Cipher methods Symbols
Alternian (Homestuck)
Alternian is the fictional language and culture of the Trolls in the cult webcomic Homestuck by Andrew Hussie (MS Paint Adventures, 2009-2016). Homestuck is one of the longest webcomics ever published (8,000+ pages, thousands of animated images and Flash mini-games) and one of the founding works of 2010s Internet culture.
The Alternian Trolls are a violent alien race living on planet Alternia, organised in a hemospectrum — a rigid social caste based on blood colour, from rust (lowest caste) to indigo and purple (royalty). Their script, drawn by Hussie, mixes angular strokes and dots reminiscent of both Germanic runes and braille. It appears in Trollian dialogues (equivalent of the human Pesterchum) and on the cultural artefacts of their world. 26 Latin letters, no digits.
How does the alphabet work?
The cipher relies on a monoalphabetic substitution: each cleartext letter is replaced by the corresponding Alternian glyph. Same mechanic as the Caesar cipher (~50 BC), except the “key” is an image table from a major Internet work.
The table holds 26 glyphs for the 26 Latin letters (no digits). The rendering is deliberately brutal and asymmetric — consistent with the troll culture in the Homestuck canon (Trolls grow up in a society of extreme violence before the series’ central event).
Cryptographic strength: low. Monoalphabetic substitution → trivial frequency analysis. The interest is cultural: it’s the alphabet of a cult 2010s work, studied in academic theses on Internet culture.
Historical and modern usage
- Homestuck webcomic (2009-2016, MS Paint Adventures).
- Homestuck community — fan art, troll cosplay, conventions.
- Internet-culture pedagogy — example of natively transmedia work.
- Fandom sociology — academic studies since 2015.
Related variants
- Elder Futhark — see our entry, Germanic runes that inspired it.
- Braille — see our entry, dot-based writing.
- Dancing Men (Sherlock) — see our entry, similar angular alphabet.
What are the weaknesses?
- Monoalphabetic substitution — frequency analysis is immediate.
- Public table — available on the Homestuck wiki and dCode.
- No digits — to encode a number, write it out in words.
The 26 glyphs
