Symbology in The Amory Wars

This is a list of symbols in The Amory Wars by Claudio Sanchez.

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. As a multimedia series, this also includes reoccurring melodies, lyrics, or words. This list is organized alphabetically.

Bad Boy
In the original, main arc of the story, "bad boy" is a common phrase associated with Inferno Kilgannon.

Dragonfly
Or dragonflies. Throughout the original, main arc of the story, a dragonfly is prevalent in some form or another. In Year of the Black Rainbow, the character Pearl Hohenberger creates a syringa dragonfly (a dragonfly with a stinger at the end of his abdomen). This dragonfly is the inspiration for her husband, Leonard, to insert the Monstar Virus into two of his IRO-bot creations, Coheed Kilgannon & Cambria Kilgannon. Later, Wilhelm Ryan and his United Red Army scientists take her dragonfly and modify it further, enabling it to carry various substances, such as the Cache Serum, and then the Aeonstar Serum.

Keywork Theme
Not to be confused with the Piano Interlude, the Keywork Theme is a short, ethereal sounding piece that tends to give us the sense that we are overlooking the entirety of the Fence. In the first clip, you'll hear the theme in the following songs, respectively: "Second Stage Turbine Blade", "Keeping the Blade", "The End Complete V: On the Brink", & "One".

In the next clip, you can hear a slightly extended version of the theme in these songs: "Second Stage Turbine Blade" and "Keeping the Blade".

Piano Interlude
From the very beginning, Coheed and Cambria have utilized what fans have widely dubbed as a "piano interlude" as a way to denote the passing of time or a scene change. It was so dubbed because the melody is often played on a piano and seems to have no real connection to the rest of the song or album. As complicated as The Amory Wars is, it makes sense to have a way to symbolize that the listener is shifting to a new scene or that time has now passed. It is worth noting that this melody is different from "The Keywork Theme." In the first clip, you'll hear the interlude in the following songs, respectively: "Everything Evil", "God Send Conspirator", "The Ring in Return", "The Light & the Glass", "Keeping the Blade", "The End Complete V: On the Brink", "The Broken", "The Hollow", "Dark Side of Me", & "Welcome Home", though the latter two are not exact.

This also has a slightly extended beginning part as seen in the second clip in these songs: "God Send Conspirator" & "The Light & the Glass".

In the Vaxis – Act I and II chapters, the Piano Interlude actually was a piano version of a song on the latter half of the album, ("Old Flames").

Piggy
"Piggy" is only referenced once in the main arc, and based on the song its featured in, may be the way Gibney refers to Inferno Kilgannon. (It is also mentioned in the side arc, but may reference the main arc and/or show how the two arcs are connected.)

Rabbit
In the original, main arc of the story, a rabbit is a symbol for the character Claudio Kilgannon. This symbol was established by Ryder the Writer in the fourth chapter, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness. So it may also be used specifically by the writer to refer to the character.

Scream
Dubbed the "Velociraptor" by the band, it was first conceived by Montana Masback. It has mainly been used to depict Onstantine Priests in the music.