What is at the bottom of an iceberg chart?

The most obscure things about the subject: details only devoted fans know, half-forgotten stories and, on many charts, rumours nobody can prove. In Icillion, the bottom of every prompt holds exactly one legendary answer.

How many levels does an iceberg chart have?

There is no fixed number. Most have between five and ten. Icillion uses five: The Tip, Below the Surface, The Deep, The Abyss and Below the Iceberg.

Are the things at the bottom of an iceberg chart true?

Not always. On fan-made charts the deepest levels often mix real facts with theories and rumours. A good chart says which is which.

Why is it shaped like an iceberg?

Because only about a tenth of a real iceberg shows above the water. The picture fits any subject where a few things are famous and far more sit out of sight.

Guide

What is an iceberg chart?

An iceberg chart draws a subject as an iceberg. What everybody knows floats on the tip; the further down you go, the more obscure it gets.

How to read one

An iceberg chart is a picture of an iceberg cut into horizontal bands, with a waterline across the top. Each band holds a list of facts, names or stories about one subject: a film series, a video game, a band, a city, a historical event.

Above the water: what nearly everyone knows, even people who have never looked into the subject.
Just below: what fans know. Familiar if you have spent some time with it, new to everyone else.
The middle: trivia that takes real digging: behind-the-scenes details, deleted scenes, early versions.
The bottom: the strangest and most obscure items. On fan-made charts this is also where unproven rumours end up.

Reading from top to bottom is the point. It feels like a dive: every band takes you further from common knowledge and closer to the things only the most devoted people know.

Where the format comes from

The iceberg has stood for hidden depth for a long time. Ernest Hemingway described his way of writing as an iceberg in Death in the Afternoon (1932): most of the story stays under the surface, and the reader feels it without seeing it. The underlying fact is real, too: only about a tenth of an iceberg shows above the water.

The chart as an internet format grew up on forums and imageboards, where people drew icebergs of their favourite subjects and argued about what belonged on which level. By the early 2020s, videos that explain an iceberg one level at a time had become a genre of their own, often running for hours.

Why the shape works

Knowledge about almost anything has the same shape. A handful of things are known by nearly everyone, more are known by some, and a very long tail is known by a few. Statisticians call that a long tail; the iceberg draws it from the side.

That is also why iceberg charts are fun to argue about. Where something sits depends on who you ask, and moving an item one level up or down says a lot about how well you know the subject.

An iceberg you can play

Icillion turns the format into a game. Every prompt is an iceberg, and your answer lands on the level that matches how rarely people think of it. Here is “Name a fruit”, with 129 accepted answers:

The Tip5 answers · 10 ptsApple · Banana · Orange
Below the Surface14 answers · 25 ptsPear · Cherry · Mango …
The Deep48 answers · 50 ptsHidden until you play
The Abyss61 answers · 85 ptsHidden until you play
Below the Iceberg1 answer · 100 ptsOne legendary answer, waiting in the game

Say “Apple” and you stay near the surface with 10 points. The rarer your answer, the deeper your submarine dives, down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench for a perfect round. See how deep “Name a fruit” goes.

How to make your own iceberg chart

Pick a subject you know well. The deeper levels need things only you and a few others know.
Write down everything you can think of, without sorting yet. Aim for three or four times as many items as you will use.
Sort by how many people know each item. Ask a few friends who are not fans: whatever they all know goes on top.
Choose your levels. Five to seven is enough. Keep the top band short and let the lists grow longer further down, like a real iceberg.
Save one thing for the very bottom. The single strangest, rarest item makes the chart worth reading to the end.
Say what is rumour. If a level mixes facts and theories, mark which is which.

Questions about iceberg charts

What is at the bottom of an iceberg chart?: The most obscure things about the subject: details only devoted fans know, half-forgotten stories and, on many charts, rumours nobody can prove. In Icillion, the bottom of every prompt holds exactly one legendary answer.
How many levels does an iceberg chart have?: There is no fixed number. Most have between five and ten. Icillion uses five: The Tip, Below the Surface, The Deep, The Abyss and Below the Iceberg.
Are the things at the bottom of an iceberg chart true?: Not always. On fan-made charts the deepest levels often mix real facts with theories and rumours. A good chart says which is which.
Why is it shaped like an iceberg?: Because only about a tenth of a real iceberg shows above the water. The picture fits any subject where a few things are famous and far more sit out of sight.

Play today’s iceberg Browse 466 trivia icebergs

How deep does your knowledge go?

Seven prompts a day, twenty seconds each. Obvious answers float on the tip of the iceberg; rare ones sink all the way to the trench.

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