Color Character
A superhero and masked hero naming convention where the hero has a colour as part of their name.
Generally, this colour is incorporated into their powers, their appearance, or their costume in some way. Expect it to be pointed out if it isn't. Most names of this type take the form of Colour Noun.
A Sister Trope to Something Person, where the hero or villain has his power or defining trait as part of his code name. May or may not be Color Coded for Your Convenience. Wanders into Alliteration on occasion.
Different colours tend to signify different things. A few of these characters are from the Cold War era and are coloured red because they come from, or represent, a communist nation. Black can indicate a Captain Ethnic or an Anti-Hero.
See also Colourful Theme Naming, All Your Colors Combined.
Examples of Color Character include:
Pink
Comic Books
- Pinky (sidekick to Mr. Scarlet) - Fawcett Comics
Web Original
Red
Anime and Manga
- The Crimson Lizard and Red Lad, characters portrayed by Hanagumi members Sumire Kanzaki and Kohran Li respectively, from Sakura Taisen
Comic Books
- Red Arrow - Green Arrow
- Red Barbarian - Marvel Comics
- Red Bee - DC Comics
- Red Blazer - Harvey Comics
- Red Claw - Batman
- Red Cross - Holyoke Publishing
- Red Demon - Harvey Comics
- Red Devil - Teen Titans
- Red Dragon - Street & Smith
- Red Ghost - Marvel Comics
- Red Hood - Batman
- Red Hulk - Red Hulk
- The Red Lanterns - Red Lanterns (a Green Lantern spinoff)
- Red Lotus - X-Men
- Red Mask - Better Publications
- Also a very minor character in Animal Man
- Red Mist - Kick-Ass
- Red Raven - Marvel Comics
- There's also a Red Raven in DC Comics, a member of the International Club of Heroes.
- Red Robbins - Fox Features
- Red Robin - Kingdom Come
- Tim Drake is now Red Robin in the main DCU.
- Red Rocket - Four Star
- Red Rover - Wildguard
- Red Rube - Archie Comics
- Red Rush - Invincible
- Red She Hulk - She Hulk
- Red Skull - Captain America (comics)
- Red Sonja - Red Sonja
- Red Star - Teen Titans
- Red Tornado - DC Comics
- Redwing - Marvel Comics
- Rocket Red - DC Comics
- Crimson Avenger - DC Comics
- Crimson Cowl - Marvel Comics
- Crimson Dynamo - Marvel Comics
- Crimson Fox - DC Comics
- Crimson Phantom Vengeance - Wildguard
- Durham Red - Strontium Dog Spin-Off
- Madame Rouge- Doom Patrol
- Mr. Scarlet - Fawcett Comics
- Omega Red - X-Men
- Scarlet Arrow - Harvey Comics
- Scarlet Avenger - Archie Comics
- Scarlet Beetle - Marvel Comics
- Scarlet Nemesis - Harvey Comics
- Scarlet Phantom - Harvey Comics
- Scarlet Spider - Spider-Man
- Scarlet Witch - Marvel Comics
- Superman-Red - Superman
- Woman In Red - Better/Standard Publications originally, now Project Superpowers
Literature
- The Scarlet Pimpernel - The Scarlet Pimpernel
- Crimson Clown - Pulp series
Live-Action TV
- Red King - Ultraman
- Red Python - VR Troopers
- The Eponymous Chapulin Colorado (translatable as either "red cricket" or "crimson grasshopper")
Mythology and Legends
- Will Scarlet - Robin Hood
Radio
- Red Panda - Red Panda Adventures
Tabletop Games
- Red Jaguar - Halt Evil Doer
Theatre
- The Red Shadow - The Desert Song
Video Games
- Red Star - The Red Star
- Scarlet the Brave - Phantom Brave
Web Comics
- Red Devil - The Red Devil
- Red Panda - Strange City Heroes
- Ruby Dragon, from the same series.
- Son Red - Strange City Heroes
Web Original
- Crimson Crossbow - League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions
- Robot Redshirt - League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions
- Red, Red Devil, Red Tigress, the Red Baron, every member of Red October, and the Blood Red King - Global Guardians PBEM Universe
Western Animation
- Crimson Chin - The Fairly OddParents
- Red X - Teen Titans
- Scarlet Scarab - Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- Red Torpedo, Red Inferno, and Red Volcano - Young Justice
Orange
Web Original
- Orange - Global Guardians PBEM Universe
Yellow/Gold
Anime and Manga
- Golden Bat - Golden Bat
Comic Books
- Blonde Phantom - Marvel Comics
- Booster Gold - Booster Gold
- Bronze Tiger - DC Comics
- Golden Archer - Marvel Comics
- Golden Arrow - Fawcett Comics
- Golden Girl - Spark Publications
- Golden Girl - Captain America (comics)
- Golden Glider - The Flash
- Golden Lad - Spark Publications
- Goldface - Green Lantern
- Yellow Claw - Marvel Comics
- Yellow Dragon - Street & Smith
- Yellow Peri(l) - Superboy
- Yellowjacket - Frank Communale Publishing
- Yellowjacket - Marvel Comics
Web Comics
- Gold Star and Golden Cape - Strange City Heroes
- Golden Jane - Everyday Heroes
Web Original
- Yellow Queen - Whateley Universe
- Yellow, Gold Shield, the Golden Marvel
Green
Comic Books
- Green Arrow - Green Arrow
- Green Falcon - Archie Comics
- Green Flame (then Green Fire, now simply "Fire") - DC Comics
- Green Ghost - Invincible
- Green Ghoul - Archie Comics
- Green Giant - Pelican Publications
- Green Goblin - Spider-Man
- Green Lama - Prize Comics
- The Green Lanterns - Green Lantern. However, the mythology has expanded so that the franchise now fits under "Spectrum", below.
- Green Knight - Harry "A" Chesler
- Green Mask - Fox Features
- Green Sorceress - Novelty Press
- Green Turtle - Rural Home
- Jade - Green Lantern
Literature
- Green Ghost - Pulp series
Radio
- Green Hornet - The Green Hornet
Web Comics
- Green Avenger - The Green Avenger
- Green Hammer - No Capes
Web Original
- Green, Green Spider, and Green Python - Global Guardians PBEM Universe
- Green Witch - Whateley Universe
Blue
Anime and Manga
- Blue Rose - Tiger and Bunny
Comic Books
- Blue Beetle - Blue Beetle
- Blue Blaze - Marvel Comics
- Blue Bolt - Novelty Press
- Blue Bowman - Batman
- Blue Bullet - Marvel Comics
- Blue Bulleteer - AC Comics
- Blue Circle - Rural Home
- Blue Diamond - Marvel Comics
- Blue Devil - Blue Devil
- Blue Fire - Centaur Publications
- Blue Flame - Four Star
- Blue Jay - DC Comics
- Blue Lady - Centaur Publications
- Blue Marvel - Marvel Comics
- Blue Shield - Marvel Comics
- Blue Streak - Holyoke Publishing
- Blue Streak - Prize Comics
- BlueBird - Untold Tales of Spider Man
- Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys - DC Comics
- Superman-Blue - Superman
Film
- Blue Rajah - Mystery Men. His costume has little to no blue in it, which is Lampshaded at least once.
Live-Action TV
- Blue Senturion - Power Rangers Turbo
Video Games
- Captain Blue- Viewtiful Joe
Web Comics
- Blue Kotatsu - The Escapades of The Blue Kotatsu
- Blue Rhino - Strange City Heroes
Web Original
- Blue (a projector of burning blue fire) and Blue (the wearer of a set of blue Powered Armor), Blue Rose, The Blue Fairy, and the Blue-Faced Demon -- Global Guardians PBEM Universe
Western Animation
- Blue Bowman - Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- Blue Falcon - Dynomutt Dog Wonder
- The Blue Spirit - Avatar: The Last Airbender
Purple
Comic Books
- Purple Girl (aka Persuasion) - Alpha Flight
- Purple Man - Daredevil
- Purple Mask - Marvel Comics
- Indigo - Batman and the Outsiders
Live-Action TV
- Purple Panda - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
Web Comics
- Shrinking Violent (whose real name is "Violet") - Everyday Heroes
Web Original
- Purple Pimp - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
Western Animation
- Shrinking Violet - Legion of Super Heroes
- Violet Parr (the Invisible Girl) - The Incredibles
Brown
Comic Books
- Brown Bomber - DC Comics
Web Comics
- Bomber Brown and Brown Falcon - Strange City Heroes
Western Animation
- Brown Hornet - Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
Black (colour)
Comic Books
- Black Adam - Shazam!
- Black Alice - Birds of Prey
- Black Avenger - Marvel Comics
- Black Badge - Astro City
- Black Batman (a Hong Kong comics knockoff of Batman).
- Black Beetle - Booster Gold
- Black Bolt - The Inhumans
- Black Bomber - DC Comics concept scrapped in favor of Black Lightning
- Black Canary - Black Canary
- Black Cat - Harvey Comics
- Black Cat - Spider-Man
- Black Cobra - Dynamic Comics originally, later Four Star
- Black Condor - Quality Comics originally, then DC Comics
- Black Crusader - Street & Smith
- Black Cuervo - Astro City
- Black Diamond - AC Comics
- Black Dwarf - Harry "A" Chesler
- Black Flame - Superman
- Black Fox - Marvel Comics
- Black Hand - Green Lantern
- The Black Lanterns - Blackest Night
- Black Hood - Archie Comics
- Black Jack - Archie Comics
- Black Knight - Marvel Comics
- Black Lion - Fox Features
- Black Marvel - Marvel Comics
- Black Mask - Batman
- Black Orchid - Harvey Comics
- Black Orchid - Black Orchid
- Black Owl - Prize Comics
- Black Panther - Centaur Publications
- Black Queen (Selene) - X-Men
- Black Racer - New Gods
- Black Rapier - Astro City
- Black Rider - Fox Features
- Black Rodent - Fawcett Comics
- Black Seven - Archie Comics
- Black Spider - Ace Magazines
- Black Spider - Fawcett Comics
- Black Spider - DC Comics
- Black Tarantula - Daredevil and Spider-Man
- Black Terror - AC Comics
- Black Thorn - DC Comics
- Black Venus - Holyoke Publishing
- Black Widow - Holyoke Publishing
- Black Widow - Daredevil
- Black Zero - DC Comics
- Blackfire - Teen Titans
- Flying Black Batman (a Hong Kong comics knockoff of Batman).
- Super Black Conqueror (a Hong Kong comics knockoff of Martian Manhunter).
Literature
- The Black Lizard (Kurotokage), the Femme Fatale master criminal from the novella of the same name by Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Ranpo.
Live-Action TV
- Black Condor - Choujin Sentai Jetman
Web Original
- Black Wraith - Whateley Universe
- The Man In Black - League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions
Western Animation
- The Black Raven - Wakfu (actually lampshaded).
- Black Siren - Justice Guild member on Justice League.
Black (Used by a Black Captain Ethnic)
Comic Books
- Black Goliath – Marvel Comics
- Black Lightning - Black Lightning
- Black Bomber - A concept scrapped in favor of Black Lightning. Both an ethnic and color example thanks to Involuntary Shapeshifting.
- Black Manta[1] – Aquaman
- Black Mass - DC Comics
- Black Panther - Black Panther
- Black Samson – Invincible
Web Comics
- Averted in Spinnerette: Tiger is a large black super hero, but his name is just "Tiger". The reason this comes up is because everyone always calls him "Black Tiger".
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"It's just Tiger, damnit!" |
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Western Animation
- Black Vulcan – Superfriends
Silver
Comic Books
- Silver Agent - Astro City
- Silver Brain - Astro City
- Silver Banshee - Superman
- Silver Centurion - Iron Man
- Silver Fox - Marvel Comics
- Silver Sable - Spider-Man
- Silver Samurai - X-Men
- Silver Scorpion - Marvel Comics
- Silver Streak - Lev Gleason originally, now Project Superpowers
- Silver Surfer - Silver Surfer
- Silverclaw - Marvel Comics
- Silvermane - Spider-Man
- Silversmith - Astro City
Web Original
- Silver Maiden - League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions
- Silver Serpent - Whateley Universe
- Argent, Silver Shrike, El Santo Enmascarado de Plata ("The Silver-Masked Saint", a super-strong luchador crimefighter), Syeryebro ("Silver", a Russian telekinetic), and Silver Wing - Global Guardians PBEM Universe
Western Animation
- Silver Cyclone - Batman: The Brave and the Bold
- Silver Skeeter - Doug
Grey
Comic Books
- Grey Gargoyle - Marvel Comics
- Grey Goblin - Spider-Man
- Greyshirt - Wildstorm
Literature
- The Grey Lady, Fenrir Greyback - Harry Potter
Western Animation
White
Comic Books
- White Lantern - Green Lantern
- White Queen (Emma Frost) - X-Men
- White Rabbit - Spider-Man
- White Streak - Novelty Press
- White Tiger - Heroes For Hire
Tabletop Games
- White Lion - Freedom City
Web Original
- The Great White Hunter, Fuoco Bianco ("White Fire", an Italian supervillain), White Dragon, Whiteout, White Rabbit, White Owl, Bai Hou ("White Monkey, a Chinese Spider-Manesque martial artist), and El Halcon Blanco ("White Falcon", a Mexican ice-blaster) -- Global Guardians PBEM Universe
- White Witch - Whateley Universe
Western Animation
- White Pantera - El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera
Spectrum
A form of Theme Naming when most or all of the cast is named after colors.
Anime and Manga
- The Red Ribbon Army from Dragon Ball.
Comic Books
- Green Lantern now has Lantern Corps of every color in the spectrum. Though it should be noted that the yellow and violet corps dodge the color naming; being the Sinestro Corps and the Star Sapphires respectively.
- Green Lantern's Alternate Company Equivalent from the Squadron Supreme is actually called Doctor Spectrum.
- Red Tornado of DC Comics now has several other color counterparts.
- Color Kid - DC Comics
- Rainbow - Centaur Publications
- Rainbow Boy - Eastern Color Printing
- Rainbow Girl - Legion of Super-Heroes
- Rainbow Raider/The Rainbow Raiders - The Flash
Live-Action TV
- Captain Scarlet: the organisation is even known as Spectrum.
- Power Rangers and Super Sentai. Note, though, that Sixth Rangers often have their own non-color codename.
- There have been a few times in Super Sentai where the heroes, while still all wearing different color suits, weren't codenamed for them, such as Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and Gosei Sentai Dairanger where they were called things like "Tyranno Ranger" or "Shishi Ranger".
Video Games
- Disgaea has the Prism Rangers, themselves a parody of Power Rangers and Super Sentai.
- The Yakumos have a colour theme doubled with Bilingual Bonus - namely, Chen means orange, Ran means indigo and Yukari means violet. This gest VERY meaningful - Yukari is the most powerful of the 3, Chen is the weakest, and THAT'S just the game of their introduction. In the 8th game, Yukari is half of the border team, the other half being the predominantly red-wearing Reimu, making the team name very meaningful.
Web Comics
- The Squirrel Girls in Sequential Art.
Web Original
- In the Whateley Universe stories about Silver Ghost, she gets involved with SPECTRUM, the superhero group of Cincinnati. They have theme naming (Green Witch, Yellow Knight, Azure, etc), which really ticks off Tawny - she'd rather have a name like Lioness.
- There's also the Iron Legion, a group of Powered Armor mercenaries whose code names (and armor) are Color Coded for Your Convenience...Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet all wear armors in colors that match their names.
- The White Legion, a group of white-supremacist superheroes. All of them have "white" in their names.
Referenced
- This trope is referenced in Larry Boy and the Angry Eyebrows when we meet "The Scarlet Tomato" as it only works when you name yourself after the color that that object or animal is not.
- ↑ though he was only revealed to be black ten years after his introduction