History Main / GoodColorsEvilColors

** There is a long-standing military convention of using red for "enemy" symbols and blue for "friendly"; see the Real Life section below.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' has this trope smeared all over it. Sonic (the hero) is blue, Knuckles (the tough guy) is a cherry red, Amy Rose and Rouge the Bat (the chicks) have extensive pink colouring, Shadow the Hedgehog (AntiHero) is red and black, and Eggman is covered in red, yellow, and black - good old evil commie colours.

* It's subtle, but the [[{{Protagonist}} hero]] and [[BigBad villain]] of Geoph Essex's ''Jackrabbit Messiah'' are color-coded, and it's even called out on the [[AvertedTrope surprisingly honest]] (if abstract) [[CoversAlwaysLie cover]] (if you have the paperback, which includes the back cover): Jack (hero and supposed deity) is in his dirty but [[GoldAndWhiteAreDivine white]] bunny suit when he's taking care of business (and the cover image even includes a little [[HolyHalo golden halo]]), while the Princess (villain and ''devilishly'' evil) is in pink (the stereotypically [[PinkGirlBlueBoy feminine]] sister of [[BigRedDevil red]]), giving the book a blatant visual "Heaven vs. Hell" conflict.

* The characters in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'' were specifically designed around this trope, on the notion that, in a desert, water is a life-giving force, sand is unavoidable, and heat kills people. Blue = good, yellow = neutral, and red = evil. Genie and Jasmine sport blue. The Sultan wears mostly yellow, with a splash of blue. Jafar and Iago sport red (though Iago had blue wingtips; perhaps a foreshadowing of his [[HeelFaceTurn side-switching]] in the sequel). Aladdin and Abu sport purple, because they're in transition from being thieves (red) to heroes (blue). After Jafar gains control of the Genie, Genie often goes purple. When Jafar puts Jasmine in GoGoEnslavement, she wears a reddish-orange. Though Carpet looks mostly blue from a distance, close-ups reveal an intricate weaving of colors, including blue, yellow, purple, and red. The lamp is yellow, suggesting that the power of the lamp is itself neutral and unbiased. The guards wear yellow and black fringed with purple: they themselves are neutral but controlled by both good and evil forces. The yellow scarab, harmless in itself, becomes red as the eyes of the Cave of Wonder; similarly Jafar's staff is an innocent yellow until he activates the glowing red eyes. The disguised Jafar's cloak is a foreshadowing purple. In the sequel, Abis Mal, despite insisting how evil he is, wears mostly yellow and blue with a purple hat and belt: he's really a harmless fool who tries, and fails, to "wear" the image of evil.
* ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Both Belle and the Beast occasionally wear blue, BigBad Gaston always wears red, and all of the villagers wear brown or green.
* In ''Disney/BigHero6'', the team checks off almost all of the stated "good" colors - blue, cherry red, green, pink, and yellow. In concept art for Hiro's supersuit, you can see that his suit was originally planned to be blue and red instead of purple and red and the purple can apply to the "neutral" side. Yokai, on the other hand, is clothed almost entirely in black with a tiny bit of red.

* ''Disney/{{Dinosaur}}'': The hero is a blue Iguanodon, while the villain is a red ''Carnotaurus''.
* ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': The evil Frollo and his henchmen always wear black, while the far-more heroic characters of Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Phoebus, Clopin, and the Gypsies all wear bright colors, and at the end of the film both Phoebus and especially Esmeralda wear white.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'': The hero, Simba is a heroic gold lion with a red mane and red eyes, while the villain, Scar, is an evil reddish-brown lion with a black mane and green eyes.

* All over the place in ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'': Nanoha has a white outfit based on her schoolgirl clothes, including a bright red bow. Fate Testarossa goes with a black uniform with dark red accents, though it remains like that even after her HeelFaceTurn (although, from ''[=StrikerS=]'' onward she switches over to deep blue with a white BadassCape). She's also [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold blonde]].[[AbusiveParents Preica]] [[EvilMatriarch Testarossa]] wears purple and black. The Wolkenritter all wear heroic colors (pink, red, mint green, and blue respectively) despite being introduced as antagonists, foreshadowing the fact that they were [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'': Kayley has a yellow shirt underneath her purple tunic, Garrett has a blue shirt underneath his green tunic, and King Arthur and his knights (even the late Sir Lionel) wear blue tunics, whilst Ruber wears a black cleavage and pants with red armor and his mechanical henchmen have the grey and black color scheme on their bodies - before they were transformed, they wear black loincloths or tunics.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'': In the Land of the Dead, most of the skeleton citizens wear multicolored clothes; Ernesto de la Cruz wears silver, making him appear almost black-and-white, [[spoiler: hinting he's the BigBad.]]

* ''Series/JessicaJones'': Everything associated with [[BigBad Kilgrave]] is purple. Luke Cage's surroundings often have yellow lighting, the flash drive containing information on Kilgrave is colored yellow, and Jessica herself wears a yellow dress in a flashback.

* The Space Paranoids portion of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' has a similar setup, since it's directly based on ''Tron''. Same with the Grid in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', being inspired by ''Tron Legacy''.

* The ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games have traditionally used blue/white for the forces of the Law (religious nutjobs) and red/black for the forces of Chaos (plain evil or AniHero depending on the game).

->''"You can tell Serena's a heel now, because... she wears black."''
-->-- ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment''

Subtrope of ColorCodedCharacters. See also ColorCharacter, ColorCodedMultiplayer, ChromaticArrangement, DressCodedForYourConvenience, GoodHairEvilHair, LawOfChromaticSuperiority, LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine, RainbowMotif.

** Chloe usually wears a lot of bright colours and you know something is wrong when she wears black. [[LightIsNotGood Or]] [[WomanInWhite white]].

* [[Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil A Practical Guide To Evil]] enforces this trope because its world runs on heroic fantasy tropes. Heros, Villains and Anti-Heroes are conveniently color coded and dressing out of element has been known to make people feel uncomfortable: [[spoiler:''“Don’t mind me,” I grunted. “It just suddenly hit home that I’m leading a Legion of Terror while wearing a black cape and plotting nefarious things in the dark.”'']]

* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', [[BigBad the villain]] XANA is most often identified by the color red. Most notably, the towers activated by XANA are surrounded by a red halo (blue is neutral, green when activated by Jérémie, white by Franz Hopper). There are many other examples, like the [[{{Cyberspace}} Digital Sea]] turning red when XANA's creatures are about to attack.

* Specialist Knightmare Frames from ''Anime/CodeGeass'' tend to follow this quite well:
** Suzaku's white/gold Lancelot and its [[TheAce ace]] of a pilot who serves the people.
** Kallen's red Guren could be interpreted as either TheAce or her particularly grisly modus operandi.
** Cornelia's royal purple Gloucester, as her status as a cold aristocrat.
** Lelouch's black/gold Knightmares Gawain and Shinkiro fit his AntiHero personality and his powerful Knightmares.
** C.C. gets a pink Akatsuki, and later a pink Lancelot Frontier.
* The killer and detective in ''Manga/DeathNote'' are lit by vivid red and blue lights respectively during internal monologue, regardless of the natural lighting of the scene. Later on, Matsuda gets yellow, and both Mogi and Aizawa get green. Even outside their monologues, Light (the murderer) tends to wear darker colours, while L is in an off-white T-shirt and jeans.
** Also, the ruthless and slightly unhinged Mello wears all black, while his calmer, less aggressive rival Near wears all white and has white hair.
** Then there's Misa Amane, Mello's fellow goth of the series. This trope is played even straighter with Misa, since she tones down the Literature/{{Lolita}} image considerably when she loses her memories of being a serial killer.
** However, an aversion is Naomi Misora, undoubtedly one of the good guys, who always wears black and had a fondness for leather.

** ARX-7 Arbalest: white color and green eyes (TheHero)
** Plan-1056 Codarl: silver color, blonde ponytail and three red eyes (BigBad)
** Plan-1058 Venom: red color and single red eye (BigBad)
** Plan-1055 Belial: black color (BigBad)
** ARX-8 Laevatein: white/red color, white ponytail and green eyes (TheHero).
* The main protagonist's HumongousMecha in the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries is always white, with red, blue, and/or yellow highlights.
** Allied and antagonist Mobile Suits, though, vary in color schemes between series (though you can bet there will be at least one enemy Ace in a [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority red one]]), and sometimes there are enemy "Gundams" that share the hero's paint job.
** One thing is fairly certain: That the antagonist faction (one of them at least) will have their standard "Grunt" mecha in green.
** And recently there have been cases of pink mobile suits that have been "coincidentally" piloted by girls. (Strike Rouge and Tieren Taozi anyone?)
*** Interestingly, when the main protagonist borrows the Strike Rouge, he changes its colour scheme to the usual protagonist suit scheme, suggesting that the girl in question just liked it pink or didn't know how to change it.
*** This was actually explained. The Rouge had an improved battery which sent more power to the armor, turning it pink. When the hero needed it again, he loaded his own operating program into the computer for the original Strike, which wasn't set to divert the additional power to the armor and because he was in a hurry, simply took off with the "inferior" armor coloring rather than spend time tweaking his program to accept the improved armor setting.

*** The TRANS-AM System, however, gives the good guys' mobile suits a reddish hue. It is most likely a reference to [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority Char]].
*** The color of beam weaponry, especially in UC and AD were especially color-coded, with the protagonists using purple/pinkish colors with the villains using yellow/orange-ish colors. UC in particular used different colors for special suits such as [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamUnicorn Delta Plus]] used blue colors and Kshatriya using green. However, Wing and SEED mainly used a singular color (yellow and green, respectively). Although the AC Gundams' [[LaserBlade melee beam weaponry]] are colored green and pink for OZ suits instead. And in SEED's case, Gundams stolen through [[GrandTheftPrototype Gundamjacks]] and the beam weaponry tech developed from those suits are main reasons for having mostly similar beam colors in the CE timeline.

* All over the place in ''Franchise/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'':
** Nanoha has a white outfit based on her schoolgirl clothes, including a bright red bow.
** Fate Testarossa goes with a black uniform with dark red accents, though it remains like that even after her HeelFaceTurn (although, from ''[=StrikerS=]'' onward she switches over to deep blue with a white BadassCape). She's also [[HairOfGoldHeartOfGold blonde]].
** [[AbusiveParents Preica]] [[EvilMatriarch Testarossa]] wears purple and black.
** The Wolkenritter all wear heroic colors (pink, red, mint green, and blue respectively) despite being introduced as antagonists, foreshadowing the fact that they were [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]].
** All of the Forwards wear white outfits.
* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' The factions are: Orb uses mostly white [[HumongousMecha MS]] (with the nation's leader having a gold AceCustom), while the Alliance uses black and purple ones. ZAFT, which spends time as both a heroic and antagonistic faction, goes through most of the spectrum.
* A ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' example would be the final fight scene from ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'', where Mew was surrounded by a pink force field, while its clone Mewtwo was surrounded by a blue one (though the original Mew is actually revealed to be as bad as its clone). Also, if you look very closely during said fight scene, you can actually tell which Pokémon are the clones by the fact that they are all slightly darker in color than the real Pokémon, and that they all sport black markings all over their bodies, something real Pokémon all do not have.

** Madoka is pink, and generally acts as TheChick, sometimes combined with TheHero [[spoiler:in previous timelines, all of which she died in due to her idealism. Eventually double-subverted when she uses her idealisticness to "[[AbstractApotheosis become hope]]" and make the world less [[DarkerAndEdgier grimdark]]]].
** Sayaka is blue, and tries to be a [[TheHero heroic]] [[TheLancer lancer]]. [[spoiler:Her selflessness and attempted independence lead to her death]].
** Mami is yellow/gold, and acts as the kind and helpful [[TheMentor mentor]], with a bit of TheAce. [[spoiler:She dies due to her own carelessness, [[DyingForSymbolism initiating the show's descent into tragedy]]]].
** Homura is black and purple, and appears to be evil, or at least an uncaring AntiHero. [[spoiler:She isn't nearly as evil and aloof as she seems, and she started out naive and idealistic]]. She once wore cutesy bright red glasses, which she [[EvilCostumeSwitch ditched upon becoming anti-heroic]]. [[spoiler:[[GoodCostumeSwitch Reversed]] in the last episode; she becomes more like her old self, and starts wearing Madoka's red ribbon.]]
** Kyouko is dark red, and appears to be [[AxCrazy madly violent]]. She nearly kills [[spoiler:Sayaka]] when they first meet. [[spoiler:She used to be TheHero, but she [[FallenHero quit caring about others when her father killed himself and the rest of her family]] because of the magic she used to help him. She dies in a final attempt at heroism]].
** Kyubey is white, yellow, and pink, and is a cute and loveable TalkingAnimal who dispenses magical wishes and superpowers. [[spoiler:[[DealWithTheDevil But not really]]]].
* ''AudioPlay/SaintBeast'' has almost every character in a different shade of uniform, many of which are telling about their personalities:
** Judas is purple, connoting nobility, command, and possibly a reference to his potential for evil.
** Luca is teal, reflecting both TheLancer aspect of his character and [[TheQuietOne a certain mystery]].
** Goh is blue, indicating his [[TheHero heroic]] nature as well as cool-headedness.
** Rey is bright red, indicating he is passionate and both TheHeart and TheChick of the group.
** Gai is white, which, along with his yellow hair, connotes innocence/naivete and energy.
** Zeus is [[LightIsNotGood all white]], and one JerkassGod.
* ''Manga/SoulEater'' is a very colorful series, literally and otherwise. The given colors for evil tend to be red and black (predominantly Asura, but also madness and bad things in general), with the series' grim reapers adopting the classic black-and-white combination (even down to their hair color) in contrast to the protagonists' usually bright surroundings.
** Souls (when they're seen by someone who can [[StatOVision sense soul wavelengths]]) in the anime also fit this:
*** Blue: Good/Normal human (only villains eat these)
*** Red: Corrupted human (anyone with a red soul is [[TheHeartless fair game]])
*** Purple: {{Witch| Species}} or misc. (act as {{Upgrade Artifact}}s, [[AlwaysChaoticEvil mostly chaotic evil]].
*** Yellow: Lord Death and Death the Kid have yellow/gold souls. Fitting for being the BigGood and TheAce, respectively.
*** The werewolf Free has a unique green soul, and is generally working with purple-souled witches.

** Also: Spiral Energy is generally (although not invariably) depicted as green, such as the flames from the back of the ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' and the Lagann's power gauge and Core Drill. Lordgenome's Lazengann has a red gauge, much like the TronLines of the Anti-Spirals.
* In the first ''[[Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries Yu-Gi-Oh]]'' series (also known as Season Zero), the good Bakura had natural green eyes, while his darker counterpart had purple eyes.
** Also, the Shadow Realm has a purple color scheme to it.
** Yugi's hair, though much of it is black, has pink/red and gold/yellow in it, as if to offset the "evilness" of the black.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' dresses in gray with blue and yellow. Comicbook/{{Robin}} dresses like an explosion in a paint factory. Lampshaded when Batman explains that one of the reasons Robin wears bright colors is because he [[GoodCopBadCop plays good cop to Batman's bad]].
** With some DeusAngstMachina in [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Tim]]'s life, he changed his costume to be less colorful than before -- and his first costume was less bright than that of his predecessors, fitting his more [[AscendedFanboy subdued]] [[BadassBookworm personality]]. Tim was also associated with green as the SmartGuy in comparison to his more impulsive ComicBook/YoungJustice teammates.
** Parodied in the final panels of [[http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05032008.shtml this]] ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' strip.
** Also in ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' at the end, [[spoiler:when Batman turned Wayne Manor into a hospital, he wore all white]].
* Batman's rogues like the Joker, the Riddler, the Mad Hatter, Poison Ivy, Ra's al Ghul, and Two-Face (sometimes) favor green and/or purple.

* A classic example of the association of heroes with primary colors and villains with secondary ones would be the 1980s ComicBook/LexLuthor in his super-armor (purple, green) battling ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' (red, yellow, blue).
** Other villainous colors worn include Brainiac (purple), Parasite (purple), Metallo (silver, green Kryptonite), Mr. Mxyzptlk (purple), and Darkseid (navy blue).
** Or take ComicBook/SpiderMan (blue, red, and black) and his villains Doctor Octopus (green, sometimes combined with orange/ochre), Electro (green), [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Green Goblin]] (green, purple), the Lizard (green), Mysterio (purple, two shades of green), the Sandman (green shirt), the Scorpion (green, purple, gray), the Vulture (two shades of green), the Rhino (gray), Venom (black and white), Carnage (blood red and black), and the Jackal (green).

* The long-time [[RealMenWearPink pink chestplate and pink striped pants]] of Gambit from the ''Comicbook/XMen'' are surely only there to mess with our heads.

** While Whirl is still trying to befriend Cyclonus, as they are fighting as a team, he points out that "Even our colours are complementary!"

* ''Fanfic/FutariWaPrettyCureBlueMoon'' goes against this with the Etherium, a group of villains who wear white and those who [[HeelFaceTurn turn good]] get black uniforms (AntiHero). However, other than this, Good Colours and Evil Colours are generally kept. SmugSnake Kainatrol has a dark red colour scheme setting off her white uniform, while more sympathetic villain Mekuramast (her opponent in the EnemyCivilWar) has light blue. DarkMagicalGirl Millusion has dark blue-green, and the other villains wear bright green, purple, and gold (though the last one, wearing a Good Colour, gets considerably less pagetime). Asa and Yoko themselves are symbolized by pink/orange and blue/black, though these choices came from the design sheet the story was based upon and the inversion of black and white has already been stated. [[MysteriousWatcher Dawn]] and [[DistressedDamsel Mia]] are both symbolized by pink and bright red.

* In the ''Pokémon'' fandom, certain protagonists tend to have their [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow eyes a specific color]]. For example, Red tends to have red eyes in fanworks. The female player character from Gen I either gets green (if you think of her as being named "Green" or "Leaf") or blue (if you think of her as "Blue") respective of which side of the DubNameChange you're on. Same thing with Blue (who either has blue or green eyes depending on whether you call him "Green" or "Blue"). All three have brown eyes in canon. A less common variation is Ethan, who was usually known as "Gold" within the fandom prior to HGSS, has gold eyes when his canon eyes are dark blue.
** Rarer, but Brendan sometimes gets drawn with red eyes. As in "Ruby", being that that's one of the two games he's in and May has blue (as in "Sapphire") eyes. Wally also coincidentally has green ("Emerald") eyes.
** Silver is also sometimes drawn with silver eyes, like his ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' counterpart, when his eye color is [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow red]] in the games.

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' uses red to symbolize Lord Shen, the movie's BigBad. He is also associated with white, symbolic in eastern Asia of death and metal.
** It also distinguishes him from the original ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' villain Tai Lung, whose color was cold compared to the gold and green associated with the heroes.
** In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'', chi and the Spirit Realm are represented by a pure golden color, while the chi-stealing power of the villain Kai is a corrupted green.

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'': When Vanellope glitches, her code is blue. When [[spoiler:Turbo glitches and switches between himself and King Candy, his code is red]].
* In ''Disney/TheRescuers'': Penny wears a light blue jumper while Madame Medusa wears a fiery red dress and has orange hair.

* ''WesternAnimation/Cars3'': Lightning and the veterans have bright, luminous, vivid paint jobs and their sponsor stickers are full of color, while Jackson and the next-gens have darker, desaturated paint jobs and their sponsor stickers are white and semitransparent. This is done to exaggerate the two types.

* In the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies, the Jedi typically use blue or green lightsabers, while the Sith always use red. ''Star Wars'' spacecraft however, reverse the trope, with the heroes' ships usually firing red laser blasts and the bad guys' craft firing green. The only character to go against the scheme is Mace Windu with his unique purple lightsaber, showing how important he is. The [[Creator/SamuelLJackson actor playing him]] specifically asked for it so he would stand out more easily onscreen.
** In the original trilogy, clothing followed a fairly simple white = good/innocent, black = evil metric:
*** Luke as a farm boy: pure white clothing. See also Leia as rebel princess.
*** Han Solo: black vest over a white shirt (his lawless exterior conceals a good interior
*** Darth Vader: Pure black, evil all the way down
*** Stormtroopers: White armor over black under-clothing (ostensibly the space cops/good guys but actually evil underneath). This coloring is even more notable with the Clone Army. Though the initially appear good, they are eventually revealed to be evil and kill the Jedi.
*** Luke in danger of falling to the Dark side: black clothing, ripped in ROTJ to reveal it's actually white underneath.
*** "Neutral" characters that help the heroes, but aren't heroes, dress in brown (Chewbacca, Obi-wan). And note that Obi-wan wears brown over white. He's been in self-imposed exile for many years, staying clear of the Empire and the Rebellion, but at his core he's a good guy who is quick to help when he learns he is needed.
** In episodes IV through VI, hand-held blasters always fired red bolts regardless of affiliation. However, in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', the Trade Federation blasters fired red while the Republic blasters fired green. In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' and ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Republic blasters fire blue bolts, while Separatist blasters continue with red.
** The color-coded droids of the Trade Federation tell you what they are programmed for (general, pilot, etc.).
** On the remastered collector's edition of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', Creator/GeorgeLucas comments about the costume choices for the Empire and Rebels. Empire uniforms typically were colorless (black or white) or otherwise subdued to make them less friendly. Rebel uniforms however used natural colors to emphasize warmth and friendliness. This was particularly noted during the Endor scenes where the Rebels wore camouflage and the Empire did not -- which is just as easily explained by the Rebels being, y'know, [[TheCombatPragmatist smart enough to actually use camouflage in a wooded environment]].
** Even within the "good" side, there is an aspect of potential FridgeBrilliance to the blue vs. green colouring. Qui-Gon uses green, Obi-Wan uses blue, and Luke Skywalker uses blue in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' and green in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''; the FridgeBrilliance is in how [[spoiler:much like Qui-Gon was more trusting of Anakin than Obi-Wan was, Luke was more trusting of Vader in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' than he was in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'']].
** An expansion of this is that while there are plenty of exceptions, blue lightsabers often seem to used more often by younger, inexperienced Jedi while green seems to be favoured by OlderAndWiser Jedi like Yoda. Luke's decision to change his saber colour could be said to reflect his maturity in the third film.
** And of course, as mentioned above, the Rebels' spacecraft fire red lasers, and the Empire's spacecraft fire green lasers. In the prequel trilogy, this is inverted and subverted with the Republic's fighters firing green lasers, and the Separatists' firing red lasers.

* ''Film/{{Tron}}'' is probably one of the best-known "blue heroes, red villains" works. This carries over into the newest film ''Film/TronLegacy''. In both, it's a case of {{Exaggerated|Trope}} and JustifiedTrope, as a Program's TronLines give away its alignment, function, and origin. The best example of this is when [[spoiler:Rinzler ([[ChekhovMIA aka the "believed deceased" Tron]])]] snaps out of BrainwashedAndCrazy. His lines change from orange-red to bluish-silver.
** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen In the early designs for the film, however, the colors were different.]] It would have been yellow for those allied with the Users, and light blue (which showed up as green for some reason) for the MCP and his forces, but ExecutiveMeddling forced the filmmakers to change it to the more standard "blue for good, red for bad" seen in the final film.[[note]]Though since the scenes with CLU at the beginning were already done by this time, the original colors can be seen during this part.[[/note]]

** The Space Paranoids portion of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' has a similar setup, since it's directly based on ''Tron''. Same with the Grid in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', being inspired by ''Tron Legacy''.
* Sergey Bondarchuk's ''Film/{{Waterloo}}'' goes some way to portray Blücher's Army of the Lower Rhine as menacing and somewhat sinister by associating it with the colour black, even to the extent of deviating from historical facts.

* In Creator/DavidEddings' novels, the good guys and their MacGuffin are blue, the bad guys and ''their'' MacGuffin are red. Every. Single. Time.
** Lampshaded by Silk, who was disappointed that the Cthrag Sardius (Literature/TheMalloreon's MacGuffin) couldn't have been green for a change.
** Deities tend to be color-coded as well, appearing in a particular shade of light whenever they show up.

** Of course, that's not counting the way the entire species is ColorCodedForYourConvenience, with color determining size, rank, and mating behavior (and as a consequence, the riders are also color-coded, since everyone's place in the hierarchy is based on what kind of dragon they ride).

** For the most part, it seems that [[RedIsHeroic red is good]] and green is bad. Gryffindor House is represented by scarlet red and gold, the non-fatal combat spells normally used by the heroes (''Stupefy'' and ''Expelliarmus'') create red light, and the Weasleys all have flaming red hair. Conversely, Slytherin House is represented by emerald green and silver, the Killing Curse used pretty much only by the bad guys (''Avada Kedavra'') create green light, and two snakes employed by Voldemort (the basilisk and Nagini) are both described as being green[[note]]Neither were green in [[Film/HarryPotter the film versions]].[[/note]]. However, there is one huge dent in this pattern -- it is constantly mentioned that Harry has green eyes while Voldemort has [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes.]]
** Also, Beauxbatons school uniforms are pale blue, Durmstrang's are blood red, and Hogwarts basic black.
** Inverted in one of the most evil persons in the books: Dolores Umbridge - she loooves pink (and cute little kittens).

* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', the Istari are all associated with a specific color: Gandalf the Gray, Radagast the Brown, and Saruman the White (there were also two more Istari known as the Blue Wizards, though they're only mentioned briefly in some of Tolkien's other works and never actually appear). When Saruman becomes corrupted, he styles himself Saruman of Many Colours, though still uses a white hand or S sign as his symbol. When Gandalf returns to Middle Earth, he replaces Saruman as Gandalf the White. Sauron is associated with black and red. His banner is a red eye on a black field.
** In the fight on the bridge of Khazad-Dum, Gandalf's sword Glamdring glows blue (as Elvish swords always do in the proximity of evil creatures), while the Balrog's sword glows red, similar to the page image.
** Gondor/The Reunited Kingdom, being an entire nation of badass heroes, has black as its main heraldic color.

* In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', the Homunculi all have default outfits that are very dark shades of a certain colour. So dark in fact, that they appear black in all but the best lighting conditions. Also, they all have dark hair.
** Also, in the Manga, Zolf J. Kimbly is a ManInWhite.

* ''Anime/{{Slayers}}'' lampshaded this; Amelia thinks that all bad guys really do wear black all the time.

* A meta discussion of this trope occurs in ''Comicbook/{{FF}}'' #12, where the students discuss why only villains ever seem to dress in green and purple.
* In the trilogy of ''[[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk: Gray]]'', ''ComicBook/DaredevilYellow'', and ''ComicBook/SpiderManBlue'', these elements (the colors in the titles being one of the dominant colors of their costume at the time) are explored through the lens of each hero's earliest years. When the Hulk, the original comic book AntiHero, was a mass of confusion and rage that didn't know whether it was good or evil. When Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, was so afraid of someone losing their father like he did that he put on a costume and beat up criminals. When the jovial, wise-cracking Spider-Man was feeling lower than he ever had in his life.

* Inverted in the film ''Film/CityOfAngels'': The angels, who are good, all wear black trench-coats.

* So you know all those Gospel songs about a train to Heaven, and you want to flip it around, talk about a train to Hell (only, of course, without being that explicit). What's the fastest, easiest way to ensure that people get what you're talking about from the first few words of your song? Call it a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gybGXnciig Long Black Train]].

[[folder:Theater]]
* It has become standard practice in British pantomime that the baddie enters stage left and is lit by a spotlight with a green gel.
[[/folder]]

* The only ghost in ''VideoGame/PacMan'' who actively chases Pac-Man is the red one. It's interesting to note that his American name is Blinky, since one of the stereotypes associated with cold-blooded killers is their reluctance to blink.

* The ''G.I. Joe'' example is parodied in the ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' "Cheat Commandos" toons, where the bad guy organization is literally named Blue Laser.

* {{Lampshaded}} in [[http://www.arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/2947.htm this]] ''Webcomic/ArthurKingOfTimeAndSpace'' strip.
* According to ''WebComic/AxeCop'', green is the colour of good guys.
* Done with various colors of latex in ''Webcomic/{{Collar 6}}''.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''s BigBad wore black.
* ''Greenroom'', a new webcomic, actually linked to this page when talking about one of the [[http://getagreenroom.thecomicseries.com/castlist characters]].

* Lampshaded in ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' by Umbria when talking to two [[PathOfInspiration Angelo's Kids]] missionaries [[http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0081.html here]].

* The Dark Overlords from the web fiction serial ''Literature/DimensionHeroes'', as probably expected, dress in dark clothing.

* Creator/RogerEbert spent about 99% of his review of ''WesternAnimation/ThePebbleAndThePenguin'' [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19950412/REVIEWS/504120302/1023 ranting about this trope]] instead of, you know, reviewing the movie.

* The killer and detective in ''Manga/DeathNote'' are lit by vivid red and blue lights respectively during internal monologue, regardless of the natural lighting of the scene. Later on, Matsuda gets yellow, and both Mogi and Aizawa get green. Even outside their monologues, Light tends to wear darker colours, while L is in an off-white T-shirt and jeans.

** Averted with Miranda ([[TheEeyore black]] / [[ShrinkingViolet purple]]) and Krory ([[DarkIsNotEvil black]]/{{blood|y murder}} [[OurVampiresAreDifferent red]]). They're both [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Eerie Pale Skinned Brunettes]] too.

* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' portrays this trope by ring colors. Although not cheery, Gokudera is red. Yamamoto is blue and is very cheery. Hibari is neutral purple, since all he wants is to battle Reborn, and is also considered gold, as Yamamoto once called him the ace of the team.
** Xanxus fits in the black category of neutral. Byakuran, obviously insane, wears lots of white, and sometimes black.
** As a matter of fact, the entire Milliefiore Family wears white and black. Apparently, the members wearing white are a little bit insane for some reason, excluding Irie, of course. The members wearing black tend to be more rational and are usually the ones who fight.

* The four Links of the ''[[Manga/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda: Four Swords]]'' manga have nicknames based on the colors they were; Green is the original, Blue is hot-tempered, Red is cheerful, and Vio (Violet, but that's a girl's name) is smart.

* The ''Anime/PrettyCure'' series has had various characters either play this trope straight or defy it. Of those who defy it include [[Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure Nagisa and Honoka]] who were equally badass, [[Anime/YesPrettyCure5 Urara]] and [[Anime/SmilePrettyCure Yayoi]], who were more TheChick than a KidAppealCharacter, and [[Anime/SuitePrettyCure Ako]], who was was just ''out there'' with her colors.

* The ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' wear blue tights and Dr. Doom wears a green cloak.
** For most of their existence, the FF have worn bright blue with black trim. From the mid-1980s to mid-1990s, though, they wore a darker shade of blue with white trim (though John Byrne apparently intended the uniforms to be black, as [[ComicBook/XMen Jean Grey]] calls the new uniforms black in issue 286). How dark the blue was in this era really [[DependingOnTheArtist depended on the artist/colorist]]. In ''ComicBook/HeroesReborn'' they wore two distinct shades of blue (the uniforms were slightly modified SHIELD uniforms from that world). With ''ComicBook/HeroesReturn'', the team was again wearing blue with black trim, though they went to another white-trimmed uniform for a couple of years before settling back on blue-and-black. In 2011, the team adopted white suits with black trim for a time. And after that, they wore red with black trim.

* In the last story of ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'', "Matriculated", when the captured robot is converted, his eye color changes from red to green.

* In ''Film/CurseOfTheGoldenFlower'', the soldiers in the chrysanthemum rebellion wear golden armor, while the king's soldiers wear silver.

* Used and lampshaded in ''Film/DestinationMoon''. Each of the astronauts has a differently colored spacesuit so the audience can tell them apart when their faces are not visible. One of the character specifically says that the suits are brightly colored to stand out on the moon's surface, and different colored so that they can tell each other apart.

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Willow has red hair and green eyes. When she goes dark in Season 6, her eyes and hair turn black. We can literally watch her transformation back as her hair and eyes gradually take their natural color again later. Later, in Season 7, when she does a strong spell but '''''does not''''' go bad from it, her eyes and hair are pure white.

* The Sci-Fi Channel's ''Series/{{Dune}}'' miniseries is heavily color-coded. Not just the costumes, but the background lighting and set coloring followed this convention. The Harkonnens are all red all over. The Imperial Corrinos are purple and gold. The Atreides primarily wore tan and white. Fremen wear brown and dark orange. Spacing Guild members wear black robes to fit in with their "neutrality" and almost priestly function.
** Note that the novels clearly state that the Atreides colors are green and black, the Harkonnens blue, and the Corrino scarlet and gold (with black and gray for the Sardaukar).
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has browncoats and purplebellies. Though it usually comes up in conversation only. The two creepy bad guys are known as the "hands of blue."
** The general costume and set design uses this trope as well. The ''Serenity'' uses a lot of warm and friendly reds and browns, and Mal, Zoe, Inara and Kaylee are usually wearing a variety of red (if you count pink for Kaylee). Alliance uniforms, ships and buildings are sterile blues and grays. Neutral ground tends to be dusty brown.

* In the 1969 adaptation of Alan Garner's ''The Owl Service'', each of the three main characters is always attired in a particular colour: Gwyn in black, Alison in red, and Roger in green. These were the three colours of electrical plug wiring in the UK at the time, and the person to 'earth' the power the three of them have created is Roger, who is wearing the colour that matches this wire.
* In any given ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' show, [[ColourCodedForYourConvenience you can tell what character is what ranger when they're in civilian clothes, since they'll usually be wearing that color]].
** The good guys' colorcoding also fits the trope quite well. TheHero is almost always red. Blue will almost always be, if not TheLancer, the smart, technique-instead-of-Heart-based character that ''makes'' a good Lancer (less like TVGenius Billy and more like Kai, Sky, and Theo - experts who get stuck playing second fiddle to the RookieRedRanger.) The last two loners, Dillon and Will, are both Black Rangers, though far from all Black Rangers are like this. Also, the three Rangers to wear purple started their careers beating up on the good Rangers (well, we had one Ranger-like [[TheDragon Dragon]] who didn't defect, one who did, and one good guy who went through a few episodes NotHimself before becoming a Ranger.) It doesn't reach the point of every character to wear a given color being an {{Expy}} of the last, but colorcoding does sometimes happen.
*** There does seem to be something of a MemeticMutation that all Black Rangers are either rebellious loners or extremely serious and that Green Rangers are air-heads and/or the comic relief of the team, but there are plenty of exceptions with both colours.
*** Black tends to be the "cool" one, but with two flavors - sometimes he's the rogue like Dillon or Will, but sometimes he's the show-off, like Zack or Chase. (And then there's Jake, who ''wants'' to be the cool one but sometimes ends up the ButtMonkey as a direct result - thus fitting both his colors!) Interestingly, Green is often TheSmartGuy - Damon, Trip, Cam, Bridge, and Riley are about as un-airheaded as it gets! There are more genius greens than blues, even if everyone associates blue with smarts because the FirstInstallmentWins.

* Major political powers in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' have colors that they use for hull paints, transporters, warp nacelle glows and weapons. TheFederation is fond of blue and red, although it currently uses orange weapons. The Romulans and Borg prefer green, while the Klingons favor both red and green. The Cardassians use yellow for everything, and the Dominion uses purple and blue.
** On the few occasions when their true forms are glimpsed, ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'''s [[EnergyBeings Prophets and Pa-Wraiths]] follow the blue for good, red for evil version of this trope.
** In addition, every incarnation of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' has different-colored uniforms to denote what division personnel work in. In every pre-TNG timeframe series, Red = Operations/[[RedShirt Death]], Blue = Science/Medical, and Gold = Command. In TNG and later series, the meanings of Red and Gold are swapped. This is lampshaded in "Trials and Tribble-ations" when characters from ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' go back to the original series era.

* Mira, Henrik, and Glen from the original ''Series/{{Vintergatan}} 5A'' all wear jumpsuits with primary colors, though for a reason -- they're the ones that came pre-supplied with the spaceship, they didn't have those colors originally. Irina wears an orange space suit from Russia. Peo doesn't have any heroic colors, instead wearing a black cab driver's uniform, but the one who supplied the spaceship didn't know he was coming along.

* While there are no good or bad guys per se in ''Series/FraggleRock'', the Fraggles are typically colour-coded according to their personality; particularly the FiveManBand. Gobo, TheHero and most balanced of the group, has fuchsia hair and wears a multi-coloured and multi-hued outfit. Red, the CuteBruiser ActionGirl, has bright red hair and clothing. Wembley, the high-strung and indecisive TagalongKid, has yellow hair and a banana-tree pattern shirt. Mokey, the spacey GranolaGirl, has pale green hair and wears earth-tones. Boober, the perpetually angsty GrumpyBear and [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guy]], doesn't really wear much besides his hat and scarf, but his hair and clothing are all [[{{Goth}} dark-coloured]].
** This seems to work for other Fraggles as well. Cantus, TricksterMentor, dresses in a gauzy purple robe, befitting of his mystical personality and wisdom. ManipulativeBastard Convincing John dresses in a confusion of colours, like a stereotypical used-car salesman.

* In many productions of ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'', including the filmed 2001 revival production, Jesus is always in white and tan, and Judas is always in red and black.
* There were paired productions of ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' and ''Theatre/AntonyAndCleopatra'' where each of the major political factions had costumes of a single color palette to make the action easier to follow. Antony's (the hot-headed military man) faction was red while Octavian's (the calculating politician) was blue and Crassus' (the weak truce-keeper) was white.
* Productions of ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' frequently have the Montagues in blue, the Capulets in red, and the prince and his kinsmen in [[ColorCodedPatrician purple]] or black/brown. It might be because the Capulets are "fiery" and the Montagues (or Romeo at least) are "watery" or it might be so [[PinkGirlBlueBoy Juliet can wear pink and Romeo can wear blue]].
** Likewise, ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' often color codes the couples with Hermia and Lysander wearing pink/red and Helena and Demetrius wearing light/dark blue. Many productions go further, dressing the Puck in green, Titania in Silver/White, Oberon in Black/Gold, the Mechanicals in earthy tones etc.
* ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'': The first time you see Blanche she's all in white. Hell, even her name means "white".
** Also of note is the men's poker game, which Williams emphasizes should be lit in raw, primary colors. And there are big ripe watermelon slices on the table.
** Another example is Williams' direction for Stella's kimono in the Act 4, Scene 1 - it should be bright blue, a departure from her usual color scheme. This is just after the "STELLA!!" scene, which implies that Stanley and Stella have just had sex.

* The fairy targeting systems of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' has the fairy turn blue if it's targeting a NPC, yellow if it's targeting an enemy, and green if it's targeting an inanimate object.
** Not to mention that Link wears green (with brown/blonde hair), Zelda usually is wearing white (with blonde hair), and Ganon is usually wearing black (with red hair).
*** '''''And''''' Zelda has blue (Nayru), Link has green (Farore), and Ganondorf has red (Din). Also, Ganondorf's magic is almost always purple, contrasting with Zelda's blue magic.
** Also, the Master Sword's hilt is always blue or indigo, and the blade glows blue or white, which always contrasts to the villains main colors (usually red and/or dark purple).

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' sees Link split into four, wearing red, green, blue, and purple respectively. (Fanon usually sees each Link as having a different personality.) [[TheHeavy Shadow Link]] is dark gray, Vaati is jet black, and [[spoiler: Ganon]] is dull blue.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', the Magypsies are wizard-like entities that live millenia long lives. They [[CampGay each represent a color of the rainbow]](Aeolia=Red, Phrygia=Orange, etc.), except for [[spoiler:Locria/Fassad/Yokuba, who has betrayed the Magypsies, and now sports white(absence of color in pigments)]].

* ''Webcomic/OffWhite'' Subverts this. The black and white spirits seem neither good, nor evil, and are not always completely white or black (Iki, the suspected white spirit wolf, is gray, and a white spirit Raven is black).

* The original ''[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Transformers]]'' is incredibly heavy with this. In its early years, the Autobot ranks were crowded with bright primary colors (come on, Optimus is covered in red, white and blue), while the Decepticons ranks are crammed with the more murky shades - especially popular was gray, black, purple, and dark blue (with the white, red, and blue [[TheStarscream Starscream]] standing out as the big exception). In its later years, colors diversified a bit more, although 1987's range of toys adhered quite closely to a pattern of gray, black and red for Autobots, and teal, blue and purple for Decepticons. One aspect that maintained a long enduring standard (until the movieverse) involved the symbols - the Autobot symbol was always red, while the Decepticon symbol was likewise purple.
** It's notable that Hasbro recognised that the Decepticons are predominantly purple, and actually recoloured toys that were largely purple to other tones. The most prominent example was Armada combiner Tidal Wave, who started as a purple and black tribute to Shockwave (who was actually called Shockwave in Japan), but wound up covered in earth tones when brought to North America.
** The ''Transformers'' cartoon series took the color-coding pattern to the next step, introducing a basic convention of blue eyes for Autobots, and red eyes for Decepticons. This was an unswerving constant in the first year of the cartoon, but was played with come the second year by the yellow-eyed Decepticon thrust, and while the basic pattern was employed through to the end of the show, more and more exceptions continued to appear. Something that was maintained a lot more consistently, however, was the color-coding applied to the team's paraphernalia: Autobot laser blasts, spaceships, headquarters and machines and devices of all shapes and size were a golden orange in color, while the Decepticons favored their iconic purple.
** Strangely averted with ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''. Optimus Primal, Rattrap, Rhinox and Dinobots had red eyes.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', the red and blue eye concept was revisited with much stricter use: the only exceptions being the purple-peepered Decepticon Swindle, who is only given those eyes because he had them back in the 80s, and was a favorite character of the show's art director and Jetfire, for the sake of keeping the orange and blue coloring with his twin brother Jetstorm. Autobots come in a variety of colors, but all of the Decepticons are primarily purple (except for the Starscream clones, which are given the color schemes based on the Starscream-recolor characters in Generation 1. Note that this does not apply to Screamer himself, now purple like the other 'cons.)
** The movieverse has colorful 'bots and gray 'cons. The [[CombiningMecha Devastator components]] make up the few exceptions.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', [[EskimoLand the Water Tribes]] are blue, [[TheFederation the Earth Kingdom]] is green, [[TheEmpire the Fire Nation]] is red, and [[MartialPacifist the Air Nomads]] were either yellow or a lighter shade of blue.

* On ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' the clan's eyes would glow white when they were angry, while [[BigBad Demona's]] would glow red. PlayedWith later when [[AffirmativeActionGirl Angela]] showed up; hers were red too, and WordOfGod says that the color is actually determined by sex.

* In the British children's series, ''WesternAnimation/{{TUGS}}'', the Star Tugs are all painted yellow with red, white, and blue smokestacks, while the Z-Stacks are all painted brown with black smokestacks. The American Main/CutAndPasteTranslation, ''WesternAnimation/SaltysLighthouse'' averts this by [[Main/AdaptationalHeroism making the Z-Stacks friends of the Star Tugs]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mixels}}'' assigns each Mixel tribe with a color based around [[ColorCodedElements their elemental theme]] (such as [[PlayingWithFire red for the Infernites]] and [[ShockAndAwe yellow for the Electroids]]) to highlight their bright and creative ideas. Their enemies, the Nixels, on the other hand, are black and white, to show off how ''un''creative they are.
* Inverted in the ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' animated series. The ConspicuousCG "Enhanced Imaging" shows the Inner Sphere protagonists in red and the Clan antagonists as green. Though justified in that the technology was developed by the Clans and the Inner Sphere didn't obtain it until two-thirds through the series run.

In this trope, different factions will have competing color schemes that makes it instantly clear who the good guys and [[ObviouslyEvil bad guys]] are. This can be in the form of clothing, [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair hair]] or [[ColorCodedEyes eyes]], [[BattleAura auras]], EnergyWeapon{{s}}, [[ColorCodedWizardry magic powers]] or a general ColorMotif for factions. This has some basis in real life, as during the musket era (i.e. the American Revolution) [[ColorCodedArmies armies wore contrasting colors]] to avoid friendly fire. Nevertheless, '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''

* ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': Frollo and his henchmen always wear black, Quasimodo, Esmeralda, Phoebus, Clopin, and the Gypsies all wear bright colors, and at the end of the film both Phoebus and especially Esmeralda wear white.

* ''WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch'': Stitch is colored blue, while Leroy is colored red.

* ''Manga/SoulEater'' is a very colorful series, literally and otherwise. The given colors for evil tend to be red and black (predominantly Asura, but also madness and bad things in general), with the series grim reapers adopting the classic black-and-white combination (even down to their hair color) in contrast to the protagonists' usually bright surroundings.
** Souls (when they're seen by someone who can [[StatOVision sense soul wavelengths]]) in the anime also fit this;

[[LightIsGood White for good]] and [[DarkIsEvil black for evil]] (why do you think it's called ''TheDarkSide''?) is probably the oldest and most obvious classification. It can be more complex than this, of course, especially [[ValuesDissonance when you get into different cultural values and perceptions]]. (For example, in Asia many countries associate white with death and mourning [since bones are white], as it has been associated in Europe at various times. It can also denote {{pur|e is not good}}ity, merely because it shows dirt well.) Black can also be used as a form of ShadowArchetype which is not necessarily evil, and nowadays, dark equaling evil is subverted as often as it's used straight; see DarkIsNotEvil.

Another common pairing is red versus blue (though they are commonly used in [[GreyAndGrayMorality grey vs. gray]] engagements) where the hero is blue and the villain is red. Various reasons are given for this; this may be due to the "good" American and "evil" British colors during the US War of Independence.[[note]]Although there were also British, Loyalist, Hessian, etc. units dressed in blue and some American units were dressed in red or white while their French allies wore white.[[/note]] Or it may have been beaten into Western culture by the Cold War, where Communists always wore some form of red, exemplified by the Soviet Union's military forces, the Red Army. Obviously, America, the opposite of the USSR, takes blue.[[note]]Inverted in Soviet Russia, where the brown Red Army defeats green and gray Axis forces. Also often inverted in Britain due to the traditional red British troops taking on blue American "pirates / rebels" or the blue French army.[[/note]] Yet another possibility is that it derived from red's use to mean destruction and depict the devil (in-between the magma and bloodshed colors) versus the HeavenlyBlue. Alternatively, it may simply be chosen due to ChromaticArrangement. A variation on this is RedOniBlueOni, with a character that's calm being represented by blue and a more fiery character being represented by red, usually TheHero and TheLancer, or TheHero and TheRival.

In superhero comic books, superhero costume themes tend to rely on the primary colors (red, blue, yellow or gold) whereas supervillain costume themes tend to rely on the secondary colors (green, purple[[note]][[MemeticMutation Thanks doc.]][[/note]] and grey). Most commonly, heroes wear red and blue, and villains wear green and purple.

A frequent arrangement for weapons, EyeBeams, LaserBlade swords and energy blasts is bright green or blue for good and red for evil, thanks to the colors of the Jedi and Sith lightsabers in ''Franchise/StarWars''. (However, laser weapons on the heroes' ships in ''Franchise/StarWars IV-VI'' generally fire red blasts while the villainous Imperial craft fire green ones. This was done because U.S. weapons use red tracer rounds. Guess what color the Soviet Union used.)

It should be noted, though, that many times it's not the actual color that's used to distinguish good and evil, but the tone or shade of that color. For example, more natural or muted colors are often used for the good guys, while darker or more garish versions adorn the villains. The best example of this is probably green, which can be used for good if reminiscent of nature, or bad if it looks artificial, either by being too bright ''or'' too dark. Confusing things further is the general rule that in sci-fi, if there are two armies, the 'good' army will be the one that wears brighter colors ([[Franchise/StarTrek Federation vs Klingons]], [[Franchise/StarWars Rebels vs Empire]] etc).

It should also be noted that colors can be used to determine that kind of person's personality and powers as well.

In pre-medieval, medieval and renaissance times this was taken for granted, even in non-fictional contexts sometimes. These days it's more of an UndeadHorseTrope, or perhaps even an {{Omnipresent Trope|s}}, at least for fiction.

A SuperTrope to RedIsHeroic, BlueIsHeroic, PrimaryColorChampion, GreenAndMean, SecondaryColorNemesis, RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver, EvilWearsBlack, RedIsViolent.

Compare ChromaticArrangement, ColorCharacter, PaintItBlack, PinkGirlBlueBoy, ColorCodedPatrician, SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains, GoodEyesEvilEyes, DressCodedForYourConvenience, ColorCodedMultiplayer, ColorCodedArmies, ColorCodedWizardry, RainbowMotif, LawOfChromaticSuperiority, GoldAndWhiteAreDivine.

!!Examples (Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease)

If you're looking for the Pantheon/TropesPantheon page regarding the deities of these tropes, [[Pantheon/GoodAndEvilColors see here]].

!!Examples

[[folder:Real Life / History]]
* Originally, the term "BlackKnight" referred to men who, for some reason or another, removed their tabards, coated their armor in pitch to protect against rust, and placed thick dark furs over their shields to hide their heraldry, so as to disguise themselves. Needless to say, a lot of these weren't nice men, and the term started to carry negative connotations.
* It doesn't hurt the Nazis' frequent presentation as [[ThoseWackyNazis cartoonish villains]] that their flag was red, white and black. Nor does it help that certain divisions, like the SS, used almost jet-black uniforms. Even the standard service uniform for Johann Average Wehrmacht Soldier in Europe was a dark gray.
** Even as far back as UsefulNotes/WorldWarI or earlier, the Second Reich preferred uniforms with darker colors and the iconic, mean-looking ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pickelhaube pickelhaube]]'' - which was a huge boon to Allied propagandists in WWI who wanted to paint the conflict as a clash of Good Versus Those Evil Huns. Oh, and their flag was also red, white and black - in fact, Hitler deliberately copied those colours for the Nazi flag.
* After the fall of communism in Bulgaria in 1989, the newly-formed right wing party took a blue color, while the socialists (former communists) retained their original red. Many still perceive this as a GoodVsEvil symbolic. This is subverted by others.
* The red-blue divide in European politics began in the short-lived French parliament that sat during the transition from monarchy to Republic in the late 1700's. Progressive radicals sat at the "red" end of the tricolour flag; conservative and reactionary factions under the blue. to this day progressive left parties are associated with red, conservative parties with blue. Depending on where you stand, the good guys are your colour and those deluded misguided Socialist reds/ reactionary corrupt self-serving Tories are the bad guys. Paradoxically, the USA reverses this convention: here Republicans are red and the (only comparatively) more progressive left-leaning Democrats are blue. This causes confusion for European observers looking at a political map of the USA and vice-versa.
** The Red/Blue divide in the United States is a historical accident, and NewerThanTheyThink. Historically, news agencies, mainly the TV networks, would randomly assign a color to the parties, and even for the same election, different networks would use different colors for the same party. Then, in 2000, it so happened that most of the major networks were using the same "Red for Republican, Blue for Democrat" color scheme. Since the 2000 elections dragged on for months, people were being continually bombarded with the electoral maps, and the color associations stuck.
* In U.S Military Wargame operations, the U.S and friendly forces are referred to as "BLUFOR", standing for "Blue Forces". The bad-guys meanwhile get called "OPFOR", for "Opposing Forces".
** Western military forces as far back as the First World War have been using blue and red as standard colours for map symbols representing allied and enemy forces, respectively. This was a change for the British, who had previously been using red for their own forces due to their traditional red coats. NATO militaries have adopted the same colour scheme, with the addition of yellow for unknown forces. Many strategy video games follow this convention, as noted in the VideoGames entry above.
** The "blue is friendly" convention lends itself to the phrase "blue-on-blue" to refer to [[UnfriendlyFire friendly fire]].
* Due to the differing chemicals chosen, US-aligned forces using NATO standardized ammunition typically use red-colored tracer rounds. Nations aligned with the Soviet Union, as well as those who simply buy their guns, use Soviet standardized green, which, ironically, meant that the people ''fighting'' the Communists were the ones firing off red ammunition.
* Reds vs. white symbolized (communist/socialist) revolution and counter-revolution. Note that both colours can be either good or evil, and this was present in propaganda of both sides. For example: [[http://www.studenthandouts.com/Leon-Trotsky-Lev-Davidovich-Bronstein-USSR-Peace-and-Freedom-in-Sovdepiya-Anti-Semitic-White-Army-Propaganda-Poster-1919.jpg here the colour red is used to connect the Trotsky to Satan]], while [[http://s002.radikal.ru/i199/1103/43/da6e6d55fba7.jpg these posters use it to symbolise defiance and the hope for a bright new future]].
* Inverted in accounting terminology. "In the black" (the darker color) is used to describe making a profit, while "in the red" (the lighter color) describes being in debt. Traditionally, credits are/were logged in black ink, while red ink denotes debits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports]]
!!American Football
* One the NFL's longest-standing rivalries pits the Washington Redskins (burgundy and gold) and the Dallas Cowboys (silver and blue).
* The biggest collegiate rivalries with the red-blue contrast include the Florida Gators (orange and blue) vs. Florida State Seminoles (garnet and gold), Alabama Crimson Tide (crimson and white) vs. Auburn Tigers (orange and blue), and Michigan Wolverines (maize and blue) vs. Ohio State Buckeyes (scarlet and grey).
* The Oakland Raiders are a relatively rare team in the United States that uses black as a main team color (complemented with silver). "Raider Nation" as a whole has a distinct bad boy outlaw image in the NFL to come along with that black, cultivated in part by the embracing of it by their longtime owner Al Davis, players such as quarterback/big party-goer Ken Stabler and safety Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, and definitely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raider_Nation#/media/File:Raider_fan.jpg by their fans]].

!!Association Football
* In England: Liverpool (maroon red) and Everton (royal blue), Manchester United (the "Red Devils") and Manchester City (sky blue), Southampton (red) and Portsmouth (blue)
* In Germany: FC Bayern Munich (red) vs. TSV 1860 München (blue and white)
* Australia: Western Sydney Wanderers FC (red and black) vs Sydney FC (sky blue and black), Adelaide United (red) vs Melbourne Victory (navy blue). Melbourne Victory vs Melbourne Heart (sky blue at home, red away).
* Iran: Persepolis (red) vs Esteghlal (blue)
* Bulgaria: The "Eternal Derby" CSKA Sofia (red) vs PFC Levski Sofia (blue).
%%* Korea: FC Seoul vs Suwon.
* In Scotland, things are slightly different with the introduction of green as a third sporting colour: the Edinburgh derby has Hearts (maroon-red) v Hibernians (green). Glasgow's deadly local rivalry has Rangers (blue) against Celtic (green and white).
* On the international level, there's South Korea ("The Reds") and Japan ("Samurai Blue")

!!Baseball
* The St. Louis Cardinals (red) and the Chicago Cubs (red and blue both exist in their logo, but blue predominates), a rivalry that stems to the 19th Century from territorial fan base turf wars in central Illinois.
* The "black is bad" motif gets both played straight and subverted with the Chicago White Sox:
** Going away from pure sports, when several players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox were caught [[ThrowingTheFight throwing the World Series]] the players involved were all banned from baseball and the incident itself became known as the Black Sox Scandal.
** On the other hand, a one-time team motto was "good guys wear black", coined by play-by-play announcer Hawk Harrelson.

!!Ice Hockey
* The Toronto Maple Leafs (Blue/White) v. the Ottawa Senators (Red/Black/Gold). Also the Maple Leafs v. the Montreal Canadiens (Red/Blue/White, though their colored sweaters are mainly red).
* Out in Alberta, there is the Calgary Flames (red and black) and the Edmonton Oilers (blue, orange, and white).
* The New Jersey Devils (red/black/white, home sweaters mainly red) and the New York Rangers (blue/red/white, home sweaters are mainly blue - they ''are'' nicknamed the Blueshirts), definitely up there in the most-hated-rivals list (it wasn't until 2018 that the teams made a trade with each other, stretching all the way back to when the Devils franchise moved in from Colorado in 1982).
* The Chicago Blackhawks can do both major color contrasts with their two major rivals. Their predominate color red contrasts with the St. Louis Blues', um, blue; for the Detroit Red Wings (since they are also predominantly red) they go to secondary colors (black for the Blackhawks, white for the Red Wings).

[[/folder]]

That said, the general breakdown is this:

Good Guys:
* '''{{Blue|IsHeroic}}''' -- TheHero or TheLancer (If TheHero wears Red)
* '''{{Red|IsHeroic}}''' -- TheHero or TheLancer (If TheHero wears Blue)
* '''[[PrimaryColorChampion Red and Blue Together]]''' -- '''TheHero'''
* '''Natural greens''' -- NatureHero, CloserToEarth, TheBigGuy, TheSmartGuy, SixthRanger
* '''Pink''' -- The TokenGirl, TheChick, or possibly TheMedic; also used for [[PinkHeroine heroines]] especially in MagicalGirl series due to pink being seen as a DistaffCounterpart of red or blue.
* '''Light Blue/Cyan''' -- TheChick, BigGood or KidAppealCharacter. Used as a [[TrueBlueFemininity feminine alternative]] to {{blue|IsHeroic}} for heroines without having to rely on pink, yellow or white.
* '''Bright Purple''' -- TheChick, since GracefulLadiesLikePurple, and another alternative heroine color. Very popular with [[WizardsAndWitches witches]] and other Magical girls.
* '''Browns and other earthy tones''' -- NatureHero, CloserToEarth, TheMentor, RetiredBadass; their use by villains is not unheard of but somewhat rare, and tends to denote a villain that relies on savagery and physical brutality over cunning.
* '''Gold''' -- TheAce
* '''Yellow''' -- KidAppealCharacter, TheBigGuy, or TheChick.
* '''Gray''' -- ReasonableAuthorityFigure
* '''White and off-white''' -- TheHero, MessianicArchetype, BigGood, WhiteMagicianGirl. Typically connotes to moral purity, innocence, wisdom, and the divine (especially when paired with {{gold|AndWhiteAreDivine}}).
* '''Black''' -- DarkIsNotEvil at play here. The go-to color of [[GoodIsNotNice rough around the edge good guys]] and {{antihero}}es.

Bad Guys:
* '''All white''' -- [[LightIsNotGood A hint of madness]], [[KnightTemplar religious]] [[PathOfInspiration zealotry]], or [[CorruptChurch a church that oversteps its bounds]]. Occasionally can also reflect [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished flawless]] [[EvilIsSexy glamour]] or sterility, especially on TheManBehindTheMan or other villains who do not like to get their hands (or clothes) dirty. Also, due to Asian cultures associating [[SnowMeansDeath white with death]] as mentioned above, characters who [[WomanInWhite dress all or]] [[ManInWhite mostly in white]] or have {{white hair|BlackHeart}} are often strongly associated with death, [[MysticalWhiteHair the supernatural]], etc.
* '''Off-white''' -- [[AlwaysMale A jackass]]. Always takes the form of an ugly suit (or, if really bad, tuxedo), as it was fashionable for a time in social groups usually perceived as obnoxious, which is also when the trope is most often invoked, although guidos and arsim are sometimes dressed in particularly egregious examples in modern media.
* '''[[RedIsViolent Blood Red]]''' -- AxCrazy, OmnicidalManiac
* '''Yellow''' -- {{Madness|Tropes}}, DirtyCoward and TheDreaded
* '''Navy Blue''' -- a favorite of evil [[TheChessmaster chessmasters]] and {{Aristocrats|AreEvil}}.
* '''[[SicklyGreenGlow Unnatural Greens]]''' -- the villain employs toxic materials in his schemes.
* '''Silver''' -- RichBitch, indicates wealth and arrogance.
** '''Gold''' -- ManOfWealthAndTaste, with similar indications.
* '''Purple/Violet''' -- [[ThisIndexIsABitch Evil bitches and villainesses]]. Popular in Japanese media; the official color of videogame evil; really popular for comic book villains and nefarious aliens, particularly in combination with green. It is also often associated with [[TechnicolorToxin venom]]. As it is also the ancient color for royalty, tying it in with [[AristocratsAreEvil Aristocrats]].
* '''[[SecondaryColorNemesis Purple and Green]]''' - '''[[BigBad The Villain]]'''
* '''[[EvilWearsBlack Black]]''' -- CardCarryingVillain, in recent times anyway.
* '''Grey''' -- GrayscaleOfEvil, soul-less, ego-extinct, card-carrying sociopathic monsters. Also popular for {{Mooks}}. [[note]] in Creator/HarryHarrison's work, the Grey Men are a race of cold emotionless mind-manipulators, all humanity and feeling having drained out of them. [[/note]]
* '''Pastels''' -- The preferred color palette of preppy {{Alpha Bitch}}es, {{Smug Snake}}s and [[BitchInSheepsClothing sugary sweet folks with dark secrets]].

Neutral Guys/Transition colors (also see ReformedButNotTamed):
* '''Black''' -- AntiHero, KnightInSourArmor, badass, a DarkIsNotEvil character (black also goes with every other color)
* '''Black and Red''' -- The undisputed colors of Bad-Assery; also common for {{Goth}}ic characters.
* '''Black and Blue''' -- also not unusual for a {{Goth}}, particularly one who isn't {{perky|goth}} by nature.
* '''Black and White in equal amounts''' (see also: referees)
* '''Light Gray''' (black + white) -- neutrals, [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor transitions]]
* '''Purple''' (blue + red) -- [[TruthInTelevision royalty, wealth and command]]; this now often overlaps with PurpleIsPowerful, and SupernaturalIsPurple. (See also PurpleIsTheNewBlack.)
* '''Orange''' (red + yellow)
* '''Green''' -- used equally for neutrals and allied but not under your control

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' has this trope smeared all over it. Sonic (the hero) is blue, Knuckles (the tough guy) is a cherry red, Amy Rose and Rouge the Bat (the chicks) have extensive pink colouring, Shadow the Hedgehog (AntiHero) is red and black, and Eggman is covered in red, yellow, and black - good old evil commie colours.