Sigil Spam: Difference between revisions

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[[File:mickey-mouse-shaped-power-~~line_small~~.jpg|link=Disney Theme Parks|frame| [[Aqua Teen Hunger Force|Running is useless, there is no escape.]]]]

[[File:mickey-mouse-shaped-power-line small.jpg|link=Disney Theme Parks|frame| [[Aqua Teen Hunger Force|Running is useless, there is no escape.]]]]

{{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}}

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In television, as in real life, any decent-sized organization will have 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.

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.

This is true even in an [[Elaborate Underground Base]] or a [[Supervillain Lair]], where the only people present are supposed to be the [[Evil Minions|Minions]] and the [[Faceless Goons|Goons]]; it's almost as if the [[Evil Overlord]] was worried his legion of [[Mooks]] would [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|forget where they were]] if they weren't reminded every two minutes.

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* 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.

* 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.

* Parodied in ''[[Spaceballs]]'' as part of a [[Take That]] against "[[Borscht Belt|moichendaising]]", as everything on the villains' spaceship (''Spaceball One'') is branded with the Spaceballs logo, down to "''Spaceballs'' the toilet paper" and "''Spaceballs'' the bedsheet."

** This is largely because [[George Lucas]] giving [[Mel Brooks]] his blessing to parody ''[[Star Wars]]'' was contingent on ''Spaceballs'' having ''no'' merchandise.

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* ''[[Lost]]'': The Dharma Initiative is probably the epitome of this trope: their logos are found everywhere on the Island. Playing cards, ping-pong balls, chocolate cookies - '''everything''' inside their stations has a Dharma logo.

** It is even present on live sharks! And on random doors embedded in rocks that don't lead anywhere. And on ''all'' of the supplies. Except the Apollo bars - those are produced by the Hanso Foundation who also run the Dharma Initiative, so there's no need to alter their packaging.

* The logo of The Company in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', half of the famous DNA double-helix, appears repeatedly. It's uncertain if this is [[Sigil Spam]] or a [[Running Gag]], however.

* The logo of The Company in ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', half of the famous DNA double-helix, appears repeatedly. It's uncertain if this is Sigil Spam or a [[Running Gag]], however.

** [[Word of God]] says that it has no particular significance to the show's mythology.

* ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' puts the SPD logo on every random, non-[[Phlebotinum~~|Phlebotinumized~~]] item belonging to the organization, down to a ''shovel'' that Syd had brought along. Her CD player has the logo in ''three'' places. Even their [[Finishing Move|finishing moves]] shifted the view to a background made ''entirely out of SPD logos''!

* ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'' puts the SPD logo on every random, non-[[Phlebotinum]]ized item belonging to the organization, down to a ''shovel'' that Syd had brought along. Her CD player has the logo in ''three'' places. Even their [[Finishing Move|finishing moves]] shifted the view to a background made ''entirely out of SPD logos''!

** The following season, ''[[Power Rangers Mystic Force]]'', is at least as bad. The stylized "M" logos are ''everywhere'', incorporated into chestplates, visors... It's even worse if you consider other gear and designs that don't match the logo but are still M-shaped.

** Way back in season 2 of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' Lord Zedd had a Z on his staff, and his Putty Patrollers had a Z on their chests and knees. The Z on their chests made them break apart like crash test dummies.

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* The Umbrella Corporation's logo is ''everywhere'' in the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' games, and even pops up in ''RE5,'' 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 similar governments have done so before.

** 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.

** 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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* 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 From 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.

* 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.

* The Yevon symbol (a stylized angel) is everywhere in ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'', along with a [[Leitmotif]]. In fact, the Yevon symbol is on the final boss.

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* One criticism of [[Conspiracy Theorist|conspiracy theories]] is that most of them seem to assume that the conspiracy is more concerned with scattering symbols that point to their existence than they are with actually controlling the world.

** [http://www.cracked.com/article_18761_6-real-world-da-vinci-codes-that-arent-full-crap_p2.html And yet...]

* 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.

* 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|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.

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** Three words, [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 where 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]].

** 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.

* [[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.

** Likewise, many '80s ~~microcomputers -- such~~ as Commodore's, Apple's, and Atari's -- had similarly branded keys with various functions. Apple eventually replaced theirs with a symbol that looks like a cloverleaf. (The others just all stopped making computers.)

** Likewise, many '80s microcomputers—such as Commodore's, Apple's, and Atari's -- had similarly branded keys with various functions. Apple eventually replaced theirs with a symbol that looks like a cloverleaf. (The others just all stopped making computers.)

** BlackBerry has a variant.

* This is how the ubiquity of the American flag in the US feels like to foreign visitors.