History Main / ColorCodedElements

* '''[[GreenThumb Nature/Plant(s)/Wood]]''': Usually green, perhaps with other earth tones. If dealing specifically with flowers, it will usually be pink.

* '''[[GravityMaster Gravity]]''': Usually [[GravityIsPurple purple]]. Black if associated with UsefulNotes/BlackHoles or darkness in general.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Dust is an energy source that is found in crystalline form; it produces different elemental effects based on its colour, and can be combined in different ways to produce new colours and associated elemental effects. Known colours and effects include: red for Fire, pale blue for Ice, deep blue for Water, pale grey (occasionally pale green) for Wind, yellow for Lightning, black for Gravity, greyish-brown for Earth/Rock, and a very pale blue-white for HardLight.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Dust, the elemental crystals that serve as [[AppliedPhlebotinum ammunition and power sources ]] in the world of Remnant, are all color-coded to their respective elements, and can change color when combined to create new forms of Dust: red for Fire, yellow for Lightning, purple for Gravity, blue for Water, light blue for Ice, green for Plant, dark orange for Rock, white or light green for Wind, cyan for Hard Light, grey for Steam, and light orange for Combustion.
-->'''Weiss Schnee:''' This is Dust - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry! What are you, brain-dead? Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' makes it easy to identify Adepts, as they'll usually wear colors associated with their element, or even have ElementalHairColors or eye colors. Mars (Fire) tends toward reds and oranges. Mercury (Water/Ice) is inevitably blue, usually cyan. Venus (Earth and Plants) can be gold, green, and/or brown. Jupiter (Wind/Electric/Telepathy) tends to be [[WindIsGreen green]] or [[SupernaturalIsPurple light purple]]. ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' [[spoiler: adds two new powers to the scene. Darkness uses [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack dark purple]], and Light uses [[SupernaturalGoldEyes pale gold]]]]. Himi also breaks the pattern by wearing [[ShrineMaiden red and white for her day job]], instead of dressing for her element (she's a Venus Adept).

* In ''WebComic/YokokasQuest'', each spoken language, associated with a particular element, has its own [[PaintingTheMedium speech bubble and font style and colour]], to make them easily distinguishable. Of particular note, Dream language [[SupernaturalIsPurple is purple]].

* The elemental beams in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' and everything associated with them are color-coded: The [[NonElemental Power Beam]] is yellow (as it is in all games in the series, though the yellow doors in 2 are opened with Power Bombs), the [[ShockAndAwe Wave Beam]] is purple, the [[AnIcePerson Ice Beam]] is white, the [[PlayingWithFire Plasma Beam]] is red, and the [[ILoveNuclearPower Phazon Beam]] is blue.
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', the [[LightEmUp Light]] [[PlayingWithFire Beam]] is white, the [[CastingAShadow Dark]] [[AnIcePerson Beam]] is purplish black, and the [[{{Antimatter}} Annihilator]] [[MakeMeWannaShout Be]][[ShockAndAwe am]] is gray.
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption,'' the [[AnIcePerson Ice Missiles]] are white, the [[PlayingWithFire Plasma Beam]] is orange, and the [[ShockAndAwe Grapple Voltage]] is purple.

* In ''Literature/FengshenYanyi'', the color scheme of the five Chinese elements are often used, but this is best seen in two cases: the four "Carriers of Plague" and disciples of Lu Yue are themed after east (Wood), west (Metal), south (Fire) and north (Water): the first has blue skin and green robes, the second pale yellow face and bright yellow robes, the third has bright red/pink skin and crimson robes and the last one has dark violet skin and black robes. Luo Xuan, the "[[PlayingWithFire Flame-wreathed Immortal]]'', is hevily associated with fire and has red hair, beard, skin and clothes.

-->''Weiss Schnee: This is Dust - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry! What are you, brain-dead? Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!''

* '''[[CastingAShadow Darkness]]''': Usually black, though [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack dark purple]] is also very common. Dark greens if it is also centered on poison or demonic sources.

* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'': The valkyries that accompany Walhalla are colour-coded to their element: the Flame Valkyrie is dressed in red, the Water Valkyrie in blue, the Leaf Valkyrie in green. The Valkyries of Light are white-haired and dress in a lighter shade of blue. Walhalla herself is the Atmosphere Valkyrie and can manifest a large lightning bird as a secondary [[DesperationAttack EXTRAPOWER attack]], and so is given long yellow hair.

* ''Anime/HeartCatchPrettyCure'' has Cure Blossom [[note]]and, to a certain extent, [[spoiler:Cure Flower]][[/note]] (Earth/Nature) = pink; Cure Marine (Water/Sea) = blue; Cure Sunshine ([[ThePowerOfTheSun sunlight]]) = yellow; Cure Moonlight (well, just look at [[{{Lunacy}} her name]]) = silver/purple.

** ''{{VideoGame/The Legend of Zelda Oracle|Games}} of Seasons'': The miniboss Frypolar is red in its fiery form and light blue in its icy form.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' uses white or very light blue for ice, red or orange for fire, and lime or yellow for electricity, which informs the coloration of elemental weapons, elemental enemies, elemental Chuchu jelly, the three dragons, and the electric crystals inside the shrines. As far as non-dragon elements, WaterIsBlue, WindIsGreen (in the menu, it's white when seen in-game), and Malice (shadow) is RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver with golden eyes where applicable.
* In ''Videogame/LordsOfMagic'', each element is associated with a faith, which fills the role of races or civilizations in other games. Each faith's units have color schemes that fit the above trends.

* '''[[HolyHandGrenade Holy]]''': Usually pure white.
* '''[[CastingAShadow Darkness]]''': Usually black, though [[PurpleIsTheNewBlack dark purple]] is also very common. Dark greens if it is also centered on poison.

* '''[[EntropyAndChaosMagic Chaos]]''': Usually [[PurpleIsPowerful magenta or purple]].

* '''[[BlowYouAway Air/Wind]]''': [[WindIsGreen Green]] in most Asian works, yellow otherwise. Sometimes white or a shade of gray, rarely blue or purple. Occasionally red and brown if Autumn-themed.

* ''Anime/CuteHighEarthDefenseClubLove'' has Battle Lover Cerulean (water) = blue, Battle Lover Epinard (wind) = green and Battle Lover Sulfur (earth) = yellow. The other two Battle Lovers are Scarlet (light) = red and Vesta (flame) = pink, which would work if they switched.

* ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has Cure Blossom [[note]]and, to a certain extent, [[spoiler:Cure Flower]][[/note]] (Earth/Nature) = pink; Cure Marine (Water/Sea) = blue; Cure Sunshine ([[ThePowerOfTheSun sunlight]]) = yellow; Cure Moonlight (well, just look at [[{{Lunacy}} her name]]) = silver/purple.
* Mentioned but not delved upon in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': while studying magic in Magnostadt, Aladdin learns that each of the eight elements has a distinctive color, and so magicians aligned with that element are identified by the same color. Apparently, fire is red, water is light blue, lightning is yellow, wind is white, force is black and life is purple. According to supplemental materials, light is orange, and sound is green.
* In ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', fire powers are red, water powers are blue, and wind powers are green. Note that the three main characters were already colour-coded red, blue, and green before getting magic, and then got the associated element.
* A scifi version of this trope in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'': [[MagneticWeapons yellow beam are fired from linear cannons, gun launchers, railguns]], [[EnergyWeapon green are particle beam weapon and red are heavy beam weapons]] that can come from different sources: impulse cannon, plasma cannon, positron blaster gun, plasma induction cannon, multi-phase beam cannon, etc.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'', Denki Kaminari controls electricity and has blond hair, matching his powers. Shoto Todoroki's design features white hair for the half of his body that controls ice, and red hair for the half that controls fire, while inverting the color scheme for his eyes. Fumikage Tokoyami has a living shadow and is very darkness-themed, while his design features both black (for himself) and dark purple (for his shadow) heavily. Side character Tetsutetsu Tetsutesu can coat his body in steel and has silver hair with grayish, quirky eyebrows. Ibara Shiozaki can control plants and has green hair (her hair actually being the plants she controls).
* ''Franchise/OnePiece'' has several characters whose elemental powers can be matched with the colors in their physical appearance, most notably the Admirals. Kizaru can control light, and wears a yellow suit. Akainu controls magma, and wears a crimson red suit. Aokiji controls ice, and wears a blue dress shirt underneath a white vest. Fujitora controls gravity, and wears a purple yukata and cloak.

* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' follows almost all of these rules. [[PlayingWithFire Sailor Mars]] has a red fuku, Sailor Mercury has ice/water-based powers and a blue fuku (Sailor Neptune has both sea green hair and fuku and controls the sea); Sailor Jupiter has lightning, wind, and GreenThumb powers, with a green fuku and pink accents. Sailor Uranus is the Soldier of Flight[=/=]Wind and has wind-related powers. Although her main color is dark blue, the secondary color of her uniform is gold. Sailor Pluto's powers are time related and her fuku is black, although the accent color is a dark brown/red color. Sailor Saturn, whose powers are all about death and destruction, has a dark purple fuku.
* ''Anime/SmilePrettyCure'' has Cure Happy (Light) = pink; Cure Sunny (Fire) = orange/red; Cure Peace (Thunder) = yellow; Cure March (Wind) = green; Cure Beauty (Ice) = blue. [[spoiler:Also, Royale Candy (Light) = white]].

* Iowa's upcoming ''Lost Island Theme Park'' features an AmazingTechnicolorPopulation split into four elemental realms: The blue Awa Water Nomads, the purple inventors of the Udara Air Kingdom, the green Yuta Earth Tribe, and the red Yuta Fire Clan. The Tamariki, a group of spirits that keep the elements in balance, use all four colors.

* The colors of the five Chinese elements (Wu Xing) are assigned as follows: '''Wood''' ([[UsefulNotes/GreenIsBlue green/blue]]), '''Fire''' (red), '''Earth''' (yellow), '''Metal''' (white), '''Water''' (black). Lesser known are the Wǔjiànsè or "Five Intermediary Colors" associated with combinations of elements and directions: Center + East has green (unambiguous green, contrasting Wood's greenish/blue), East + West has light teal, West + South has crinsom/pink, South + North has violet and North + Center has brown.

* ''VideoGame/AlteredBeast'': the [=PS2=] game subtly associates an element to each of the Genome Cyborg forms and each one has a distinctive color: the Werewolf ([[LightEmUp Light]]) is silver, the Merman ([[MakingASplash Water]]) is green, the Wendigo ([[AnIcePerson Ice]]) is light blue, the Garuda ([[BlowYouAway Air]]) is yellow, the Minotaur ([[PlayingWithFire Fire]]) is red, the Dragon ([[ShockAndAwe Electricity]]) is magenta, the Grizzly ([[DishingOutDirt Stone]] is brown, the U.W.H. ([[GravityMaster Gravity]] is dark purple and the Weretiger ([[CastingAShadow Darkness]] is dark gray.