Red Oni, Blue Oni/Film

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Abbott and Costello.
  • In the film characterization of The Lord of the Rings, there's the angry dwarf Gimli and the elegant Legolas.
  • Red Tails: The primary character conflict is between Hero/Lancer duo Easy and Lightning. Blue and Red respectively.
  • In the Hellboy series, the title character (sloppy, hot-tempered demon dating a human flamethrower) and Abe Sapien (studious, slightly prissy gillman) are actually addressed as "Red" and "Blue" respectively; although this is due to, y'know, their actual skin color, the association still fits. Hellboy and Krauss, too, particularly when Krauss is posessing that Golden Army trooper in the final scene - all his glowy bits go blue. They fit the personality portions of this trope to a T.
  • Star Wars
    • The Sith and the Jedi fits this trope to a T. The Sith wield red lightsabers and are defined by their passions and their ambitions. While the Jedi typically wield blue or green lightsabers and are presented as more intellectual and steeped in tradition.
    • On a more individual level, the master/apprentice relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker during the prequel trilogy. Obi-Wan is the more cautious and thoughtful blue Jedi and Anakin, being younger and more ambitious, represents the passionate red. Of course, this speaks volumes about the paths the men choose by the end of the end of said trilogy.
  • In the movie version of L.A. Confidential, Edmund Exley is a near-perfect example of a blue oni (and nearly always dresses in a blue suit to boot), while Bud White is very much a red oni (complete with brown/maroon suit).
  • In Men in Black, Agent K is the serious, deadpan blue oni mentor while Agent J is the wisecracking, impulsive red oni rookie.
  • James Ellroy seems to love this trope; the two detectives at the center of his The Black Dahlia are even referred to explicitly as Mr Fire (red) and Mr Ice (Blue).
  • The Will Ferrell movie Blades of Glory has Chazz Michael Michaels, the improvisational, womanizing idiot Red Oni, and Jimmy Macelroy, the technical, thoughtful man-child Blue Oni. This is even reflected in their "Fire and Ice" costume.
  • From Watchmen, Rorschach/The Comedian/Ozymandias to Dr. Manhattan. Actually, everybody is a Red Oni compared to Dr. Manhattan.
  • Every Die Hard movie has one or more elements of this. John McClaine, the hot headed runner and gunner always goes up against a calculating intellectual Big Bad. The first two movies also have a subplot involving McClain's "Red Oni" tactics budging up against the "Blue Oni" by-the-book style of the authority.
  • The Henke and Genji clans in Sukiyaki Western Django.
  • The X-Men movies had the rivalry between Pyro and Iceman.
  • Underworld 'verse has raging werewolves versus cold, calculating vampires.
  • Hard Core Logo has the intense, impulsive Joe Dick and the quieter, more calculating, ambitious Billy Tallent.
  • In Serenity, Mal is a red oni of the heroic type and the Operative is a blue oni of the villainous type. Mal wears warm tones while the Operative dresses in blue.
  • Ferris Bueller and Cameron Frye in Ferris Buellers Day Off.
  • Del Griffith and Neil Page in Planes, Trains and Automobiles.
  • Fight Club: Tyler is impulsive and rash, whereas the Narrator is a calm and cool corporate executive. Their different personalities are, of course, all mixed-up in the heat of the fight.
  • Trading Places has Billy Ray Valentine and Louis Winthorpe III.
  • The Back to The Future movies have Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown.
  • Top Gun has the brash/hot-headed Maverick play Red Oni to the Blue Oni of his level-headed copilot Goose and their more by-the-book fellow pilot Iceman.
  • Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber, as illustrated by their Tacky Tuxedos.
  • Indiana Jones is the red oni to his father Henry Sr.'s blue oni in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
  • In The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones is the blue oni to Mutt's red oni, with good reason: Mutt is really his son.
  • Osmosis Jones has this with a color inversion. Ozzy is the Red Oni and Drix is the Blue Oni. This is despite Ozzy being blue and Drix being red.
  • It could be said that Buffalo Bill is the red oni to Villain Protagonist Hannibal Lecter's blue oni.
  • In Sense and Sensibility references it in the title and has a few examples.
    • Straight-laced and collected Elinor is blue, while the flighty and passionate Marianne is red.
    • The men who court Marianne: Willoughby is fun and dashing, but false. Colonel Brandon is reserved but true.
    • Charlotte Palmer is bubbly and easily excitable, while her husband Mr. Palmer is quiet and sour.
  • Thor and Loki from Thor and The Avengers are the epitome of this trope. Although, given their colour schemes, it's more like Red Oni, Green Oni.
    • Another Avengers example would be Iron Man & Captain America. The brash and arrogant antics of the red-clad Iron Man really don't sit too well with the humble-natured and calm Captain America, who wears blue.
  • In William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, the Montegue men are Anglo guys in Hawaiian shirts who seem to be a bit more loose and rough. The Capulets are angrier, sharply-dressed Latinos.
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