View source for Red and Black and Evil All Over

{{trope}}
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[[File:black-and-red-and-evil-all-over_3758.jpg|link=Star Wars the Clone Wars (Animation)|right|The [[Spikes of Villainy|horns]], snarl and [[Red Eyes Take Warning|red-gold]] eyes should help, in case this example is [[Obviously Evil|too subtle]].]]


Black and red. In the western world, these are the two most sinister colors, as red typically conveys the meaning of blood and black of [[Dark Is Evil|darkness]] or death. Sticking to these two colors is common for designers who want to create something as sinister as possible.

The favorite colors for villains to dress in. Most [[Ominous Opera Cape|Ominous Opera Capes]] are a case of this: black on the outside, red on the inside. Also common for the covers and credit sequences of [[Horror]] books, films, and games, to show that a work is [[Darker and Edgier]]. It's not uncommon for cases of this to be juxtaposed with a group of characters represented by blue and white.

[[Dark Is Not Evil]] can also apply with [[Anti-Hero|Anti Heros]] and even [[Villain Protagonist|Villain Protagonists]] heavily using a red and black color scheme as a visual reminder that these people, no matter how much we are supposed to identify with them, are not "good guys".

See also [[Good Colours Evil Colours]], [[Dark Is Evil]], [[Dark Is Not Evil]], and [[Red Filter of Doom]]. Contrast [[Gold and White Are Divine]].

{{examples}}

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==  Anime And Manga  ==
* The Guren from [[Code Geass]] is red orange and black
* Edward Elric from [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] wears a red coat and has black cloths underneath
* In ''[[Infinite Stratos]]'', Laura's IS is also this color scheme, possibly as a [[Shout Out]] to Elzam, as the series likes to reference other mecha anime. And she does a [[Heel Face Turn]] as well (sort of).
* Most of the shots of the [[Big Bad]] in the 4th credit sequence in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' are coloured Red, Black, Grey, and inspired by insanity.
* This was also done in the ''[[Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei]]'' parody of [[James Bond]] to mark the villain.
* Ai Enma from ''[[Hell Girl (Anime)|Hell Girl]]'' has this twice: she has black hair with [[Red Eyes Take Warning|red eyes]] and her standard costume is a black sailor uniform with a red collar. She also happens to be a [[Villain Protagonist]].
* [[Anti-Hero|Alucard]] from ''[[Hellsing]]''. The guy has black hair and red eyes, wears a black suit with a long red coat and hat, and it's all usually drenched in blood.
* This can be seen in both of [[Fresh Pretty Cure|Setsuna Higashi]]'s forms, though, while Eas plays it straight, Cure Passion subverts it.
* Manga/Bleach: Ichigo's [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Hollow]] reiatsu is black with a red outline, and whenever he entered his Bankai form, he drew upon it to use his [[Sword Beam]], risking [[Grand Theft Me|letting it take him over]]. He later learns to control it as a [[Mask of Power]]... [[One-Winged Angel|mostly.]]
* Poor {{spoiler|[[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|Sakura Matou]]}} from ''[[Fate Stay Night]]''. {{spoiler|She never chose to become a villain. It was all due to [[The Corruption]] that was FORCED on her for ELEVEN YEARS.}}
** Gilgamesh has some red and black
* Princess Kraehe (and, by extention, the Monster Raven and {{spoiler|Raven!Mytho}}) from ''[[Princess Tutu]]''. The red part is mostly due to [[Red Eyes Take Warning]].
* In ''[[Gundam X]]'', the [[Bash Brothers|Frost Brothers']] [[Ace Custom|personal Gundams]], in differing proportions; older brother Shagia's Virsago is predominantly crimson with plenty of black accents, while younger brother Olba's Ashtaron is mostly black with some red accents.
** Likewise, Clotho Buer's Raider Gundam in ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', as well as Stella Loussier's Gaia Gundam and the Dark Dagger L from ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'', and the 105 Slaughter Dagger from ''Gundam SEED C.E.73 Stargazer''.
** Subverted by Deathscythe Hell from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''; it's black and red, and it sure ''looks'' evil thanks to its bat motif, but its pilot is [[The Lancer|a pretty friendly guy]] and [[Dark Is Not Evil|most definitely a hero]].
*** Played straight however by the [[Big Bad|Gundam Epyon]]. Black, red, deadly whip, giant sword, and crazy speed. [[Big Bad|Milliardo]] uses it to support his plan to threaten the entire world.
** [[Chars Counterattack|Char's Sazabi]] fits well, even with Gundam's usually [[Grey and Grey Morality]] morality.


==  Comic Books  ==
* [[Deadpool]]'s red suit with black stripes and matching red and black hood. Subverted in that he's not evil. He's just ''[[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|fucking nuts]]''.
* [[Superboy]] (Conner Kent) uses this color scheme in regards to [[Brought to You By The Letter S|Superman's trademark "S"]]. This is especially true for his DCnU incarnation, where his costume is completely red-and-black. While Superboy is a hero, the opening issue of his comic (as well as the rebooted ''[[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]'' comic) uses the color scheme to make him seem sinister.
* Seems to be popular with ''[[Batman]]''-spinoff characters these days. While Batman and his protege are heroic, they use the color scheme to appear sinister and intimidating or to achieve [[Villain Cred]] when they need to, making this an [[Invoked Trope]].
** [[Nightwing]] has donned a red-and-black outfit after the reboot to reflect the new, grittier Nightwing.
** Tim Drake (known as "Robin" or "Red Robin" depending on the time period) uses this color scheme.
** [[Batwoman]] also has black-and-red digs.
** [[Batman|The Joker's]] sidekick Harley Quinn wears a black and red playing card motif.

==  Film  ==

* Azazel from ''[[X Men First Class (Film)|X Men First Class]]'' wears black, because he's a member of the Black Hellfire Club. His naturally red skin compliments his suit.
* The uniforms, flags, and other props used in [[Ian McKellen]]'s excellent 1995 film adaptation of ''[[Richard III]]'' are like this, due to the film's use of [[Putting On the Reich|parallels to Nazi Germany]] in its 1930s-era [[Setting Update]].
* The Norsefire Party in the film version of ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' uses a black and red logo, specifically in order to imply a similarity to the Nazi party.
* The basic color scheme of the neo-Nazis in Pink Floyd's ''[[The Wall]]''? Black with red detail.
* Most Sith Lords in ''[[Star Wars]]'' dress in black and wield a red lightsaber.
** In ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', The [http://space-action-hero.blogspot.com/2008/04/star-wars-we-serve-emperor-himself.html Emperor's guards] wear these colors.
** Emperor Palpatine himself wears black and has red eyes and deathly pale skin.
** Darth Maul, who made full-body, red-and-black, Sith tattoos popular. You'll find them on lots of Extended Universe characters.
* [[The Vamp|Poison Ivy]] in ''Batman & Robin'' adopts this color scheme instead of her regular red-and-green motif in a final effort to seduce Robin into sharing a [[Kiss of Death|kiss]] with her, [[Blatant Lies|for love]]. It works. {{spoiler|Though not as she expected.}}
{{quote| '''Robin:''' "Is your thumb the only part of you that's [[Lampshade Hanging|green]]?"<br />
'''Poison Ivy:''' "You will just '''[[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|have]]''' [[The Tease|to find out]]!" }}
* The villains of ''[[Tron (Film)|Tron]]'' and ''[[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron Legacy]]'' are all colored black with red [[Tron Lines]].
** Course, the good guys are colored black as well, but they have blue or green lines.
* The Master's robes in [[Manos the Hands of Fate]] are black with a red hand motif.

==  Literature  ==

* The ''Custodes Fidei'' <ref>"Guardians of the Faith"</ref> order in the [[Deryni]] works have black robes with red belts and trim. Officially, the red is supposed to suggest allegiance to and protection for the House of Haldane. Guarding the Faith from what? From Deryni and their sympathizers, of course.
** The order's name can also call to mind the famous Latin question, "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"<ref>"Who watches the watchmen?"</ref> Since they are an aspect of the [[Corrupt Church|corruption in the church]], this is justified.
* In ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', Sauron's forces use black banners and an insignia marked with a red eye.
* In ''[[Heathers]]'', these are the school colors. This makes the antagonistic cheerleaders wear red and black.
* The seventh room in [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s ''Masque of the Red Death'' is black with red stained-glass windows.
* In ''The Spiral Labyrinth'' by Matthew Hughes, the magic system is colour-coded; each wizard has a major and a minor colour. The [[Big Bad]] uses black and red.
* Red and black are the colors of [[The Caligula|House Targaryen]], former ruling house of [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Westeros]].
* [[Our Demons Are Different|Raksha]] in [[Tales of Kolmar (Literature)|Tales of Kolmar]] are always red and black.

==  Live Action Television  ==

* [[media:Terran_Empire_4683.png|This]] [[The Empire|Terran Empire]] logo in ''[[Star Trek]]''.
** Black and red are dominant colors of Klingon culture. They use it in buildings, flags, decorations, weapons, ships...basically everywhere!
* All of [[Wrestler/Kane|Kane]]'s outfits throughout his tenure in the [[WWE]] prominently feature this color combination.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Villain turned [[Anti-Hero]] Spike often wears a black [[Badass Longcoat]] with a red shirt underneath. [[Complete Monster|Angelus]] also uses these two colors.

==  Music  ==

* Slovenian art-rockers Laibach [[Putting On the Reich|love their red and black]].

==  Religion and Mythology ==

* [[Satan]], in most of his '''modern''' depictions, is usually colored this way. The closest thing to this description in [[The Bible]] is a red dragon, but even then said depiction is not "dark" per se.

==  Video Games  ==

* [[Artix Entertainment]] has some examples
** In [[Mech Quest]] when becoming a vampire the player character dressed in red and black fancy vampire cloths
** Gravelyn from [[Adventure Quest Worlds]] has a black cape and red armor
* The [http://www.mobygames.com/game/resident-evil-4/cover-art/gameCoverId,85381/ cover] of the PC version of ''[[Resident Evil 4]]''.
* The Brotherhood of Nod in ''[[Command and Conquer]]'' wear black and red uniforms.
** Similar to the above example, Soviets in ''[[Red Alert]]'' also often wore these colors.
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'s [[Shadow Archetype]] Shadow has primarily black fur with streaks of red. 
* Zekrom from [[Pokémon Black and White]] is a black dragon with red eyes. [[Subverted Trope|But it's not really an evil Pokemon]], being at worst [[The Dragon]] to an [[Anti-Villain]], and if you're playing [[One Game for The Price of Two|the White version]] it's on your side.
* Golbez of ''[[Final Fantasy IV]]'' has his attire vary [[Depending On the Artist]], the color of his armor and cape ranging various shades of blue, but he's also commonly depicted wearing black armor and a black cape with a red lining.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'', in keeping with [[Putting On the Reich]], [[The Emperor|Gestahl]] wears a red and black robe and the imperial banners are red with a black emblem.
* ''[[Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII]]'', Genesis wears a red longcoat with black pants and a shirt.
* Ultimecia of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' wears a red dress with black edgings on the bottom with black wings and a black feather ruffle.
* All the Judges Magister in ''[[Final Fantasy XII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XII]]'' wore a (red) Archadian seal on their (black) capes. Suitably imposing? Oh yes.
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', Master Xehanort and Ansem Seeker of Darkness wear black longcoats with red linings, while Xemnas wears a black cloak and wields red [[Laser Blade|Laser Blades]] as his weapons. Ansem furthermore features the Heartless symbol as a [[Chest Insignia]], the Heartless symbol being universally associated with the creatures and appearing as a black heart with a red lining and cross over the center. 
** Vanitas, Master Xehanort's apprentice, wears a red and black outfit looking disturbingly like exposed muscle matter, and his Void Gear Keyblade is red and black. 
** In his [[Evil Costume Switch|Dark Mode]] Riku wears a variation of Vanitas's attire, but features blue and white more prominently. When possessed by "Ansem", the Keyblade he wields is an [[Evil Counterpart]] to Sora's Kingdom Key, with a black shaft and red handguard. Before he completed his [[Heel Face Turn]] and became a [[Yin-Yang Bomb]], Riku's normal weapon was the Soul Eater, a sword shaped like a black and red bat wing. [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] in that in ''[[Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories]]'', Riku can switch to his Dark Mode despite [[Dark Is Not Evil|having learned his lesson from dabbling in evil]].
** While not evil, Terra is an [[Anti-Hero]] and thus two of his unique keyblades that symbolize his darker tendencies, the Darkgnaw and Chaos Ripper, are prominently black with red markings.
** For his cameos in the series, Sephiroth of ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' gets red linings added to his trademark black coat.
* In ''[[Runescape]]'', red and black are the colors of Zamorak, the evil god of chaos.
* In [[The Last Story]], the [[The Usual Adversaries|Gurak]] have a black-and-red theme going on, as opposed to the Human's white-and-blue color scheme.
* ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'', [[Villain Protagonist]] Kain wears numerous outfits over the course of the series, but many of them are prominently black with some red bits. His iconic attire for the series is black leather pants with a red cape wound over his chest like a sash.
* Associated colors of the Inferno faction from ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] V'' were black and red.
* The Vampiric Ghouls from the online RPG ''[[Dragon Fable (Video Game)|Dragon Fable]]'' have corrupted evil versions of the heroic Guardian armor of the "good guys" with [[Spikes of Villainy]] and a black and red color scheme instead of the normal white/silver and gold.
* ''[[The Saboteur]]'': all Nazi controlled areas are in [[Deliberately Monochrome|black-and-white]], except for the red from the blood or the swastikas.
* [[Impossible Thief]] extraordinaire [[Carmen Sandiego]] frequently pairs her striking red coat and [[Nice Hat]] with an all-black getup underneath.
* As part of being a [[Char Clone]], Elzam of ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'' paints his robots black with red bits (along other tweaks). He eventually gets his own robot, the Aussenseiter, which is also in this costume. He eventually does a [[Heel Face Turn]], though.
* Team Rocket from ''[[Pokémon]]'' is often associated with the colors red and black. Their logo is even a red "R" on a black background.
** Team Magma is also associated with Red and Black. In contrast, Team Aqua is Blue and White.
*** Darkrai, despite only being evil in [[Depending On the Writer|some continuities]], is completely black with a massive red collar.
* The Black Knight from ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius (Video Game)|Fire Emblem Tellius]]'' wears Black armor and a Red [[Ominous Opera Cape]]. In the sequel, he gets a Red Inside/Black Outside Opera Cape instead. [[The Hero]] Ike is typically associated with Blue and White, in his Vanguard Costume.
**  {{spoiler|Also The Black Knight's Alter Ego Zelgius wears a full suit of Red Armor. So it can be said that the character is both a Red and Black Knight.}}
* Although he himself is colored green, many of [[Super Mario Bros|Bowser's]] insignias are a red face on a black background.
* In [[Lego Adaptation Game|Lego Adaptation Games]], red and black objects can only be manipulated by evil characters.
* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Split Dynasty]] ships in the ''[[X (Video Game)|X]]-Universe'' games have rust-red armor panels with gray/black unarmored sections. The Split aren't particularly ''evil'', but they have a [[Fantastic Racism|burning hatred]] for the peaceful Boron Kingdom. The Xenon fleet, a bunch of [[AI Is a Crapshoot|rogue terraforming robots]], have pitch black hulls and exposed internals glowing blood red.
* The Phantoms in ''[[Star Ocean the Last Hope]]''.
* The Terran Dominion of ''[[Starcraft (Video Game)|Starcraft]]'', which despite the name is [[The Empire]], is a stylized arm holding a whip. Sometimes the arm is red on a black background, other times it's black on a red background.
* The opening and ending credits of the first [[Gabriel Knight (Video Game)|Gabriel Knight]] game are in red text over a black screen. I you use higher resolution settings, you get illustrations in the style of old wood carvings, also in black and red. This is used to make the credits more ominous, as it is a horror game.
* ''[[Bayonetta]]'': Both [[Dark Magical Girl|Bayonetta]] herself and [[The Rival|Jeanne]] have this color motif. Each is also [[Anti-Hero]]. Meanwhile, the [[Our Angels Are Different|Angels]] use [[Gold and White Are Divine]], but are definitely [[Light Is Not Good|not good]].
* ''[[Shin Megami Tensei]]'': Black and Red are associated with the Chaos faction while Law takes White And Blue. Subverted since [[Chaotic Evil|neither side is]] [[Lawful Evil|that much worse than the other]].
* ''[[Blaz Blue]]'': Ragna the Bloodedge wears his black vest and pants on his red jacket. He's a [[Good Is Not Nice|Type 3]] [[Anti-Hero]] who wields the power of life-sucking darkness... and is a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] at best. And he actually has no qualms of killing innocent people who get in his way.
** Also in the same game, there's Litchi Faye-Ling whose color scheme are majorly red with black tints around. This is instead a subversion as she is instead a sweet, motherly, kind and compassionate woman who is only concerned in helping those in need. Double subverted that eventually {{spoiler|she joined the enemy group, NOL}}, but then triple-subverted that {{spoiler|[[Forced Into Evil|she was forced and still retained her kind personality]] rather than [[Face Heel Turn|tossing them away and becoming a majorly evil person.]]}}

==  Web Original  ==

* In ''[[Drow Tales]]'', the resident [[Living Doll Collector]], [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=627 Kharla], seems to like the Red/Black combo.
** These are also the colors most often worn by Syphile, Ariel's [[Abusive Parents|abusive caretaker]].
** And [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?order=chapters&id=1832 Luliane] switches to this outfit after the timeskip, {{spoiler|because she's been possessed by Khaless, also qualifying this for [[Evil Costume Switch]]}}. 
** In the last two cases, a more innocuous reason for the colors are because they are the Sarghress clan colors, along with this trope.
* [[Order of the Stick|Rich Burlew]] uses red/black word balloons for several demonic characters.
** Redcloak's most distinguishing features are his, well, red cloak and black armor.

==  Western Animation  ==

* Jafar from ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' wears black with red trim.
* In ''[[The Swan Princess]]'', the hag magically disguised as Princess Odette wears a black and red dress. This makes her [[Color Coded for Your Convenience|easy for viewers to distinguish]] from the real Odette, who wears white and green.
* The whole army of the One-Eye from ''[[The Thief and The Cobbler (Animation)|The Thief and The Cobbler]]'' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdJbo-4rg1k&feature=related uses these colors to overkill].
* The main colors of the generally antagonistic Fire Nation in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' are red and black.
* [[The Starscream|Starscream]] from ''[[Transformers]]'' is usually associated with the colors black, red, and gray.
* The Cyclonian empire in ''[[Storm Hawks]]'' is associated with these colours.
* Zelda's evil doppelganger in ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Animation)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' looked identical to her, save for her top being black with a red vest instead of [[Purple Is Powerful]] with a white vest.
* Cruella DeVil, the villain of ''[[One Hundred and One Dalmatians (Disney)|One Hundred and One Dalmatians]]'', primarily wears a white fur coat with a red underside over a black dress and red gloves. Her car is also colored red and black.
* Kabuto, the villain of [[Pixar Shorts|''Tokyo Mater'']], is a mean Japanese racecar who sports mainly black and red paint. His paint [[Defeat By Modesty|gets stripped off his body]] after losing to [[Cars|Mater]] at the end of the short, but [[Series Continuity Error|for some reason reobtains it]] in ''Cars 2''.
* In ''[[Teen Titans (Animation)|Teen Titans]]'', [[God of Evil|Trigon the Terrible]] is the most evil villain on the show, and is a gigantic red demon with black stripes on his arms, legs, and torso. Season 3's [[Big Bad]], [[Psychic Powers|Brother Blood]], normally [[Light Is Not Good|wears white and gold robes]], but the fighing outfit he wears underneath is red and black (with some silver) as is his whole body after he's [[Cybernetics Eat Your Soul|upgraded himself with cybernetics]]. 
* [[Big Bad|XANA]]'s primary colours in [[Code Lyoko]] are red and black.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characteristic Clothing Colors]]
[[Category:Villainous Fashion Sense]]
[[Category:Paint the Index Red]]
[[Category:Obviously Evil]]
[[Category:Good and Evil For Your Convenience]]
[[Category:Colour Coded for Your Convenience/Sandbox]]
[[Category:Colour Coded for Your Convenience]]
[[Category:Tropes in Black]]
[[Category:Costume Tropes]]
[[Category:Red And Black And Evil All Over]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]