Red and Black and Evil All Over: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:black-and-red-and-evil-all-over 3758.jpg|link=Star Wars: The Clone Wars|frame|The [[Spikes of Villainy|horns]], snarl and [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red]]-[[Eyes of Gold|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.

 

{{examples}}

* 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).

* This was also done in the ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' parody of [[James Bond]] to mark the villain.

* Ai Enma from ''[[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.

** Gilgamesh has some red and black

* 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.

 

* [[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.

** Tim Drake (known as "Robin" or "Red Robin" depending on the time period) uses this color scheme.

** [[Batwoman]] also has black-and-red digs.

 

* 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.

** 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.

{{quote|'''Robin:''' "Is your thumb the only part of you that's [[Lampshade Hanging|green]]?"

'''Poison Ivy:''' "You will just '''[[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|have]]''' [[The Tease|to find out]]!" }}

* The villains of ''[[Tron]]'' and ''[[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 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 ''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]].

 

* [[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!

* ''[[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.

 

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

 

* [[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.

 

 

* 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 & 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.

* 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.

** 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.

* ''[[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 Black Knight from ''[[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.}}

* In [[Lego Adaptation Game]]s, 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 [[A.I. Is a Crapshoot|rogue terraforming robots]], have pitch black hulls and exposed internals glowing blood red.

* ''[[BlazBlue]]'': 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.]]}}

 

** These are also the colors most often worn by Syphile, Ariel's [[Abusive Parents|abusive caretaker]].

** In the last two cases, a more innocuous reason for the colors are because they are the Sarghress clan colors, along with this trope.

** Redcloak's most distinguishing features are his, well, red cloak and black armor.

 

* Jafar from ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|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 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.

* 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]].

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characteristic Clothing Colors]]