View source for Dark-Skinned Redhead

{{trope}}
[[File:dsredhead.jpg|link=Outlaw Star|frame|For extra exoticism, just add tanning lotion.]]

Like most character design decisions in anime, colors are often chosen to reflect personalities more than to be realistic depictions. While dark skin is not a particularly alien choice, it's more often used to reflect a bouncy, energetic, fiery personality than an actual nationality. This probably has roots back to the ideal of Japanese beauty including pale skin, as opposed to the chain of association with tanned people being outdoorsy, and thus lively and adventurous. Bonus points if they have [[Eyes of Gold]].

Naturally. this includes [[Hard-Drinking Party Girl]]s and [[Trickster]]s, especially if they're women. The most common combination with this skin tone is a vibrant and noticeable light color. Red is very popular, associated with all sorts of playful Japanese spirits as well as the kabuki wig, so it's also a common (and deliberately unusual looking) palette choice for demons and [[Catgirl|Cat Girls]]. Red's a popular hair color for [[Heroes Want Redheads|other reasons]] as well, of course.

Note. dark skinned characters with ''dark'' hair (olive, purple, black) tend to have muted personalities.

This trope can be [[Truth in Television]] in some Asian countries, like Pakistan, where dying one's hair red with henna dye is common.

Sister trope to [[Dark-Skinned Blond]]. Contrast [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]]. Usually a type of [[Redheaded Hero]]. Also quite likely to be [[Ambiguously Brown]]. But sometimes. [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]]

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* The immature ranker Quant from ''[[Tower of God]]''. [http://images.wikia.com/towerofgod/images/0/07/Tower-of-god-epic_battle.jpg Here's] [http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/5898/wondert.png proof.]
* Pictured to the right: Gene Starwind from ''[[Outlaw Star]]''.
* Perhaps ''the'' prototypical Dark-Skinned Redhead, Kei from ''[[Dirty Pair|The Dirty Pair]]''.
* Marie and several other characters from ''[[Haré+Guu|Haré+Guu]]''.
* Shayla-Shayla from ''[[El-Hazard: The Magnificent World|El Hazard the Magnificent World]]''.
* Daisuke/Davis Motomiya from ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]''.
* Tanya from ''[[Battle Athletes]]'' gets the dark skin and straight red hair treatment. Despite the Olympic-like premise of the series explicitly telling us she's supposed to be African, she actually [[media:1140050694078.gif|comes off more as]] a quasi-[[Catgirl]].
* Ed from ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'', whose behavior is all over the map. She could be of Turkish descent, as her father's name translates into Turkish, and her real first name is French (no doubt a tradition started at the Napoleonic Wars, which involved the Ottomans).
* ''[[Petite Princess Yucie]]'''s demon princess Greta fits the typical description, but has ''lavender'' hair, since she's also an [[Ojou]].
* Similarly, Anthy Himemiya from ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' has dark skin and deep purple hair. She's the "muted personality" type. It's implied that she and her [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|brother]] are from India.
* A male version of this trope is Tasuki from ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'', the energetic [[Paper Fan of Doom|fire-fan-wielding]] bandit.
* Karen Joshua from ''[[Gundam]]'''s OVA ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team]]'', the fiery CPO of the titular military unit.
* Resident martial-artist and [[Gentle Giant]] Kanna Kirishima of ''[[Sakura Taisen]]''. She hails from Okinawa and, in later games and series, losses some of her darker complexion and bright red hair.
* Winia Chester from ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' is a more subdued version of this, though she perks up quite a bit around Pacifica.
* The princesses Tatra and Tarta in ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]''.
* Kirche, the [[Gainaxing|bouncy]] [[The Vamp|vamp]] from ''[[The Familiar of Zero]]''.
* There was an "athletic" Nurse Joy in ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' like this, with a tan/dark skin as an indicator of her personality ''not'' being like the others. That and [[Hot Amazon|muscles]].
* Yoko Nakajima from ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'' upon returning to the Twelve Kingdoms from Japan. In her case, she is a "taika", a person from the Twelve Kingdoms world who got carried away to Japan, and thus a shell was covering her to make sure she resembled her "parents". To be fair, the novels specifically mention that she starts out much paler, but after roughing it for several months without shelter, her skin's gotten a very dark tan. The same transformation also gives her [[Green Eyed Red Head|green eyes]].
* Akane Karasuma, aka Sailor Lead Crow, 5th season villain/ [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]] member from ''[[Sailor Moon]]''. As she's an Alien, it's impossible to tell if this combo is the norm for her people. The only other people from her world are Phobos and Deimos, who aren't this.
** Also, Elza Gray, a one-episode character from the ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' anime. She was an old rival and friend of Haruka's and  {{spoiler|introduced her and Michiru to each other}}.
* Jeannie from ''[[Rune Soldier Louie]]'', though she's actually [[The Stoic]]. She is, however, a very physical [[Hot Amazon]] warrior type, so she's not too far off.
* Exedore/Exsedol's original design from [[Macross]]/[[Robotech]] had the colors, but his personality is the opposite of the usual type, being [[The Spock]] instead.
* Sousou (Caocao) from ''[[Ikki Tousen]]'', though his personality is [[Super-Powered Evil Side|quite darker and more conflicted]] than the standard. Besides, he starts as a brunet and is only shown with red hair in the second season (''Dragon Destiny''). In ''Great Guardians'', also,  {{spoiler|when Saji Genpou (Zuo Ci) drops his Saji facade and retakes his true identity of Ouin Shishi (Wang Yun), his blond hair turns into a blazing red.}}
* Kintarou Tooyama from ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]''.
* Karui from ''[[Naruto]]'' was shown to have red hair in a recent color page.
** When using her Curse Seal, Tayuya also became this. With horns and black sclera.
* Kougaiji from ''[[Saiyuki]]'' is a [[Noble Demon|noble bad guy]] and seems to deliberately be in color contrast to his [[Evil Overlord|Evil Empress]] stepmother, Gyokomen Koshu (who is pale skinned with green hair). Possibly to emphasize that their personalities are complete opposites - Kougaiji is devoted to his nakama, while Koshu is prone to killing her followers on a whim. Rather than having a fiery personality, he's matched to the element and uses mostly [[Elemental Powers|fire attacks]].
** Gojyo could also be considered an example, since he's rather tan compared to the others. Also has bright red hair.
* One of the female pirates in [[Vandread]]: the Second Stage has red hair and tanned skin. It's implied that she's a high-ranking officer and didn't come along on the Nirvana because she and her crew had buisiness on Majer. She shows up just in time to spring the crew from jail. I believe her name was "Vera" or something like that.
* Libra Dohko from [[Saint Seiya]] [[I Was Quite a Looker|was a * gorgeous* one]] [http://www.pobladores.com/data/pobladores.com/jp/ey/jpeyote/channels/saint_seiya_lycos/images/3691799dohko4.jpg when young].  {{spoiler|And he still is. Since his old form is actually a [[Sleep Mode Size]], once he recovers his youth...[[Squee]]!}}
** It shall be noted that Dohko was originally [[Tall, Dark and Handsome|a tall and equally gorgeous brunet]] in the original manga. He's only a Dark-Skinned Redhead in the anime version,
* [http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp6/fotoworld23/largeAnimePaperscans_Meine-Liebe_Ne.jpg Ed] from [[Meine Liebe]].
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' is an interesting case. In the TV series, he's not shown with particularly dark skin, but his hair is ''explicitly'' red. People actually ''say'' that his hair is red, instead of it just being a visual design element. In the OVA series, he's closer to a Dark-Skinned Redhead in a way that's fairly accurate for a Japanese person. (Dark red hair is very rare but does occur among native Japanese.)
* [[Even the Guys Want Him|Raphael]] from ''[[Tenshi ni Narumon]]'' has red hair and a fairly dark skin (especially when contrasted with Mikael's) and a matching bouncy and energetic personality, although he's not really hotblooded. In fact, he is pretty mellow,  {{spoiler|maybe because he wasn't doing much in the series, besides playing guitar and molesting Mikael}}.
* Kyo Souma, of ''[[Fruits Basket]]'', though the dark-skinned part is pretty much just in comparison to the other characters.
* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'': Lilith Sahl.
* ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam|Victory Gundam]]'': [[Kate Bush]] from [[Amazon Brigade|the Shrike Team]]


== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Alicia Masters was portrayed as one of these in the Heroes Reborn ([[Dork Age]]) version of the [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]].
* Ember from ''[[Elf Quest]]''. Dark skin and auburn hair is seen in quite a few elves of the Sun Folk, including Leetah (Ember's mother), Shenshen, their mother Toorah, and Behtia. This does not seem to be connected to characterisation, though.
* Jezebel Jet, from ''[[Batman]] R.I.P.''
* Marvel villainess Mystique - dark blue skin, red hair. (Same in the movie version.)
* Xane from ''[[Gold Digger (Comic Book)|Gold Digger]]'': A [[Hot Amazon]], [[Genki Girl]], and [[Boisterous Bruiser]].
** Also from ''Gold Digger'' but not fitting the usual personality type is Aljabra Gihom, whose [[Cloudcuckoolander|char]][[Sleepyhead|acter]] was ultimately based on ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'s'' Osaka.


== [[Film]] ==
* Another non-anime example is [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|Sikozu]] from the ''[[Farscape]]'' movie, though her series form doesn't count.
* [[Rihanna]] is apparently going to have blazing red hair in the movie ''Battleship'' (based on the [[Board Game]]).


== [[Literature]] ==
* The Aiel from ''[[The Wheel of Time]]''.
** The Aiel aren't naturally dark skinned, they are tanned. The parts of their skin covered by the Caidin'sor are actually very pale.
* Finnegan Hob from ''[[Abarat]]''.
* Brier Iron-thorn in P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' is an example in Western fantasy fiction. A big, strong warrior woman raised among soldiers in the sun-drenched south, she's permanently tanned dark from those long years in the sunlight and her hair is a "sullen red", an indicator of the passions and hatreds and intensity of her innermost nature, under the stern exterior.
* Holly Short from ''[[Artemis Fowl]]''.
* Alia, Leto, and Ghanima Ateides from ''[[Dune]]''
* Ce'Nedra from ''[[The Belgariad]]'' is a dryad, and so has red hair and olive skin.
* In ''[[Codex Alera]]: Cursor's Fury'', Invidia Aquitaine disguises herself as a slave with deep, red-brown skin, and coppery hair. It's justified, though, since this is a world where anyone with sufficient talent at watercrafting (magic using elemental spirits present in water) can change their appearance. And, well, the slave she was supposed to be wasn't exactly the kind you used for sweeping stables...
* ''[[Zones of Thought]]'': Phan Nuwen is a grey-skinned redhead with epicanthic folds, "a product of post-terrestrial evolution".
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', the Ghiscari of Slaver's Bay have a dark complexion, but many have a mixture of black and red hair, like a tortoise shell cat.
* Vincent Katherinessen from Elizabeth Bear's novel ''Carnival''.


== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Teyla from ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'' is dark-skinned with auburn hair to portray her alienness.


== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Although most screen adaptations have portrayed her as more fair-skinned, the original [[Newspaper Comics]] version of Princess Aura from ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'' was one of these. Of course, most Mongonians were portrayed as slightly dark-skinned, so it would have been odd if she had had a light complexion.


== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Given how [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|certain parts of the setting]] of ''[[Exalted]]'' operate, it's not uncommon to find these types in the South. Dark-skinned types with hair colors that range from mahogany to copper to straight-up fire engine red aren't uncommon sights in cities like Chiaroscuro or Gem.


== [[Video Games]] ==
* An option in pretty much any game with a "Create-A-Character" mode. Even the rare ones like ''[[Fallout 3]]'' that have a setting for race don't restrict hair colors based on it.
* Ganondorf and the Gerudo from ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' series. Midna from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'' takes it [[Up to Eleven]].
* The beast-taming bandit Moses from ''[[Tales of Legendia]]''.
* Reid Hershel of ''[[Tales of Eternia]]'' is a Dark Skinned Redhead of the tanned variety, with his skin colour reflecting his athletic, outdoorsy disposition; his skin tone may ''also'' be a deliberate attempt to visually set him apart from other Inferians, of whom one of the distinguishing traits is pale skin.
* Jaffar from ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe|Fire Emblem 7]]'', Tethys from ''[[Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones|Fire Emblem 8]]'', and Fiona from ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Fire Emblem 10]]''.
* ''[[Brave Fencer Musashi]]'' has Gingerelle, an arrogant beauty queen and captain of the Thirstquencher Empire. While not so much the [[Genki Girl|energetic type]], she did have a powerful presence and [[Alpha Bitch|tended to lord it over]] her little sister most of the time.
* [[Physical God|Almalexia]], a non-anime example from ''[[The Elder Scrolls|Morrowind]]'', has dark ''gold'' skin and red-hair.
* Lucia from ''[[Devil May Cry]]''.
* Psyme from [[Sigma Star Saga]] is a ''purple''-skinned redhead.
* Asad in ''[[Suikoden Tierkreis]]''.
* Akuma (aka Gouki) of the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series is a [[Blood Knight|bloodthirsty martial artist]] with dark skin and wild red hair. His "Shin Akuma" form in ''Capcom vs. SNK'' takes it even further, with dark red skin and pure white hair.
** Crimson Viper, from ''Street Fighter IV'', is darker-skinned than the other girls in the game, but not to the same degree as Akuma.
* Shauna - a bandit leader and the Hero version of the Gypsy class - from ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]''.
* In a rare western example, Ronny and Sally Dobbs from ''[[Backyard Sports]]''.
* Nym from ''[[Black Sigil]]'' is a [[Wild Child]] with dark skin and red hair.
* Early concept art shows [[Half Life|Alyx Vance]] as one of these.
* Jin of ''[[Yo-Jin-Bo]]'', complete with spunky personality.
* Maria Torres from ''[[Trauma Center|Trauma Team]]''. She's a [[Fiery Redhead]], too.
* As of ''[[Dynasty Warriors]] 6'', Sun Quan has an element of this, as compared to the rest of the pasty cast, he is quite swarthy.
* Half-Calishite (a [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture]] mishmash of Arabs, Ottoman Turks, and others depending on who you ask) Khalid of ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' is shown to have short red hair if you remove his helmet.
* [[Pirate]] boss and snarky [[Playing with Fire|Fire]] [[Fiery Redhead|Adept]] Eoleo in ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'' fits perfectly, being the tannest player character in the series to date, implicitly from a lifetime of doing [[Buffy-Speak|pirate-y things]], since he and his parents had a lighter complexion in ''[[Golden Sun|The Lost Age]]''.
* Every character in ''[[Evil Zone]]'' is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of a manga/anime genre or archetype; [[Cute Bruiser]] Midori is the Dark-Skinned Redhead.


== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Marena of ''[[Keychain of Creation]]''  {{spoiler|and her sister, Karen.}}
* Ellen in older [[Questionable Content]] strips ([http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=318 exhibit A]); now that the other characters aren't so pale, Ellen's skin is not significantly darker ([http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=788 exhibit B]). Tai, on the other hand, is a more straight (no pun intended) example, [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1398 as seen here].
* ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' is in black and white, but we know from coloured artwork by the author that Monica Villarreal is supposed to to be a Dark-Skinned Redhead, due to her Mexican as well as Irish ancestry.
* Guy from ''[[Two Guys and Guy]]''.


== [[Web Original]] ==
* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Texan hero Firedrake is a black man with pumpkin-orange hair. It's a side-effect of his powers.
* ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'': Evolution gives us [[Wrench Wench|Holly Chapman]], who fits. The tan part, according to her profile, is from living in the desert for most of her life, while the red hair comes from a habit of dying it and it just so happened that she was abducted while it was red.


== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Ms. Sara Bellum from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]''.
* [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sari_Sumdac Sari Sumdac] from ''[[Transformers Animated]]''. She also appears to have red eyes for some reason. Eventually justified since  {{spoiler|she's not fully human.}}
* [[Evil Redhead|Wuya]] from ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]''.
* Anna Maht from ''[[World of Quest]]''.
* Starfire from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''. And she's actually an alien.
* [[Kim Possible]] in "Graduation, Part 2". [http://caps.kpfanworld.com/images/graduation2/0696.jpg\]{{Dead link}} [http://caps.kpfanworld.com/images/graduation2/0919.jpg\]{{Dead link}}
* Lua from ''[[Kong: The Animated Series|Kong the Animated Series]]''.
* Kiva Andru from ''[[Megas XLR]]''.
* Max from ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', whose hair is dyed pink.
* Kelly from ''[[Stoked]]''.
* Saffi, from ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes|Jimmy Two Shoes]]''.
* Otto, from ''[[Rocket Power]]''. Well, same goes for his sister, Reggie. Most of the characters are some shade of orange with bright hair and could fit into this trope.
* ''[[Wakfu]] ''gives us post-episode 22 {{spoiler|Sadlygrove}}. He goes through the sunburn from hell first, though, among [[Break the Cutie|other]] [[Took a Level in Badass|things.]]
* Yoko from ''[[Team Galaxy]]'' has red hair with blonde streaks.
* Megara from ''[[Hercules (1997 film)||Hercules]]''. If you look very closely, you can easily tell that Meg's hair is actually a dark red color, and that her skin is slightly darker than that of Herc's.
* The [[Girl of the Week]] in the ''[[Johnny Bravo]]'' episode "Buffoon Lagoon".

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[[Category:Useful Notes/Hair Color in Japan]]
[[Category:Paint the Index Red]]
[[Category:Stock Characters]]
[[Category:This Index Is Brown]]
[[Category:An Index Orange]]
[[Category:Hair Colors]]
[[Category:Personal Appearance Tropes]]
[[Category:Anime Hair]]
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