History Main / LawOfChromaticSuperiority

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'': Knuckles the Echidna is a bright red whereas the rest of his tribe is tan.

While red is one of the most common colors to receive this treatment, it isn't the only one. It's generally held that the rarest color in a work will be the "best" one. A guy dressed all in black will ''always'' defeat opponents clad in lesser colors. Gold is ''always'' better than silver (unless you're [[SilverBullet dealing with werewolves]]), and silver is always better than bronze. Since bronze and gold are sometimes the same color, it makes for a complicated hierarchy.

** In ''VideoGame/Halo2'', standard Forerunner Aggressor Sentinels were silver and fired orange beams, while the stronger versions were gold and fired blue beams.
** In ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', this is how most REQ variants of Covenant weapons and vehicles are segregated, although whether the best one is gold or red (or silver, if you're talking vehicles) tends to vary.

* ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'': Red Devil (aka Crimson Devil, Red Meteor, Red Demon, and Raven Blood) is basically a parody of Char: his car is red and sometimes has a horn protruding from the hood. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot6UI1ldQjU&feature=related No joke.]] And even in Japan-only spin-off ''Racing Battle C1 Grand Prix'' where all the old rivals from ''Shutokou Battle'' have circuit tuned cars (several of the bosses even use real cars like the Sun Auto [=CyberEVO=] Lancer Evolution), his car is ''still the same''.

* In ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', this goes for nearly every game with the enemies (though it varies all over the place). Red Koopa Troopas won't walk off cliffs, red Venus Fire Traps/Fire Piranha Plants shoot 2 fireballs, regular Paragoombas fly and drop Micro Goombas, while the Red Paragoombas can only hop. Inverted in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', in which the red Shy Guys and Snifits [[ArtificialStupidity walk off cliffs]] and the red Beezos fly in a straight line. The red Pansers, though, don't walk off cliffs because they, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation unlike the other Pansers]], don't move.

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime features a group of five Genesect, four normal colored and one Shiny, with the Shiny one leading the troupe. The color of a Shiny Genesect? Red, of course.

* In ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', this goes for nearly every game with the enemies (though it varies all over the place). Red Koopas won't walk off cliffs, red Piranha Plants shoot fireballs, red Goombas fly and drop tiny Goombas. Inverted in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', in which the red Shy Guys and Snifits [[ArtificialStupidity walk off cliffs]] and the red Beezos fly in a straight line. The red pansers, though, don't walk off cliffs because they, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation unlike the other plants]], don't move.

* Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a [[RedBaron the original Red Baron]], considered by many to be the greatest air combat pilot in the world, piloted (of course) a red triplane. He, in all likelihood, was the one to popularize this trope. Following his example, his squadron-mates started painting their aeroplanes up in funky colors as well so he wouldn't stand out quite so much. Richthofen's squadron ended up being so colorful that its actual name, "Jagdgeschwader 1", gave way to the nickname "Flying Circus"[[Note it was also called this because, like a circus, it had no permanent base but packed up and moved all over the front as needs changed]]. Before long, practically the entire Imperial German Air Service was trying out the Law of Chromatic Superiority. German pilots found that, while red paint didn't make their fighters fly any faster, it did make them easy to distinguish from the universally khaki-colored British aircraft in the middle of a dogfight.

* Manfred von Richthofen, a.k.a [[RedBaron the original Red Baron]], considered by many to be the greatest air combat pilot in the world, piloted (of course) a red triplane. He, in all likelihood, was the one to popularize this trope. Following his example, his squadron-mates started painting their aeroplanes up in funky colors as well so he wouldn't stand out quite so much. Richthofen's squadron ended up being so colorful that its actual name, "Jagdgeschwader 1", gave way to the nickname "Flying Circus". Before long, practically the entire Imperial German Air Service was trying out the Law of Chromatic Superiority. German pilots found that, while red paint didn't make their fighters fly any faster, it did make them easy to distinguish from the universally khaki-colored British aircraft in the middle of a dogfight.

** It is worth noting that the primarily-white Gundam is referred to by its enemies (the Principality of Zeon) as "the white mobile suit" and is usually recognized as such ("It's the white one! Fall back!"), the off-white [=GM=]s are superior to almost all of their Zeonic counterparts, and most other ace pilots have their mobile suits colored a certain color as well; Anavel Gato's blue-and-green Gelgoog, Johnny Ridden's red-and-black suits (similar enough to Char's colors that his being commonly mistaken for Char is a RunningGag, with "I'm not Char!" practically being his CatchPhrase, even moreso in {{fanon}}), the suits of the Black Tri-Stars, and the most skilled (and least-famous) ace pilot, Shin Matsunaga, who piloted the only other white mobile suits in the series other than the Gundam and actually outperformed Char in the battle that made him famous (and, by having the sense to retire after the One Year War rather than getting dragged into the next half-dozen conflicts, is the one who survives the longest).

* Robots in ''TheCrownOfWu'' mostly use melee attacks, but be wary if there are enemies whose swords or spears emits a red glow; these enemies have SwordBeam abilities and can spam ranged attacks at you from a distance.

* In [[Anime/BlueCometSPTLayzner Layzner]] Ru Kain's Zakarl generates a red energy when using the fullest extent of its' V-Max. It also helps that his unit is painted gold compared to the rest of the empire.

* This tradition has been carried on by many other non-''Gundam'' HumongousMecha series, where the most technically skilled pilot (but very seldomly The Hero himself) has a red mech: AcePilot Asuka's Unit-02 in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', squad leader Ryoko's red Aestivalis in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'', HotBlooded AcePilot Kamina's Gurren in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Milia Fallyna Jenius' VF-1J Valkyrie in ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' (though she's only the ''second'' most skilled pilot; the most skilled is her husband, Max Jenius, who pilots a blue version of the same craft), DeathSeeker StalkerWithACrush Gauron and BloodKnight PsychoForHire Gates' Plan-1058 Codarl-i in ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'', Kallen Stadtfeld's Guren [[SuperPrototype Mk-II]] / [[MechaExpansionPack Kashoushiki]] / [[MidSeasonUpgrade SEITEN]] in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' (though it was a unique model), and Elvy Hadhiyat's Alpha V-1 Vermillion in ''Anime/RahXephon'' (her Vermillion is the only one colored red; all others are either [[RedShirt grey]] or [[{{Mook}} black]]).

* Lately, ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' has been affiliating the FiveManBand with their own colors. Guess what color Haruhi has? Note that she put on a RedArmbandOfLeadership when she founded the SOS-Brigade.

* The KoreanWebtoon ''HelloHellper'' mostly takes place in the afterlife and it's SplashOfColor[=-coding=] has red common ghosts at the bottom and mysterious purple godlike beings(? we've only met one so far [[spoiler: who's later revealed as ''Satan'']]) at the top, with tough yellow ogres, insanely strong green guardians, and terrifying blue GrimReaper[=s=] in between. [[spoiler: Our hero has the ability to "take" colors: he's already got a boon of purple power from Satan and the powerful feet of a yellow-blooded ogre chief -- the fact that he was able to integrate the different colored blood was a literally one-in-a-million chance. He also has the ability to "give" colors: He smacked some red onto the first Reaper he defeated; said reaper was the son of the aforementioned ogre chief's daughter and ''[[Literature/JourneyToTheWest Sun Wukong The Monkey King]]''.]]

* OlderThanPrint: ''Haft Paykar,'' the epic poem of AncientPersia (modern Iran). The prince [[ValuesDissonance marries seven princesses]] [[UnwantedHarem from different countries]] [[AllYourPowersCombined and visits them each to learn their wisdom]]. Each princess is a {{Color Coded Character}}. In order of 'enlightenment': Black, Yellow, Green, Red, Blue, Brown, and, finally, White, for the most pious princess, whom he visits on Friday, the holy day of Islam.

* ''Literature/PitDragonChronicles'': Dark red dragons are especially valued as [[BeastlyBloodsport fighters]] due to their reputation for ferocity.

* In ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', the [[TheOldGods Unexplored-Class Materials]] are all associated with a particular colour. The Red-Eyed Lady, Wicked Green Woman and Spirit of the Fluttering Yellow Gills are more powerful than most of the rest, while the White Queen is orders of magnitude more powerful still. [[spoiler:The White Queen is a double example, as she's the same entity as the [[EldritchAbomination Black Maw]]]]. Played with in the case of the Colorless Little Girl, [[spoiler:an artificial Unexplored-Class designed specifically to combat the White Queen. The Colorless Little Girl is uniquely capable of defeating the White Queen singlehandedly, but would lose to any other Unexplored-Class]].

* In ''LightNovel/TheDragonKnightsBeloved'', a dragon's power and rarity can be perceived by how close its scales are to "sky" colours. From strongest to weakest, they are; blue, white, lightning-violet, green, and amber. Melissa notes that a Dragon Knight's strength [[HardWorkHardlyWorks is far less important militarily]] than the colour of the steed that chooses him...not that it really matters, because all Dragon Knights are adored by the people.

* ''[[http://arimaa.com/arimaa/ Arimaa]] subverts this trope quite a bit. While Gold does have the first move, Silver can see Gold's layout and react accordingly, making them more or less equal.

** The series also introduced the colouring of items that has since become standard in many [=RPGs=]. In the first game, white was normal, blue magic and yellow unique. ''Diablo 2'' added yellow for rare and green for set items, changing unique to gold. Diablo 3 uses red for legendary (replacing unique and set items in the previous game). While the details vary, the core white-blue-yellow progression can be seen in many games. Ironically, it's actually somewhat subverted in ''Diablo 2'' since although rare items had more modifiers, regular magic items could have ''larger'' ones, so the weapon with the highest possible damage was actually blue, but then the best weapons are unique or runeworded anyway.

* The ''[[http://wiki.uqm.stack.nl/Black_Spathi_Squadron Black Spathi Squadron]]'' in VideoGame/StarControl supposedly dedicated themselves to wandering space and "performing brave and hostile deeds" and painted their ships black with bright red stripes in order to distinguish themselves from the normal Spathi (their species' normal [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is being ''extremely'' cowardly).
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series, the Yakumo "family" of youkai display this. Yukari Yakumo, whose first name translates to "Violet", is one of the most powerful characters in the entire series. Her [[{{Familiar}} shikigami]], Ran Yakumo ("Indigo"), is a short step below, and both are [[OptionalBoss Extra Stage bosses]], with Yukari being a [[BrutalBonusLevel Phantasm]] Stage boss. Down the spectrum is Chen ("Orange")--Ran's own shikigami--who is both a Second Stage boss and Extra Stage midboss.

* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' has a similar effect, Occasionally with black world tendency, you can encounter "Black Phantom" NPC enemies. Despite the name, they appear a glowing red with black cracks running through them and tend to be much stronger and harder to kill.

* In ''Videogame/MetroidDread'', of course the last EMMI is red. [[spoiler:But then it's subverted as just as it attacks Samus, [[PowerParasite the Metroid absorption powers]] kick on overdrive, and she stops its charge with just one grab.]]

* ''VideoGame/BloodySpell'' has a RecurringBoss, the Bloodthirster demon, who keeps coming back - the fourth return onwards, it's red-furred and far more powerful than the previous grey Bloodthirsters.

*** Another rare case of the red ranger not being the leader also happens in ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger''. Megared is the central character, but the member who actually takes charge of the team is Megablack, due to being the most responsible member of the team, in contrast to the IdiotHero Megared. This is not the case in the adaption, ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''.

*** Another similar situation happens in ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'' and ''Series/MightyMorphinAlienRangers'' where the female White Ranger on both teams was the leader rather than their Red Rangers. Despite this, the Red Ranger on each team was still center stage in role calls.

*** ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'' provides the first complete aversion of this since ''J.A.K.Q'' and the first time it was averted since the start of the show, with the main character being the White Ranger Zenkaizer and the Red Ranger [=ZenkaiJuran=] being TheLancer. However it's still worth noting that Zenkaizer's suit still predominantly features a large amount of red.

* OlderThanPrint: ''Haft Paykar,'' the epic poem of ancient Persia (modern Iran). The prince [[ValuesDissonance marries seven princesses]] [[UnwantedHarem from different countries]] [[AllYourPowersCombined and visits them each to learn their wisdom]]. Each princess is a {{Color Coded Character}}. In order of 'enlightenment': Black, Yellow, Green, Red, Blue, Brown, and, finally, White, for the most pious princess, whom he visits on Friday, the holy day of Islam.

* ''Anime/CrossAnge'' both double-subverts it and plays this straight. Hilda's Arquebus is primarily red-colored and she is by far the most aggressive and active pilot amongst the usual Norma people that pilot Arquebus... but that pales compared to other Ragna-Mails, which are black colored... [[spoiler:except when Hilda gets one herself (Theodora), its SuperMode paints the Ragna-Mail red.]] On the other hand, the [=DRAGONs=] are led by Salamandinay, who rides the primarily red-colored Enryugo and [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking by far the best DRAGON pilot, aside of being the race's princess.]] The two of them lampshade this trope when they appear in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' during save-quit scenes.

* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', this is the case with the [[AliensAreBastards Evronians]]: the low-ranked grunts and soldiers are light purple in color, while researchers such as Zoster or Gorthan are dark purple, [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking and commanders like Zondag]] are black. At the top sit the Emperor-type Evronians, who look more monstrous and have red skin, giving them a demonic look.