History Main / PaleFemalesDarkMales

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' characters tend to fall under this. The male characters tend to be darker or bolder colors such as blue, red, and black, whilst female characters tend to be lighter pastel colors such as pink, lilac, or cream. However, this is sometimes inverted; as there are also males with colors such as yellow, white, and light grey; and females with colors such as orange-brown and (dark) violet.

* Female animals in the ''WesternAnimation/IceAge'' movies tend to have lighter colored fur than the male animals. {{Inverted}} with Scrat and Scratte, however, as he is light grey whereas she is [[HeroesWantRedheads dark red]].

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'': When it comes to ninjas despite her outfit being more practical for the job Ibuki's ninja clothes are of a light brown while Guy's is of a darker red. In ''V'' Ibuki's new default outfit is much lighter than Zeku's.

* When it comes to ninjas despite her outfit being more practical than the job Ibuki's ninja clothes are of a light brown while Guy's is of a darker red. In ''V'' Ibuki's new default outfit is much lighter than Zeku's.
* Inverted for the Mithra in Final Fantasy XI, where all of the females have tanned skin bordering on orange, wwhile the only Mithra man seen in the game has paler skin. Justified in that it's the females who go out more to work, hunt, fight, and adventure while the males are protected, raise children, and normally stay in their home country.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' franchise, Toothless is the only dragon of his breed -- a Night Fury -- to ever be officially seen, distinct in that he is an all-black dragon perfect for camouflaging at night and other dark areas. The closest we ever see to a female is the Light Fury in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'', who looks similar to Toothless but with blue eyes, softer features and is completely white. Whether all Light Furies are what female Night Furies are or if they are a similar, but ultimately distinct species of dragon is never made absolutely clear. The fact that their offspring the [=NightLights=] are [[PatchworkKids bicolor]] points to the later, while Grimmel immediately acknowledging her as female the moment he saw her hints at the former. [[spoiler:WordOfGod confirms that they're separate but similar kinds of dragon.]]

* Vixey from ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheHound'' for some reason actually does not have "stockings/points" on her feet like Tod, a male fox. Vixey is a light colored, peachy orange whereas Tod is a dark shade of orange.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': The dragon siblings. In their dragon forms, Dora the Dragon Goast (the sister) is light blue, and her older brother, Prince Aragon, is black. The dragons have a human-ghost form too, but they don't count as examples in that form.

* The raptors in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' - the female is mostly pale grey with some darker markings, while the males are mostly a dark purplish colour.

* A 1959 picture book titled "The Rabbits' Wedding" had a black male rabbit getting married to a white female rabbit. Because of this, some "[[MoralGuardians concerned citizens]]" in Alabama thought the book was an allegorical promotion of interracial marriage, causing a censorship controversy.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' franchise, Toothless is the only dragon of his breed - a Night Fury - to ever be officially seen, distinct in that he is an all-black dragon perfect for camouflaging at night and other dark areas. The closest we ever see to a female is the Light Fury in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragonTheHiddenWorld'', who looks similar to Toothless but with blue eyes, softer features and is completely white. Whether all Light Furies are what female Night Furies are or if they are a similar, but ultimately distinct species of dragon is never made absolutely clear. The fact that their offspring the [=NightLights=] are [[PatchworkKids bicolor]] points to the later, while Grimmel immediately acknowledging her as female the moment he saw her hints at the former. [[spoiler: WordOfGod confirms that they're separate but similar kinds of dragon.]]

* ''Literature/NightWorld'' features a rare inversion. Shapeshifter Keller's animal form is a melanistic leopard or panther, whilst her soulmate [[spoiler: Galen]] is a more typically-colored golden leopard.

* Speaking of ancient cultures, this was one of many rules of ancient Egyptian paintings. Men were always painted with a dark-reddish pigment and women with a yellowish-paint.
* Another example of ancient Egyptian art that follows this trope is two sculptures from ca. 2580 BCE, depicting prince Rahotep and his wife, Nofret. Notably, limestone sculpture of Rahotep is painted tan, almost orange hue, while Nofret is a much paler, with eggshell white skin.

** Also averted if a team is larger than usual and has both shades of blue on their roster, as in ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger''/''Series/PowerRangersDinoCharge'' and ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger''; as in those cases both shades were worn by males. [[spoiler:Though it was eventually played straight in ''Kyoryuger'' when Kyoryu Cyan passed his powers on to a woman - Kyoryu Blue's sister, in fact.]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

** Played straight with Meowstic. Females are predominantly white and males are predominantly blue.

* Inverted in ''WesternAnimation/DinosaurKing'' with the two ''Cryolophosaurus''; the male King's markings are paler than the female Crystal's.

* Inverted with the two hawks that appear near the end of the song "Colors of the Wind" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'' where the male hawk is colored light brown, while the female is colored dark gray.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', "Just Around the Riverbend" depicts a dark brown male otter and a lighter brown female otter.

Obviously a case of ColorCodedForYourConvenience and SecondarySexualCharacteristics, serving an identification function similar to TertiarySexualCharacteristics. Often overlaps with MessyMaleFancyFemale. The human equivalent is LightGirlDarkBoy. Not to be confused with LightFeminineAndDarkFeminine.

* The wolves and elephants in ''WesternAnimation/TheJungleBook1967''.

[[caption-width-right:236:[[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hgoDM8ocZok/Ta-ZgoYLHLI/AAAAAAAAC1U/2ddpaP9s0kA/s400/1-Clarice-Kissing-Rudolph-GHardin.jpg Image]] by [[http://greghardin.blogspot.com/ Greg Hardin]].]]

* In ancient Minoan artwork, men are usually painted reddish-brown, while women are white or ivory.

[[quoteright:236:[[WesternAnimation/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rudolph_and_clarice.jpg]]]]

* Almost universally the case in [[VisualNovel visual novels]]. The fair maidens you're supposed to court are almost always literally fair, unless they're South Asian, Native American or black, or [[AmbiguouslyBrown something else]]. The general practice is to make the female characters' complexion lighter and more pinkish, while the males' darker, more yellowish or brownish. The only exceptions are probably white Europeans, who may be portrayed as equally light-skinned regardless of sex.

* Inverted by the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' Hippopotas and its evolved form Hippowdon. In the former's case, the darkest and lightest of its colors are inverted between the two genders, but the female is the one where the darker color takes the prominent part. After evolving, its body is just one color rather than the camouflage pattern it had before evolving: a sandy brown for the males and a dark gray for the females.