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Why do bronies use red and black OCs for "evil" characters?


ShatteredCrown

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Why not at least make an attempt to be original? Think of new ideas. Because I'm pretty sure there are a plethora of colors out there rather than the painfully overused red and black combination. And if the creator of a red and black oc manages to make character that's not cringey, more power too them. However they all tend to look like the SAME THING.

 

I've already answered that. You CAN'T be original, there are no more new 'original' ideas where literature is concerned. Why aren't they trying to be original? Maybe, in a world full of bright and happy colourful ponies, most people think dark and edgy IS different? Because let's think about it, in canon MLP, we haven't seen anything like that (if we did then I missed it) so people's first thought would go to that. 

 

Besides, why does anyone HAVE to be original? I've read loads of great stories without a shred of originality, they're some of my favourite books. Strong characters, excellent writing and a good style are the keys to any good piece of fiction. You shouldn't care how different X is from Y as long as they're both great stories, right?

 

So to circle this discussion back to the original point, why do bronies use red and black ocs for evil characters? To some degree, it fits. To some degree, there's no reason why not. People shouldn't care about a colour scheme at the end of the day, and one shouldn't complain if a creator uses that scheme. Nobody is forcing anyone to read crappy fanfiction. If you want to help out an aspiring writer, point out the flaws in the character and move on, don't bang on about unimportant details. Ultimately, colours can easily be switched around, we'd be having the same discussion if the colours blue and orange were 'overused'. It still means a character is a bad character, it's not instantly a good one because they're not red and black and they're not instantly bad if they are red and black. 

 

Bronies use those colours because they can, and because they want to. We shouldn't be trying to force them not to just because lots of other people have done the same thing.

 

Right, I feel I have made my case and point, anything else I say will be repetition. Goodbye and thank you for the discussion.

 

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Another question that's been in my mind, is why do some bronies mostly use Red and Black OCs, especially for "evil" characters? Is it due to a lack of actual talent?

 

 Starting at the original post. There was an entire study for the color spectrum and it's alignments... which is a concept of human nature. Now this bit actually predates written literature as it's almost nearly instinctual in some instances, and it's also influenced by cultural in others.

Red is usually a color of power, ferocity, and aggression. In rare cases it can also be used to represent life, the soul, and count down, and misconception.

Black is the color of death, desolation, and absence. It's commonly used to represent evil... though it's not what it's flavor is actually used for in Chroma literature. In other common cases, terror, fear, emptiness. In rare cases, friend, expansive, and longing.

This isn't just something humans made up. This is a trope that is actually born from nature. When fire was discovered, we were probably scared of it at first. It's violent, with an ever changing structure. It destroys what ever it touches and leaves only black. Infants also shows a natural fear to it, and in some instances drawn to it.

The milk and coral snake was also another prime correlation. Red on Black was a friend on jack. But Red on Yellow (yellow being a color of happiness or caution), would kill a fellow.

 

Then black widows. Then Ravens and Crows, birds of omen.

 

Why not at least make an attempt to be original? Think of new ideas. Because I'm pretty sure there are a plethora of colors out there rather than the painfully overused red and black combination. And if the creator of a red and black oc manages to make character that's not cringey, more power too them. However they all tend to look like the SAME THING.

 

There is honestly some truth to this. It is actually possible to create characters that aren't red and black, and are evil or powerful. However, it comes to the point of symbolism, and it's audience.

However, Red is not usually a color used in heavy amounts in literature. It's always an accent, as it usually clashes terribly with other colors in a scene. It's too much of a high intensity in the light I guess?

Usually you will see Charcoal or a really dark gray as the main color. There will usually be splashes of a high intensity green, on the person, or in the air as an aura which has a mysterious or sickly touch. Or oranges and yellow, which has a more demonic prescense and inferiority to good. Red will only be used to point to accent certain features.

Darth Maul had a red saber and face.

Darth_Maul.png

 

However... it's not in a huge abundance. The red is centralized on the face like a face paint, and is in a specific pattern. It's also stylized in a way where the red points to the mouth and the eyes. Naturally you focus on the eyes and the mouth which shows a souless expression. Pretty epic for a speechless guy.

 

Also, the weapon it's self is actually a keyed white where it's the most intense, and around it is a red aura that has been toned down. Again, it brings attention onto the weapon being held out in a challenging way.

 

 

Personally... the only thing that urks me about Red and Black characters, is when they are supposed to be evil, but the entire design is unbalanced. You get a disgusting case of clashing contrasts.

See here....

evil_pony_king_by_yugiohyaiofanlover-d5l

That... annoys me. There is no balance, no clever use of negative space on it's form, and for some god aweful reason he has stripes... only on his torso and chin. But it loops around his legs. Then you got red on red, batwings and yeesh. This pony is just red and black for the sake of red and black. Even it's horns are red for some stupid reason. Sombra's might have been red, but it clearly started as bone. Here, the pony could have just dunked his noggin in some acrylic paint. If I personally saw this pony... I honestly wouldn't be that intimidated compared to Maul's near complete black body. You can only see the souless face he's going to wear when he kills you, and the weapon he's going to own you with.

 

This however... 

king_sombra_v0_2_by_jaz1rus-d5svk38.png

...is evil done right with red and black. The largest donator of red, is dulled to a maroon, and is encased in gold. That is no longer a contributor to evil, that's just royalty. The horn and eyes however... Ruby... yeah... that's power.

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I've already answered that. You CAN'T be original, there are no more new 'original' ideas where literature is concerned. Why aren't they trying to be original? Maybe, in a world full of bright and happy colourful ponies, most people think dark and edgy IS different? Because let's think about it, in canon MLP, we haven't seen anything like that (if we did then I missed it) so people's first thought would go to that. 

 

Besides, why does anyone HAVE to be original? I've read loads of great stories without a shred of originality, they're some of my favourite books. Strong characters, excellent writing and a good style are the keys to any good piece of fiction. You shouldn't care how different X is from Y as long as they're both great stories, right?

 

So to circle this discussion back to the original point, why do bronies use red and black ocs for evil characters? To some degree, it fits. To some degree, there's no reason why not. People shouldn't care about a colour scheme at the end of the day, and one shouldn't complain if a creator uses that scheme. Nobody is forcing anyone to read crappy fanfiction. If you want to help out an aspiring writer, point out the flaws in the character and move on, don't bang on about unimportant details. Ultimately, colours can easily be switched around, we'd be having the same discussion if the colours blue and orange were 'overused'. It still means a character is a bad character, it's not instantly a good one because they're not red and black and they're not instantly bad if they are red and black. 

 

Bronies use those colours because they can, and because they want to. We shouldn't be trying to force them not to just because lots of other people have done the same thing.

 

Right, I feel I have made my case and point, anything else I say will be repetition. Goodbye and thank you for the discussion.

 

https://derpicdn.net/img/2013/12/1/487004/full.gif

You might be gone already but let me explain myself, what I mean by an original oc is one where the Red and Black combination isn't used, ANY other color combination for "edgy" or "cool" characters is completely fine by me because they're not the overused, since I'm just talking about red and black, but I do apologize for not making myself clear about that or if I contradict myself. Tbh I believe bronies SHOULD be discouraged from using a popular color scheme like red and black because they should at least try something new, and while yes I could just ignore bad fanfictions, couldn't we just criticize them so they can do better?
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For me, most checkerboards I'd seen were red and black, while most chess sets were white and black.

And to continue the de-rail, we should make a bunch of game ponies to hang out playing games. :D

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  • 10 months later...

mmmm that good character design theory. Might as well add my two cents.

 

When a bright color, such as red, is put against a dark one, like black, it stands out, almost as if it's glowing at times. And It's a common mistake when beginning to create characters to want to use the brightest, most eye catching thing possible. That probably explains the saturation.

As for the colors, it's probably due to the ingrained symbolism. 

 

 

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