History Main / PaintItBlack

* The Devil Suit in ''CorrectorYui'' is an insta-corrupted Angel Suit.

* ''TheOrderOfTheStick''

** ''{{Digimon}}''

* ''DoctorWho'' has "The Keeper of Traken": Kind, generous, good Counsel Tremas, with his white beard, hair, and robes sees an odd-looking grandfather clock in the middle of the room. He goes over to touch it. OhCrap. Bad plan. It's the Master's TARDIS, and out comes the Master, cackling "[[GrandTheftMe A new body, at last]]!" Tremas de-ages, his hair and beard shortening and turning black, and gets a spiffy new black outfit. Why hello there, new Master.

* ''SailorMoon'': Brainwashed Tuxedo Mask fights by throwing black roses. In some IKnowYouAreInThereSomewhereFight scene in the anime, the rose in his hand is flickering between red and black.

* [=ShineGreymon=] Ruin Mode (a berserk, corrupt power-up), in ''DigimonSavers'', is a darker, duller palette swap of [=ShineGreymon=] Burst Mode (the true power-up), though in this case the dark version occurs first.

** Justified, anime Homunculi are actually "born" in the gate, where there is no light. Lack of light makes your skin paler and your hair darker.

[[folder:Comics]]

* Inverted for Raven of the ''TeenTitans'', who usually switches from her dark-blue to a white outfit when her demon father Trigon's influence becomes too great.

* ''{{X-Men}}'''s Jean Grey/Phoenix. When she first becomes Phoenix, the new suit is just there, and when she becomes Dark Phoenix, it turns red. Later in the original Phoenix arc, she can tell how close she is to losing control by what she sees her costume is doing. In the ''Endsong'' storyline, she frequently changes from green to red as her personality shifts between "Jean with Phoenix powers" and "cosmic destroyer." When her issues are finally resolved, it becomes ''white''. (The white suit has its own meaning, which, like all things Phoenix, is needlessly complicated.)
** When Jean reassembles all of the lost pieces of the Phoenix Force, her costume is white and gold and she becomes the White Phoenix of the Crown, the most complete Force/Host combination. Another Phoenix example is when Emma Frost briefly possesses the Phoenix Force during ''Endsong'', her normally white costume becomes black and gold [[{{Stripperiffic}} and more slutty. Yes, it's possible]].
** Every Phoenix host seems to get a new Phoenix-ified version of their outfit. Even Spider-Man [[spoiler: though he wasn't ''actually'' a Phoenix host at the time, so where'd the outfit come from?]]

* Samus' suit changes in ''MetroidPrime 3'' if you get corrupted. It's implied the suit has a psychic and biological link to Samus.

** When [[spoiler:Miko Miyazaki loses her Paladin powers]], her white and blue armor becomes grey and tan. WordOfGod says this is because the armor was magically enchanted only to work for a Paladin.

** The most striking example being, of course, when [[spoiler:Vaarsuvius acquires ultimate arcane power through a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with three fiends]]. [=His/Her=] normally red cape]] turns black (along with instant hair extensions and pointy teeth). Bonus: the strip title is [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html "I See a Red Robe and I Want to Paint it Black"]]. Lampshaded by Elan after the situation ends. "You're alive! And less scary!"
*** Played with in [[spoiler:the middle of the V incident. When Haley freaks out about Vaarsuvius, Belkar snaps at her, and asks her what she would do if Elan thought she had turned evil because she was wearing her dark and edgy Resistance armor. She backs off. Then it turns out Belkar was messing with her and really does think V's evil -- he's just okay with it, since [[TokenEvilTeammate he's evil too]].]]
*** Interestingly, the ''{{Dragonlance}}'' novels had [[spoiler: Raistlin]] undergo the exact same colour change and alignment change; since [[spoiler: Raist]] had the same goal (ultimate arcane power), the same or a very similar alignment (at first; this is assuming [[spoiler: V.]] is TrueNeutral); and made a similarly dodgy deal.
* Bael from ''{{Suppression}}'' does this when he finds his [[NiceHat hat]] [[spoiler: while possessing General Victus]]. He decides it doesn't match his current outfit and [[LovecraftianSuperpower sprouts tentacles that dye both red]].

* Happens in reverse for ''TeenTitans'' Raven: normally she's under her father's influence but in control of herself and her costume is dark blue, but when she's in a very good mood or completely free of her father's control her outfit turns white.

-->-- ''{{Dan and Mabs Furry Adventures}}'' [[http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Vol_749.php #749]]

See, your TransformationTrinket, your EmpathicWeapon and your costume aren't too happy with your FaceHeelTurn. Being inanimate objects, though, the only way they can express their disapproval is [[ConvenientColorChange to turn black and evil-looking]] -- goodbye {{Frills of Justice}}, hello {{Spikes of Villainy}}. The transformation usually, if not always, happens right before your eyes and those of your astonished friends, just for [[RuleOfCool dramatic]] [[EvilIsCool flair.]]

A possible variant is when a character happens to be [[StarfishCharacter split between good or evil]] or gain an EnemyWithout (sometimes just for a MirrorMatch); the EvilTwin (or both) might immediately get {{Colour Coded for Your Convenience}} in the process. In visual media, it naturally [[RuleOfPerception helps the viewer telling apart the good guy and the bad guy]].

A SubTrope of {{Colour Coded for Your Convenience}} and EvilMakeover.

* Trisha Elric in the first ''FullmetalAlchemist'' anime has brown hair, but when she is [[spoiler:"resurrected" as a [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent homunculus]]]] named Sloth, her hair is jet black.
** Black hair and paler skin seem to be a general effect on the homunculi of the anime. Lust's human form was Ishvalan, and they're all mostly middle-eastern in appearance.

* In ''ElevenEyes'', [[spoiler: when Lisette becomes Liselotte, her ElegantGothicLolita outfit changes from white to black.]]

* In ''{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'', as Willow powers up for her homicidal FreakOut, the {{phlebotinum}} involved turns her [[GoodHairEvilHair hair]] and [[GoodEyesEvilEyes eyes]] black in front of an astonished Anya.

* In ''KamenRiderDragonKnight'', It was first played straight in dreams: first, Kit is attacked by a black-clad version of himself, and in another one, Kit dreams of taking Xaviax's DealWithTheDevil, and going through a ''second'' TransformationSequence, transforming into the black suit, before hunting down and taking out his teammates. He was, needless to say, not too enthusiastic when first presented with the a real-life version of the black armor.

* For {{Transformers}}, it's very common for Hasbro and Takara to re-release an existing toy model with a black repaint. This business model is common enough that it has its own page at the [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Spontaneous_recoloration Transformers wiki]]. {{Shortpacked}} frequently [[TakeThat takes shots]] at this.
** Often, though, the change isn't good/evil, but a powerup that leaves the character's personality alone.

* In ''{{Shadow of the Colossus}}'', Wander's hair becomes darker and his skin becomes paler as you progress through the game, and then at the end [[spoiler:you become the new embodiment of Dormin, which kind of explains everything.]]
* ''[[FateStayNight Fate/stay night]]''. Two words: [[spoiler:Saber Alter]].
** And even more notable, her master: [[spoiler: Dark Sakura]]. [[spoiler: Berserker]] gets the same treatment, becoming a vaguely human-shaped cloud of black tendrils.

** The most striking example being, of course, when [[spoiler:Vaarsuvius acquires ultimate arcane power through a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with three fiends]]. [=His/Her=] normally red cape]] turns black (along with instant hair extensions and pointy teeth). Bonus: the strip title is [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html "I See a Red Robe and I Want to Paint it Black"]].
*** Lampshaded by Elan after the situation ends. "You're alive! And less scary!"
** Played with in [[spoiler:the middle of the V incident. When Haley freaks out about Vaarsuvius, Belkar snaps at her, and asks her what she would do if Elan thought she had turned evil because she was wearing her dark and edgy Resistance armor. She backs off. Then it turns out Belkar was messing with her and really does think V's evil -- he's just okay with it, since [[TokenEvilTeammate he's evil too]].]]

See, your TransformationTrinket, your EmpathicWeapon and your costume aren't too happy with your FaceHeelTurn. Being inanimate objects, though, the only way they can express their disapproval is to turn black and evil-looking -- goodbye {{Frills of Justice}}, hello {{Spikes of Villainy}}. The transformation usually, if not always, happens right before your eyes and those of your astonished friends, just for [[RuleOfCool dramatic]] [[EvilIsCool flair.]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* Variant: When Pepperland is corrupted in ''[[Film/YellowSubmarine Yellow Submarine]]'', it loses color and turns mostly grey.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Sarah from ''{{Chuck}}'' invoked this trope when she [[ReverseMole infiltrated Volkoff Industries]].

* Dark Ophelia from ''BrutalLegend''.

* Shadow and Shadow Lady in the ''CapcomVsWhatever'' continuity.

* [[PokemonColosseum Shadow Lugia]] and [[PokemonMysteryDungeon Primal Dialga.]]

* In ''{{The Order of the Stick}}'', when [[spoiler:Miko Miyazaki loses her Paladin powers]], her white and blue armor becomes grey and tan. WordOfGod says this is because the armor was magically enchanted only to work for a Paladin.

* Bael from {{Suppression}} does this when he finds his [[NiceHat hat]] [[spoiler: while possessing General Victus]]. He decides it doesn't match his current outfit and [[LovecraftianSuperpower sprouts tentacles that dye both red]].

* ''CodeLyoko'': When a Polymorphic Clone takes Ulrich's appearance in episode "Revelation", it has gray skin and a black samurai outfit with orange highlights. This is solely for the viewer's benefit of telling it apart from the true Ulrich during the following MirrorMatch, since before the Clone had been identical to Odd, up to the color.

* Inverted in ''{{Bleach}}'' -- Ichigo's normal outfit is black, and his EnemyWithin is a completely white version of himself with black teeth and eyes. While Ichigo's SuperMode turns his sword black, [[FanNickname "Ogichi"]]'s version turns it white.

* In ElevenEyes, [[spoiler: when Lisette becomes Liselotte, her ElegantGothicLolita outfit changes from white to black.]]

* For {{Transformers}}, it's very common for Hasbro and Takara to re-release an existing toy model with a black repaint. This business model is common enough that it has its own page at the [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Black_repaint Transformers wiki]]. {{Shortpacked}} frequently [[TakeThat takes shots]] at this.

*** This happens all over the ''Digimon'' continuity. For nearly every Digimon featured in the anime, there's a darker, usually black version. For the first season alone, there's [=BlackWargreymon=], [=BlackMetalGarurumon=], Saberdramon, Tsukaimon, [=BlackGatomon=]...

* When {{Supergirl}} was exposed to [[GreenRocks black kryptonite]] in a ca. 2005 storyline, she was split into her normal self and an evil ([[EvilIsSexy and obnoxiously oversexed]]) alternate personality that wore a black-and-silver version of her normal costume.

* It's very common for Hasbro and Takara to re-release an existing toy model with a black repaint. This has it's own page at the [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Black_repaint Transformers wiki]]. {{Shortpacked}} frequently [[TakeThat takes shots]] at this.

* Comicbook/{{Superman}} has gone here a few times, most notable in the {{DCAU}} with two AlternateUniverse versions of himself, both overly violent [[KnightTemplar Knights Templar]]. One of his alternate-reality doppelgangers in the comics, a Soviet communist Superman, is more morally ambiguous and gets to wear gray. Subverted with Overman in ''Final Crisis'', his doppelganger from a world where the Nazis won WorldWarII; Overman wears black and is a Nazi, but was born into that world after the war and hates what Germany did to attain global stability.

** ''Teen Titans'' also features evil clones of the characters, who are completely black or dark grey with [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]].
*** Don't forget Blackfire, who is even more of an EvilTwin to Starfire here than in the comics.

*** This happens all over the Digimon continuity. For nearly every Digimon featured in the anime, there's a darker, usually black version. For the first season alone, there's [=BlackWargreymon=], [=BlackMetalGarurumon=], Saberdramon, Tsukaimon, [=BlackGatomon=]...

*Daredevil during the recent Shadowland storyline as leader of The Hand and has officially crossed the line.

* Vanessa, Ursula's human form has very dark hair in TheLittleMermaid.

* ''KamenRider'' '''loves''' this trope. When ever a Kamen Rider has an EvilTwin, it's usually black.
** It was first played straight in dreams: first, Kit is attacked by a black-clad version of himself, and in another one, Kit dreams of taking Xaviax's DealWithTheDevil, and going through a ''second'' TransformationSequence, transforming into the black suit, before hunting down and taking out his teammates. He was, needless to say, not too enthusiastic when first presented with the a real-life version of the black armor.