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Purgatory has a flame, and it has scorched the skin of this character. This usually is depicted as an even tan across the entire body (there are no tan lines). Note, this person doesn't have to be evil per se, but they will have a grim origin or power source.

Can have Unfortunate Implications, so sometimes instead of being "black" or "brown", they're colored with other spectrums of darker colors, with red being particularly common.

Do not confuse with someone who is merely sporty or blue-collar, such as someone with dark skin and red hair; that is just the effect of natural sunshine and outdoor work.

Compare Big Red Devil. Contrast Undeathly Pallor.


Examples:

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     Anime and Manga 
  • Sailor Pluto from Sailor Moon; while she's the soldier of time, not necessarily a bad power in itself, she is a Well-Intentioned Extremist in one arc, she gives off a mysterious and wise aura and is suspected to be thousands of years old, and her powers have a lot of forbidden aspects that could tear the timeline apart. Thank goodness for Stable Time Loops. It's also notable that a common theory based upon one line in the manga suggests that she's a demigoddess.
  • Buso Renkin: Those becoming a Victor are able to take on a heavily tanned or bronzed form that becomes permanent once they reach Stage 2 of their transformation. Once a they reaches Stage 3, as Victor himself did towards the end of the series, their skin-tone darkens even more, becoming blackened as if burned or in permanent shadow.
  • In every adaptation of Devilman, Akira Fudo ends up having a tan after being possessed by Amon. The DEVILMAN crybaby adaptation has something similar with Miko.
  • Archer from Fate/stay night. Especially noticeable in that his past self, Shirou, did not have this tan; it's a side effect of pushing his powers past their limits so much.
    • Relatedly, Chloe von Einzbern from Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, a magical clone of the titular Illya. Something about being spawned from Archer's Class Card caused Chloe to inherit most of Archer's color scheme.
    • Also in Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, Miyu's brother has a patchy and incomplete version of this covering part of the face and arms.
    • And now in Fate/Grand Order we have Assassin EMIYA. No, not Shirou, but Kiritsugu.
    • As of 2018, Okita Souji Alter has likewise joined the ranks of the Counter-Guardians.
  • Akio (and Anthy) from Revolutionary Girl Utena.
  • Urd from Ah! My Goddess, and her mother Hild, the Queen of Nifleheim.
  • Angol Moa from Sgt. Frog.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds: Rudger Godwin, following his death and rebirth as a Dark Signer.

     Literature 
  • Depictions of the Devil in the 19th century often described him as a figure all in black; including swarthy skin, as if blackened by soot; Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" is a good example.
  • In the short story "The Wild Asses of the Devil" by H. G. Wells, a demon turns up in the form of a charcoal burner, complete with soot-darkened skin.
  • H. P. Lovecraft described Nyarlathotep as having jet-black skin.

     Mythology 
  • Hades, aka Pluto, God of the Underworld, was often described as dark-skinned, when he wasn't described as pale.
    • It should be noted that since black-figure pottery typically depicted all males with black skin (females were often white) and there were very few depictions of Hades in Classical art, it would be tough to argue Hades was intentionally depicted differently from other male figures.
  • Satan, in typical Fire and Brimstone Hell Big Red Devil depictions, has red skin from the fire below.
  • Surt from Norse Mythology is frequently depicted with black skin.

     Tabletop Games 

     Video Games 

     Web Comics 

     Western Animation 
  • Raven's demonic parentage from Teen Titans makes her blue-ish gray.
  • Dr. Drakken from Kim Possible is blue. We're not entirely sure why; but it's related to his being evil; apparently, as Ron Stoppable turned evil one episode and also turned blue. Okay, he's not nearly as badass as the rest of these examples; but that's what evil is in the Kim Possible universe.
  • Oleander, Villainous Glutton on Sushi Pack, has lavender-shaded skin for no explained reason.
  • Hades in Disney's Hercules has pale ashen skin (though it changes to a tan shade whenever he gets angry), but in the episode where he steals the sun, he develops a tan worthy of George Hamilton.
  • Miraculous Ladybug: When Hawk Moth is powered up into Scarlet Moth, not only do his clothes turn red, he gets a tan.
  • Hades from Class of the Titans is dark purple, but it's subverted since he's a pretty nice character.

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