Misused: One Hundred And Eight

Dewicking is done!

I also removed this paragraph from the description per above, as "gratuitous Western use of 108" contributes to misuse, and extended the first sentence to include Dharmic religions in general.

I also cut another sentence with unclear relevance:

You might know 108 from puzzles, though — in which case it's merely 12 x 9.

All that's left is cleaning up the on-page examples, which should be cake.

I'm back!

I think most misuse and ZCE has been cleaned, as well as most examples shoehorning the number where it doesn't occur, but I'm unsure on the following:

• Dungeons & Dragons module WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun. The guardian daemon will pursue intruders for 108 feet before returning to its room.
• The Elder Scrolls uses it prominently with several variations. To note:
  • 108 itself - A number commonly associated with Akatosh, the chief deity of the Nine Divines pantheon.
  • 1+0+8 - Essentially 9, a recurring Arc Number for the series, usually expressed in the form of 1+8. There are 9 Divines in the Imperial religion, comprising 8 conventional gods and 1 human who became a god. There are traditionally 9 provinces in the Cyrodiilic Empire (Cyrodiil itself and 8 others), and 9 districts and principal cities in the provinces of Skyrim and Cyrodiil (both the capital plus 8 others). The Amulet of Kings has 8 small jewels and 1 large jewel. There are eight 'Towers' sustaining the barriers between the realms, and one 'zeroth stone' that is the origin of their power. Even the universe itself is said to be shaped like a wheel with 8 spokes, the '+1' being the solid line made when viewed on it's side.
  • 1008 - the very first and longest lasting Dragon Break, a type Time Crash with Cosmic Retcon like effects associated with the aforementioned Akatosh, lasted precisely 1008 years. How could they tell how much time passed despite time being non-linear during that period? They used the cycles of Nirn's two moons, which are said to be the "flesh divinity" (i.e. the sundered, rotting corpse) of the dead creator god and was thus unaffected, to tell how much time had passed.
  • 100008 - See also "O Aka! I beg you one hundred thousand and eight times!" from the Alduddaggas.
• Lost: The lottery numbers (4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42) add up to 108, the numbers have to be entered into the machine in at the Swan station every 108 minutes, and more than a few other appearances. Unsurprising given the Buddhist references surrounding the DHARMA Initiative... Oh, and the rescue party finally arrives after 108 days on the island.
• In Homer's The Odyssey, 108 is the number of suitors coveting Penelope, the wife of Odysseus.
• In the 21st episode of Ouran High School Host Club, Haruhi gives her class representative, who is afraid of "dark places, horror movies, ghost storytelling, getting scared from behind, and commercials for horror movies" a book entitled "108 Ways to Get Through Scary Situations".
• In The Prince of Tennis, Gin Ishida has invented 108 variations of his Hadokyuu tennis shot.
• In Sands of Destruction, there are 108 Laws of Clockwork Robotics.
• In Shinrai: Broken Beyond Despair, Mika seeks to break her father's record for scaring people so that he'll buy her ice cream. Since her father scared 107 people, Mika will thus have to scare 108 to surpass him.
• In an early episode of Supernatural, a demon possesses plane passengers and causes their planes to crash. One such incident occurs during the timeline of the episode, and the number of passengers killed is 108.
• Chapter 4 of Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World features an NPC who boasts that the Lezareno Company's life insurance covers you to the age of 108 (More half-elf discrimination, of course, as they live much longer).
• In Team Fortress 2, arrows from the Huntsman will deal 1080 damage to the Merasmus Halloween raid boss when fully charged.
• Giving someone 108 roses is a form of asking for someone's hand in marriage.

Double-check that I didn't miss anything from the eastern works.

I'm back!

A few points...

D&D doesn't typically use singular feet (it uses multiples of 5) so this would be an intentional inclusion by the creators (or invented by the troper writing it). It should stay. Mmmm, maybe.... No, that's shoehorning That looks legitimate to me. I wasn't certain until it said DHARMA. It fits. cut This is an example Not sufficient context I'm guessing Real Life? If so, it could count...

Link to TRS threads in project mode here.

What culture is the Real Life one supposed to be describing?

I'm back!

- Apparently Malay?

Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576

That's in Southeast Asia and is 19.8% Buddhist, so it's likely to be valid.

I'm back!

Source on Malay? A quick google only shows flower websites that claim it.

Malay =/= Malaysian, btw. The term refers to a people who inhabit much of Southeast Asia.

Edited by Synchronicity on Dec 4th 2020 at 6:34:42 PM

Well, then I deleted it due to failing verification.

I'm back!

Anything else left to do here?

Dewicking is done, so I don't think so.

I'd like to apologize for all this.

Well, the discussion page needs to be moved - I'll take care of it - and a listing on Renamed Tropes is needed.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I wrote up an entry on Renamed Tropes, so this can be closed.

For Trope Epitaph: "Here lies 108. Its death was very mystical."

Edited by Snicka on Dec 9th 2020 at 7:16:41 PM

I'll add that, then close the thread.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report