History Main / RuleOfSymbolism

* ''VideoGame/TheNeverhood'' abounds with symbolism related to the Garden of Eden, from the setting itself (which is a kind of Eden-gone-sideways) to the main villain's plot (he stole his leader's crown -- the only thing in The Neverhood he wasn't allowed to have -- and therefore corrupted it). There's even the fact that [[spoiler:said villain, Klogg, is actually the protagonist's older brother.]] If this sounds [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy-handed]], though, don't worry -- despite the symbolic story, the game itself is mostly just [[WidgetSeries randomness, slapstick, and cool claymation]].

** [[spoiler:The Wapiti Indians' involvement in the main story concludes with the death of Eagle Flies, much to Rains Fall's grief. During the credits the latter is seen on a mountaintop observing an eagle flying away from him, on the verge of tears.]]

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': Occurs toward the end of Chapter 6 [[spoiler:with the final two choices: "Go with John" or "Go for the loot" (combined with FriendOrIdolDecision). If you choose "Go with John", you'll get a bit of a boost to your [[KarmaMeter Honor Meter]] and you'll fight off the Pinkertons [[DeathMountain while climbing up toward the mountaintop]] in Grizzlies East where a [[FisticuffsBoss fistfight with Micah Bell]] awaits (all of which symbolizes {{Heaven}} itself). On the other hand, if you choose "Go for the loot", you'll suffer a bit of an Honor loss,[[note]]which is no big deal if your Honor meter is high enough to warrant another good ending in that choice[[/note]] and you'll fight your way back down to the camp in Beaver Hollow [[TrashTheSet that is being engulfed by flames as a result of the Pinkteron attack]], where a [[BattleAmongstTheFlames knife fight with]] Micah awaits after you take the money from the chest (thus symbolizing {{Hell}} itself).]]

* In ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', Agito's world has cross-shaped energy blasts and an Unknown that looks suspiciously like a nun. Agito's original series had lots of symbolism itself, so it's appropriate.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMooon'' relies on this to clue viewers in to [[spoiler:Stoutland's rapid decline and eventual death]]. There are far less leaves on the tree near its home as there were a few episodes ago, and when [[spoiler:Litten realizes its mentor's offscreen death]] its couch bed suddenly breaks followed by a sudden downpour. After [[spoiler:Litten]] comes to terms with the event, its face is seen in the clouds...and a rainbow above its underpass home, possibly symbolizing the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(pets) rainbow bridge.]]

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' relied on this in one episode of ''Sun and Moon'' to clue viewers in to [[spoiler:Stoutland's rapid decline and eventual death]]. There are far less leaves on the tree near its home as there were a few episodes ago, and when [[spoiler:Litten realizes its mentor's offscreen death]] its couch bed suddenly breaks followed by a sudden downpour. After [[spoiler:Litten]] comes to terms with the event, its face is seen in the clouds...and a rainbow above its underpass home, possibly symbolizing the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(pets) rainbow bridge.]]

* The final battle against Asura in the anime version of ''Manga/SoulEater'' is entirely this, which irritated many fansdue to the rest of the series not being like this at all. [[spoiler:To make a long story short... the entire team pull out all of their most powerful attacks against the kishin without doing any damage at all, until Maka and Soul are all alone. Maka pulls progressively more desperate techniques, including willing herself to fall asleep and fight him while sleeping so that she won't feel afraid. In the end, however, Maka gives him a speech about bravery and then destroys him with one punch. The symbolism comes into play when you remember that Asura is the AnthropomorphicPersonification of fear and paranoia -- more power won't make you feel less afraid, and you can't sleep to escape because you'll eventually wake up; the only way to defeat fear is to be brave.]]

* In the ''[[Series/Charmed1998 Charmed]]'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8098004/1/Charmed-Alternate Charmed Alternate]]", Paige's powers are activated at the time as Prue, Piper and Phoebe's as she and Piper became friends shortly after Grams' death and she was in the house when Phoebe cast the spell, Paige gaining the power to generate a forcefield as a 'new' power since the three foretold powers are already present. When the Halliwells first vocally affirm that they all consider Paige their sister even before knowing of their biological relationship, the Triquetra on the cover of the Book of Shadows changes to include an extra circle surrounding the three points, which Piper concludes is intended to represent Paige just as the Triquetra itself represents the Power of Three.

* During the beach episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' Zuko takes his family's portrait and tosses into the fire without a second thought during the campfire scene. It's a powerful representation of how disillusioned he is with pretending his family isn't dysfunctional. Interestingly enough, Azula doesn't stop him from doing it either.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In the third season finale "Long Goodbye" as the Greens are stuck in a conundrum over whether to stay in Smalton or move back to Big City with Gramma, the moon above them is half-lit, representing their indecisiveness.

* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': For most of "The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!", the titular airplane is stuck on a precarious peak. Its stability matches the main characters' moods -- when tensions between them flare up, it becomes unbalanced, and when the tensions calm down, it re-balances. The PlotMandatedFriendshipFailure-inducing blow-up at the end is what finally causes it to fall off the peak and crash.

* ''WesternAnimation/IHeartArlo'': In the climax of "The Uncondemning", Edmée is forced to activate a self-destruct mechanism and destroy her swamp shack where she raised Arlo, which frees the gang from the Bog Lady's grasp and kills her in return. While Arlo is upset at the loss of his childhood home, the shack destruction officially marks the end of his CharacterDevelopment from the PilotMovie when he learns to appreciate his birth home in New York City and has moved on from the swamp once and for all, and even though he doesn't live there anymore, and won't be able to now that the shack is destroyed, Edmée helps him realize he can never leave something behind him at all, as where he was originally from will always be part of where he is going.

** When Korra and Kuvira are plunged into the Spirit World, Korra has a vision mirroring that of the one in "Beginnings", with two versions of herself facing each other -- purple on the left and blue on the right. In this case, Korra is the one in blue, while the one in purple morphs into Kuvira. This is both a clever shout out to spiritual traditions of the "left hand path" and "right hand path", and also quite suggestive of the fact that Korra finally overcame all her fetters and flaws, and is now a truly fulfilled Avatar.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyAdventuresWithSuperman'': Martha Kent looks over Clark's newly fashioned costume in "Adventures of a Normal Man" and muses that it's good, but it needs "something more", before adding the traditional belt and shorts herself. With the DCEU's shortless Superman suit being a topic of ambivalence for some time among fans, it effectively serves as the show itself saying it doesn't mind seeming a little corny if it's in service of [[RevisitingTheRoots a more classical take on the character]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In "Escaping Expulsion" as Amity is standing up to her overly abusive mother Odalia, she destroys the necklace used to receive telepathic messages from her, which represents that she's no longer under her control and can [[GrewASpine do whatever she wants now.]]

* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in the episode "The Tale of Scrotie [=McBoogerballs=]" of WesternAnimation/SouthPark. When Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny wrote a extremely NauseaFuel novel just for fun, it ends up being published and became a success. Later, they find readers of the novel interpreting the absurdly disgusting scenes as symbolisms for political issues, while they actually don't had any meaning beyond just being disgusting.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "My Fair Hatey", after Lord Dominator shoots down Lord Hater's advances she goes into a VillainSong where she reveals her true motivation: [[spoiler: she has no interest in conquest and is just destroying planets outright ForTheEvulz.]] During her song she's seen sucking resources out of the [[HeartSymbol heart-shaped planet]] Lemoria from "The Date", gleefully watching it shrivel up as she simultaneously crushes Lord Hater's hopes that Dominator would want to [[UnholyMatrimony rule the galaxy by his side]] and Wander's hopes that LoveRedeems.

* The FracturedFairyTale short stories in Angela Carter's ''Literature/TheBloodyChamber and Other Stories''. Everything in them. [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs Almost none of them make any sense at face value.]]

Contrast FauxSymbolism (when something only appears symbolic), WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic, EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory (when people see symbolism in everything, including meanings the author never intended). See also StockMonsterSymbolism and compare MagiBabble ('It doesn't have to make sense as long as it sounds mystical').

* In the ''[[Series/Charmed1998 Charmed]]'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8098004/1/Charmed-Alternate Charmed Alternate]]'', Paige's powers are activated at the time as Prue, Piper and Phoebe's as she and Piper became friends shortly after Grams' death and she was in the house when Phoebe cast the spell, Paige gaining the power to generate a forcefield as a 'new' power since the three foretold powers are already present. When the Halliwells first vocally affirm that they all consider Paige their sister even before knowing of their biological relationship, the Triquetra on the cover of the Book of Shadows changes to include an extra circle surrounding the three points, which Piper concludes is intended to represent Paige just as the Triquetra itself represents the Power of Three.

* The Oddities in ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' seem very strange and the ways they're dealt with will seem very odd until you realize one simple fact: The supernatural aspect to the story isn't actually important and, according to some characters, ''may not even be real.'' The Oddities are instead typically representative of poor mental health or social issues. Several older characters try to subtly point this out to Koyomi, but he typically can't or won't understand this.

* Magic in ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' practically requires this trope to work, since magic relies on "idols" which use symbolism in order to draw power from the original. It's more obvious with the Roman Catholic Church's magic, especially that of God's Right Seat, in which each member represents an archangel of Christianity and has a unique power which draws from God.

* ''VideoGame/Destiny2'': Emperor Calus' pact with [[spoiler:The Witbess]] is conveyed via a golden chalice. While he creates it with ease from a treasure beside his throne, Calus never drinks from it, as his newfound allies aren’t interested in hedonism or toasts. The chalice is discarded after Calus is [[DoNotTauntCthulhu reprimanded for his own shortcomings]], emphasizing that the emperor's pursuit for power has cost him everything.

* In the ''[[Series/Charmed1998 Charmed]]'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8098004/1/Charmed-Alternate Charmed Alternate]]", Paige's powers are activated at the time as Prue, Piper and Phoebe's as she and Piper became friends shortly after Grams' death and she was in the house when Phoebe cast the spell, Paige gaining the power to generate a forcefield as a 'new' power since the three foretold powers are already present. When the Halliwells first vocally affirm that they all consider Paige their sister even before knowing of their biological relationship, the Triquetra on the cover of the Book of Shadows changes to include an extra circle surrounding the three points, which Piper concludes is intended to represent Paige just as the Triquetra itself represents the Power of Three.

* ''FanFic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'':

* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWitchFromMercury'' goes to great lengths to parallel the European witch hunts, most obviously by having Gundam-pilots be nicknamed Witches.

** Harry=Fleur. Harry is the horcrux Voldemort never meant to make, Fleur was brought up a few times but never considered for the ritual because of her engagement to Bill. Harry became a horcrux through a unique set of circumstances and an act of true love, Fleur became embroiled in the goings-on through a series of coincidences. Voldemort made Harry a horcrux by accident, [[spoiler:Harry and Fleur have an "[[PregnancyScare accident]]" of their own their first time together.]]

* In ''FanFic/RobbReturns'', [[spoiler:when Robert uses Stormbreaker in a practice fight against Jaime Lannister, the latter's sword rapidly rusts from the inside, even while the surface remains untouched and perfectly polished]].
* ''Webcomic/ScarletLady'': At the end of "Reflekta", Chloé opts out of the class photo retake because she already got her "perfect" photo with Adrien (read: she got clingy and he was trying to shove her aside), representing her self-centered delusions and the growing divide between her and her peers. Sabrina, on the other hand, is invited to join in the retake by Alix, representing her growing independence from Chloé and her eventual friendship with the girl.
* In ''The Wisdom Seeker''- sequel to ''Fanfic/TheSecretKeeper''- symbolism features heavily in a recurring prophetic dream Bella has, which includes her needing to swim through a river of blood to get to her future daughter, Rosalie trapped by chains with clocks on them displaying the very minute Rosalie's heart stopped beating, and a little boy just beyond Bella's daughter that Edward (after seeing the dream) becomes certain will be Emmett and Rosalie's son, further back from Renesmee because he'll be born later.
* ''Fanfic/SeventhEndmostVision'' combines this with ColorMotif. Throughout the story, pink has a recurring motif of horror, compared explicitly to blood seeping through a bandage; a video of [[spoiler: the meeting with Hojo that set Lucrecia on her new path]] shows her dropping a cup of wine onto some fallen lab papers, staining them pink. [[spoiler: It symbolizes Lucrecia making the decision to live without guilt, as Hojo asks.]]

* The more isolated Isabela becomes from her family in ''Fanfic/HowFarDoTheseRootsGoDown'', the more stairs get added in her room.