Red Oni, Blue Oni/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: One character (sometimes more) does things without thinking, while another character (sometimes more) is more careful.

  • Straight: Bob is more easily excited and less cautious than Alice, who prefers to think things through very carefully.
  • Exaggerated: Bob always wears red, is extremely violent, and kills everyone in his way. Alice always wears blue, is so calm she is never startled or scared, and has psychic powers.
  • Justified: Bob is trying to show off how strong he is.
    • Alice isn't quite as sure of herself as Bob is, so she tries to be more careful to avoid risks.
  • Inverted: Bob is almost always associated with red and is strong, but is the calm one. Alice is almost always associated with blue and is smart, but is the crazy one.
  • Subverted: Bob starts off crazy, but calms down as the adventure continues.
    • Alice starts out calm, but as time goes on, she gets excited about her quest.
  • Double Subverted: ...he then learns a plot point that makes him excited all over again.
    • ...she then nearly falls off a cliff due to her craziness, so she goes back to being calm.
  • Zig Zagged: Bob is crazy and Alice is calm. However, after learning key plot points, Alice gets excited and Bob becomes calm. A bit later, they come across a strong guard that Bob fights crazily, leaving Alice to watch. After the fight, Bob and Alice become crazy and calm again respectively. Until later, when they finally defeat one of their toughest foes, and Alice gets excited over their victory while Bob is calm again with their foe dispatched.
  • Averted: Bob and Alice are both equally careful.
  • Enforced: 'We have to contrast the two main characters to create an interesting dynamic! How about making one of them rash and the other one careful?'
  • Lampshaded: "Bob, you're always so crazy. Alice, why are you so calm?"
  • Invoked: Bob and Alice teamed up together specifically because they complement each other so well: Bob is never afraid to take action when action is needed, and Alice is there to rein him back should his excitement get a little overboard.
  • Defied: Alice talks Bob into calming down when their adventure starts and he begins getting excited.
    • Alice is careful after learning about the journey, but then suddenly realizes how cool it is and gets excited.
  • Discussed: 'Alice and Bob are so different and yet match each other so well! No wonder those two were able to defeat the Big Bad together!'
  • Conversed: 'Well, The Hero is Hot-Blooded, so I bet his best friend would be the calm and smart type.'
  • Deconstructed: Alice and Bob's contrasting personality causes them to disagree on a lot of things. Alice was too calm to realize that there are times to take action, while Bob's chaotic nature causes him to take bad decisions, and they end up Divided We Fall.
  • Reconstructed: Alice and Bob realize that fighting isn't going to solve problems, so they try to bear each other's personality and help one another.

"OUT OF OUR WAY SO WE CAN GO BACK TO Red Oni, Blue Oni!"

"A more logical solution out of this dilemma would be to advance forth to Red Oni, Blue Oni."

Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Red_Oni,_Blue_Oni/Playing_With?oldid=866778"