I'm old school and you're so new
But I guess I could forgive you tonight
When you're cold, I like to burn
I cut lines, you wait your turn..."
There's just something about red and blue, the way these two colors complement each other but also seem to oppose each other. Since they contrast so well, they seem to be paired together in some form more than any other two non-gray scale colors: hot and cold, red team and blue team, red ribbon (2nd place) and blue ribbon (1st place). And this leads to their inevitable contrast in symbolism, and ultimately in tropes.
Contrast of blue and pink is also included in this index, as pink is a shade of red (it has been argued that technically there is no such colour as pink, it is just red with all or much of the green removed from white) — in these situations, the contrast is usually male and female, boy and girl.
Compare Red Index, Green Index, where the colors red and green are used for striking contrast.note
Categories:
Tropes
- Fire/Ice Duo: Since Fire Is Red and ice is generally light blue (if not white).
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: Fire is always red and ice is always blue, but lightning can vary between yellow and white.
- Fire/Water Juxtaposition: Since Water Is Blue and Fire Is Red.
- Fire, Water, Wind: When Fire Is Red and Water Is Blue.
- Pink Girl, Blue Boy: When boys wear blue and girls wear pink.
- Primary-Color Champion: When the hero's costume is mostly Red and Blue. Yellow is often the third color if there is one.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Two characters: one passionate, headstrong, and wild (red), and the other level-headed, collected and rational (blue), are associated with each other for contrast.
- Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue...: A stereotypical poem and format for poems.