History Main / Wingdinglish

* In ''VideoGame/{{Spiritfarer}}, signs are written in glyphs composed of dots and strokes for ease of localization, which are stand-ins for the Latin alphabet.

[[folder:Disney]]
* The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' introduces us to the protagonist by showing him giving a presentation demonstrating that expeditions to find the book that says where Atlantis is failed because the only piece of evidence was mistranslated, and corrects the substitution cypher from "Coast of I'''r'''eland" to "Coast of I'''c'''eland." It's not as contrived as it sounds, since the corresponding Norse words really are one similar-looking rune apart: Ísland and Írland.
* ''Franchise/IndianaJones and The Temple of the Forbidden Eye'' has a supposedly "ancient" language written throughout the queue. It's a simple substitution alphabet. Originally, decoder cards were given out by cast members to help guests fight boredom in what was potentially a 5 hour wait.
** In fact, careful examination of the glyphs reveals that the individual characters are just the letters of the English alphabet, highly stylized. With a little practice, you can read them without decoding.
* In [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Tomorrowland]], the photo kiosk and nearby restrooms at the exit of Ride/SpaceMountain have signs in English and an "alien language", but if you compare the two, the latter is obviously just a substitution cipher for the former. Similarly, all signs near Ride/StitchsGreatEscape are written like this, with the "alien language" for that ride being [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch its affiliated franchise's]] [[{{Fictionary}} Tantalog]] script.
[[/folder]]

* Phyrexian, one of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' 's few conlangs, is an actually fully constructed language (albeit whose specifics are unreleased to the public). Despiste this, some of the known samples are basically just English run through its bizarre script.

** This is also noticable in ''VideoGame/TheSims4''. Having a minor play Keyboard Commander is a great way to reveal part of the cypher used by the game, since the game will show the item and require the sim to type in the corresponding word. And you know something is fishy when ''cat'' and ''car'' also has three letters in written Simlish, just like they do in English, and the letters are also consistent. However, the Simlish in ''Sims 3'' and later is different from that in previous titles: with more obscure symbols and more use of circles that make it look closer to Korean than Greek.

** Similarly, any time you enter a new location for the first time in VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia, the location name has a subtitle written in the game's written language under it. Said language is actually stylished English with the letters rotated 90 degrees.

'''Waitress:''' ''[{{Beat}}]'' Good. I had Asian Studies at QD. Thought I really missed something.

An "alien language" is represented as English with a weird [[UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} font]] for the letters instead of the Latin alphabet. Many examples in comic books, some in video games, a few in sci-fi movies and TV. ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' and ''Franchise/StarWars'' are examples of the latter use. Since this requires a visual (and lends itself particularly well to comic books), it can be considered a form of PaintingTheMedium.

** In ''{{VideoGame/XCOM2}}'', the world has been taken over by the Aliens and all written text is written in the same alien script. With some concentration you can make out English translation of various advertisements and billboards.

A specific subtrope of {{Fictionary}} and CypherLanguage. [[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/fictional.php Here]] is a great site about this. Compare with ForeignLookingFont. Contrast with ConLang.

* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense'': The Monklish. It's actually English written in different symbols in place of alphabets, and it has been used to tease many stuffs in updates as well as appearing in some in-game places like temples to make things looking more exotic to players. The Version 33.0 update of [=BTD6=] even made Monlish one of the avaliable languages for the game!

* ''VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense'': The Monklish. It's actually English written in different symbols in place of alphabets, and it has been used to tease many stuffs in updates as well as appearing in some in-game places like temples to make things looking more exotic to players. The Version 33.0 update of BTD6 even made Monlish one of the avaliable languages for the game!

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* In ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'', the Strogg control panels are marked with odd looking letters that later on in the game (after [[spoiler:the {{player character}} receives a neurocyte during his Stroggification]]) look like normal English alphabet (with the exception of the letter E, which, [[CallBack like in]] ''VideoGame/QuakeII'', is horizontally inverted).

* Two from Franchise/TheDCU: Interlac and Kryptonese.

* Mr Mind's Venusian in ''Power Of ComicBook/{{Shazam}}''. It has since been used by other aliens, where it often turns out to be gibberish or actually say "Alien Speech".

* The written Vogon language in TheMovie of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' was a real shorthand script, it looks alien while referencing the bureaucratic nature of the Vogons: a typographical BilingualBonus for the clerically-minded. Given the nature of Vogons, writing things quickly seems out of character for them; as a result, [[AllThereInTheManual expanded material]] states that Vogon numbers would be written in unary (so that, for example, one thousand is one thousand tally marks).

* Played for laughs in an episode of ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]''. A part of a court case is shown where a human is suing an alien because the alien's ancestor [[AlienAbduction abducted]] his ancestor. The judge asks the defendant how he pleads. The alien responds by holding up a card with a symbol that does not exist in any human language. The judge curses his luck, and requests an interpreter.

* The Mr. Saturns in ''Videogame/EarthBound'' use this, along with several verbal tics. It should be noted that in this instance the typeface is recognizable as the Latin alphabet, and can be read, if slowly.

* The ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' FanFic ''Webcomic/ACompleteWasteOfTime'' has, in addition to Alternian Daedric, the Ithican script, which is very flowy and calligraphic. [[spoiler:cT initially sets the entire Act 5 recap in it, before realizing the readers wanted a ''legible'' version.]]

* WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank has this for some of the Galactic Signs.

* For the first 27 issues of the 2005 run of the ComicBook/BlueBeetle scarab-speak is represented this way. It's ''mostly'' decipherable once given the code, however a fair amount of artistic license is taken with the letters, especially earlier in the comic's run, and based on Jaime's side of the conversation the scarab is actually saying a lot more than what is written. Conversely, ''ComicBook/TinyTitans'' uses a straight substitution cipher for Blue Beetle's scarab, with a key at the end for readers to interpret.

* The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' introduces us to the protagonist by showing him giving a presentation demonstrating that expeditions to find the book that says where Atlantis is failed because the only piece of evidence was mistranslated, and corrects the substitution cypher from "Coast of I'''r'''eland" to "Coast of I'''c'''eland." It's not as contrived as it sounds, since the corresponding Norse words really are one similar-looking rune apart: Ísland and Írland.

* The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' introduces us to the protagonist by showing him giving a presentation demonstrating that expeditions to find the book that says where Atlantis is failed because the only piece of evidence was mistranslated, and corrects the substitution cypher from "Coast of I'''r'''eland" to "Coast of I'''c'''eland." [[AluminumChristmasTrees It's not as contrived as it sounds]], since the corresponding Norse words really are one similar-looking rune apart: Ísland and Írland.

** Also used in ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' for the enchanting table text, but it translates into gibberish.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' had a bunch of such scripts; even Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_scripts_in_Ultima_series article]] on them.

--> '''Leanne (in a support conversation, translated):''' What did you say? Oh, dear, I guess I’ll just smile and nod again.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and its sequel have multiple different fonts for this, one of which has been completely decoded, revealing that the shirt Jelfonzo wears on Tuesdays reads [[spoiler:FUCK YOU]]. [[https://twitter.com/rassicas/status/1517251140076728320 Yes really]].

* The ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Kablam}} Prometheus and Bob]]'' alien subtitles, which look like CropCircles.

* The Disney film ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' introduces us to the protagonist by showing him giving a presentation demonstrating that expeditions to find the book that says where Atlantis is failed because the only piece of evidence was mistranslated, and corrects the substitution cypher from "Coast of I'''r'''eland" to "Coast of I'''c'''eland." [[AluminumChristmasTrees It's not as contrived as it sounds]], since the corresponding Norse words really are one similar-looking rune apart: Ísland and Írland.
* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' series as a whole tend to wobble between the English alphabet and Wingdinglish. Occasionally they'll have English words but at other times they'll have made up letters.
** ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Friendship is Magic]]'' goes with script that looks just enough like the Latin alphabet that it parses as letters, but no so much that it's legible.
* Used in the world of ''WesternAnimation/StormHawks''. Sometimes, if you look closely and you know what it's supposed to say, you can make the connections between the symbols and the Latin letters they represent.
* There are lots of encoded messages in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', and while most are basic cryptograms, there are ones in an alien language. The Mystery of Gravity Falls fan site has a key to aid in the decoding process.
* WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank has this for some of the Galactic Signs.

* While not examples of extraterrestrial alphabets, there are several ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' books in which the heroes must decode some ancient writings that are the same as English, only the letters look just different enough to make them unrecognizable.

* [[http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Marker_Symbols The marker/unitology]] text from the Franchise/DeadSpace series.
* ''VideoGame/RescueOnFractalus'': The low resolution makes it not immediately obvious, but the Jaggi lettering is English turned sideways.
* The glyph tablets in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' appear to use this for the language of the ancients, but once you have the Glyph Book they're automatically translated. [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/960545-golden-sun-dark-dawn/57691961 One fan tried to make a usable font of it]], but couldn't find a Q-equivalent glyph in the game.
* ''VideoGame/HyperLightDrifter'': The blocky, rectilinear glyphs can be decoded into English. The single-word signs outside shops are easy. The extensive text that covers the hidden monoliths is difficult but, if deciphered, [[spoiler: reveals an ApocalypticLog]].

* Old Ascalonian in ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' and New Krytan in ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' are both examples of Wingdinglish, with different sets of glyphs.
* In ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap%27n_Magneto Cap'n Magneto,]]'' the aliens' speech is written in a dingbat font if you don't have the [[TranslatorMicrobes Tricorder]].
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin3'': The Koppaites have their own language with text that shows up on various interfaces. The developers included the cipher in the game's data, allowing for a [[http://www.pikminwiki.com/Koppaite_text full translation.]] While a lot of the text is descriptors, there are some pieces that are developers' comments and a few that make no sense.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' has some DummiedOut text written entirely in actual Wingdings, such as [[spoiler:Entry 17, the one entry missing from the True Lab]]. These can be attributed to [[spoiler:W. D. Gaster]], who is possibly alluded to in the game itself by an NPC who says to "beware the man who speaks in hands", and by [[spoiler:a blueprint in Sans's workshop]] that's written in "strange symbols", suggesting that the character speaks/writes in Wingdings.
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' has this in the form of the Lombax language.
* In ''VideoGame/StreetFighterXTekken'', [[{{VideoGame/Tekken}} Ogre]]'s win-quotes are written this way to represent his alien language; which is slightly odd, since the same language is subtitled in English (or whatever the player's chosen language is) during certain cutscenes.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has an "ancient script" represented by a flowing font with unrecognizable letters. It can be translated though, and the primary speakers of it (Leanne and Volug) actually say quite a few amusing things, mostly about the language barrier, when translated.
--> '''Leanne (in a support conversation, translated):''' What did you say? Oh, dear, I guess I’ll just smile and nod again.
* ''Franchise/SuperMario'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', Geno, an inanimate doll, is taken over by a star spirit who wants Mario's help to recover the lost pieces of Star Road. He introduces himself as "♥♪!?"[[note]]The Japanese version uses a different string of unique characters[[/note]], but [[TheUnpronounceable realizes it's hard for mortals to pronounce]], and so asks to be called "Geno" after the doll.
** The Shroob aliens in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' use a set of strange, unique glyphs. From the few lines of their language that are given translations near the end of the game, it's possible to puzzle out a couple of words that consistently appear in their "dialogue" ([[AliensAreBastards mainly "DESTROY"]]).
* In ''VideoGame/NiNoKuniIIRevenantKingdom'', most of the written scripts in the game is made out of characters that is otherwise incomprehensible to the player. Roland has no problem understanding it though, probably part and parcel of the spell Doloran used to bring Roland to his world.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** A few games, such as ''VideoGame/SonicRiders'', depict nondescript text alongside English text.
** To go with the EarthDrift, ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' introduces a blocky, shape-based alphabet seen in the background of the stages.
* The Junimo scroll in ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' is written this way, requiring you to seek out the Wizard to translate, and some Junimo speech bubbles use the same script as you fulfill their requests.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Wandersong}}'', the language of spirits and Overseers appears as a sequence of random, colourful symbols. After the bard learns the language, the speech bubbles include the symbols behind the English text, to indicate that it's still the spirit language that is being spoken.
* ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'': In story mode, both Paprika and the Winter Sprite race as a whole can't really be understood by the other characters. The dialogue for the Sprites are rune-like symbols while Paprika "speaks" with her own version of Wingdings.
* ''VideoGame/PowerwashSimulator'': The final location contains murals with text written in a foreign-looking script which can be transliterated to English. Decoding them reveals [[spoiler:that their makers, the people of the ancient Pacifist civilization, were foretold of your career by time-traveling scientists. To fulfill the prophecy, they turned their palace into an offshore platform housing a volcano-quelling beam for use in the world's time of need. This proves handy as the volcano in question is on the verge of erupting by the time you arrive at the palace to clean it.]]

* Alpabe runes in ''Webcomic/UnicornJelly'' partially follow this trope, since they include a mixture of Latin, Greek and Hebrew characters (and possibly some other real-world alphabets).

* The Racconan script from ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor''

* Website/ClanBOB comic ''Webcomic/{{Grumble}}'' features this in all characters, sounds, sound effects, and titling. It's kinda the whole point.

* Alien Santa and his assimilated elves in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' used a glyph language similar to ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' trolls' language is a reversed [[Franchise/TheElderScrolls Daedric font]]. Which is unintentionally appropriate, considering how closely they resemble the Dremora from said games.
* There was some kind of demonic ritual/summoning with this in ''Webcomic/AndShineHeavenNow''. It transliterated to something like, "If you can read this you're a nerd."

* The ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' FanFic ''Webcomic/ACompleteWasteOfTime'' has, in addition to Alternian Daedric, the Ithican script, which is very flowy and calligraphic. [[spoiler:cT initially sets the entire Act 5 recap in it, before realizing the readers wanted a ''legible'' version.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheMansionOfE'', the pidgin language used between Ichyoids and English-equivalent speakers is depicted in this manner.
* Ancient or otherwise arcane text (particularly Draconic speech) in ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' is rendered this way.
** Earlier, there's a strip of Luna and Dominic talking in mathematical symbols and formulas as they discuss mathematical theories and how they apply to magic.

* Used to represent various forms of BlackSpeech in ''Webcomic/DaughterOfTheLilies'' on a few occasions:
** The speech of the cannibalistic, atavistic cave elves is written like this.
** The spell to [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/328 bind]] [[http://www.daughterofthelilies.com/dotl/330 a Drath]] happens to be a transliteration of Jesus's quotations from Luke 4:18 and Mark 14:62.
* In ''Webcomic/LeavingTheCradle'', when shown from the human point of view, the aliens are speaking in... [[https://leavingthecradle.com/comic/38 something]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Parallax}}'', the [[TransformationTrinket raiment's]] initialization messages are spoken [[https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-23 in wingding‑Swedish]] looking like mathematical symbols.

* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has Digicode, or Digimoji, a cypher of katakana and English used throughout the Digital World. It can be seen on signs, ruins, magic circles, evolution sequences, and even the Digimon themselves.
* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'':
** Lum's mother didn't speak Japanese. Her alien language was represented by TabletopGame/{{Mahjong}} tiles.
** In another story, Lum got hit on the head and suffered LaserGuidedAmnesia that wiped out only her ability to speak Japanese. Her native tongue was represented by wingdings.

* The runes in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' are a sub for German. In the SpinOff ''Manga/PuellaMagiKazumiMagica'' [[spoiler: a witch speaks them aloud.]]
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' eventually started using its own symbol-cipher of English for written text (rather than just using Japanese writing as had been done earlier) in order to make localization easier. [[https://www.pocketmonsters.net/content/Anime_Language There are several different variations used throughout the anime.]]
* ''Anime/MysteriaFriends'' uses partially-mirror-imaged capital Roman letters to produce a foreign-looking font by which its in-universe text, in English, is printed.
* ''Anime/ShimaShimaToraNoShimajiro'' uses the UsefulNotes/PlayStation symbols (circle, cross, triangle and square) as substitution for letters and glyphs in the anime where smaller prints are concerned. Larger prints seems to bounce between the Latin alphabet, hiragana or larger, colored versions of the symbols depending on the level of accuracy required.

* The aliens in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'' spoke English set in a Japanese (katakana) font.
* Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} does this with the Skrull language when it's left untranslated. Look for "He loves you" in ''ComicBook/SecretInvasion''.
* Mr Mind's Venusian in ''Power Of ComicBook/{{Shazam}}''. It has since been used by other aliens, where it often turns out to be gibberish or actually say "Alien Speech".
* For the first 27 issues of the 2005 run of the ComicBook/BlueBeetle scarab-speak is represented this way. It's ''mostly'' decipherable once given the code, however a fair amount of artistic license is taken with the letters, especially earlier in the comic's run, and based on Jaime's side of the conversation the scarab is actually saying a lot more than what is written. Conversely, ''ComicBook/TinyTitans'' uses a straight substitution cipher for Blue Beetle's scarab, with a key at the end for readers to interpret.
* In ''ComicBook/PS238'', alien tongues are represented in strange font, one font per alien language, but are readable English when deciphered. Prospero's walls of text in his introductory chapter starts off with "If you can read this" and goes on with Creator/MontyPython quotes, a recipe, etc, to avoid heavy spoilers, but in the rest of the series, his utterings are often hilarious.
* In ''Creator/CrossGen'''s Sigil-verse comics, wingding-style fonts were typically used for speech in languages the viewpoint character didn't understand, and in some cases could be figured out by readers. However, some languages were instead written in plain English but enclosed in brackets to denote the alternate language, rendering them legible by the reader, or used legible fonts for [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign gibberish words]].
* Used a lot by Marvel characters like [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]], in a font that looks like Elder Futhark, for casting spells. In ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', when he uses something that would translate to "rjerdwrbr" in Real Life Runes, he's actually saying "elsewhere," to take him, well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin elsewhere.]] [[https://imgur.com/a/yHvH6hU Here's]] the key.

* ''ComicBook/RatchetAndClankComic'' has this occasionally such as on the Vartax detention facility.

* The SelfDestructMechanism that the ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'' sets off at the end of [[Film/{{Predator}} the first movie]], and earlier in [[Film/{{Predator 2}} the second]], has a digital countdown in alien numbers.
* In ''Film/CubeZero'', the Cube computer systems and written orders (and TitleSequence) use both the latin alphabet and a strange alien one to display English. The characters can read both just fine, but we're given no explanation as to why this is so like a [[OntologicalMystery lot of other things]] in the [[Film/{{Cube}} series]]
* ''Film/Dune2021:'' All of the in-universe text that we see is written in an invented alphabet. DVDBonusContent shows it to be a 1:1 match with the Latin alphabet.

* While not examples of extraterrestrial alphabets, there are several ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' books in which the heroes must decode some ancient writings that are the same as English, only the letters look just different enough to make them unrecognizable.

* Not a language as such, but in one of the ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' books Stephen King presents a Line of Eld symbol (think, "descendant of King Arthur" for a rough equivalent). It's the copyright symbol set in Windings.
* The ancient language known by Golems in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels ''Literature/GoingPostal'' and ''Literature/MakingMoney'' is {{Wingdinglish}} based on the "angelic alphabet" created by John Dee.
* Averted: James Gurney's Literature/{{Dinotopia}} picture books has a CypherLanguage, not Wingdinglish, despite modern English being only several centuries old compared to the dino civilization of millions of years. AcceptableBreakFromReality considering it was designed for children and their parents.
** However, the Chandaran Transitional Alphabet is like this, English made to match Footprint letters.

* In ''[[Literature/MythAdventures Myth Alliances]]'', a native of the computer-obsessed dimension of Kobol greets some visitors by ''saying'' a smilie-symbol.

* The Ancient language in ''Series/StargateSG1'' is faux-Latin with different characters instead of the Latin alphabet.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Community}}'' Abed writes unrecognizable symbols in his notebook, but when Troy asks him what language it is he shrugs and says "Probably Arabic." (It's not.)
* Played for laughs in an episode of ''[[Series/BabylonFive Babylon 5]]''. A part of a court case is shown where a human is suing an alien because the alien's ancestor [[AlienAbduction abducted]] his ancestor. The judge asks the defendant how he pleads. The alien responds by holding up a card with a symbol that does not exist in any human language. The judge curses his luck, and requests an interpreter.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The text in the Unown Ruins in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' falls under this. Technically, the Unown are just stylized versions of the English alphabet and some punctuation, but some of the Unown don't look particularly similar to the letters they represent. Interestingly, this would make the words in the Unown Pokédex GratuitousEnglish in the original Japanese.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' used braille for this (the player's guide had the translations in it). The only place it was used was in a puzzle to unlock some of the legendary Pokémon. ''[=FireRed=]'' and ''[=LeafGreen=]'' also used some braille during the Sevii Islands quest.
** It was assumed the alphabet used in the series was kanji, but games like ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire]]'' clearly show they use a fictionalized language much like the anime. It's possible the characters are bilingual since some Japanese and English lettering (like Team Rocket's hat and scrolls) still exist.
* Hylian in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' was a cipher for hiragana, while ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' used one for katakana. By ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', it was merely stylized Latin letters in English (though the mirroring used undermined this).
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' uses one too, but the text isn't actually translated. It turns out everything with the ancient text just has the cipher in alphabetical order, though it's either incomplete or reuses symbols for multiple letters. Either way, it's unreadable.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' uses English as its basis like with ''Twilight Princess'', which was integrated into ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' as a FreezeFrameBonus: Those who have decrypted the Sheikah text in ''Breath of the Wild'' can use the same key in the Great Plateau Tower stage when glowing blue Sheikah text shows up to decode it as "SMASHBROS."

* In ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'', the names and descriptions of still-not-researched spells in the spell book are in English but written in unreadable "magical runes" font.
* Characters that speak "Borginian" in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'' do so by using a wingdings font. Or at least a font that looks like a lot of symbols put together.
* The Daedric script from ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' games. If you read it carefully, the words even look quite like English words.
* In ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'', the Strogg control panels are marked with odd looking letters that later on in the game (after [[spoiler:the {{player character}} receives a neurocyte during his Stroggification]]) look like normal English alphabet (with the exception of the letter E, which, [[CallBack like in]] ''VideoGame/QuakeII'', is horizontally inverted).
* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' and its sequel have multiple different fonts for this, one of which has been completely decoded, revealing that the shirt Jelfonzo wears on Tuesdays reads [[spoiler:FUCK YOU]]. [[https://twitter.com/rassicas/status/1517251140076728320 Yes really]].
* ''VideoGame/BubbleBobble'' had this in the secret rooms.
** The NES version of ''Bubble Bobble '''[[TitleConfusion Part]]''' [[TitleConfusion 2]]'' had the word "Bonus" in this font in its {{Bonus Stage}}s.
* ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' had a bunch of such scripts; even Wiki/ThatOtherWiki has an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_scripts_in_Ultima_series article]] on them.
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
** [[SpeakingSimlish Simlish]] from ''VideoGame/TheSims'' has a substitution cipher, too. It resembles Greek, and also uses astrological symbols and such. Enterprising modders have created a [=TrueType=] font for it.
** In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', TV programs and commercials clearly use the Wingdings font.
** This is also noticable in ''VideoGame/TheSims4''. Having a minor play Keyboard Commander is a great way to reveal part of the cypher used by the game, since the game will show the item and require the sim to type in the corresponding word. And you know something is fishy when ''cat'' and ''car'' also has three letters in written Simlish, just like they do in English, and the letters are also consistent. However, the Simlish in ''Sims 3'' and later is different from that in previous titles: with more obscure symbols and more use of circles that make it look closer to Korean than Greek.
* The Mr. Saturns in ''Videogame/EarthBound'' use this, along with several verbal tics. It should be noted that in this instance the typeface is recognizable as the Latin alphabet, and can be read, if slowly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fez}}'': The ancient writing can be deciphered. There are six shapes rotated four ways for a total of 24 glyphs, so it does not perfectly map to the English alphabet: "Q" and "V" are combined with "K" and "U" respectively.
* ''VideoGame/{{Aquaria}}'' does this; clues are given on the opening screen, where the 'runic' alphabet is slowly replaced by the Latin one. Players who didn't want to translate the script could overwrite the graphics file for the runic text with the Latin variant, at the expense of immersion.

* The written Vogon language in TheMovie of ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''.
** This was actually a real shorthand script, it looks alien while referencing the bureaucratic nature of the Vogons: a typographical BilingualBonus for the clerically-minded.
*** Strangely enough, given the nature of Vogons, writing things quickly seems out of character for them; as a result, [[AllThereInTheManual expanded material]] states that Vogon numbers would be written in unary (so that, for example, one thousand is one thousand tally marks).

* WesternAnimation/RatchetAndClank has this for some of the Galactic Signs.

--> '''Leanne (in a support conversation, translated):''' What did you say? Oh, dear, I guess I’ll just smile and nod again.