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In Hollywood, you have your Dumb Blondes, your Brainy Brunettes... and your Fiery Redheads.
A Fiery Redhead is a red-haired character who is strong, passionate (not always sexually), outgoing, usually outspoken, and almost always female. She tends to have a good sense of humor. She has a big personality and she's not afraid to use it. Whatever you do, don't get on her bad side, or there will be hell to pay. Especially if Personality Powers are present. She likes Playing With Fire.
This hair-color stereotype probably developed since red hair was associated with the Irish for a long time, and Irish people ended up being stereotyped as loud, strong, and passionate. Maureen O'Hara was practically the embodiment of this stereotype and probably did a lot to spread it. On the other hand, it's even found in Eastern Europe where any association would have been with Russians or Swedes, nationalities not generally stereotyped as hotheaded.
Although real redheads can have Green Eyes, this association is exaggerated in fiction.
Compare Heroes Want Redheads, Dark Skinned Redhead, Evil Redheads, and Redheaded Hero. If you have a blond, a brunette, and a redhead in close proximity (i.e. in the main cast), it's Blond Brunette Redhead.
Examples
Anime and Manga
- Lirin of Saiyuki definitely qualifies. While most of her behavior is more like "annoying," she has a hair-trigger temper and will scream at or drop boulders on people who annoy her.
- Ayano Kannagi from Kaze No Stigma is a red haired fire magic user .
- Shana, the Flame-Haired, Fire-Eyed demon huntress from Shakugan No Shana.
- Another literal example is Rin from Yes Precure 5. Her hair even turns into a flame-esque style after her transformation.
- Shayla-Shayla from El Hazard.
- Lina Inverse from Slayers.
- Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi.
- Asuka in Neon Genesis Evangelion, so much.
- Mai Tokiha of Mai-HiME is a subversion: she's a redhead with fire-based powers, and presented as an example of this trope in the first episode with her violent outbursts at Yuuichi, but after that, she's shown to be compassionate and caring, and remains that way until things go really bad for her and everyone else.
- The manga plays it a bit more straight, giving Mai more of a loose temper that her anime counterpart kept under better control. Both versions were played as "gutsy" and "passionate", which could fall under the redhead stereotype.
- Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has Vita, Teana, Agito, and Nove, who are all redheads with short fuses. For an extra kick, Agito is a literal fire elemental.
- Nove's sister Wendi also has red hair. Unlike the other examples, she's quite cheerful.
- Ahiru from Princess Tutu isn't very strong in terms of combat, but she otherwise fits the description perfectly. (And she does catch the local Jerk Ass off guard once.)
- Himeno from Pretear, another Junichi Sato Magical Girl anime, is a firey Red Headed Hero as well.
- Satella from Chrono Crusade, a tsundere and "jewel witch".
- Kallen Stadfelt from Code Geass. In fact just about everything about her is red, from her rebel headband, to her mecha, hell even the outfits she wears are associated with the color red.
- Mai Shiranui is one of these in the second Fatal Fury OVA and The Movie. She is passionate, outgoing and outspoken, and has fire based attacks to top it — although her physical strength is sadly underplayed. Note, however, that in most of the the games, she is usually represented with brown or black (with purple highlights) hair, but her cheerful, combative personality is pretty much the same and she gets to keep her Action Girl credentials.
- Misty in her early appearances in the Pokemon anime. Ironically, she specializes in water-type Pokemon.
- In Sailor Moon, Rei's aura color is red. Guess what her specialty/personality is.
- Matilda Ajan, from Mobile Suit Gundam.
- Kei of the Dirty Pair.
- Asuna of Mahou Sensei Negima. The series also has Anya who's both a fire-user and very feisty.
- Lucy from Elfen Lied is a homicidally Fiery Redhead (or more specifically, hot pink head).
- Its been implied that Naruto's mother Kushina used to be one of these, although evidently she mellowed out as she got older.
- Karin is a more current example. Sometimes.
- Sakura, even though technically she has hot pink hair.
- Karui seemed kind of hotheaded when she was beating the crap out of the titular character.
- Brain Powerd's Hime Utsumiya is not quite as fiery as other examples listed above, but she still has an outgoing personality (and won't hesitate to call out Yuu when necessary), and is an excellent fighter despite her preference for diplomacy.
- Chocolat from Sugar Sugar Rune
- Kyouko from Skip Beat, even if in reality her hair is black, after her Important Haircut turns out to be extremely fiery.
- Nami from One Piece. Even her punches are emotionally charged.
- Kiddy Phenil of Silent Moebius, but only in the TV series. Her hair is green in every other version.
- Admiral Bittenfeld from Legend Of The Galactic Heroes. Averted with Admiral Kircheis, a fellow redhead.
- Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. That's all.
- Subverted with Orihime, whose hair is the same orangey color as Ichigo's. However, she hardly ever gets mad even when Rukia says she should.
- Ranma from Ranma 1/2 when in girl form, at least in the anime.
- The titular character from Project A-Ko.
- Battler from Umineko No Naku Koro Ni
- Ange is also a subversion of this trope.
- Jet Link—AKA Cyborg 002—from Cyborg 009.
- Angel Salvia from Wedding Peach, although green-haired Angel Daisy is also pretty fiery as well.
- Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket. He may be male, but he practically is this trope.
- Anne Shirley in the anime version of Anne Of Green Gables, who in turn is based on Anne Shirley in the novel series Anne Of Green Gables, mentioned in the literature section below.
- Nami from Full Metal Panic, who encompasses most of the cliches that go with it. Hot tempered, passionate about what she does, outgoing and fiery... the only thing is that, she's not nearly as violent as Tsundere Kaname, and more often than not, actually tries to be gentle and nice around Sousuke, the guy she likes.
Comic Books
- Jean Grey and Rachel Summers, who not only fit the personality trope but also happen to manifest their powers in the form of giant birds made of fire. Rahne Sinclair too, though it's hidden under repressive piety most of the time.
- Ember of ElfQuest
- Redlance in Elf Quest is an inversion because he's usually very quiet and shy. Although not when it comes to sex, according to the novelization.
- Maxima, who is definitely not a hero, but very much a spitfire.
- Red Sonja. That is all.
- Mariah from The Warlord
- Ember◊ from the Dutch comic 'Storm'.
- Mary Jane "Face it, tiger -- you just hit the jackpot!" Watson
-Parker
- Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow
- Medusa of the Inhumans
- Frankie Raye, who went on to literally become a Fiery Redhead.
- Patsy Walker, Hellcat, formerly married to matching Fiery Redhead Daimon "Son of Satan/Hellstorm" Hellstrom.
- Shanna The She-Devil, when her hair is properly colored.
- Bethany Cabe.
- Babs Gordon, in current continuity (originally she was a Brainy Brunette; Batgirl's red hair was a wig attached to the cowl).
- Rahne Sinclair of The New Mutants (Excalibur, X-Men, X-Force...) is at once shy, passionate, religious, conflicted and a redhead.
- Little Orphan Annie has all the trappings of one... as a 10-year-old girl.
- Hortense McDuck
Film
- Down With Love - Renee Zellweger's character stops being a wimpy woman and to show it, she dyes her hair red.
- Disney's The Little Mermaid- Ariel is the first rebellious Disney Princess with a thirst for adventure and tendency toward recklessness. The creators of Enchanted say (strawberry) Giselle owes her spunkiness to her.
- Fiona from Shrek
- Diamonds Are Forever. When James Bond first meets Tiffany Case, she's outspoken, is quite rude to him and has a bit of a temper. She changed wigs (from blonde to brunette), then appeared as a redhead.
James Bond: I don't care much for redheads. Terrible tempers. But somehow it seems to suit you.
Tiffany: It's my own.
- The Ur-Fiery redhead, Mary-Kate Dannaher in John Ford's movie The Quiet Man. As another character puts it, "That red hair is no lie!" She tries to slug out John Wayne himself! Maureen O'Hara's finest Fiery Redhead hour.
- Bortai, the redheaded Tartar princess played by Susan Hayward in the So Bad Its Horrible John Wayne flop The Conqueror.
- Ginny Weasley:
Harry: Okay, so this morning I'm going to be putting you all though a few drills, just to set things straight...
[everybody keeps talking]
Harry: Quiet, please!
[nobody listens to him]
Ginny: SHUT IT!
[silence]
Harry: ...thanks.
- Syndrome from The Incredibles is a male example. Heck, his hair's even shaped like a flame, and his personality is suitably over-the-top.
- Free-spirited and flamboyant Delysia Lafosse from Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day.
- Anya in Anastasia
- The fabulous Miss Vida Boheme in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Subverted somewhat in that Vida Boheme is really Patrick Swayze in drag, and the red hair is a wig.
Literature
- Practically every female character in the novels of Robert A Heinlein. Even a few of the male characters qualify.
- Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke's wife and Deadpan Snarker extraordinaire. She can get very nasty if you hit her Berserk Button.
- As is her son, Ben Skywalker. The striking similarities between the two (particularly their personalities) are brought up fairly often in profic, especially in Sacrifice, and a LOT in fanfic. To be honest, probably the only notable physical feature he inherited from Luke are his eyes.
- Ygritte from A Song Of Ice And Fire. "You know nothing, Jon Snow!"
- Again, Ginny Weasley of Harry Potter. And her mother, Molly.
- Heck, all the Weasleys are just as fiery as their hair colors. The more mellow is Percy, and he, well...
- Let's not forget that, while more mellow than the others, Lily Evans had enough gall to keep James Potter at bay during their school years, only accepting his feelings when he stopped being a Jerk Jock.
- Ciaphas Cain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM's comrades Colonel Kasteen and Trooper (later Corporal) Magot fit this trope to a T, Magot almost to the point of being a Psycho Lesbian. And, no, the two redheads are not a couple.
- C. L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry.
- Calliope in John Barnes's One For The Morning Glory.
- Annie aka Naughty Nan in The Film Of The Book, at least, of Little Men.
- Fireball of the Whateley Universe. Red hair, short temper. Oh, and that fire manifestation power.
- Anne Shirley of Anne Of Green Gables, whose temper was at its fieriest when she was teased about her red hair. She chewed out an adult neighbor, and also responded to being called "Carrots" by breaking her slate over a schoolmate's head.
- Princess Eilonwy of The Chronicles of Prydain, the extremely temperamental Tsundere Action Girl, whose temper is to be feared even by her friends, and especially her love interest.
- From the same series, a male example — the boisterous King Smoit, who is jolly and personable with his friends, but unleashes a warrior's temper on those who anger him.
- Dylan Marvil from The Clique.
- Aviendha (and, to a lesser extent, all Aiel women) from the Wheel of Time behave like this. They are quite proficient with the spears and knives they threaten men who make unwanted advances with.
- Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's Daughter Longstocking, from the Pippi Longstocking series (and subsequent adaptations). Don't mess with this tank of a little girl.
- In Robert Graves' King Jesus, Jesus has red hair, that being one of the eight "signs of royalty."
- Herrenna the Henna-Haired Harridan, a side character in The Light Fantastic has red hair (per her title) and absolutely no patience or pity for either Rincewind or Twoflower. Oh, and she has a very big sword.
- "Red" from Good Omens.
- Alanna in the Tortall books by Tamora Pierce has flaming red hair, a wicked temper and, strangely, purple eyes.
- Ditto with Tris in Tammy's Circle of Magic series. Except she doesn't have purple eyes and is somewhat dumpy and rude.
- Talea in Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger
- Ce'Nedra from David Eddings' Belgariad
- Renn from the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness
- Squirrelflight of Warrior Cats would qualify as a Fiery Redpelt.
- Nerdanel, Maedhros, Amrod and Amras from The Silmarillion are pretty much the only characters to be described as redheads in J.R.R Tolkien's books. The trope is perhaps averted with Nerdanel and Maedhros: being Fëanor's wife and eldest son, they're respectively strong-willed and slightly unhinged...but still much more cool-headed than ther rest of their family.
Live Action TV
- Donna Noble from Doctor Who, who was probably the loudest companion yet (but that's not necessarily a bad thing).
- Or the just-as-loud Melanie Bush.
- But not Turlough. Or Romana II.
- Wait, I always thought Romana II was blonde.
- Or Compassion, who only has the "bad temper" part of the trope.
- Dr Grace Holloway. Heroes Want Redheads, evidently, if only to go on adventures with and maybe kiss a little.
- Joan from Mad Men.
- Lucy Ricardo — 60% screwball, 40% spitfire.
- At least early on Willow from Buffy is a subversion - quiet, plain (in a Hollywood Homely way), not especially strong and easily the most intelligent and intellectual of the teenage characters. In fact Oz probably counts too.
- Not coincidentally, Willow's hair got distinctly more and more red as her character became more assertive and less nerdy and quiet.
- Amy Dumas (Lita of the WWE) was a pretty decent personification of this, being flashy, outgoing, and pretty damn willing to jump in the middle of just about anyone who crossed her, male or female.
- Kira Nerys, though it changes from season to season. Still, her personality is always fiery.
- Red of Fraggle Rock with her extreme tomboy nature, her... very high self-esteem, and her dominant personality (which itself causes numerous conflicts), not to mention her own explicitly stated desires ("The Tale of the Triumphant Princess" anyone?).
- Captain Janeway from Star Trek Voyager, though as she's The Captain she doesn't have to lose her temper, just give them the Glare of Death. Strong, very expressive and touchy in her body language even though she's a Celibate Hero, and quickly gets Bad Ass on anyone who threatens her ship or crew.
- Also Dr. Beverly Crusher from TNG - do not piss her off or you will find yourself dropped by Klingon martial arts faster than you can say "hypospray."
- And Major Kira Nerys from DS 9. Tangling with a former Bajoran resistance fighter (and current second in command of Deep Space Nine) is a very bad idea.
- Addison Montgomery - former Montgomery-Shepherd - in Greys Anatomy and Private Practice. She's also pretty successful with men (Derek, Mark, Alex, Kevin, Noah, Archer) so she's also an example of Heroes Want Redheads.
- Dana Scully, who gives as good as she gets (and can handle herself thank you very much - God forbid you suggest otherwise)... and who falls head over heels in love with Mulder.
- Eleanor Grey from Covington Cross.
- Ashka, the callous, mean, chronically double-crossing and power-hungry bitch from Spellbinder.
- My So Called Life: Central character Angela Chase evokes this trope by dying her hair
red "crimson glow." Former best friend Sharon Cherski is a lot calmer and more manageable than Angela, but she still easily fits the trope. Same goes with Hallie Lowenthal, the series' resident adult Fiery Redhead.
Tabletop Games
- Star Trek The Next Generation Tabletop RPG (Last Unicorn Games) supplement "Planetary Adventures". The adventure "The Enemy You Know" has a redheaded female engineer, who "can be hot-tempered and impulsive" and has a "tendency to charge into situations". She overhears a Vulcan woman speak a phrase in Romulan and confronts her, calling her a "dirty Romulan spy".
- The redhead Helena Daphnotarthius, a cleric of the Immortal Valerias, in the Dungeons And Dragons Dawn of the Emperors boxed set. She was "fiery in anger, in romance, in the pursuit of things she wants." She wanted to live "life to its fullest and promote the questionable virtues of reckless abandon and thoughtless enjoyment".
Video Games
- Midna from The Legend Of Zelda Twilight Princess.
- Nariko from Heavenly Sword. There has perhaps never been so much red coming out of one head.
- Excepting perhaps cases of massive cranial trauma.
- Claus and Kumatora in Mother 3.
- Atlas from Mega Man ZX Advent takes it literally, using fire attacks when merged with Model F. She doesn't mess around.
- Aoko and Akiha from Tsukihime and Melty Blood. Aoko's hair is probably dyed, as it was brown when she was younger. Aoko is one of the strongest mages in the world who enjoys messing with people and blowing stuff up. Akiha's hair is normally a severe black, as befitting an ojou, but it Turns Red when she consciously or unconsciously calls upon her demonic blood to power up. She fits this trope well, since she gets redder the more fiery she gets, and gets more fiery the redder she gets. She's still in control until the point that her eyes turn red too, which is the sign that she's gone insane.
- Akiha once claimed that the redness was her "true" hair color, but only in the sense that her "true" nature is demonic — she was being rather negative at the time. Her cousin, Kouma, has more demon blood than she does and still normally has black hair, and he's not the kind of guy who would bother with disguises.
- Excepting the game versions and art which depicted her as a blonde or brunette, Tyris Flare of the Golden Axe series. Literally a Fiery Redhead in that she was able to summon explosions and dragons with her magic.
- Tasha/Zadia from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict.
- Aika from Skies Of Arcadia. She seems to be aligned with the Red Moon, which embodies heat, as well.
- What Disgaea 2's Adell lacks in gender, he makes up in ridiculous levels of fieriness - both figuratively and literally.
- Planescape Torment features the sharp-tongued, passionate, brash tiefling thief Annah-Of-The-Shadows.
- Of all the Redheads in The Witcher, Princess Adda is the one who could be called fiery. Triss has her moments but is more often the tactician in combat or politics, as does Shanni but is more often motherly.
- Subverted in Fire Emblem 7. Eliwood is a redhead, but he's very level-headed and somewhat of a Technical Pacifist. The Hot Blooded one among the lords is Lightning Bruiser Hector, who happens to have... blue hair.
- Monica Raybrandt in Dark Cloud 2. Even though the game's point of view is centered on Max, she's pretty much the leader in the team, and has a... unique sense of humor, especially where Firbits are concerned.
- Kimmy Eckman from Backyard Sports.
- That fighter sprite from Final Fantasy I caused nuthin but trouble.
- House Harkonnen from the Dune games. While this trope may not be entirely noticable in Dune 2 and Dune 2000, this is very prevalent in Emperor: Battle for Dune. Several of the Harkonnen people notably have red hair (including Baron Rakan, Copec, and plenty of the house's infantry) and this very house is known to be cruel even to their own. The Baron does not hesitate one bit to scold a field general who failed a mission, giving a warning like "if this inept performance continues, I'll have you skinned alive!" Indeed, when you view the first FMV cutscene for this house, you hear the previous general cry out in agony, getting tortured by a slow and excrutiatingly painful death because he failed his superior leaders. Note that in the cutscenes Copec and Rakan have short tempers. In the first cutscene when Gunseng attempts to help his ailing father, Rakan pushes Gunseng away with a hint of anger and says to go away. Heck, the whole House of the Harkonnen is corrupt and only consider their own desires, hence the artificial alterations to most of Geidi Prime; hardly anything can grow there by itself and new things require the expense of older substances to develop.
Webcomics
- Oasis from Sluggy Freelance. She tends to alternate between extreme giddiness (usually when Torg acts nice to her) and extreme jealousy and rage (usually when something comes between her and Torg). Justified since these emotions were programmed into her by Dr. Steve.
- Heh, "Fiery." Literally. Turns out she's pyrokinetic.
- Kestrel from Queen Of Wands.
- White Mage from 8-Bit Theater.
- Catalina from El Goonish Shive. Her catch phrase is "JACKASSES!", and when angered, she's loud enough to make aliens in outer space pause and ask "What was that noise?"
- Wildy San from Dan And Mabs Furry Adventures.
- Princess Voluptua from The Inexplicable Adventures Of Bob.
- Surma from Gunnerkrigg Court. Her daughter, Antimony, also has some of this personality, but it's almost completely tempered by her stoicism.
Reynardine: (to Antimony) Haha! Well, you may have everyone fooled with your stoic facade, but not me! You have a fire in you, child, a fire that belonged to your mother!
- Given Annie's talent in creating and manipulating fire with the Blinker Stone, it would seem she's literally fiery.
- Samantha from Molten Blade, who is another example of a literally fiery redhead in addition to the intended meaning
Western Animation
- Kim Possible.
- Every woman in the Slaghoople bloodline in The Flintstones — Wilma's mother, Wilma, and Pebbles.
- Averted by Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton of Danny Phantom. She wasn't a spitfire. She was a stuck-up know-it-all. But her mother, Maddie on the other hand...
- Darkwing Duck's adopted daughter Gosalyn.
- Frankie from Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends
- Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10 fits this trope, but in the Time Skipped sequel Ben 10 Alien Force she seems to have outgrown it.
- Unless you hurt her loved ones. That's when things start blowing up.
- Niko from Galaxy Rangers.
- Demona from Gargoyles
- Mallory McMallard from The Mighty Ducks.
- Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl from Justice League
- Volcana from Superman The Animated Series, literally.
- Subverted in Totally Spies, where the redhead Sam is Badass Bookworm and the brains of the group.
- Doyle from The Secret Saturdays.
- Lois from Family Guy
- Bloom from Winx Club, to some consent.
- Blossom from The Powerpuff Girls.
- Jane from Jane And The Dragon.
- Atlanta from Class Of The Titans. Theresa to a lesser extent.
- If a headband counts as hair, Raphael certainly qualifies. Subverted in the comics though as all the turtles have red headbands.
- Quinn Morgendorffer in Daria, when she gets really worked up. Note also that Daria Morgendorffer herself is auburn-haired (red-brown), and when annoyed... bad things happen in her presence. Prime example: in the season one finale, a former student (and perennial Jerk Jock, as well as a Jerk Ass) disses Daria and her best friend - and moments later, is killed when a goalpost falls on him. Even the passive Fiery Redhead girls can cause damage.
Real Life
- A lot of people, as listed on this site.
- Reba McEntire. Just look at the words to this song, or watch her own tv show Reba.
- Queen Elizabeth I, who once boxed the ears of a courtier she considered overdressed. (Didn't help that the woman had secretly married her formerly-faithful Heterosexual Life Partner.) She could also curse like a sailor, and had a real-life Death Glare.
- In addition to the Irish, Scottish people are often stereotyped this way (emphasis on
"fiery"violent).
- King Henry II
- More famously still, Henry the VIII.
- Alicia Witt. In kind of a subversion, her eyes are brown. Still though, mmm...
- Marina Anissina
- Wynonna freakin' Judd. At least in her early solo years.
- Jo Dee Messina.
- Tori Amos.
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