History Main / PaintItBlack

* ''Series/DoctorWho''
** "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 TheMaster'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.
** This was Creator/ColinBaker's idea for the Sixth Doctor's outfit, which was to have him wearing a velvet black coat to symbolize the fact that his incarnation was DarkerAndEdgier. But showrunner John Nathan-Turner instead went with the horrid [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes multicolor coat of colors]], and the rest is history.
*** However, there is a bit of a silver lining to this, as Baker's idea for a black ensemble would eventually happen in the form of the Ninth Doctor's outfit, which was a black ensemble, complete with a leather jacket. And the Ninth Doctor is arguably the darkest incarnation of the Doctor, as seen in episode like "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek Dalek]]". Ironically, "Dalek" was adapted from a Sixth Doctor Big Finish audio story called "Jubilee", which has been widely acclaimed by fans, and is by all means, a dark story ([[OverlyLongGag Unless if you're talking about his coat of colors]]).

** The normally black-clad antagonist [[CatGirl Sailor Tin Nyakano]] only gets partially purified by Sailor Moon, resulting in a half-black and half-white costume.

** In ''Supergirl #3'', Supergirl was exposed to black kryptonite and she was split into her normal self and an evil (and oversexed) alternate personality that wore a black-and-silver version of her normal costume. The black costume returned in a later ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' storyline where a battle with the Omega Man accidentally reawakened the Dark Supergirl persona within her.

This trope is [[TropeNamer named]] for Music/TheRollingStones song "Paint It Black", although the song itself is completely unrelated to the trope. It is also unrelated to RonTheDeathEater, formerly known as the ''other'' thing named after the same song ("Paint the Hero Black"), which involves more than a costume change.

* GenreSavvy ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' players expected the worst when, in the game's third act, Anders' robe turned black. They were right.

* Mary Marvel's white costume switched to black when she received Black Adam's powers in ''ComicBook/CountdownToFinalCrisis'' -- which had the side effect of [[ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil turning her evil]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', after being gaining the symbiote, Peter's costume is changed to how it looked in the [[Film/SpiderMan3 third movie]]--a black and silver version of it's regular appearance. Then as the symbiote exerts more control over Peter's behavior, the suit gradually transforms into it's design from comics, with the webbing fading away and the spider insignia becoming larger.

** This happens to the [[spoiler:[[PowerArmor Susanooh Unit]]]] at the climax of ''Central Fiction'', when [[spoiler:[[BigBad Yuuki Terumi]] kills [[WorldsStrongestMan Hakumen]] (specifically his soul) and [[GrandTheftMe takes it over]], changing the normally-white Susanoo into a black form with a SicklyGreenGlow and [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily lots of teeth]]]]. Strangely though, [[spoiler:this form is actually what the Susanooh Unit ''really'' looks like since Terumi is the original host; in other words, [[AllMythsAreTrue what the god Susano'o himself]] [[GodOfEvil actually looks like]]]].

* [[LadyOfWar Tsubaki]] of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' changes into a black costume with {{red eyes|TakeWarning}} after her MindRape-induced FaceHeelTurn during the story of ''Continuum Shift''. To drive this home, in the upcoming third game ''Chrono Phantasma'', the black costume is her default one.

* 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 oversexed]]) alternate personality that wore a black-and-silver version of her normal costume.

* ''Series/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 TheMaster'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.

* The gold parts of Takanuva's armour turn black when his light is partially drained in ''Franchise/{{Bionicle}}''.

* ''Anime/SailorMoon''

* Inverted in ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'' -- Ichigo's normal outfit is black and his EnemyWithin is a completely white version of himself with black sclera. While Ichigo's SuperMode turns his sword black, [[FanNickname "Hichigo"]]'s version turns it white. Justified in that white is the color most associated with death in Japan.
* ''{{Franchise/Digimon}}'':

* In ''Anime/SaintSeiyaOmega'', [[SplitPersonality Gemini Paradox]]'s light blue hair turns black when her more violent personality takes over. Her lipstick also goes from coral to dark purple.
** Pretty much a staple of any Gemini Saint in ''Saint Seiya'' who has a case of SplitPersonality: Saga, Aspros, Paradox...
* Inverted in ''Anime/KillLaKill'': the QuirkyMinibossSquad's uniforms changing colour from white to black indicates that they've joined the good guys.
* ''Anime/MekakucityActors'': When [[spoiler:[[http://31.media.tumblr.com/253ffeee548b5093713fe7291623544f/tumblr_n14pxsDX1q1rfp5pbo1_500.gif Konoha]] is [[DemonicPossession engulfed by the Wide-Eyes Snake and possessed]] - becoming [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130902071017/vocaloid/images/6/6f/Kuroha.PNG Kuroha]] - his hair, shirt, boots and trousers are all black when the possession is complete]].

* Dark Mercury in ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', whose Dark TransformationSequence was [[EvilIsCool much cooler than her good one]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In "The Mountain and the Viper" Sansa Stark dyes her distinctive red hair black and wears a sexy black gown marking her change from TheIngenue of the first three seasons to the [[CorruptTheCutie actively-manipulative persona]] needed to survive in the CrapsackWorld of Westeros.

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* When Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger became leader of Control Terrorism Unit in 2001, he began to wear an all black version of his usual outfit.
* After winning the Scott County Heavyweight Championship belt in 2005, [[Wrestling/SethRollins Tyler Black]] painted it black as a sign that his era was beginning.
* After teaming with ArchEnemy Averno in an attempt to win Wrestling/{{CMLL}}'s ''Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles'' at the beginning of 2010, Wrestling/{{Mistico}} became corrupted by Averno's influence and began dressing more like him, which means he wore a lot of black. The torneo ''requires'' a {{tecnico}} and {{rudo}} team up, in case you're curious.
* Before her frustration over a losing streak and resentment toward Syuri in 2011 allowed Michael Kovac to corrupt Lin Bairon in SMASH she had light brown hair, wore a modest white jumpsuit with a red scarf. Afterwards her hair was jet black and she wore black leather.
* Wrestling/{{Hunico}} originally showed up on the WWE main roster as an imitator of Wrestling/SinCara before adopting a black version of the mask and a wailing version of his entrance music.
[[/folder]]

* For ''{{Franchise/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 [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Spontaneous_recoloration its own page]] at the [[Wiki/TFWikiDotNet Transformers Wiki]] which explains these changes as "Spontaneous Recoloration". ''{{Webcomic/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.

* The gold parts of Takanuva's armour turn black when his light is partially drained in ''{{Franchise/Bionicle}}''.

* ''{{VideoGame/Metroid}}''

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''

** And then, When Malack [[spoiler: reanimates Durkon as a Vampire, his armor instantaneatly become dark grey and black, his Holy Symbol becomes gold and black, his eyes red, and his skin and beard get paler.]]
* Bael from ''{{Webcomic/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]].

* Omi in ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown''.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', when Starscream possesses Waspinator, his Predacon emblem changes to the Deception emblem.

* In ''{{Anime/Mai-Otome}}'', [[spoiler:Nina's]] Robe, school uniform and transformation silhouette all change to darker colors following her FaceHeelTurn.

* ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'' has the first in-story cases in the ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' franchise. After Soundwave and Blaster are both blown up, they get rebuilt into new bodies that are virtually identical to their originals, but with new colors: the blue Soundwave becomes the black Soundblaster, while the primarily-red Blaster ([[DubNameChange who was known as Broadcast in Japan]]) becomes the blue Twincast.

* After teaming with ArchEnemy Averno in an attempt to win Wrestling/{{CMLL}}'s ''Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles'' at the beginning of 2010, Wrestling/{{Mistico}} became corrupted by Averno's influence and began dressing more like him, which means he wore a lot of black. The torneo ''requires'' a {{technico}} and {{rudo}} team up, in case you're curious.

* ''{{Franchise/X-Men}}'':

* After teaming with ArchEnemy Averno in an attempt to when Wrestling/{{CMLL}}'s ''Torneo Nacional de Parejas Increibles'' at the beginning of 2010, Wrestling/{{Mistico}} became corrupted by Averno's influence and began dressing more like him, which means he wore a lot of black. The torneo ''requires'' a {{technico}} and {{rudo}} team up, in case you're curious.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In "The Mountain and the Viper" Sansa Stark dies her distinctive red hair black and wears a sexy black gown marking her change from TheIngenue of the first three seasons to the [[CorruptTheCutie actively-manipulative persona]] needed to survive in the CrapsackWorld of Westeros.

This trope is named for Music/TheRollingStones song "Paint It Black", although the song itself is completely unrelated to the trope. It is also unrelated to RonTheDeathEater, formerly known as the ''other'' thing named after the same song ("Paint the Hero Black"), which involves more than a costume change.