Z̷̶̶̛̗̟̮͍̬̬̣͔̹͑̓ͤ͋͛͂͐́ͪ̊̑ͣ̇̽ͨ͂ͯͫ̓̀ͧ̔ͯ̂ͬ̐͊ͮ̀̇̆̆͛́̑̊̍̽̅̊ͨͦ̀̃́ͪ͊͋͒ͮ̐ͪͩ̆̇̽̓̓̋ͪͬ̉͆ͫ͗̅̿͗ͤ̐͐͐̾ͯ͐ͪ̈ͫ͆̆̍ͨ̾̆̎̓̌̔̑͂̀ͪ͂̓͊͌̇̚̚̚͢͢͢͢͝͝ͅẢ̷̷̴̸̪͈̯̭̱̳̗̮̤ͧ̋̌̎ͫ͐̂̊ͤ́ͮ̌̿͌͑̔͌ͧ͋͑̓̓̅̉̈̄̎ͧ̋̎͌̓̓ͭ͌̃̈́ͪͥ̅͊̓́̂̍ͧ̅̂́̂ͣͬͩͦ̀̎ͫ̋ͪ͊̓̇ͤ͒̿̅̔̂ͯ͋̋͂̅ͧ̄ͫͪ͐͋̈̐͑̅ͭͦ̆ͤ̈͛̅ͭ͑ͨ̅̓ͭͤ́̚̚͢͢͢͞͞ͅL̸̸̶̸̢̢̺̦̙̺̝͚̻̗͉̺͋ͩ͒̂ͥ͋̇ͨͥ̐̌͐̍̋ͧ̐̉̐̄ͧ͌ͨ̈́̍ͧ̿ͪͪͨ͊̎̆͗͗̓ͮ̓ͭ̉̓̄̐ͪ̄ͥ̔̇͊ͩ͂̑͒̄͐͒ͩ̔̽͋͋̉̋̏ͭ̑̂͐͆̆ͪ̍̓̔̿̍͑̈́̃̔̏͑ͤ̄͋͐̉͌̑̄ͨͩ̒̓ͣͤͩ̆ͤ̚̚͘͢͠͠G̶͒̑ͤ͛ͣ̄̔͌ͫͨ̆ͪͨͭ̄͌ͦ͋͂̾̑͒ͧ̃̊̓ͨͪ̈́ͫͦ̋̾̂͐̽́̆̅͋̾͗͒ͥ̄̈̆ͨ̔̃ͦͧ̔̀͒ͯͩ͆ͥ̐ͩ̀ͣͧ͛͒̂̌͂̀ͪ̊ͣ͆̍ͧ͑̆́ͬ̒͂̔͒ͪͨ̆̽ͨͫͨ̒̓͐͊̈̽ͨͦ͆͜҉̦̰̭̗͈̞̦̝̣͘͘͟͟͢͝͞ͅO̸͗ͧ͌̋͑ͧͫͭ̏̏ͫͬ̆̿ͩͤ͊̋͐ͨͪ̿ͩ̈́͊ͤ̃̈́ͣ̇̏̃̽̿̉̃ͯ́̀͌ͫ̉́ͣ͊ͯ̇ͪͥ̎̾̏͊̓̒̅ͥͮͦ̾̌͒̓̒ͬ̎͐͌̎ͪͬ̉̈́̏̊ͨͩ̍ͩͧ̏͒̄̑̊ͧ̄̎ͥ̋͗͊̿̎͋̓́̚̚̚̚͟͝͡҉̡̛͉̘̟̦̤̼̳̪̜̝͢͝
Zalgo - rͬ͆ͫû͗́ï̑̔n̏̑̎ĭ̿͗ǹ̉͌g͋̉ͦ t̴҉̨ę̛́x̨̕͢t r̤͈̹e͎̗̣n̘̙̮d̻̖̪e͓͉͍r̼̻̙i͚̠̺n͕̖͚g̳̬̖ since 2̛ͤ͜҉̦0̰̽͟͢͝0̶̨͔̏͟4͉ͩ͜͟͡.
Made this because I was bored and I wanted to mess with browser rendering engines.
Zalgo Text ← this Wikipedia article will do a better job than I ever could in explaining Zalgo.
Besides I'm sure you've come across Zalgo-text at least once on the internet.
Zalgo-text is generated by leveraging the Unicode diacritical marks glyph concatenation hack to generate zalgo-text such as the ever infamous H̢͕̞̠͐̎ͨ͠͡e̶ͪ͐̌͏̢͔̘̰ c̛̓ͨ̇͏̶̗̤ͅo̡̬̘̗̎̑ͮ̀͜ṃ̶̨̪͎̐ͪͧ͞ȩ̧̹͖̹̽͛̾͟s̶̷̟̭̪̿̆͂͞ - a common say among internet image boards when referencing or using zalgo.
Diacritical glyphs concatenation in Unicode escape codes works by concatenating a particular glyph of a grapheme (for this example, we use the Latin alphabet) with the glyph of a diacritical mark to create a grapheme with a diacritical mark. Eg: to create the letter é (e with the acute accent), Unicode concatenates the allographic grapheme, e, with the Unicode escape code, \u0065, with the Unicode escape code for ◌́, \u0301, to create é with a Unicode escape code of \u0065\u0301.
The Zalgo program uses this feature of Unicode escape code concatenation to repeatedly add diacritical marks to create zalgo-text.
Zalgo is implemented in C++. Zalgo can be compiled with both GCC's g++ and the LLVM Clang compilers.
Please ensure that either one of the compilers is installed. In most Linux distros usually have GCC installed, and the LLVM Clang compiler is the default compiler on MacOS.
The makefile uses the OS default.
Zalgo only targets *NIX systems, but can be run on WSL for Windows.
Installation is easy as
git clone git@github.com:dodeca12/Zalgo.git
cd Zalgo
makeZalgo - a C++ Unicode text polluter
Zalgo runs on the command line, and as such, uses UNIX pipes and other UNIX stdin streams.
zalgo [-h | --help HELP] [-r | --random RANDOM] [PATTERN]
Note: Zalgo performs diacritic concatenation at three locations of a glyph: above (eg: T̿H̽Ê DͣĚÉP̑ ǑN̏EͣS̚), with-in/in-between (eg: T́͘͡H̷̛͟E͢͝͡ D̨̨͞Ȩ͟͏È̸̢P̶͟͞ Ơ͝͝Ń̡̡E̸̷͢S͏̸͡), and below (eg: T̙H͓E̲ DͅE͖ḘP̱ O͍N̗E͔S͕). Each of the previous examples underwent diacritical concatenation of magnitude one (as in only one diacritical mark is added to each glyph).
As such, the format of diacritical concatenation is in the form of
^\d{1,}-\d{1,}-\d{1,}- which corresponds to a regular expression in the form ofABOVE-MIDDLE-BELOW.
Zalgo can be run without any flags. Not passing in any flags will result in a random number between 1 and 10 (inclusive) being selected as magnitude for each of the diacritical locations (ABOVE-MIDDLE-BELOW).
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-h or --help |
Outputs synopsis |
-r or --random |
Selects a random number between 1 and 100 (inclusive) as magnitude for each of the diacritical locations (ABOVE-MIDDLE-BELOW) |
PATTERN (in regex) ^\d{1,}|(random)-\d{1,}|(random)-\d{1,}|(random) |
Use this argument to specify custom magnitudes for each of the diacritical locations (ABOVE-MIDDLE-BELOW). random can be substituted for a custom magnitude in any and all diacritical locations (where random specifies a magnitude between 1-100 inclusive) |
For more clarification on flag usage, please see examples.
Since Zalgo makes uses of stdio streams - there are many ways to use Zalgo
-
Using UNIX pipes
$ echo "THE DEEP ONES" | zalgo # No magnitude flag specified, defaulting to random magnitudes for each diacritical location (1 to 10, inclusive) T̶̛̛̛̥̦̜̏ͫ͢͜͢͝Hͫͨ͘͟͏̛̛̭͚̫́͘͜Ę̶̶̥̟̤ͥ̊̕͜͜͝͞ D̏̓͝͏͏̸͏̙͖̥́͘͡Ę̸̟̲̲̿̆̀́̀̕͜͝E̸̶̴̢̛̯̟̳̽̔͘͢͟P̴̷̶̹̻͔͐ͮ́͘͠͝͠ O̶̴̧̧̧̙͕̫̾̚͘͡͠N̡̿͐̕͞͏̢̢͖̭͎̕͜Ę̶̴̶̷̛͂͂͟͏̦͎͕S̶̡̢̡̢̬̖̤̾̑́͜͞ # Zalgo-text output $ echo "THE DEEP ONES" | zalgo -r # Random flag specified T̛̞̜̺̹̬̘̞̥͉̣̮͕̖̼̜̱̲̰̦͕̤̥̺̥͙̠͎͙̟͎͖̦̭̰̼̰̮̝̲̠͙͉͕͙̭̖̮͙̰̱͎̱͉̠̳̰̭̫̮̹̞̪̼̬͎̝͔̘̥̟̥̟͙̝̜̝̝̪̙̭͓͇̬͖̥͕̈̈̐̑͆͛̏̔ͤ̀̂̈͒̓ͫ͛ͤ̍̒̚͘ͅͅH̡͇̮̮̠̝͎͖̭̰̖͎̹̩̟͎̦͙̯̫̲̪͇̜̰̘̺̳̱̘̳̙̳̣̱͉̝̪̼̪̺̰̝̠͍̪͎̘̘̥̮̺̭͙̱͕̣͙̤̰̣͍̹̲͍͕̩͇̠͉̗̻̗͚̻͓̙̮̞̱͖̳͖͔̘̹̻͍ͤ͂̿̃̅̓̋͋̊̽̿ͥͤͫͥͫ̃̇͋́̕ͅẺ̟̗͓͕͇̯̩̰̘̮̥̯͈̫̭͙͉͕̪͇̫̞͇̺̺̪͚̦̼̤̰͕̫̫̹̻̼͔̰͖͖͙̮̥̞̫͎̗̰̲̬̮̗̖̗̬͉̪̗͍̺̱̼͉͔̗̟̩͇̖̺̺̯͉̺̰̹͖͎̣̪͔͍̟̑ͪ̓̔ͬ͒ͥͦ̈́̈́̋ͫ͒̒ͦͭͣ̑̚̕͠ͅͅͅͅ D̦͕͕͖͔̤͉̮̭͍͉͇̻̭̟̘͔̟̥̱̰̟̻͎̱̬̟̩̟̬̫̘̦̗̦͓̯̰̭̗̟̗̱̹̠̳̥̬̺̳͕͍̠̰̙̬̟͔͔̹̠͖̼̤̖̱̱̰͖̪͉͓̘͚̟̜̞͍͓̬͕̜̥͗̊̈̌̿̋̉ͣ͋ͨͦ̆ͬ̈́ͭ̅̊̊͑̚͟͠ͅͅͅͅͅE̙͚̫̳͍̲̮͖͎̰̰̘̟͈͕̜͕̞̥͓͉̱̥̥̦̟̩̞̩̥̗̦̭̭͔͚͓̳̳̝̘̺̜̹̦̠̯̮̥̦̟͉̪̤̗̱̲̱̯̼̳̩͙̣͇͍͈̪̫̦̥̠̬͍͚̹̗̟͔̜̬̭̮̭̥͚ͬ̎͒̋̏ͭͤ̋ͩ̾̈́̎̒̓ͪ̇̿ͪͤͩ́͝ͅͅE̱̤̳̻̖̜͉͔̯͚̥̹̰̬̙̩̤̞̖͔̖̬͓̼͇̭̜̠̻͇̙͎͉̮̯̖̟̱̹̼͕̘̫͚̞̬͖͚̗͙̪͕̹̗̦̰̘͈̞͉̺̻̫̫̘̺̟̘̜͉͇̣̻͔͈̹̥̯̳̦̬͕̒̃̾ͦ͐̃ͭ̿͋̾̊̉̉̈́ͬͬͣ̐ͯͣ̕͠ͅͅͅͅͅͅP̷̪̰̙̬͙̻̯̜̪̮̼͔̦͇̮̘͖̳̗̲̗̫̤͖͕̣͕͚̥͓̯̬̜̲͉̘̣̖͚̜̤̮͚̱͙̬̫̻͙̬̞͉͉̭̼̻̟̲̬̤̞͓̺̥̞̞̜̝̟͕̤̭̩̟͙̗̫̦̼̙̰͎͓̤̖̦̼̖͆͑͗̄̎͐ͫͨ͐͊ͣ͗ͣ͆̅̃ͪ͊ͣͨ͢ Ǫ̶̮̰͎̥̱͎̫̞͎͚̟͔̪͓͇͚͔̱̰̺̩͇͍̩̖͉̤̳̜̤̲̲̲̝̹̗͉͙̠̫͇̟̠͓̗͇͍̗̘̦̪͉͔̮͍̻̼̝̲̯͔̠̭̮̥̞̟̥̱̮͈̱̯̤̙͙̥̝̠̬͇̙͎̦̱̀ͫ͗̈ͮ̀ͯ̍ͬͫ͆̆͛ͨ͑̏͛̂ͣ̚ͅͅͅN̛̫̙̜̲̹̟̫͔̰̺̘̩̳̱̣͈̬̜͙̬̟̭̱͉̜̫͎̘̯͉͚͎͓̙̪̭̘̰̘̫̜̜̼̼̺̼̟͍͉̝̣͈̪̰̰̤͔̩̦̩̘̥͖̝̗͕̟̲͙̲̮̗̖̙̮̼̦̗̠̠̖͙̲̰̮͉̝ͨ͋̇ͦͦͯ̈́ͤͤ͋̃̅ͨ͐̍̈́̀ͬͦͣ͝ͅẸ̡͕͙͙̠̤̞͉̞̰̺̭͔̰̲͇̩̱̮̩͎̙̮̲̳͍̞̯̳͓̠̫͈͙̦͈͚̤̱̝͇̜̲̳̬̘̘̰̬̰͍̣̫̗̪͖̺̦̞͚͖̫̩̮̜̬̟̘̺̟̩̹͇̼͚̹̱̯͉̣̗͈̝͔͔͓̯̽̊͌́̑̓ͬ̃ͩ̓͑̃̈́ͣͩ̐̊̄̾̂͜ͅS̛̞̺̳͉̮̫̹͕̰̬̩̪̫͔̻̭̣͕̲̱̗͔̫̲̰͎̙̩̲̗͇͖͇̥̪̘̼̖̫͓̝̰̟̣͖̺͚͎̝̯̻̣̻͚̯͖͍̲̠̜̫͇̖͕̣̝͙̮̞̙̥̦̬̯̥̙͔̖͕̣̥̩͍̦̤ͥ̔͊ͬ̾͌̂̔ͯ͋ͯ͗ͥ̄͂ͨͫ̉̈́̚͞ͅͅͅ # Zalgo-text output $ echo "Cthulu" | zalgo 2-0-random C̙͈̺̞̜͈͇͕̱͓͈͙̪̫̪̠̻̞̣̪̞̬̼̭̣̠͍̯͇̣̪͓̜̘̫͍̫̟̩̦̱̯̭̣̼̗̝̻̟̜̖̼͉̭̻͚̖̙̯͕͍̩͍̻̼̫̣̼̼̘͚̜̯͚͉̱͕̟̣̟̝̲̭͉̰̭͓͉͕̱̲̔̚ͅͅͅͅͅṭ̼̻͚̩̦̗̥̟̦̖͙͍͖̜̥͕̜̬̮̱͙͇͇̹̯̹̙͎̳̬͍̖̖̲̩̜̫̬̦̼̟̗̤̙͙̩͍̗̰̠̪̮͇̗̖̣̭̙͍͍̥̫͍̙͕͖̣̥̦̥͇̥̦͙̫̗̗̝̘̲̝̭͚͓̤͉͎̼̻̬̮͇͈̖͍͛ͫh͉̣͎̬̥͖̜̺͙͚̲̣̰̼̟̤̦̮͍̜͕̭̦̜̜̗̜̯̗̤̝̖̘̩̥͚̭̼̫̣̼̻̻̼̼͙̙̮͓͉̼̜͔͉͙͚̥̬̣̰̱͎̲̺͔̦̗̪͚̟̩̮̻͚̙̦͚̲̩͇̟̠̳͙̞̩̟̲̜̰͔͖́̈́ͅͅͅͅu̳̩̦͕̥̦̠͖͚̳̣̮̱̱͈̖͙̳̮̙̭̮͍͕̦͇̲̗̖͓͙̘̜͙̳͎̜̹͖̮̜̻̮̹̫͎͎̥̰̤̥͖͉͈̺̦͉̺͖̰̰͎̠̗̺͙̖̹̫͖̖̺̰̬̭̩̻͕̪̜͙̤͔̼͔͙̠̥͔̔͆ͅͅͅͅͅͅͅl̯͇̳̙̠̩͕͍̯͍͎̘̘̟̥̞̺̝̰͇̘̲̫̱̟̙͈̮͈̤̣̠͈̲̦͙͓͚̲̩͈̪̞͍̩̮͉͇̫̤̠̤̳̳͈͈̻̥̟̬̦̞̹͓̰̼͉̝̭̦̤̝̭̬͇̱̺̯̠̣̱̭̠͔͚͈̺̭͎̹̹̙͈͚͖̖̔̓ű̝͎̳̫͈͍̳̤̦̞̱̱͙͎͇̝̼̥͕̰͓̥̫̫̖̙̬̭̫̩̖͇̰̲̰͓͉͍̣̥̙͈̘͍͔̲̥̪͍͙̺̮̟̣̹̣͔͉̟̠̙̟͖̫͇̭̟̦̣͚̪̘̠̻̫͈͖̩̻̩͈̻̙̪̺͙̙͎̝͚͍͓͌ͅͅͅͅ # Here the Zalgo-text output has a above diacritical magnitude of 2, a middle magnitude of 0, and the below magnitude of a random number between 1 and 100 inclusive
-
Using redirection
TODO: Add redirection support -
Fun with pipes
Zalgo can be used in conjunction with other commands$ echo "The Ancient Ones" | zalgo | cowsay __________________ < T̴̮̟̼͉̥͎̘͙͗̕͘͞͡͝͝ẖ̷̶̡̛̙̩̭̭̦͕ͬ̀͟͠ͅẹ̴̷̢̨̛͕͙̹͙̼͕̾͢͡ͅ A̶̶̶̛̗̻͍̤͖̼͖͔͑̀̕͠n̷̨̟̮͓̹̞̩̥̞̂̕͢͡͠͞c̷̶̶̢̢̻͉̰̪̤̭̠͎ͣ͝͡i̸̡̢̢͔͙̗̖̗̩̣̺ͥ̕͡͞ȩ̴̴̢̹͇̣̺̜̟̭̘ͪ́͘͠n̸̨͑̀́͏̶̶̗̗͈̘̝̱̯͇t̸̷̴͎̭̙͈̬̦̹̯̚̕͘͘͜ O̚͏̶̧͓͓͎͉̝̙̯̼̕͡͠͝n̶̶̿͏̴̸̗̖̹̮̦̞͕͎̀͞ẽ̷̶̷̶͙̤͓̘̜̩̱̥́͢͝s̴̴̷̰͇͓̳̼͇̬̭̚͘͜͠͞ > ------------------ \ ^__^ \ (oo)\_______ (__)\ )\/\ ||----w | || || $ echo "You will be audited for committing tax fraud." | ./zalgo 2-1-2 | cowsay -f calvin _______________________________________ / Ỵ̫ͬͦ͠o̶̦̹̔̏u̥̰ͬ͛͝ w̶̘̪ͫ̔ị̧̼ͤ͒l͎̱͊̈͘l̨̮̭ͮͯ ḅ͓̉̔͜e̞͓͒̇͞ ả̡̤͎ͧu̺̫͆ͭ͝d̛͍̭ͨ̇ị̸͔̽ͥt̢̞̳ͫ͐e̡̟̗ͬ̿d͒̚͏̜̖ f̛̼̞͂ͬo͚̖ͧ̚͢r̡̹̯͋ͩ c̩͉̅̀͘o̶̳̲̾͂m̶̖̺̏͑m͓ͬͦ͠ͅį̰̟ͧ̾ț̨͎̄͗tȉ͍̼̀͘n̬͈ͨ̏͢g̮̺ͭͮ̀ t̶̤̠͆͌a̧̯̯ͦͧx̶̘̬̀̈ \ \ f͈̫̔̎͠r̢̖͔͒ͧa͙̹ͭ̈́́u̶̯̮̓ͦd̢͉̜ͣ̿. / --------------------------------------- \ ., \ . .TR d' \ k,l .R.b .t .Je \ .P q. a|.b .f .Z% .b .h .E` # J: 2` . .,.a .E ,L.M' ?:b `| ..J9!`., q,.h.M` `.., ..,""` ..2"` .M, J8` `: ` 3; . Jk ..., `^7"90c. j, ,! .7"'`j,.| .n. ... j, 7' .r` 4: L `... ..,m. J` ..,|.. J` 7TWi ..JJ,.: % oo ,. ...., .,E 3 7`g.M: P 41 JT7"' O. .J,; `` V"7N. G. ""Q+ .Zu.,!` Z` .9.. . J&..J! . ,: 7"9a JM"! .5J. .. ..F` 78a.. ` ..2' J9Ksaw0"' .EJ?A...a. q...g...gi .m...qa..,y: .HQFNB&...mm ,Z|,m.a.,dp .,?f` ,E?:"^7b `A| . .F^^7'^4, 1.MMMMMMMMMMMQzna, ...f"A.JdT J: Jp, `JNa..........A....af` `^^^^^'`
Zalgo is licensed licenced under the BSD 3-Clause licence. For more information, check out LICENCE.
The "Zalgo-ification" effect of text pollution is heavily dependant on the text-rendering settings of a computer (or application). Many different factors affect the ability and magnitude of the text pollution effect caused by Zalgo - different operating systems, browsers, text/font settings, and even hardware all make Zalgo-text appear different. For example:
| Linux (Ubuntu) | macOS | Windows | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox |  |
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| Chromium |  |
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