meaning to both the faux symbolism and actually-meaningful-symbolism) or under-analyze it (assume that because some of the symbolism is happens to be pointless, that it's ''all'' pointless.)
Not all such references are arbitrary; this trope specifically applies only when someone has added random symbolism as an afterthought to add [[Mind Screw|(illusory) depth and meaning]] to an otherwise-standard story. Comparing your main character to the [[Satan|Devil]] or [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|Jesus]] seems popular; the latter can be easily done by [[Significant Monogram|giving him the initials "JC."]]
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Contrast [[Rule of Symbolism]], when something ''actually is'' symbolic. It is also not to be confused with a symbolic [[Easter Egg]] hunt where the writer, director and production design team purposefully insert numerous small but meaningful elements, the understanding of which are not necessary to appreciate the plot, theme or character development but create fan discussion and add to rewatch value.
----
'''Tropes often employed for
* [[108]]
* [[As the Good Book Says...]]
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* [[How Do You Like Them Apples?]]
* [[Number of the Beast]]
* [[
* [[Sistine Steal]]
{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* In ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' the power wielded by the protagonist and his opponents is called Branches of Sin. The main enemy is called The Retched (sic) Egg, and it is explained that the serpent in the Garden of Eden was referred to as an egg.
* The religious motifs within ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' are often dismissed as this because of a popular statement from assistant director Kazuya Tsurumaki. However, creator Hideaki Anno has never specifically affirmed or denied that claim. [[Internet Backdraft|Let's leave it at that]].
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': Many of the characters and monsters in the ancient Egyptian Memory World are named after figures from Egyptian mythology (Isis, Set, Osiris, Ra) and have absolutely nothing in common with their namesakes or their stories (though it makes great inspiration for [[Fanfic]] writers and [[Shipping|Shippers]]).
** Noah's duel with Kaiba parallels the creation of Earth in the Bible, taking exactly 7 turns to play out. They start out in a field of lava, and Noah uses various demi-human monsters before using "Giant Flood" to wipe out everything on the field. They move on to a jungle where Noah uses a dinosaur monster, then uses "Deepest Impact" to against destroy everything with a meteor, switching to the ice age where he summons a woolly mammoth. After that he switches to modern times and starts using spaceships outfitted with lasers. When he merges with his deck master "Shinato King of a Higher Plane" Kaiba loses, and Yugi steps in. Noah then uses Spirit monsters associated with the afterlife.
*** No to mention his deck master "Shinato's Ark," onto which all destroyed monsters are sent.
** ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' has three demon monsters and their fusions named for Judeo-Abrahamic angels, and the name of the organization pursuing them are the "Seven Stars" in the original version, a reference to the Book of Revelation.
** During the Pegasus arc, Yugioh has a vision in which he sees the cards that have trapped the souls of his grandfather, Seto Kiba, and Kaiba's little brother. Each flies onto its own huge cross for no obvious reason. 4Kids painted over the crosses.
* For all the [[Contemplate Our Navels|philosophical rambling]] and half-symbolism in ''[[Ghost in the Shell
** The original film has an interesting moment where the enemy-controlled tank shoots the hell out of an evolutionary-tree stone relief in attempt to ventilate Motoko; the last round blows the 'homo sapiens' clean off the wall.
* ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' Part 3 introduced Stands, spiritual entities named after tarot cards. Few of them have anything in common with their namesakes, the author's [[Hand Wave|handwaves]]
** The last one is [[Sliding Scale of Silliness Versus Seriousness|obviously]] because [[Continuity Nod|Tower of Gray was the super-fly Stand]].
* ''[[Death Note]]'' contains several religious allusions. Some notable examples are [[Sistine Steal|Michaelangelo's ''Creation of Adam'' (Ryuk and Light)]] and [[
** There's a ''huge'' number of objects in the series that just "happen" to look like crosses:
*** While L washes Light's feet, it cuts to a shot of a catwalk arranged like a cross.
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*** The "Wammy House" is just ''littered'' with crosses. Well, it was previously a church.
*** Ryuk's notebook holder looks like a cross.
** When Mikami gets his
** Ironically, the use of the apple can be interpreted as an accidental reference to Daniel Quinn's speculation (in The Story of B) as to the nature of the "original sin": the power to decide who lives and who dies, and the decision to use it.
* Most of ''[[Hellsing]]'''s religious symbolism was put there simply because Kouhta Hirano was aiming to make a manga that "[[Rule of Cool|looked cool]]".
** One example is the pentagram Alucard sports. What's
** However, it's a vampire manga, so some of the religious symbolism is plot-relevant on that basis alone.
* In ''[[Haruhi-chan]]'', Haruhi (with Kyon's aid) ties Mikuru to a cross and decorates her with balloons. This is an obvious reference to Haruhi's possible nature as [[Eldritch Abomination|God]], and thus the
** As far a Kyon and Haruhi knew Mikuru was dead before she was tied to the cross ([[Rule of Funny|despite the fact that she was begging them to take her down the entire time]]), so it doesn't involve her being a sacrifice of any sort.
* Mercuremon from ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'' stages a huge [[Church Shootout]] against Takuya, complete with [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] (physical and musical) and a [[Crucified Hero Shot]]. The grand finale even involves ''stuffing him in a coffin''. They are fighting inside Sefirotmon, which is a living cabbalistic figure.
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* ''[[Fafner in the Azure|Fafner in The Azure Dead Aggressor]]'' outdoes its rivals with twice the pointless mythology: meaningless German myth for the heroes (see: Fafner), and vague Egyptian-ness for the villains.
* ''[[Trigun]]'' goes for the [[Subverted Trope|subversion]]; Nicholas D. Wolfwood carries around a cross that's actually a machine gun, rocket launcher, and holster for several handguns. The grip is shaped like a skull. However, his religious beliefs turn out to be very important to the story.
* The third season of ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' (''Sailor Moon S'') features a lot of this trope. "The Messiah" has to use the [[MacGuffin|Holy Grail]] to save the world from evil, but there's nothing particularly religion-related about this evil
** The Holy Grail appears when the three Talismans are brought together. Interestingly, these talismans are a sword, a mirror, and a garnet, which are three sacred objects in the traditional Japanese Shinto religion.
** There's one more level to the whole mess: The Grail (cup) plus the Space Sword, Garnet Rod (staff) and Deep Aqua Mirror (coin) match the 4 [[Tarot Motifs|suits of a Tarot deck]].
* In the [[Downer Ending]] of episode five of ''[[Mnemosyne]]'', [[Big Bad]] Apos rapes {{spoiler|Rin's sidekick Mimi}} while she is chained and nailed to a stone lamp post as [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] and [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] plays in the background. This is only one in at least three incidents of [[Nightmare Fuel]] in the last five minutes before the end credits roll.
* In the manga ''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]'', Mibu Kyoshiro calls himself the son of God and goes around healing
* ''[[Naruto]]'''s [[Big Bad]] Pain manipulates six bodies named after [[wikipedia:Six realms|Buddhism's Six Paths of Rebirth]]: Animal Realm {{spoiler|summons giant animals}}, Demon Realm {{spoiler|is a friggin cyborg armed to the teeth with [[Schizo-Tech]] hidden in his body}}, Hungry Ghost Realm absorbs chakra (the power source for 90% of the attacks in the series), God Realm had all kinds of weird shit with gravity and junk, Hell Realm could summon a monster that could revive the other bodies if they were too damaged plus kill someone if they lied or refuse to answer your question, and Human Realm {{spoiler|reads your mind and can rip out your soul}}.
** It eventually turns out that the statue Akatsuki uses is {{spoiler|something Nagato [[Summon Magic|summoned]] to kill Hanzo and Danzo's men in revenge}} which is called "Gedo Mazo". "Gedo" means "outer path", referencing the term in Buddhism for a false path to enlightenment (as opposed to the inner path, which is the correct one).
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* In ''[[Zone of the Enders]] Dolores, I'', the story of {{spoiler|Radium Lavans}} is highly similar with the story of [[wikipedia:Sekhmet|Sekhmet, Goddes of War and Destruction]] {{spoiler|who get turned into Goddess of Love and Childbirth, Hathor.}} Guess the name of Radium's frame.
* In ''[[GaoGaiGar]]'', the leader of Green Planet was named Cain, while the leader of Red Planet was Abel. Interestingly enough, Abel was apparently ''female''.
* The demise of Colin Mcleod's [[Dead Little Sister|dead love interest]] Moya in the OVA ''[[Highlander
* ''Gundam'' is known for weird names in the UC era, but ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'' takes symbolism to the far end. The Innovators is an example... Ribons Devine Almark Hilling Care Regene Revive Tieria Erde, Bring Anew Stability which when you look at it in one way: Reborn Divine Angel's Healing Care Regenerates and Revives the Green Earth, Bringing Anew Stability. Some of the names of the mecha themselves: [[Our Angels Are Different|Seraphim, Throne, Cherubim, Virtue]], etc.
** It's not exactly widely known, but "Nadleeh" is the Navajo term for [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]. Three guesses as to how Tieria, the pilot of Gundam Nadleeh, looks. For extra symbolism, ''Nadleeh is essentially a [[Samus Is a Girl]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l0K_JC6qX0 moment for Gundam Virtue]'', revealed when Virtue drops off its armor to reveal Nadleeh's [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|slim form and long red hair]] beneath.
* In addition to more explainable symbolism (a stray dog as the main character's self, paired bullet casings for the two killers, puppet strings, masks), the first couple episodes of [[Phantom of Inferno|Phantom~Requiem for the Phantom]] has random crosses or shadows in the shapes of crosses cropping up around the two young assassins, Ein and Zwei.
* ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' teeters back and forth on the "significant/insignificant" line. The series ''is'' about [[Naughty Nuns|a nun]] that [[Church Militant|hunts demons]], so a lot of the religious symbolism is justified. But some moments push it, ''particularly'' in the anime. For example, after Chrono is badly injured in a battle and caught up in an explosion, Father Remington finds him buried in rubble marked by two steel beams welded together in the shape of a cross.
* ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]''. Period. It's practically an
* The main characters of ''[[Haibane Renmei]]'' are humans with grey wings and golden halos. [[Word of God]] states that this is not supposed to be symbolic, but was instead chosen because [[Rule of Cool|it looked nice]]. It's hard to agree with that though, since the entire story seems to be {{spoiler|a metaphor for Purgatory}}.
** It's perhaps worth noting that the entire series first originated from a gag doujinshi which revolved around the practical problems that cute [[Moe]] girls could get from having halos and wings, like being unable to put on a bra, or getting the halo stuck between subway train's doors. The setting and the symbolism came in later. The Japanese are incidentally not necessarily inclined to read the story's metaphor from the Christian perspective that the Western fans do.
* The main trio of leads in ''[[NEEDLESS]]'' are named Adam, Eve and Cruz ("Cross"). These elements seem to be almost purely decorative, considering the sheer wacky and over-the-top nature of the series.
* ''[[Bloody Monday]]'' has this in ♠ spades, which isn't unusual considering the antagonists are an evil [[Cult]] bent on killing millions of people to [[Utopia Justifies the Means|rebuild Japan.]] Off the top of my head, when the cult's imprisoned long-haired leader Simon is busted out he somehow manages to change into Jesus-like robes inside an [[Absurdly Spacious Sewer]]. He dubs his most trusted operatives Michael, Judas (who does what you'd expect him to do), [[Cain and Abel]] (even though that applies better to another pair of siblings) {{spoiler|Eventually Simon is killed by a faithless operative (not Judas); the child of Simon who takes his place because they planned all this is also killed (by Judas, but because he felt the new leader was faithless and completely psychotic)}}. On top of all that {{spoiler|the cultists use the Babylonian
* This tends to be all over the place in the ''[[Riki
* All of the homonuculi in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' are named after the seven deadly sins.
** It doesn't end there: The manga version's Greed is more or less a walking example of this. Like every homonculi he was born from a single parent, (Father) he was later {{spoiler|hunted down and ended up [[Crucified Hero Shot]] on Father's orders. Father then killed him on the cross and absorbed his Philosopher's Stone back into his body. Then later on he is returned to life by Father.}} Sound similar to anything?
** Rather impressive for a world [[Word of God|in which Christianity does not exist.]]
** Also in the second anime, there's a scene where Edward is pulled into the Gate which closes after him, then he punches it open for a moment from the other side. It just so happens that his fist parts the Gate right where "Adonai" is engraved.
** Then again it is averted by constantly referring to medieval alchemy, which based on ancient Greek Hermetics (which one can summarize up with Izumi's [[Training
** Also it is absolutely subverted by marking the homunculi with the Ouroboros symbol. (that thing itself is 1st: symbol for the alchemic process and the circle of life and death, process and product, etc. etc. ... - and thus a symbol for the Philosopher's stone. 'specially mean towards {{spoiler|Envy}}. Who in the first movie ended up {{spoiler|being a friggin big snake/dragon forced to lie in a circle, nose at his tail.}}. Mean.
* ''[[Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life]]'' has some of this, mainly because Arceus is supposed to be [[God]].
* The short story 'Lucifer Rising', found in the scifi manga ''[[2001
* Director [[Akiyuki Shinbo]] fills all of his shows with images of the Virgin Mary, stained glass windows, crucifixions, and impalings, but since he uses those in everything from dark action shows to light, fluffy comedies (and a few pornographic OVAs), it probably means a whole lot of nothing.
* Invoked in-universe in ''[[One Piece]]''. Following the Paramount War, Luffy returns to Marineford and performs what is normally a ceremony that declares the ending of one era and the start of another. This act is photographed and reported, and everyone becomes so focused on what Luffy was doing it for that nobody catches the hidden message written on Luffy's arm except for the other Straw Hat pirates. The only one who was shown getting close was ex-Straw Hat Vivi, who figured out there ''was'' a message, and simply lacked the reference necessary to decode it.
** Sodom and Gomorrah are both names in the Bible. It's told there that they died by the wrath of God. Their submission in Enies Lobby could be interpreted as a reference to that. [[Word of God]] denies it all, though.
{{quote|'''Oda:''' Err... ''One Piece'' isn't THAT deep of a story, but yeah, that's where I got their names from.}}
== Comic Books ==
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** Other examples would be the Acolytes, Exodus and Joseph. But this type of thing had been going on since the 1960s when you had Professor Charles Xavier (the name of a Catholic saint, made even more blatant when they added the middle name Francis), the original X-Man Angel (the name "Beast" presumably is only coincidentally reminiscent of the Book of Revelation), and villains Juggernaut (who gets a Hindu-Judaeo-Christian trifecta as his civilian name is Cain and he is Professor X's step-brother) and Lucifer. In the 1970s and 1980s there would also be two characters called Ariel, the Hellfire Club, Jubilee, two Thunderbirds (Amerindian mythology), Karma, Nimrod, Rachel, and Legion. And names from Graeco-Roman mythology like Cyclops, Proteus and Callisto.
* In the ''Code Geass'' continuation [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6969408/1/In_the_End In the End] Lelouch {{spoiler|wakes up from his first death in a stable, after a Bethlehem-like}} sequence with C.C as Mary.▼
▲== Fan Fic ==
▲* In the Code Geass continuation [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6969408/1/In_the_End In the End] Lelouch {{spoiler|wakes up from his first death in a stable, after a Bethlehem-like}} sequence with C.C as Mary.
* From the ''[[Deva Series]]'', we have [[Ancient Conspiracy|the Circles]] calling Device-using students "Fallen Angels" and the anti-Device spell "Judgment of the Fallen". [[Sarcasm Mode|That totally does not mean anything]].
* From ''[[ToyHammer]]'', we have Batel; her name means 'Daughter of God', {{spoiler|and she's also a Chaos Cultist.}}
** {{spoiler|Interestingly enough, the author's actual first name is Vincent, which means 'Conqueror', and his [[Author Avatar]] becomes a [[Supporting Leader]], although that's more [[Meaningful Name]]}}
* In ''[[Ace Combat: The Equestrian War]]'', the Mirage squadron's unit number is 2nd Air Division, 179th Tactical Pegasus Squadron. These numbers refer to September 17, 2011, when the second season of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' begun airing.
** There is also {{spoiler|[[Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation|Talisman's]]}} cutie mark - a pair of angelic wings.
== Film ==
* The ending of ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'' is a bit fat wad of this. Cloud is temporarily {{spoiler|killed by Loz and Yazoo}}, vanishes in a blur of light, and reappears in a CHURCH that has been flooded with magical healing water. As if it isn't blatant enough, he wakes up surrounded by kids suffering from geostigma, whom he heals by cupping water in his hands and "baptizing" them on top of the head.
* Applied in the fictional universe itself, Jules Winnfield's recitation of "[[The Bible/Source/Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] 25:17" in ''[[Pulp Fiction]]'', which couldn't be any more off to anyone who's read the actual excerpt. Winnfield himself openly admits that he never actually gave the verse much thought, he's just always thought of it simply as some cold-blooded shit to say to a mother fucker [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner|before popping a cap in their ass]]. The verse is deliberately built out of a patchwork of indistinct Bible references in order to emphasize that Jules [[As the Good Book Says...|wants to sound Biblical]], rather than caring about his quotations and is actually taken from ''The Bodyguard'' starring Sonny Chiba. Then he gets a reason to sit and think about what he has been saying all these years and it turns out to be moderately applicable.
** In fact, [http://www.cracked.com/article_19178_9-absurd-movie-premises-that-actually-happened_p2.html according to Cracked's website], Jules' life is based on the life of [[wikipedia:Moses the Black|St. Moses the Black]].
* ''The Doom Generation'' was so full of this it was tripping over itself. The main characters' surnames are Redd, White and Blue. The female lead smokes Death brand cigarettes, and has a skull-shaped lighter. Every numerical value listed is some variation on 666. The penultimate scene involves "The Star-Spangled Banner" playing behind a scene probably better not described. The whole thing is ''[[Clueless]]'' [[X Meets Y|meets]] ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Evangelion]]''.
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* In [[Kenneth Branagh]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'', the eponymous [[Tragic Hero]]'s body is hoisted awkwardly so that the arms splay and the head flops back giving a brief cruciform. This would only make sense if there were ''any'' other sacrificial/messianic imagery in the rest of the film.
* ''[[Paradise Now]]'' has a chilling, ironic [[Shout-Out]] to Da Vinci's ''Last Supper''. When Khaled and Said eat a supposedly last time with the preparers of their suicide bombings, for some reason they all cluster on the far side of the long table, facing the camera.
* ''[[Blade Runner]]'' has the [[Artificial Human|Replicant]] Roy Batty attempting to kill Deckard before his body dies. His arm begins to stiffen and numb, and so he drives a nail through the palm. He and Deckard fight on the
* One draft of ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' would have Bond hide out in a church during a shootout, and hide behind the crucifix, arms spread and all. It was removed well before filming starting, due to the [[Unfortunate Implications]] Bond shooting people in a church would have.
* ''[[Westworld]]'' is a secular relative of this, with symbols both representing its [[Lost Aesop]] (the rebellion of the Roman slave-bots, for instance) and seemingly being thrown in for kicks (the Dark Knight on the throne).
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* ''[[Superman Returns]]'' is filled with Faux Symbolism. It throws many, many shots of Superman in Christ-like poses (or Atlas-like in the case of Supes catching the Daily Planet) as well as recycling supposedly-meaningful phrases from the first film. This is merely pretentious when it comes to Superman doing standard Superman stuff, but becomes a [[Broken Aesop]] when this "Christ figure" founds out he {{spoiler|left a bun in Lois' oven.}}
* Several Mexican crosses actually show up throught the film ''[[William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet]]''.
* The first ''[[Violent Shit]]'' is ripe with this, featuring gratuitous church shots (occasionally in blood red lighting) and [[
== Literature ==
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* Done deliberately in ''[[Ender's Game]]'' with the mind game imagery. While much of it is drawn from various mythologies, and much of it makes sense in itself, taken as a whole it's incoherent. [[Word of God]] [http://www.hatrack.com/research/questions/q0022.shtml explains:]
{{quote|Second, I did not want to create a "plotted" mind game ... When I caught myself having a plan, I subverted it.}}
* Good Lord, ''[[The Confidence Man]]''. It's considered by some to be the first [[Po Mo]] book, written by [[Herman Melville]] in the 1800's. Mostly it was a social satire, but his own views on [[Morality Tropes|morality]], [[Religion Tropes|religion]], and [[Idealism vs. Cynicism]] were in there through ridiculous amounts of religious symbolism. The [[Gainax Ending]] makes it so open to interpretation that scholars have been mulling over the meaning since it was first published.
* [[Stephenie Meyer]] tries to insert Biblical symbolism into [[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]] with references to the [[Forbidden Fruit]] and the Lion and the Lamb, with little regard to what those references actually mean.
* This trope is often mocked in the [[Discworld]] novels of [[Terry Pratchett]], in which it is not uncommon to have an ancient tradition whose origins and/or meanings are lost in time described as "very symbolic - not actually of anything, just generally symbolic" or words to that effect.
== Live-Action TV ==
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{{quote|'''Buffy''': "Well, at least you all didn't dream about that guy with the cheese. I don't know where the hell that came from."}}
* The first [[Combining Mecha]] from ''[[Chouriki Sentai Ohranger]]'' is apparently based on Ezekiel's descriptions of Angels in [[The Bible]]. It's formed from a bird, a lion, a bull & two chariots. The Cherubim are said to have the faces of a man, an eagle a bull & a lion (although in Ohranger Robo's case the bird's face is folded inside the body when combined to make way for the robot's head) & Thrones are said to resemble chariot wheels.
* ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' has always had fun alluding to [[Magnificent Bastard|Gene]] [[Noble Bigot with a Badge|Hunt]] as Jesus and/or God (the connection to [[C. S. Lewis|Aslan]]
** He does, however, {{spoiler|turn out to be a [[Psychopomp]]. Who gets to punch out [[Satan]]}}.
* An early episode of [[House (TV series)|House]] involved a nun with stigmata who claimed to have Jesus inside her. It turned out to be the result of metal allergy worsened by a faulty [[wikipedia:Intrauterine device|IUD implant]] -- [[Irony|a copper cross]].
* In ''[[Mad Men]]'', [[Stepford Smiler|Betty Draper]]'s stultifying [[Stepford Suburbia|suburban]] existence is set in [[New York State|Ossining]], most famously home to [[The Alcatraz|Sing Sing]] Prison.
== Music ==
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* [[Chevelle]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43pDBP9HgAw music video for "Mia"] is pretty rife with a mix between Christian imagery and a bit of [[Squick]].
▲== Theater ==
* Most of the second half of ''The Fantasticks'' is a parade of symbols. The El Gallo number "Round and Round" is particularly trippy in its symbolism; odds are the actors in any given production won't know what it means. That said, the Halos were built from the Ark, where the forerunners also had every single evolved creature they could find. After they activated the weapon to kill all life in the galaxy, thus starving the flood, they seeded a lot of the life that they destroyed, including humans and several species of the covenant.
** If you think ''The Fantasticks'' is symbol-laden, check out the authors' follow-up, ''Celebration''. The bookwriter and lyricist Tom Jones even admits that the symbols were pretentious and overbearing, culminating in a song about the young hero's final battle with the old villain called "Winter and Summer."
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* ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' has people debating the symbolism of food.
* [[Waiting for Godot]] RUNS on this trope. Samuel Beckett intentionally wrote the entire play with false symbolism and no discernable plot JUST to piss off literary critics who had [[Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory|overanalyzed his previous works]]. [[Invoked Trope|His characters even talk about]] [[Lampshade Hanging|having no clue what is going on]].
== Video Games ==
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* ''[[Luminous Arc 2]]'' has an interesting case with Mage Queen Elicia, whose witch title in Japanese is called "Holy Mother" and her outfit is very similar to her herself. Averted in English, which changed to Dark Queen instead.
* In ''[[Deus Ex]]'', the main character has the initials JC. Symbolic? Probably not, actually. [[Word of God]] says it's because they originally wanted the option to choose a female character and "JC" was gender-netural.
** [[Flip-Flop of God|He also said]] originally the plan was to have JC to a ''descendant of Jesus Christ''.[
** One NPC actually says "Jesus Christ, Denton!"
*** On that, we have the main character and savior (or not) [[Jesus Christ|JC Denton]], his brother, [[Word of Saint Paul|Paul Denton]]. And then in the prequel, we have [[Adam and or Eve]].
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** In ''Sword of Flames/Blazing Blade'', Eliwood receives a sword named Durandal, said to have been wielded by the hero Roland. Both of these names are taken directly from a French legend.
*** Hector's ultimate weapon [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Armads/Almace]], wielded by Archbishop [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Durbans/Turpin]], also come from the same legend, referring to a compatriot of Roland and his weapon.
**
* ''[[Digital Devil Saga]]'' is a rare example of a game that uses random Hindu symbolism and mythology. From your ultimate goal being Nirvana, after you pass through Muladhara, Svadisthana, Manipura, Anahata, a few side dungeons, Ajna, and Sahasrara, to fighting Ravana, the Junkyard is practically made of random Hindu symbolism. And this being a [[Shin Megami Tensei]] game, you kill God, who happens to be Brahman in this reincarnation.
** It's a bit more complicated than that. It's actually supposed to be random '''Aryan''' (no, not [[Those Wacky Nazis|that way]]) symbolism, but because we don't actually know a lot about Aryan mythology, they use Hinduism to fill in the
** Well, it's not particularly random. The reason all of it's there is sort of explained as the Asura forms of people being based on who they are and blah blah blah. There's a reason for everything...ish. (there isn't any real reason for Seth and Satan to be in 2 other than for the heck of it)
* The [[Shin Megami Tensei]] series in general loves this trope. Players recruit demons, gods and spirits from a wide variety of world religions present and past; in the mainline series, you end up siding with God, Lucifer or neither. In between, there's about as much rampant religious imagery as you might imagine. Psychological symbolism and allusions are also tossed about willy-nilly in the ''Persona'' series (starting with the name).
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* ''[[Metal Gear Acid]] 2'' names the Test Subjects (Golab, Harab Serap, Chagadiel) after the Kabbalist Qliphoth for no good reason, and names the Metal Gear Chaioth Ha Kadosh (host of angels) and gives it a choral piece as a [[Leitmotif]].
** The opening scene of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 2'' shows Snake (who had at this point abandoned his dream of having a normal life in order to fight against [[Humongous Mecha|Metal Gear]] proliferation, as his 'duty to the coming generations') throwing himself off a bridge with his legs together and his arms outstretched in a wide crucifix pose. He's in [[Invisibility Cloak|Active Camo]] at this point, so the effect is made even more extreme by the fact that all that's visible is the outline of his long-haired, nearly-naked silhouette. Oh, and an ethereal choral song plays as he does it. [[What Could Have Been|For a while during development]], it would have been more extreme, with Snake wearing a brilliant white parachute that would spread out behind his body like a pair of angel wings. A lot of the symbolism is mollified, though, by the fact that when he lands on the surface of the Tanker there's a big [[Homage Shot]] to, of all things, ''[[Terminator (franchise)|Terminator]]''.
** ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' is considered by many to be a major offender, with codenames like ADAM and EVA, Snake, and biblical comparisons in the ending monologue. Likewise with Part 3 of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', where a discussion of the events of MGS3 takes place in a church and adds a very symbolic apple to the mix. It a more meta-symbolic sense, there are many easy-to-miss references to the earlier games, to the point where at least one analysis speculated that ''the way certain eggs in a loading cutscene cook'' represents earlier characters and events.
* The final series of bosses in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' is a giant throwback to ''The Divine Comedy''. The first tier of enemies consists of a demon shown from the waist up, symbolizing Hell with Lucifer frozen up to his waist. The second tier is a jumbled mess of machinery, animals and people, representing Purgatory. The third tier, the formerly overcast and dark background has beams of light shining through the clouds, and the two enemies look like Jesus lying in Mary's lap, but with "Mary" as a disembodied head and "Jesus" looking like Kefka. The fourth tier, the heroes rise up from the overcast background to a sea of glowing white and gold clouds. The final part of ''The Divine Comedy'' has Dante meet God, who tells him the meaning of life. But here, Kefka descends from on high appearing as a [[Fallen Angel]], and tells the heroes that life is meaningless.
** Besides the parallels to ''The Divine Comedy'' itself, the usage of it to inspire the final bosses is symbolic. Kefka is a hardcore [[Nietzsche Wannabe]] who thinks life is meaningless and not worth living, and that love and hope and friendship are just diversions from the truth. And remember, he's become a god-like being by draining actual gods of their power. While clearly the story doesn't exist in-universe, Kefka using ''The Divine Comedy'' to inspire the final bosses is him twisting religion into something perverse and grotesque. As far as Kefka is concerned religion is just as pointless as every other facet of existence, and Satan, gods, Heaven and Hell are meaningless concepts. An [[Ax Crazy]] [[Monster Clown]] who becomes a god uses a story called "Divine Comedy" as inspiration for crafting his strongest servants?
* It's pretty fair to say that so many fights wouldn't have been had about ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' if the villain hadn't been named after the Kabbalist 'Sephiroth' and he hadn't been obsessed with becoming a god and there wasn't a sacrificed martyr character.
** Add onto that a possible corrected translation of his final form, Sepher Sephiroth, and watch more heads explode.
** In ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]: [[Crisis Core]]'', the character Genesis comes from a town famous for its apple harvest, and is producing clones of himself in an abandoned apple factory. When attempting to incite Sephiroth into rebellion against the Shinra, he offers him an apple. The rest of the final dungeon had a large amount of
*** Speaking of apples, one can certainly slap some Faux Symbolism onto {{spoiler|the burning apple when Tseng blows up Banora}} really, what could it mean? Especially its connection to not only Genesis but also {{spoiler|Angeal}}...speaking of names and symbolism...
* Yet more examples from ''[[Final Fantasy]]: The Summons''. Yeah, Odin, Lakshmi, Quetzalcoatl and the like make sense in the context of being gods, but [[Final Fantasy VIII|Eden]]? [[Final Fantasy IX|Ark]]?
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* In the ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' manga (and possibly by extent the game, but correct me if I'm wrong), the character Setsuna has a scene during his [[Mind Rape]] arc torturing Maria with her tied to a cross.
* ''[[Silhouette Mirage]]'' contains notable examples, such as references like ''Megido'', ''Zohar'', and ''Metatron''.
* ''[[
** This seems to be more an example of the sort of names humans would actually come up with rather than unsubtle references.
* A little-known game called ''Adventures of Darwin'' features a tribe of monkeys that have to [[Artistic License: Biology|evolve into humans]] in time to survive the coming apocalypse. They are led by a monkey named Darwin, a [[Shout-Out]] that would make the actual Charles Darwin spin in his grave. Where does the symbology come in? The final boss is {{spoiler|[[God]] [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Himself]].}} Well, okay, according to the bestiary, {{spoiler|He is actually [[Classical Mythology|Zeus]], but given the context, he's clearly meant to be a monotheistic God, [[Did Not Do the Research|not one of a pantheon]].}}
* In ''[[The King of Fighters]]'', [[SNK Boss]] Goenitz is a priest, and in his waiting for turn animation, he is seen reading a book (presumibly a Bible). He serves and awaits the return of a powerful, supernatural entity who would bring [[The End of the World as We Know It]], who ended reincarnating in a the body of a boy named Chris; and to top it, he would throw phrases like "pray to your god" before fighting. In addittion, the [[Spin-Off]] dating simulation games ''Days of Memories'' has him, Chris and Shermie wearing [[Creepy Cool Crosses|crucifixes]]. Also, Kyo wears a black shirt with a cross in the NESTS saga.
* In ''[[SNK vs. Capcom SVC Chaos]]'', you fight [[Bonus Boss]] Athena in a [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven]] and, after defeating her, an unnamed character who is a clear [[Captain Ersatz]] of [[God]] appears to sends you back to Earth. {{spoiler|Akuma returns to challenge him, though.}}
** Alternatively, you go to Makai, the Demon World, and face Red Arremer of ''[[
* ''[[Street Fighter]] III: 3rd Strike'' has Gill, who in the previous SF3 was little more than a [[Big Bad]] with a weird color scheme. In the Dreamcast version of ''Double Impact'' compilation, where he was playable, his ending gave a cryptic Bible-sounding verse predicting a future calamity, and in ''3rd Strike'' he becomes a self-proclaimed savior who, in his ending in the console version, splits an ocean that leads to a paradise. [[Mundane Made Awesome|We are all very impressed.]]
* The game ''[[Baroque]]'' is ''littered'' with crosses and Gnostic imagery. If you explore the Outer World, you can find a graveyard of metal framework crosses in the background.
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* There's the Heaven/Hell imagery in ''[[Sonic Riders]]''.
* In ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]] Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood'', Morgan LeFlay {{spoiler|betrays Guybrush and brings him to the [[Mad Scientist|Marquis De Singe]] in Flotsam Island}}. When she arrives the doctor pays her with 30 Thousand pieces of eight in silver.
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20111113224513/http://www.telltalegames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18337 This thread in the Telltale Games forums expands on this idea with other events that have happened in the Monkey Island series.]
* Like some earlier examples, ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' has a lot of mythological names for things, particularly places given names from Norse mythology, most of which have little or no connection to the things they're named for. There are a couple of exceptions, though.
** ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' carries it to a whole new extreme. Nearly all the towns' names, the "Qlipoth" underworld, and the ''title''
* In ''[[Brütal Legend|Brutal Legend]]'', Satanic circles are used as waypoint markers. It's supposed to fit in with the Metal theme. The Demons have a five-pointed emblem as well, but it's a Cheveron with a "V" superimposed.
* A ''[[Star Ocean: Till the End of Time]]'' example. The layout for the second last room before the final boss is shaped like the Sephirot. Whether it has general meaning or is just randomness is left ambiguous. Considering that {{spoiler|the last boss--named ''Lucifer'', at that--has one very severe [[A God Am I|god complex]] with regard to his creation, it's probably yet another part of his claim to divinity over the Eternal Sphere}}.
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** It makes sense, as Dante was named after Dante Alighieri, and Vergil was named after Publius Vergilius Maro.
* In the old arcade game called ''MagMax'', also made for the NES, you fight a [[Hybrid Monster|three-headed cyborg dragon machine]] called Babylon, which is odd since the name "Babylon" is mentioned a few times in some Hebrew Bible readings and in the [[Book of Revelation]] in the Christian Bible's New Testament (even peculiar is that in Revelation, Babylon is a symbolic harlot who has a symbolic dragon-like beast with seven heads and ten horns; that beast may be like the mechanical dragon machine you see in the game).
* Parodied in ''[[Hatoful Boyfriend]]'' where the character [[Awesome McCoolname|Anghel Higure]] (his last name being spelled in the Japanese version with two kanji both meaning 'red') who screams all the time about being a [[Fallen Angel]], the reincarnation of the Crimson Angel of Judecca and a Servant of God born whose destiny is to battle Demon Spores. He is actually the notorious school eccentric Akagi Yoshio, and he's a member of the Manga Club - and when the player enters his fantasy world, it's just a turn-based (and outrageously cheesy) JRPG, implying he's just a [[Daydream Believer]] who is into media containing
== Web Comics ==
* Summed up by [[media:20050602a.gif|this image]] (Aptly titled ''"It makes you sound deep"''), brought to you by ''[[RPG World]]''.
* [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1139 This] [[Questionable Content]] comic showes perfectly how easily good-sounding symbolism can be created over anything.
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'', Susan's fairy doll acts on her subconscious. When it is first summoned, Sarah and Grace have a field day interpreting how its actions show things that [[The Stoic|Susan]] tries so hard to hide.
* ''[[Sinfest]]'' [http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2000-01-22 presents]:
{{quote|'''Slick''': The appeal of ''"[[Star Wars]]"'' is that it's open to different interpretations.
* Parodied in ''[[Unwinder's Tall Comics]]''. The [[Show Within a Show]] ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20140215030204/http://tallcomics.com/?id=86 Tokyo Delta Jetlag D]'' culminates in a battle against the Messiah Demon, a [[Kaiju]] with a cross on its back. The hero kills it with a Crown of Thorns, and when the monster's head explodes, the cloud takes the shape of Leonardo da Vinci's painting of The Last Supper. Unwinder, watching the show, can only respond, "Huh."
== Web Original ==
* Cody Jenson's discovery of a motorcycle in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'', a mundane occurrence tooled up with as much symbolism and imagery as was humanly possible. Oh, and he [[I Call It Vera|named it]] too.
* A running gag on [[That Guy With The Glasses|Bad Movie Beatdown]] is for Film Brain to throw his hands in the air and yell "SYMBOLISM!!!" when he encounters examples of this trope.
* [[Memetic Mutation|Meme]] "it symbolizes" in "RU net" refers to this. The origin is a widely copy-pasted mocking recap of ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20190918151311/https://lurkmore.co/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%3A%D0%9A%D0%B0%D1%89%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%82%D1%8B_%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%82%D1%80%D1%8F%D1%82_%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE_%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%8B%D1%85_%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%BE%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2]. The line in question:
{{quote|Scene 8.5. Brief but pivotal. Two Pokémons<ref>in the original these are shooshpanchiks - sort of small metasyntactic animal (it's another FIDO7 meme)</ref> are grazing near a spaceship. One male, another female. They symbolize. }}
== Western Animation ==
* The opening of [[G.I. Joe: Renegades]] features Adam DeCobray (aka [[Big Bad|Cobra Commander]]) [[How Do You Like Them Apples?|picking an apple]] off a tree and handing it to a young girl and boy.
* Sent up fairly often in surreal anime parody ''[[Perfect Hair Forever]]''. One episode has crucified clowns in the forest for no real reason. It's also lampshaded: ''I wish these hot dogs and cats were not symbolic of anything, and this was all just a dumb anime mind'''''[[Sound Effect Bleep|*EFF*]]'''
* In the ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' episode [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S1
== Real Life ==
* Seventh Sanctum has [http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php?Genname=symbolitron the Symbolitron], whose purpose is to generate random symbolism to use in your own writings.
* [[wikipedia:Miroslav Šatan|Miroslav Satan.]] Full Stop.{{context}}
** Notice anything unusual in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130321124659/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/players/666/ this URL]?
* Fashion in general is full of that, from having the Iron Cross, to the Prussian Flags, etc etc.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Tropes of Legend]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Home Page/YMMV]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
▲[[Category:Faux Symbolism]]
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