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Renamed to Creepy Crosses per TRS
Changed line(s) 1,193 (click to see context) from:
[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1639435283085720900&page=1 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]
[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eva_cross_explosion.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[FauxSymbolism What do you mean, "it's not symbolic"?]]]]
->''"And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came..."''
-->-- '''Sarah [=MacLachlan=]'''
[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Most Japanese are not Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it, and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
At the very least, in Japanese imagery, Christian imagery tends to be visual short-hand for occult overtones if it's intentionally symbolic. Occasionally it's used as simply a fashion choice, much in the way [[GratuitousJapanese kanji inserted just for the hell of it]] are used in other countries. And sometimes, you'll have people [[ImprobableWeaponUser use giant crosses as physical weapons just as much as religious ones]].
This isn't at all exclusive to countries unfamiliar with Christianity either, as the familiar symbols and motifs can easily be used for religious, vaguely occult, or otherwise eerie associations in media.
See also CrucialCross (where the cross is used to represent hope in the face of suffering), CrucifiedHeroShot (where a suffering hero t-poses) and FauxSymbolism.
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!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'''s fifth episode, aptly called "Ballad of Fallen Angels", there's a cross and other cool church imagery the fight scene takes place in.
* The demon-fighting demon symbiotes of ''Manga/{{Tokko}}'' all wear crosses.
* In ''Manga/PrincessResurrection'' the vampiress Reiri seems especially associated with crosses; [[IHaveTheHighGround standing on them for effect]] or having them in her background.
* The cross-shaped explosions in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' shown above. Misato's cross was more a memorial to Second Impact and the death it caused than any religious icon. It's also [[TragicKeepsake the last thing her father gave her before]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath placing her in the escape pod just before dying from his injuries]], thus saving her life.
** This is actually lampshaded by the producer, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.
** Lampshaded in the [[WebVideo/EvangelionAbridged Abridged Series]]:
--> '''[[BridgeBunny Aoba]]''': ''Another'' cross attack!? Why!?\\
'''[[BridgeBunny Maya]]''': Because it's... deep?\\
'''[[DeadpanSnarker Gendo]]''': Ah, don't start start that tired argument again! It was added because the director thought it was shiny, so just move on and continue the operation.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'':
** Misa and Mello's respective necklaces (and, in Misa's case, also earrings). Interesting in that while Misa's is generally seen as her being into typically commercialized gothic trends, Mello's is often seen as an indication he is Catholic by fandom. This is probably because Misa's are just random crosses, while Mello is seen at least once with an actual rosary. Not to mention that while Misa is Japanese, Mello is European [[NonspecificallyForeign (what kind is up for debate)]] and thus more likely to actually have some personal connection to the religion itself. In the anime, the crosses are [[{{Bowdlerise}} omitted]], with Misa's cross replaced with a fleur de lis and all crosses worn by Mello removed - though interestingly, the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series, and she is also depicted wearing it in the anime's first opening. It's also worth noting that, in the scene where he interrogates Soichiro, he's sitting beneath a ''crucifix.'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic All Christianity may be Catholic]] in American and European media, but crucifixes are much less common that regular crosses in Japanese media. The fandom also cites the fact that his real name, [[spoiler: Mihael Keehl]], appears to be Croatian and German. Both countries have a high percentage of Catholics.
** Death Note Relight features a cross [[spoiler: at L's headstone.]]
** Taken UpToEleven when we see Mello's [[http://images.wikia.com/deathnote/images/4/45/11725525678449699.jpg personal quarters]] in the manga. Of course, that's more like Creepy Cool Catholicism, or Creepy Cool Image Of The Virgin Mary And The Angels...
* In ''Manga/AirGear'', Kilik wore these all over his clothes in the past, and all the [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Gravity Children]]'s [[ExoticEyeDesigns Twinkle Eyes]] invoke this. More often than not, when a Gravity Child reveals their Twinkle Eyes, most, if not all their face is shadowed so it's just like seeing two glowing crosses.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Father Alexander Anderson ([[ChurchMilitant given his profession]]) wears one, as do many of his Iscariot protégés. In this case, it's logical; they're explicitly Catholic. Alucard is sometimes seen with them as well, and they're a running theme in the series itself, since the Hellsing Organisation is a religious one. Both Alucard and Anderson sometimes position their weapons (two {{Hand Cannon}}s and {{Absurdly Sharp B|lade}}ayonets respectively) as crosses before battle, too, though Alucard prefers to invert his in order to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens actively mock the divine]]. An inverted cross is ''also'' a Christian symbol ([[NewerThanTheyThink it only picked up blasphemous connotations recently]]), but it's fairly obscure even among Westerners as such.
** Ditto most members of AX in ''Trinity Blood'' ([[ChurchMilitant for the same reason]]).
* Jung from ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' wears one, despite being from [[FailedFutureForecast East Germany]], when the Communist Bloc historically persecuted devout Christians. Maybe they got lax in the future.
** While generally East Germans are even less religious than West Germans, the GDR was never able to completely root out Christianity during the 40 years of its existence (and neither did the Soviet Union that lasted almost twice as long). There are still many Christians in eastern Germany and they actually proved to be one of the major forces responsible for the end of Communism (much like the Catholic Church in Poland).
* Isuzu (Rin) and Hatsuharu Sohma from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' occasionally wear crosses.
* Crosses feature prominently in ''Anime/WeissKreuz'', the title of which is in fact (slightly mangled) German for "white cross." A white cross appears to be the logo of Weiss, the team of four [[HitmanWithAHeart Hitmen with Hearts]] who are the protagonists of the series. Several members of Weiss habitually wear crosses - particularly in the {{Oddly Named Sequel|2ElectricBoogaloo}} ''Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen'', in which every member of Weiss has a red cross somewhere on his "working clothes," including one who paints a cross on his bare chest. Possibly justified in the cases of Aya and [[RaisedCatholic Ken]], as they are [[UsefulNote/JapaneseChristian at least nominally Christian]]. Crucifixion symbolism also turns up at least once.
** For added symbolism, regarding the team's red crosses on their working clothes: [[BloodKnight Ken's]] extends around his neck and [[FailureKnight Youji's]] (the one who paints it on his bare chest every time he gets dressed) is slanted. Aya has a main one on his cravat, which is extended across his entire chest because of the way his BadassLongcoat is styled, and he has two more on the wrists of his gloves.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': The [[{{Joshikousei}} school uniforms]] bear crosses on the ties. Religion does bear a big role in the plot - but it's Buddhism and Shinto.
* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', crosses are symbols of the Panthalassa race.
* Tooya in ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'' wears a choker with a cross on it.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Hayate's Armed Device is shaped like a cross (and she's got crosses all over her mage outfit, too) and named accordingly: "Schwertkreuz" means "Sword Cross" in GratuitousGerman. What with being a PersonOfMassDestruction and all... Her [[QuirkyMinibossSquad quirky miniboss]], [[CuteBruiser Vita]], has crosses all over her ElegantGothicLolita costume, which [[CosplayOtakuGirl Hayate]] created for her.
** In fact, the crosses seem to have been a popular symbol in the Ancient Belkan culture (whose magic Hayate and Vita use), as evident in the "magic circle" associated with it (which is actually a ''triangle'' with a cross inscribed in it). No in-universe explanation has been provided for this, although the very last GodEmperor of Belka ''was'' a MessianicArchetype (or CrystalDragonJesus) who sacrificed her life to end the war. For whatever reason, however, crosses also feature prominently in Teana's CustomUniform, who is about as far removed from Belkan magic as it gets.
** ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' additionally gives us an ancient ArtifactOfDoom inconspicuously dubbed "the [[GratuitousEnglish Bible of Silver Cross]]". It's nature and origins are yet to be revealed, however.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[JustifiedTrope partially justified]] in that he's supposed to be a [[ChurchMilitant man of God]]. Naturally, though, research was sacrificed for the sake of the RuleOfCool... and MoreDakka.
** Oddly, Yoshihiro Nightow is reported to be Christian, though if he is he's goddamn sloppy about it. Wolfwood, on the other hand, is a ''[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot future]] space-Episcopalian orphan [[HitmanWithAHeart assassin]] [[TheMole spy]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable science-experiment]] [[BadassPreacher priest]] created by a [[ReligionOfEvil plant-worshipping murder cult]].''
%%* Ikuto and Utau in ''Manga/ShugoChara''.
%%* Zange in ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens''.
* The Quincies from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' incorporate crosses heavily into their weapons and clothing.
** [[spoiler: And the Quincy cross, albeit in a corrupted form, is used as the logo by the Wandenreich, in the Thousand Year Blood War.]]
* ''Manga/LoveHina'': An interesting subversion: Naru is neither creepy nor particularly cool, yet a discreet and small cross can be seen around her neck at times. This small cross necklace helped ''save her life'' in volume 12, where it and the engagement ring Keitaro had been trying to give to her snagged a tree branch as they fell off a cliff. Then the chain snapped and they fell the last couple feet with no problem. Akamatsu himself says that the cross doesn't really mean anything, that it's likely a shop keeper talked her into buying it at some point in Volume 8.
* And in the manga of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' by the same author, Evangeline (who can qualify as both creepy ''and'' particularly cool) has been seen with a cross on her clothing. (She may get extra badass points for doing so, given that she's a ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]''). Other characters wear them, but all of them are either nominal Christians or impersonating nuns (or in-between, or both at once - at one point a student who normally wears a cross is praying to God to forgive the cross she's wearing... as part of the fetish nurse costume her classmates have dressed her in). And one of the maybe-fake nuns is seen using figures formed of darkness as her main weapon, which probably fits the trope.
** In Evangeline's case, it's probably just a matter of fashion. She tend to wear the gothic lolita style when not in uniform, and crosses are popular images in that fashion style.
* ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'': The kingdom and royalty of Sforzendo use crosses as a holy seal. Flute goes one further and pulls out huge, mallet-sized crosses to beat down on the object of her ire. Queen Horn shoots laser beams from hers.
* Crosses show up plenty in ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', usually in the form of {{Power Limiter}}s. Another example of crosses and vampires holding a strong thematic association.
* Choutaro Ohtori from ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' wears a silver cross, despite not being Christian (he says so in the OAV when asked by Shishido). Subverted since he's not creepy, but quite a GentleGiant.
* Since ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is about a [[ChurchMilitant nun with guns]] and the [[DealWithTheDevil demon she's contracted to]] fighting other [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], it makes sense that crosses would pop up--and they do, a ''lot''. The bullets Rosette uses show crosses in the air when fired, the barriers used to trap the demons also glow with cross-shaped energy, in the anime Chrono is badly injured when [[FauxSymbolism a cross-shaped piece of a building falls on top of him]], Remington's energy blade looks like a cross relic until it's activated...
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Death Scythe wears a cross shaped tie and has crosses on his shirt lapels, and had a similar style as a child. It also reflects his Weapon form, which looks like a cross when the blade isn't present. Also the aptly named Death Room is full of hundreds of grave marker style crosses. Justin the priest wore a cross and had some on his clothing but these vanished as part of a [[MadnessMakeover Madness/Villanous Makeover]] IIRC replaced by the eye symbol of the Bigger Bad.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'', the protagonist Beyond the Grave has a silver cross motif on the front of his hat, the back of his coat, on the red "kneepads" of his pants, the back of his boots, and ''the soles of his boots''. It's probably mainly because of simply being [[RuleOfCool cool]].
** Not to mention the prominent cross shape on each of his [[HandCannon twin pistols]].
** And the big one on his [[{{BFG}} Coffin]]. In the sequel to the game the weapon's "upgraded" so the cross design in no longer there.
** In ''Overdose'' the deadman Fangoram wields a giant cross-shaped gun (resembles the cross punisher from ''Trigun'' a bit) called the Center Head. It's the last gun of the Cerberus Series to be made, and is outright stated to be the strongest of the Cerberus line.
* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Halloween, a psychopathic villain, is chained to a cross-shaped ARM. As a child, he [[spoiler:tortured small animals to death and burned the kids who bullied him to death, and spends most of the story either trying to kill his only childhood friend, Alan, or waiting to.]] Yeah.
* Duo Maxwell from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' was raised in a Catholic orphanage, wears priest-like clothes and lots of crosses. He is known as ''Shinigami'', or, in good ol' English, Death God. Can't get more creepy than that. Yet, he ''isn't'' a devout Christian; he himself states that he doesn't believe in God because he hasn't seen a miracle, but ''has'' seen lots of dead people. He wears the crosses and collar as a memento of the priest and nun who cared for him.
** In ''Frozen Teardrops'' Duo appears to be a preacher. [[spoiler: It's more of a front for his BountyHunter work than anything else.]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', when Kaiba is going to be sacrificed to create the Five God Dragon in the virtual reality story arc, he is tied to a tau or T-shaped pillar, but in a definitely crucified position. Beyond that, the show and the [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh card game]] alike feature countless dozens of crosses all adorning magicians' robes, spell books, glyphs, etc.
* ''Anime/AngelsEgg'': The nameless young man ([[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory who may be the Christ or Anti-Christ]]) in Mamoru Oshii's animated film carries a large, cross-shaped weapon in his back. Mamoru Oshii is a former Christian who once aimed for priesthood, so he presumably knows his way around the symbolism better than an average Japanese, but it's still a case of TrueArtIsIncomprehensible.
* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'''s Éclair wears a pair of crosses as earrings. Apparently, they also function as communication devices, and also indicate the status of her nanomist shield.
* ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'' - Dr. Kazutaka Muraki sure loves those crosses to set a mood, and even gives a monologue at one point during the anime about how Christians in Japan in the past had to hide their faith. There's no indication that Muraki himself is a Christian, though.
* From ''Manga/OnePiece'', we have Mihawk with his huge cross-shaped sword and his tiny cross pendant knife.
** That's just the tip of the iceberg - whenever a tombstone appears, it's ''inevitably'' a big honking cross, even in places like Alabasta that seem to trend more toward more animistic beliefs. Note that, although the series (as far as we know) takes place on a ConstructedWorld, there have been small hints that Christianity exists in some form - Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma even carries a Bible around!
* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}''. The Devil Bats use a play called the Cris Cross, some translators having put in as "Christ Cross," as it was pictured as the religious cross with the quarterback at the center. The play is simply two runners taking the ball from the quarterback, or faking the play so the quarterback can pass. [[spoiler:Monta and Sena never successfully play it until one of the last plays of the Christmas bowl. It also turns out that that one time was actually a variation of the move called the Evil cross.]]
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Allen along with the other Exorcists wear crosses on their uniforms to signify that they are part of the Black Order. Most of the Innocence weapons have some allusion to a cross of some sort:
** Allen's left arm, his weapon, has a cross symbol on the back of his hand. When activated into Crown Clown's Sword of Exorcism, a cross like design appears on his surfboard sized sword. Cross Grave is an attack that destroys Akuma all at once, leaving behind white glowing cross symbols.
** Lenalee's newly evolved Dark Boots when deactivated turn into a anklets, and a black cross is tattooed into the sides of her feet.
*** Later, Kanda gains the same cross tattoed into the his forearms.
** Cross's Judgement creates a variation of the cross.
** Also, regarding clothings, besides the cardinals who obviously have crosses, Renny Epstain is always seen with a cross pendant. The cross is removed in the first anime but is left though, smaller in hallow.
* Satoshi from ''Manga/DNAngel'' is often shown wearing crosses in his outfits, including one outfit where his shirt has a huge gold-colored cross on the back. This is partially because the manga likes dressing him in gothy visual kei-styled outfits, but is also likely a reference to [[spoiler:his alter ego]] Krad, who has a cross accessory hanging from his ponytail.
** Given it's a Krad thing, this raises the question of why Satoshi would [[EnemyWithin ever wear crosses ever]].
* Subverted in the ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' anime. Funeral crosses are just straight lines going through circles.
* Belldandy in ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' has been known to wear discreet crosses as jewelry. Given that she is the Goddess of the Present, inhabits a fairly animist world, and has met the Almighty personally, you have to wonder what she's saying with the fashion choice.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Greed (Mk. 1) lowered from the ceiling [[CrucifiedHeroShot pinned to a cross]] after [[spoiler:Wrath recaptures him. Of course, this cross appears to be the piece of sewer floor Wrath pinned him to--they just sliced up the concrete rather than risk unpinning him and starting over on the capture thing.]] The dialogue afterward is all about sons and fathers and submission, and in the end Father sacrifices his son and reincorporates him into the greater whole of himself. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything No, not ''that''. Father has a huge god complex, by the way. However, [[{{Bowdlerization}} the cross was changed]] to a generic block of metal in the anime, presumably to avoid causing offense.
** Arakawa dealt with religion in fairly Abrahamic terms from the very beginning with Sun God Leto, and kicked it up a notch in the Ishval flashback, which was a Holocaust stand-in despite being the [[HumansAreBastards much more historically standard]] systematic razing of a city. But because she doesn't like to cross-contaminate her fantasy world with AuthorFilibuster, this is the only appearance of a cross. And there's a good excuse.
** The symbol on Ed's cloak is an aversion of the FauxSymbolism of this trope, as this is an actual alchemical symbol from Nicholas Flamel's writings. It's derivation can be traced from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius Rod of Asclepius]], the Greek symbol of medicine, or the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus Caduceus,]] the ancient Greek sign of wealth. Both make sense in the context of the work, since Alkahestry deals with medicine, and Alchemy's original goal is the production of gold, or more accurately, immortality.
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Vento of the Front has a cross attached to a length of chain which is bolted to her tongue. She also wields a [[DropTheHammer hammer that's vaguely in the shape of a cross]].
** Biagio Busoni has dozens of crosses on his person. His fighting style is to throw them at his opponents, then magically make them enlarge to the size of cars in midair.
* [[http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/7/115598.jpg The title character Nyanpire]] from [[Anime/NyanpireTheAnimation The Gothic World of Nyanpire]] has a yellow cross on his stomach that he got once he was turned into an actual vampire.
* Parodied in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', where the high school is shaped as a cross.
* In ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'', some of Sakura's clothes have crosses on them. Sakura is implied to be Shinto.
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': The CrystalDragonJesus church uses a falcon on a T cross as its symbol. Not quite creepy in itself (except that one panel where a priest has a staff with the falcon nailed to it), at least until [[spoiler:Griffith's]] true nature as a DarkMessiah pops up.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Larcade of the Spriggan 12 has a cross on his forehead and carries a large metal one on his back, which reinforce his priestly image (though it's more Buddhist than Christian). He also uses the metal cross as a weapon to bludgeon and impale his foes.
* In ''Manga/ZatchBell'' when Koko was mindcontrolled by demon Zofis she wore thigh-high boots with crosses.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanfic]]
* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfintyTrainBlossomingTrail'' has a wardrobe change in Arc 2 and she wears two cross barrettes. Moreover, she got a tea-leaf reading in an earlier chapter that showed a cross.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Employed as a stylistic choice in ''Film/UltramanZeroTheRevengeOfBelial'' with Mirror knight, whose powers manifest as cross shapes.
* ''Film/SnuffMovie'': In his final act in recreating the occult murders of his wife and friends, Boris has Wendy [[PassionPlay literally crucified]]. [[GainaxEnding Unless he didn't.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Shipwrecked English sailor John Blackthorne is both amazed and appalled to witness Japanese criminals being executed by crucifixion in Creator/JamesClavell's epic ''Literature/{{Shogun}}''. See "Real Life" below.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/ENomine's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuV4O-3jhPQ music video]] for "Schwarze Sonne" has some very creepy Christian imagery.
* Music/BabyMetal
** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIKqgE4BwAY "Gimme chocolate!!"]] has a giant Virgin Mary statue at the back of the stage set.
** The concert at which the "Gimme chocolate!!" was filmed[[note]]"Legend 1997", marking Suzuka's 16th birthday[[/note]] ends with the lead singer being crucified, in front of said statue.
* Music/BlackSabbath are masters of this trope.
* In ''Märchen'', the Nun is killed when an old woman driven mad by starvation runs her through and pins her to an inverted cross.
* Witch House album covers and videos are rife with crosses, along with triangles, misc. occult symbolism and other unsettling imagery. Crosses and triangles also frequently appear in band names and track titles, making them [[TheUnpronounceable unpronounceable]].
* How else would you consider Music/GunsNRoses' ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' album cover?
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]
* During his Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness days, Wrestling/TheUndertaker had a creepy cool cross. His was more of a T with an X in the middle of it, and no matter how often Wrestling/JimRoss tried to sell the thing as a "symbol", it still looked like a cross. After the Ministry had kidnapped [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie [=McMahon=]]], the Undertaker ordered the Ministry to "put her on the cross", shortly followed by him saying "put her on the symbol".
* The short-lived pseudo-religious character Mordecai carried a big metal cross around with him.
* Wrestling/DragonGate wrestler Dragon Kid names his trademark moves with a religious theme in mind. He has a spinning flying headscissor submission called the Christo that looks vaguely cross-like when applied. Wrestling/GailKim brought the move to America during her first WWE run. K-ness, meanwhile wears a cross on his head.
* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s ring gear is loaded with crosses, and his finishing move is a crucifix powerbomb. Of course, this makes perfect sense, as Celtic crosses carved from stone are a common motif in traditional Irish art.
* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, and it often shows up on his ring gear and merchandise, as well as the various crowns and thrones he uses for his entrances.
* Wrestling/{{Edge}} had a Christian cross on his boots during his Brood days, while Wrestling/{{Christian}} had an ankh on both his boots and his tights. Neither had anything to do with either Christianity or ancient Egyptian religions.
* The Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} stable Bruderschaft Des Kruzes ("Brotherhood of the Cross") used Creepy Cool Crosses as their central motif.
* Wrestling/MercedesMartinez often wears crosses on her clothing, in this case the message is "Only God Can Judge Me!"
* Wrestling/MichelleMcCool also had crosses on her clothes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' cross is the Rune of Death. It represents the sword of Humakt, [[TheGrimReaper the god of death]], and can 'coincidentally' be used to repel undead, such as vampires.
* In [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the grim darkness of the far future]] Christianity is a forgotten religion, but you still have crosses: they're usually combined with skull motifs, and worn by TheEmpire's elite terror troops. It doesn't really get any creepier than this.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In the SNES game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' The Christian crosses can be seen in the North American version of VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI (released as ''Final Fantasy III''). The crosses can be seen on characters shield icons. Also during the turn based battles the cross can be seen when the character like Terra or Locke holds up a shield. Also in the Graveyard of Thamasa or Mobliz the crosses can be seen on the tombstones, especially General Leo's memorial grave. This is one of the examples of church crosses getting past the Nintendo censorship.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''' Christian cross at the church has been replaced with the obelisk, or taken out of the North American release. If you visit a town that has been destroyed like Gordovan you can see the Christian cross at the ruins of the church. It is unclear if it has gotten past the Nintendo censorship or if it represents death.
* Seifer Almasy in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is distinguished by the UsefulNotes/{{T|heKnightsTemplar}}emplar cross that he wears.
* In ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'', Croix's gun is shaped like a cross. Though parts of it were [[{{Bowdlerise}} edited down]] in the US release to resemble an actual gun, the discerning eye can still see a cross handle somewhere down the middle.
** In fact, the original version of ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' was brimming with crosses, the protagonists being a squad of battle clerics and all. ''Every single one'' was edited out, from Alouette's earrings, which became rectangular, to Prier's staff, which lost its cross-tip, to the little cursor for target selection in combat, which became a sort of Damocles' sword, not to mention the church buildings. Croix also lost his cigarette, but still put his hand to his mouth at the end of battles... His name means "Cross" in French. There's a lot of BilingualBonus in this game if you know a bit of French.
* The ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series has a recurring gun attack called Totenkreuz, which is German for "crux mortis" or "death cross". The character using this attack charges energy into his gun before firing a thick shot, which looks like a fiery laser, down on the target(s). Upon impact, the shot explodes into a ''gigantic flaming cross''. Unlike most of the attacks in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'', this one remains almost unchanged from its ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' incarnation.
** The White Dragon's Holy Flare attack creates a similarly shaped explosion.
** Valvatorez from ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' has some inverted ones embroidered on his pants.
* Large crosses double as boomerang-style throwing weapons in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series of video games. Richter Belmont's [[LimitBreak Item Crash]] for this particular subweapon summons a screen-filling cross, with a carving of Jesus Christ on it, to smash down foes. Also, rosaries (with large crosses on them) will instantly destroy all enemies in the room.
* Despite being a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], Remilia Scarlet of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' likes cross imagery, and uses them in her spellcards. (This doesn't seem to be the only religious imagery that she likes; she's got a spellcard named "Star of David" as well.)
** So does her little sister, though her attack is called "Counter Clock", it definitely involves crosses.
** HarmlessVillain Rumia from the same game also attempts to pull a pseudo-CrucifiedHeroShot by spreading out her arms, but she looks more like a kid playing airplane than anything else.
** Yumemi Okazaki, despite being a scientist from another reality and likely not Christian, uses crosses.
* During the NESTS saga of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kyo Kusanagi wears a black shirt with 2 pairs of perpendicular white lines forming a cross on his chest. Also, in the ''[[DatingSim Days of Memories]]'' {{Spin Off}}s, Goenitz, Chris and Shermie are seen wearing crucifixes. It may be important to note that, while of those chracters, Goenitz is supposed to be a priest, his true loyalties are with {{Orochi}}.
* Rin Tohsaka in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
** This is actually explained in [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". UsefUlNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' {{justifie|dTrope}}s by placing the setting in 16th-century Europe (more specifically, the [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire German Holy Empire]]). One where bombs and clocks have been invented early, and where fairies and demons exist, yes, but nonetheless a European setting.
** [[OlderThanTheyThink Clockwork was invented sometime in the 11th century]], at ''least''.
* Brandished upside-down by the Evil Clerics of ''VideoGame/TheDungeonRevealed''.
* Slayer from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' makes use of cross motifs, being [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a sufficiently different vampire]] and all.
* Rachel from ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'', whose design can best be described as Slayer's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld reverse-jailbait]] daughter.
* A number of fans have often wondered about the prevalence of crosses in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games of the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series. Every tombstone in either game has a cross on it, and Link even picks up an actual cross as an item in the second game. WordOfGod explains that [[EarthDrift the original plan was to have Christianity as the main religion in Hyrule]]; the three goddesses weren't invented until after the two NES games were released. Note that crosses are never seen again from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' onward.
* Skeith from the ''Franchise/DotHack'' series of games gets a pagan cross as his primary weapon (or a 'red wand' in the English version). When he uses his Data Drain move, the cross teleports behind the victim, giving the impression of a crucifixion.
** [[spoiler: Justified, since Skeith kills the resident CrystalDragonJesus with it by CrucifiedHeroShot.]]
* In a rather odd manner, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' uses a stylized cross as the symbol of the game's obvious Catholic Church {{Expy}}, which makes sense so far. The manner in which it is stylized, however, has the two arms bent upwards and both, along with the "head" are tipped with points that give it a sinister pitchforked design... which seems all the creepier because the church ''isn't'' secretly worshiping expy-Satan behind the expy-Christ facade.
* In the free-to-play MMORPG ''Forsaken World'', the Kindred race, Vampire class uses a large stylized crucifix as their main weapon, in which it is used as a more conventional staff to help increase their magical power.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', one weapon is a blade those various forms of attacks are all crosses. The charged shots are large crosses with equal-length arms, the rapid-fire shot are lots of tiny traditional crosses, the weapon itself is cross-shaped, and the melee attack extends the weapon with a cross-shaped LaserBlade. The weapon is called the ''Crusader'' Blade.
* ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' not only has crosses on the Bibles, but also as the item that lets Tamagon eliminate dots and breathe fire on enemies, and the maze also has big cross-shaped walls.
* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons: he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} disaster but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', cross imagery is used extensively by UNDEAD as part of their gothic motif. They were also star of one of the only two Easter events the game has run, and it played up the death and resurrection spookiness for all it was worth. Ironically, the unit contains one foreigner character, but he's actually Arabic, and so implicitly Muslim.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Gift's wooden magic staff is shaped like a cross.
* In Trails series, Crow Armbrust's Deadly Cross and Cross Rebellion S-Crafts have him firing a large X-shaped Sword Beam at his enemies at the end. His final S-Craft Vorpal Slayer also makes a a large cross shaped silhouette at the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', there is a rain of crosses [[ShoutOut similar to a famous scene from]] ''Music/TheWall'', used for a lucid dream, and later on when referring to the same subject.
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', [[PerkyGoth Ruby Rose]] used to wear a large one on her belt (this has been changed into a rose sigil in later animations) and her CoolUncle Qrow wears a similar silver cross around his neck. Given their [[GrimReaper death]] motifs...
* The intro sequence of [[WebAnimation/SockSeries ''Empire of Sock'']] depicts the titular evil hamster being crucified, driving home the Satanic vibe of the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* The C-130 Hercules transport plane has the Angel Flare, which...oh, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C-130_Hercules_10.jpg just look at it yourself.]]
* UrbanLegends allege that the Japanese or Chinese make holiday decorations or Christmas tree ornaments featuring a [[http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/cross.asp crucified Santa]]. No such displays in Japan or China have been verified, but New York artist Robert Cenedella's painting of a [[http://www.rcenedellagallery.com/node/437 crucified Santa]] (intended as a commentary on the commercialization of Christmas) has muddied these waters.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion#Japan The mediaeval Japanese]] used crucifixion as a method of execution, having developed this independently of the West in the Kamakura period, then using it again around the Sengoku era. The first Western visitors - Catholic missionaries - were amazed at this (and especially at the way the prisoner [[ImpaledWithExtremeprejudice was eventually dispatched with long spears]]) and speculated the country must have had some prior contact with decent Christian folk, reasoning back from the two thieves executed with Jesus. Crucifixion was used as public execution until well into the final Shogunate, was regularly used against UsefulNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s (the most "famous" victims being [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miki Saint Paul Miki]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-six_Martyrs_of_Japan the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki]]), later was applied as punishment for ''serious'' crimes in the Meiji era (i.e. there's a rather infamous photo of a [[TheButlerDidIt butler/robber]] crucified for killing his master's son) and accounts exist of its being used on British, Australian and American prisoners of war in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer_Edwards an Australian survived it]]).
* The Cross had many meanings in religious symbolism before Christianity. Even a symbol like the ankh is just one variant on the cross, and it, like other variants of the Cross were extremely common in the pre-Christian world.
[[/folder]]
----
[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eva_cross_explosion.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[FauxSymbolism What do you mean, "it's not symbolic"?]]]]
->''"And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came..."''
-->-- '''Sarah [=MacLachlan=]'''
[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Most Japanese are not Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it, and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
At the very least, in Japanese imagery, Christian imagery tends to be visual short-hand for occult overtones if it's intentionally symbolic. Occasionally it's used as simply a fashion choice, much in the way [[GratuitousJapanese kanji inserted just for the hell of it]] are used in other countries. And sometimes, you'll have people [[ImprobableWeaponUser use giant crosses as physical weapons just as much as religious ones]].
This isn't at all exclusive to countries unfamiliar with Christianity either, as the familiar symbols and motifs can easily be used for religious, vaguely occult, or otherwise eerie associations in media.
See also CrucialCross (where the cross is used to represent hope in the face of suffering), CrucifiedHeroShot (where a suffering hero t-poses) and FauxSymbolism.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'''s fifth episode, aptly called "Ballad of Fallen Angels", there's a cross and other cool church imagery the fight scene takes place in.
* The demon-fighting demon symbiotes of ''Manga/{{Tokko}}'' all wear crosses.
* In ''Manga/PrincessResurrection'' the vampiress Reiri seems especially associated with crosses; [[IHaveTheHighGround standing on them for effect]] or having them in her background.
* The cross-shaped explosions in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' shown above. Misato's cross was more a memorial to Second Impact and the death it caused than any religious icon. It's also [[TragicKeepsake the last thing her father gave her before]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath placing her in the escape pod just before dying from his injuries]], thus saving her life.
** This is actually lampshaded by the producer, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.
** Lampshaded in the [[WebVideo/EvangelionAbridged Abridged Series]]:
--> '''[[BridgeBunny Aoba]]''': ''Another'' cross attack!? Why!?\\
'''[[BridgeBunny Maya]]''': Because it's... deep?\\
'''[[DeadpanSnarker Gendo]]''': Ah, don't start start that tired argument again! It was added because the director thought it was shiny, so just move on and continue the operation.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'':
** Misa and Mello's respective necklaces (and, in Misa's case, also earrings). Interesting in that while Misa's is generally seen as her being into typically commercialized gothic trends, Mello's is often seen as an indication he is Catholic by fandom. This is probably because Misa's are just random crosses, while Mello is seen at least once with an actual rosary. Not to mention that while Misa is Japanese, Mello is European [[NonspecificallyForeign (what kind is up for debate)]] and thus more likely to actually have some personal connection to the religion itself. In the anime, the crosses are [[{{Bowdlerise}} omitted]], with Misa's cross replaced with a fleur de lis and all crosses worn by Mello removed - though interestingly, the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series, and she is also depicted wearing it in the anime's first opening. It's also worth noting that, in the scene where he interrogates Soichiro, he's sitting beneath a ''crucifix.'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic All Christianity may be Catholic]] in American and European media, but crucifixes are much less common that regular crosses in Japanese media. The fandom also cites the fact that his real name, [[spoiler: Mihael Keehl]], appears to be Croatian and German. Both countries have a high percentage of Catholics.
** Death Note Relight features a cross [[spoiler: at L's headstone.]]
** Taken UpToEleven when we see Mello's [[http://images.wikia.com/deathnote/images/4/45/11725525678449699.jpg personal quarters]] in the manga. Of course, that's more like Creepy Cool Catholicism, or Creepy Cool Image Of The Virgin Mary And The Angels...
* In ''Manga/AirGear'', Kilik wore these all over his clothes in the past, and all the [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Gravity Children]]'s [[ExoticEyeDesigns Twinkle Eyes]] invoke this. More often than not, when a Gravity Child reveals their Twinkle Eyes, most, if not all their face is shadowed so it's just like seeing two glowing crosses.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Father Alexander Anderson ([[ChurchMilitant given his profession]]) wears one, as do many of his Iscariot protégés. In this case, it's logical; they're explicitly Catholic. Alucard is sometimes seen with them as well, and they're a running theme in the series itself, since the Hellsing Organisation is a religious one. Both Alucard and Anderson sometimes position their weapons (two {{Hand Cannon}}s and {{Absurdly Sharp B|lade}}ayonets respectively) as crosses before battle, too, though Alucard prefers to invert his in order to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens actively mock the divine]]. An inverted cross is ''also'' a Christian symbol ([[NewerThanTheyThink it only picked up blasphemous connotations recently]]), but it's fairly obscure even among Westerners as such.
** Ditto most members of AX in ''Trinity Blood'' ([[ChurchMilitant for the same reason]]).
* Jung from ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' wears one, despite being from [[FailedFutureForecast East Germany]], when the Communist Bloc historically persecuted devout Christians. Maybe they got lax in the future.
** While generally East Germans are even less religious than West Germans, the GDR was never able to completely root out Christianity during the 40 years of its existence (and neither did the Soviet Union that lasted almost twice as long). There are still many Christians in eastern Germany and they actually proved to be one of the major forces responsible for the end of Communism (much like the Catholic Church in Poland).
* Isuzu (Rin) and Hatsuharu Sohma from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' occasionally wear crosses.
* Crosses feature prominently in ''Anime/WeissKreuz'', the title of which is in fact (slightly mangled) German for "white cross." A white cross appears to be the logo of Weiss, the team of four [[HitmanWithAHeart Hitmen with Hearts]] who are the protagonists of the series. Several members of Weiss habitually wear crosses - particularly in the {{Oddly Named Sequel|2ElectricBoogaloo}} ''Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen'', in which every member of Weiss has a red cross somewhere on his "working clothes," including one who paints a cross on his bare chest. Possibly justified in the cases of Aya and [[RaisedCatholic Ken]], as they are [[UsefulNote/JapaneseChristian at least nominally Christian]]. Crucifixion symbolism also turns up at least once.
** For added symbolism, regarding the team's red crosses on their working clothes: [[BloodKnight Ken's]] extends around his neck and [[FailureKnight Youji's]] (the one who paints it on his bare chest every time he gets dressed) is slanted. Aya has a main one on his cravat, which is extended across his entire chest because of the way his BadassLongcoat is styled, and he has two more on the wrists of his gloves.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': The [[{{Joshikousei}} school uniforms]] bear crosses on the ties. Religion does bear a big role in the plot - but it's Buddhism and Shinto.
* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', crosses are symbols of the Panthalassa race.
* Tooya in ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'' wears a choker with a cross on it.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Hayate's Armed Device is shaped like a cross (and she's got crosses all over her mage outfit, too) and named accordingly: "Schwertkreuz" means "Sword Cross" in GratuitousGerman. What with being a PersonOfMassDestruction and all... Her [[QuirkyMinibossSquad quirky miniboss]], [[CuteBruiser Vita]], has crosses all over her ElegantGothicLolita costume, which [[CosplayOtakuGirl Hayate]] created for her.
** In fact, the crosses seem to have been a popular symbol in the Ancient Belkan culture (whose magic Hayate and Vita use), as evident in the "magic circle" associated with it (which is actually a ''triangle'' with a cross inscribed in it). No in-universe explanation has been provided for this, although the very last GodEmperor of Belka ''was'' a MessianicArchetype (or CrystalDragonJesus) who sacrificed her life to end the war. For whatever reason, however, crosses also feature prominently in Teana's CustomUniform, who is about as far removed from Belkan magic as it gets.
** ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' additionally gives us an ancient ArtifactOfDoom inconspicuously dubbed "the [[GratuitousEnglish Bible of Silver Cross]]". It's nature and origins are yet to be revealed, however.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[JustifiedTrope partially justified]] in that he's supposed to be a [[ChurchMilitant man of God]]. Naturally, though, research was sacrificed for the sake of the RuleOfCool... and MoreDakka.
** Oddly, Yoshihiro Nightow is reported to be Christian, though if he is he's goddamn sloppy about it. Wolfwood, on the other hand, is a ''[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot future]] space-Episcopalian orphan [[HitmanWithAHeart assassin]] [[TheMole spy]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable science-experiment]] [[BadassPreacher priest]] created by a [[ReligionOfEvil plant-worshipping murder cult]].''
%%* Ikuto and Utau in ''Manga/ShugoChara''.
%%* Zange in ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens''.
* The Quincies from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' incorporate crosses heavily into their weapons and clothing.
** [[spoiler: And the Quincy cross, albeit in a corrupted form, is used as the logo by the Wandenreich, in the Thousand Year Blood War.]]
* ''Manga/LoveHina'': An interesting subversion: Naru is neither creepy nor particularly cool, yet a discreet and small cross can be seen around her neck at times. This small cross necklace helped ''save her life'' in volume 12, where it and the engagement ring Keitaro had been trying to give to her snagged a tree branch as they fell off a cliff. Then the chain snapped and they fell the last couple feet with no problem. Akamatsu himself says that the cross doesn't really mean anything, that it's likely a shop keeper talked her into buying it at some point in Volume 8.
* And in the manga of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' by the same author, Evangeline (who can qualify as both creepy ''and'' particularly cool) has been seen with a cross on her clothing. (She may get extra badass points for doing so, given that she's a ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]''). Other characters wear them, but all of them are either nominal Christians or impersonating nuns (or in-between, or both at once - at one point a student who normally wears a cross is praying to God to forgive the cross she's wearing... as part of the fetish nurse costume her classmates have dressed her in). And one of the maybe-fake nuns is seen using figures formed of darkness as her main weapon, which probably fits the trope.
** In Evangeline's case, it's probably just a matter of fashion. She tend to wear the gothic lolita style when not in uniform, and crosses are popular images in that fashion style.
* ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'': The kingdom and royalty of Sforzendo use crosses as a holy seal. Flute goes one further and pulls out huge, mallet-sized crosses to beat down on the object of her ire. Queen Horn shoots laser beams from hers.
* Crosses show up plenty in ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', usually in the form of {{Power Limiter}}s. Another example of crosses and vampires holding a strong thematic association.
* Choutaro Ohtori from ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' wears a silver cross, despite not being Christian (he says so in the OAV when asked by Shishido). Subverted since he's not creepy, but quite a GentleGiant.
* Since ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is about a [[ChurchMilitant nun with guns]] and the [[DealWithTheDevil demon she's contracted to]] fighting other [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], it makes sense that crosses would pop up--and they do, a ''lot''. The bullets Rosette uses show crosses in the air when fired, the barriers used to trap the demons also glow with cross-shaped energy, in the anime Chrono is badly injured when [[FauxSymbolism a cross-shaped piece of a building falls on top of him]], Remington's energy blade looks like a cross relic until it's activated...
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Death Scythe wears a cross shaped tie and has crosses on his shirt lapels, and had a similar style as a child. It also reflects his Weapon form, which looks like a cross when the blade isn't present. Also the aptly named Death Room is full of hundreds of grave marker style crosses. Justin the priest wore a cross and had some on his clothing but these vanished as part of a [[MadnessMakeover Madness/Villanous Makeover]] IIRC replaced by the eye symbol of the Bigger Bad.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'', the protagonist Beyond the Grave has a silver cross motif on the front of his hat, the back of his coat, on the red "kneepads" of his pants, the back of his boots, and ''the soles of his boots''. It's probably mainly because of simply being [[RuleOfCool cool]].
** Not to mention the prominent cross shape on each of his [[HandCannon twin pistols]].
** And the big one on his [[{{BFG}} Coffin]]. In the sequel to the game the weapon's "upgraded" so the cross design in no longer there.
** In ''Overdose'' the deadman Fangoram wields a giant cross-shaped gun (resembles the cross punisher from ''Trigun'' a bit) called the Center Head. It's the last gun of the Cerberus Series to be made, and is outright stated to be the strongest of the Cerberus line.
* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Halloween, a psychopathic villain, is chained to a cross-shaped ARM. As a child, he [[spoiler:tortured small animals to death and burned the kids who bullied him to death, and spends most of the story either trying to kill his only childhood friend, Alan, or waiting to.]] Yeah.
* Duo Maxwell from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' was raised in a Catholic orphanage, wears priest-like clothes and lots of crosses. He is known as ''Shinigami'', or, in good ol' English, Death God. Can't get more creepy than that. Yet, he ''isn't'' a devout Christian; he himself states that he doesn't believe in God because he hasn't seen a miracle, but ''has'' seen lots of dead people. He wears the crosses and collar as a memento of the priest and nun who cared for him.
** In ''Frozen Teardrops'' Duo appears to be a preacher. [[spoiler: It's more of a front for his BountyHunter work than anything else.]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', when Kaiba is going to be sacrificed to create the Five God Dragon in the virtual reality story arc, he is tied to a tau or T-shaped pillar, but in a definitely crucified position. Beyond that, the show and the [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh card game]] alike feature countless dozens of crosses all adorning magicians' robes, spell books, glyphs, etc.
* ''Anime/AngelsEgg'': The nameless young man ([[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory who may be the Christ or Anti-Christ]]) in Mamoru Oshii's animated film carries a large, cross-shaped weapon in his back. Mamoru Oshii is a former Christian who once aimed for priesthood, so he presumably knows his way around the symbolism better than an average Japanese, but it's still a case of TrueArtIsIncomprehensible.
* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'''s Éclair wears a pair of crosses as earrings. Apparently, they also function as communication devices, and also indicate the status of her nanomist shield.
* ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'' - Dr. Kazutaka Muraki sure loves those crosses to set a mood, and even gives a monologue at one point during the anime about how Christians in Japan in the past had to hide their faith. There's no indication that Muraki himself is a Christian, though.
* From ''Manga/OnePiece'', we have Mihawk with his huge cross-shaped sword and his tiny cross pendant knife.
** That's just the tip of the iceberg - whenever a tombstone appears, it's ''inevitably'' a big honking cross, even in places like Alabasta that seem to trend more toward more animistic beliefs. Note that, although the series (as far as we know) takes place on a ConstructedWorld, there have been small hints that Christianity exists in some form - Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma even carries a Bible around!
* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}''. The Devil Bats use a play called the Cris Cross, some translators having put in as "Christ Cross," as it was pictured as the religious cross with the quarterback at the center. The play is simply two runners taking the ball from the quarterback, or faking the play so the quarterback can pass. [[spoiler:Monta and Sena never successfully play it until one of the last plays of the Christmas bowl. It also turns out that that one time was actually a variation of the move called the Evil cross.]]
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Allen along with the other Exorcists wear crosses on their uniforms to signify that they are part of the Black Order. Most of the Innocence weapons have some allusion to a cross of some sort:
** Allen's left arm, his weapon, has a cross symbol on the back of his hand. When activated into Crown Clown's Sword of Exorcism, a cross like design appears on his surfboard sized sword. Cross Grave is an attack that destroys Akuma all at once, leaving behind white glowing cross symbols.
** Lenalee's newly evolved Dark Boots when deactivated turn into a anklets, and a black cross is tattooed into the sides of her feet.
*** Later, Kanda gains the same cross tattoed into the his forearms.
** Cross's Judgement creates a variation of the cross.
** Also, regarding clothings, besides the cardinals who obviously have crosses, Renny Epstain is always seen with a cross pendant. The cross is removed in the first anime but is left though, smaller in hallow.
* Satoshi from ''Manga/DNAngel'' is often shown wearing crosses in his outfits, including one outfit where his shirt has a huge gold-colored cross on the back. This is partially because the manga likes dressing him in gothy visual kei-styled outfits, but is also likely a reference to [[spoiler:his alter ego]] Krad, who has a cross accessory hanging from his ponytail.
** Given it's a Krad thing, this raises the question of why Satoshi would [[EnemyWithin ever wear crosses ever]].
* Subverted in the ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' anime. Funeral crosses are just straight lines going through circles.
* Belldandy in ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' has been known to wear discreet crosses as jewelry. Given that she is the Goddess of the Present, inhabits a fairly animist world, and has met the Almighty personally, you have to wonder what she's saying with the fashion choice.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Greed (Mk. 1) lowered from the ceiling [[CrucifiedHeroShot pinned to a cross]] after [[spoiler:Wrath recaptures him. Of course, this cross appears to be the piece of sewer floor Wrath pinned him to--they just sliced up the concrete rather than risk unpinning him and starting over on the capture thing.]] The dialogue afterward is all about sons and fathers and submission, and in the end Father sacrifices his son and reincorporates him into the greater whole of himself. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything No, not ''that''. Father has a huge god complex, by the way. However, [[{{Bowdlerization}} the cross was changed]] to a generic block of metal in the anime, presumably to avoid causing offense.
** Arakawa dealt with religion in fairly Abrahamic terms from the very beginning with Sun God Leto, and kicked it up a notch in the Ishval flashback, which was a Holocaust stand-in despite being the [[HumansAreBastards much more historically standard]] systematic razing of a city. But because she doesn't like to cross-contaminate her fantasy world with AuthorFilibuster, this is the only appearance of a cross. And there's a good excuse.
** The symbol on Ed's cloak is an aversion of the FauxSymbolism of this trope, as this is an actual alchemical symbol from Nicholas Flamel's writings. It's derivation can be traced from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius Rod of Asclepius]], the Greek symbol of medicine, or the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus Caduceus,]] the ancient Greek sign of wealth. Both make sense in the context of the work, since Alkahestry deals with medicine, and Alchemy's original goal is the production of gold, or more accurately, immortality.
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Vento of the Front has a cross attached to a length of chain which is bolted to her tongue. She also wields a [[DropTheHammer hammer that's vaguely in the shape of a cross]].
** Biagio Busoni has dozens of crosses on his person. His fighting style is to throw them at his opponents, then magically make them enlarge to the size of cars in midair.
* [[http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/7/115598.jpg The title character Nyanpire]] from [[Anime/NyanpireTheAnimation The Gothic World of Nyanpire]] has a yellow cross on his stomach that he got once he was turned into an actual vampire.
* Parodied in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', where the high school is shaped as a cross.
* In ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'', some of Sakura's clothes have crosses on them. Sakura is implied to be Shinto.
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': The CrystalDragonJesus church uses a falcon on a T cross as its symbol. Not quite creepy in itself (except that one panel where a priest has a staff with the falcon nailed to it), at least until [[spoiler:Griffith's]] true nature as a DarkMessiah pops up.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Larcade of the Spriggan 12 has a cross on his forehead and carries a large metal one on his back, which reinforce his priestly image (though it's more Buddhist than Christian). He also uses the metal cross as a weapon to bludgeon and impale his foes.
* In ''Manga/ZatchBell'' when Koko was mindcontrolled by demon Zofis she wore thigh-high boots with crosses.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanfic]]
* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfintyTrainBlossomingTrail'' has a wardrobe change in Arc 2 and she wears two cross barrettes. Moreover, she got a tea-leaf reading in an earlier chapter that showed a cross.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Employed as a stylistic choice in ''Film/UltramanZeroTheRevengeOfBelial'' with Mirror knight, whose powers manifest as cross shapes.
* ''Film/SnuffMovie'': In his final act in recreating the occult murders of his wife and friends, Boris has Wendy [[PassionPlay literally crucified]]. [[GainaxEnding Unless he didn't.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Shipwrecked English sailor John Blackthorne is both amazed and appalled to witness Japanese criminals being executed by crucifixion in Creator/JamesClavell's epic ''Literature/{{Shogun}}''. See "Real Life" below.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/ENomine's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuV4O-3jhPQ music video]] for "Schwarze Sonne" has some very creepy Christian imagery.
* Music/BabyMetal
** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIKqgE4BwAY "Gimme chocolate!!"]] has a giant Virgin Mary statue at the back of the stage set.
** The concert at which the "Gimme chocolate!!" was filmed[[note]]"Legend 1997", marking Suzuka's 16th birthday[[/note]] ends with the lead singer being crucified, in front of said statue.
* Music/BlackSabbath are masters of this trope.
* In ''Märchen'', the Nun is killed when an old woman driven mad by starvation runs her through and pins her to an inverted cross.
* Witch House album covers and videos are rife with crosses, along with triangles, misc. occult symbolism and other unsettling imagery. Crosses and triangles also frequently appear in band names and track titles, making them [[TheUnpronounceable unpronounceable]].
* How else would you consider Music/GunsNRoses' ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' album cover?
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]
* During his Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness days, Wrestling/TheUndertaker had a creepy cool cross. His was more of a T with an X in the middle of it, and no matter how often Wrestling/JimRoss tried to sell the thing as a "symbol", it still looked like a cross. After the Ministry had kidnapped [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie [=McMahon=]]], the Undertaker ordered the Ministry to "put her on the cross", shortly followed by him saying "put her on the symbol".
* The short-lived pseudo-religious character Mordecai carried a big metal cross around with him.
* Wrestling/DragonGate wrestler Dragon Kid names his trademark moves with a religious theme in mind. He has a spinning flying headscissor submission called the Christo that looks vaguely cross-like when applied. Wrestling/GailKim brought the move to America during her first WWE run. K-ness, meanwhile wears a cross on his head.
* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s ring gear is loaded with crosses, and his finishing move is a crucifix powerbomb. Of course, this makes perfect sense, as Celtic crosses carved from stone are a common motif in traditional Irish art.
* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, and it often shows up on his ring gear and merchandise, as well as the various crowns and thrones he uses for his entrances.
* Wrestling/{{Edge}} had a Christian cross on his boots during his Brood days, while Wrestling/{{Christian}} had an ankh on both his boots and his tights. Neither had anything to do with either Christianity or ancient Egyptian religions.
* The Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} stable Bruderschaft Des Kruzes ("Brotherhood of the Cross") used Creepy Cool Crosses as their central motif.
* Wrestling/MercedesMartinez often wears crosses on her clothing, in this case the message is "Only God Can Judge Me!"
* Wrestling/MichelleMcCool also had crosses on her clothes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' cross is the Rune of Death. It represents the sword of Humakt, [[TheGrimReaper the god of death]], and can 'coincidentally' be used to repel undead, such as vampires.
* In [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the grim darkness of the far future]] Christianity is a forgotten religion, but you still have crosses: they're usually combined with skull motifs, and worn by TheEmpire's elite terror troops. It doesn't really get any creepier than this.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In the SNES game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' The Christian crosses can be seen in the North American version of VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI (released as ''Final Fantasy III''). The crosses can be seen on characters shield icons. Also during the turn based battles the cross can be seen when the character like Terra or Locke holds up a shield. Also in the Graveyard of Thamasa or Mobliz the crosses can be seen on the tombstones, especially General Leo's memorial grave. This is one of the examples of church crosses getting past the Nintendo censorship.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''' Christian cross at the church has been replaced with the obelisk, or taken out of the North American release. If you visit a town that has been destroyed like Gordovan you can see the Christian cross at the ruins of the church. It is unclear if it has gotten past the Nintendo censorship or if it represents death.
* Seifer Almasy in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is distinguished by the UsefulNotes/{{T|heKnightsTemplar}}emplar cross that he wears.
* In ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'', Croix's gun is shaped like a cross. Though parts of it were [[{{Bowdlerise}} edited down]] in the US release to resemble an actual gun, the discerning eye can still see a cross handle somewhere down the middle.
** In fact, the original version of ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' was brimming with crosses, the protagonists being a squad of battle clerics and all. ''Every single one'' was edited out, from Alouette's earrings, which became rectangular, to Prier's staff, which lost its cross-tip, to the little cursor for target selection in combat, which became a sort of Damocles' sword, not to mention the church buildings. Croix also lost his cigarette, but still put his hand to his mouth at the end of battles... His name means "Cross" in French. There's a lot of BilingualBonus in this game if you know a bit of French.
* The ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series has a recurring gun attack called Totenkreuz, which is German for "crux mortis" or "death cross". The character using this attack charges energy into his gun before firing a thick shot, which looks like a fiery laser, down on the target(s). Upon impact, the shot explodes into a ''gigantic flaming cross''. Unlike most of the attacks in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'', this one remains almost unchanged from its ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' incarnation.
** The White Dragon's Holy Flare attack creates a similarly shaped explosion.
** Valvatorez from ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' has some inverted ones embroidered on his pants.
* Large crosses double as boomerang-style throwing weapons in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series of video games. Richter Belmont's [[LimitBreak Item Crash]] for this particular subweapon summons a screen-filling cross, with a carving of Jesus Christ on it, to smash down foes. Also, rosaries (with large crosses on them) will instantly destroy all enemies in the room.
* Despite being a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], Remilia Scarlet of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' likes cross imagery, and uses them in her spellcards. (This doesn't seem to be the only religious imagery that she likes; she's got a spellcard named "Star of David" as well.)
** So does her little sister, though her attack is called "Counter Clock", it definitely involves crosses.
** HarmlessVillain Rumia from the same game also attempts to pull a pseudo-CrucifiedHeroShot by spreading out her arms, but she looks more like a kid playing airplane than anything else.
** Yumemi Okazaki, despite being a scientist from another reality and likely not Christian, uses crosses.
* During the NESTS saga of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kyo Kusanagi wears a black shirt with 2 pairs of perpendicular white lines forming a cross on his chest. Also, in the ''[[DatingSim Days of Memories]]'' {{Spin Off}}s, Goenitz, Chris and Shermie are seen wearing crucifixes. It may be important to note that, while of those chracters, Goenitz is supposed to be a priest, his true loyalties are with {{Orochi}}.
* Rin Tohsaka in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
** This is actually explained in [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". UsefUlNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' {{justifie|dTrope}}s by placing the setting in 16th-century Europe (more specifically, the [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire German Holy Empire]]). One where bombs and clocks have been invented early, and where fairies and demons exist, yes, but nonetheless a European setting.
** [[OlderThanTheyThink Clockwork was invented sometime in the 11th century]], at ''least''.
* Brandished upside-down by the Evil Clerics of ''VideoGame/TheDungeonRevealed''.
* Slayer from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' makes use of cross motifs, being [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a sufficiently different vampire]] and all.
* Rachel from ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'', whose design can best be described as Slayer's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld reverse-jailbait]] daughter.
* A number of fans have often wondered about the prevalence of crosses in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games of the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series. Every tombstone in either game has a cross on it, and Link even picks up an actual cross as an item in the second game. WordOfGod explains that [[EarthDrift the original plan was to have Christianity as the main religion in Hyrule]]; the three goddesses weren't invented until after the two NES games were released. Note that crosses are never seen again from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' onward.
* Skeith from the ''Franchise/DotHack'' series of games gets a pagan cross as his primary weapon (or a 'red wand' in the English version). When he uses his Data Drain move, the cross teleports behind the victim, giving the impression of a crucifixion.
** [[spoiler: Justified, since Skeith kills the resident CrystalDragonJesus with it by CrucifiedHeroShot.]]
* In a rather odd manner, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' uses a stylized cross as the symbol of the game's obvious Catholic Church {{Expy}}, which makes sense so far. The manner in which it is stylized, however, has the two arms bent upwards and both, along with the "head" are tipped with points that give it a sinister pitchforked design... which seems all the creepier because the church ''isn't'' secretly worshiping expy-Satan behind the expy-Christ facade.
* In the free-to-play MMORPG ''Forsaken World'', the Kindred race, Vampire class uses a large stylized crucifix as their main weapon, in which it is used as a more conventional staff to help increase their magical power.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', one weapon is a blade those various forms of attacks are all crosses. The charged shots are large crosses with equal-length arms, the rapid-fire shot are lots of tiny traditional crosses, the weapon itself is cross-shaped, and the melee attack extends the weapon with a cross-shaped LaserBlade. The weapon is called the ''Crusader'' Blade.
* ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' not only has crosses on the Bibles, but also as the item that lets Tamagon eliminate dots and breathe fire on enemies, and the maze also has big cross-shaped walls.
* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons: he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} disaster but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', cross imagery is used extensively by UNDEAD as part of their gothic motif. They were also star of one of the only two Easter events the game has run, and it played up the death and resurrection spookiness for all it was worth. Ironically, the unit contains one foreigner character, but he's actually Arabic, and so implicitly Muslim.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Gift's wooden magic staff is shaped like a cross.
* In Trails series, Crow Armbrust's Deadly Cross and Cross Rebellion S-Crafts have him firing a large X-shaped Sword Beam at his enemies at the end. His final S-Craft Vorpal Slayer also makes a a large cross shaped silhouette at the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', there is a rain of crosses [[ShoutOut similar to a famous scene from]] ''Music/TheWall'', used for a lucid dream, and later on when referring to the same subject.
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', [[PerkyGoth Ruby Rose]] used to wear a large one on her belt (this has been changed into a rose sigil in later animations) and her CoolUncle Qrow wears a similar silver cross around his neck. Given their [[GrimReaper death]] motifs...
* The intro sequence of [[WebAnimation/SockSeries ''Empire of Sock'']] depicts the titular evil hamster being crucified, driving home the Satanic vibe of the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* The C-130 Hercules transport plane has the Angel Flare, which...oh, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C-130_Hercules_10.jpg just look at it yourself.]]
* UrbanLegends allege that the Japanese or Chinese make holiday decorations or Christmas tree ornaments featuring a [[http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/cross.asp crucified Santa]]. No such displays in Japan or China have been verified, but New York artist Robert Cenedella's painting of a [[http://www.rcenedellagallery.com/node/437 crucified Santa]] (intended as a commentary on the commercialization of Christmas) has muddied these waters.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion#Japan The mediaeval Japanese]] used crucifixion as a method of execution, having developed this independently of the West in the Kamakura period, then using it again around the Sengoku era. The first Western visitors - Catholic missionaries - were amazed at this (and especially at the way the prisoner [[ImpaledWithExtremeprejudice was eventually dispatched with long spears]]) and speculated the country must have had some prior contact with decent Christian folk, reasoning back from the two thieves executed with Jesus. Crucifixion was used as public execution until well into the final Shogunate, was regularly used against UsefulNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s (the most "famous" victims being [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miki Saint Paul Miki]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-six_Martyrs_of_Japan the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki]]), later was applied as punishment for ''serious'' crimes in the Meiji era (i.e. there's a rather infamous photo of a [[TheButlerDidIt butler/robber]] crucified for killing his master's son) and accounts exist of its being used on British, Australian and American prisoners of war in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer_Edwards an Australian survived it]]).
* The Cross had many meanings in religious symbolism before Christianity. Even a symbol like the ankh is just one variant on the cross, and it, like other variants of the Cross were extremely common in the pre-Christian world.
[[/folder]]
----
to:
[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/eva_cross_explosion.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[FauxSymbolism What do you mean, "it's not symbolic"?]]]]
->''"And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came..."''
-->-- '''Sarah [=MacLachlan=]'''
[[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Most Japanese are not Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it, and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
At the very least, in Japanese imagery, Christian imagery tends to be visual short-hand for occult overtones if it's intentionally symbolic. Occasionally it's used as simply a fashion choice, much in the way [[GratuitousJapanese kanji inserted just for the hell of it]] are used in other countries. And sometimes, you'll have people [[ImprobableWeaponUser use giant crosses as physical weapons just as much as religious ones]].
This isn't at all exclusive to countries unfamiliar with Christianity either, as the familiar symbols and motifs can easily be used for religious, vaguely occult, or otherwise eerie associations in media.
See also CrucialCross (where the cross is used to represent hope in the face of suffering), CrucifiedHeroShot (where a suffering hero t-poses) and FauxSymbolism.
----
!!Examples:
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* In ''Anime/CowboyBebop'''s fifth episode, aptly called "Ballad of Fallen Angels", there's a cross and other cool church imagery the fight scene takes place in.
* The demon-fighting demon symbiotes of ''Manga/{{Tokko}}'' all wear crosses.
* In ''Manga/PrincessResurrection'' the vampiress Reiri seems especially associated with crosses; [[IHaveTheHighGround standing on them for effect]] or having them in her background.
* The cross-shaped explosions in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' shown above. Misato's cross was more a memorial to Second Impact and the death it caused than any religious icon. It's also [[TragicKeepsake the last thing her father gave her before]] [[RedemptionEqualsDeath placing her in the escape pod just before dying from his injuries]], thus saving her life.
** This is actually lampshaded by the producer, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.
** Lampshaded in the [[WebVideo/EvangelionAbridged Abridged Series]]:
--> '''[[BridgeBunny Aoba]]''': ''Another'' cross attack!? Why!?\\
'''[[BridgeBunny Maya]]''': Because it's... deep?\\
'''[[DeadpanSnarker Gendo]]''': Ah, don't start start that tired argument again! It was added because the director thought it was shiny, so just move on and continue the operation.
* ''Manga/DeathNote'':
** Misa and Mello's respective necklaces (and, in Misa's case, also earrings). Interesting in that while Misa's is generally seen as her being into typically commercialized gothic trends, Mello's is often seen as an indication he is Catholic by fandom. This is probably because Misa's are just random crosses, while Mello is seen at least once with an actual rosary. Not to mention that while Misa is Japanese, Mello is European [[NonspecificallyForeign (what kind is up for debate)]] and thus more likely to actually have some personal connection to the religion itself. In the anime, the crosses are [[{{Bowdlerise}} omitted]], with Misa's cross replaced with a fleur de lis and all crosses worn by Mello removed - though interestingly, the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series, and she is also depicted wearing it in the anime's first opening. It's also worth noting that, in the scene where he interrogates Soichiro, he's sitting beneath a ''crucifix.'' [[ChristianityIsCatholic All Christianity may be Catholic]] in American and European media, but crucifixes are much less common that regular crosses in Japanese media. The fandom also cites the fact that his real name, [[spoiler: Mihael Keehl]], appears to be Croatian and German. Both countries have a high percentage of Catholics.
** Death Note Relight features a cross [[spoiler: at L's headstone.]]
** Taken UpToEleven when we see Mello's [[http://images.wikia.com/deathnote/images/4/45/11725525678449699.jpg personal quarters]] in the manga. Of course, that's more like Creepy Cool Catholicism, or Creepy Cool Image Of The Virgin Mary And The Angels...
* In ''Manga/AirGear'', Kilik wore these all over his clothes in the past, and all the [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke Gravity Children]]'s [[ExoticEyeDesigns Twinkle Eyes]] invoke this. More often than not, when a Gravity Child reveals their Twinkle Eyes, most, if not all their face is shadowed so it's just like seeing two glowing crosses.
* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Father Alexander Anderson ([[ChurchMilitant given his profession]]) wears one, as do many of his Iscariot protégés. In this case, it's logical; they're explicitly Catholic. Alucard is sometimes seen with them as well, and they're a running theme in the series itself, since the Hellsing Organisation is a religious one. Both Alucard and Anderson sometimes position their weapons (two {{Hand Cannon}}s and {{Absurdly Sharp B|lade}}ayonets respectively) as crosses before battle, too, though Alucard prefers to invert his in order to [[RageAgainstTheHeavens actively mock the divine]]. An inverted cross is ''also'' a Christian symbol ([[NewerThanTheyThink it only picked up blasphemous connotations recently]]), but it's fairly obscure even among Westerners as such.
** Ditto most members of AX in ''Trinity Blood'' ([[ChurchMilitant for the same reason]]).
* Jung from ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' wears one, despite being from [[FailedFutureForecast East Germany]], when the Communist Bloc historically persecuted devout Christians. Maybe they got lax in the future.
** While generally East Germans are even less religious than West Germans, the GDR was never able to completely root out Christianity during the 40 years of its existence (and neither did the Soviet Union that lasted almost twice as long). There are still many Christians in eastern Germany and they actually proved to be one of the major forces responsible for the end of Communism (much like the Catholic Church in Poland).
* Isuzu (Rin) and Hatsuharu Sohma from ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' occasionally wear crosses.
* Crosses feature prominently in ''Anime/WeissKreuz'', the title of which is in fact (slightly mangled) German for "white cross." A white cross appears to be the logo of Weiss, the team of four [[HitmanWithAHeart Hitmen with Hearts]] who are the protagonists of the series. Several members of Weiss habitually wear crosses - particularly in the {{Oddly Named Sequel|2ElectricBoogaloo}} ''Weiss Kreuz: Gluhen'', in which every member of Weiss has a red cross somewhere on his "working clothes," including one who paints a cross on his bare chest. Possibly justified in the cases of Aya and [[RaisedCatholic Ken]], as they are [[UsefulNote/JapaneseChristian at least nominally Christian]]. Crucifixion symbolism also turns up at least once.
** For added symbolism, regarding the team's red crosses on their working clothes: [[BloodKnight Ken's]] extends around his neck and [[FailureKnight Youji's]] (the one who paints it on his bare chest every time he gets dressed) is slanted. Aya has a main one on his cravat, which is extended across his entire chest because of the way his BadassLongcoat is styled, and he has two more on the wrists of his gloves.
* ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'': The [[{{Joshikousei}} school uniforms]] bear crosses on the ties. Religion does bear a big role in the plot - but it's Buddhism and Shinto.
* In ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', crosses are symbols of the Panthalassa race.
* Tooya in ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'' wears a choker with a cross on it.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** Hayate's Armed Device is shaped like a cross (and she's got crosses all over her mage outfit, too) and named accordingly: "Schwertkreuz" means "Sword Cross" in GratuitousGerman. What with being a PersonOfMassDestruction and all... Her [[QuirkyMinibossSquad quirky miniboss]], [[CuteBruiser Vita]], has crosses all over her ElegantGothicLolita costume, which [[CosplayOtakuGirl Hayate]] created for her.
** In fact, the crosses seem to have been a popular symbol in the Ancient Belkan culture (whose magic Hayate and Vita use), as evident in the "magic circle" associated with it (which is actually a ''triangle'' with a cross inscribed in it). No in-universe explanation has been provided for this, although the very last GodEmperor of Belka ''was'' a MessianicArchetype (or CrystalDragonJesus) who sacrificed her life to end the war. For whatever reason, however, crosses also feature prominently in Teana's CustomUniform, who is about as far removed from Belkan magic as it gets.
** ''Manga/MagicalRecordLyricalNanohaForce'' additionally gives us an ancient ArtifactOfDoom inconspicuously dubbed "the [[GratuitousEnglish Bible of Silver Cross]]". It's nature and origins are yet to be revealed, however.
* Nicholas D. Wolfwood from ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'', [[JustifiedTrope partially justified]] in that he's supposed to be a [[ChurchMilitant man of God]]. Naturally, though, research was sacrificed for the sake of the RuleOfCool... and MoreDakka.
** Oddly, Yoshihiro Nightow is reported to be Christian, though if he is he's goddamn sloppy about it. Wolfwood, on the other hand, is a ''[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot future]] space-Episcopalian orphan [[HitmanWithAHeart assassin]] [[TheMole spy]] [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable science-experiment]] [[BadassPreacher priest]] created by a [[ReligionOfEvil plant-worshipping murder cult]].''
%%* Ikuto and Utau in ''Manga/ShugoChara''.
%%* Zange in ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens''.
* The Quincies from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' incorporate crosses heavily into their weapons and clothing.
** [[spoiler: And the Quincy cross, albeit in a corrupted form, is used as the logo by the Wandenreich, in the Thousand Year Blood War.]]
* ''Manga/LoveHina'': An interesting subversion: Naru is neither creepy nor particularly cool, yet a discreet and small cross can be seen around her neck at times. This small cross necklace helped ''save her life'' in volume 12, where it and the engagement ring Keitaro had been trying to give to her snagged a tree branch as they fell off a cliff. Then the chain snapped and they fell the last couple feet with no problem. Akamatsu himself says that the cross doesn't really mean anything, that it's likely a shop keeper talked her into buying it at some point in Volume 8.
* And in the manga of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' by the same author, Evangeline (who can qualify as both creepy ''and'' particularly cool) has been seen with a cross on her clothing. (She may get extra badass points for doing so, given that she's a ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]''). Other characters wear them, but all of them are either nominal Christians or impersonating nuns (or in-between, or both at once - at one point a student who normally wears a cross is praying to God to forgive the cross she's wearing... as part of the fetish nurse costume her classmates have dressed her in). And one of the maybe-fake nuns is seen using figures formed of darkness as her main weapon, which probably fits the trope.
** In Evangeline's case, it's probably just a matter of fashion. She tend to wear the gothic lolita style when not in uniform, and crosses are popular images in that fashion style.
* ''Manga/ViolinistOfHameln'': The kingdom and royalty of Sforzendo use crosses as a holy seal. Flute goes one further and pulls out huge, mallet-sized crosses to beat down on the object of her ire. Queen Horn shoots laser beams from hers.
* Crosses show up plenty in ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', usually in the form of {{Power Limiter}}s. Another example of crosses and vampires holding a strong thematic association.
* Choutaro Ohtori from ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'' wears a silver cross, despite not being Christian (he says so in the OAV when asked by Shishido). Subverted since he's not creepy, but quite a GentleGiant.
* Since ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' is about a [[ChurchMilitant nun with guns]] and the [[DealWithTheDevil demon she's contracted to]] fighting other [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]], it makes sense that crosses would pop up--and they do, a ''lot''. The bullets Rosette uses show crosses in the air when fired, the barriers used to trap the demons also glow with cross-shaped energy, in the anime Chrono is badly injured when [[FauxSymbolism a cross-shaped piece of a building falls on top of him]], Remington's energy blade looks like a cross relic until it's activated...
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Death Scythe wears a cross shaped tie and has crosses on his shirt lapels, and had a similar style as a child. It also reflects his Weapon form, which looks like a cross when the blade isn't present. Also the aptly named Death Room is full of hundreds of grave marker style crosses. Justin the priest wore a cross and had some on his clothing but these vanished as part of a [[MadnessMakeover Madness/Villanous Makeover]] IIRC replaced by the eye symbol of the Bigger Bad.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Gungrave}}'', the protagonist Beyond the Grave has a silver cross motif on the front of his hat, the back of his coat, on the red "kneepads" of his pants, the back of his boots, and ''the soles of his boots''. It's probably mainly because of simply being [[RuleOfCool cool]].
** Not to mention the prominent cross shape on each of his [[HandCannon twin pistols]].
** And the big one on his [[{{BFG}} Coffin]]. In the sequel to the game the weapon's "upgraded" so the cross design in no longer there.
** In ''Overdose'' the deadman Fangoram wields a giant cross-shaped gun (resembles the cross punisher from ''Trigun'' a bit) called the Center Head. It's the last gun of the Cerberus Series to be made, and is outright stated to be the strongest of the Cerberus line.
* ''Manga/{{MAR}}'': Halloween, a psychopathic villain, is chained to a cross-shaped ARM. As a child, he [[spoiler:tortured small animals to death and burned the kids who bullied him to death, and spends most of the story either trying to kill his only childhood friend, Alan, or waiting to.]] Yeah.
* Duo Maxwell from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' was raised in a Catholic orphanage, wears priest-like clothes and lots of crosses. He is known as ''Shinigami'', or, in good ol' English, Death God. Can't get more creepy than that. Yet, he ''isn't'' a devout Christian; he himself states that he doesn't believe in God because he hasn't seen a miracle, but ''has'' seen lots of dead people. He wears the crosses and collar as a memento of the priest and nun who cared for him.
** In ''Frozen Teardrops'' Duo appears to be a preacher. [[spoiler: It's more of a front for his BountyHunter work than anything else.]]
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', when Kaiba is going to be sacrificed to create the Five God Dragon in the virtual reality story arc, he is tied to a tau or T-shaped pillar, but in a definitely crucified position. Beyond that, the show and the [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh card game]] alike feature countless dozens of crosses all adorning magicians' robes, spell books, glyphs, etc.
* ''Anime/AngelsEgg'': The nameless young man ([[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory who may be the Christ or Anti-Christ]]) in Mamoru Oshii's animated film carries a large, cross-shaped weapon in his back. Mamoru Oshii is a former Christian who once aimed for priesthood, so he presumably knows his way around the symbolism better than an average Japanese, but it's still a case of TrueArtIsIncomprehensible.
* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'''s Éclair wears a pair of crosses as earrings. Apparently, they also function as communication devices, and also indicate the status of her nanomist shield.
* ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'' - Dr. Kazutaka Muraki sure loves those crosses to set a mood, and even gives a monologue at one point during the anime about how Christians in Japan in the past had to hide their faith. There's no indication that Muraki himself is a Christian, though.
* From ''Manga/OnePiece'', we have Mihawk with his huge cross-shaped sword and his tiny cross pendant knife.
** That's just the tip of the iceberg - whenever a tombstone appears, it's ''inevitably'' a big honking cross, even in places like Alabasta that seem to trend more toward more animistic beliefs. Note that, although the series (as far as we know) takes place on a ConstructedWorld, there have been small hints that Christianity exists in some form - Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma even carries a Bible around!
* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}''. The Devil Bats use a play called the Cris Cross, some translators having put in as "Christ Cross," as it was pictured as the religious cross with the quarterback at the center. The play is simply two runners taking the ball from the quarterback, or faking the play so the quarterback can pass. [[spoiler:Monta and Sena never successfully play it until one of the last plays of the Christmas bowl. It also turns out that that one time was actually a variation of the move called the Evil cross.]]
* ''Manga/DGrayMan'': Allen along with the other Exorcists wear crosses on their uniforms to signify that they are part of the Black Order. Most of the Innocence weapons have some allusion to a cross of some sort:
** Allen's left arm, his weapon, has a cross symbol on the back of his hand. When activated into Crown Clown's Sword of Exorcism, a cross like design appears on his surfboard sized sword. Cross Grave is an attack that destroys Akuma all at once, leaving behind white glowing cross symbols.
** Lenalee's newly evolved Dark Boots when deactivated turn into a anklets, and a black cross is tattooed into the sides of her feet.
*** Later, Kanda gains the same cross tattoed into the his forearms.
** Cross's Judgement creates a variation of the cross.
** Also, regarding clothings, besides the cardinals who obviously have crosses, Renny Epstain is always seen with a cross pendant. The cross is removed in the first anime but is left though, smaller in hallow.
* Satoshi from ''Manga/DNAngel'' is often shown wearing crosses in his outfits, including one outfit where his shirt has a huge gold-colored cross on the back. This is partially because the manga likes dressing him in gothy visual kei-styled outfits, but is also likely a reference to [[spoiler:his alter ego]] Krad, who has a cross accessory hanging from his ponytail.
** Given it's a Krad thing, this raises the question of why Satoshi would [[EnemyWithin ever wear crosses ever]].
* Subverted in the ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'' anime. Funeral crosses are just straight lines going through circles.
* Belldandy in ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'' has been known to wear discreet crosses as jewelry. Given that she is the Goddess of the Present, inhabits a fairly animist world, and has met the Almighty personally, you have to wonder what she's saying with the fashion choice.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** Greed (Mk. 1) lowered from the ceiling [[CrucifiedHeroShot pinned to a cross]] after [[spoiler:Wrath recaptures him. Of course, this cross appears to be the piece of sewer floor Wrath pinned him to--they just sliced up the concrete rather than risk unpinning him and starting over on the capture thing.]] The dialogue afterward is all about sons and fathers and submission, and in the end Father sacrifices his son and reincorporates him into the greater whole of himself. DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything No, not ''that''. Father has a huge god complex, by the way. However, [[{{Bowdlerization}} the cross was changed]] to a generic block of metal in the anime, presumably to avoid causing offense.
** Arakawa dealt with religion in fairly Abrahamic terms from the very beginning with Sun God Leto, and kicked it up a notch in the Ishval flashback, which was a Holocaust stand-in despite being the [[HumansAreBastards much more historically standard]] systematic razing of a city. But because she doesn't like to cross-contaminate her fantasy world with AuthorFilibuster, this is the only appearance of a cross. And there's a good excuse.
** The symbol on Ed's cloak is an aversion of the FauxSymbolism of this trope, as this is an actual alchemical symbol from Nicholas Flamel's writings. It's derivation can be traced from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rod_of_Asclepius Rod of Asclepius]], the Greek symbol of medicine, or the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus Caduceus,]] the ancient Greek sign of wealth. Both make sense in the context of the work, since Alkahestry deals with medicine, and Alchemy's original goal is the production of gold, or more accurately, immortality.
* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Vento of the Front has a cross attached to a length of chain which is bolted to her tongue. She also wields a [[DropTheHammer hammer that's vaguely in the shape of a cross]].
** Biagio Busoni has dozens of crosses on his person. His fighting style is to throw them at his opponents, then magically make them enlarge to the size of cars in midair.
* [[http://cdn.myanimelist.net/images/characters/7/115598.jpg The title character Nyanpire]] from [[Anime/NyanpireTheAnimation The Gothic World of Nyanpire]] has a yellow cross on his stomach that he got once he was turned into an actual vampire.
* Parodied in ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'', where the high school is shaped as a cross.
* In ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'', some of Sakura's clothes have crosses on them. Sakura is implied to be Shinto.
* ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'': The CrystalDragonJesus church uses a falcon on a T cross as its symbol. Not quite creepy in itself (except that one panel where a priest has a staff with the falcon nailed to it), at least until [[spoiler:Griffith's]] true nature as a DarkMessiah pops up.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Larcade of the Spriggan 12 has a cross on his forehead and carries a large metal one on his back, which reinforce his priestly image (though it's more Buddhist than Christian). He also uses the metal cross as a weapon to bludgeon and impale his foes.
* In ''Manga/ZatchBell'' when Koko was mindcontrolled by demon Zofis she wore thigh-high boots with crosses.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Fanfic]]
* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfintyTrainBlossomingTrail'' has a wardrobe change in Arc 2 and she wears two cross barrettes. Moreover, she got a tea-leaf reading in an earlier chapter that showed a cross.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Employed as a stylistic choice in ''Film/UltramanZeroTheRevengeOfBelial'' with Mirror knight, whose powers manifest as cross shapes.
* ''Film/SnuffMovie'': In his final act in recreating the occult murders of his wife and friends, Boris has Wendy [[PassionPlay literally crucified]]. [[GainaxEnding Unless he didn't.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Literature]]
* Shipwrecked English sailor John Blackthorne is both amazed and appalled to witness Japanese criminals being executed by crucifixion in Creator/JamesClavell's epic ''Literature/{{Shogun}}''. See "Real Life" below.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Music]]
* Music/ENomine's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuV4O-3jhPQ music video]] for "Schwarze Sonne" has some very creepy Christian imagery.
* Music/BabyMetal
** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIKqgE4BwAY "Gimme chocolate!!"]] has a giant Virgin Mary statue at the back of the stage set.
** The concert at which the "Gimme chocolate!!" was filmed[[note]]"Legend 1997", marking Suzuka's 16th birthday[[/note]] ends with the lead singer being crucified, in front of said statue.
* Music/BlackSabbath are masters of this trope.
* In ''Märchen'', the Nun is killed when an old woman driven mad by starvation runs her through and pins her to an inverted cross.
* Witch House album covers and videos are rife with crosses, along with triangles, misc. occult symbolism and other unsettling imagery. Crosses and triangles also frequently appear in band names and track titles, making them [[TheUnpronounceable unpronounceable]].
* How else would you consider Music/GunsNRoses' ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' album cover?
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]
* During his Wrestling/MinistryOfDarkness days, Wrestling/TheUndertaker had a creepy cool cross. His was more of a T with an X in the middle of it, and no matter how often Wrestling/JimRoss tried to sell the thing as a "symbol", it still looked like a cross. After the Ministry had kidnapped [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie [=McMahon=]]], the Undertaker ordered the Ministry to "put her on the cross", shortly followed by him saying "put her on the symbol".
* The short-lived pseudo-religious character Mordecai carried a big metal cross around with him.
* Wrestling/DragonGate wrestler Dragon Kid names his trademark moves with a religious theme in mind. He has a spinning flying headscissor submission called the Christo that looks vaguely cross-like when applied. Wrestling/GailKim brought the move to America during her first WWE run. K-ness, meanwhile wears a cross on his head.
* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s ring gear is loaded with crosses, and his finishing move is a crucifix powerbomb. Of course, this makes perfect sense, as Celtic crosses carved from stone are a common motif in traditional Irish art.
* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, and it often shows up on his ring gear and merchandise, as well as the various crowns and thrones he uses for his entrances.
* Wrestling/{{Edge}} had a Christian cross on his boots during his Brood days, while Wrestling/{{Christian}} had an ankh on both his boots and his tights. Neither had anything to do with either Christianity or ancient Egyptian religions.
* The Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} stable Bruderschaft Des Kruzes ("Brotherhood of the Cross") used Creepy Cool Crosses as their central motif.
* Wrestling/MercedesMartinez often wears crosses on her clothing, in this case the message is "Only God Can Judge Me!"
* Wrestling/MichelleMcCool also had crosses on her clothes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' cross is the Rune of Death. It represents the sword of Humakt, [[TheGrimReaper the god of death]], and can 'coincidentally' be used to repel undead, such as vampires.
* In [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} the grim darkness of the far future]] Christianity is a forgotten religion, but you still have crosses: they're usually combined with skull motifs, and worn by TheEmpire's elite terror troops. It doesn't really get any creepier than this.
[[/folder]]
[[folder: Video Games ]]
* In the SNES game ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' The Christian crosses can be seen in the North American version of VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI (released as ''Final Fantasy III''). The crosses can be seen on characters shield icons. Also during the turn based battles the cross can be seen when the character like Terra or Locke holds up a shield. Also in the Graveyard of Thamasa or Mobliz the crosses can be seen on the tombstones, especially General Leo's memorial grave. This is one of the examples of church crosses getting past the Nintendo censorship.
* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''' Christian cross at the church has been replaced with the obelisk, or taken out of the North American release. If you visit a town that has been destroyed like Gordovan you can see the Christian cross at the ruins of the church. It is unclear if it has gotten past the Nintendo censorship or if it represents death.
* Seifer Almasy in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is distinguished by the UsefulNotes/{{T|heKnightsTemplar}}emplar cross that he wears.
* In ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'', Croix's gun is shaped like a cross. Though parts of it were [[{{Bowdlerise}} edited down]] in the US release to resemble an actual gun, the discerning eye can still see a cross handle somewhere down the middle.
** In fact, the original version of ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'' was brimming with crosses, the protagonists being a squad of battle clerics and all. ''Every single one'' was edited out, from Alouette's earrings, which became rectangular, to Prier's staff, which lost its cross-tip, to the little cursor for target selection in combat, which became a sort of Damocles' sword, not to mention the church buildings. Croix also lost his cigarette, but still put his hand to his mouth at the end of battles... His name means "Cross" in French. There's a lot of BilingualBonus in this game if you know a bit of French.
* The ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series has a recurring gun attack called Totenkreuz, which is German for "crux mortis" or "death cross". The character using this attack charges energy into his gun before firing a thick shot, which looks like a fiery laser, down on the target(s). Upon impact, the shot explodes into a ''gigantic flaming cross''. Unlike most of the attacks in ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'', this one remains almost unchanged from its ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' incarnation.
** The White Dragon's Holy Flare attack creates a similarly shaped explosion.
** Valvatorez from ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' has some inverted ones embroidered on his pants.
* Large crosses double as boomerang-style throwing weapons in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series of video games. Richter Belmont's [[LimitBreak Item Crash]] for this particular subweapon summons a screen-filling cross, with a carving of Jesus Christ on it, to smash down foes. Also, rosaries (with large crosses on them) will instantly destroy all enemies in the room.
* Despite being a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], Remilia Scarlet of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' likes cross imagery, and uses them in her spellcards. (This doesn't seem to be the only religious imagery that she likes; she's got a spellcard named "Star of David" as well.)
** So does her little sister, though her attack is called "Counter Clock", it definitely involves crosses.
** HarmlessVillain Rumia from the same game also attempts to pull a pseudo-CrucifiedHeroShot by spreading out her arms, but she looks more like a kid playing airplane than anything else.
** Yumemi Okazaki, despite being a scientist from another reality and likely not Christian, uses crosses.
* During the NESTS saga of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'', Kyo Kusanagi wears a black shirt with 2 pairs of perpendicular white lines forming a cross on his chest. Also, in the ''[[DatingSim Days of Memories]]'' {{Spin Off}}s, Goenitz, Chris and Shermie are seen wearing crucifixes. It may be important to note that, while of those chracters, Goenitz is supposed to be a priest, his true loyalties are with {{Orochi}}.
* Rin Tohsaka in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight''.
** This is actually explained in [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". UsefUlNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' {{justifie|dTrope}}s by placing the setting in 16th-century Europe (more specifically, the [[UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire German Holy Empire]]). One where bombs and clocks have been invented early, and where fairies and demons exist, yes, but nonetheless a European setting.
** [[OlderThanTheyThink Clockwork was invented sometime in the 11th century]], at ''least''.
* Brandished upside-down by the Evil Clerics of ''VideoGame/TheDungeonRevealed''.
* Slayer from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' makes use of cross motifs, being [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a sufficiently different vampire]] and all.
* Rachel from ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'', whose design can best be described as Slayer's [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld reverse-jailbait]] daughter.
* A number of fans have often wondered about the prevalence of crosses in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games of the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series. Every tombstone in either game has a cross on it, and Link even picks up an actual cross as an item in the second game. WordOfGod explains that [[EarthDrift the original plan was to have Christianity as the main religion in Hyrule]]; the three goddesses weren't invented until after the two NES games were released. Note that crosses are never seen again from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' onward.
* Skeith from the ''Franchise/DotHack'' series of games gets a pagan cross as his primary weapon (or a 'red wand' in the English version). When he uses his Data Drain move, the cross teleports behind the victim, giving the impression of a crucifixion.
** [[spoiler: Justified, since Skeith kills the resident CrystalDragonJesus with it by CrucifiedHeroShot.]]
* In a rather odd manner, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'' uses a stylized cross as the symbol of the game's obvious Catholic Church {{Expy}}, which makes sense so far. The manner in which it is stylized, however, has the two arms bent upwards and both, along with the "head" are tipped with points that give it a sinister pitchforked design... which seems all the creepier because the church ''isn't'' secretly worshiping expy-Satan behind the expy-Christ facade.
* In the free-to-play MMORPG ''Forsaken World'', the Kindred race, Vampire class uses a large stylized crucifix as their main weapon, in which it is used as a more conventional staff to help increase their magical power.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', one weapon is a blade those various forms of attacks are all crosses. The charged shots are large crosses with equal-length arms, the rapid-fire shot are lots of tiny traditional crosses, the weapon itself is cross-shaped, and the melee attack extends the weapon with a cross-shaped LaserBlade. The weapon is called the ''Crusader'' Blade.
* ''VideoGame/DevilWorld'' not only has crosses on the Bibles, but also as the item that lets Tamagon eliminate dots and breathe fire on enemies, and the maze also has big cross-shaped walls.
* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons: he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} disaster but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', cross imagery is used extensively by UNDEAD as part of their gothic motif. They were also star of one of the only two Easter events the game has run, and it played up the death and resurrection spookiness for all it was worth. Ironically, the unit contains one foreigner character, but he's actually Arabic, and so implicitly Muslim.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Gift's wooden magic staff is shaped like a cross.
* In Trails series, Crow Armbrust's Deadly Cross and Cross Rebellion S-Crafts have him firing a large X-shaped Sword Beam at his enemies at the end. His final S-Craft Vorpal Slayer also makes a a large cross shaped silhouette at the end.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebAnimation/BrokenSaints'', there is a rain of crosses [[ShoutOut similar to a famous scene from]] ''Music/TheWall'', used for a lucid dream, and later on when referring to the same subject.
* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', [[PerkyGoth Ruby Rose]] used to wear a large one on her belt (this has been changed into a rose sigil in later animations) and her CoolUncle Qrow wears a similar silver cross around his neck. Given their [[GrimReaper death]] motifs...
* The intro sequence of [[WebAnimation/SockSeries ''Empire of Sock'']] depicts the titular evil hamster being crucified, driving home the Satanic vibe of the series.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Real Life]]
* The C-130 Hercules transport plane has the Angel Flare, which...oh, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C-130_Hercules_10.jpg just look at it yourself.]]
* UrbanLegends allege that the Japanese or Chinese make holiday decorations or Christmas tree ornaments featuring a [[http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/cross.asp crucified Santa]]. No such displays in Japan or China have been verified, but New York artist Robert Cenedella's painting of a [[http://www.rcenedellagallery.com/node/437 crucified Santa]] (intended as a commentary on the commercialization of Christmas) has muddied these waters.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion#Japan The mediaeval Japanese]] used crucifixion as a method of execution, having developed this independently of the West in the Kamakura period, then using it again around the Sengoku era. The first Western visitors - Catholic missionaries - were amazed at this (and especially at the way the prisoner [[ImpaledWithExtremeprejudice was eventually dispatched with long spears]]) and speculated the country must have had some prior contact with decent Christian folk, reasoning back from the two thieves executed with Jesus. Crucifixion was used as public execution until well into the final Shogunate, was regularly used against UsefulNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s (the most "famous" victims being [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Miki Saint Paul Miki]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-six_Martyrs_of_Japan the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki]]), later was applied as punishment for ''serious'' crimes in the Meiji era (i.e. there's a rather infamous photo of a [[TheButlerDidIt butler/robber]] crucified for killing his master's son) and accounts exist of its being used on British, Australian and American prisoners of war in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ringer_Edwards an Australian survived it]]).
* The Cross had many meanings in religious symbolism before Christianity. Even a symbol like the ankh is just one variant on the cross, and it, like other variants of the Cross were extremely common in the pre-Christian world.
[[/folder]]
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* Jung from ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' wears one, despite being from [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp East Germany]], when the Communist Bloc historically persecuted devout Christians. Maybe they got lax in the future.
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* Jung from ''Anime/{{Gunbuster}}'' wears one, despite being from [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp [[FailedFutureForecast East Germany]], when the Communist Bloc historically persecuted devout Christians. Maybe they got lax in the future.
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* Ironically, the demon Dogma from ''Manga/HellsKitchen2010'' has [[WingDingEyes cross-shaped]] [[HellishPupils pupils.]]
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* In Trails series, Crow Armbrust's Deadly Cross and Cross Rebellion S-Crafts have him firing a large X-shaped Sword Beam at his enemies at the end. His final S-Craft Vorpal Slayer also makes a a large cross shaped silhouette at the end.
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Most Japanese are not [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it, and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
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See also CrucifiedHeroShot and FauxSymbolism.
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See also CrucialCross (where the cross is used to represent hope in the face of suffering), CrucifiedHeroShot (where a suffering hero t-poses) and FauxSymbolism.
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[[folder:Fanfic]]
* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfintyTrainBlossomingTrail'' has a wardrobe change in Arc 2 and she wears two cross barrettes. Moreover, she got a tea-leaf reading in an earlier chapter that showed a cross.
[[/folder]]
* Chloe Cerise in ''Fanfic/InfintyTrainBlossomingTrail'' has a wardrobe change in Arc 2 and she wears two cross barrettes. Moreover, she got a tea-leaf reading in an earlier chapter that showed a cross.
[[/folder]]
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* In ''Manga/ZatchBell'' when Koko was mindcontrolled by demon Zofis she wore thigh-high boots with crosses.
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* Crosses show up plenty in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', usually in the form of {{Power Limiter}}s. Another example of crosses and vampires holding a strong thematic association.
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* Crosses show up plenty in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'', ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', usually in the form of {{Power Limiter}}s. Another example of crosses and vampires holding a strong thematic association.
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[FauxSymbolism What do you mean it's not symbolic?]] ]]
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[[caption-width-right:350:[[FauxSymbolism What do you mean it's mean, "it's not symbolic?]] ]]
symbolic"?]]]]
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%%* Zange in ''Manga/{{Kannagi}}''.
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%%* Zange in ''Manga/{{Kannagi}}''.''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens''.
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* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''
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* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
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* Ikuto and Utau in ''Manga/ShugoChara''.
* Zange in ''Manga/{{Kannagi}}''.
* The Quincies from ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'' incorporate crosses heavily into their weapons and clothing.
* Zange in ''Manga/{{Kannagi}}''.
* The Quincies from ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'' incorporate crosses heavily into their weapons and clothing.
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* The Quincies from
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* And in the manga of ''Anime/MahouSenseiNegima'' by the same author, Evangeline (who can qualify as both creepy ''and'' particularly cool) has been seen with a cross on her clothing. (She may get extra badass points for doing so, given that she's a ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]''). Other characters wear them, but all of them are either nominal Christians or impersonating nuns (or in-between, or both at once - at one point a student who normally wears a cross is praying to God to forgive the cross she's wearing... as part of the fetish nurse costume her classmates have dressed her in). And one of the maybe-fake nuns is seen using figures formed of darkness as her main weapon, which probably fits the trope.
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* And in the manga of ''Anime/MahouSenseiNegima'' ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' by the same author, Evangeline (who can qualify as both creepy ''and'' particularly cool) has been seen with a cross on her clothing. (She may get extra badass points for doing so, given that she's a ''[[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]''). Other characters wear them, but all of them are either nominal Christians or impersonating nuns (or in-between, or both at once - at one point a student who normally wears a cross is praying to God to forgive the cross she's wearing... as part of the fetish nurse costume her classmates have dressed her in). And one of the maybe-fake nuns is seen using figures formed of darkness as her main weapon, which probably fits the trope.
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* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''
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* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
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* Ironically, the demon Dogma from Manga/HellsKitchen2010 has [[WingDingEyes cross-shaped]] [[HellishPupils pupils.]]
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* Ironically, the demon Dogma from Manga/HellsKitchen2010 ''Manga/HellsKitchen2010'' has [[WingDingEyes cross-shaped]] [[HellishPupils pupils.]]
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* ''Film/SnuffMovie'': In his final act in recreating the occult murders of his wife and friends, Boris has Wendy [[PassionPlay literally crucified]]. [[GainaxEnding Unless he didn't.]]
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* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Gift's wooden magic staff is shaped like a cross.
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** This is actually lampshaded by the producer, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they [[BlatantLies might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.]]
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** This is actually lampshaded by the producer, who admit most of the symbolism is window dressing and that they [[BlatantLies might have been more selective about it had they known the show would ever be popular in the West.]]
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* Tooya in ''Manga/AyashiNoCeres'' wears a choker with a cross on it.
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* Tooya in ''Manga/AyashiNoCeres'' ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'' wears a choker with a cross on it.
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* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons : he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Chernobyl Chernobyl disaster]] but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
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* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons : reasons: he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Chernobyl Chernobyl disaster]] {{UsefulNotes/Chernobyl}} disaster but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
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* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, nd it often shows up on his ring gear, crowns and thrones.
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* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, nd and it often shows up on his ring gear, gear and merchandise, as well as the various crowns and thrones.thrones he uses for his entrances.
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* Wrestling/TripleH uses a [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_pattée cross pattée]] as a personal logo, nd it often shows up on his ring gear, crowns and thrones.
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* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', cross imagery is used extensively by UNDEAD as part of their gothic motif. They were also star of one of the only two Easter events the game has run, and it played up the death and resurrection spookiness for all it was worth. Ironically, the unit contains one foreigner character, but he's actually Arabic, and so implicitly Muslim.
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** That's just the tip of the iceberg - whenever a tombstone appears, it's ''inevitably'' a big honking cross, even in places like Alabasta that seem to trend more toward more animistic beliefs. Note that, although the series (as far as we know) takes place on a ConstructedWorld, there have been small hints that Christianity exists in some form - Warlord of the Sea Bartholomew Kuma even carries a Bible around!
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->''And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came...''
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Most Japanese are not [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it; and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
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Most Japanese are not [[UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian Christian]]. They hear Westerners talk about it; it, and most of it gets lost except for the imagery of some poor guy getting ritually killed and then reanimated, and a vague understanding of a specific kind of afterlife and hell. Ironically, this makes the more unfamiliar aspects seem somewhat morbid to those unfamiliar with the context -- in fact, similar to how many Westerners view [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Vodou/Vodun/Voodoo]]. Additionally, many places are familiar with crosses as historically common execution devices but lack the religious baggage making their depiction explicitly taboo.
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* How else would you consider Music/GunsNRoses' ''Music/AppetiteForDestruction'' album cover?
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** This is actually explained in [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". IsefilNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.
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** This is actually explained in [[AllThereInTheManual backstory]]. Rin is decended from "Kakure Kirishitans". IsefilNotes/{{Japanese UsefUlNotes/{{Japanese Christian}}s who went into hiding in after Japan banned foreign influences (including the Christian religion). Also, her legal guardian is a Catholic Priest. The entire town once belonged to Rin's family - if they used crosses as symbols, the school might have kept it/use it as part of the same tradition.
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* A number of fans have often wondered about the prevalence of crosses in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games of the ''Zelda'' series. Every tombstone in either game has a cross on it, and Link even picks up an actual cross as an item in the second game. WordOfGod explains that [[EarthDrift the original plan was to have Christianity as the main religion in Hyrule]]; the three goddesses weren't invented until after the two NES games were released. Note that crosses are never seen again from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' onward.
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* A number of fans have often wondered about the prevalence of crosses in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games of the ''Zelda'' ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series. Every tombstone in either game has a cross on it, and Link even picks up an actual cross as an item in the second game. WordOfGod explains that [[EarthDrift the original plan was to have Christianity as the main religion in Hyrule]]; the three goddesses weren't invented until after the two NES games were released. Note that crosses are never seen again from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' onward.
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* Ivan Uralia from the ''VideoGame/StrikeSeries'' reveals, at the end of his introduction mission, that among his [[CoveredInScars numerous burn marks]], he has a cross-shaped one on the palm of his right hand. Creepily fitting from three reasons : he received lethal doses of radiation during his time in the Soviet Air Force as he was helping to contain the [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Chernobyl Chernobyl disaster]] but was saved by an experimental treatment, his recruitment mission happens in Transylvania (which is ''drenched'' in radioactive fallout during the time of the mission) and the main enemies of said mission are two elite tank units codenamed "Vampire" and "Zombie". There's even a ScareChord when he shows you his hand scar.
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* Ironically, the demon Dogma from Manga/HellsKitchen has [[WingDingEyes cross-shaped]] [[HellishPupils pupils.]]
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* Ironically, the demon Dogma from Manga/HellsKitchen Manga/HellsKitchen2010 has [[WingDingEyes cross-shaped]] [[HellishPupils pupils.]]
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''And a cross from a faith that died before Jesus came...''
-- Sarah [=MacLachlan=]
-- Sarah [=MacLachlan=]
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