Western Zodiac: Difference between revisions

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"What's your sign?" is among the most notorious (and least effective) pick-up lines. "Sign" in this case means "star sign," a way of guessing a person's personality by their date of birth.

* [[wikipedia:Aries %28astrology%29(astrology)|Aries]], the Ram (March 21-April 19): Cardinal Fire. Playful, impulsive, tactless, dynamic. Ruling planet: Mars

* [[wikipedia:Taurus %28astrology%29(astrology)|Taurus]], the Bull (April 20-May 20): Fixed Earth. Practical, artistic, stubborn, luxury-loving. Ruling planet: Venus (until further notice)

* [[wikipedia:Gemini %28astrology%29(astrology)|Gemini]], the Twins (May 21-June 20): Mutable Air. Intelligent, versatile, "silver tongued devil," communicative. Ruling planet: Mercury

* [[wikipedia:Cancer %28astrology%29(astrology)|Cancer]], the Crab (June 21-July 22): Cardinal Water. Family-oriented, sensitive, cranky, tenacious. Ruling planet : The Moon

* [[wikipedia:Leo %28astrology%29(astrology)|Leo]], the Lion (July 23-August 22): Fixed Fire. Dramatic, courageous, arrogant, charismatic. Ruling planet: The Sun

* [[wikipedia:Virgo %28astrology%29(astrology)|Virgo]], the Virgin (August 23-September 22): Mutable Earth. Level-headed, service-oriented, obsessive over detail, intelligent. Ruling planet: Mercury (until further notice)

* [[wikipedia:Libra %28astrology%29(astrology)|Libra]], the Scales (September 23-October 22): Cardinal Air. Charming, diplomatic, vacillating, appreciates beauty. Ruling planet: Venus

* [[wikipedia:Scorpio %28astrology%29(astrology)|Scorpio]], the Scorpion (October 23-November 21): Fixed Water. Loyal, passionate, grudge-bearing, good detective skills. Ruling planet: Pluto, classically Mars.

* [[wikipedia:Ophiuchus %28astrology%29(astrology)|Ophiuchus/Serpentarius]], the Serpent Holder/Doctor (not an actual astrological sign (although sometimes used as such); omitted from most versions of the Zodiac)

* [[wikipedia:Sagittarius %28astrology%29(astrology)|Sagittarius]], the Archer/Centaur (November 22-December 21): Mutable fire. Freedom loving, wise, feckless, adventurous. Ruling planet: Jupiter

* [[wikipedia:Capricorn %28astrology%29(astrology)|Capricorn]], the Goat (December 22 - January 20): Cardinal Earth. Ambitious, hard working, cold, reliable. Ruling planet: Saturn

* [[wikipedia:Aquarius %28astrology%29(astrology)|Aquarius]], the Water Carrier (January 21-February 19): Fixed Air. Progressive, friendly, aloof, idealistic. Ruling planet: Uranus, classically Saturn

* [[wikipedia:Pisces %28astrology%29(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. In(this fact,is the commonlysame usedreason dateswe forneed theleap signsyears; don'ttime actuallyof lineday upalso withmatters the(but constellationssee they"cuspal" werebelow)). originallyThe basedsigns onalso anydo morenot line up with the constellations (and haven't for about 2000 years). Also, the course of the sun now 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 12the 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|Cloudcuckoolanders]]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.

* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', of course -- eachcourse—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.

* The OZ-made [[Humongous Mecha|mobile suits]] in ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' and its spinoffs use the Western Zodiac as part of their [[Theme Naming]], though the name is usually only significant in rare cases (Cancer and Pisces are amphibious models; Virgo is [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|automated]], hence "virgin"; Scorpio has a scorpion-shaped flight mode; Geminass is a pair of twin Gundams).

* The girls of ''[[Sister Princess (Light Novel)|Sister Princess]]'' are each born under one of the signs.

* Two words: ''[[Saint Seiya]]''. A wonderfully [[Camp]] [[Shounen]] [[Anime]], which had constellation-themed warriors who loved to [[Calling Your Attacks|call their attacks]], including the 12 Gold Knights for each of the Zodiac constellations, who the main characters had to fight. See its [[Saint Seiya (Manga)/Characters|Character Sheet]] for more information.

* In ''Naruto'' Kakashi Hatake's September 15th15 birthday makes him is a typical Virgo (August 23 - September 22). Virgo's Strengths: Perfectionist, Practical, Loyalty, Modesty, and Introspective. Virgo's Weaknesses: Hyper-critical, Seemingly cold on the outside, and Moody on the inside (Virgos are described as "still waters that run deep").

** During the events of "Kakashi Gaiden," it is shown that he was an introverted, cold, taciturn, and perfectionist student.

** In ''Naruto'' Nagato's/Pain's September 19th19 birthday makes him a typical Virgo (August 23 - September 22). There's also Shikamaru, a calm, introverted, analytical and slightly grumpy genius.

* ''[[Iron Man (Animeanime)|Iron Man]]'' had Zodiac themes for each [[Monster of the Week]].

* [[Sket Dance]] has a bit of fun with Astrology, as well. Sometimes it happens that a character is shown reading their horoscope, and the three protagonists represent (coincidence?) the three Water signs (Bossun is a Scorpio, Himeko is a Cancer and Switch is Pisces).

* And of course, [[Zodiac PIP.I.]] revolves around a detective using spirits of the zodiac signs of murder victims to help solve her cases

== ComicsComic Books ==

* [[Harry Potter]] ([[The Hero]]) and his feisty, red-headed love interest Ginny Weasley are both Leos. Hermione is a Virgo and Ron is a Pisces, making them opposite signs. Somewhat [[Lampshaded]] by the fact that they are all in Gryffindor House (which selects the most brave students), whose emblem is a lion.

* [[James Bond]], Agent 007, is a Scorpio (November 11). This is an appropriate sign for him, since good detective skills are one of its key characteristics.

* In the beginning of ''[[Good Omens (Literature)|Good Omens]]'', there's a (very accurate) horoscope prediction for the earth, which is a Libra

* Parodied in ''[[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]]''. Astrologers have to work a lot harder there because the constellations are constantly changing as the world turtle swims through the stars. At one point a wizard tries to find Rincewind by casting his exact horoscope--Rincewindhoroscope—Rincewind's birth sign is "The Small Boring Group of Faint Stars".

* [[Sherlock Holmes]], according to [[Fanon]], is a Capricorn -- heCapricorn—he was born on Twelfth Night (January 6). Capricorn is not particularly known for detective skills, but he’s got the tireless work ethic and perseverance that this sign encompasses.

* The [[Monster of the Week|Zodiarts]] of ''[[Kamen Rider Fourze (TV)|Kamen Rider Fourze]]'' are themed around constellations, with the [[Big Bad Ensemble]] being based upon the Zodiac.

* The [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] song ''Your Horoscope For Today'' makes fun of bad horoscopes.

{{quote| ''Sagittarius: All your friends are laughing behind your back...<br />

(...'''kill them'''...)<br />

Take down all those naked pictures of Earnest[[Ernest Borgnine<br />]]

you've got hanging in your den<br />

Capricorn: The stars say that you're an exciting and wonderful person<br />

but you know they're lying<br />

If I were you, [[[[Hikikomori]] |I'd lock my doors and windows<br />

and never, never, never, never, never leave my house again.'']]'' }}

== RealRecorded Lifeand Stand-up Comedy ==

{{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.''"}}

* A Zodiac villain team similar to that in Marvel Comics appeared in a supplement for ''[[Champions]]''.

* The game ''[[Tabletop GamesNephilim]] ''Nephilim'' had a whole [[Splat]] of characters classified by the 13 Zodiac signs (with The Serpent added to the more typical 12, something Final Fantasy Tactics also did). Because the game's setting works with 7 elements (the usual four, plus Moon, Sun and Orichalcum), the elements' association of the signs went under a bit of rework.

* ''[[Werewolf: The Apocalypse (Tabletop Game)|Werewolf: The Apocalypse]]'' sourcebook, "''Rage Across the Heavens"'' deals with astrology according to Garou spirituality. Each of the 13 remaining "good" tribes has a sign that corresponds to an astral body in the solar system, which also corresponds to the Zodiac. As such, a Garou's chart would include the sign she's born under as well as the sign of her tribe. A side bar in the book mentions how the [[Eastern Zodiac]] fits in with this, for Asian Garou who would rather use that than the western system. Oh in case you're wondering, the 13th sign, Zorg the Many-Taloned Hunter (represented by the Astroid Belt) doesn't correspond to any Zodiac; his followers besides the feral Red Talons (his tribe) join him by choice rather than the accident of birth.

* According to the ''[[Horus Heresy]]'' novel 'Horus Rising' all of the Primarchs correspongcorrespond to one of the _twenty_''twenty'' signs of the Zodiac. Guess there are a couple more months in the year in ''[[Warhammer 40 K,000]]''. Unfortunately, it doesn't say what the other signs are, but Horus himself is a Sagittarius. That must have been [[Heel Face Turn|one heck of an interesting horoscope]].

* 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.

* The "Age of Aquarius" is also referred in a song of the same name, in the musical ''[[Hair. (theatre)|Hair]]''.

* The various ''[[Final Fantasy (Franchise)|Final Fantasy]]'' games typically provide birthdates for the main cast in the [[All There in the Manual|supplementary material]]. These dates are at least occasionally chosen with the associated sun sign in mind.

** A notable example is ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'''s Squall Leonhart, whose August 23rd23 birthday, makes him a Virgo (August 23 - September 22). Squall is described as an introverted, cold, and taciturn teenager (which are Virgo traits). He resents assuming leadership, (another Virgo trait...Virgos prefer to serve rather than lead), nevertheless he is the first to ensure that what is necessary gets done (Virgos are perfectionists, practical, loyal, and dutiful).

* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics (Video Game)|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 -- sameaway—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 -- differentaway—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 -- ifgenders—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|MacGuffins]]s called the Zodiac Stones as a central part of the plot.

* Although certainly not pivotal to the plot, in the original ''[[Gabriel Knight (Video Game)|Gabriel Knight]]'' game, Gabe reads his horoscope almost every day of the 10 day period, and it's always eerily accurate to what he's going through. At the end of the game, on day 10, when he reads his incredibly doomy-sounding horoscope, he remarks, "There's a schoolteacher somewhere who's really confused."

* ''[[Mega Man Star Force (Video Game)|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 (Videovideo Gamegame)|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|Raising Sims]]s, your child's birthdate will affect his or her initial stats and personality (unless [[Personality Blood Types]] are in play).

* ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|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.

{{quote| ''"Their future was uncertain, but {{spoiler|Scorpio}} and Virgo kissed in the light of dusk. That moment meant everything."''}}

* ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' has 13 espers in accordance with the thirteen signs of the western zodiac. They are:

* 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 ''[[Refle XRefleX]]'' 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:

* [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 (Webcomic)|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.

** However, since the [[All Trolls Are Different|Trolls are all aliens]], all the connections between their names, symbols, and character traits are ''completely coincidental'' because they have no knowledge of the [[Western Zodiac]] on Earth. {{spoiler|But when they create the universe that Earth is in by completing their session, they also ''create'' the constellations of the Zodiac, and thus the astrology itself. They're not patterned after the Zodiac, the Zodiac is ''patterned after them.''}}

* ''[[Zodiac (Webcomicwebcomic)|Zodiac]]'' features a team of [[Loads and Loads of Characters|twelve]] superpowered individuals (okay...''nine'' superpowered individuals plus [[Badass Normal|three]] [[Gun Fu|normal]] [[Teen Genius|people]]) codenamed by a Zodiac motif (i.e., there's one person called Aries, one called Gemini, ect). It seems that none of them were given their aliases ''by accident'' - all of their birthdays coincide with the sign they are named after. The reason for this isn't clear yet, but definitely set up in-universe.