Tarot (trope)

<Some sentence of context for what tarot is>. Usually, the tarot referred to is that of the Rider-Waite decks of 78 cards - which has 22 Major Arcana and 56 minor Arcana, with 14 cards per suit of Pentacles, Swords, Cups and Wands. However, other variants exist, including sometimes fictional variants, or this traditional format is modified.

<Paragraph about how this is used in fandom. Ways include doing readings for characters in media.> More commonly, fans may make art of the fandom in ways that draw from the style of Tarot, the idea of a card with a great deal of symbolism, or the symbolism of the tarot.

Fanart Tarot shows more examples of this type of full fanwork, where fans either singly or collectively tackle the task of designing a tarot deck. This page will cover the use of tarot as a trope and the symbolism of tarot and specific cards in Tarot with examples across fanart.

Use in professional media/canons

Some characters are very associated with canon

Black Swan (Honkai:Star Rail)

Some iterations of fictional tarot of varying popularity

Dungeons and Dragons

Canons which draw heavily on tarot symbolism / meanings?

The Arcana, an otome game
Dragon Age, an RPG game, drew on Tarot inspiration for certain art in Dragon Age:Inquisition, the third game in the series. See Tarot (Dragon Age) for more on this specific trope

Major Arcana Examples

Each card has different symbolism, and the 22 major Arcana have a symbolic arc of the Fool's journey. The following sections can describe the symbolism of the card and how it is represented in different fandoms.

00 The Fool

The Fool generally means the beginning of a journey, and so in fandom it is often represented by the protagonist at the start of a series. However, its name also leads some to use comic relief characters or those who joke around more.

The Fool: Jester Lavorre - Ioana-Muresan (November 4, 2018)

01 The Magician

The Magician: Tony - Mercury (10 November 2013)
The Magician: Caleb Widogast - Ioana-Muresan (November 10, 2018)

02 The High Priestess

In fanworks, usually (though not always) a female/feminine character with mysterious /secretive energy, sometimes wisdom

card by auchrach of Banyue from Heavens' Official Blessing

03 The Hierophant

The Hierophant: Phil - Chiron (11 April 2014)
(Art Deco Avengers Tarot)

06 The Lovers

For obvious reasons, this card is very popular with ship art. The actual symbolism of the card (aside from love, partnerships and commitment) often alludes to a choice or crossroads.