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{{quote|''"Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
''The lovers, the dreamers and me."''|'''Kermit The Frog'''}}
Rainbows in stories are not just symbolic, but also prone to traits that actual rainbows never exhibit, the most common being solidity, treating the rainbow as an object that can be interacted with.
Because rainbows seem to travel from the ground to the sky (and back, if complete), they are usually seen in mythology as some kind of bridge or other connection point to and from heaven; in [[Norse Mythology]] the rainbow is Bifrost, the bridge to Asgard; in [[Greek Mythology]], Iris is the goddess of the rainbow as well as the messenger of the gods (Which makes this [[Older Than Feudalism]]). In Ireland, a rainbow's base is also a great place to keep a pot of gold (in fact, it serves as a perfect hiding place, since it's impossible to reach). In ''[[
Some people even associate rainbows with '''ULTIMATE POWER''', of all things.
Since rainbows are natural phenomena of great power, it's also reasonable to give them to actual characters and forces within a story. Expect some of the flashier Anime characters to use them [[Improbable Weapon User|directly as a weapon]] or to incorporate them somehow into [[Ki Attacks]]. They're also a common symbol in worlds known for their [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]], as a representation of a character's equal dedication to each element. Finally, they are known in some circles to be extremely girly and are often a symbol of [[Camp Gay
May overlap, especially in the second variant, with [[All Your Colors Combined]]. See also [[Rainbow Motif]].
{{examples|Examples of natural Rainbows as objects:}}▼
{{examples}}
== [[Advertising]] ==▼
▲=== [[Advertising]] ===
* There was once a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUmXhCmVaQg Skittles commercial] in which some kids were sitting on a rainbow, eating Skittles. When one questioned the plausibility of this, part of the rainbow opened up beneath him like a trapdoor and he [[Black Comedy|fell to his death]]. Don't question the rainbow.
* At Dairy Queen, they don't just have rainbows, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VtH5xdbMtU they have rainbows] that are on fire!
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* The Rainbow Crystals (fragments that come together to form the Silver Crystal) of ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
* In one episode of [[Mushishi]], Ginko joins up with a man who's looking for a rainbow colored being called the Rainbow Serpent.
** The [[Live Action Adaptation]] even turns this episode into a framing device, and [[Going to See
* In the ''[[Code Geass]]'' opening, "World End", there's a scene of Nunnally, a blind, crippled girl, throwing a paper crane that trails a rainbow and sparkles. Whether or not it has meaning is up to the viewer.
* A rainbow appears in ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' after the Gundam Meisters successfully rescue Allelujah and Marina, making a dramatic escape. This can be justified by the amount of water thrown into the air from Ptolemios II's plunge into the ocean.
* Rainbows and the colors of the rainbow are a central theme in ''[[Brigadoon Marin and Melan]]''. It's highlighted by the ending theme, "Rainbow-colored Treasure."
* Rainbows are common in ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]''; at one point, a rainbow shows through a ''rain of blood''.
* Johan Andersen's ultimate monster, Rainbow Dragon, in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''.
=== [[Comics]] ===
* In ''[[Rose Is Rose]]'', Pasquele "catches"
=== [[
* One of [[Ronnie James Dio]] favorite topics to sing about.▼
** He ''was'' in [[Rainbow (Music)|Rainbow]], after all!▼
* After it rains, [[Insane Clown Posse (Music)|Fuckin' Rainbows!]]▼
* ''Rainbow''▼
=== [[Film]] ===
* In ''[[Barbie and
* ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'' rainbow. All right, it crashed through the roof, but it was a naturally occurring rainbow.
* Rainbow Drops in ''[[Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory]]'' allow you to spit in seven different colors.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* ''[[The
* In a story told in ''The [[Chronicles of Thomas Covenant]]'' the children of the Creator slipped through a rift in creation to chase a rainbow and got trapped, becoming the stars.
* In ''[[
* In [[
▲* One of [[Ronnie James Dio]] favorite topics to sing about.
▲* ''Rainbow''
=== [[Mythology]] ===
* In [[Norse Mythology]], Bifrost is a rainbow bridge connecting Midgard (earth) to Asgard (heaven). Presumably every rainbow is an instance of the same bridge.
** Carried over to the [[Thor]] comics.
=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===
* Once in [[Peanuts]], Lucy worried about the persistent rain flooding everything. Linus assures her that the rainbow is a sign of the promise that it won't.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* At the end of ''[[
** In ''[[
* Similarly, at the end of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
** Although it doesn't look like a real rainbow, as the color varies along the bridge's length rather than along its width.
*** [http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u10/sheiksevensage/MarketCastle.jpg The bridge itself looks better in the 3DS remake.]{{Dead link}} (mid-right)
* In ''[[
* The course Rainbow Road in ''[[
** Ditto for Rainbow Road's appearances in ''[[
* The King of All Cosmos uses a rainbow to transport the Prince to Earth and back in ''[[Katamari Damacy]]''.
* Don't forget Rainbow Ride from ''[[
* ''[[Rainbow Islands]]''. A game where solid rainbows are used both to attack enemies and to create platforms for climbing.
* In ''[[Pokémon Black and White]]'', there is a new combination move that creates a rainbow that raises the chance of added effects from moves (for example, Thunderbolt will have a higher chance of causing paralysis).
=== [[Web Animation]] ===
* In the [[Homestar Runner|Strong Bad Email]] "flashback," Coach Z and Strong Bad travel on a "sweet, sweet rainbow bridge" from the moon back to Earth.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0wEYtmmuFQ Magical Dream Time!]
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* Subverted in [http://www.pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF025-Rainbow.gif this] "[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]" where it turns out to be the [[Nightmare Fuel|eye]] of an [[Eldritch Abomination]].
* In ''[[Sinfest]]'', [
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' Oogrook the little unicorn tends to be flanked by rainbows. The absurdity of doing this in a black and white comic is lampshaded by ''labeling the stripes'' "red," orange," "yellow," etc.
* In ''[[Question Duck]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20151018110424/http://questionduck.smackjeeves.com/comics/1031203/084/ watching the rainbow is the perfect time to ask about pizza.]
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* Also subverted in this [[
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[The Fairly
** Though, when it's out, it is a symbol that both worlds are sealed off from one another.
* G1 ''[[My Little Pony]]'' had the Rainbow of Light, which tended to be a go-to weapon of sorts.
** In the world of ''[[My Little Pony:
*** In one episode, three young girls suck the colours out of a free-standing rainbow using a vacuum cleaner. They needed it for a love poison.
▲** [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] in a [[Fanfic]] named "Rainbow Factory" where it turns out that {{spoiler|the Factory runs by brutally slaughtering young pegasi who fail their flight test, and just to add to the horror, [[Ron the Death Eater|Rainbow Dash also happens to be a high-placed executive there]].}}
* Used in the logo of ''[[The Amazing World of Gumball]]''; Tobias and his family/species has a rainbow color scheme as well.
** There's apparently a placed called a Rainbow Factory where Nicole works and which Masami's dad owns.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Became an [[Memetic Mutation|internet phenomenon]] after [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQSNhk5ICTI this clip] quickly spread like wildfire, going through various remixes, alterations and mutations along the way.
** Incidentally, double rainbows are actually very common, though the second one is often much fainter.
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* During the 1970s-1980s, every VHS company ever tend to use rainbows in their [[Vanity Plate|logos]], not to mention (in some cases) on cover designs.
▲=== Examples of Rainbows used by characters: ===
▲== [[Advertising]] ==
* Every ''Lucky Charms'' cereal commercial, ever.
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' uses it in almost every transformation, and in the final episode when the spiral power goes off the charts!!!
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' has Johan's Rainbow Dragon card, itself summoned via having the seven colors of the Rainbow in their beast forms already present.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!
* ''[[Eureka Seven]]'': The "Seven Swell" attack is composed of rainbow colored energy, and rainbows are used quite a bit in the series.
* ''[[
* A filler character in ''[[Bleach]]'', Maki Ichinose has a zanpaku-to named Nijigasumi that uses rainbow-based attacks.
=== [[Comics]] ===
* Meet [https://web.archive.org/web/20140408222311/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=688:rainbow-boy&catid=36:stupor-powers-index&Itemid=38 Rainbow Boy]!
* Detective Comics #241 featured a story titled "The Rainbow [[Batman]]". In the story, Dick Grayson injures his arm while in public, making going out as Robin risky. As luck would have it, Batman's latest case requires Robin's assistance to help identify the crooks, which is a problem given that the case takes place at an event attracting media attention. Batman ceates some differently colored uniforms (as well as a bullseye uniform) for himself to wear to distract the crowds from Robin's injury, culminating with the titlar Rainbow Batman outfit.
* Action Comics #317 brings us "[[Superman]]'s Rainbow Face", where Superman's face changes color depending on his emotions. This is, of course, a Red Kryptonite story.
* [[The Flash]] has an enemy called Rainbow Raider, who can use rainbows as [[Hard Light]] constructs and manipulate emotions based on the color that hits his targets. Ironically, he's colorblind.
=== [[Film]] ===
* Generating a rainbow out of the spikes on his back was the main form of attack for Barugon, [[Gamera]]'s very first foe in ''War of the Monsters'' (a.k.a. ''Gamera vs. Barugon'').
=== [[Literature]] ===
* In ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'', Iris sends messages for the characters when they throw coins into rainbows. ''Real'' rainbows, creating occasions where they have to quickly fudge up some spray to generate one.
=== [[Live Action TV]] ===
* ''[[The War
=== [[Mythology]] ===
* In [[Greek Mythology]], Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. Even when Hermes took up the messenger role, she never gave it up; gods sent both of them.
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* An early edition of ''[[Dungeons
** Which two? AD&D 2ed. has ''Rainbow'' cantrip, ''Rainbow Pattern'', ''Rainbow Shield'', ''Prismatic Sphere'', ''Prismatic Spray'', ''Prismatic Wall'', as well as abviously related spells like ''Color Spray'', ''Chromatic Orb'' and ''Chromatic Blade''.
** 3.5 Edition gives us the Initiate of the Seven Veils, a set of magical prismatic veils and ''more'' rainbow spells.
* ''[[Warhammer
=== [[Video Games]] ===
* Daria from ''[[Rune Factory 3]]'' is ''obsessed'' with rainbows; she [[No Indoor Voice|SCREAMS "RAINBOW" at any given chance,]] uses rainbow-colored attacks, and interrupts Sakuya's tour to scream "RAINBOW!"
{{quote|
'''Daria:''' (off-screen) RAINBOW! }}
* Basically the whole point of the game ''[[Bubble Bobble
* In ''[[
** And in ''[[
* In ''[[Kirby]]'s Dream Land 2'', collecting all the Rainbow Drops earns you the Rainbow ''Sword'', which you need for fighting {{spoiler|[[True Final Boss|Dark Matter]]}}.
** And in Kirby's Canvas Curse, you control Kirby using a magical paintbrush that paints rainbow-colored lines as paths for Kirby. {{spoiler|After defeating the final boss, a rainbow also appears in the sky in the game's ending.}}
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* [[Katamari Damacy|ROYAL]] {{color|pink|R}}{{color|green|A}}{{color|orange|I}}{{color|yellow|N}}{{color|blue|B}}{{color|cyan|O}}{{color|red|W}}!
* Mouri Motonari, the resident sun-worshipper from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'', carries a rainbow blade as one of his weapons. Subverted in that [[Light Is Not Good|this does]] [[Manipulative Bastard|not make]] [[Kick the Dog|him a]] [[The Neidermeyer|nice guy]].
* In the ''[[Bit
* ''[[
* ''[[Robot Unicorn Attack]]''. [[Rule of Cool|Hell yeah.]]
* The [[Pokémon]] Ho-oh is a rainbow-creating phoenix.
=== Webcomics ===
* In ''[[
* ''[[Dreamkeepers]] Prelude'' For [[Insubstantial Ingredients]] [https://web.archive.org/web/20140111013655/http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Prelude.php?pg=188 Their makeup is made of depressed rainbows serving out their humiliating punishment for cloud-related offenses].
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* The Rainicorn, from ''[[
* ''[[Rainbow Brite]]''
* In the ''[[Disney Fairies]]'' franchise, light-talent fairies control and manipulate rainbows.
* In the ''[[
* In the first episode of ''[[
* An episode of ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'' where he said he likes rainbows freaks out the other characters.
* [[Care Bears]]: The entire series seems to reek in terms of rainbows as decorations, traveling devices, energy, and for that matter, weapons.
** Three little words: [[Care Bear Stare]].
* ''[[God, the Devil
* The original [[My Little Pony]] cartoons, including [[The Movie]], used the Rainbow of Light as their one and only weapon. It tended to act like a [[Care Bear Stare]]
** In fact, the movie's the ''only'' time when the Rainbow of Light ''fails''.
** It's not neglected in ''[[My Little Pony:
** One of the characters in the ''Friendship Is Magic'' series is Rainbow Dash, a [[Pegasus]] with a rainbow colored mane.
*** Said pegasus used her "sonic rainboom" to create a crash that gave off a mushroom cloud to destroy an old barn.
==
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
* In the ''Yume Tsukai'' manga, the author invoke that, in Japanese culture, rainbows used to be seen as unnatural distressing phenomena at best and as bad omens as worst, and that the optimistic connotations were brought only recently. Then this symbolism is milked for all its worth by using rainbows to symbolize the doomed relationship of the first seen client of the Yume Tsukai and {{spoiler|the unnatural, girly-looking boy who serves to channel the [[Eldritch Abomination]] who wanted to took over the school and the world}}.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'''s Ho-Oh is said to glow of all seven colors and only appears to remarkable trainers. When it shows up in the ''[[Pokémon (
* ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'' has a rainbow appear after the death of each Angel. A couple of them are [[Justified]] by large amounts of Angel blood in the air, giving the light something to refract through, but others show up alongside the iconic [[Creepy Cool Crosses|cross-explosions]] for no apparent reason. Given that this is ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion|Evangelion]]'', no one is sure if this is [[Rule of Symbolism|symbolic of something]], [[Faux Symbolism|or just more pseudo-Christian imagery to mess with our heads]].
** Later reaches into [[Mood Whiplash]], especially when Unit-01 {{spoiler|eviscerates a Bardiel possessed Unit-03 and crushing the entry plug with Asuka still inside.}}
=== [[Comics]] ===
* The Flag of Krypton in the [[Silver Age]] ''[[Superman]]'' stories.
=== [[Literature]] ===
* In [[
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Saruman the White electively promoted himself to "the Many Colored" to indicate he had evolved beyond a mere monochromatic title. Gandalf pointed out that a beam of white light broken into a rainbow is no longer white, so Saruman hadn't improved his worth so much as fractured it. As the color of each Wizard apparently symbolized the individual Vala he served, Saruman's rainbow robes could well symbolize {{spoiler|his fall from grace: [[Satan|Morgoth]] was the only Vala to have a share of all the others' powers.}}
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', the Aes Sedai organisation is made up of seven distinct "Ajahs" each of which are devoted to a specific area of study or action. The organisation's flag shows a spiral of the seven colors, as does the headdress of their leader, the Amyrlin Seat. Since this symbol incorporates gray, brown and white into its overal scheme, this isn't a strict rainbow, but is evocative of such anyway.
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' uses refractive crystals and rainbows as symbols of the Faith of the Seven. As a rainbow has seven colors, it's taken in the same sense as the three-leaf clover is sometimes viewed as symbolic of the Holy Trinity.
=== [[
* The rainbow (specifically, the Rainbow Flag) is used most widely in the Western world as a symbol of gay pride.▼
{{quote| [[Demetri Martin]]: I just think it's odd one group took refracted light. Pretty greedy, gay people.}}▼
* The Quechua people of Peru, better known as the Incas, use a rainbow flag (it used to be the personal flag of the Emperor).▼
* The symbol of Kopimi, an anti-copyright initiative.▼
▲== [[Video Games]] ==
* [[Granola Girl|Annie Frazier]] of ''[[Backyard Sports]]'' used to have a rainbow on her shirt; for her, it was a good omen.
* In ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'', there's Saki Nijino, the bright and cheerful [[Cute Sports Club Manager|manager]] of Kirameki High's Soccer Club. The Kanji used for her name, "Nijino", can be translated as "Field of Rainbow" ; thus, the rainbow is one of the two main elements (along with a soccer ball) in the cover, title screen, {{spoiler|and ending}} of the spin-off game she's the heroine of, ''Nijiiro no Seishun''. Also, her two CD albums' names are "Over the Rainbow" and "Niji no Lithograph" (Rainbow Lithograph).
* At the end of ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
=== [[
* Princess Rainbow of ''Fake Theme Park''. According to Park's [[Facebook]] [https://www.facebook.com/notes/fakethemepark/meet-our-princesses/291831907547631 page] on [[Disney Princess|Park Princesses]],
{{quote|Princess Rainbow represents happiness, wonder, imagination, love, courage, and the visible frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum. }}
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'': The [[Bait and Switch Credits|second season opening]] features these prominitly thanks to Jimmy's [[Fertile Feet]].
=== [[Real Life]] ===
▲* The rainbow (specifically, the Rainbow Flag) is used most widely in the Western world as a symbol of gay pride.
▲{{quote|
▲* The Quechua people of Peru, better known as the Incas, use a rainbow flag (it used to be the personal flag of the Emperor).
▲* The symbol of Kopimi, an anti-copyright initiative.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:
[[Category:Amazing Technicolor Index]]
[[Category:Older Than Print]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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