Pictogram

Pictograms are a type of move in the franchise, and are featured in every Just Dance game. They show players how to execute the next move and come in a wide variety of colors.

In the original game, the pictograms were not very well detailed. They run quickly on an invisible line and disappear quickly on an intermittent triangle. The arrows that sometimes appear with them are very narrow and monocolor. They had a 2D aspect.

Pictograms for Shake Moves have a colored cloud and various shaded shapes, resembling the arms that are shaking.

In the second game, the pictograms received major improvements, but are still not very detailed, and they still disappear quickly on the triangle. The arrows are wider and of different colors. In Duets, they slide on different sides (from the left for P1 and from the right for P2). Some pictograms have now a circle symbol to represent the glove and avoid confusion between the two hands (mostly when they are crossing). A few songs have a symbol to indicate clapping, or a sudden hand movement such as striking the air, and very rarely have short curved lines to indicate shaking. These symbols are used more frequently in later games, including this game's DLC. They were now in a slight 3D effect. The 3D effect carries on to all other games with a few minor changes.

Also, since Gold Moves have made their first appearance in this game, the pictogram for one of these moves are golden with a gold outline.

In the third game, the pictograms did not receive very big improvements. In most songs, they had a thinner torso and a smaller head. Additionally, the triangle was rounded instead of pointed. On Xbox, they fade when they reach the triangle, but on Wii and PS3, they enlarge a bit and fade out. In Duets, both pictograms come from the right, while in Dance Crews they slide at a faster rate because the triangle is in the middle of the screen. From this game on, the Gold Move pictograms for multiplayer routines are not golden; instead, they keep their normal colors, and have a golden outline.

In the fourth game, the pictograms were a bit wider with a slightly bigger head and the triangle was replaced by a white line with an intermittent rectangle; when they reach the rectangle, they fade out while enlarging. Also, the end of the line is not in the middle anymore for Dance Crews. The arrows were also thicker and updated.

In the fifth game, the pictograms seemed to be smaller and improved. On the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the pictograms move slightly upwards when they fade.

In the sixth game, the body of the pictograms was slightly wider than the former two games, and when they fade, they move upwards on all consoles.

In the seventh game, the head of most pictograms had a bolder outline, in contrast with the body, which didn't seem to have any.

In the eighth game, the pictograms had a thinner head outline than the former game, and the body's white outline is much more noticeable. The colour gradients on the body also seemed to be smoother.

In the ninth game, the pictograms slide has a different beat effect with no particles, and the pictograms shake to the beat and have a little shadow behind them. These effects only appear on 8th-gen consoles and the Switch.

TBA

pictograms are based off pictograms.

pictograms are based off pictograms.

pictograms are based off pictograms.

Just Dance 2015 (Chinese Version)
Most of the Just Dance 2015 China pictograms are based off pictograms (except for Dancing Diva, which has -styled pictograms).

Yo-kai Watch Dance pictograms are based off of pictograms.

Just Dance Now (Chinese Version)
Just Dance Now China pictograms are based off pictograms, except the colour gradients are more pixelated.

Just Dance 2017 China pictograms look like pictograms, but slide on a  pictogram bar.

In this game, pictograms are mostly orange with a white orb on the right hand, and a slight 3D effect. They slide towards a triangle, like in the first games of the series; this feature is brought in all other games of the Kids series.

Here, pictograms are mostly blue with a much more visible 3D effect. They look shorter and with a bigger head.

In this game, the pictograms are like Just Dance Kids 2 pictograms, but they have a sort of yellow bracelet on the right arm and they fade.

In this game, pictograms have thicker limbs and a 2D aspect, and their body fade from light blue to teal downwards. The props look different as well, and Duet pictograms slide from different sides.

Just Dance: Disney Party 2 pictograms are based off Just Dance 4 pictograms, but they are all purple with white arrows and props. They have a thin black outline as well. Duets pictograms come from different directions, like in.

/
In both games, the pictogram are contained into a white circle. They appear as black 2D stylized bodies, with the right arm colored. They slide bottom up, and they disappear with a fading effect.

Dance on Broadway
They look similar to the pictograms in Just Dance, but they're smaller and they are all black. They slide from different sides, like in Just Dance 2 duets.

They look similar to Just Dance pictograms; they're all orange with light blue arrows.

The Hip Hop Dance Experience
In this game, pictograms are GIF files. They are a dark blue boy shape, showing the moves under the camera square.

The Smurfs Dance Party
They are all orange with light blue arrows, and they're very small. They have a thick white outline, and they disappear immediately on a motionless white triangle.

Trivia

 * Starting from onwards, the color scheme of pictograms go like this: the color of the pictogram body is the same color as the main/prominent color on the coach, and the arrows, punch effects, and shake lines are the same color as the glove.
 * For Duets and higher, the arrows, punch effects, and shake lines are the same color as the pictogram.
 * If all the coaches are the same color (as in No Control), the pictogram colors are the same color as the glove.
 * In, the flashing triangle is placed higher than in and Summer Party/Extra Songs, but the pictograms slide is not, making the pictograms appear slightly under the triangle.
 * In and, the pictograms were originally going to have a neon outline (according to some promotional gameplays).
 * In the files of The Power and Soul Bossa Nova, some pictograms that look like those of the former game can be seen.
 * In, there are two pictogram slides, one coming from the left and one from the right, even if there is only one person playing.
 * In most songs in, the pictograms have slightly longer legs than the other game pictograms. This is the same with /Best Of.
 * In, many songs have pictograms in the style of pictograms.
 * A similar fact happens in and, in which several routines have  styled pictograms. In the case of  and 2015, some songs have all of their pictograms in that style but others only have a few.
 * Another similar fact happens, in which some songs (along with most of the exclusives) have  pictograms. Some songs have all their pictograms in that style, but others only have most of them.
 * In, most pictograms in Duets and Dance Crews are semi-transparent. This typically happens when one coach is dancing more forward than the others.
 * Starting for the remake of Jingle Bells, the arrows for when a coach moves forward or backward were updated.
 * Mashed Potato Time has the lowest pictogram count in the whole series, with 26 on and 20 on.
 * By contrast, the Extreme version of Scream & Shout has the highest count: 289.
 * Girlfriend has the shortest pictogram sprite in the series, with only 13 pictograms (resulting in a size of 3328 x 256 pixels).
 * The default color for the pictograms (from  onwards) is Japanese Laurel, which corresponds to a medium shade of green.
 * Originally, pictogram sprites used to sort their pictograms in alphabetical order according to their code names; however, as of an unknown date, the pictograms started to be placed in order of creation.
 * In some extractions (such as HandClap), the pictograms flash white when they fade off.
 * This does not happen in, where the same pictogram slide is used.
 * From the beginning until, pictograms code names were in French; from onwards, instead, their code names are mostly in English.
 * In more recent games, pictograms are often colored according to the coach's bottomwear rather than their top.
 * The punch effects are actually concaves.