History Main / NumerologicalMotif

'''21''' - Being 7×3, 21 is almost ''always'' considered an auspicious number. It is also a number of full adulthood in some cultures where children stay at home longer (such as the U.S.), the number of [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards Major Arcana of the Tarot]] (minus the zeroth one, TheFool), and the best hand in Blackjack. It is very popular in fiction for marking out random figures, as a longer number that has positive connotations and is easy to remember, e.g. [[SherlockHolmes 221b Baker Street]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture 1.21 Gigawatts]], ''21 Jump Street''.

'''9''' - 9 is the apex of the single digits, and thus the apex of worldly power. Appearances of this are usually sources of great power, since it's essentially a trio of {{Power Trio}}s. Very big in Myth/NorseMythology, which may be why Tolkien, fan of the Vikings that he was, made [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings 9 Ringwraiths]] (and 9 Walkers). The magic square of numbers 1 through 9 is sometimes an important symbol. Also, there are 9 orders of angels in Judaeo-Christian theology, and 9 layers of Heaven and Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy. There are also 9 {{Character Alignment}}s in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' and many of its imitators.

|| '''4''' || FourTemperamentEnsemble, FourPhilosophyEnsemble, FourGirlEnsemble, FourElementEnsemble || || TheFourLoves || FourIsDeath, TheFourGods, FourPointScale ||

|| '''2''' || ThoseTwoGuys, HeterosexualLifePartners, NameAndName || GunsAkimbo, DualWielding, BifurcatedWeapon, DoubleWeapon || ChainedHeat, PairTheSpares || CrossesTheLineTwice ||
|| '''3''' || PowerTrio, ComicTrio, TokenTrio || MeleeATrois || LoveTriangle, TriangRelations || RuleOfThree, Administrivia/ThreeRulesOfThree ||
|| '''4''' || FourTemperamentEnsemble, FourGirlEnsemble || || TheFourLoves || FourIsDeath, TheFourGods, FourPointScale ||
|| '''5''' || FiveManBand, FiveTokenBand || FiveRoundsRapid, ElementNumberFive || FiveStagesOfGrief ||DefconFive, FiveStagesOfGrief, FiveFiveFive, UsefulNotes/BigFivePersonalityTraits ||

|| '''5''' || FiveManBand, FiveRaces, FiveTokenBand || FiveRoundsRapid, ElementNumberFive || FiveStagesOfGrief ||DefconFive, FiveStagesOfGrief, FiveFiveFive, UsefulNotes/BigFivePersonalityTraits ||

13 may also indicate a change in circumstances. The 13th member of a group of people may change them or bring them closer to some goal. (e.g. Roxas in the Franchise/KingdomHearts series.) This is likely due to the meaning of the Death card in the Tarot, which is card number 13. Note: Misinterpretation of this meaning may also lead to 13 bringing about death. (e.g. in ''Series/DoctorWho'', The Doctor only has 12 regenerations.)

|| '''?''' || IAmLegion || InfinityPlusOneSword || LoveDodecahedron || OneHundredAndEight, ExtyYearsFromNow, MillionToOneChance, ReadingsAreOffTheScale ||

'''OneHundredAndEight''' - see the entry.

'''187''' - Slang for murder in GangstaRap, since Section 187 of the California Penal Code defines the crime of murder.

|| '''6''' || SixStudentClique, SixthRanger, SixthRangerTraitor || || || NumberOfTheBeast ||

'''[[TwentyThree 23]]''' - FNORD.

'''{{420|BlazeIt}}''' - Associated with cannabis.

'''420''' - Associated with cannabis.

'''57''' - Students of Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' have contended that this otherwise unremarkable number occurs more frequently than you might expect and is, in a Discworld context, an ArcNumber.

'''69''' - [[LOL69 Beloved by dirty-minded middle schoolers everywhere.]]

''Disney/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians'', ''[[Literature/ArabianNights A Thousand And One Nights]]'', MillionToOneChance, etc. AYearAndADay has the same role.

'''2''' - 2 represents duality - and thus, it stands in for The Villain. Sometimes, it's rather blatant (such as Two-Face in Batman), but other times it's more subtle. 2 is the prime source of moments where the villain says that he and the hero are NotSoDifferent. Also, because 2 identical people represent the loss of individuality, 2 also pops up as CreepyTwins. Internally, a hero divided in 2 may have any number of varieties of an EnemyWithin.

'''4''' - 4 actually has different meanings in different parts of the world. In European traditions, 4 represented the physical world, and the 4 elements that made up everything (fire, water, earth, and air). They also corresponded with the 4 cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west), and thus represent a grounding in reality and are generally positive. In Christian traditions, the number 4 symbolises the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and is negative. In Asia, they'll often omit the number because the Chinese word is similar to the word for '[[FourIsDeath death]]'. Classically-based ElementalPowers use this pattern. See also FourTemperamentEnsemble.

-> ''"At least the World will end, an event anticipated with great joy by many. It will end very soon, but not in the year 2000, which has come and gone. From that I conclude that {{God}} Almighty is not heavily into Numerology."''

'''4''' - 4 actually has different meanings in different parts of the world. In European traditions, 4 represented the physical world, and the 4 elements that made up everything (fire, water, earth, and air). They also corresponded with the 4 cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west), and thus represent a grounding in reality and are generally positive. In Christian traditions, the number 4 symbolises the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and [[CaptainObvious is negative]]. In Asia, they'll often omit the number because the Chinese word is similar to the word for '[[FourIsDeath death]]'. Classically-based ElementalPowers use this pattern. See also FourTemperamentEnsemble.

'''69''' - Beloved by dirty-minded middle schoolers everywhere.

|| '''5''' || FiveManBand, FiveBadBand, FiveRaces, FiveTokenBand || FiveRoundsRapid, ElementNumberFive || FiveStagesOfGrief ||DefconFive, FiveStagesOfGrief, FiveFiveFive, UsefulNotes/BigFivePersonalityTraits ||

'''21''' - Being 7×3, 21 is almost ''always'' considered an auspicious number. It is also a number of full adulthood in some cultures where children stay at home longer (such as the U.S.), the number of [[UsefulNotes/TarotCards Major Arcanas of the Tarot]] (minus the zeroth one, TheFool), and the best hand in Blackjack. It is very popular in fiction for marking out random figures, as a longer number that has positive connotations and is easy to remember, e.g. [[SherlockHolmes 221b Baker Street]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture 1.21 Gigawatts]], ''21 Jump Street''.

'''21''' - Being 7×3, 21 is almost ''always'' considered an auspicious number. It is also a number of full adulthood in some cultures where children stay at home longer (such as the U.S.), and the best hand in Blackjack. It is very popular in fiction for marking out random figures, as a longer number that has positive connotations and is easy to remember, e.g. [[SherlockHolmes 221b Baker Street]], [[Film/BackToTheFuture 1.21 Gigawatts]], ''21 Jump Street''.

In computing, bits (a single digit in base 2, or binary) are collected in groups of 8 to form bytes (which can represent a number between 0-255 in base 10; the "normal" number system), and larger units of memory are made up from whole bytes. This is why the 8-bit systems were followed by 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit systems. 24-bits aren't unheard of either: some computer systems had a 24-bit address bus, and 24-bits was the standard for storing a single pixel of an RGB colour (one byte for each colour channel[[note]]More recent formats use 32 bits, since they also have an "alpha channel" which defines the transparency of the pixel[[/note]]). There's also a trend of PlotCoupons coming in groups of ''8'' in VideoGames; most notably the 8 non-bonus worlds of pretty much every ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' game; as well as ''VideoGame/MegaMan's'' 8 Robot Masters.

'''47''' - [[Franchise/StarTrek 42 adjusted for inflation]]. In JapaneseMedia, can be connected to the archaic ''iroha'' method of ordering the Japanese syllabary. Also, UsefulNotes/The47Ronin, and Agent 47. May be related to the AK-47 and its ubiquity.