"Scarlet" as a name has always invoked an air of passion and sensuality. Usually a female-oriented trope, the name "Scarlet" (sometimes with two T's) often denotes a woman with a fiery, indomitable personality and complicated morality. If she's a hero, she'll be on the aggressive side. If she's a villain, she's almost never straightforwardly evil. As one can expect, she is often a
Lady in Red and/or a
Fiery Redhead, especially if "Scarlet" is actually a nickname or codename.
While male examples exist (
Captain Scarlet and
The Scarlet Pimpernel come to mind — also,
The Flash is often nicknamed "The Scarlet Speedster"), they usually have a much different feel, playing up the boldness of the color red rather than any direct sexualization.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime and Manga
- Scarlett from the film Steamboy.
- Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. Her last name was chosen for her by Jellal because of her red hair.
- Freezing's Dr. Scarlet Ohara, who's willing to do anything to save the world including knowingly (if extremely reluctantly) setting up her teenage human test subjects to die to ensure funding for her real project.
- Scarlet aka Angel Salvia from Wedding Peach.
Comics
Literature
Live Action TV
- The Glasgow-based TV soap River City has a character called Scarlett Mullen who ticks all the boxes. However as her maiden name actually was O'Hara she was, in universe, clearly named after the GWTW heroine.
Music
- Scarlet's Walk is an album by Tori Amos where the character, Scarlet, travels the U.S. post 9/11.
Tabletop Games
- The sultry Miss Scarlet from Clue.
- The Scarlet Empress, one of the primary villains in Exalted.
Toys
- Scarlett, the most well-known female hero from G.I. Joe. Her backstory is an homage to Gone with the Wind, as her birth name is Shanna O'Hara and she's from Atlanta.
Video Games
Western Animation
- On The Critic, Jay's boss Duke meets Alice's Southern Belle sister Miranda at a costume ball and is instantly smitten with her, nicknaming her Scarlet.
Real Life