History Main / RainbowSpeak

* ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' voiced the Anti-Monitor with black dialogue balloons and white lettering. Ink bleed often made it nearly impossible to make out the words.

* In the SLG ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' comics, sound effects produced by gargoyles ("ROAR!", "SNIFF!". etc.) would be rendered in the color of the gargoyle making the noise.
* ComicBook/SpiderMan's foe Delilah had an odd speech pattern; some of her words would be colored purple and written in a formal, flowery-looking [[UsefulNotes/{{Fonts}} font]].
* In ''ComicBook/NewSuperMan'', being the story of the Super-Man of China, the characters ostensibly speak Mandarin, even though the book is published in English. On those occasions when the characters switch to English, the text turns from black to blue to indicate the switch. As the characters began to travel the world later in the series, other colors were used to indicate other languages.
** When he guest stars a book of the traditional Franchise/{{Superman}}, the color pattern of the text is reversed: blue for Mandarin, black for English.

This happens mostly in video games, especially those that lack voice acting, but can occur in comics and other media from time to time. The World Wide Web, especially, invokes this for identifying hyperlinks (well, [[Administrivia/PermanentRedLinkClub usually]]). Also common in subtitled anime, to differentiate characters.

See also: PaintingTheMedium, BoldInflation, NoticeThis. Contrary to what one might expect, this is not the binary opposite of BlackSpeech. Text of this kind lends itself very well to a DramaticReading.

* The UsefulNotes/Commodore64 allowed users to change text colors in the built-in BASIC.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** The kernelsprites are generated by the [[ShowWithinAShow Video Game Within A Comic]] SBURB as each player's helper and QuestGiver [=NPC=]. When they explain the setting they speak certain important terms in underlined text, as if the phrases have mystical significance.
** Doc Scratch is soft-spoken but wields immense power. We see him lose his cool for the first time with this peal of {{Angrish}}: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004163 SHE HAS WHAT!?]] In an instance of PowerGlows, the text itself flashes and crackles with lime-green energy.
** Later [[spoiler: Jadesprite]] does the same: [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=005117 WHAT DID YOU DO?]]

* The SNES game ''VideoGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' also uses the keywords system.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}: Risky's Revenge'', important items and innuendos in dialogue are highlighted yellow.

An [[green:NPC]] has just told you that you have to retrieve the [[gold:legendary golden sphere]] from the [[blue:ancient dragon]]. Legends say he's in the [[red:Cave of Horrors]]. To find out where that is, you'll have to ask the [[purple:Town Sage]].

This happens mostly in video games, especially those that lack voice acting, but can occur in comics and other media from time to time. The World Wide Web, especially, invokes this for [[BlueShifting identifying hyperlinks]] (well, [[Administrivia/PermanentRedLinkClub usually]]). Also common in subtitled anime, to differentiate characters.

* On the internet, certain words are {{blue|Shifting}}. This means they are links you can click on. If it's red, it's a Administrivia/DeadLink.

** {{Pothole}}s on this very wiki look kind of like this, too, whether the text is {{blue|Shifting}} (green in night vision) or [[ItLooksLikeThis red]]. This includes [[SelfDemonstratingArticle this line right here]].

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' highlights the names of places you have go in blue, and when characters speak in Al Bhed (a one-for-one substitution cipher that the player can learn one letter at a time), the untranslated letters are displayed in bright magenta, but otherwise the trope is averted.

* In ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' fic ''FanFic/{{Eternity}}'', many of the lines are colored blue or red, a few times just to differentiate the speakers, but most of the time it is used to show the mood or feelings regarding the described subject. In [[GoingNative Yonaga's]][=/=]Enterprise's case in particular, when she really hates something to the point of almost regressing to her old Pacific War-self, the red lines look corrupted via the WebOriginal/{{Zalgo}} font.

An [[green:NPC]] has just told you that you have to retrieve the [[gold:legendary golden sphere]] from the [[blue:ancient dragon]]. Legends say he's in the [[red:Cave of Horrors]]. To find out where that is, you'll have to ask [[purple:The Town Sage]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheStanleyParable'', part of the subtitles will change to red if [[spoiler:you wait long enough to type in the password (2845) in the boss's office, thus annoying the Narrator. This will also occur in the Real Person ending when the Narrator is agitated with your refusal to say the password for a voice receiver (Nightshark-115).]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}}'' puts anything of remote importance in red. If you didn't notice the importance of the [[red:pirates]] the first time, don't worry; the game won't stop putting the word "[[red:pirates]]" in red. Ever.

[[caption-width-right:256:Gee, I wonder where we should go next.]]

*** This was belatedly added to the PSP remake of the first ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'', even though it was unnecessary.

** ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTenseiPersona'':

** Trope pages dealing with colors used to have this until the color tags were removed, such as RainbowMotif, ColorCharacter, and ColorCodedElements. And, as mentioned above, [[SelfDemonstratingArticle this article right here]].

* In ''Videogame/DarksidersII'', names, locations, and important concepts are highlighted in different colors in conversation subtitles.

* ''VideoGame/Celeste'' uses this for the character names.