megakey

Modifier Details

The two main keys

It starts with the Mega key

• Mega is a pseudo-key; there is no physical “Mega” key
• “Mega” represents pressing all three modifier keys at the same time (CtrlOptCmd)
• This combination is relatively easy. Both to recall and press.
• The name “Mega” was chosen because some related conventions call this combination “Meh” (“Meh”-ga)
• ⁂ is the symbol for Mega. It represents the three keys that are pressed.
• Software can be used to repurpose the CapsLock key into a physical Mega key.

             Shift added
             ❖ Giga
                 ↑
⭑ Wish ←──── ⁂ Mega ────→ ❋ Chaos 
Cmd removed      │        Ctrl removed
                 ↓
             ▲ Force
             Opt removed                

The 4 variations of Mega differ by a single modifier key

Giga is the bigger variant

• Giga is another pseudo-key: Shift+Mega (ShiftCtrlOptCmd)
• Giga is the shifted version of Mega. (Think SI prefixes)
• ❖ is the symbol for Mega. It represents the four keys that are pressed.
• Software can be used to repurpose the Tab key into a physical Giga
• Giga can also be accessed via ShiftCapsLock if CapsLock has been configured as the Mega key.

The three additional “anti” keys

• There are three “anti” keys.
• The anti keys are variations of Mega with one key removed.
• Unlike Mega/Giga, the anti keys have shifted versions (that don’t have special names on their own)
  • For example both Wish and Shift-Wish are unique. While Shift-Mega is just Giga and Shift-Giga doesn’t make sense.

Chaos

• Chaos is the “Anti-ctrl” pseudo-key: Mega minus Ctrl (OptCmd)
• ❋ is the symbol for Chaos.
• Software can be used to repurpose Right Ctrl for Chaos
• Mnemonics
  • “Chaos” implies “uncontrolled.”
  • ❋ symbol is similar to the Chaos Star

Force

• Force is the “Anti-opt” pseudo-key: Mega minus Opt (CtrlCmd)
• ▲ is the symbol for Force.
• Software can be used to repurpose Right Option for Force
• Mnemonics
  • To “force” is to leave no “option.”
  • Triforce (▲ resembles artifact from Zelda)

Wish

• Wish is the “Anti-cmd” pseudo-key: Mega minus Cmd (CtrlOpt)
• ⭑ is the symbol for Wish.
• Software can be used to repurpose Right Cmd for Wish
• Mnemonics
  • “Your wish is my command”
  • “Wish” is a less agressive form of “command”
  • “Wish upon a star” (for the ⭑ symbol)

The following table summarizes all the keys:

	Name	Single Key	Multiple Keys	⇧	⌃	⌥	⌘	Notes
⁂	Mega	CapsLock	CtrlOptCmd		⌃	⌥	⌘	Base combination
❖	Giga	Tab	ShiftCtrlOptCmd	⇧	⌃	⌥	⌘	Mega with Shift
❋	Chaos	Right Ctrl	OptCmd			⌥	⌘	Mega without Ctrl
▲	Force	Right Option	CtrlCmd		⌃		⌘	Mega without Opt
⭑	Wish	Right Cmd	CtrlOpt		⌃	⌥		Mega without Cmd

Windows/Linux versions

• While Mega/Giga/Chaos work across platforms, some keys are slightly MacOS-centric.
• For the remaining two keys, words that play with the Linux key names may be used
  • “Main” vs “Alt” (“Alternate”)
  • “Sub” vs “Super” ([Win] key on some Linux distros)
• Used either prepended (Main.Wish-C) or by itself (Main-C)
• The symbols remain unchanged.

             Shift added
             ❖ Giga
                 ↑
⭑ Main ←──── ⁂ Mega ────→ ❋ Chaos 
Alt removed      │        Ctrl removed
                 ↓
             ▲ Sub
             Win removed                

	Name	Single Key	Multiple Keys	Notes
⁂	Mega	CapsLock	CtrlWinAlt	Base combination
❖	Giga	Tab	ShiftCtrlWinAlt	Mega with Shift
❋	Chaos	Right Ctrl	WinAlt	Mega without Ctrl
▲	Sub.Force	Right Alt	CtrlAlt	Mega without Win
⭑	Main.Wish	Right Win	CtrlWin	Mega without Alt

Prior Art

• The Space Cadet keyboard had actual physical Hyper key. So this was probably the first Hyper key.
• Raycast includes a feature to map Hyper to CapLock
• Ben Davis https://www.davis7.sh/karabiner
• While many descriptions exist of mapping https://kevinkipp.com/blog/meh-and-hyper-for-normal-keyboards/
• https://zenmushie.medium.com/how-to-get-your-very-own-hyper-key-0c91ed4a84ff
• https://juleslibert.com/en/thoughts/remapping-capslock-to-hyperkey

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