Western Zodiac: Difference between revisions
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* [[wikipedia:Pisces (astrology)|Pisces]], the Fish (February 20-March 20): Mutable Water. Poetic, dreamy, irresponsible, mysterious. Ruling planet: Neptune, classically Jupiter
The dates listed are approximate - they change slightly from year to year (this is the same reason we need leap years; time of day also matters (but see "cuspal" below)). The signs also do not line up with the constellations (and haven't for about 2000 years). Also, the course of the sun passes through 13 constellations, of varying sizes (they aren't all equal). Astrological signs are units of angular measurement (each one is exactly 30 degrees) of ecliptic longitude, where 0 Aries is at the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, and are not the same as the constellations with the same name. The Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn correspond to astrological signs, not constellations.
If a character refers to themselves as "cuspal," it means they were born within the last few days of one sign or the first few days of the next. Someone born on the 18th of February for example, is a cuspal Aquarius/Pisces. This is popular for characters with some kind of duality in their nature. Even if you are cuspal, your sun sign will be one or the other, not both (it is based on ecliptic longitude).
Characters almost invariably match the star sign they're born under. There's also a trend regarding which type of character falls under which sign. The gallant hero is nearly always a Leo. [[The Lancer]] is usually an Aries. Female love interests are often Pisces. [[Cloudcuckoolander]]s tend to be poster children for Aquarius. Of all the signs, Scorpio gets the roughest deal. Its connections to the "dark side" of life make it de facto sign for villains and highly unsuitable love interests. Some signs are almost unheard of in TV and books - few characters claim to be Libras or Capricorns, for example. This trend holds true even when the Zodiac reference is just the character's profile information.
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See Also: [[Eastern Zodiac]], [[Animal Motifs]]
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', of course—each Scout/Senshi had a sun sign that matched up with their planet as well as their personality. The [[Eastern Zodiac]] is used as well; the Western symbol corresponds to their personality, and the Eastern with their abilities, basically.
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==
* The [[Marvel Universe]] has a recurring supervillain gang named the Zodiac, composed in its original form of members born under the sign corresponding to their villainous identities. In a 1976 coloring book, "Spiderman Zaps Mr. Zodiac", one Mr. Zodiac has the power to turn into all the of the Zodiac Signs, including Libra, a giant set of scales, and [[Gender Bender|Virgo]], who dates Peter Parker.
* DC's recent Final Crisis storyline involved a character named Libra who unified the bad guys under Darkseid; they actually managed to conquer the world for a few weeks(?) before the good guys inevitably made a comeback. Libra's MO was, of course, to "balance the scales" in favor of the villains.
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{{quote|''Sagittarius: All your friends are laughing behind your back...
(...'''kill them'''...)
Take down all those naked pictures of
you've got hanging in your den
Capricorn: The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person
but you know they're lying
If I were you, [[Hikikomori
and never, never, never, never, never leave my house again.]]'' }}
==
* While Aquarius isn't a popular choice for characters, it's certainly popular as a general theme. The "Age of Aquarius" refers to a time period starting roughly in the mid-to-late 20th century that will last for the next two millenia. This is popular in works influenced by the hippie culture of the '60s.▼
** Well, sort of, anyway—dates given for the start of the Aquarian Age (each age lasting 2150 years) range from AD 1447 to 3597. (See [[wikipedia:Age of Aquarius|the other wiki's article]].)▼
* Todd Barry was asked by a woman in a bar his sign (he's an Aries) and immediately started picking apart her analysis of his personality.
{{quote|"'Oh, I know all about you man, I know all about the Aries, you're stubborn!' Actually I'm not that stubborn. 'You're crazy competitive, into sports!' I hate sports. 'You are a workaholic.' Wow, you're not even close on that one. Then she says, 'Well, you're probably not even an Aries then.' Yeah, I was thinking astrology is a load of shit, but it's more likely that ''I don't know my own birthday.''"}}
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== Tabletop Games ==
* A Zodiac villain team similar to that in Marvel Comics appeared in a supplement for ''[[Champions]]''.
* The game ''[[
* ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'' sourcebook
* According to the ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' novel 'Horus Rising' all of the Primarchs
* The time-travel RPG ''[[Continuum (game)|Continuum]]'' marks off deep time in astrological ages, with the Age of Aquarius as the upcoming rise of the Inheritors.
== Theater ==
* The "Age of Aquarius" is also referred in a song of the same name, in the musical ''[[Hair
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*** Squall can also be technically described as a Virgo/Leo cusp (A true Virgo but with some Leo traits/quirks), since his birthday borders Leo. This makes some sense due his [[Animal Motifs|lion motif]].
*** Squall's love interest is Rinoa Heartily, a Pisces (Squall is a Virgo). This makes a lot of sense, since according to the Zodiacal Wheel, signs opposite of each other attract strongly. "There are many Pisces and Virgo couples, testament to the fact that opposites attract. They are directly opposite each other on the Zodiacal wheel, but both are mutable (adaptable), able to 'go with the flow.' Pisces likes to dreamily let their imagination take the lead. Virgo likes to be precise and has two feet firmly in this world, but is constantly refining their body, routine, skills, etc. The industrious Virgo can be an anchoring presence for Pisces, who often has a hard time with discipline. Pisces helps Virgo soften emotionally, and put trials in a spiritual perspective. When a Virgo and Pisces two meet, there is an instant curiosity and sexual attraction. Pisces will see Virgo as a dream lover and will make every effort to hold onto the sexy and smart Virgo. Virgo will see social and sexual adventures in Pisces and will always leave Pisces wanting more. Love will blossom over time to the point of possible marriage."
** ''[[Final Fantasy XII]]'' has 12 character classes, each corrosponding to one sign. The 2017 relaunch is even subtitled ''The Zodiac Age''.
* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'' gave every character, generic and specific alike, a Zodiac sign. The relationships between the signs, usually ignored in most usages of the Western Zodiac in pop culture, were actually integrated into the strategy in this case. "Trines" (one-third away—same element, different modality), known for causing positive relationships, caused the two units to be more effective against each other, for good or for ill. "Squares" (one-quarter away—different element, same modality), known for being obstructive, resulted in the units being less effective against each other in both positive and negative ways. "Oppositions" (which should be obvious) had effects dependent on the characters' genders—if they were of the opposite gender, they would be most effective against each other because [[Opposites Attract]], while if they were the same gender they would be least effective instead. The 13th sign, Serpentarius, is neutral to the other twelve signs, but only one character in the entire game has it. ''FFT'' also took this a step further, and used [[Gotta Catch Them All]] [[MacGuffin]]s called the Zodiac Stones as a central part of the plot.
** Not to belabor the point, but this also helps in [[Shipping]]: since you get to decide what [[Player Character]] Ramza Beoulve's birthday is, you can set him up with (or against) anyone you want.
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* In ''[[The Sims]] 2'', zodiac signs are representations of specific combinations of personality points, and are unrelated to when a character is "born", since there are no dates, as such. When the chemistry feature was introduced, compatible signs contributed to higher chemistry, which makes it easier to unlock new social interactions. (Whether the personality-point combinations actually ''matched'' the zodiac sign they were supposed to is [[Fan Wank|something you should argue about elsewhere]].)
* ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' uses the following Western Zodiac signs in the series, Aries/Capricorn=Kung Foo Kid, Taurus=Taurus Fire, Gemini=Gemini Spark, Cancer=Cancer Bubble, Leo=Fire Leo (not that [[Viewtiful Joe|Fire Leo]] this one is one of three [[Super Mode|a powerup]] that Mega Man Geo-Omega can receive in the first game, Virgo=Queen Virgo, Libra=Libra Scales, Ophiuchus/Serpentarius=Queen Ophiuca. In addition, the [[No Export for You|Chinese-only game]] ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Rockman Strategy]]'' features zodiac-themed bosses.
* In the ''[[Purple Moon]]'' computer games, just about every named character gives their sign in their personal information, and many of them are very interested in it (then again, they are thirteen-year-old girls, who do obsess over these things). Ginger has a whole monologue about being born on a cusp, and the CSG group only accepts Sagittarius girls as members.
* In most [[Raising Sim]]s, your child's birthdate will affect his or her initial stats and personality (unless [[Personality Blood Types]] are in play).
* ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' featured a Zodiac-themed [[Sidequest]], which required collecting Stellazzio coins for the amusement of Queen Stella. Collect all twelve and the engravings on them form a love story about who captured the heart of Virgo; suggest the existence of a 13th coin (Ophiuchus) and you'll be tasked with following the clues on each coin (a series of directions) to conclude the story. They point to the location of one of the previous coins, where the Ophiuchus is found with the final engraving.
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*** It should also be mentioned that the player can collect gems (loot, steal, etc.) that are also stones fashioned after the thirteen zodiac
* In ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'', the Craggy Peak Ruins house what amounts to a Zodiac temple, with each sign having its own related puzzle chamber that must be completed to move forward (though they give generic names rather than the proper Zodiac ones; the lion, the twins, the maiden, etc). I don't know if there's any symbolism to the completion order, but here it is: Leo and Aquarius are open to begin with. Completing Aquarius opens the Gemini puzzle. By the time those three are done, Virgo and Libra are open. Those open Aries and Pisces, then comes Cancer and Scorpio, then Taurus and Capricorn, then finally the Sagittarius puzzle opens the way forward.
* All the bosses in ''[[RefleX]]'' except Sctutum and Entropy are named after these. {{spoiler|Including the hidden 13th zodiac}}.
* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' series has its own Zodiac, based off the Western one. In ''Morrowind'' and ''Oblivion'' the player may choose one of the signs as his birthsign in beginning of the game, while in ''Skyrim'' the player may find one of the stones, representing each sign. The signs and their months are:
** Morning Star - The Ritual
** Sun's Dawn - The Lover
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** Evening Star - The Thief
** 13th Sign - The Serpent
== Webcomics ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523062357/http://www.calamitiesofnature.com/archive/?c=354 ''Calamities of Nature'' provides the perfect response] to the notorious pick-up line "what's your sign?"
* Being as he lives on Earth (specifically, in Canada), ''[[Insecticomics]]''{{'}} Thrust follows the Western zodiac in his astrology rather than some Cybertronian variant. His reasons for using the one in the newspaper, however, are unknown.
* In ''[[Homestuck]]'', each of the twelve Trolls take their handles from a symbol of the Western Zodiac. For example, "carcinoGeneticist" for Cancer. Their actual names are also based on their sign (for example, Tavros is derived from Taurus), and use the symbol of their zodiac sign as their associated symbol.
** A lot of the trolls' various quirks and interests (although not necessarily their personalities) are also related in some fashion to their representative sign. For example, Sollux (Gemini) is obsessed with bifurcation and duality, Equius (Sagittarius) has a thing for [[But You Screw One Goat!|horses]] and archery. Even their guardian lusii follow the motif. However, the Trolls are based off of the stereotypes of the Zodiac constellation icons ''themselves'' rather than the Zodiac characterizations. There's also a persistent [[Epileptic Trees|theory of a thirteenth troll]] representing [[wikipedia:Ophiuchus|Ophiuchus.]] Which may or may not have been confirmed with the introduction of the character signified by the rod of Asclepius/Caduceus.
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* Sylvia Anderson, wife of Gerry Anderson and co-creator of ''[[Thunderbirds]]'', assigned birthdays to the various characters on the show based on their personality characteristics, to bring them in line with the appropriate signs.
* Cancer: sensitive, cranky, tenacious, looks out for his/her family? Yeah, that pretty much sums up [[Phineas and Ferb|Candace Flynn]] (July 11).
== Real Life ==
▲* While Aquarius isn't a popular choice for characters, it's certainly popular as a general theme. The "Age of Aquarius" refers to a time period starting roughly in the mid-to-late 20th century that will last for the next two
▲** Well, sort of, anyway—dates given for the start of the Aquarian Age (each age lasting 2150 years) range from AD 1447 to 3597. (See [[wikipedia:Age of Aquarius|the other wiki's article]].)
{{reflist}}
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