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Solar and Lunar

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Symbolism optional.
"You rise with the Moon. I rise with the Sun."

Due to its nature as an object that provides warmth and light, the sun has played symbolic and important roles throughout the history of fiction. Undead or demonic creatures have been depicted as being vulnerable to it, likely to its associations with light and fire. If associated with malevolence, can go in line with Light Is Not Good—imagine sunburns, imagine merciless UV rays scorching everything they touch. This can get even worse with monsters and antagonists that are either made of those elements and/or are able to utilize them without any ill-effect to their being.

On the other end of the spectrum, the moon also has connotations of light, but it's been associated with The Undead and other supernatural creatures. Lycanthropes, the most famous example, are depicted as having their transformations trigger when the moon is full. Can also go in line with Light Is Not Good, although it can go with Dark Is Not Evil when dealing with characters like Friendly Neighborhood Vampires. The moon does give light in the darkness, and just because it's less constant and more mysterious doesn't make it bad.

The contrast between the two is a common Cosmic Motif (and color motif, particularly yellow and purple, if not outright black and white). Compare Red Oni, Blue Oni and Elemental Powers. Light/Darkness Juxtaposition can apply when the moon is associated with darkness and the sun with light. Given that the sun is a fiery ball of energy and the moon is responsible for the tides, this trope can also lend itself to Fire/Water Juxtaposition. See Night and Day Duo or Male Sun, Female Moon if this contrast is evident in a pairing of characters.

The sun and moon have also been personified by having both of them be a specific sex. For example, the pairing could be a masculine and harsh sun paired with a feminine and soft moon. In historical religions, the sexes associated with the sun and moon vary greatly, and in some cases, both a male and female deity may be ascribed to a single celestial body. According to Wikipedia, it is somewhat more common to view the sun as male and the moon as female due to the prevalence of that portrayal in Greek and Roman religion. (It might also have something to do with certain other twenty-eight-day cycles.) In fantasy fiction, this duality is often manifested in a contrast between a solar God of Light and a God of the Moon.

Fridge Logic may apply to any reference to moonlight affecting beings or objects since the moon has no actual light of its own (it's a hunk of space rock orbiting Earth) and its glow is just the sunlight that is being shone on the moon and reflected by it. Hence, in theory, anything that moonlight should trigger, normal sunlight should actually be triggering as well (and vice-versa). Of course, one may then theorize that this light somehow "changes" when reflected...


Examples:

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    Anime and Manga 
  • Cardcaptor Sakura has the eponymous cards each being of solar or lunar aspect, and ruled by either Cerberus (Kero) for the sun or Yue for the moon. Kero and Yue have strongly contrasting personalities and powers, befitting this split — Kero is both figuratively and literally firey, and Yue can be cold and distant. Eriol's replacement familiars, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon, have the same degree of contrast in their personalities but running in the opposite direction. It's also lampshaded that Sakura's power is neither that of the sun nor the moon, "but your own mere power of the stars."
  • In Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Michikatsu Tsugikuni, great demon slayer of the Sengoku Period, eventually betrays his own humanity and becomes a demon, all for the increasing jealousy he held over his twin brother Yoriichi Tsugikuni for being so incredibly strong to the point Michikatsu thought it was simply unfair to never be comparable to his own younger twin, that reflects on his sword style, called Moon Breathing, being in the shadow of Yoriichi’s Sun Breathing.
  • In Fairy Tail, two of Eileen's subordinates are named Juliet Sun and Hein Lunesea.
  • In Fullmetal Alchemist, Solf J. Kimblee has alchemic circles on his hands that feature the sun and moon. He happens to invoke Light Is Not Good.
  • Happy Sugar Life: Asahi compares his little sister Shio to the moon. While Asahi is never compared to the sun in the story itself, his name translates to “Morning Sun”. It’s overall meant to show that Shio induces something akin to Lunacy in several members of the cast, such as Asahi’s inability to feel complete without her.
  • Heart Catch Pretty Cure has Itsuki and Yuri, Cure Sunshine and Cure Moonlight respectively. Especially telling as their personalities contrast one another (Itsuki's more friendly and outgoing while Yuri's quieter and reserved). This continues on through to three other characters — Tsubomi (who, as Cure Blossom, contrasts Itsuki), Erika (who, as Cure Marine, is said to contrast Yuri) and the Dark Precure who is Yuri's "sister".
  • Invoked in Hunter × Hunter with the ability called Sun & Moon: Paired Destruction, which puts a marker of a sun with a plus symbol on one surface and a marker of a moon with a minus symbol on another. Though purely symbolic, the ability's main effect is that the surfaces will explode if the sun marker and the moon marker touch.
  • In I Want Your Mother To Be With Me!, Yuzuki's name has the kanji for "crescent moon" and her son Asahi's has the kanji for "sun". Ryo sometimes looks up at the moon and thinks of Yuzuki, and on Valentine's Day he makes crescent chocolates for her and sun-shaped ones for Asahi.
  • Shin and Louis from King of Prism represent the sun and the moon, with Shin having sun-themed Prism Jumps (Over the Sunshine, Rising Sunshine), while Louis having moon-themed Prism Jumps (Whispering Lunamystic Heaven). In the TV version of Shiny Seven Stars, there's a scene of them juxtaposed against the sun and moon as the (just as the song reaches the "Sun and moon" part), and in Prism Rush! Live they even get sun-and-moon-themed outfits when performing in the duo tournament.
  • In Naruto, two of the primary jutsus for the Mangekyo Sharingan are Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, named after the Japanese God of the Moon and Goddess of the Sun.
  • Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rei is frequently associated with the moon, initially as a visual motif, but later it turns out to be foreshadowing. Asuka is occasionally visually paired with the sun, but outside of suiting her Fiery Redhead personality the only real plot significance is to contrast her with Rei.
  • Sailor Moon:
    • Chibiusa and Helios. Chibiusa is a princess whose powers come from the moon while Helios is named for the sun god.
    • Also with Chibusa's parents, Usagi and Mamoru. Usagi is the reincarnation of the moon princess and although Mamoru was once the Earth's prince, his guardian priest is Helios. Nehellania, during her final moments in the manga, refers to him as the prince of Earth who was "protected by the sun".
  • Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure has Elena and Madoka, who transforms into Cure Soleil and Cure Selene, which respectively has sun and moon as the main motifs. Both are very popular students in their school, each with their own fanbase. Elena is the outgoing and sociable one representing the sun, while Madoka is the calm and collected one representing the moon.

    Comic Books 
  • Moon Knight gets more powerful as the moon waxes and less powerful as it wanes. Under a full moon he's got the strength of 10 men but under a new moon he's only got his own strength. The 2018 series gives him a new enemy called Sun King, who claims to have the same connection to Ra as Moon Knight has to Koshnu.
  • Wonder Woman (2011): The contrast of twin gods Artemis as goddess of the moon and Apollo as god of the sun are played up in the New 52. Their normal versions avert this as the focus is usually on Artemis' hunting, archery and protection of maidens with no mention of her connection to the moon, and Apollo is generally more of a Satellite Character to his sister with a focus on his ties to oracles and healing.

    Fan Works 
  • In Dreaming of Sunshine, sunlight is often used as a visual metephor, or motif, for when Shikako is content or healing. On the other hand, sad or pivotal scenes usually take place at night, such as Shikako's big conversation with Kakashi after "discovering" Naruto is a jinchuriki, and later Shikako convincing Sasuke not to defect.
  • Skyhold Academy Yearbook: Sun and moon imagery features in the wedding in Disorienuptials, which makes sense when it's remembered that the bride's In-Series Nickname is "Sunshine."
  • The Sun Gorons and Moon Gorons in the doujin novel, Zelda and the Manacle of Cahla. While basically the same, Sun Gorons are the canon volcano dwellers, and Moon Gorons are paler, have ice-like plates, and live on a snowy mountain. The two tribes are strongly prejudiced against one another, and a side plot revolves around Zelda uniting them.
  • In From Fake Dreams, Rin and Sakura find out they represent the sun and moon in this Shirou's version of Unlimited Blade Works respectively. The fact that both celestial bodies are high in the sky equally without either one eclipsing the other shows how important both are to Shirou. This doesn't really please the two as both sisters have affections for him.

    Films — Animated 
  • The Emperor's New Groove: In the cut song "Snuff out the Light" from an early version of the movie, Yzma praises the moon and calls on all things evil to extinguish the sun. Furthermore, Yzma and Kuzco seem to represent a sun/moon relationship. During the production stage of the film, the movie went by the working title Kingdom of the Sun, with Kuzco being the emperor of the titular kingdom. Even in the finished version, Cuzco wears warm and bright colors like red and yellow, while Yzma wears mostly dark and cold colors black and purple.
  • My Moon focuses on Earth's juxtaposing relationships with Sun and Moon, respectively, and how both of them fulfill necessary parts in her life. Whereas Sun helps the Earthlings flourish and creates daylight, Moon's purpose is lighting the world when night falls.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Hale County This Morning This Evening: There are many shots of the sun and moon rising, setting, coursing across the sky. One sequence is a surreal depiction of the moon sort of bouncing and shaking around the picture frame, followed by a shot of the sun doing the same thing.

    Gamebooks 

    Literature 
  • In Lloyd Alexander's The Chronicles of Prydain, the sun and moon are emblems of two ancient royal houses. The emblem of the House of Don is the sun, on account of the fact that the Sons and Daughters of Don are descended from the Lady Don and her consort, Belin the Sun King. Meanwhile, the emblem of the House of Llyr is the crescent moon; this is because of the fact that they are descended from Llyr Half-Speech the Sea King, and the tides of the sea are governed by the phases of the moon.
  • In the world of Cold Obsidian, two magic stabilizers - Hora Solaris and Hora Lunaris - make it possible for humans to use magic. The area where their influences cancel each other, though, is full of dangerous magical anomalies.
  • In Heralds of Valdemar, the names of Selenay and Solaris hint at this trope. Both are female rulers, but Solaris wasn't born into power and she projects a tough, confident image. Selenay is a humble mother of three who's part of a long line of monarchs.
  • The poem "Rivalry v1" explores this theme. The animosity between sun and moon was caused by the latter rejecting the former's warmth.
    and it was so
    the two brothers
    always destined to fight...
  • In Phaeton every Phaetonian has a solar or lunar celestial affinity, controlling when they are most active and granting them celestial beams based on their affinity. Combining a sun-and-moon beam of equal power triggers Solarnight, a power so old, no one remembers what it does, and no one wants to find out.
  • Tolkien's Legendarium:
    • In The Silmarillion, the sun and moon are fruits of the Trees of Valinor, Telperion and Laurelin, that were put in hallowed lamps and carried across the skies by two maiar spirits (equivalent to lesser angels) as a warning to Melkor and a beacon of hope to the Children of Ilúvatar. Traditionally, the sun is seen as female and the moon male since those are the respective genders of the forms the Maiar spirits that carry them clad themselves in. Evil things, like orcs and Nazgûl, have no love for either sun nor moon but they will operate at night whereas only the strongest of dark things can walk freely during the day.
    • In The Lord of the Rings, two regions of Gondor, Ithilien and Anórien, and Elendil's two sons, Isildur and Anarion (whose respective heirs were Kings of Arnor and Kings of Gondor), are named after the Sindarin words for the moon and the sun.
  • Wild Cards: One book introduces Bahir, a man with golden eyes who only seems to show up during the day, and Lilith, a woman with silvery eyes who only seems to show up at night. A connection between them is hinted since they have the same teleportation abilities. Turns out they're the same person, who has gender swapping powers in addition to teleportation.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Interview with the Vampire (2022): Louis de Pointe du Lac's Season 1 character teaser and "Tomorrow" promo include a crescent moon embedded within a stylized sun in the corners of the border, which symbolizes that Louis spends almost all of the pilot as a human (sun) before being turned into a vampire (moon). It's also emblematic of how Louis clings to remnants of his past humanity despite his vampirism.
  • Kamen Rider:
    • Kamen Rider BLACK: The two Century Kings of Gorgom are christened "Black Sun" and "Shadow Moon" and both must be born on the day of a solar eclipse. Once selected, they have to duel each other to decide who Gorgom's next ruler will be. The titular hero is of course Black Sun, although he drops the "Sun" part after escaping and simply goes by "Kamen Rider Black". His step brother isn't so lucky and gets brainwashed into becoming Shadow Moon, from then on serving as The Rival to his brother.
    • In Kamen Rider Kiva, the titular Rider defeat Fangires using the power of the Night, per his Vampire motif. Whereas the secondary Rider defeat Fangires using the power of the Daylight, per their religious (Christian and Shinto) motifs.
  • In Power Rangers Mystic Force, the sun and moon are two more natural forces that magic-wielders can be connected to (we start with the Five-Man Band, which is the usual classical-elements-plus-lightning. The Mentor is ice and snow, her apprentice is moon, the Sixth Ranger is sun. Sun and moon aren't depicted as two sides of the same coin, though).
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation: In "Masks", an ancient probe imposes the solar and lunar mythology of an alien race on Data and the Enterprise. Picard is forced to take up the guise of the moon.
    Data: Masaka is waking.
  • The Hikari (Light) Kyutama in Uchu Sentai Kyuranger can switch between Taiyou (Sun) and Tsuki (Moon) modes. Notably, Taiyou Mode makes the user positive and energetic, while Tsuki Mode makes the user reserved and quiet.
  • The titular Ultraman Cosmos uses this as his form changes. Luna is empowered by the moon, Corona is based on the sun, and Eclipse (combination of the latter two) is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.

    Music 
  • The Beatles' Beatles for Sale has a track called "Mr. Moonlight" and another named "I'll Follow The Sun".
    • Years after releasing "Here Comes the Sun" on Abbey Road, George Harrison released the song "Here Comes The Moon" on his self-titled solo album.
  • Captain Beefheart's "Full Moon, Hot Sun" from Unconditionally Guaranteed
    Full moon, hot sun
    Enough to make a good girl run
    Get in the shade of the burning hot sun
    Better hide, baby, before the full moon come
  • King Crimson:
    • In the Court of the Crimson King: The moonchild in "Moonchild" is "waiting for the smile from a sun child".
    • Carries into the next song, "The Court of the Crimson King," where the first lyrics are "The rusted chains of prison Moons / Are shattered by the Sun." This, paired with the colorful and fiery imagery, seem to imply that the titular Crimson King himself is the Sun.
  • Tears for Fears:
    • Because Roland Orzabal is an astrology devotee, the sun and the moon that are featured on The Seeds of Love artwork represent himself and fellow bandmate Curt Smith, respectively, as the sun is the ruler of Leo (Orzabal's zodiac sign) note , and the moon is the ruler of Cancer (Smith's zodiac sign). There's even a promotional image of the band and an official T-shirt that have the astrological symbols for the sun (a circle with a dot at its center) and the moon (a crescent with its points facing left). note  "The sun and the moon" are also Arc Words on the album, and both celestial bodies appear in the "Sowing the Seeds of Love" music video and the tour program.
    • In the "Closest Thing to Heaven" music video, a crescent moon is part of the starry sky backdrop during the play's nighttime sequence above the storm clouds. When the scene switches to daytime, a stylized sun lights up the backdrop with the blue sky and white clouds. Considering that this was the first music video the band produced after they reunited, it was important to the astrology-minded Orzabal that both the sun and the moon — the rulers of their zodiac signs — be included to denote that his and Smith's Leonine-Cancerian musical partnership has been renewed.
  • Three of the members of Tsukino Talent Productions unit Growth had previously been with a company called Sun Productions, which they left because they weren't treated well after a change in management. In their anime adaptation, their rivals, who did debut as a unit with SunPro appear and their feud is shown.

    Mythology 
  • Helios of Greek Mythology is literally the Sun himself, while his sister Selene is the Moon. Even today, Helios and Selene are the Greek words for the Sun and Moon.
    • Apollo, the God of Light, eventually became combined with Helios in popular thought, but was never "officially" called the Sun God until long after Christianity replaced Greek myth. Artemis, his twin sister, likewise only became tied to the Moon because of Apollo's own solar connections.
    • Not particularly known nowadays, but Zeus and Hera are another couple associated with the Sun and the Moon respectively in Greek myth. Plutarch says that Zeus is Helios in material form, and Hera is Selene.
  • In Egyptian Mythology, the Sun was associated with many deities. Horus was a special case as it was claimed his eyes were both the Sun and the Moon, him being the personification of the sky.
  • In Japanese Mythology, Amaterasu is the goddess of the Sun, while her brother Tsukuyomi (who is rarely mentioned) is the god of the Moon. Amaterasu's Arch-Enemy figure is her sort-of mother Izanami, who is an undead goddess who rules the underworld.
  • In Korean Mythology, siblings Daesun and Haesik respectively represent the sun and moon. This is said to be because Daesun originally represented the moon, but she admitted to Haesik that she was afraid of the dark and he had them swap places so she could be the sun instead.
  • In several Chinese mythical tales, the immortals Hou Yi and Chang'e are later associated with sun and moon respectively, after Chang'e got lifted to the moon by drinking an immortality elixir, and after he died, Hou Yi was given a palace in the sun after in life he shot down nine suns to death. They use this setup to visit each other, and later get associated with the Yin Yang theme.
  • In Buddhist mythos, Bhaiṣajyaguru the Buddha of medicine is served by two bodhisattvas Sūryaprabha ("sunlight") and Candraprabha ("moonlight").

    Pinball 
  • In Necronomicon, the "Cult of The Bloody Tongue" table includes the Solar Engine and Lunar Engine ramps.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Changeling: The Lost: The oldest group of Changeling Courts contains the Sun Court (a.k.a. the Found Path, the Court of Shame, who promote righteousness and lawfulness but fall a bit short of true justice) and the Moon Court (a.k.a. the Wayward Road, the Court of Disgust, who revel in disinhibition). They have a distinctly more hostile relationship with each other than the Courts of the Four Seasons, opposing each other's works with every dawn and dusk.
  • Dungeons & Dragons:
    • Dragon: Two paired articles, "The Eternal Sun" and "The Eye of Night", describe the symbolism and magic of the Sun and Moon, including two character classes linked to each (the Illuminated Monk, the Paladin of Light, the Moon-Warded Ranger and the Lunar Rogue), new solar and lunar religions (the Order of Eternal Light, with access to the unique Hope domain, and the Church of Linara, with access to the unique Emotion domain) and astrological feats a character could get from being born under a certain position of the sun or phase of the moon.
    • Dragonlance: The phases of the three moons of Krynn affect the strength of magic corresponding to each moon's moral alignment (Solinari = Good, Lunitari = Neutral, Nuitari = Evil). The closer the moon is to full, the more powerful its magic.
  • Exalted: The two "top" tiers of Exalted are the Solars and the Lunars, the chosen of the gods of the respective celestial bodies, though there are other types too.
  • Pathfinder:
    • Two of the five types of outer dragons — powerful dragons associated with outer space and cosmic matters and phenomena — are the solar and lunar dragons. While a duality between them is not explicitly emphasized, they are in noticeable contrast in their stats — solar dragons are Lawful Neutral where lunar dragons are Chaotic Neutral, and they former are creatures of intense heat while the latter are closely tied to ice and cold (in fact, their breath weapons are capable of harming even creatures immune to heat or cold, respectively).
    • The giant types in Bestiary 3 are very closely tied to the sun, the moon and their interactions, and contrast each other both in appearance and behavior. Moon giants are peaceful, gray-skinned stargazers and scholars, and tend to be Lawful Neutral isolationists as a rule. Sun giants, in contrast, are either Chaotic Good or Chaotic Evil crusaders eternally at war with the forces and natives of the Plane of Shadow, and tend to have red hair and golden skin. The third type of giant in the book, as a sort of in-between to the sun and moon giants, are the True Neutral, withdrawn eclipse giants.

    Theatre 
  • In The Mikado, Yum-Yum sings a song called "The Sun whose rays are all ablaze", about the contrast between the sun and the moon (and how Yum-Yum herself resembles both).

    Toys 
  • SuperThings has the characters of Emperorder and Moonarchaos, the original hero and villain of the setting. Emperorder is a heroic sun, while Moonarchaos is an evil moon. The two of them are brothers that overlook Kaboom City and their respective teams, giving their abilities to help their side prevail.

    Video Games 
  • The first and fourth episodes of AMID EVIL take place on opposite sides of the same world and consist of fortress temples guarded by fanatical moon and sun worshippers respectively. Before an evil force corrupted them and their world, they were at peace and had a shared culture. As a result, most of the enemies in Solar Solstice are Palette Swaps of the ones from Astral Equinox and have sun-themed attacks and weapons where their counterparts have lunar-themed ones.
  • Bayonetta's universe has the Lumen Sages representing the Sun and the Umbra Witches representing the Moon.
  • The Boktai series is big on this, though with a dash of Dark Is Not Evil applying to the lunar half of the trope.
  • Dark Parables: The Sun and Moon Goddesses are two of the most prominent deities, and their emblems appear variously throughout the series. Most notably, in the tenth game, the warring neighbor countries of Barsia and Olesia use solar and lunar motifs. Barsia worships the Sun Goddess and takes the sun as their emblem, while Olesia reveres her sister the Moon Goddess and takes the moon as theirs.
  • The mascots of Digimon World Dawn/Dusk are the Fiery Lion Coronamon and the Moon Rabbit Lunamon respectively, with each being the partner Digimon to its game's protagonist. Coronamon's evolution line wields fire and light attacks while Lunamon's line uses water and darkness attacks and cross the Bishōnen Line as Apollomon and Dianamon respectively. The rival character in each game gets the other game's mascot as their partner.
  • In Dragon Vale, the Flavor Text for the Sun and Moon Dragon suggests that the world was created when the first Sun Dragon met the first Moon Dragon.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Two recurring skills in later games are Sol and Luna, which heal half damage and ignore half of the foe's defense respectively when triggered. In Fire Emblem Engage, they're locked to the personal promotion skills of brothers Diamant and Alcryst (who have Sibling Yin-Yang personalities).
    • Main characters Eirika and Ephraim in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones promote with the Lunar and Solar Braces respectively. One of Eirika's Sync Skills in Engage can combine the two into the Eclipse Brace to have the effects of both Sol and Luna at once.
  • Solstice in Heroes of Newerth has two different forms for day and night, and while her abilities between each form are mechanically similar, their properties change accordingly. During the day, she is fully adorned in armor, as she would literally burn without it, and her abilities make her presence more visible and give her a more tanky presence. At night, she sheds her armor, and her abilities have subtle effects that obscure her presence and her damage output is increased.
  • The King of Fighters: Kyo Kusanagi and Iori Yagami are respectively associated with the sun and the moon - both wear symbols of their respective celestial body on the back of their clothes, occasionally form sigils through their strongest attacks, and in '99, the character select screen has them hidden behind their respective icons if they haven't been unlocked yet.
  • Kirby series feature a Dual Boss known as Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright, an anthropomorphic moon and sun who alternate their attacks. To date, they appeared only in Kirby's Adventure, Kirby's Dream Land 2, Kirby's Dream Land 3 (albeit only as Ado's paintings) and Kirby Mass Attack (but only in the Strato Patros EOS subgame).
  • In La-Mulana, the Temple of Moonlight is the backside area corresponding to the Temple of the Sun.
  • League of Legends have the Solari tribe and Lunari tribe, both worshiping the sun and moon, and having connotations on both the light and dark sides of both sides:
    • The Solari is dedicated to protecting those in need, and this is very exemplified on their chosen one, Leona, who was born from a tribe of Proud Warrior Race Guy yet rejects their brutal lifestyle and believes that strength was meant to protect others. Yet...the Solari has a dark secret that they may be responsible for the disappearance of their rival tribe, some suspect genocide. The elders of the Solari were so adamant in keeping the existence of the Lunari to never be revealed that they'd declare anyone who peeked too deep to be a heretic and will schedule for immediate execution for the secret discovery.
    • The Lunari, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. However, with how they were treated by the Solari, one can infer they symbolize the benevolent side of the moon, as it drew one of the Solari, Diana, into a sense of comfort when she's under the moon. Diana also happens to be the eventual 'Heretic' mentioned above, and shortly before her execution, she received the power of the Moon as their chosen one... and due to a combination of trauma and betrayal, it transforms her into a murderous fanatic whose mission is to make everyone she comes across worship the moon and she will slaughter those who dares disobey.
  • Majesty allows you to build temples to certain gods and recruit their followers as heroes. These include the sun and moon gods, Helia and Lunord. However, their temples are mutually exclusive; if you build temples for one, you cannot build any for the other.
  • The hosts for Mario Party 6 are Brighton and Twila, an anthropomorphized version of the Sun and Moon, respectively. And their motifs are vital to the game's theme, which is centered around the day-and-night cycle.
  • In Might and Magic VII the Good party get sent to attack the Temple of the Moon and the Evil party get sent to attack the Temple of the Sun. The clerics of the former cast Dark magic, and the latter, Light. However, part of the world is a wasteland because both orders were obsessed with destroying the other regardless of collateral damage, which doesn't speak well of the Sun temple's supposed goodness. It is also indicated that the incessant warring helped reduce both religions to mere fragments of their former stature, with both being mostly supplanted by successor faiths with less of a celestial bend.
  • In Ōkami, the mysterious trickster Waka, who belongs to the deceased Moon Tribe, fights alongside the reborn sun goddess in her battle against Orochi.
  • Persona:
    • Persona 2: Tatsuya Suou is the protagonist of Innocent Sin, and his associated Personae Vulcanus and Apollo are of the Sun Arcana, while Maya Amano is the protagonist of Eternal Punishment and her associated Personae are Maia and Artemis of the Moon Arcana.
    • In Persona 4 Golden, the Sun and the Moon are two Tarot cards that can be obtained during Shuffle Time, with similar effects. Each of them grants two extra draws (minus the one needed to obtain it), but the former halves money earned, while the latter halves experience earned.
  • Pokémon:
    • Solrock and Lunatone, a pair of Rock/Psychic Pokémon that are quite literally floating rocks shaped like the sun and moon, respectively.
    • The counterpart Pokémon Espeon and Umbreon and Tyrunt and Amaura evolve according to the time of day — Espeon and Tyrunt during the day, Umbreon and Amaura during the night.
    • There are also two evolutionary stones, the Moon Stone and Sun Stone, although they don't evolve any counterpart Pokémon.
    • Two healing moves are Morning Sun and Moonlight, which have their effects doubled during the morning and night respectively. When they debuted, they were mainly associated with Espeon and Umbreon.
    • Pokémon Sun and Moon is obviously built around this trope:
      • The games use this for their opposite Theme Naming and the in-game clocks, which are set twelve hours apart — Sun during the day, Moon during the night. Series tradition also associates the male protagonist with the first version (Sun) and the female protagonist with the second (Moon)note , which is further enhanced by this trope.
      • The same theme applies for the games' mascot Legendaries, Solgaleo (a white-and-gold lion) and Lunala (a black-and-gold bat-thing), who represent the sun and moon respectively. While technically genderless, they are considered the male and female counterparts to each other (somehow).
      • Rockruff evolves into two different forms of its evolution Lycanroc depending on the game it's in — the loyal and solitary Midday form in the daytime of Sun, and the brutal and ferocious Midnight form during the nighttime of Moon.
    • In Pokémon Ranger, the protagonists' Canon Names are Lunick and Solana, after the moon and sun.
  • Prayer of the Faithless: Reyson's Starter Equipment is the Solar Blade and Lunar Crasher, which are reflections of each other in elemental theming, stats, and description. The Solar Blade gives Fire and Earth magic, while the Lunar Crasher gives Ice and Wind. The stats given by each weapon are also reflections of each other. The Solar Blade gives 9 more Skill than the Lunar Crasher, but 12 less Power, and their blades are opposing colors as well. The Solar Blade's made of, or just colored, ruby, while the Lunar Crasher's is "deep blue".
  • Sea of Stars: The two main protagonists of the game are Valere, a warrior monk whose powers come from the Moon Goddess Luana, and Zale, a blade dancer whose powers come from the Sun God Solen.
  • Settlemoon: The two creator gods and developers of the titular MMO are represented by the sun and the moon. Their avatars are a butterfly and a Luna moth,.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog: Done rather subtly, but Word of God confirms that Sonic's round, peach stomach is meant to represent the Sun in contrast to Knuckles' crescent shaped symbol on his chest, which itself is a reference to the markings on the chest of an Asian Black Bear, commonly referred to as the Moon bear.
  • In Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia, this is how the Great Spirits of Light, Luna and Aska, are distinguished from each other; Luna represents the light of the moon while Aska represents the light of the sun. When they are fought together in Symphonia, Luna's attacks lean more towards arcane and holy interpretations of light with spells such as Holy Lance and Judgment, as well as her unique strike arte Lunatic. Aska focuses on light as more of a physical force of nature; his Sunshine Nova arte creates a small sun in front of him which then explodes.
  • Terraria: The sun and the moon play an important role in the game's background, especially the latter. During the game, you'll experience eclipses as random events, both lunar (also known as blood moons) and solar. The end game has you fighting against two groups of enemies, each worshipping a cosmic object: the Lihzards worship the sun (their temple is filled with tablets able to summon solar eclipses, and the boss there is able to drop the Sun Stone) while the Cultist worship the moon (their leader is called the Lunatic Cultist, and killing him triggers a series of events that ends up summoning the Moon Lord). The moon has more effects on the game, such as moon phases affecting what NPCs sell and the spawning of some enemies, and two special events involving a particular moon.
  • Several instances in Touhou:
    • Of the Three Fairies of Light, two of the members are the bright and energetic Sunny Milk, who has the power to refract light and is powered up by sunlight, and the clumsy and pessimistic Luna Child, who has the power to silence sounds, and is powered up by moonlight. The third member, Star Sapphire has power of detection, and is not affected by weather.
    • The Prismriver Sisters is a lesser example. The eldest sister, Lunasa, wears a hat with a moon decoration, and has the power to produce depressing sound with her violin. The second child, Merlin, wears a hat with a sun decoration, and has the power to produce uplifting sound with her trumpet. Meanwhile, the youngest child Lyrica wears a hat with star decoration and can produce "illusionary sounds" with her keyboard.
    • This also applies to Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou, though more thematically than anything else. Kaguya is a fair Lunarian princess who was exiled after she drank the Hourai Elixir to obtain Complete Immortality, and Mokou is the tomboyish daughter of one of the noblemen that Kaguya humiliated in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter who drank the Hourai Elixir in order to even the playing field with her sworn nemesis, after which she took up fire magic with motifs based upon The Phoenix. Now, the two of them are locked in an unending Cycle of Revenge, likened to the cycle of the Sun and the Moon that fall and rise as the days come and go.
  • Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider: Two of the notable Guardians are Moonrider, who gained a conscience and turns against the rest of the Guardians to end the corrupt government, and Sunseeker, who wants to overthrow the current government and replace it with one where robots like him rule over humanity. While Sunseeker appropriately has sun-based powers, Moonrider instead has Power Copying just like how the moon reflects sunlight.
  • Warframe features several contrasts represented with Sun and Moon motif.
  • World of Warcraft:
    • The sun/moon balance is the reasoning behind Tauren getting paladins in the Cataclysm expansion. Their druids are trained by the Night Elves who worship the moon goddess Elune as their primary deity. In the Tauren's own cosmology the sun and moon are the eyes of the Earth Mother and they have adopted paladins with solar imagery (known as Sunwalkers) so that both aspects are represented.
    • Balance druids have a mechanic where casting nature spells moves them closer to the moon and increases the damage they deal with arcane spells, while casting arcane spells moves them towards the sun and increases damage done with nature spells. The intention is that they maintain a balance between the sun and the moon.

    Visual Novels 

    Webcomics 
  • In Yokoka's Quest, there are Sun and Moon Clans, elements, and languages. The Moon Clan has featured prominently in the story, with the Sun Clan having far less representation so far.

    Web Original 
  • RWBY gives us a symbolic example at the end of the "Yellow" Trailer; Ruby, who is associated with wolves and has silver eyes, is standing with the moon above her, while Yang, whose theme color is yellow and who has a fire motif, stands behind a rising sun.
  • A common theme in Welcome to Night Vale. The titular town is represented by the moon and night; it's dark, and the shadows hold deep secrets. In contrast, the much nicer town of Desert Bluffs is symbolized by the sun, and the light and warmth it brings... except, in reality, Desert Bluffs is far worse than Night Vale. While DB's sun blinds and burns, the darkness in NV can be soothing and protective, even if it is dangerous.

    Western Animation 
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Waterbenders and Firebenders draw strength from the moon and sun, respectively; a Waterbender's strength is greater when the moon is up, and at its absolute greatest when the moon is full, while a Firebender's strength is greater while the sun is up. Additionally, Waterbenders and Firebenders lose their bending during their respective eclipses.
  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: Princess Celestia makes the sun rise and set, while her sister Princess Luna does the same for the moon. With Luna's Face–Heel Turn and subsequent thousand-year imprisonment, Celestia took over the moon duties as well, but after Luna's redemption, she's ready to take the moon back. So Dark goes evil (in part because folks were taking her and her half of the day/night cycle for granted), but comes back.
  • In Onyx Equinox there are the twins K'in and Yun. "K'in" means sun and "Yun" moon in Yucatec Maya, and they certainly have the personalities to match (hot-tempered and calm respectively). This might be an allusion to the Maya Hero Twins, which do become the sun and moon at the end of their adventures.
  • Pibby: The Mirrored Confrontation Shot in the trailer shows a living moon on the protagonists' side, staring down a glitched sun on the antagonist's side.
  • Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Cody and the 212th's design — organish-yellow armor with a sunburst on both the torso and helmet — is the solar to Rex and the 501st's lunar — dark blue armor with geometric shapes.
  • Tangled: The Series: The magical golden flower that was seen in the film has a counterpart in the Moonstone, and both are the embodiments of the powers of the sun and moon respectively. Like most versions of this trope, the sun's ability is the healing of life while the moon's ability is the destruction of it, though it is implied that neither force is good or evil since both forces empower each other and are intrinsically driven to reunite. As she inherited the flower's power, Rapunzel becomes the sun's embodiment, while Cassandra eventually becomes the moon's embodiment.


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