Number of the Beast: Difference between revisions

[[File:lemmings_666lemmings 666.jpg|link=Lemmings|frame|[[Sarcasm Mode|Geez, I wonder how many levels you should beat before this one.]] [[Completely Missing the Point|665, perhaps?]]]]

You know what this is. Six hundred sixty six, the [['''Number of the Beast]]''', first mentioned in the ''[[Book of Revelation]]'' in [[The Bible]], making this [[Older Than Feudalism]]. Sometimes used for that extra symbolism everyone loves, but it's usually used because it's [[Rule of Cool|a nifty keen]] way to show that [[Mark of the Beast|something is eeeevil]].

The actual number, however, is a subject of debate among theologians and historians: many say the number is actually 616, as some of the older Latin copies of Revelation list it as that rather than 666; all the Greek ones list it as 666, and most probably the name it indicated had a different sum according to their numerological schemes in different alphabets. However, 666 is so much better known that if you try to go with 616 instead it will likely [[Viewers Are Geniuses|fly over the heads of most readers and viewers]]. Note that either way, it is the value six hundred and sixty six or six hundred and sixteen, not just three sixes in a row (I'm looking at you, June 6th6, 2006). In fact, back then it would have been written χξϛ/χιϛ (chi - xi - sigma / chi - iota - sigma) in Greek and the guy who wrote ''Revelation'' would totally not get the stuff about three sixes in a row.

* In one Japanese ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]!'' episode, we see a card with 666 ATK and 666 DEF points. The US version [[Bowdlerise|Bowdlerised]]d it to 1000/1000.<ref>In the real-life game, the Attack and Defense stats for nearly all cards are some multiple of 50, before modifiers. Except the two cards Castle of Dark Illusions, which is 920 ATK/1930 DEF, and Reaper of the Cards, with 1380 ATK/1920 DEF. There are three others that break the "multiples of 50" rule, King of Yamimakai (2000 ATK, 1530 DEF), Barox (1380 ATK, 1530 DEF), and Dark Chimera (1610 ATK, 1460 DEF). It probably was no coincidence that all of these monsters were used in one duel, one before the rules for the [[Real Life]] version of the game came out, implying that they may have been planning to break that standard increments pattern further.</ref>

* The ''[[Gundam]]'' franchise has two [[Humongous Mecha]] with 666 in their model numbers, the ZGMF-X666S Legend Gundam from ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' and the NZ-666 Kshatriya from ''[[Gundam Unicorn]]''. With the Kshatriya it actually makes sense,<ref>It's a descendant of ''[[Gundam ZZ]]'''s NZ-000 Queen Mansa and ''[[Chars Counterattack]]'''s NZ-333 Alpha Azieru</ref>, but for Legend there's really no excuse other than [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|implying that the pilot is evil]].

* In the opening pages of the manga ''[[Biomega]]'', we see the protagonist driving along an abandoned bridge...going 666 &nbsp;km/h, of course.

* [[Green Lantern|Green Lanterns]]s were forbidden from going to the world Ryut, where all life was obliterated by a [[AI Is a Crapshoot|Manhunter]] atrocity in the distant past. When [[The Obi-Wan|Abin Sur]] crash lands there, he uncovers the prophecy of the [[Zombie Apocalypse|Blackest Night]], and the [[Eldritch Abomination|Anti-Monitor]] is turned into the Black Power Battery there. Earth is sector 2814 -- anyone2814—anyone wanna guess what sector Ryut is?

* The first ''[[Silent Hill]]'' comic, ''Dying Inside'', mentioned and invoked this trope, when the main character declared a door code to be her own personal [[Number of the Beast]]. She had issues.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the atmosphere readings of "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit" are 66.6, the gravitational field is "6^6 every 6 seconds", and the name of the base, "SB6" is seen gradually melting into "666". The two-part episode was episode was even aired over the week of 6th6 June 2006, or 6/6/06. Also, the Ood go to work to the sound of Ravel's Bolero, which Torvill And Dean famously skated to in the 1984 Winter Olympics -- andOlympics—and received perfect 6s for artistic impression.

** Another ''[[Doctor Who]]'' example: the coordinates for The Void -- theVoid—the Whoniverse equivalent to Hell -- areHell—are all sixes, as seen in "Doomsday".

** Also before they join they have to go through the 666 Rites Of The Emperor, which can be described as 666 [[Mind Rape|Mind Rapes]]s.

* In ''[[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]]'', Death is level 66, the vampire Olrox and the Succubus have 666 HP, and the Malachi (which was ''supposed'' to be called [[Cthulhu Mythos]]]]) and the Fire Demon gives 666 experience points.

** The reference is even more direct. Look real close at "Nrvnqsr" -- it—it's a variant of "Nero Caesar" as discussed above!

* The original ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]'' features a powerup called the [[Invincibility Power-Up|Pentagram of Protection]], which puts a red 666 on your armor counter, although that's just for symbolic and aesthetic purposes -- yourpurposes—your health will not go down while this powerup is active, and anything that tries to spawn at your position will be reverse telefragged. Note that your armor will still take damage if you have any on.

* The page image is from ''[[Lemmings]]''. It's not even close to being a [[Scrappy Level|level from hell]], though -- actuallythough—actually more of a [[Breather Level]].

** Several ports of the game replace "All the 6s" with a completely new level -- whetherlevel—whether because of the [[Number of the Beast]] reference or just because it's the ultimate [[Breather Level]] is difficult to say.

* In the [[Woolseyism|English version]] of ''[[Snatcher]]'', the date of "[[After the End|the Catastrophe]]" was moved from June 6th6, 1991 (6/6/1991) to June 6th, 1996 (6/6/1996).

* The author of ''[[Sequential_Art_Sequential Art (webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'' would like to point out that he's much too mature and classy to include some arbitary and random occult references in his [http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=666 666-th strip].

* In v4 ''[[Open Blue]]'', the date of the foundation of the [[The Federation|Axifloan Coalition]] is June 6th6, 1666. In v5, that day is when Princess Elizabeth of Avelia is assassinated, prompting the three largest members of the Coalition to secede and declare war on one another. Most people in-universe consider it the day the Coalition ended (even though it still exists if weakened).

** The comic strip had a similar joke about Santa Claus. Huey evidently went through several possible "proofs" before landing on the fact that the date of Santa's annual errand, December 24th24, adds up to 36 when expressed numerically. [[Insane Troll Logic|36 = 3 6's!]]

** The scholarly theory is that Revelation is written as "prophetic allegory" -- writing—writing a prophesy-style piece as social commentary on then-present conditions. Relatedly, there are those that believe the code stands for Gaius Caesar (which can also add up to 616) instead. Most scholars find that it's hairsplitting, however: Nero is the [[Trope Namer]] for [[While Rome Burns]], and Gaius is better known by his nickname, [[The Caligula|Caligula]].

* There's another theory that this was just a way to express "a large number" in roman numerals -- eithernumerals—either DCLXVI or DCXVI, one each of several Roman numerals. Of course, this doesn't lend itself to numerologists, conspiracy theorists, televangelists or other lunatics.

* The P.O. Box address for This Is True -- whoTrue—who also has Get Out Of Hell Free cards to keep up -- isup—is 666. According to the owner, he had had box number 668 for a while, then noticed 666 was free. When he inquired about it, he learned it was not to be offered to avoid people being offended. Since he specifically asked for the number, though, the post office figured it safe to give him the box.

* A problem for Intel; back in the 1990s -- when1990s—when computers were still running at the megahertz level -- thelevel—the company would release speed increases every 33MHz33&nbsp;MHz (for example, all of their 400MHz400&nbsp;MHz-range processors would be rated for speeds clocked at 400, 433 and 466 megahertz). The number combination they would hit when they reached the 600MHz600&nbsp;MHz range was therefore [[Captain Obvious|fairly obvious]]. When the long anticipated processor hit the market however, it was clocked not at 666MHz666&nbsp;MHz, but rather 667MHz667&nbsp;MHz. AMD also followed suit with this convention, and all subsequent processors in the hundreds of megahertz used the "number-6-7" convention.

* The first [[Apple Macintosh|Apple]] computer ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the Apple I]]) went on sale in July 1976 at the price of $666.66. This was due mostly to a collection of mundane coincidences: Steve Jobs setting the price at $500 (plus a 1/3rd markup), because Steve Wozniak "liked repeating digits" and both Steves' general ignorance of the significance of the number.<ref> This was before the Internet.</ref>.