As use of the FictionMags data format spread during the 1980s, there became more and more of a need to handle characters that did not exist in the normal 7-bit USASCII character set. While many of the required characters did exist in various 8-bit extensions of USASCII, the lack of consistency between these (and the limited support for them in text editors) made it necessary to invent a 7-bit representation that could be used to identify such characters in a clear and unambiguous way.
The approach taken was similar to that later adoped by Microsoft Word in that it used a three-character combination for each such character, consisting of an introductory character ('^') followed by two characters that visually suggested the character concerned (such that, for instance, ^e' was used for "e acute" and ^e` for "e grave"). The following table identifies all the trigraphs currently supported, together with:
Note that, where no trigraph exists for a character that is required, the Unicode value in the form &#nnnn; or &#xnnnn; as defined in the List of Unicode Characters should be used.
| Trigraph | Fallback | Character | Hex code | Name | Unicode value |
| Accented Latin Characters | |||||
| ^A' | A | Á | c1 | Capital Letter A Acute | 00C1 |
| ^A) | A | Ă | Capital Letter A Breve | 0102 | |
| ^A^ | A | Â | c2 | Capital Letter A Circumflex | 00C2 |
| ^A" | A | Ä | 8e | Capital Letter A Diaeresis | 00C4 |
| ^A` | A | À | c0 | Capital Letter A Grave | 00C0 |
| ^A_ | A | Ā | Capital Letter A Macron | 0100 | |
| ^A( | A | Ą | Capital Letter A Ogonek | 0104 | |
| ^A* | A | Å | 8f | Capital Letter A Ring | 00C5 |
| ^A~ | A | Ã | c3 | Capital Letter A Tilde | 00C3 |
| ^a' | a | á | a0 | Small Letter A Acute | 00E1 |
| ^a) | a | ă | Small Letter A Breve | 0103 | |
| ^a^ | a | â | 83 | Small Letter A Circumflex | 00E2 |
| ^a" | a | ä | 84 | Small Letter A Diaeresis | 00E4 |
| ^a` | a | à | 85 | Small Letter A Grave | 00E0 |
| ^a_ | a | ā | Small Letter A Macron | 0101 | |
| ^a( | a | ą | Small Letter A Ogonek | 0105 | |
| ^a* | a | å | 86 | Small Letter A Ring | 00E5 |
| ^a~ | a | ã | b5 | Small Letter A Tilde | 00E3 |
| ^C' | C | Ć | Capital Letter C Acute | 0106 | |
| ^Cv | C | Č | ba | Capital Letter C Caron | 010C |
| ^C, | C | Ç | 80 | Capital Letter C Cedilla | 00C7 |
| ^C^ | C | Ĉ | Capital Letter C Circumflex | 0108 | |
| ^C. | C | Ċ | Capital Letter C Dot | 010A | |
| ^c' | c | ć | Small Letter C Acute | 0107 | |
| ^cv | c | č | ef | Small Letter C Caron | 010D |
| ^c, | c | ç | 87 | Small Letter C Cedilla | 00E7 |
| ^c^ | c | ĉ | Small Letter C Circumflex | 0109 | |
| ^c. | c | ċ | Small Letter C Dot | 010B | |
| ^Dv | D | Ď | Capital Letter D Caron | 010E | |
| ^D- | D | Đ | d0 | Capital Letter D Stroke | 0110 |
| ^dv | d | ď | Small Letter D Caron | 010F | |
| ^d- | d | đ | Small Letter D Stroke | 0111 | |
| ^E' | E | É | 90 | Capital Letter E Acute | 00C9 |
| ^E) | E | Ĕ | Capital Letter E Breve | 0114 | |
| ^Ev | E | Ě | Capital Letter E Caron | 011A | |
| ^E^ | E | Ê | ca | Capital Letter E Circumflex | 00CA |
| ^E" | E | Ë | cb | Capital Letter E Diaeresis | 00CB |
| ^E. | E | Ė | Capital Letter E Dot | 0116 | |
| ^E` | E | È | c8 | Capital Letter E Grave | 00C8 |
| ^E_ | E | Ē | Capital Letter E Macron | 0112 | |
| ^E( | E | Ę | Capital Letter E Ogonek | 0118 | |
| ^E@ | E | Ẹ | Capital Letter E Dot Below | 1EB8 | |
| ^e' | e | é | 82 | Small Letter E Acute | 00E9 |
| ^e) | e | ĕ | Small Letter E Breve | 0115 | |
| ^ev | e | ě | Small Letter E Caron | 011B | |
| ^e^ | e | ê | 88 | Small Letter E Circumflex | 00EA |
| ^e" | e | ë | 89 | Small Letter E Diaeresis | 00EB |
| ^e. | e | ė | Small Letter E Dot | 0117 | |
| ^e` | e | è | 8a | Small Letter E Grave | 00E8 |
| ^e_ | e | ē | Small Letter E Macron | 0113 | |
| ^e( | e | ę | Small Letter E Ogonek | 0119 | |
| ^e@ | e | ẹ | Small Letter E Dot Below | 1EB9 | |
| ^G) | G | Ğ | Capital Letter G Breve | 011E | |
| ^G, | G | Ģ | Capital Letter G Cedilla | 0122 | |
| ^G^ | G | Ĝ | Capital Letter G Circumflex | 011C | |
| ^G. | G | Ġ | Capital Letter G Dot | 0120 | |
| ^g) | g | ğ | Small Letter G Breve | 011F | |
| ^g, | g | ģ | Small Letter G Cedilla | 0123 | |
| ^g^ | g | ĝ | Small Letter G Circumflex | 011D | |
| ^g. | g | ġ | Small Letter G Dot | 0121 | |
| ^H^ | H | Ĥ | Capital Letter H Circumflex | 0124 | |
| ^H- | H | Ħ | Capital Letter H Stroke | 0126 | |
| ^h^ | h | ĥ | Small Letter H Circumflex | 0125 | |
| ^h- | h | ħ | Small Letter H Stroke | 0127 | |
| ^I' | I | Í | cd | Capital Letter I Acute | 00CD |
| ^I) | I | Ĭ | Capital Letter I Breve | 012C | |
| ^I^ | I | Î | ce | Capital Letter I Circumflex | 00CE |
| ^I" | I | Ï | cf | Capital Letter I Diaeresis | 00CF |
| ^I. | I | İ | Capital Letter I Dot | 0130 | |
| ^I@ | I | Ị | Capital Letter I Dot Below | 1ECA | |
| ^I` | I | Ì | cc | Capital Letter I Grave | 00CC |
| ^I_ | I | Ī | Capital Letter I Macron | 012A | |
| ^I( | I | Į | Capital Letter I Ogonek | 012E | |
| ^I~ | I | Ĩ | Capital Letter I Tilde | 0128 | |
| ^i' | i | í | a1 | Small Letter I Acute | 00ED |
| ^i) | i | ĭ | Small Letter I Breve | 012D | |
| ^i^ | i | î | 8c | Small Letter I Circumflex | 00EE |
| ^i" | i | ï | 8b | Small Letter I Diaeresis | 00EF |
| ^i@ | i | ị | Small Letter I Dot Below | 1ECB | |
| ^i` | i | ì | 8d | Small Letter I Grave | 00EC |
| ^i_ | i | ī | Small Letter I Macron | 012B | |
| ^i( | i | į | Small Letter I Ogonek | 012F | |
| ^i~ | i | ĩ | Small Letter I Tilde | 0129 | |
| ^J^ | J | Ĵ | Capital Letter J Circumflex | 0134 | |
| ^j^ | j | ĵ | Small Letter J Circumflex | 0135 | |
| ^K, | K | Ķ | Capital Letter K Cedilla | 0136 | |
| ^k, | k | ķ | Small Letter K Cedilla | 0137 | |
| ^L' | L | Ĺ | Capital Letter L Acute | 0139 | |
| ^Lv | L | Ľ | Capital Letter L Caron | 013D | |
| ^L, | L | Ļ | Capital Letter L Cedilla | 013B | |
| ^L/ | L | Ł | f0 | Capital Letter L Slash | 0141 |
| ^l' | l | ĺ | Small Letter L Acute | 013A | |
| ^lv | l | ľ | Small Letter L Caron | 013E | |
| ^l, | l | ļ | Small Letter L Cedilla | 013C | |
| ^l/ | l | ł | f7 | Small Letter L Slash | 0142 |
| ^N' | N | Ń | fb | Capital Letter N Acute | 0143 |
| ^Nv | N | Ň | Capital Letter N Caron | 0147 | |
| ^N, | N | Ņ | Capital Letter N Cedilla | 0145 | |
| ^N~ | N | Ñ | a5 | Capital Letter N Tilde | 00D1 |
| ^n' | n | ń | fc | Small Letter N Acute | 0144 |
| ^nv | n | ň | Small Letter N Caron | 0148 | |
| ^n, | n | ņ | Small Letter N Cedilla | 0146 | |
| ^n~ | n | ñ | a4 | Small Letter N Tilde | 00F1 |
| ^O' | O | Ó | d3 | Capital Letter O Acute | 00D3 |
| ^O) | O | Ŏ | Capital Letter O Breve | 014E | |
| ^O^ | O | Ô | d4 | Capital Letter O Circumflex | 00D4 |
| ^O" | O | Ö | 99 | Capital Letter O Diaeresis | 00D6 |
| ^O: | O | Ő | Capital Letter O Double Acute | 0150 | |
| ^O` | O | Ò | d2 | Capital Letter O Grave | 00D2 |
| ^O_ | O | Ō | Capital Letter O Macron | 014C | |
| ^O/ | O | Ø | d8 | Capital Letter O Slash | 00D8 |
| ^O~ | O | Õ | d5 | Capital Letter O Tilde | 00D5 |
| ^O@ | O | Ọ | Capital Letter O Dot Below | 1ECC | |
| ^o' | o | ó | a2 | Small Letter O Acute | 00F3 |
| ^o) | o | ŏ | Small Letter O Breve | 014F | |
| ^o^ | o | ô | 93 | Small Letter O Circumflex | 00F4 |
| ^o" | o | ö | 94 | Small Letter O Diaeresis | 00F6 |
| ^o: | o | ő | Small Letter O Double Acute | 0151 | |
| ^o` | o | ò | 95 | Small Letter O Grave | 00F2 |
| ^o_ | o | ō | Small Letter O Macron | 014D | |
| ^o/ | o | ø | ed | Small Letter O Slash | 00F8 |
| ^o~ | o | õ | f5 | Small Letter O Tilde | 00F5 |
| ^o@ | o | ọ | Small Letter O Dot Below | 1ECD | |
| ^R' | R | Ŕ | Capital Letter R Acute | 0154 | |
| ^Rv | R | Ř | Capital Letter R Caron | 0158 | |
| ^R, | R | Ŗ | Capital Letter R Cedilla | 0156 | |
| ^r' | r | ŕ | Small Letter R Acute | 0155 | |
| ^rv | r | ř | Small Letter R Caron | 0159 | |
| ^r, | r | ŗ | Small Letter R Cedilla | 0157 | |
| ^S' | S | Ś | Capital Letter S Acute | 015A | |
| ^Sv | S | Š | c7 | Capital Letter S Caron | 0160 |
| ^S, | S | Ş | Capital Letter S Cedilla | 015E | |
| ^S^ | S | Ŝ | Capital Letter S Circumflex | 015C | |
| ^S@ | S | Ṣ | Capital Letter S Dot Below | 1E62 | |
| ^s' | s | ś | Small Letter S Acute | 015B | |
| ^sv | s | š | e5 | Small Letter S Caron | 0161 |
| ^s, | s | ş | Small Letter S Cedilla | 015F | |
| ^s^ | s | ŝ | Small Letter S Circumflex | 015D | |
| ^s@ | s | ṣ | Small Letter S Dot Below | 1E63 | |
| ^Tv | T | Ť | Capital Letter T Caron | 0164 | |
| ^T, | T | Ţ | Capital Letter T Cedilla | 0162 | |
| ^T- | T | Ŧ | Capital Letter T Stroke | 0166 | |
| ^tv | t | ť | Small Letter T Caron | 0165 | |
| ^t, | t | ţ | Small Letter T Cedilla | 0163 | |
| ^t- | t | ŧ | Small Letter T Stroke | 0167 | |
| ^U' | U | Ú | da | Capital Letter U Acute | 00DA |
| ^U) | U | Ŭ | Capital Letter U Breve | 016C | |
| ^U^ | U | Û | db | Capital Letter U Circumflex | 00DB |
| ^U" | U | Ü | 9a | Capital Letter U Diaeresis | 00DC |
| ^U@ | U | Ụ | Capital Letter U Dot Below | 1EE4 | |
| ^U: | U | Ű | Capital Letter U Double Acute | 0170 | |
| ^U` | U | Ù | d9 | Capital Letter U Grave | 00D9 |
| ^U_ | U | Ū | Capital Letter U Macron | 016A | |
| ^U( | U | Ų | Capital Letter U Ogonek | 0172 | |
| ^U* | U | Ů | Capital Letter U Ring | 016E | |
| ^U~ | U | Ũ | Capital Letter U Tilde | 0168 | |
| ^u' | u | ú | a3 | Small Letter U Acute | 00FA |
| ^u) | u | ŭ | Small Letter U Breve | 016D | |
| ^u^ | u | û | 96 | Small Letter U Circumflex | 00FB |
| ^u" | u | ü | 81 | Small Letter U Diaeresis | 00FC |
| ^u@ | u | ụ | Small Letter U Dot Below | 1EE5 | |
| ^u: | u | ű | Small Letter U Double Acute | 0171 | |
| ^u` | u | ù | 97 | Small Letter U Grave | 00F9 |
| ^u_ | u | ū | Small Letter U Macron | 016B | |
| ^u( | u | ų | Small Letter U Ogonek | 0173 | |
| ^u* | u | ů | Small Letter U Ring | 016F | |
| ^u~ | u | ũ | Small Letter U Tilde | 0169 | |
| ^W^ | W | Ŵ | Capital Letter W Circumflex | 0174 | |
| ^w^ | w | ŵ | Small Letter W Circumflex | 0175 | |
| ^Y' | Y | Ý | dd | Capital Letter Y Acute | 00DD |
| ^Y^ | Y | Ŷ | Capital Letter Y Circumflex | 0176 | |
| ^Y" | Y | Ÿ | f4 | Capital Letter Y Diaeresis | 0178 |
| ^y' | y | ý | b6 | Small Letter Y Acute | 00FD |
| ^y^ | y | ŷ | Small Letter Y Circumflex | 0177 | |
| ^y" | y | ÿ | 98 | Small Letter Y Diaeresis | 00FF |
| ^Z' | Z | Ź | Capital Letter Z Acute | 0179 | |
| ^Zv | Z | Ž | f2 | Capital Letter Z Caron | 017D |
| ^Z. | Z | Ż | Capital Letter Z Dot | 017B | |
| ^z' | z | ź | Small Letter Z Acute | 017A | |
| ^zv | z | ž | f3 | Small Letter Z Caron | 017E |
| ^z. | z | ż | Small Letter Z Dot | 017C | |
| Special European Characters | |||||
| ^i. | i | ı | Small Letter Dotless I | 0131 | |
| ^D/ | D | Ð | Capital Letter Eth | 00D0 | |
| ^d/ | d | ð | eb | Small Letter Eth | 00F0 |
| ^ss | ss | ß | e1 | Small Letter Sharp S | 00DF |
| ^TH | TH | Þ | de | Capital Letter Thorn | 00DE |
| ^th | tt | þ | b7 | Small Letter Thorn | 00FE |
| Ligatures | |||||
| ^AE | AE | Æ | 92 | Capital Letter A E | 00C6 |
| ^ae | ae | æ | 91 | Small Letter A E | 00E6 |
| ^IJ | IJ | IJ | Capital Letter I J | 0132 | |
| ^ij | ij | ij | Small Letter I J | 0133 | |
| ^OE | OE | Œ | d1 | Capital Letter O E | 0152 |
| ^oe | oe | | e8 | Small Letter O E | 0153 |
| Mathematical Symbols | |||||
| ^+- | +- | ± | f1 | Plus or Minus Sign | 00B1 |
| ^14 | 14 | ¼ | ac | Fraction One Quarter | 00BC |
| ^12 | 12 | ½ | ab | Fraction One Half | 00BD |
| ^34 | 34 | ¾ | be | Fraction Three Quarters | 00BE |
| ^oo | o | ° | f8 | Degree Sign | 00B0 |
| ^x. | x | × | d7 | Multiplication Sign | 00D7 |
| ^:- | - | ÷ | f6 | Division Sign | 00F7 |
| ^ < | < | < | c9 | Less than sign | 003C |
| ^ > | > | > | e7 | Greater than sign | 003E |
| Punctuation | |||||
| ^!! | ! | ¡ | ad | Inverted Exclamation Mark | 00A1 |
| ^?? | ? | ¿ | a8 | Inverted Question Mark | 00BF |
| ^c/ | c | ¢ | 9b | Cent Sign | 00A2 |
| ^## | # | £ | 9c | Pound Sign | 00A3 |
| ^Y= | Y | ¥ | 9d | Yen Sign | 00A5 |
| ^-- | - | — | c4 | Em Dash | 2014 |
| ^:. | :. | ∴ | Therefore Sign | 2234 | |
| ^(C | C | © | a9 | Copyright Sign | 00A9 |
| ^TM | TM | ™ | e4 | Trademark Sign | 2122 |
| ^(R | R | ® | b1 | Registered Trademark Sign | 00AE |
| ^#1 | 1 | ¹ | b9 | Superscript 1 | 00B9 |
| ^#2 | 2 | ² | fd | Superscript 2 | 00B2 |
| ^#3 | 3 | ³ | b2 | Superscript 3 | 00B3 |
| ^#a | a | ª | a6 | Female Ordinal Indicator 2 | 00AA |
| ^#o | o | º | a7 | Male Ordinal Indicator 2 | 00BA |
| ^#. | . | · | fa | Middle Dot | 00B7 |
| ^.@ | . | • | f9 | Large Dot (Bullet) | 2022 |
| ^<< | << | « | ae | Opening Guillemots | 00AB |
| ^>> | >> | » | af | Closing Guillemots | 00BB |
| ^E= | E= | | ee | Euro | 20AC |
| ^Pt | Pt | ₧ | 9e | Peseta | 20A7 |
| ^ff | f | ƒ | 9f | Florin sign | 0192 |
| ^%0 | % | ‰ | c6 | Per Mille | 2030 |
| ^us | u | µ | e6 | Micro Sign | 00B5 |
| ^*x | x | ¤ | b0 | Currency Sign | 00A4 |
| ^P| | P | ¶ | ec | Paragraph Sign | 00B6 |
| ^,, | ,, | „ | bb | German double quote start | 201E |
| ^._ | .. | … | bc | Ellipsis | 2026 |
| ^|- | | | † | bd | Dagger | 2020 |
| ^|= | | | ‡ | bf | Double Dagger | 2021 |
| ^|" | | | ¦ | b3 | Broken Vertical Bar | 00A6 |
| ^'\ | ' | ‘ | d6 | Open Single Quote | 2018 |
| ^'/ | ' | ’ | dc | Close Single Quote | 2019 |
| ^"\ | " | “ | df | Open Double Quote | 201C |
| ^"/ | " | ” | e0 | Close Double Quote | 201D |
| ^-_ | - | – | e2 | En Dash | 2013 |
| Special Formatting/Internal Commands | |||||
| ^-s | - | | e9 | Soft Hyphen | 00AD |
| ^ _ | 0f | Non-Breaking Space | 00A0 | ||
| ^ ^ | ^ | ^ | c5 | Spacing Circumflex | 005E |
| ^ , | , | , | Non-Breaking Comma | 002C | |
| ^ / | / | / | Non-Breaking Slash | 002F | |
| ^ | | | | | | Non-Breaking Vertical Bar | 007C | |
| ^ # | # | # | Non-Breaking Hash | 0023 | |
| ^ & | & | & | Non-Breaking Ampersand | 0026 | |
| ^ - | - | - | Non-Breaking Dash | 002D | |
| ^ + | + | + | Non-Breaking Plus Sign | 002B | |
| ^ ~ | ~ | ~ | e3 | Spacing Tilde | 007E |
| ^ . | " | ¨ | fe | Spacing Diaresis | 00A8 |
| ^ m | - | ¯ | ea | Spacing Macron | 00AF |
| ^ ' | ' | ´ | b4 | Spacing Acute | 00B4 |
| ^ c | , | ¸ | b8 | Spacing Cedilla | 00B8 |
| ^[] | [] | Blodge | n/a | ||
| ^{B | 02 | Start/Stop Bold | n/a | ||
| ^{/ | 04 | Start/Stop Italics | n/a | ||
| ^{_ | 13 | Start/Stop Underlining | n/a | ||
| ^{^ | 14 | Start/Stop Superscript | n/a | ||
| ^{v | 16 | Start/Stop Subscript | n/a | ||
| ^{- | 6 | Start/Stop Strikethrough | n/a | ||
| ^-| | ¬ | aa | Numeric Prefix Divider | 00AC | |
| ^\\ | \ | § | 15 | Sort Title Divider | 00A7 |