Not long after my purple hair started to fade I asked what colour I should dye my hair next. The most popular suggestion was red. After months of wanting to get it done, I finally dyed my hair anime-red and asked people who their favourite red-haired character is in anime. One of the most commented characters was our red-haired Titania queen, Erza from Fairy Tail.
As I did with my purple hair anime characters post I shall be expanding on the history of the colour red, as well as the various meanings the colour red holds. Of course, I will be including a list of red-haired anime characters too. If you just want to see the characters, simply scroll down to the section.
A brief history of the colour red
Please note, this history on the colour red is purely that concerning the dye itself. With that said, red does have a wide history across the world. Some of the oldest uses of the colour red are paintings with ‘paint’ made from earthy, dusty red ochre, a natural clay pigment over 40 000 – 170 000 years ago.
Red dye has been made from a variety of things, from dried ground bugs to crushing certain rocks and clays, even flower roots. The first synthetic red dye, Alizarin, was created in 1868 by German chemists.
Before that red was only for the rich because they were the only ones who could afford the dye. In some countries, it had even been forbidden for common people (those without power) to wear the colour, even though they could not afford it. Thus, like with purple, historically, red clothing or material was a sign of wealth and status, just not as exclusively.
What the colour red means
Since red is one of the oldest colours and one of the most instantly recognisable and attention-grabbing colours, it is understandable why it has so many meanings and populates history world-wide.
Red was historically associated with danger, sacrifice, courage and death as well as life. In more modern times the colour has adapted to represent love, strong passions (including anger and lust) as well as joy and being active. In Asian countries, red has and still does represent happiness and good fortune, which is why it is used as traditional marriage colours.
Over time the various shades have come to represent different things. For example, the darker hues of red for more sombre meanings. Whilst your more vibrant hues for strong and intense feelings and actions and your softer hues represent joy, passion and sensitivity.
Red-Haired Anime Characters
There were so many amazing characters mentioned over my various platforms that I had to choose the top 6 (3 female and 3 male) characters to feature in this list.
1. Shirayuki
2. Red Riot (Kirishima)
3. Yona
4. Soma
5. Rias
6. Renji
Who are your favourite anime characters linked to the colour Red?
Awesome history lesson on the colour red and great selection on the characters featured here ā¤
Really interesting information on the background of the colour red. Never knew how much symbolism it had, always just saw it as a choice of colour and nothing else.