Sigil Spam: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|''"These guys put their logo on more things than Nike does. How do they expect to remain secret when they make every effort to mark their equipment with a unique, unmistakable symbol?"''|[[The Spoony Experiment]] [http://www.spoonyexperiment.com/hitman/ reviews] the ''[[Hitman]]'' movie}}
 
In television, as in real life, any decent-sized organization will have [[Iconic Logo|a logo or symbol to identify itself]]. Said symbolism will appear when needed to identify the group, whether it's a discreet corporate logo on the building or an imposing banner behind the [[Diabolical Mastermind]] when he makes his world-threatening rants.
 
Some groups, however, carry this to a ridiculous extreme, especially if a megalomaniac [[Villain]] is in charge. When this trope is in play, the design will be wantonly slapped on ''everything'' in sight, down to the most mundane items and meaningless locations. Bathroom doors, coffee mugs, staplers, golf carts, [[Highly-Conspicuous Uniform|Highly Conspicuous Uniforms]]—nothing is out of the question, no matter how trivial or impractical it may be.
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{{examples}}
== Anime &and Manga ==
 
 
== Anime & Manga ==
* The Poké Ball design is absolutely ''everywhere'' in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime.
** Team Rocket's big red '''{{color|red|R}}''' gets a lot of play too, particularly in the anime.
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** In ''[[Digimon Tamers]]'', the Zero Unit and the hazard symbols.
* In an episode of [[Yu-Gi-Oh (anime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]], a ''milk carton'' bears the Kaiba Corp logo.
 
 
== Card Games ==
* The guilds from the Ravnica block of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' all have their own signets, though how they're placed varies. [[Barbarian Tribe|Gruul]] signets are illegible territorial markings drawn in what the Gruul Signet card describes as [[Squick|blood, sweat and muck]], [[Evilutionary Biologist|Simic]] signets are placed on all their artificial lifeforms as a trademark, [[Corrupt Church|Orzhov]] signets are either carried, indicating a master, or tattooed, indicating a slave. [[Mad Scientist|Izzet]] signets are the most megalomaniacal, as they're frequently redesigned to look more and more like a vanity portrait of the guild leader.
** Any guild-aligned card in Ravnica block (in the guild's combination of colors, in one color with an ability in the other, or using the guild's unique ability) had a transparent version of the guild sigil (except the Izzet card Hypervolt Grasp, which has the Gruul signet by mistake). Likewise, "snow" permanents in Coldsnap had a transparent snow-mana symbol (a snowflake).
** Any spell from the Invasion black with a kicker cost had either all or a part of the Invasion symbol on it, depending on the color of mana in said cost.
** Also, the Phyrexian symbol and the Mask of Pain (Yawgmoth's symbol) are often used on cards related to Phyrexia. The Mask of Pain appears in the Nemesis logo and was later used as the expansion symbol for Apocalypse.
*** Speaking of the Invasion block, the Coalition symbol was the symbol for Invasion; parts of it appear in a cycle of cards in Planeshift. Naturally, it also appears on Flagbearer cards.
** More recently, the planeswalker symbol is used is planeswalker-related art (but not on the planeswalker cards themselves), as well as in the Magic 2010 logo.
** And in Scars of Mirrodin, the cards themselves are getting it: With the exception of the five basic lands and three planeswalkers, every card in the set has either the symbol of the now-native Mirrans, or the before-mentioned Phyrexian symbol (resembling the Greek letter phi Φ) in the background of the textbox.
*** Mirrodin Beseiged makes the Phyrexian phi superimposed on the Mirran sun its expansion symbol, and New Phyrexia makes the phi itself the expansion symbol.
** [[Uberwald|Innistrad]] has the symbol of the archangel Avacyn on nearly every human-related card. It fits better if you imagine it in the place of a Christian cross.
* The Koa'ki Meiru monsters from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' all feature their emblem somewhere on their person.
* The [[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]] made Rebel and Imperial symbols their card backs, as well as the symbol for characters of that alignment. Lightsabers were used for Jedi/Sith Masters and Force icons.
* Most editions of the ''Illuminati'' card game by Steve Jackson Games do a variation: The Illuminati symbol (an eye in the pyramid, sometimes simplified to a dot in a triangle) appears on nearly every card, usually hidden.
 
 
== Comic Books ==
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* In [[Tintin]], the symbol of the Bordurian regime -a circumflex accent, which is also a stylized representation of the dictator Kûrvi-Tasch's moustache- is absolutely all over the country, from flags and official buildings to military rank insignia, hotel lamps and car radiators. Of course, this is a [[Shout-Out]] to [[Real Life]] Soviet Russia.
* [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''Marvel Boy'' mini-series for Marvel Comics features Hexus the Sentient Corporation, [[Hive Mind|an evil alien "social parasite"]] that spreads "logo-spores" throughout the atmosphere of its target planet. The spores infect people, forming a corporation which then consumes rival corporations and seduces whole populations through hypnotic ad campaigns, to the point where it literally owns everything and everyone on its host-planet. It then 'brands' the planet with its enormous 'X'-logo and feeds of the planet's resources, leaving behind a dead husk of a world covered in Hexus logos.
 
 
== Film ==
* In ''[[G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra|G.I. Joe the Rise of Cobra]]'', the M.A.R.S. logo is plastered on everything remotely associated with [[Arms Dealer]] James McCullen, down to the elevator doors of ''his secret underwater Arctic base''.
** The killswitch for the nanomite warheads have a ''screen saver'' with an animated logo!
* In ''[[Austin Powers]]: The Spy Who Shagged Me'', Dr. Evil's embossed logo can be found on nearly anything—makeup cases, motorized scooters, record turntables, even the doors of Dr. Evil's secret moon rocket.
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* A bizarre one in ''[[Armageddon]]'', where the shuttles are rushed out in order to make the date of the mission - yet feature large decals with their names all over the interior. Apparently the NASA art department fears not the end of the world.
* Lampshaded in ''[[Tomorrow Never Dies]]'', in which [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] makes a risky HALO jump into waters that are discovered at the last minute not to be international, but to belong to Vietnam. For obvious political reasons, this causes immediate concern for Bond's CIA contact, who asks if there's any US logos on Bond's equipment. His mood is not improved when the answer turns out to be that it's plastered all over everywhere on him.
 
 
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Solitary]]'' does this with VAL's green octagon.
* The Ori in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' use their symbol for ''everything'', their crusaders' weapons, the fire pits they execute nonbelievers in, the power sources in their ships, even their ships ''themselves'' follow the pattern.
* The episode of ''[[Mission: Impossible]]'' "The Killer" underlines that it is actually ''expected'' of some industries like hotels: When setting up a fake hotel, the good guys are shown applying the hotel's name "Raeburn" in initial miniature on menus and glasses. And they have to do it all in less than 15 minutes because the villain just ''named'' the hotel and will soon arrive.<ref>He chose one hotel at random but is taken to the bugged one [[Not My Driver|in taxi]].</ref>
* Though it is probably more for legal reasons than anything else, ''[[Myth BustersMythBusters]]'' do this with just about every material they use that isn't going to get blown up/crushed/shot in the next five minutes. They even [[Lampshade]] it every now and then:
{{quote|''Adam'': I only drink Mythbusters brand cola!}}
* ''[[UFO]]'''s [[Government Conspiracy|super secret]] SHADO puts its name and logo on all of its vehicles, even though SHADO's existence itself is secret.
* The Watchers of ''[[Highlander the Series]]'' had the double layer [[Masquerade]] that their organisation was secret, and kept the target of their watching - the Immortals - secret, too. But they had their logo tattooed on their ''wrists''. Even putting on one's shoulder would be more inconspicuous.
* Even worse is a secret organisation called The Dawn, from a short-lived mid-[[The Nineties|Nineties]] series about a "Federal Bio-Crisis Unit". Since their plans to wipe out humanity were so secret, they could be identified by elaborate tattoos on the palm of their hands.
* An actual subtle version, as they're never actually mentioned in-'verse, but Blue Sun in ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]'' is omnipresent on every central planet. It also adorns much of Jayne's clothing (including a shirt which River promptly slashes up...while Jayne's wearing it.)
 
 
== Tabletop Games ==
=== Board Games ===
* ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'''s Imperium slaps Aquilas on everything it can, and also seems fond of skulls, whether real or modelled. Individual Space Marine Chapters, particularly the Ultramarines, are fond of this with their Chapter badges; in an image of an Ultramarine from the ''[[Deathwatch]]'' supplement ''Rites of Battle'' there are at least ''sixteen'' visible badges on his armour. Chaos forces, similarly, like to apply the eight-pointed star of Chaos and the icons of the Dark Gods wherever they can, and also use skulls often.
 
=== Card Games ===
* The guilds from the Ravnica block of ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' all have their own signets, though how they're placed varies. [[Barbarian Tribe|Gruul]] signets are illegible territorial markings drawn in what the Gruul Signet card describes as [[Squick|blood, sweat and muck]], [[Evilutionary Biologist|Simic]] signets are placed on all their artificial lifeforms as a trademark, [[Corrupt Church|Orzhov]] signets are either carried, indicating a master, or tattooed, indicating a slave. [[Mad Scientist|Izzet]] signets are the most megalomaniacal, as they're frequently redesigned to look more and more like a vanity portrait of the guild leader.
** Any guild-aligned card in Ravnica block (in the guild's combination of colors, in one color with an ability in the other, or using the guild's unique ability) had a transparent version of the guild sigil (except the Izzet card Hypervolt Grasp, which has the Gruul signet by mistake). Likewise, "snow" permanents in Coldsnap had a transparent snow-mana symbol (a snowflake).
** Any spell from the Invasion black with a kicker cost had either all or a part of the Invasion symbol on it, depending on the color of mana in said cost.
** Also, the Phyrexian symbol and the Mask of Pain (Yawgmoth's symbol) are often used on cards related to Phyrexia. The Mask of Pain appears in the Nemesis logo and was later used as the expansion symbol for Apocalypse.
*** Speaking of the Invasion block, the Coalition symbol was the symbol for Invasion; parts of it appear in a cycle of cards in Planeshift. Naturally, it also appears on Flagbearer cards.
** More recently, the planeswalker symbol is used is planeswalker-related art (but not on the planeswalker cards themselves), as well as in the Magic 2010 logo.
** And in Scars of Mirrodin, the cards themselves are getting it: With the exception of the five basic lands and three planeswalkers, every card in the set has either the symbol of the now-native Mirrans, or the before-mentioned Phyrexian symbol (resembling the Greek letter phi Φ) in the background of the textbox.
*** Mirrodin Beseiged makes the Phyrexian phi superimposed on the Mirran sun its expansion symbol, and New Phyrexia makes the phi itself the expansion symbol.
** [[UberwaldÜberwald|Innistrad]] has the symbol of the archangel Avacyn on nearly every human-related card. It fits better if you imagine it in the place of a Christian cross.
* The monsters of the [https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Koa%27ki_Meiru "Koa'ki Meiru" monstersarchetype] from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! Card(Tabletop Game)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' all feature their emblem somewhere on their personbeing.
* The [[Star Wars Customizable Card Game]] made Rebel and Imperial symbols their card backs, as well as the symbol for characters of that alignment. Lightsabers were used for Jedi/Sith Masters and Force icons.
* Most editions of the ''Illuminati'' card game by [[Steve Jackson Games]] do a variation: The Illuminati symbol (an eye in the pyramid, sometimes simplified to a dot in a triangle) appears on nearly every card, usually hidden.
 
== Video Games ==
* The Umbrella Corporation's logo is ''everywhere'' in the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games, and even pops up in ''RE5,[[Resident Evil 5]]'', even though the game takes place several years after the corporation has been outed and dissolved.
* ''[[Killzone]]'': The Helghast symbol is everywhere. [[Truth in Television]], as it ''is'' a fascist government, and[[Putting similaron governmentsthe haveReich|in donethe sovein beforeof Nazi Germany]].
** More a case of [[Putting on the Reich]]. Other fascist governments were nowhere close the level of Nazi Sigil Spam. Not to mention that many fascist governments did not have any distinctive symbols and were simply using regular flags and emblems of their country.
* The UAC logo in ''[[Doom]]'' from door to blue carpet and even screensaver.
* The Triforce in the various ''[[The Legend of Zelda|Legend of Zelda]]'' games, especially in ''Ocarina of Time.''
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** The Normandy SR-2 is officially flagged as Cerberus, even, as can be heard in Tali's loyalty mission. And Jack recognises the symbol as Cerberus upon first visual contact.
** This is all the more obvious because in ''[[Mass Effect 1]]'' Cerberus ''did'' keep a low profile, their operations staffed with troops that looked like regular mercs, and the logo that is attached to Cerberus items obtained by cheat codes is ''not'' the same as the one used in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]''.
* Nintendo is pretty consistent about this. It's pretty telling that in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', every character or group of characters has a symbol that is pretty easily identifiable. The ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' series has the Mushroom of course, ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' has the Triforce, ''[[Pokémon]]'' has the Poké Ball, and so on.
** While speaking of Mario, Yoshi has his own symbol: An egg.
* In ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'', just about every object has the Aperture Science logo on it, from the storage cubes, to the chairs, to the custom computer cases and even tins of beans.
* In ''[[Perfect Dark]]'', the weapons-manufacturing [[Mega Corp]] dataDyne likes plastering their "dD" logo on all their architecture (admittedly it ''is'' quite a cool logo). Not to mention the fact that the Carrington Institute's logo appears on Joanna Dark's [[Spy Catsuit]] (which I'm sure would make her extremely plausibly deniable if she was ever captured!).
* In ''[[Strife]]'', the Order has many, many images of their Sigil. {{spoiler|The Sigil is actually an ancient alien superweapon which you obtain over the course of the game, and you can [[Spam Attack|spam]] [[Just for Pun|it]], but it [[Cast Fromfrom Hit Points|takes your HP]].}}
* While the ''[[Halo]]'' series was almost an aversion of this trope throughout the Trilogy ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' begins to embody it with widespread use of the various logos for the various corporate, government, and AI entities featured in the game. Particularly those of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the Superintendent. ''Halo: Reach'' takes Sigil Spam [[Up to Eleven]] with the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant stamping their respective logos on everything from side arms to sand bags.
* ''[[Just Cause (video game)|Just Cause 2]]'' has the government of Panau's symbol, a white star on a red background, everywhere. Items include electrical generators, oil tanks, water towers, propaganda trailers, gas stations and vehicles. You can and should destroy anything with that symbol on it in order to increase the "chaos" in the game.
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* While the Nazi memorabilia wall hangings and flags in ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' are probably to be expected, the swastika, eagle and iron cross level designs are likely less so.
* ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'': the Murian symbol shows up an awful lot, on pretty much everything that originated in Mu ''except'' the [[Mecha-Mooks]].
 
 
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' has the sigil business par for the course for most ruling Sparks. If they miss something, there are always volunteers to add more. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070702 Those] people [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021106 love] their mad scientist overlords. Aside of their [[Magnetic Hero|"strange charisma"]], demonstration of loyalty just in case and patriotism (as hereditary heraldry of the rulers is associated with the fief), [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070601 security and prosperity of the people] often depend on the power of whichever dangerous lunatic rules the place, thus flaunting symbols of said power is understandably popular with the common folk.
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' turns the sigil business [[Up to Eleven]]:
** The Wulfenbach family in ''[[Girl Genius]]'' signs ''everything'' with their rook/castle mark, including [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040705 tube fasteners] and ''[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20061108 bombs]''. Dr.Bettle's beetle, Heterodyne trilobyte and Sturmvoraus winged cog are just as ubiquitous in their respective towns, appearing on everything from candy toffees to eldritch clockwork horrors.
** This seems to be par for the course for Spark sigils, since Dr.Bettle's beetle, Heterodyne trilobyte and Sturmvoraus winged cog are just as ubiquitous in their respective towns, appearing on everything from candy toffees to eldritch clockwork horrors. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070702 Those] people [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20021106 love] their mad scientist overlords.
* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has the [http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/gunnerkrigg/images/a/ac/Bismuthwindow.jpg alchemic symbol for bismuth], which acts as the semi-official symbol for the Court, and seems to be stamped all over the place -- [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=269 tapestries], [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=271 doors] and [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=370 windows], [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=293 notebooks], [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=323 cabs], other Court technology... [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=607 the monument to the Court's first dragon slayer]. And student clothes that aren't even uniform, like [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=628 caps].
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' has the Spirograph, the Sburb house logo, the Sgrub house logo, John's Green Slime Ghost, Rose's Eldritch Squiddle, Dave's Record (and later a broken version of his record), Jade's Atom symbol, her grandfather's hat/glasses and toothed mustache, the Trolls' 12 zodiac signs, the emblems of Prospit, Derse, Hivebent Prospit, and Hivebent Derse, Barcodes, Becquerel's head, the four card symbols (used for both Troll Romance and the Midnight Crew, apparently by coincidence), the 16 pool balls for every member of the Felt and Lord English's animated pool ball cycle, the triangle fractals, the Frog Head and amphibian symbols, the Dream Self crescent moon, Maplehoof's horseshoe, and a silhouette of Jaspers's head.
** Recently, the symbols of [[Blow You Away|Breath]] (two squiggly lines), Light (a sun), Time (a gear), and Space (a vortex) have been showing up a lot. It can be assumed that there are symbols for each of the trolls' elements, too (Mind, Blood, Heart, etc).
*** Mind's symbol has been revealed to be a circle with three wavy, sharply hooked rays.
**** [https://web.archive.org/web/20130724014615/http://whatpumpkin.com/godtier-hoodies.html Here are the rest.]
* HeretiCorp in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]''. This is done intentionally however, as their logo triggers Oasis's [[Berserk Button]] and they're trying to lure her out.
* ''[[Last Res0rt]]'' does it a lot, but it's justified because it's the show's logo, so they've got a damned good incentive to push [[The Merch]].
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{{quote|'''Jamilla:''' ...I told them it should say "''Not'' Property of the Mobian Inquisition."
'''Morth:''' Yes, because ''that'' would have fooled me ''completely''. }}
* ''Alice and the Nightmare'' — watch the Heart Church [https://www.aliceandthenightmare.com/comic/chapter-1-page-7 here]. And yes, [[Wingding Eyes|her pupils]] are like that, too, just look at the previous page. Whether from potions or from being sort-of-adopted there.
 
== Web Original ==
* The monolithic "secret" criminal organization TAROT, from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', slaps their tarot-card logo on pretty much every piece of equipment their agents use. Rifles, helmets, uniforms, armored assault vehicles, aircraft, radios, gym clothes... even the ''beer'' served to the agents in their bases has a TAROT logo on the cans.
* Everything owned or touched by the Schnee Family/Corporation in ''[[RWBY]]'' has their snowflake glyph on it.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
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* At [[Walt Disney]] World, even the manhole covers are emblazoned with the silhouette of [[Mickey Mouse]]'s head. They're called "Hidden Mickeys" and are more of a [[Genius Bonus]] [[Running Gag]]—the majority of them are ''very'' well hidden.
** Perhaps the best hidden of these are the islands in the Seven Seas lagoon. The fact that they are a "hidden mickey" is only visible from an aircraft.
** At DisneyWorld and [[Disneyland]], there is a [[Toy Story (franchise)|Buzz Lightyear]] ride that involved riding through a course of space monsters etc. firing at them to score points. The only spots that would register a hit are the very conspicuously placed Zerg symbols on each target.
* [[NASA]]'s 2020 [http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_1266.html prototype lunar rover]. It's a toss-up whether the American flag or the NASA logo wins.
* [[Nazi Germany]] loved those hypnotic spinning swastikas so much they put them on just about everything the state had authority over. Even canned food.
** Three words, [https://web.archive.org/web/20131113092548/http://naziforest.ytmnd.com/ secret] [[wikipedia:Forest swastika|nazi forest]]
* In the [[Soviet Russia, Ukraine, and So On|USSR]], stars and hammer-and-sickle symbols wherewere absolutely ''everywhere''. And you'll still see them in present-day Russia. Post-communist authorities initially made a great effort to remove them all, then eventually got tired and gave up.
** Helped by three facts: a) sometimes it was darn expensive to remove the sigils, and spending the already scarce funds on cosmetic changes when everything goes straight to hell is not the best thing to do, b) virtually ''every'' culture- or government-related structure had various related symbols ''absolutely everywhere'', sometimes with every single decoration being filled with them, upping the cost spectacularly, and c) some of the sigils were just plain too awesome to remove (e.g. the stars on the Moscow Kremlin towers, made from ruby glass and fitted with a complex lighting system). Thus, the ones you will get to see are usually the grandest or the most artful examples of Sigil Spam.
** Same deal with statues and bas-reliefs of the Communist founders. For example: [https://englishrussia.com/2019/06/23/lenins-head-reservoir-in-kyrgyzstan/ five storeys high Lenin's head at Kirov reservoir in Kyrgyzstan]. Note the landscape, too. What's the chance that someone is able and willing to take expenses and risks inherent in dragging a lot of heavy machinery and competent workforce all the way there, then mucking around with massive blocks on top of the dam, before this dam or building will really need heavy repair — just to remove that one? Yeah, does not look like it.
* [[Two Words|Three words]]: Flying Windows screensaver.
** The Windows key appears on every (non-Macintosh) keyboard since ~1995. This tends to make Linux users not very happy, or most Windows users, for that matter.
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* The fleur-de-lis symbol in Louisiana. It's especially noticeable in the stuff they sell in gift shops.
* You can throw a rock in Mexico at random and odds are it will hit an eagle-eating-a-snake crest.
* Placing American flags ''everywhere'' is a popular technique to make a [[Vancouver]] filmed scene appear like it's set in America.
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Spectacle{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
[[Category:Spectacle]]
[[Category:Sigil Spam]]
[[Category:Shapes and Symbols Tropes]]
[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]
[[Category:Shapes and Symbols Tropes]]
[[Category:Sigil SpamSpectacle]]