Just Write Your Special Silver-Haired Character Already

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[@michaelriverside1139]

I've always thought that Sophie's hair staying silver towards the end of Howl's Moving Castle was fascinating, in a sense, she regains her youth but also retains the wisdom gained from her time as an old lady!

[@myboatforacar]

I mean, "Sophie" does come from the Greek word for "wisdom"

[@schoo9256]

Fun fact, in the book it goes back to red-gold

[@EA_Kar]

@@schoo9256 yup, was gonna bring this up too

[@schoo9256]

@EA_Kar book version is best version ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@michaelriverside1139]

​@@schoo9256 Not gonna lie, I always wondered how would Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways would've looked like as Ghibli films...

[@calebmarmon1310]

I always assumed the silver/white hair was significant because it evokes the look of the elderly. So someone young with unnaturally white hair is kind of a walking contradiction, especially if they have the calmness and wisdom of someone older than they appear.

[@ShadeStormXD]

the wisdom of the old but the ability of the young

[@calebmarmon1310]

@@ShadeStormXD Humanity’s self-insert fanfic.

[@Spades20XX]

@@ShadeStormXDXEHANORT

[@Broomer52]

In many cultures white is just a symbol of power in one way or another. If a character in a western myth has white hair they’re often wise, and if they’re a God they’re either powerful, wise or both, in some eastern countries white is the color of Death. This has carried over into our stories because in Japan a white haired character is going to be the biggest ass kicker and in western stories a character with white hair is going to be skilled and sagely

[@eros439]

@@Spades20XX”X-blade!”

[@silviarav_]

So weird that Aurora, the Norwegian singer, is a real person yet fits perfectly into this trope

[@Calebgoblin]

Her music also has very magic vibes

[@ajax3310]

Bjork, David Byrne, David Bowie..

[@Calebgoblin]

​@@ajax3310are relevant how? lmao

[@ianslee4765]

almost like the trope actually stems from the myths of nordic and/or celtic travels... but from the others perspective.

[@ArkbladeIX]

@@ianslee4765 erling halaand (depending on how the light shines on it)

[@wumbojet]

Funny enough, Gojo fits into a funnily large amount of archetypes you mentioned. He's a "prince" in the sense that he's the leader of his clan, he's overpowered, a teacher, was a child prodigy, has his white hair because of his bloodline AND because of his strength and he's connected to the divine via his "between the heavens and earth I alone am the Honored One" speach.

[@emmanuelprado]

The one that stands the most to me is Griffith. His white hair is a very interesting subversion.

[@uberlephrad8218]

He fits into most categories while also being a complete demon, it's actually very interesting.

[@reidchikezie1161]

Ah, you said it already, that's why Miura is my goat

[@spikegilfer1997]

White of hair, Black of Heart.

[@greasybumpkin1661]

That makes sense as the series as a whole is a subversion on fantasy, or at least it was at the time before we got oversaturated with grimdark

[@thestatusjoe9949]

He definitely fits well, being an exceptional and mysterious person with an almost alien mind. Interesting interaction with purity too, as he seemingly throws away his purity in order to succeed, while simultaneously being “pure” in that he is fully committed to his one goal, and that is never changed nor tarnished despite all of his wrongdoings and failures

[@lyndiss.2017]

"White hair as a code for power" is quite telling in other non-English literature, too. Take one East Asian example: Chinese wuxia novels, with its most famous white-haired character holding the epithet, 白发魔女 (The white-haired she-devil). In traditional Chinese culture, where seniority demands respect, white flowing hair symbolizes age and the wisdom + power in myths. A few famous (powerful) Taoist 仙 (Xian, "immortals") have white flowing beard and the age to boot, such as 老子 (Laozi). The connotation between power and "white hair" got solidified enough that in wuxia stories and even some folklores, when a person trained/cultivated their Qi so hard that they gained immenese power, their hair just turned white. In these stories, white hair on youthful-looking characters are immediate shorthand that these are someone you cannot trifle with.

[@Orianna_Bumssen321]

It's really that hard to see the connection though, because people with authority of some kind are old and old people tend to have white hair.

[@trishapellis]

The great majority of examples mentioned in this video are Japanese. I think no one was under the illusion that this trope is particularly prevalent in English(-language) literature, at least not from watching this video.

[@lyndiss.2017]

@trishapellis yea, it's meant as an addendum to the analysis in this video. Since the video divulged how white hair tropes may become popular in Western popular culture ("Christianity & Tolkien"), I wanted to add how the Chinese side of its popularization came to be.

[@nunyabiznes33]

I read it's also a thing in anime, where white/silver hair denote intelligence, etc, like the opposite of pink hair.

[@lunarsway]

something similar happens in anime/manga, a lot of those mysterious powerful characters have silver/white hair too

[@ms_heisenbug]

Actually, Geralt's white hair is a result of mutations he'd run through when he was a kid. So I guess it fits into two tropes.

[@arikaaa69]

Similar case with Edelgard as her white hair has nothing to do with having the holy crest of seiros, rather being the result of some childhood magical shenanigans

[@redlunatic2224]

I feel like Geralt fulfills like have the list by himself lol. For example, sickness is also applicable because witchers are created by drinking normally poisonous herbs and suffering through severe mutations.

[@tetri90]

@@arikaaa69 There is a difference between watsonian explainations and doylist ones. Edelgard character design likely has white hair because the artist creating it felt it reinforced her theme (as explained in the video), then they explained it in universe by a magic accident.

[@tymondabrowski12]

Worth niting that other witchers had normal hair. Also I don't remember, did Ciri hair turjed white later in the series? Because she starts as mousy blond (so basically kinda dark greyish ashy golden tone), but so often she's portrayed and said to have white hair too.

[@ms_heisenbug]

@@tymondabrowski12 Yeah, at the end of the Saga she has white threads - it's mentioned by Geralt during the battle at the Stygga castle. Her hair turned white because of the trauma she'd been through.

[@Aveilas11]

Ekko also falls into this trope. He's very much human, but the white hair not only makes him look cool, but is probably tied to his time-rewinding powers (though kept ambigulous in the show)

[@LacrosseAlmighty]

Was trying to think of what silver/white haired character I like. Looked over and saw my ekko figurine 😂

[@herschburdon9448]

He still has that wisdom in arcane bro built an organization and was able to beat someone with a gun with a pipe

[@SaSa-gn3rr]

I think he also fits in the young prodigy category in the show. He is the leader and the mind behind the rebellious group who fights against the de facto ruler of the Undercity, and he's like, 19. And he built a haven to help people too

[@crystallinecrisis3901]

I can’t tell if the show is keeping it ambiguous or if it’s meant to be that he hasn’t completely figured out his power yet

[@xXSamir44Xx]

I don't think he has those powers in the show. They wouldn't be so ambigous if he had them.

[@angelotheangelo3978]

Savage Books? More like Savage Gains

[@sophie9419]

Yeah, haven't seen him a while. Just wow.

[@thomzwiefler6305]

Our boy training with the turtle hermit!

[@Matthew-jr6nf]

Yeah hot damn man, how many books have you been lifting?

[@mc_zittrer8793]

His voice too. Dude reminds me of Mechazawa from Cromartie High.

[@Tax_Collector01]

Woah, I just noticed the guns.

[@baz1184]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul since his back and forth between black and white hair is explicitly related to his mental state and how he is much stronger and violent when he has white hair. Also, he is a rare hybrid of ghoul and human whilst also being uniquely strong amongst the hybrids.

[@Soundwave1900]

Not exactly a good example. Its been said in the story those rare hybrids aren't any different from the normal ghouls besides having only one red eye, and his hair got white from a week of torture for fun. His strength he aquired later is a direct outcome of him losing his nuts and then training to take down people who made him into this.

[@Incurtus]

@@Soundwave1900yeah but hes still exceptional bc he survived the surgery.. Also Arima is the perfect example of sick white hair character

[@Soundwave1900]

@@Incurtus fair enough

[@luvnight7274]

@@Soundwave1900 thats literally factually wrong. the story says multiple times that one eyed ghouls are far stronger than regular two-eyed ones. and the manga also goes into detail about how kaneki got his strength and white hair from rapid RC cell regeneration during his torture, which Dr. Kano explains how a ghoul that is forced to regenerate over and over develops stronger rc cell pathways, at the cost of rapidly aging the subject(which is why kaneki, and also takizawa, grew white hair during torture). which is reflected in many characters throughout the story growing white hair and getting many times more powerful. training had nothing to do with it. Which is why i was surprised no one from tokyo ghoul was mentioned because the white haired trope is almost a centerpiece in the story. its a great example.

[@Soundwave1900]

@@luvnight7274 The story says multiple times its a rumor. We find out closer to the finale they're not special in any way. Though I struggle to remember where exactly, its been too long... Strength - yes. White hair - no? It's been shown how he gradually turned gray throughout the torture, unlike that bs the anime ran with. That's also what happens to real life humans from traumatic experiences btw, no need to have RC cells for that. Also, this method should work on any ghoul, not just one eyed, right? I wonder why Kanae went through Eto's torture but never got gray hair... Many... Well, Arima turned gray because he ages too fast just like any other child of his origin, yet only he's anywhere near that strong. The rest of them iirc got through traumatic experiences at some point, mostly torture. Only a few of them were one eyed ghouls though, no? Also, training definitely had nothing to do with many of them becoming much stronger very fast, but if anything, I'd call the main reason going insane. Like, they lost moral barriers, they don't even care about their own pain, their brains are now fully focused on how to hit an enemy in the most effective way. But that also doesn't mean the training some of them did pass through, like Kaneki, didn't make them much stronger later on. Like, remember his rematch with Orca. My point being, all the white hair characters in the story got their white hair through natural means normal humans get in the real world every day. I'm not sure if RC cells have anything to do with that, maybe they boosted the effect idk, but the fact alone that people get white hair from torture/getting old irl is enough. So I don't think thats a great example.

[@Animely0]

The problem with the white haired characters is that so often they're the coolest character in the whole series 😭 They're all so memorable, also I'm surprised how in the part about "suffering" characters Tokyo Ghoul's Kaneki wasn't mentioned, though I guess he could also fall under the power up category

[@ishtarhernandez8406]

Kind of surprised Sephiroth wasn't mentioned more than he was since he definitely fits the prodigy, divine, hybrid, and human alien tropes. He's got more than a hat trick under all that hair!

[@fredericgagnon8205]

This goes for evil characters as well. Sephiroth is a prodigy experiment in final fantasy. The Malfoy pure noble family in Harry Potter. Inuyasha is one of my favorite character. I like the ides that he becomes human on a new moon and his hair turn white to black... like the moon actually.

[@jacobhafar538]

Took me *way* too long to see Sephiroth mentioned. He is a perfect twist on all of these tropes and he’s got the trademark silver hair to match

[@noct8225]

I was searching for a sephiroth comment haha,, also in regards to ff7 it's pretty interesting that cloud cld maybe be considered too, being a light blonde?

[@nekomancer4641]

Griffith be like you right I am indeed transcendental

[@easttowest7839]

You referenced Irish mythology but didn't mention Fionn Mac Cumhaill. He's precisely what you're talking about, silver hair and everything. He fits the "human alien" type, being related to faeries, and he possesses great skill and charisma. "Fionn" might actually mean "fair-haired" or "silver-haired."

[@namedrop721]

This is because this vlogger has great ideas but is in such a rush he ejaculates too early every fucking time before he has any facts straight and it’s super annoying. I could understand if he was just a drama rider but no, he’s asking good questions he just has shitty answers.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

His name is pronounced Finn McCool too! I saw the various Secret of Kells posters when I was a kid, featuring Aisling, a forest fairy heroine with white hair. Nowadays, the posters surely have made me a lover of many paganisms to this day.

[@line4169]

Cum-hail

[@eleonorepb4565]

And for some reasons Shin Megami Tensei depict him with blond hair

[@Andrej-tt1yi]

No Fionn mac cumhail is fair haired which means blonde and in Ireland Fionn refers to someone who is blonde.

[@JECorbett]

I dont think it was mentioned, but Griffith from Berserk also fits this, especially after certain sections of the story. Its almost outright shouted at the audience that he's a special silver haired alien boy.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Griffith is SUPPOSED to look beautiful and angelic as he's described as "someone from a painting" IN the story but he's REALLY demonic and twisted and dark in the inside!

[@skullknight4579]

I always liked the theory that Targaryen’s have a biological urge to bring back their dragons, like in he cases that dragons go extinct, the method to bring them back is written in their dna. I can’t remember who specifically, but Before Dany, other members of her family had attempted to burn themselves alongside dead dragons eggs

[@Gabrielc_14]

One of Maester Aemons brothers drank wildfire so he could be reborn as a dragon. And Egg(from the Dunk and Egg novels) tried to summon dragons by putting dragon eggs in wildfire or something like that and ended up burning SummerHall down and killed most his family.

[@schoo9256]

Genuinely awesome

[@christinesinclair6938]

I'm also willing to bet Tolkien's elves being more serious (but not too serious) was also because he'd studied folk lore and knew that the Fair Folk/Fae were (by and large) not silly little storybook things. One had to tread carefully around the Fae in the lore, or their lives could get wrecked (and sometimes being careful wasn't even enough). I've also heard that the D!sney depiction of the Dwarves also incensed Tolkien to the point of creating his own versions.

[@blackis90pcofmywardrobe]

lol why is Disney censored??? So weird unless you're chronically online

[@warriant96]

Tolkien created his dwarves long before Snow White came out. Fun fact, he was so offended by how the dwarves were portrayed in Snow White that he specifically prohibited Disney from ever adapting any of his works.

[@pleasegoawaydude]

Because it's a humorous way to imply a healthy hatred for a bad company by pretending the name itself is unspeakable. It's funny because if you're not a bootlicker, Disney is awful.@@blackis90pcofmywardrobe

[@paddlesaddlelad1881]

​@@blackis90pcofmywardrobe they don't make good movies anymore

[@koboldcatgirl]

I dunno about this, honestly! I feel like people lean really hard on "fairies used to be hardcore and scary", but many fairy tales and folklore have a really strong "campfire stories for your kids" vibe to me. Sure, they're scary, but they're also often whimsical or silly, as if designed to get your kids to crack up. Look at how the folkloric Devil himself is turned into a buffoonish character in so many folk stories, how many stories there are about wicked Fair Folk befuddled by ridiculous things like wearing your shoes backwards or boiling water in eggshells. I think it's always been just as much a mix as there is today. Honestly, I miss The Hobbit's silly, whimsical elves singing teasing songs at their visitors or getting totally wasted on human wine. There was dignity and grace there, but also whimsy and childishness, and the two sides of elves complemented each other really well.

[@pivotchampion]

Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul is such an interesting example of how hair color can represent a character's psyche. It turns from a natural black to a sheer white after he was tortured. It began to transform back into black once he lost his memories and became haise. Then it became white again when his memories were restored and he became a more complete character.

[@animusnocturnus7131]

I had hoped that you'd touch on the aspect a bit more where hair turning white from excessive stress a character experiences and which can both cause exceptional growth and a deep weakness to evolve and how this also links to white hair as a marker for experience in itself. I always find it profoundly more impactful to have this be at least partially a signifier for lost youth and wisdom beyond years, because it's always linked to loss and hurt and thus makes a very clear statement about what it takes to become exceptional.

[@carimeslockdownedtree2654]

Have you read Dracula? Because this right here tells me you'd love a certain aspect of it.

[@animusnocturnus7131]

@@carimeslockdownedtree2654 I haven't read it but I do know what you're getting at, since the novel was discussed in depth in a class I took at university.

[@koboldwizard]

Literally raiden from metal gear

[@ElizaBlakeney]

I too was waiting for that. Marie-Antoinette syndrome definitely fits Shigaraki as well as other characters. Still, a thoroughly interesting and very educational essay about my favorite silver haired characters!

[@sosa2mars]

Elric of Melnibone definitely did deserve a shout out for laying the foundation for the silver haired trope. I mean, I believe he’s even the main inspiration behind the Valyrian of asoiaf.

[@yuin3320]

Took me too long to find a mention of Elric here

[@dappernecromancer5364]

Eyyyy there it is

[@petrfedor1851]

And also for Witcher unless Sapkowski independently had similiar idea.

[@snazzydrew]

That's cause despite the insane amount of influence, no one seem to talk about Michael Moorcock's works all that much.

[@RainBrain26]

Blood and Souls for Lord Arioch.

[@Unit-kf2ls]

Kaworu Nagisa from Evangelion fits this trope. A clone with the soul of an Angel, he immediately distinguishes himself with his high EVA synch rate, and he can fly.

[@darkhorsedouglas4789]

Ah yes the White haired Anime Boy. One of my favorite tropes (mostly because i too like white haired characters). But I'm surprised you didn't mention the common themes of death usually linked with these characters. Danny Phantom, Dante, Jack Frost, Inuyasha, Sephiroth, and Cyno all have some sort of connection with death/demons. While characters like Kida, Daenerys, and Yue are destined to die for the narrative. White Haired Anime boys that lived to the end of their series was something of note back in the day because so many of them ended up killed off before the end. It's just an interesting theme that somehow overlaps in both western and eastern media. Eastern media because Japan just straight up associates white with the dead instead of black. And western media because of the association with holiness/beings from heaven like angels and Jesus being depicted as bright blinding light aka white. so to depict someone dead or linked to death but good would be to have them wear white. Which links it to the Human Alien trope you brought up. An easy way to tell an audience a character is linked to an other world is to give them white hair. It just so happens that the first other world that comes to author's minds is the after life. So I guess it just falls under that and doesn't technically need to be mentioned. But it's just as common if not more common than the white haired mage (which is what the tolkien elves trope grew into). That I sort of felt it was worth bringing up since you were so close to mentioning it at multiple points. PS you mention marik ishtar, but forget Bakura!? Bakura is peak occult white haired anime boy! I will not stand for this erasure! /j

[@queenb2450]

Good note on Daenerys! People that thought the Game of Thrones series would end with her at the throne weren't paying attention to like anything, but the white hair might be another of GRRM's genius honestly (and their weird aryan genetic thing Targs had going on)

[@darkhorsedouglas4789]

@@queenb2450 im still sad they went ahead with killing her off. But the Targaryen line ending with her felt thematically right. I just feel like they didn't have to kill her off for her to be the last Targaryen.

[@kuku8846]

If you like white-haired “anime” boys, then you might like Lu Guang from _Link Click._ 😆

[@SlapstickGenius23]

There is also Killua Zoldyck from Hunter X Hunter. He’s silver haired and has a messed up family.

[@spiceyicey]

@@darkhorsedouglas4789 luckily it's still not cannon to the books because george still hasn't written half of them yet

[@jaysmall5978]

I am honestly surprised that I didn't hear the phrase "Marie Antoinette Syndrome" once, given that (especially anime) characters' hair turning white/silver due to trauma is such a common trope. Again, Shigaraki fits this one, as does the infamous Kaneki Ken (who's also a half breed, interestingly enough).

[@ArkbladeIX]

Didn't realize white/silver hair was a big thing in western media too. Just skimming through my myanimelist and I found 30 white haired characters who were op/special in some way within their series

[@TheSaharay1]

I also think another famous literary hidden "human alien" is Jean Valjean from Les Miserables, whose brown hair is said to turn white post-reveal at the trial to free an innocent man due to conscience-based stress, but you can also read it as something from divinity due to him finally embracing what his second chance at life was fated for. His massive inhuman strength established beforehand also helps back up the "exceptional nature" part of him as a character too.

[@TAMThomasTAM]

Another example of a character's hair turning white from sickness is also in A Song of Ice and Fire. Theon is tortured mercilessly for months and the stress of it all has turned his hair white and made him look like an old man. It's interesting that GRRM has both the "white hair is a sign of special powers" and "white hair is a sign of sickness" versions, especially given that Targaryens have maintained their white hair from centuries of intense inbreeding, and they also have a bunch of illnesses, both physical and mental, that may stem from that. Given that GRRM is said to often be respectful when depicting disabled characters, often giving them dignity because of or in spite of their disabilities (just look at Viserys from Episode 8), his usage of white hair to connotation strength, specialness, and magical powers as well as sickness, trauma, and disabilities might be a subtle way of showing how these things can overlap, they don't cancel each other out, that there's more nuance than the black-and-white stark differences between them. You can be disabled and powerful. You can be strong while sick. You can have trauma and still be special. As he wrote "If ice can burn, then love and hate can mate"

[@caffetiel]

It's worth pointing out that Tolkien bucked his blonde Elf trope a number of times, too: Elrond, Arwen, Luthien are all dark-haired. He also didnt quite dodge the idea that beauty and good are synonymous in the meeting with Strider in Fellowship, where Aragorn has to overcome the fact that he's dark (of hair, at least) and 'foul'-looking, and Frodo says something about if Aragorn was a spy he'd 'look fairer and feel fouler'. Come to think of it it's probably not within the scope of the vid except as a footnote. Anyhoo, solid essay.

[@greasybumpkin1661]

It's beyond tiresome when Tolkien critics skip over these details and paint a false picture of his beliefs

[@danieldaw1778]

Isn't Legolas also described as dark haired at one point, too?

[@caffetiel]

@@danieldaw1778 I can't find his hair being part of any physical description. He probably wasn't out of the norm for Sindar, though, but what I see for them is mostly dark hair, sometimes silver? I have a feeling the royal lineage would have the Special Boy Hair

[@colbyboucher6391]

@@greasybumpkin1661 It's equally tiresome when people defend him to the death regardless of flaws

[@thisisnotausernameXD]

Aren't all the dark-haired elves you name half-elves though? Just another observation. The rest of your point still stands.

[@psypsy751]

Bro wth? I thought this was only me. Literally all my favorite characters. Iroh, Kakashi, Dante, Geralt, Hitsugaya, Inuyasha, Gojou, Gin! I thought it was just me fr! In my planned fantasy trilogy, the main character gets white hair when reaching his enlightened stage. Hell, I wanna get white hair myself.

[@TheArtofKAS]

NAH NAH....We are a community 😂😂😂

[@ShadeStormXD]

irohs just old my guy

[@psypsy751]

@@ShadeStormXD I wasn't making any meaningful connection, but Iroh's my favorite character of all time so I had to include him.

[@Nyronus]

So, quick correction: Tolkein elves were less based off English fairies, and more strongly based on the Norse Aelfs. In the Norse mythology that which was good and self-sacrificing about a person could, if strong enough, incarnate as an Aelf, a powerful guardian spirit who served the gods to protect the land and the people on it. Dwarves also come from Norse myth, being based on the dark elves - spirits of selfishness and impulsiveness, but whose endless ambition and greed made them both treacherous and untrustworthy, but powerful crafters and smiths.

[@sophiejones3554]

It was kind of a mashup of the two. In his earlier drafts they were more Fairy-like (and indeed he called them 'gnomes' which is a type of faery), later on they were more Germanic (at which point he decided to consistently call them 'elves'). The Hobbit was published several decades before LotR, during which time Tolkien changed his mind a lot.

[@koboldcatgirl]

@@sophiejones3554 Underrated reply. Also, I think it's interesting how Tolkien expanded and softened his view of dwarves in the trilogy. It's like he realized he'd sort of done dwarves dirty in _The Hobbit._ Gimli is also a nice break away from the more awkwardly coded elements dwarves were mired in; a brave, strong, silvertongued dwarf with no greed for gold who rejects every stereotype of dwarfishness.

[@VictorLHouette]

Sephiroth is a great example of one that crosses so many tropes - he's a literal human alien, and also as close to "divine" as possible in that story, with so much religious iconography surrounding him (right down to his name!) - He also fills the mentor role and the exceptional prodigy role at different points in his story, and he's enigmatic and mysterious (I mean, you get hours into the original game before you even see what he looks like) He's almost every white haired trope blended into one

[@thatll-do7606]

Ngl, my first thought was of Lady Maria from Bloodborne. She's considered by many to be the best boss of the game and one of the hardest to best, and as well as being shown to be one of the most skilled fighters in Bloodborne, she also has ties to Castle Cainhurst and their otherworldly blood arts, pulling off maneuvers and skills no other enemy in the game pulls off. Honestly, there's a lot of characters from the SoulsBorne line of games that could fit within this framework

[@Treebohr]

I just love that you touched on both Edelgard and Lysithea. In Edelgard's case it works twice over, since she has the Crest of Seiros (head saint after whom the church is named) but also is the product of experimentation to empower her (like Lysithea) with the Crest of Flames -- the power of the Goddess whom Seiros worships.

[@josheshelman6728]

You know this video would’ve done wonders for my confidence about 10 years ago when I started graying at 19. Good stuff man

[@robin47698]

Tbh I started graying in a single stripe on the side of my head around that age and told myself at least I would look like Rogue from X Men 😂

[@vikillustrations]

somehow this got me thinking about how this also applies to horses in fiction. The white horse is often perceived as special or magical, the horse of the princess (Dany had a white mare), or they are downright magical, like unicorn or pegasus, often depicted as white soo yes. We like white and silver

[@cervidae3291]

white hair is also historically and socially linked to old age, which through that is linked to wisdom! its no coincidence that a good amount of the silver/white haired characters named in this video are either some kind of wise-beyond-their-years themselves (like Yue, imo), or interact with a divine wisdom thus gaining wisdom through it (like Kida). i cant get enough of this kind of character for real, so many of my DnD characters have had pale hair because of this lmao

[@lyxthen]

While there are a lot of blond elves, a lot of them have black hair too. I think there are more black haired elves than blond ones. However, it is also true that characters like Thingol and Celeborn are said to have silver hair.

[@TheNinjaGumball]

Only elves with Vanyarin ancestry are known to be blonde in the books. Silver hair is generally exclusive to the Teleri, red to the Noldor, and brown/black is common among the Noldor and Teleri

[@Americanbadashh]

With characters originating from Japan the white haired supernatural connection is likely more rooted in the folklore of the kitsune, and various folk tales from Japan than anything to do with western elves even if they functionally fill similar divine roles.

[@Will_Morand]

Some of my favorite silver-haired characters: - Claudia (The Dragon Prince) - Emilia (Re:Zero) - Hajime (Arifureta) - Raiden (Metal Gear) - Tamiyo (Magic: The Gathering) Claudia’s hair is really cool as it shows her progress into villainy. The more her hair gets bleached out, the further she strays from what most people consider moral.

[@donnycorn3086]

Honorable mention since you've mentioned MGR's Raiden is his spiritual ascendant, MGS1's Grey Fox. His hair was also shown as white back in the original msx Metal Gear game, and his presence as Cyborg Ninja served him as less than alive yet exist beyond the sense of reality in front of naked eyes. Hell, he wouldn't have even made it if it wasn't for Yoji Shinkawa, MG's art director, to show Kojima the character design in the first place. Quite a shame that his story could have been extended a lot more than just appearing in 4 games and an honored mention in MGS4, I just really love him as a character.

[@technicaldeathmetalhead]

Ayo that legit applies to the lightning powered white haired characters like Kakashi. It also is similar to the "magical [Black person] trope like Queen La from Tarzan the Animated Series or Black white haired electro trope like Storm, the whole Village Hidden in the Clouds like Naruto, (Ekko lowkey from League of Legends/Arcane), and this half-Black half alien lightning powered character from my story 😭😭 Edit: Tokyo Ghoul goes crazy on this. Arima who is a prodigy and a [SPOILER], Juzu Suzuya also a prodigy and of course the hybrid who unlocks his powers after torture: Ken Kanaki. Shoutouts for mentioning one of my favorite villains of all time, Shogo Makishima.

[@benweinberg3819]

Potential counterpoint to the Ishvalan example as bucking the trope: whereas the Amestrians (in a political sense not individuals)were often as militaristic and greedy, the Ishvalan society was often depicted as morally just in their conflict and maintained a stronger religious affinity than the industrializing amestrians. Also like you teased at the end, Scar could work as a human-alien individual due to his atypical use of alchemy via his arm, his isolating status as a foreigner in Amestris earier on in the series, and his highly specialized talent to target and take down state alchemists. Great video!

[@denizwithz9589]

In my story, the noble family the main character cones from is literally silver hair + bonus. Their eyecolor changes depending on their emotions

[@caffetiel]

Sounds like something you'd want to mask as a noble--showing emotion without intending to can be really bad for you in politics

[@boshlovely2002]

@@caffetielor make it that this family has become very good at controlling their emotions to the point of becoming apathetic to most things and seeing their eyes change is actually a spectacle because it’s one of the few times they show emotion in the story

[@Lapin0Lune]

In D&D, my main character was black haired but the DM at one point had a god-like entity give her immortality... and white hair. But ironically I later added a gray haired character (out of stress, not because of magic or powers) and he has been trying to convince me to make him a red hair guy. DM, LEAVE MY CHARACTER'S HAIR ALONE 🤣🤣🤣

[@strider_hiryu850]

another example of the Silver-haired human-alien i feel is worth mentioning is: Raiden, from the Metal Gear Solid franchise. not only is he a young prodigy, praised even by Solid Snake himself. but he truly exemplifies the "as close to alien without literally being from a different planet" archetype as well. then there's his electrokinesis: the manipulation of electric currents being a trope of divinity. he also fits the mentor figure trope, having 2 students and a son: Sunny, George, & John. and one final trope he fits, that you didn't even mention: is the "character with no name" thing. "Raiden" of course, isn't his real name. it's merely a code name he's adopted. he's also a highly skilled, total badass. while also being a generally stoic; almost... reluctant, hero.

[@koboldwizard]

Hes also come from great hardship, and starting off with blonde hair but gaining his silver hair upon his transformation into a cyborg

[@strider_hiryu850]

@@koboldwizard yeah true.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

lol Raiden isn't a "Stoic" character AT ALL, he's HEAVILY emotional!

[@strider_hiryu850]

@@Gadget-Walkmen Stocism doesn't mean lacking in emotions. it just means level headed calmness, even in stressful situations. which isn't always the case for Raiden, but he doesn't go through every minute of every day sweatin' the small stuff.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

@@strider_hiryu850 that’s not how most people use it but yeah sure you can say that’s how Raiden is like for ALOT of stuff outside of MGS2.

[@perseusfateprototype]

My two cents on white for villains is that, while black is usually the default "evil" color, white is its opposite while also having very similar symbolism Death, emptiness, mystery, power, fear, cruelty, etc, and while black is a common hair color, white adds an extra layer of detachedness to the character that makes them feel more, alien lol Add the negative symbolism white already has and obvious subversion of "white good and pure" and white is just a very neat color for villains

[@silviarav_]

Thanks for the video, it was very interesting! I am surprised you didn't mention Griffith but seeing how you put the emphasis on beloved/favourite character, i see how he wouldn't be included haha

[@dappernecromancer5364]

So when talking silver haired characters with sickness, I think its relevant to mention the albino prince Elric of Melnibone, who is one of the big codifiers of this trope. There's a lot to discuss about that character but his stories are nearly as influential on fantasy as Tolkien. Seriously, its a deep rabbit hole to dive down, which I recommend.

[@snazzydrew]

I really can't wait till more people start talking about Michael Moorcock.

[@Captainflowers1011]

I've never even heard of this channel and I'm maybe 3 minutes into this video but I've already subscribed because I've never had a creator make me feel so called out within a title, thumbnail & first 30 seconds of their video.

[@savagebooks7482]

Welcome!

[@Javetts]

Me: making my secret villain a character with white hair Me: just now realizing why people picked up on the fact they are stronger than they claim Me: ...Too late, not changing it.

[@TheArtofKAS]

Why are you yelling at me!? I'm already on it! 😭😭🤝🏾😭

[@mosesdelacruz5754]

FASTERRRRR 🫡

[@TheArtofKAS]

@@mosesdelacruz5754 not you too 😂😂😂😭

[@CherryDad]

One thing that should be mentioned with Yue - she was sick at birth, and placed in the pool with the Moon spirit, who gave her life!

[@CherryDad]

And turned her hair white, I should've said haha

[@kidagirl99]

You actually talked about Kida. I am fulfilled. Someone remembers her. My darling. My Queen. Thank you.

[@irayathecool]

love the way you ended it. i was feeling called out but actually i'm just one of many with fantastic taste in hair color for characters lol

[@fourtwoentertainment]

Griffith from Berserk is another great example of the human/alien meant for divinity archetype

[@spectrum9292]

the entire time Kaneki Ken was in my head! he definitely fits multiple of these, like the hybrid, the leader (later in the series) the powerful transformation, and the sickness/burden transformation (due to great physical and psychological trauma)

[@bonafide4874]

Rogue! In the first X-Men film when being forced to use Magneto’s mutant machine thing, she gets a streak of white through her hair. In the moment it shows the intense physical/ mental stress on her body and mind, however, now that I’m thinking about it, it could also show her transformation throughout the movie. At the start of the film, she didn’t like being a mutant and seemed to want a normal life, but by the end she has accepted being a mutant (in part because of other mutants around her helping/ being there for her, like Logan). The white steak could thus also show how she’s special (a mutant) but the black hair could show that she’s still a human, still a person, still Rogue. Am loving these videos btw, keep it up! Edit: Fuck, I just remembered Babydoll from Sucker Punch (great movie! Watch/ rewatch it you haven’t seen it! The first time I saw it I didn’t really get it but I saw people talking/ explaining about it on TikTok and rewatched it and it’s good!) But Babydoll, the main character (or is she?) also has very white-blonde hair. It’s also thought/ speculated that Babydoll was a manifestation of another character, and wasn’t really real.

[@digitaldevil696]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Vergil, when discussed Dante, guy's even more alien than his brother. Also, I think any iteration of Deathstroke quality, not just the latest one, Slade has always been the apex predator

[@L0rdLexan01]

Can't believe you didn't mention Shirou Emiya for the "white hair as indicative of sickness", since it's a twofold dealio. In addition to it being a literal sickness caused by his Magecraft rebounding, it's also an example of his *mental* sickness, since the overuse of Unlimited Blade Works commonly occurs when he loses his McFucking Marbles due to his trauma and savior-complex, causing his hair to turn white in response and indicate his fall into insanity and/or self-destruction.

[@joshuajenkins5044]

A great, classic example of the Human Alien with white hair is Elric of Melnibone from the Elric saga books by Michael Moorcock. It's a HUGE touchpoint for white/silver hair in fantasy and fiction. Almost certainly the reason that the badass warriors like Geralt have white hair. Although, funny enough, the white hair was a side effect of making his character Albino. Elric starts the series very sickly and weak. So the white hair was a choice in this vein, not completely in the vein of "make him look cool as heck". But the character was, in fact, cool as heck. So the trope was made.

[@runswithfeathers47]

Griffith from Berserk is another prominent example. Also Gojo quickly became one of my favs of the trope and imo a great rendition of a Superman type character

[@123happily]

I think aziraphale from good omens is a subversion of this. He’s just ‘an’ angel, not a particularly special one (from a heritage or powers perspective). He is perhaps the most morally grey angel of them all, and the only one with white hair. Considering how the series paints being ‘close to human’ or ‘morally grey’ as a better state of being than straight good or evil, it’s a nice way to double down with his character design. I’d love to see a video like this going over all common/troped hair colours.

[@viktorberzinsky4781]

Odd you didn't mention Elric. He may have the excuse of being albino, but he was pivotal in shaping a subset of this character type, specifically, the mystical white/silvered swordsman.

[@snazzydrew]

Everyone always leaves out Elric and Moorcock in general. :[

[@viktorberzinsky4781]

@@snazzydrew It's really quite a shame considering how influential he is. I mean the chaos star from 40k originally came from his work as did the notion of "chaos Gods" in general.

[@snazzydrew]

@@viktorberzinsky4781 I'm just waiting for him to pass away and for the world to suddenly decide to recognize him and give him his flowers for the HEAVY influence he has had on the modern fantasy genre.

[@ShadowPa1adin]

@@viktorberzinsky4781 That, and Moorcock was one of the first genre-fiction writers to use the concept of a multiverse as a storytelling device.

[@craytherlaygaming2852]

Accelerator from Toaru was like the *Original* Albino edgelord so im shocked he didn't get brought up as well

[@rinoakirova1548]

I never noticed this trope before but it's funny because I use it too. I have a white-haired protagonist who is (unbeknownst to herself) a hybrid, and her role in the story is to mediate between humans and magical races. Seems like silver hair is something we associate with human aliens even subconsciously haha.

[@air-headedaviator1805]

Its interesting that silver and white became the symbol for this trope vs blond and gold. I wonder what motivated the shift

[@manamaster6]

One of my favorite characters in fiction was Archer from Fate/Stay Night. I enjoyed playing Edelgard's route in Fire Emblem Three Houses. And found interesting in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance how a character had silver hair but chose to dye it to avoid bullying.

[@Sam-de6qx]

Harvey Dent from Batman the Animated Series is an interesting example of a hybrid with Silver/White hair. And Hajime from Arifureta got his white hair after basically overcoming death. And question to anyone, does Alucard from Castlevania count in the discussion?

[@aname4390]

Asta from Black Clover is an interesting take on the human-alien aspect of having white hair, given that he is the only one born without magic in a place where magic is central to society. It's also interesting that he was raised in a church, which leans into the holiness aspect of white hair, but that might be a stretch. There's also an interesting dicotamy there with the magically gifted white haired Silva royal family.

[@patiencearchuleta7254]

Dont forget the trope of hair turning silver/white due to trauma. That could be grouped with the sickness trope though

[@johnwaggner9143]

Here's an interesting modifier for what you talk about here; the meanings of color vary from culture to culture. In western cultures, white represents purity, innocence, and divinity, due to the difficulty of keeping undyed cloth cleanly white for long periods of time, so anyone with bright white clothes must be someone DIFFERENT than the common person who needs to do long hours of labor to survive, like a child, a clergyman, a soon-to-be-bride, or Jesus himself. But in EASTERN cultures, the color white has a stronger association with snow and death, because the extreme heat of the region meant most dwellings were built to release heat, not trap it, and a harsh winter was a death sentence to many. So fictional characters represented by the color white are seen as being marked by death in some fashion, either as individuals fated to die, agents of death supremely skilled at killing, or a being from the land of the dead itself disguised as a human. This fits right in with the Human Alien trope you're talking about here, with white hair denoting a supernatural separation from the common person, but there's a subtle nuance to exactly what it's communicating. In the West, this character is likely divine in origin, and therefore should be wise, benevolent, and trustworthy. But in the East where many cultures value conformity, they stand in stark contrast to the nearly universal black hair, and therefore should be treated with caution, suspicion, and trepidation.

[@Nostripe361]

was a interesting that you didn't include the white/silver hair representing massive trauma in the character's past or earlier in the story. I guess you can include that with the one that was about sickness.

[@frostreaper1607]

Good catch, I'm currently into Vox Machina where the token human, Percy de Rolo, has white hair because of major trauma.

[@koboldwizard]

I can think of raiden who was a child soldier and controlled his entire life by others until he broke free

[@Silverman160Zero]

2 other white-haired I remember are Tsukasa and Haseo from .Hack//SIGN and G.U respectively, and of course both have special circumstances and powers surrounding them, but still coming off as normal humans. Though for Haseo, they take the whole 'white = divine' aspect, as one of his form, Xth form, causes his clothing to go from black to white. God, there is A LOT more white haired characters than I realized.

[@Kennedy00Louis]

You've just made a video about something I NEVER thought about, but that I needed so badly xD I have quite a number of silvered haired characters, and just now I realized that I subconsciously followed this "alien human" trope lol

[@AldoSVL]

Ooh, ooh! I got one! Irisviel from Fate/Zero Not only a Humunculus who hasn't really experienced much of the human world, and isn't really seen as an equal by all, but also cursed to a fate revealed at the end of the show. Her hybrid child, Illya, also fits into the prodigy character in Fate/Unlimited Bladeworks It's quite endearing on both instances, as "foreign" or "magical" as they may feel Also, Astarion?! Hell yeah, Baldur's Gate has truly reached everywhere

[@Khann_2102]

Ahh a fellow Fate enjoyers i see

[@AldoSVL]

I am totally normal about these characters, not obsessed with Fate in any way, and definitely not even planning a TTRPG game in its setting either.

[@msteerie]

I have a world (in early stages) where the magic system is based on characters hair colors. So the MC has a sorta cyan colored hair which means she has Sound powers & her friend has a light pink which means Bubble powers. With everyones hairs being all sorts of wacky colors I'm surprised I don't have a white/silver haired character yet. The closest is the dude who's hair is glass who definitely fits the archetype you're talking about.

[@slingshotmcoy]

Hey at Least Drizzt Do'Urden's entire race has white hair like him, and the dusk purple skin tone and evil evil nature set them apart a little. Even if Drizzt is the good boy. Geralt of Rivia is a pretty easy example of the silver haired human alien. He's usually referred to as a mutant and a freak, and even though he belongs to a special group being a Witcher, he stands out among them for what's described as a walking corpse (Henry Cavil is not the best representation, he's described as gaunt in the books). The source of his power and what makes him more exceptional that most other witchers is how receptive he was to all the toxins put into him during the Trial of Grass, but lead to his sickly appearance.

[@whyonthefall5373]

Yeah, let's just say book Geralt bears some similarities to Elric of Melniboné

[@slingshotmcoy]

@@whyonthefall5373 I think Geralt in the first video game is the most accurate representation. Although as they age him in Witcher 3, I think CDPR did an excellent job.

[@FaoladhTV]

I was waiting to hear about, to me, the most obvious recent example, the Alba from 86. There's also a hybrid character in Anju. I guess you haven't seen it yet, so I'll just recommend that you do yourself the favor of giving it a watch.

[@skywatcher1082]

*Albedo* (Ben 10) is a white haired teen in his human form. ❤️

[@Reseptics]

dante and vergil along with their father sparda are the first examples that come to mind for me when i think about characters with white hair that are other worldly. whether it be their power or origin which applies to both dante and vergil. i'll probably forget a few but the characters that have white/silver hair i can think of off the top of my head that i also love would include: satoru gojo, ken kaneki, kakashi hatake, echidna from re zero, quicksilver (his x-men movie and comic book counterparts), and griffith.

[@Aczie042]

Excellent video. However, I have one correction for the Targaryens. The Targaryens are based on the Melnibonéans from Michael Moorecock's Elric of Melniboné books. The Targaryens' looks are also based on the character of Elric as well, even though Elric is albino and has red eyes instead of purple or blue. I would also posit that the "mystical-albino" or "supernatural-albino" belongs to the "alien-human" trope, as well. Seeing as albinoism shows up in folklore in multiple cultures around the world. And some scholars believe that Noah, from Abrahamic religions, was albino, from how he was described. However, do love that my boy Dante got so much love in this video!!!!

[@turinturambar1159]

Tolkien had a group of white-haired elves. Included in this group are Thingol, the father of Luthien, Cirdan the shipwright, and Celeborn, Galadriel's husband. They're all significant in some way.

[@calebbridges4748]

You're just SO GOOD at what you do. It's deep and compelling and you make it accessible. And to me that is a set of skills beyond genius. Thanks for doing!

[@savagebooks7482]

Thank you so much! Appreciate the support.

[@ziasteele9332]

The Moonshadiw Elves in the Dragon Prince are other great examples of mysterious human aliens. Also Uncle Iroh fits the mentor role, and Rose Wilson (Deathstroke’s daughter I think) fits the prodigy role.

[@thestatusjoe9949]

I would say Iroh is somewhat different as he has natural gray hair from old age. It can kind of fit as well, but I think carries its own signifiers separate from the human alien trope

[@metaforth1271]

I feel like you could do a very similar video about how black and white hair usually represents internal conflict or a character who is in some way supernatural or outcasted for some immutable factor in fiction

[@hannahwilliams7026]

I literally have posters of Toshiro hitsugaya, Allen walker and storm up in my room right now, never felt so called out about the white haired characters!

[@coolbeans5911]

i blame Jack Frost for my love of otherworldly silver-haired characters

[@user-oc2nu7zw7g]

One thing that should also be said is that white hair, especially in eastern culture, is also associated with death. Characters with white hair often are incredibly deadly or destined to die at some point in the story (including a death of personality when a character completely changes after a traumatic event). Ex: shigaraki, who becomes increasingly deadly as his hair becomes whiter, killua who is raised to be an assassin and continues to kill regularly even after leaving his family, dabi who is shown to “die” and irreversibly change as a character as his hair turns white, etc etc. Ironically this often ties in with white hair representing a loss of innocence or purity in these cases. It’s pretty amazing how one hair color has come to have so many different meanings.

[@AmethystOcean98]

When the video started I was all bluster like, ' I DoN'T hAVe a SiLVer HaIREd faV ChARacTEr'....and then you go and show Danny Phantom and I had to rescind my ignorant statement real quick.

[@ethanomcbride]

Did anybody else watch Defiance on Syfy? Their design for the Castithans really fits this model

[@zacharylindahl]

Haven't written for 15-20 years since highschool but I decided to do the nanowrimo this year. Was searching for tips and came across this video. That was some really cool information and makes me want to include a silver haired character. It'd be cool to read a story with a bunch of silver haired characters that each embody the different tropes you were talking about.

[@kassirex4378]

i cant believe we went through this whole video about unique white/silver haired characters and you didnt mention the one character that to me is probably one of the true originators of the trope as you describe it..... the first White Wolf..... Michael Moorecock's Elric of Melnibone!

[@platypusbunneh327]

But white-haired characters in the Avatar universe don't end well. They might turn into the moon :(

[@savagebooks7482]

That's rough buddy

[@gaegurijuin]

This was an exceptional deep-dive into this trope, thanks for giving us such a great analysis!

[@cipherfresh]

Wow, fantastic video! I'd never put together the amount of other tropes usually correlated with silver-white hair, but its fascinating seeing the patterns now that you point them out.

[@SoloRogueStudios]

I have been more or less obsessed with this trope for most of my fiction consuming life. Some of my favorite characters in fiction fall into one or more variations of this trope. From InuYasha, there is obviously the title character himself, who you mentioned in this video, but my favorite has got to be his hostile half-brother, Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru is mysterious, powerful, and intelligent, and is the best character in the series simply due to how much he changes in his character arc throughout the series. In more recent fiction, we have Rean Schwarzer from the Legend of Heroes series when he enters his Ogre Form - a state where his hair turns white and his eyes turn red, and he becomes significantly more powerful, at the cost of possibly losing all control of himself. From the Fate series we have several examples. The genetically/magically engineered homunculi of the Einzbern family, who are far above the average mage; the mountain-dwelling, star-gazing Animusphere family, who possess magecraft so powerful that it's actually unusable with the meager amounts of mana in the atmosphere of modern-day earth; and Kariya Matou, who bears the burden of his family's vile magecraft, all for the sake of sparing his childhood friend's daughter the same fate (he fails, and Sakura eventually gets her own white-haired makeover 10 years later). For a more golden-haired example, we have Gilgamesh. Gil is an ancient Mesopotamian king, and yet looks nothing like the other Mesopotamians around him, instead being depicted with fair skin, golden hair, and crimson eyes with cat-like pupils, in addition to almost constantly wearing some kind of golden jewelry or armor. This is all to show how exceptional and divine Gilgamesh is compared to the others of his land. Hell, his actual legend flat out describes him as being two-thirds god and one-third human, which makes no sense, but it just serves to highlight how much more powerful, heroic, and awesome he is compared to everyone else. Edit: Removed an extra word.

[@savagebooks7482]

What's interesting about Inuyasha is that we have multiple characters that fall into multiple categories mentioned, especially Toga, Sesshomaru, and Inuyasha himself. Then you go into the spin-off series and it's manga and you have Towa and Moroha (in the manga). I don't have time to jump into deep dives for every character, but Inuyasha in a lot of ways is a great example of this.

[@cardboardtubeknight]

Really was expecting a mention of Emilia from Re:Zero who is both a half-elf (straddling two cultures), has silver hair, and looks exactly like one of the villains of the story (another silver haired half elf). Really there are other white/silver haired characters and they all kind of fit different tropes that were discussed here. Echidna is very unnerving with her very white hair, her demeanor, and the fact that her eyelashes are very thick and also silver. Pandora is a young girl who has silver hair and eyebrows and everything about her is completely off from how she dresses, to how she moves and speaks.

[@MysterEeee]

In trying to go as deep as i can go with figuring out the source for resonate tropes such as this video i ended up connecting resonate tropes as being deeply rooted echoes of our a human life cycle (our chemistry, biology, neurology, psychology etc in total included) that come out not just in every human creation but also more refined in how some patterns of those maintain relatability. That, understandably odd metaphor as the source of all human crestions and what become tropes, out of the way the trope in the video has since been flirted as an echo of human gametes, and more specifically spermatozo, as they are from a consciousness perspective versus a material reality perspective our "ancestors" to us. An ancient civilization (sometimes a lost one) if you will. Compared to what i would consider us, spermatozoa technically are only half of what we are. They are half human and dare i say potentially considered more pure (from their specific perspective) than what we are which I've come to believe why the albino look coupled with ancient/alien/meta humanoids resonates so globally. I also believe that we resonate with this pattern/echo/perspective of spermatozoa in our creations because our perspective is more deeply bonded with the ova's perspective of the total human life cycle. Probably because that perspective also mirrors our perspective on the traumatic relationship we have with external reality (which includes other human interactions too). But that's a tangential rabbit hole for another time. It's interesting to see how a shared experience anyone alive would be able to unconsciously relate to can consistently echo into the external world. Makes for interesting drama that stradles being both somehow alien to us and yet deeply human. But i do fear like any trope/meme that is known to resonate (made conscious) and even not really understood but repeated (still unconscious) can become dangerous if materially idolized (basically a toxic relationship to a trope/meme). And i think having a toxic relationship with this specific trope is definitely a problem for our species throughout history and still now. Linking this trope to its deeper source as being echoes of spermatozoa leads to the idea that the toxic relationship with this trope is actually rooted from humans having a toxic relationship to spermatozoa, or how one would idolize it above all over worshipping its role within the whole of the life cycle. Dare I say this is how fascism is birthed into the external reality? When a trope (or a biological relationship to an aspect of our body) manifests itself into the external world through us as the conduit that is some wild stuff. Now how is one influenced to form a toxic relationship to their spermatozoa ancestors? That's another rabbit hole but I'd hazard a guess it how something to did with the external world stressing the mind in a way that forces it to take a survival mode similar to what the spermatozoa that conceived us went through to reach the ova. Just a weird ass guess. I always get a kick how different stories treat this trope. GRR Martin provides a cynical yet very entertaining perspective on this trope and the idolatry of spermatozoa it represents.

[@jakobrenner2230]

You perfectly articulated feelings and opinions I didn’t know I had until now lol. Been warching you for a while, you always bring quality. Subbed.

[@aishaziz2286]

I wonder if my favourite anime character, Sakata Gintoki from Gintama, also falls under this category. Because Gintama has all kind of hair colours. Gintoki is also not that special, given that he always gets injured in every fight, no super power whatsoever. Yet he's very wise, given what he's been through.

[@ScienceGeniusGirl]

the comic DIE by Keiron Gillen plays into this really well- in the story, adults in their 40s are basically pulled into the tabletop game they played as teenagers and become their characters. the POV protag, Ash, becomes this alluring, elf-like white haired character with the ability to control the emotions of other by just speaking to them. but the layered bit of this is, this is the character Ash wanted to play, to embody, as a teenager... and the reality of how powerful they've become is less 'wow cool' and more alien and terrifying once revisited as an adult and fully aware of how powerful manipulating someone's emotions can be. beyond even human limits- Ash kills someone by making them fall in love with her so hard the victim's heart explodes into flame, erupting from their body. very worth checking out the comic.

[@ashleighcalvert8937]

You got me with that title! Brilliant observation

[@nothingiseverperfect]

Love how you pull so many sources and look across genres from tv shows, to games to anime and cartoons. Awesome stuff