History Main / WomanInBlack

** Played much more straight in Rebellion where [[spoiler: [[SatanicArchetype Homura's demon form]] is all black, a counterpoint to Ultimate Madoka's WomanInWhite.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', when [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E8SilenceInTheLibrary River]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E9ForestOfTheDead Song]] returns in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E04TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]], she's got a lovely long black dress on that makes her look like a noir FemmeFatale. Considering [[spoiler: it's hinted at that she served time in prison, has a secret she isn't telling the Doctor, and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome vandalized a home box with the message "Hello, sweetie"]] written in Old High Gallifreyan just to get the Doctor's attention, this probably fits. She may even possibly be the person who kills him, if the hints dropped at the end of the episode ''Flesh and Stone'' turn out to be as meaningful as they seem]]. So, it's safe to say this is intentional.
** Contrast this with River's previous appearance dressed all in white, where she's an unambiguously good character, and her later appearance in the series five finale, where she again wears white and is very definitely on the Doctor's side.
** And then her appearance in season six's mid-season finale, where some of her past is revealed -- and this time, she's in grey.

Strangely, the more skin the outfit covers, especially if it's a long dress, the more ominous the woman will become. {{Stripperific}} clothes seem to somewhat dim the effect of black, but don't outright negate it, as seen with BlackBraAndPanties.

Not only does black outline the body even more than red, there are also [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience all the ideas associated with the colour itself]], such as {{d|arknessEqualsDeath}}eath, night, [[DarkIsEvil evil]], great danger, or refusal of sexuality (that one particularly if the clothes hide the whole body). Thus, it's a rare woman who can actually wear an all black outfit and not be ''at least'' an [[AntiHero Anti-Heroine]].

[[DarkIsNotEvil On the other hand]], if she's wearing black, perhaps the answer is [[HollywoodNuns nun]]. [[ThisIsSpinalTap Nun more black]].

* Kanoe from ''{{X1999}}''

* [[spoiler:[[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil Miyo Takano]]]] in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'', right before she [[spoiler:kills Keiichi and all his friends]]. Also, the entire main female cast on the DVD covers.
* Celty Sturluson from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' goes around in a black jumpsuit. Subverted in that, not only is she not evil, she's really quite a sweetheart.
** Earthworm from volume 9, on the other hand, plays this trope [[TortureTechnician very]], [[PsychopathicManchild very]] [[LackOfEmpathy straight]].

* Subverted with Lenalee Lee from DGrayMan. Obviously, the Black Order's uniforms [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment are black]], but she wears a black dress as casual wear, but she's a sweet and kind girl nonetheless.
** Also subverted with Miranda, who's [[ShrinkingViolet as far from your typical version of the trope]] [[TheKlutz as it's possible]] [[ApologisesALot to be]]. Played straight with [[DarkActionGirl Lulu Bell]] though.
* [[KnifeNut Chane]] [[TheSpeechless Laforet]] from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''. Yet another [[SubvertedTrope subversion]], as she is not truly evil.

* Utau Hoshina from ShugoChara is yet another subversion (moreover, she wears other outfits with other colors as well). She's just a little too willing to do bad things to save Ikuto from his commitment to Easter.
* In the {{Leijiverse}}, [[GalaxyExpress999 Maetel]] is a subversion of this trope since she is the kindest, gentlest person around despite wearing that famous black coat. That said, [[BewareTheNiceOnes she has destroyed at least one planet]] and killed any number of people who threatened her or Tetsuro.
** From the same 'Verse, the merciless SpacePirate Queen Emeraldas is a straight example.
* Both Medusa and Arachne from ''Manga/SoulEater''

* ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' adversary Selene plays this dead straight. Longtime X-Man Storm? Not so much.

* Winnowill in ''ElfQuest''

* Ava Lord in ''SinCity''.

* [[spoiler: Mary Marvel]] during ''CountdownToFinalCrisis'', after [[spoiler: she becomes a DarkMagicalGirl via acquiring Black Adam's powers.]]

* Michelle Pfeiffer in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' and ''Film/{{Wolf}}''.
* Kim Basinger in ''The Real [=McCoy=]'' and ''Film/LAConfidential''.

* ''Film/RockyHorrorPictureShow'': Magenta wears a black FrenchMaid uniform and a slightly more revealing black outfit throughout the film. At least, until the end when she and Riff Raff reveal themselves as aliens.

* Morticia and Wednesday from ''Series/TheAddamsFamily''.
* In ''[[Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT]]'', the fourth ''Ninja Turtles'' movie, new Foot Clan leader Karai is garbed entirely in black, save for her mask.

* Lily of ''Film/BlackSwan'', who is in competition for the role of the titular [[SwanLake Black Swan]] with the protagonist, [[TheIngenue Nina]], who is a WomanInWhite. [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience The movie milks this]] [[{{Foil}} for all]] [[FauxSymbolism it's worth.]]

* Nicci in the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series. Black is the ''only'' color she wears.
** To the point that when she is infiltrating an Imperial Order camp post-HighHeelFaceTurn, her disguise consists of a red dress. Pushed down to her waist to make absolutely sure [[DistractedByTheSexy nobody will give her face a second glance]].
** The signature clothing of the Confessors. Except for [[WomanInWhite The Mother Confessor]],
* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'' has Sethra Lavode: hundreds of thousands of [[TimeAbyss years old]], a vampire, a brilliant general, and a sorceress powerful enough to worry gods. Naturally, she lives in a mountain made of black stone, has black eyes [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow and hair]], and dresses head to toe in black. Bonus points: in Dragaera, the color black represents sorcery and is one of the House colors for both Great Houses with which Sethra is associated.
** And one of her hobbies is finding new ways to use black in interior decoration.

* Literature/KikiStrike is a kiddie version of the AntiHero variant.

* Very much a trademark for Belinda Contague, MafiaPrincess-turned-''capa'' from the ''GarrettPI'' novels.

* [[Series/{{Farscape}} Grayza]] likes [[http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/dani.moure/pkwtrailer/pkwtrailer-052.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.freewebs.com/farscapecrazy/news.htm&usg=__m5d722vrBzshjWRbcFx3ruit6pc=&h=272&w=480&sz=10&hl=en&start=0&sig2=SsjfUOqzkUaZ50_nugzTCw&zoom=1&tbnid=3joz-WWCYmjrKM:&tbnh=152&tbnw=209&ei=PQK_TOTZL8H_lgfAu8HfBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrayza%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D843%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=862&vpy=315&dur=312&hovh=169&hovw=298&tx=158&ty=79&oei=0wG_TIbYO8GB8gau4_HOAg&esq=14&page=1&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0 black]] (and {{Stripperific}}, coincidentally, at least when she's not pregnant) and she's quite dangerous.
** Although Aeryn from the same show also liked wearing black a lot (a black leather jacket and black leather pants, to be specific), and was an unambiguously good character. It's probably some remnant of her Peacekeeper training.
* When Sarah goes undercover with Volkoff in Season 4 of ''{{Chuck}}'', she not only wears black clothing, but also has black hair rather than her normal blonde.
* Nikita from the CW show ''Series/{{Nikita}}'' had naturally black/dark hair and loves wearing black clothing. However, she is a deconstruction of this trope in some ways as she is the hero of the show as well as a complete {{Badass}} and FemmeFatale. Many other characters who were and are a part of Division favor this trope as well - in particular, Michael.
* Nicci in the season finale of ''LegendOfTheSeeker''.

* Having embraced the Dark Side completely, Morgana in ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' is now dressed from head to toe in black.
* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone'''s episode "Spur of the Moment," a young girl out horseriding is menaced by a strange woman in black, who chases her back to her family's house. It turns out the woman is [[spoiler:an older version of herself, who was trying to prevent her from eloping with the man who would drive her family to destitution.]]
* The season one finale of ''{{Grimm}}'' is actually titled "The Woman In Black". The never-before-seen woman in question is seen skulking around town and kicking butt in little vignettes throughout the episode, until she turns up at Nick's house near the end of the episode and reveals herself to be [[spoiler:his mother, who is also a Grimm and was believed to have died in a car crash several years ago.]] By the time [[spoiler:she supposedly leaves town at the conclusion of the three-part episode]], it's still unclear whether she exemplifies this trope or subverts it.

* ''Lady Wore Black'' by {{Queensryche}}
* "Cypress Grove" by {{Clutch}}. The women of cypress grove all dress in black.
* ''Music/{{Evanescence}}'': Yes, Amy Lee does this sometimes.
* Red Molly, the heroine of the tragic romance in "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", by RichardThompson, may be primarily a FieryRedhead, but her black leathers link her to the hero's doom.

* Dethany Dendrobia from ''OnTheFastrack''.

* In ''{{Dungeons and Dragons}}'', some Suel deities such as [[VainSorceress Wee Jas]] or [[TheBaroness Shar]] apply. Many she-devils and demonesses also wear all black garments.

* Larxene in KingdomHearts.
* Zerase in ''SuikodenV''.

* If you have the Handmaiden in ''[[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Knights Of The Old Republic 2]]'' entirely dark-side, her normal white jumpsuit is replaced with a black one and her normal red lipstick is replaced with black.
* Nevan in ''DevilMayCry 3''. Played dead straight.
** Trish also counts as well, [[spoiler:and the trope is subverted near the end of the first game.]]
* Sareena in ''Franchise/MortalKombat''. Strange in that she is the only one to actually qualify in a series where you would expect plenty of them. Subverted as well in that she's not truly evil at heart.
** Her (former) [[AmazonBrigade partners]], Kia and Jataaka, play this trope much straighter. While Sareena made a HighHeelFaceTurn in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'' after the Elder Sub-Zero (and future Noob Saibot) saved her life (with Sareena [[MercyRewarded later]] [[BigDamnHeroes repaying the favor]] in the battle against Quan Chi) and went on to become [[ShipTease something of]] the Younger Sub-Zero's [[BattleCouple love interest]], they remained in Shinnok's Brotherhood of Shadow [[spoiler:and were ultimately killed by Taven shortly before [[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon the battle of Armageddon]].]]
* Princess Ishtar from ''FireEmblemJugdral'', though she's much less of a villainess and more of a DarkMagicalGirl.
* If you get a GameOver while playing ''BanjoKazooie'', then Grunty will actually turn into this.

* Rouge, the vain, selfish AntiHero from the Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog franchise, although how evil she is depends on the incarnation.

* [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=003167 Snowman]] from the ''MSPaintAdventures'' series ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' wears all black (in addition to a completely black ''body'') and is an archetypical FemmeFatale.
** Also, when Rose [[JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope goes]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity batshit]], she starts wearing a black dress, as opposed to her previous purple.

* Lady Ink from TheBookOfStoriesOCT, a rare heroic example, though her personality fits the rest of the trope.
* [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=Toki&offset=96#/d50t7lf Toki]] She's mostly a subversion since, most of the things she wears are black dresses but she's this trope when manipulative.
** Well, there's [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/gallery/?q=black#/d5dnbgb Brownie]] and she's also a subversion, naturally, and is rather harmless, unless doing what Toki tells her to do.

* TheBaroness from ''GIJoe''.

* [[StalkerWithACrush Lavona Succuboso]] from ''{{Metalocalypse}}''. Complete with OperaGloves. Say what you will about her sanity and morals, the woman knows how to accessorize.

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* Dethany Dendrobia from ''OnTheFastrack''.
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* Darla in an episode of ''Series/{{Angel}}'' very symbolically goes from wearing white to donning a black outfit. In said outfit, she joins Drusilla and, together, they commit a massacre.

* Dee Vasquez from ''PhoenixWright'':''VisualNovel/AceAttorney''.

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* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' has ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}.

* ComicBook/{{Raven}} from ''ComicBook/TeenTitans''

* Madame Hydra from ''CaptainAmerica'' (with a green tint to it).

* The Dark Queen and [[spoiler: Helena as the Dark Princess]] from {{Mirrormask}}.

* One of the most defining moments of ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCoven'' is when [[TheArchmage Fiona]] takes the girls on a class trip to the [[TheBigEasy French Quarter]] and tells them to "Wear something...black.

* ElviraMistressOfTheDark

* Michelle Pfeiffer in ''Film/BatmanReturns'' and ''{{Wolf}}''.
* Kim Basinger in ''The Real [=McCoy=]'' and LAConfidential.

* [[DarkChick Sophie Fatale]], [[WomanInWhite O-Ren's]] [[TheDragon Dragon]] from ''KillBill''. She wears a black, high-collared jumpsuit thing that the narration says makes her look like "a villain from Star Trek".
* ''RockyHorrorPictureShow'': Magenta wears a black FrenchMaid uniform and a slightly more revealing black outfit throughout the film. At least, until the end when she and Riff Raff reveal themselves as aliens.

* Mal of ''{{Inception}}'' is only in black for the opening sequence, but it wholly defines her character as a recurring obstacle to Cobb's extraction work in the rest of the movie.

* China from ''{{Torque}}''.

* [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Mara Jade]], in ''StarWars/{{Allegiance}}'', ''TheThrawnTrilogy'', and the ''HandOfThrawn'' Duology, tends to wear a black jumpsuit. To the point that when she ''does'' wear Jedi robes, the text often stresses it.
* Nicci in the ''SwordOfTruth'' series. Black is the ''only'' color she wears.

* ''{{Dragaera}}'' has Sethra Lavode: hundreds of thousands of [[TimeAbyss years old]], a vampire, a brilliant general, and a sorceress powerful enough to worry gods. Naturally, she lives in a mountain made of black stone, has black eyes [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow and hair]], and dresses head to toe in black. Bonus points: in Dragaera, the color black represents sorcery and is one of the House colors for both Great Houses with which Sethra is associated.

* Semirhage in The WheelOfTime always dresses in black because she considers [[FemmeFatale Lanfear]], a WomanInWhite, to be her main rival.
* KikiStrike is a kiddie version of the AntiHero variant.
* Lisbeth Salander in the ''[[TheMillenniumTrilogy Millennium]]'' trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Also leaning towards AntiHero.
* What about the titular character of ''The Woman In Black''?

* Tiphaine d'Ath of the {{Emberverse}}, who dresses all in black and begins her career as an assassin and quasi-ninja for Lady Sandra. She has a (deserved) reputation as being cool, nerveless, and lethal.
* Vin from the {{Mistborn}} trilogy often embodies this trope, especially [[spoiler: in the later books when it's used as a foil for Elend's ManinWhite]]

* ''{{Dragaera}}'" has Sethra Lavode; hundreds of thousands of [[TimeAbyss years old]], a vampire, brilliant strategist, and sorceress powerful enough to worry gods. Naturally, she lives in a mountain made of black stone, has black eyes [[CurtainsMatchTheWindow and hair]], and dresses head to toe in black. Bonus points: in Dragaera, the color black represents sorcery and is one of the House colors for both Great Houses with which Sethra is associated.

* ''Film/BlackSunday'': Princess [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Asa Vajda]]. She wears a long black gown and cape, and seduces and zombifies her victims. Averted with her [[Doppelganger descendent]] Princess Katia, who also wears a long black gown and cape but is the [[TheIngenue innocent]] [[PrincessClassic heroine]].