History Main / PlayingCardMotifs

** The Midnight Crew, each of whom is themed and named after a specific suit.

** The first shopkeeper, Seam, is based of the Red Joker, since they were formerly the court magician.

* In ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'', the Red Arremers have a caste system based around playing cards. First, there are the Red Arremer Kings, which have a darker hue to their skin. Red Arremer Aces are next, and they equip themselves with armor. Finally, the highest rank a Red Arremer can obtain is Joker, who acts the leader of the whole clan.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': The Brave Saints system of the 10 Seraphs, based on the Evil Piece System of the Devils. Each Seraph has access to 13 cards that are used to reincarnate humans into Angels, with each Seraph embodying a suit. Michael is Spades, Gabriel is Hearts, Uriel and Raziel are Diamonds, and Raphael, Sandalphon, and Metatron are Clubs. The most prominent of the Brave Saints are [[ChildhoodFriend Irina Shidou]], Michael's Ace, and [[BigEater Dulio Gesualdo]], Michael's Joker.

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': the former King of Elchea's appearance is based on the King cards. Additionally, Tet, the God of Games, has the four suits as his motif, [[MotifMerger combined with other game-related motifs]].

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* Gambling imagery sees frequent use in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'', being as TheMafia and the ''camorra'' play significant roles in the series. Playing card imagery is no exception: the opening credits sequence of the anime styles the kooky thief duo Isaac and Miria as the Joker, and indeed they have a tendency to shake up any situation they unwittingly wander into. TheDreaded killer-for-hire Claire Stanfield, meanwhile, is sometimes associated with the AceOfSpades in its capacity as the "death card."

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* Wrestling/{{CHIKARA}} had the TagTeam The [=Wild Cards=], [[Wrestling/EddieKingston "The King of Diamonds" Eddie Kingston]] and "Black" Jack Marciano.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'': The protagonist has a GuardianEntity with multiple hearts on its shoulders, and goes by the thief CodeName JOKER. Another party member even justifies this code name by saying it's because the player character is their BadassCrew's "Wild Card."
* A meta example from ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': [[http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_promotional_items#Gallery one of the promotional items]] that shipped with the Collector's Edition of the game was a deck of cards. The deck assigned each suit to a major in-game faction/ending and each card to a character or minor faction, with each suit's king being that faction's leader.
** The suit of clubs is used for [[TheHorde Caesar's Legion]], a [[AppealToForce brutal conquering army]] in Roman centurion cosplay. Diamonds are used for the technocrat [[EmperorScientist Robert House]] and the employees of his rebuilt Vegas Strip. Hearts are the NCR, the [[DividedStatesOfAmerica New California Republic]], trying to rebuild America. And spades are everyone else, those caught in the crossfire as the other three factions try to take Vegas for themselves.

* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' features a large number of playing card-themed characters; the in-universe explanation is that when the Dark Fountain opened in the abandoned classroom, it turned all the objects there, including a deck of cards, into characters and environmental elements.

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* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' features a large number of playing card-themed characters; the in-universe explanation is that when the Dark Fountain opened in the abandoned classroom, it turned all the objects there into characters and environmental elements, including a deck of cards.

* A large part of Chapter 1 of ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' revolves around the King, his son Lancer, and his troops, all themed after playing card suits: Rudinn and Rudinn Rangers are diamonds, Hathy and Head Hathy are hearts, the three-headed Clover is clubs, and the King and Lancer are spades. The Card Castle where the King resides also includes a lot of playing card motifs and puns, including a literal "club" where Clover and a few others have fun together, and the castle bathroom "Royal Flush".
** This includes Rouxls Kaard, whose name is a pun on the "rules card" which would sometimes appear on a commercial deck.
** [[spoiler:The BonusBoss, Jevil, is a jester based on the Black Joker card, and likewise has a chaotic and wild personality.]]
** The first shopkeeper, Seam, is based of the Red Joker, since he was formerly the court magician.

* The Cures from ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure'': Mana/Cure Heart (hearts), Rikka/Cure Diamond (diamonds), Alice/Cure Rosetta (clubs), Makoto/Cure Sword (spades) and Aguri/Cure Ace (aces).

[[caption-width-right:350:A villain carrying a card carrying villains.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Jewelpet}}'': Some Jewelpets have card suit symbols as necklaces; Jasper and Nephrite have diamonds, Alex has a spade, King has a club, and Ryl and Diana have hearts.

* The '''Jokers''' (often two to a deck) are commonly portrayed as [[TheJester court jesters or fools]]. The use of the joker card, if any, varies wildly from game to game. In TarotMotifs, it is comparable to TheFool. If a character is described as such, they may very well be TheTrickster or a WildCard. More recently, thanks to ComicBook/TheJoker, Jokers have also occasionally taken on more sinister roles as {{monster clown}}s.

* The Royal Flush Gang has always had a playing card motif, as they were originally formed by the BornLucky gambler Amos Fortune. The gambling aspect quickly disappeared when they and Amos went their separate ways...except the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' version, who first appeared in an episode that took place entirely in Las Vegas. They were also {{Shout Out}}s to the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''.

* '''The Ace''': The highest rank (although some games have it as the lowest), and the origin of the term TheAce (and by extension, things like AcePilot).

*** The '''Queen of Hearts''' represents the biblical figure [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Judith Judith]]. Thanks to ''Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland'', if the Queen of Hearts shows up in a work you can damn well bet it's an AliceAllusion. If not, she will often be a LoveInterest or, at the very least, an object of romantic desire.

* As TheGambler, ComicBook/{{Gambit}} uses a playing card motif, with particular fondness for the Joker and the Ace of Spades. In Gambit-related storylines in which [[ComicBook/XMen Rogue]] appears as his love interest, it's common to see her represented in his motif as the Queen of Hearts.

* ''ComicBook/TheJoker'', [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} Batman]]'s nemesis, corresponds well to his eponymous card by being chaotic and unpredictable. He also tends to use the Joker itself as a CallingCard.

** At the end of ''Film/BatmanBegins'', Lieutenant Gordon hands Batman a Joker card found at the scene of a crime, [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadowing]] [[SequelHook the Joker's prominent role]] in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.

*** [[TheMasochismTango Kismesissitude]], the caliginous[[note]]dark[[/note]] quadrant, uses spades, which may reference the fact that such relationships are based on feelings of hate as spades represent weapons such as swords or spears.

-->'''Jack of Diamonds:''' You can't handle the twos!

* The members of the Heartslabyul dorm in ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'' are themed after playing cards, as they are based off of the Queen of Hearts and her card soldiers in ''WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland''. Riddle Rosehearts is the Queen of Hearts, Ace Trappola is the Ace of Hearts, Deuce Space is the Two of Spades, Cater Diamond is the Four of Diamonds, and Trey Clover is the Three of Clubs.

* ''VideoGame/HeartNoKuniNoAlice'': Being a dating sim adaptation of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', it's quite rife with this.

* In ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'', each of the four heroes is named after a different suit/rank combo: Spade Ace, Clover (Club) King, Heart Queen, and Dia(mond) Jack. The team's SixthRanger, Big One, is basically the Joker in this analogy even if he's not as blatant about it as the others. The team name (pronounced "Jacker"), besides being an acronym of the ranks, also sounds similar to "Joker".

* The antagonists of ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' are named Spade, Heart, and Ace in Japanese. The English versions [[DubNameChange shift the naming scheme]] to TarotMotifs.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce 3'' features as its main villains a criminal syndicate named "Dealer". It is led by one Mr. King, and has among its high-ranking members ''Queen'' Tia, Jack, and Joker. [[spoiler:There's also Ace, who [[DefectorFromDecadence deserted the organization]].]] Furthermore, three of the ([[TheCorruption unwitting]]) major bosses of the game are ''Spade'' Magnes, ''Diamond'' Ice, and ''Club'' Strong, while King's [[TheDragon Dragon]] is named '''Heart'''less, [[spoiler:as befitting her status as the ReverseMole]]. Their base's inner sanctum is even decorated like a gigantic card table.

* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': Hisoka the Magician uses playing cards as weapons, and tends to wear clothes decorated with card suits. Even his speech bubbles are punctuated with them. In character, Hisoka is a combination of the Trickster, the Joker and monster clown.

* ''Manga/HighSchoolDXD'': The Brave Saints system of the 10 Seraphs, based on the Evil Piece System of the Devils. Each Seraph has access to 13 cards that are used to reincarnate humans into Angels, with each Seraph embodying a suit. Michael is Spades, Gabriel is Hearts, Uriel and Raziel are Diamonds, and Raphael, Sandalphon, and Metatron are Clubs. The most prominent of the Brave Saints are [[ChildhoodFriend Irina Shidou]], Michael's Ace, and [[BigEater Dulio Gesualdo]], Michael's Joker.

The standard international deck (also known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_52-card_deck the French deck]]), is the most widely-used in fiction as it is in card games. It consists of four suits -- clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥) and spades (♠) and 13 cards of each suit, plus two jokers. Respectively, the suits traditionally represent the peasantry, merchant class, clergy, and nobility. When it comes to [[ColorCodedCharacters color-coding]], hearts and diamonds are red while spades and clubs are black. If the four suits are used in a work, more often than not they'll be to differentiate factions or characters. The suit of spades in particular is associated with death, while the suit of hearts has the usual associations of HeartSymbol when it's not an AliceAllusion.

* Similar to ''Anime/ShugoChara'', the school councils in ''[=unOrdinary=]'' is named after playing cards, with the positions of King (currently occupied by Arlo), Queen (currently occupied by Remi), and Jack (currently occupied by Blake). There is also an Ace position that is regarded as higher than the King's sometimes, which is said to be occupied by Seraphina. This plays parts during confrontations between schools. Later on, [[spoiler: John assumes the 'Joker' identity to terrorize the school]].