This is a work in progress! This is also a work in progress that will never end as new comic book, movies and television shows come out.
This is an informal media study. Are numbers that have a significant numerological symbolism used as such in movies and television? Numerological numbers are numbers that are believed to have esoteric properties. The numbers I looked at include the numbers 13, 22, 23, 666 and 888.
The Number 13 in Comic Books, Movies, Novels and Television
The symbolism of the number 13 is probably the best known of any number.
13 Days – Movie
13th Atlantean Sleeper Cell – Comic – Marvel universe Atlantean terrorists
13 Artifacts – Comics – Artifacts of great power in the Top Cow universe.
13th Boy – Comics
13th Floor Witches – Comics – Witches in the Fable series of the Vertigo imprint.
13th Son – Dark Horse superhero
13 – Comic – Superhero born on Friday the 13th. Appeared in the Golden Age Daredevil comics.
13 Court Guard Squads – Anime
1313 – Comics – One of the Beagle Boys in the Donald Duck universe with very bad luck.
Airplane – Movie – The plane docks at Gate 13.
Alien – Movie – Standard suggests the use of N-13 sticks to blow up aliens.
American Beauty – Movie – Ricky states, “It’s called G-13”. He is referring to a genetically engineered type of pot.
Batman – Movie -13 people die from contaminated products created by the Joker.
Batman Beyond – TV – Season 2, Episode 26 – Pier 22, Cage 13
Battlestar Galactica – TV- Earth is the 13th lost colony.
Believer – Movie – On screen title “13 YEARS LATER”.
Brainiac 13 – Comics – Advanced version of Brainiac in the DC Universe.
Division 13 – Comics – Created by Frank Lamb, Division 13’s aim is to free the Vortex mutants and give them a chance at life and freedom.
The English Patient – Movie – The onscreen title reads “November 13, 1942”.
Entourage – TV – Season 8, Episode 2 -Jersey of Dan Carcillo of the Philadelphia Flyers is hanging on an office wall for decoration.
Entrapment – Movie – “13 Days until the end of the World” is scrawled on a sheet of paper.
Fear. The Walking Dead – TV – Season 1, Episode 2 – Van marked 13.
The Fugitive – Movie – Gerard states, “Route 13 east”.
Friday the 13th – TV series
House of Cards – TV – Season 1, Episode 2 – Francis Urquhart stays in hotel room 322 during a party conference.
Gen-13 – Comics – Group of teenage superheroes in the Wildstorm universe.
Golgo 13 – Comics- International assassin
Maxx-13 – Comics – Super villain in the Impact universe
MI: 13 – Comics – A government agency that handles paranormal threats in the Hellboy universe.
Midnight Express – Movie – Bell states, “He got raped something bad in Section 13”.
Minority Report – Movie – Anderson states, “At 1:13 the two Precrime officers”.
Number 13 – Comics – Home to a family of monsters.
Ore-13 – Comics – a fuel that gives Transformers a boost.
Punisher: War Zone – Comic – Looney Bin Jim is in room F-013 of the insane asylum he is committed to.
Return To Me – Movie – The onscreen title states “INT. TUNER BOWLING – LANE 13 – NIGHT”.
Resident Evil – Movie – Red Queen states, “the infection would have spread to cover the United States within 13 days”.
Rush Hour – Movie – The clock on the wall reads 7:13.
Rushmore – Movie – Max states, “I hear about your science fair project on Action 13 the other day”. Action 13 is a TV channel.
Secret Agent D-13 – Comics
Spartan – Movie – “Rule #13: Every night you will be told where to meet. If Surrounded by Superior Force”. One of the rules soldiers of the future follow.
Star Wars – Movies – George Lucas is the creator of Star Wars. The number 1138 (1+1+3+8 = 13) shows up in several episodes of Star Wars. THX 1138 is the title of the first film of George Lucas.
The Time Machine – The dial of the time machine stops on “13 September 1917”.
Thirteen Ghosts – The use of the number 13 is clearly related to its supernatural significance and as opposed to the number 12 as in the 12 signs in astrology.
Trailer Park Boys – TV – Season 6, Episode 1, Barb’s trailer is #13
Warehouse 13 – TV
You’ve Got Mail – Movie – Channel 13 does a special.
X-Files – 13:58 is on the digital display of an explosive device.
The Number 22 in Comic Books, Movies, Novels and Television
The number 22 is called the master builder in numerology. There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. There are 22 cards in the Tarot major arcane. 22 caliber weapons are incredibly popular in films and I did not include mention of 22 caliber movies in this study. I also include 222 in this section.
22 Brides is a group of mercenary females published by Event Comics.
A Thousand Clowns – Movie – Arnold (Martin Balsam) the brother of the protagonist has an office on the 22nd floor in New York City.
The Abyss – Movie – Demarco states, “At 9:22 local time this morning, an American nuclear submarine, the USS Montana, with 156 men aboard, went down 22 miles from here.”
All Star Superman the Movie – Lex Luthor’s prisoner number on his orange jump suit is 221 but sometimes appears as 22.
Alphas – TV- Season 2, Episode 10 – Life After Death – Dr. Rosen visits the apartment of his dead daughter. Her apartment number is 22.
Alphas – TV- Season 2, Episode 12 – Need to Know – Parish plans a decisive attack on October, 22nd which is the same day he was shot in the head during the Civil War and discovered his alpha ability, immortality.
The American President – Movie – The Defense instructor states, “We’ve got 22 instructors”.
Animal Kingdom-TV-Season 01, Episode 10-What Have You Done-Squad car 22 takes away Alexa Anderson, J and Nicky’s teacher.
Attica – Movie – A dead snitch hanging from a railing in Attica, the prison, is wearing a sports jersey with the number 22.
Avengers – Movie – There is red London bus numbered 22.
Batman Beyond – TV – Season 2, Episode 26 – Pier 22, Cage 13
The Breakfast Club – Movie – The clock in the library is 10:22.
Bringing Out the Dead – Movie – Dispatcher states, “respond to a 10-22”
Casablanca – Movie – A young gambler at Casablanca with sob story that touches Rick is allowed to win three times in a row by playing number 22 on the roulette table. I think the person who decided to use the number 22 probably knew something about numerology.
Catch-22 – Movie and novel – The title says it all. There is no way an author picks a number for a title of a novel without doing some research as to the symbolic meaning of the number.
Chappie (2015) – Movie – A robot injured by a RPG is designated Scout 22.
Cloverfield – Movie – The stamped date on the video filming the events of the day is May 22. This is driving me crazy. The number is all over the place but the number may just as well have been picked accidentally.
CSI Las Vegas – TV- Episode 16, Season 8 – Two and Half Deaths – Stage 22 is in the background of a studio in Hollywood.
Cockneys vs Zombies – Movies – The lockup of Mental Mickey has a cargo container labeled 22 across from it.
Dark Star – One the characters states “22 minutes to detonation” of a bomb.
Dead Set – Dead Set is a 2008 British TV series about zombies that I highly recommend watching. The culmination of the zombie attack of the TV studio is at 22:22.
Demolition Man – Movie – Garcia states, “Is there anything here which doesn’t violate contraband order 22”.
Doctor Who – TV – Season 6. Episode 13. When time collapses, the date is perpetually April 22nd.
Doctor Who – TV – Season 8, Episode 9 – Jacket of one of the city custodial workers has a 22 badge.
Earth-22 is the Earth in the DC universe that houses the Kingdom Come comic series.
Entourage – TV – Season 4, Episode 6 – The Weho Ho – The gang stays at 22 Jersey. Season 8,
Episode 2 – The gang walks by Stage 22.
Fantastic Four – Comics – Fantastic Four Inc. is in Rm. 22
Frequency – Movie – A character states, “We are 22,000 miles away in geosynchronous orbit”.
Friday the 13th Part VIII – Movie – Sean states, “It’s supposed to be 22 stories tall”.
The Gambler – Lamar Allen’s basketball jersey is number 22.
Ghostbusters – Movie – In 1984, Dana Barrett and Louis Tully both lived on the 22nd floor of 55 Central Park West, or Dana’s apartments, sometimes called “Spook Central”, is the super-conductive antenna and portal to our realm, created by the Cult of Gozer to bring forth their “divine” master Gozer himself in his Destructor Form. Dana lived in room number 2206.
The Haunting (1995) in this movie, staring Kate Beckinsale, there is a fire in Edbrook House in 1923. This is clearly seen on the shared headstone of the three siblings who died in the fire.
Incal – Comic – issue 3 pg. 38, “In 22 days an everlasting light”.
Insomnia – Movie – Will’s digital clock displays 4:22.
Iron Man – Movie – An F-22 is on display in front of Stark Industries.
Kitchen Confidential – Season 1, Episode 10, Praise Be Praise – Jack gets a score of 22.
The Kingpin (Marvel) – Comics – The Kingpin kills a thug with a jersey that has the number 23 on it in Kingpin #1.
Kyle XY Season 3, Episode 6 – The License Plate in a room of in Kyle’s house is 52211. The fact I even pick a number within a number shows my desperation.
Last Samurai – July 22, 1876 is the heroes 20th day at sea.
In the TV show, Marvel’s Luke Cage, S01E1, Diamondback keeps his weapons in warehouse 22.
Minority Report – There is an arrest on “April 22”. Hmmmm, two films with Tom Cruise that mention the number 22? What is the Scientology position on numerology?
Misfits – Season 2, Episode 5 – Jessica’s Locker is #22
Pitch Black – “22 hours weeks out”.
One Fifth Avenue novel by Candace Bushnell, pg. 306, James Gooch discovers the Amazon Rating of his book is 22.
Platoon – The radio operator states, “122 wounded and still counting. Estimate 500 Victor Charlie KIA, 22 wounded and still counting”.
Prisioner 2222 – Blue Beetle V4 #5 (1967) – Page 22 – Comics
Red Planet – Movies – A character states “Lock out systems 17, 22 and 40”.
Smallville – TV – Season 7, Episode 22, License plate for the car of the bad guys that take Tess to Luthor is “MT1-022”
Room 222 – TV
Shaun of the Dead – Movie – During the title sequence, a kid is kicking a ball against a post numbered 22.
Simpsons, The – TV – Season 13, Episode 2 – Homer and Marge get on bus 22 dressed as cat burglars.
Space Jam – Movie – Bill Murray is wearing a number 22 basketball jersey on the court. Why are you teasing me like this Bill?
South Park – TV – Season 11, Episode 155, The roomate of Butters commits suicide in room 22.
Star Trek the Motion Picture – “inertial lag will continue 22 point five”, clearly a number used as a number.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Movie – “Coordinates 22/87/4”, another instance of a number just used as a number but second time in Star Trek but then again they use a lot numbers in Star Trek overall.
Suspect Zero – Movie – One of the victims is aged 22 and another victim disappeared “3-22-97”. Two 22s in one movie!
THX 1138 – Movie – A supervisor says some mumbo jumbo, “retract to 220”
True Blood – TV – Season 4, Episode 2, Shreveport Road Sign “22 miles” and the sign is at a crossroads as well
Trailer Park Boys – TV – Season 3, Episode 8, A taxi at the trailer park is taxi #222.
Trailer Park Boys – TV – Season 5, Episode 7, Girl has hash put in locker 22
Trailer Park Boys (2006) – The Movie – The Big Dirty, The address of Sun Sun Café Famous Chinese Foods is 22
Twilight Zone – TV- Season 2 Episode – A patient has nightmares about Room 22, the hospital morgue. Rod Serling, the man of all things weird surely knew the significance of 22 and I am adding it to the yes column.
Wall Street – Movie – Gekko states, “but don’t pay over $22”
X-Men Evolution – TV – The TV Channel 22 is part of this universe – In season 3, episode 1, the channel 22 van makes an appearance. In season 4 episode 1 the channel 22 helicopter makes an appearance. The appearance of 22 at the beginning of two seasons is probably not coincidental.
Fargo – TV – Season 2 Episode 2 – The street address of Bud’s Meats, the butcher shop, is 223. There is what appears to be a stand where the customer picks their number to be next for service, in the background. The number changes from a “22” in one shot to a “23” in another none consecutive shot.
Fargo – TV – Hanzee, a hitman, Native American, ex Vietnam Vet, turns against all white people including his bosses when he sees a vomit covered plaque commemorating the hanging of 22 Sioux.
Fargo – TV – Season 2, Episode 9 – The murder suspect couple, Peggy and Ed Blumquist are kept in room 222 of the Motor Motel in which a massacre occurs.
The Number 23 in Comic Books, Movies, Novels and Television
23 is a recent numerological contender. William S. Burroughs is generally considered the first person to notice the so called “23 enigma”.
23 – A German film that tells the story of computer hackers.
Bently 23 or 32 is the 23rd or 32nd clone of the Wizard an enemy of the Fantastic Four (Marvel)
Boardwalk – TV – Season 1, Episode 2, the winning number is 23 red
Despicable Me 2 – Movie – At the beginning of the film one of the sheds in Russia is labeled #23.
Gravel a Warren Ellis comic book published by Avatar Press. In issue #4, Gravel opens a door with the address 23.
Kickass, the movie, the hero lives in house with the street number 32. 32 in numerology is seen as a variation of 23.
Life on Mars – British TV series, Season 1, Episode 4, Sam Tyler, the protagonist, dreams about a dooor with the address #23.
The Mad (2007) – Movie – Two women, including the heroine that will end up being the main focus of zombie attention, stay in hotel room number 23.
Matrix Reloaded – Movie – Neo can pick 23 persons to create a new Zion.
The Number 23 – A movie starring Jim Carrey that explores the number 23.
The Office – TV- Season 6, Episode 25 – The Chump – The coach who plays the role of the chump in this episode is wearing a number 23 baseball jersey.
Outer Limits – TV – Season 1, Episode 2 – titled Valerie 23
Smallville – TV – Season 7, Episode 2 – Supergirl states “What are pieces of Krpton doing scattered 23 galaxies away?”.
Spaced – Movie – This is a British sit com and the characters in the show live at 23 Meteor Street.
South Park – TV – Season 6, Episode 14, titled “The Death Camp of Tolerance”, The port-a potty is labeled 23
Star Trek – TV – Season 4, Episode 8 – Future Imperfect – The Romulans appear to be trying to trick Riker into giving the location of Outpost 23 but things are not as they appear. I would say the use of the number 23 in this episode is not a coincidence and the writers were aware of the numerological significance of the number 23.
Star Trek – TV – Season 4, Episode 10 – The Loss – Whorf states that there will be 23 minutes to impact. This second use of 23 almost back to back is interesting.
Suicide Squad – Movie – Amanda Waller is in a helicopter with 23 signage that is shot down. The Joker’s extraction team have jackets labeled C23.
Venture Brothers, The – TV – Season 1, Episode 12 – Past Tense – There is a college student in Rusty’s old dorm in a 23 Jersey.
Weeds – TV – Season 7 – Doug Wilson inherits the baseball jersey of Kulakoff the accountant. The number of the baseball jersey is 23.
The Wire – TV – Season 5, Episode 2 – Unconfirmed Reports – One of the city buses is labeled 23 that must stand for route 23 of that bus.
X-Men Evolution – TV – Season 3, Episode 2 – Mutant named X23 shows up.
Yellow Submarine – Movie – Robin the Butterfly Stomper is wearing a shirt with 23 on the shirt.
X- 23 (Marvel) is a clone of Wolverine
The Number 666 in Comic Books, Movies, Novels and Television
176-666 – Beagle Boy in the Disney universe with super-sensitive senses
666 – Comic – Half man, half machine rogue superhuman in the DC Kingdom Come Earth-22
666 is the number of the Beast as described in the Book of Revelation.
666 Park Avenue – Title of TV series.
Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Meyers – Movie – An alternate title for
Halloween 6: The Origin of Michael Meyers.
Little Nicky – Movie – John and Peter get blood splattered on them that forms into the 666 number. A shot of a clock reads 666.
Natural Born Killers – Movie – Several murders occur on Highway 666.
The Ninth Gate – Movie – The number of the beast is mentioned several times in reference to the beast.
Rush Hour – Movie -Espionage Agent states; “extension 666”.
Wild at Heart – Movie – Johnnie states, “Telefono 666”.
The Number 888 in Comic Books, Movies, Novels and Television
The number 888 is considered a lucky number in Chinese culture and a license plate with 888 as its number sells for a lot of money in Hong Kong.
Outbreak – Movie – “1-800-888-0000”
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – TV – The T-888 is a Terminator model type. Irony? Terminators are not lucky and actually distinctly unlucky. I would say just a good example of total ignorance of Chinese culture.
Tron – Flynn states, “CODE SERIES HHH-888…activate.
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fuckin word dude. i’m really glad you wrote this post. i am extremely into numerology and am convinced that the entertainment industry is full of numerologists. what do you think?
I think the entertainement industry is filled with artistic types. Artistic types tend to be into numerology ergo the entertainement industry is filled with numerologists. Thanks for the comment!
Also on the game Resident Evil 5 there is a biohazard chemical which boosts Albert Weskers strength (a biological weapon) that has to be injected into him every specific time or something…I believe it is called PG67.
Thanks for the comments. Is the number you mention of numerological significance?
In the opening bank robbery scene of The Dark Knight, the Joker drives off in a school bus which has “District 22” written on it.
You did not explain what is the meaning of the number 22. Kindly do so. Thanks.
Like the number 23 you run into the number 22 all over the place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_(number) Just a few from the above site at Wikipedia. 22 letter is the Hebrew alphabet! 22 paths in the Kabalah! 22 cards in the major arcana! The 22nd card of the Tarot may be the fool or the world My take is that the number 22 heralds the end of one great project and the begining of the a new great project! 23 is an omen of weird change. 22 is an omen of great evolutionary change!
Got it. Thanks. And that would explain why the Joker rides off in a bus marked 22 — the fool or the joker / jester is the 22nd card of the major arcana Tarot. And as I understand it, that card can be listed as 0 or as 22. The first or the last card. No number or the final number. And so, it’s really a card that’s outside the deck. Like the Joker who is outside the norm, outside society, a misfit, a “freak”.
About Kabalah, isn’t it a perversion of Judaism? Wouldn’t a rabbi consider it as the occult, and so reject it? Is Kabalah associated with Free Masonry, with Adam Weishaupt and the new world order? Kindly explain.
Got it. Thanks. And that would explain why the Joker rides off in a bus marked 22 — the fool or the joker / jester is the 22nd card of the major arcana Tarot. And as I understand it, that card can be listed as 0 or as 22. The first or the last card. No number or the final number. And so, it’s really a card that’s outside the deck. Like the Joker who is outside the norm, outside society, a misfit, a “freak”.
About Kabalah, isn’t it a perversion of Judaism? Wouldn’t a rabbi consider it as the occult, and so reject it? Is Kabalah associated with Free Masonry, with Adam Weishaupt and the new world order? Kindly explain.
Waiting for your reply to the above question regarding Kabalah. Thanks.
I had replied using email but for some reason the reply didn’t go through. Maybe I pressed the wrong buttons. This time around the reply is being done at the WordPress dashboard which is more reliable. I am going to have to claim ignorance when it comes to the Kabbalah. I have largely ignored the Kabala because it is very text centered. I prefer spiritual traditions that have a none text side such as yoga, martial arts (chi kung in particular) and Tibetean meditation. I have been most influenced by Buddhism and I think the epistemological side of Buddhism has a lot of validity. You study the sutras (text) and you practice mediation (direct spiritual experience). Sutras without meditation or meditation without sutras can take you only so far. One thing you keep running into in just about any deep spiritual tradition including the Kabbalah is the idea of a macro to micro connection in the universe above and beyond standard casuality. I do think this connection is very hard for human minds to understand and probably operates at some sort of hyperdimensional level. We perceive three dimensions fully (space) and a fourth dimension partially (time) but many physicists posit we actually live in a reality that consists of more than four dimensions. Perhaps spiritual insight in the partial experience of this hyperdimensional reality as is but then this experience is mediated by verbal framework and different cultures use a different verbal framework. Henry James in his Varieties of Religious Experience, points out that doctrines vary tremendously but the subjective descriptions of spiritual experiences are surprisingly similar. Experience is mediated by language and language is mediated by culture. Even great spiritual truths cannot escape this limitation. You might find my book Half Square interesting and you can download it at:
http://www.lulu.com/product/file-download/half-square/4083115
You also read it on line on this blog site. I hate pompous spiritual types. We are all mere mortals struggling to understand a universe that is not so easy to understand. Half Square is about a lot of things but does present my ideas about ontological and epistemological truth and hyperdimensionality in a playful and fun way that is meant to generate discussion rather than provide final answers.
If I was going to recommend one spiritual discipline over all other then it would be Tibetean mediation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tibetan_meditation
However it is very hard to find a good teacher. Yoga is everywhere. Better to study what is available than not study at all. I wish I had studied more Chinese martial arts when I was young but such things were quite simply not available when I was young so I “settled” for learning Judo and Taekwondo and when I finally had the chance to study kung fu in Taiwan, my prior martial arts background helped tremendously.
Thank you very much for your lengthy reply. I appreciate that. And I enjoy reading your blogs. And I will read your book. I downloaded it.
Yes, I agree with you, there is wisdom and truth in the great religions of the world. And many of them speak of the same things. And surprisingly, many of their stories and images are similar. Look past the symbolism and you will find much the same meaning.
But I think we need to make a distinction between religion and the occult. Religion is about truth, about compassion, about goodness and moral rectitude, about connecting ourselves with that which is beyond us and yet part of us. Indeed, the word “religion” comes from the Latin “re ligio”, which means linking back — that is, linking back to a phenomenal source. The occult is something else entirely. It is cryptic, sinister, predatory. It appeals to the dark, animal nature not human nature. To reference popular cinema, it is the way of the Sith and the Dark Side, not the way of the Jedi and the Light Side. Followers of Kabbalah and Free Masonry, Adam Weishaupt and the Illuminati, all are like the Sith. They are practitioners of the Dark Side. The occult is antithetical to religion. And it is a wonder why we do not hear Jewish Rabbis denouncing the Kabbalah, or the Christian clergy speaking out against Free Masonry.
Well I as I stated, I am going to have to claim ignorance when it comes the Kabbalah. I hope you enjoy the download. The book is basically humorous but not meant to be some deep spiritual tract but I do speculate on some spiritual topics mostly Eastern philosophy.
What do the Eastern philosophies that you study say about the occult, about secret societies? What do they — or would they in your opinion — say about Kabbalah, Free Masonry, Adam Weishaupt and the Illuminati? Do you think that the occult and secret societies are the real and great enemy to humanity? If so, what can humanity do to stop them? Do Eastern philosophies offer us any solutions or approaches?
You don’t want to get me started on this topic. Eastern philsophies are organic and like their martial arts generally have a step by step safe way of seeking the truth. I am not sure what you mean by the occult but I do think New Age systems do tend to cherry pick techniques from the East without any appreciation as to how dangerous this is and that you need to anchor the technique into a system. They also do this incredible mish mash and act as though disparate philosophies like Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism are compatible and they are not. There are a lot of people in the West messing around with Eastern technques such as kundalini yoga and Tibetean meditation without the rest of the training manual and are taking real risks. You don’t just want to open doors. You want to be able to open the door and handle what you find! You also want to have some sense what doors are safe and what door are dangerous. I would define the occult as looking for the power of spirituality without the wisdom that take longer to develop and this is ultimately very, very harmful to the person that chooses this path.