Red Oni Blue Oni / Anime & Manga

Colour-Coded for Your Convenience!

Anime and manga examples of Red Oni, Blue Oni.

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A-E

• Akame ga Kill!: A few interesting examples are shown here:
  • Tatsumi tends to be the naïve, impulsive and emotional Red Oni to either Akame or Esdeath's Blue Oni. Akame sporting the traditional stoic and lethal type, while Esdeath embodies a serious and professional personality.
  • Kurome and Akame also fit rather nicely in this trope especially when they fight. Kurome expresses subtle joy to her killing methods, while Akame regretfully doesn't.
• In the 1980 sci-fi manga and 1988 anime film adaption AKIRA, the two main characters; hot-head Kaneda tends to be Red Oni compared with Blue Oni Tetsuo.
• Aldnoah.Zero: Polite, calm, and calculating Inaho (blue), and emotional, passionate, and bold Slaine (red).
• Athena and her assistant Nike in Appleseed are complete opposites but work extremely efficiently together running the city of Olympus, with Athena keeping the public and the politicians in check mostly by sheer force of will and Nike serving as her Noble Top Enforcer behind the scenes. In the anime, Athena has red hair and dresses in red and brown, while Nike is pale blond and dresses in white and blue.
• Attack on Titan:
  • Hot-Blooded Eren and his Emotionless Girl adopted sister, Mikasa. While Eren is all raw passion and emotion, Mikasa tends to be reserved and coldly rational.
  • Team Dad Reiner is Hot-Blooded, extremely outgoing and openly emotional in comparison to his soft-spoken and submissive friend, Bertolt.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold Jean is outspoken and blunt to the extreme, in comparison to the kind and supportive Team Dad, Marco.
  • Kind, emotional Krista and coldly pragmatic Wild Card Ymir.
  • Perky Mad Scientist Hange and foul-mouthed, prickly Levi.
  • Rash, Nervous Wreck Kitz Weilman and eccentric, Cool Old Guy Dot Pixis of the Garrison.
  • Subverted with the Survey Corps and the Garrison as a whole, Though the Survey Corps is coloured blue they are relied upon as mostly the pawns in battle from which many would die needlessly. The Garrison coloured red, however would focus on defence against the Titans before attacking or making a move and don't rush into battle so much.
    • As for the Military Police (who are coloured green), they serve as both Oni colours (despite a lot of the members being Red Oni's).
• Azumanga Daioh's Red Oni homeroom and English teacher Yukari, who is goofy, carefree, fun-loving, and irrational, and wears bright red and yellow clothes contrasts Blue Oni P.E. teacher Nyamo, who is cautious, caring, responsible, thoughtful, and wears darker blue clothes. Red Oni Tomo and Blue Oni Yomi also fit the trope.
  • Kagura and Sakaki are a peculiar contrast too. Kagura is a typical Tomboy, who is quite heavy-handed and not so intuitive. Sakaki on the other hand, has a deep inner world with a secret fondness for anything cute (especially cats).
• Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts: Idiot Hero Akihisa to either Yuuji or Hideyoshi. For the main female characters, we have Minami to Mizuki.
• In Bakuman。, Takagi and Mashiro; Takagi tends to wear red and is somewhat more excitable and temperamental, while Mashiro wears Blue and is more often level headed. On the other hand, when issues that influence whether the manga they are working on at the moment will get an anime come into play, Mashiro tends to be the one to get impatient and take risks while Takagi is more cautious. Similarly, Miura and Hattori, as Miura tends to lose his temper more easily than the much calmer Hattori does, as while Miura is cautioned to avoid letting artists see him lose his composure, it's noted that Hattori angrily reacting to Mashiro and Takagi going mainstream is unusual for him.
• Inverted in a A racing genre manga, Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!!, the older sibling, Retsu, wearing red, is level-headed and careful, while Go, the Hot-Blooded and bad behaving little sibling, wears blue. Their traits also show off in their customized mini 4wd racing machines.
• Battle Skipper: While the president of the Etiquette Club is the Ojou, with perfect grades and always collected and calm; her vice president is as passionate as bullheaded and struggles with her studies.
• Guts and Griffith from Berserk, with Guts being the violent, determined, and impulsive Red Oni to Griffith's cool, calculating, and exceedingly ruthless Blue Oni, the ruthlessness even more pronounced when Griffith goes bad. And Guts, in keeping with the Red Oni, swears unholy vengeance upon Griffith after the horrible betrayal that wiped out the rest of his True Companions and ended the anime.
  • Lampshaded in Berserk Abridged, with Zodd comparing the two with Naruto and Sasuke, though Griffith notes that Guts is way more Emo than he is. And as noted, Griffith does indeed turn into a "winged lipstick monster" by the name of Femto upon his Face–Heel Turn.
• In the Black Butler anime, Alois is the Red Oni to Ciel's Blue Oni. Alois is impulsive and more outgoing than Ciel while Ciel is calm and collected. They both have a red and blue color scheme respectfully as well. It's further driven home after Alois' soul is trapped in a ring by Claude, it's red in contrast with Ciel's ring.
• Black Lagoon:
  • Revy is definitely the Red Oni compared to Rock (or even the entire crew), interestingly both have their dramatic moments. Except Revy's scale to cold-blooded massacre, while Rock's is mostly melodrama.
  • Benny is the sociable and friendly Red Oni to Dutch's calm and collected Blue.
  • While all three greatly feared, Revy also plays the vicious and vile Red Oni, compared to both the devoted, sinister Roberta and the war-hardened, Mafia Queen Balalaika's Blue Oni.
    • Shenhua (Red) and Sawyer The Cleaner (Blue) join the deadly ladies too.
  • While Balalaika is a Blue Oni for her collected demeanor, she is the Red Oni to the Triad Boss Mr Chang's Blue Oni. Whereas Balalaika prefers killings whoever pisses her off, Chang at least tries to use diplomacy to settle conflicts and aims for coexistence among Roanapur's mobsters. This makes sense as Balalaika is a former soldier who was trained to kill while Chang belonged to the Hong Kong Police Force who are trained to defuse a situation before using violence as a last resort.
• Bleach: There are a lot of examples but many of them can be much more complicated or even the reverse of what they might appear to be. Kubo loves playing with this trope.
  • Played straight with Ichigo (Red) and Ishida (Blue), Ichigo (Red) and Byakuya (Blue), Renji (Red) and Byakuya (Blue), Renji (Red) and Ishida (Blue), Kenpachi (Red) and Byakuya (Blue), Ginjou (Red) and Tsukishima (Blue), Hitsugaya (Red) and Gin (Blue), Hiyori (Red) and Shinji (Blue), Ikkaku (Red) and Yumichika (Blue).
  • Played with in the case of Orihime and Rukia where Cloud Cuckoo Lander, orange-haired Orihime should be the red and An Ice Person Rukia should be the blue. However, the wild, passionate, forceful character is Rukia and the quiet, introverted character who would rather fade into the background is Orihime. This is especially highlighted when Urahara pulls Orihime off the frontlines. Orihime accepts the situation sadly but without protest while Rukia goes on the warpath to get Orihime back to the frontlines... even if she has to drag Orihime there herself to do it.
  • Mayuri Kurotsuchi is a captain that many characters fear mostly because of his appearance and disturbing attitude towards human experimentation that borderlines psychopath, However Nemu is calmer, more approachable but just as dangerous nonetheless.
  • Played with in the case of Aizen and Ichigo. Aizen is the blue to Ichigo's red until their Deicide battle when Ichigo becomes the blue to Aizen's red.
  • Subverted with Tsukishima versus Byakuya. Being two characters who traditionally take the Blue role, this trope shouldn't have come into play at all. Except it did. With Byakuya as the red oni. Discussed by the pair during the fight.
  • Subverted with Aizen and Gin. Throughout the manga, it looks like Aizen's the blue oni to Gin's red. It turns out to be the reverse.
• Rin and Yukio from Blue Exorcist. They may be twins but they're completely different: Yukio is a prodigy exorcist-doctor while Rin is the Hot-Blooded son of Satan.
• In Brave10, Saizou is defiant, jaded, and more likely to waver in his beliefs and actions, while Sasuke is quiet, stoic, and ruthless in protecting Ueda, but also more tender-hearted.
• Bungo Stray Dogs
  • Chuya was/is the red to his former partner, Dazai.
  • The Akutagawa siblings seem to be this; both are quiet and typically calm, but Akutagawa is largely fueled by emotions whereas Gin is motivated by professionalism.
  • Gin also plays the blue to her gun-loving Black Lizard partner, Tachihara.
  • In the Guild, there's Mitchell who wears her heart on her sleeve and Hawthorne, who rarely expresses emotions besides annoyance or disgust.
• Buso Renkin: Kazuki is the Red Oni, being highly excitable Stock Shōnen Hero, who prefers direct Unskilled, but Strong attacks and is passionate about saving people. His love interest Tokiko meanwhile is a somewhat calmer Blue Oni character who is totally dedicated to her mission and is not above using underhanded tactics in battle alongside her Weak, but Skilled fighting style. The main colour palates for the two are also red/orange and blue respectively. These aspects are Downplayed, however, as when not fighting Tokiko can be as loud and violent as a Red Oni while dealing with the idiocy of Kazuki and his friends.
• Campione!: Erica is the Red to Liliana's Blue, and this is even reflected in their choice of clothing. While Erica is pretty bold and passionate about her feelings for Godou, Liliana tries to prioritize her role as a knight first despite obviously feeling attracted to him as well.
• Cardcaptor Sakura:
  • Keroberos and Yue. Blue Oni Yue is often cold, introspective, and seemingly totally dispassionate, while Red Oni Kero-chan is hot-headed and emotional.
  • In a reversal of the Solar and Lunar/Red Oni, Blue Oni association between Kerberos and Yue, there's also Ruby Moon (Red) and Spinel Sun (Blue).
  • Sakura Kinomoto (red) and Li Syaoran (blue). A bit of a twist happens when the Red and Blue Onis actually fall in love.
  • In the anime, Syaoran also plays the Blue Oni when he's with his more Hot-Blooded cousin Li Meiling.
• Case Closed:
  • Shinichi and Heiji have this dynamic. Heiji is usually the more hot-tempered one while Shinichi is more collected.
  • Akai and Amuro have this dynamic as well. Akai always keeps a cool head and works with a cold but very effective proficiency, Amuro is more emotional and has trouble to overcome pain from the past, unlike Akai.
• Cells at Work: Baby!: The spunky, impulsive Red Blood Cell and her level-headed, sober-minded co-worker F-niichan fill these roles throughout the early chapters.
• Korean Web Toon The Children's Teacher, Mr. Kwon has two students: the excitable blonde-haired, orange and blue-clad Kang San and the gloomy Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette Cha Shiru. One has a weak heart and is the heir to a corporation and the other's a local boy with a dark past Kang San's the heir (who may not be heir to anything after the economic recession) and Cha Shiru's the local boy whose mother died in child birth and his dad blamed his son, went crazy, disappeared, and only returns to beat him to death (he's unsuccessful). If you didn't guess correctly don't worry, Mr. Kwon didn't either.
• Chobits has Kotoko and Sumomo. Kotoko has dark bluish hair and Sumomo pink hair, as well as clothing.
• Chrono Crusade reverses the color-coding: Rosette is Hot-Blooded, brash, energetic, and reckless, but wears a blue nun uniform. Chrono, who serves as her lancer, is calm, sensitive, and the voice of reason, but wears a striking red coat. However, Chrono himself does have a dangerous temper which flares up at times.
• Claymore:
  • The main duo of Miria and Clare. From their personalities to their methods, these two are like night and day but when it's all said and done, they understand each other better than anyone else on their squad since both of their analytical skills and fighting power are nearly equal. They now fight in tandem with little to no communication needed between one another, managing perfectly synchronized attacks. As of late, some of Clare's recklessness has rubbed off on Miria, and likewise Miria's ability to lead and delegate team roles has rubbed off on to Clare.
  • This trope is quite common even among side characters. Helen and Deneve were like this from even before the story picked up, Helen is the loud and aggressive one, dispensing most of the humor in an otherwise deadly serious series and being known for enjoying drinking and eating, while Deneve is particularly stern, composed and stoic even for Claymore standards, and a defensive warrior as opposed to Helen's offensive specialization.
  • Other pairings in the series that fit the Red Oni-Blue Oni archetype are: Rachel and Audrey, high ranking Claymores of the new generation, the first is a masculine-looking, brutish and vulgar warrior, preferring sheer strength over everything, the latter instead is a feminine Lady of War who prefers gracefulness and is rather well-mannered, in spite of their differences the two are shown to be quite close to each other; "Stormwind" Noel and "Muscular" Sophia, the first is a tomboyish warrior who favors speed and agility while the other is a feminine warrior who values sheer strength, unlike other pairings the two are fierce rivals; for the Humans there are Galk and Sid, the first is a honorable knight who's willing to change his entrenched beliefs about the Claymores when Clare saves his life, the other is a rogue who's initially very diffident of Claymores and even says that there was no reason to care about Clare's fate (although he changed his mind in the end). Come to think of it, Claymore played this trope in almost any combination available.
• Code Geass:
  • There's scenes where Lelouch and Suzaku are shaded in red and blue respectively, though it counts as a subversion: Lelouch is the cold, tactical one and Suzaku is brash and reckless... but in the end, both can be hotblooded and irrational under pressure.
  • Lelouch's first Evil Counterpart (and Worthy Opponent) Mao is also a red Oni to Lelouch's blue in a way: Mao is emotional, impulsive, completely concerned with the people around him C.C., and has no concern for the political climate or anything bigger. Lelouch is (relatively speaking) cool, intellectual, sophisticated, and has lofty political ideals. It makes for an ironic form of Color-Coded for Your Convenience in that Lelouch wears a reddish-brown jacket and Mao wears a blue-and-white great coat.
  • And Lelouch and C.C. are red and blue Oni respectively as well, perhaps even better. Lelouch is, after all, very passionate and C.C. is a detached, sarcastic Stoic.
  • In maps, Brittania is blue and the UFN is red.
  • In the final arcs of the series, Lelouch is red and Schneizel is blue, even though they are both ruthless and calculating Magnificent Bastards.
  • The final opening theme parodies this color-coding, having Schneizel and Charles under Red/Blue light, meaning they have a cold and an impulsive side. Then Lelouch appears, and his light is a full rainbow. Don't try to color-code Lelouch, folk: he's more complicated than that. Or at least more FABULOUS than that.
• Cowboy Bebop:
  • Protagonist Spike, who is dangerously cold in combat but is an easy going, well meaning, impulsive guy outside of it vs. Evil Counterpart Vicious, an utterly ruthless, nihlistic Social Darwinist and Nietzsche Wannabe who seems completely emotionless until he breaks out the Slasher Smile.
  • Also, Spike's first partner on the Bebop is Jet, who is an ex-cop who reads 18th century literature, tends bonsai, loves jazz, and frequently encourages Spike to use his head more.
  • There's also red-haired Playful Hacker Edward and indigo-haired con woman Faye.
• Daimos: Richter is snarky and hot-tempered; Erika is serene and clear-minded. Richter is a Conquering Alien Prince who wants to take over the Earth, while Erika works with La Résistance to stop him.
• "DarlingInTheFranxx"
  • Hiro and Zero Two. In more ways than one. He's collected and Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life while she's unruly and not fond of regulations or social norms. Their color patterns emphasize this even moreso when blue Tainted Veins start appearing on Hiro's chest after his second ride with her. Further, in episode 24, their skin tones change to red for Zero Two and blue for Hiro towards the end of the series.
  • Done in an almost literal sense between Zero Two and the Klaxosaur Princess. The former is wild and passionate, whereas the latter is cold and calculating, and Zero Two is made partially from the Princess's DNA.
• Kaoru and Rei from Dear Brother. Kaoru is sporty and sociable while Rei is reserved and angst-laden. Atypically, it's actually Kaoru who puts a leash on Rei, due to the latter's self-destructive habits.
• Miu and Ren from DearS, Although Miu (Red) is a lot more orderly and educated than Ren she is prone to quick anger and has a large degree of pride in her nature. Ren (Blue) on the other hand is submissive, loyal and learns through more fluent communication and is by far more understanding between the two.
• Light and L from the Death Note anime series are often shaded in red or blue to reflect this, although personality-wise, it doesn't quite apply, since aside from a few times that Light gets riled up after his cause is challenged (and just before his death) both Light and L tend towards being brainy, cold blooded types. However, Light tends towards extremes of fantasy and pitches of emotion that L never begins to approach. This theme is also used (and generally played much straighter) with Misa and Light, Light and Near, Mello and Near, and even Misa and Takada.
• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba:
  • Faction leaders, Muzan Kibutsuji and his distant relative Kagaya Ubuyashiki, differ greatly in how they treat their subordinates. Kagaya is a kind, forgiving master, one who is willing to understand others and the world. The Hashira respect Kagaya greatly, viewing him as a type of fatherly figure, who suffers terrible woes unfairly. Muzan is the direct opposite, he's a cruel, dominating figure one even the Upper Moons dread to cross or displease. Muzan punishes failure with instant death and mutilation, leaving his underlings terrified and desperate to earn his good favor. Kagaya asks only what his servants can do best, and accepts failure gracefully.
• In D.Gray-Man, Allen is warm-hearted and passionate with a case of Chronic Hero Syndrome, whereas Kanda is cynical, aloof, and prone to making snide remarks. Possibly a subversion since Word of God says Kanda is the dumber of the two.
  • A better example is red-haired Lavi and Kanda — they even have complimentary weapons (smash through! Slice through!) and Hair colours, to top it off.
    • Although, again, in this case, it's Lavi who's The Smart Guy.
• Digimon:
  • Digimon Adventure: the main character, Taichi (Tai), who Daisuke is an Expy of, and so they share a lot of personality traits (albeit Taichi's are toned down a little), and Aloof Big Brother Lancer Yamato (Matt), who spends most of his time trying to figure out what will keep his younger brother safest. While Taichi is unrestrained emotionally, Yamato is more prideful and tends to get embarrassed quickly at activities that lower him down to Taichi's level. Taichi is associated with the color orange (at least it's close to red) and Yamato with the color blue.
  • Digimon Adventure 02 has the high-energy, somewhat brash gogglehead Daisuke/Davis paired with introverted intellectual villain Ken, who pulls a Heel–Face Turn halfway through the series. While enemies, they repeatedly face off; while allies, they find out that their digimon can combine into a much stronger digimon, linking their characters even more than before. Furthermore, Daisuke felt a kinship with Ken before they learned that he was a villain and, of all the other heroes, was the most sympathetic toward Ken during the time between repentance and alliance. Oh, and on the Blue Oni quality of "pride and aloofness": after his repentance, Ken spent a long time apart from the hero group, trying to "clean up his mess" in his own way, and worried that even if he tried to join up, they wouldn't accept him.
    • In the first half of the season, T.K. was the Blue Oni — smarter, more level-headed and rational than Davis. With Ken's arrival, T.K. sort of became the third banana, though.
  • Digimon Tamers plays with these with the trio. Takato seems to be the Red Oni to Jenrya/Henry's Blue Oni, but they rarely argue and it's subtle. The most interesting example would be with Takato and Ruki/Rika. Takato is the Blue Oni to Ruki/Rika's Red Oni. It's Played With as despite her being cold, she was intense with Takato being calmer and more reasonable. In fact, Takato is associated with red (having red eyes even) with Ruki/Rika having blue (more like indigo) eyes and association.
    • Outside of the main trio, Kazu and Kenta play the Red Oni and Blue Oni card straight.
  • Takuya and Kouji from Digimon Frontier also have something of this dynamic.
  • Masaru and Touma in Digimon Data Squad. There are specific episodes built around their might vs. mind clashes, and Touma seems particularly afraid of losing his coolness and intelligence in the face of Masaru's determination and charisma. Nanami taunts him with the fact that he didn't defeat with his prided logic and calculations; he beat her by charging at her head on, Masaru-style, and this seems to disturb him. Their DATS uniforms (red bodysuit with blue jacket for Masaru, blue bodysuit with blue jacket for Touma) reinforce this... heck, there's an absolutely hilarious Image Song dedicated to them (and Agumon and Gaomon) explaining why their personalities and methods clash, but they're still the greatest team... right?
• A classic female example: Kei (Fiery Redhead, Genki Girl, and/or tomboy) and Yuri (Pale Skinned Blue-nette Yamato Nadeshiko with Kawaiiko tendencies) from Dirty Pair. Many of the Lovely Angels teams who followed in their footsteps share a similar Red Oni-Blue Oni dynamic.
• D.N.Angel has Daisuke Niwa as red and Satoshi Hiwatari as blue, very obvious in their theme colours. Dark and Krad are rather associated with black and white, though they may also be seen as the grown-up and cynical equivalents of their hosts.
• Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro has meek, dorky Senpai and the titular, Hayase Nagatoro who frequently teases him. Senpai is a student artist, who for better-or-worse just wants a quiet, easygoing life. Nagatoro does everything to get the boy to open up, taunting and mocking him in a surprisingly wholesome way. Of course, when others actually abuse, Senpai, Nagatoro finds it intolerable. Luckily, Nagatoro's friends (Gamo, Yoshi and Sakura) are just a spunky trio of young misfits.
• Goku and Vegeta of Dragon Ball Z exemplify this trope to a point where it could be named for them (And for a while, it was).
  • Although it's hard to remember now, but when Vegeta was first introduced, he seemed like a cold-blooded and heartless killer, one who seldom emoted more than wearing a Psychotic Smirk when killing someone. It wasn't until Goku proved himself an equal, if not superior in fighting ability (something that goes directly against Vegeta's pride, the Saiyan traditions, and culture he prizes so, etc), that Vegeta starts going off the deep end. Even then, it's worth noting that, in the description, it does say that (especially for villains) the calm, unemotional face of a Blue can just be a facade and conceal a lot of intensity and even craziness right below it. (Oh, and Piccolo is definitely a Blue type as well.)
  • When introduced, Vegeta played the Blue Oni to Blood Knight Nappa's Red.
  • Another example from Dragon Ball Z: Goku encounters a literal red and blue oni in the first season. It's inverted, as The Big Guy bruiser is a blue oni (who gets beaten quickly in a contest of strength), while the faster and more clever red oni challenges Goku to catch him and spends half the episode dodging the hero.
  • This can be traced to the very first episodes of the series with strong but dumb Goku and sly and crafty Bulma.
  • Androids 17 and 18.
  • Goku's children fits this too, with Gohan being the blue and Goten being the red.
  • In Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, the "superhero" androids Gamma 1 & Gamma 2 have this dynamic, with Gamma 2 as the showy and nonchalant Red Oni to Gamma 1's straight-laced and serious Blue Oni. Ironically, Gamma 1 wears a red cape, and Gamma 2 wears a blue cape.
• Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai has the clashes between super-Hot-Blooded Maam and borderline cowardly Pop. They're respectively dressed in red and pink and in green. Maam and The Stoic Hyunkel form an even bigger contrast, but they get along well while a large amount of screentime is devoted to the conflict between Pop and his "badass goddess of luck". Also, notice that Maam is a martial arts specialist and Pop a mage. Avan and Hadler are another interesting case, with Avan as the silly, warm-hearted, and spontaneous red oni (he's gotta have blue hair, but he's dressed in red) and Hadler as the stubborn and fiery but cold-hearted and stoic green-skinned warrior. Pop and Hadler become increasingly like their counterparts—the former through The Power of Friendship and the latter through the magic of Foe Romance Subtext.
• Durarara!!:
  • Shizuo Heiwajima and Izaya Orihara. Masaomi Kida and Mikado Ryugamine (Anri Sunohara as well share Mikado's position).
  • Also, Walker and Erika collectively play red oni to Kadota's blue.
  • Shizuo Heiwajima gets two, actually — when Izaya isn't around, his Benevolent Boss and middle school sempai, Tom Tanaka, acts as his blue, complete with meeting the insanity caused on a daily basis with tolerance and facepalms. He's not without his moments, though.
    Tom: You guys never heard of Heiwajima Shizuo? You guys really did go to public school...
  • The case of Shizuo/Izaya is strange in that Izaya (blue) is the more passionate one, whilst Shizuo's only emotion is anger. It even reflects their interactions — while Shizuo would love nothing more than to murder Izaya, he'd also be perfectly content if his Arch-Enemy stayed out of his life completely. Izaya is the more aggressive of the two, always provoking Shizuo in some way, and unlike Shizuo, it seems he can't stand the idea of his enemy continuing to exist. Their temperaments and personalities are complete opposites.
    Izaya: I love all humans!
• Excel and Hyatt from Excel♡Saga. The anime fittingly gives Excel red hair and Hyatt blue hair. When they sing the opening theme song, Excel has a red microphone and Hyatt has a blue one.

F-K

• Fairy Tail:
  • The Hot-Blooded fire mage Natsu and the coolheaded ice mage Gray, who even have themed powers/auras.
  • Hot-Blooded lightning wizard Laxus versus calm, noble, blue-haired staff wizard Mystogan.
• The red-haired, flirtatious fire mage Kirche and the blue-haired, emotionless wind mage Tabitha from The Familiar of Zero.
• One scene in the first Fist of the North Star has Ken and Shin standing next to their master's headstone. As they recall his words about the Nanto and Hokuto being two sides of the same philosophy, Ken and Shin are replaced by a Blue and a Red Oni respectively.
  • In episode 47, as Ken prepares to fight his brother Raoh, Raoh releases a red aura and Ken releases a blue aura, with both auras filling about half the screen and merging into a purplish haze in the middle.
• Food Wars!: The Aldini brothers fit the mold, with the proud, sensitive, artistic and highly strung Takumi being Red, and the calm, practical and unflappable Isami being Blue.
• Free! Rin as the Red Oni and Haruka as the Blue Oni (color-coded as characters). Makoto is the bridge that creates the Freudian Trio. The Red Oni/Id is over-emotional, the Blue Oni/Superego is over-analytical and the bridge/Ego balances the two forces.
• From Eroica with Love's protagonists are made of this. Dorian is the red oni, and Klaus is the Blue Oni.
• Fruits Basket:
  • Temperamental, red-haired, red-eyed Kyou and calm, blue-eyed, grey-haired Yuki are cousins and rivals in love, martial arts, and, to some degree, even social life, each one envying the other's abilities in dealing with people.
  • Tohru's friends, Arisa and Hanajima, have this going on.
  • Tohru's parents also had this: Kyoko was brash and excitable while Katsuya was calm and polite to a fault.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • The Elric brothers: Edward (red) and Alphonse (blue). Ed is typically more impulsive and quick to anger and wears a red coat, while Al is a more collected Gentle Giant who typically has to restrain his older brother and happens to be a cool gray suit of armor.
  • Made quite blatant in the fourth Brotherhood opening — the two pass each other and gain their respective colors.
  • Also kind of interesting is that all of the other State Military characters wear blue uniforms, and the Xingese characters also tend toward either blue or more muted colors, and Ed is one of the most Hot-Blooded characters in the cast. On the other hand, he's a unique example of a highly intelligent Red Oni.
    • Ed is a Hot-Blooded Hair Trigger Tempered Insufferable Genius in a red Badass Longcoat. Roy is a laid-back Magnificent Bastard (heavy emphasis on The Chessmaster) in a blue Badass Longcoat.
  • Colonel Roy Mustang is much more hot blooded than his counterpart, Riza Hawkeye, the calm and quiet 1st Lieutenant.
  • Olivier Mira Armstrong is an interesting version. Usually, because of her no-nonsense behaviour, she is portrayed as the Blue Oni toward the rather expressive Mustang and emotional Alex Armstrong. However, the same attitude also makes her Red Oni in critical situations, because in such situations, she will respond with the same brutality being inflicted on her, while Mustang and Alex will keep their standards.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist (2003): Winry and Sheska. Winry is extraverted, enthusiastic, and sometimes wears a red bandanna, while Sheska is quiet, bookish, and sometimes wears a blue uniform.
  • Also from the first anime, Ax-Crazy Blood Knight Kimblee, whose main outfit before being re-instated is a red buttoned shirt, and cold-blooded General Ripper Archer, who's never seen in anything but his blue military uniform, would be villainous examples.
• Full Metal Panic!: Kaname Chidori and Teletha Testarossa. Their hair bows are a dead giveaway.
• In Fushigi Yuugi, friends-turned-enemies Miaka and Yui. Miaka, who is impulsive and passionate, becomes priestess for the god Suzaku, whose element is fire. The more coolheaded Yui becomes priestess for the god Seiryuu, whose element is water.
  • A friendly version is done among the male characters: Vitriolic Best Buds Tasuki and Tamahome, and later Tasuki and Chichiri.
    • The amusing part is that this is a pun on the symbol on Tamahome's forehead. Go ahead and guess what it is.
• Yandere Yuno Gasai (red) and Cowardly Lion Yukiteru Amano (blue) in Future Diary.
• Hayato Kazami and Bleed/Jotaro Kaga in Future GPX Cyber Formula seems to be this at first, but eventually subverts this, as they are a mix of both red and blue oni traits. In addition, Kaga's car is reddish-purple (in the TV series) and Hayato's is blue (but it's a white car with blue trimmings).
• GaoGaiGar: EnRyu and HyoRyu, red and blue. Later, they get taken over by yellow RaiRyu and green FuuRyu, respectively. And then again by light pink KouRyu and dark purple AnRyu. They even represent elements — EnRyu's fire, RaiRyu's lightning, and KouRyu's light for the Red Oni side, and HyoRyu's ice, FuuRyu's wind, and AnRyu's darkness for the Blue Oni side. And it's interesting to note that when the first two pairs switch Fusion Dance partners, they switch across Red Oni, Blue Oni boundaries: EnRyu combining with FuuRyu, HyoRyu with RaiRyu.
  • GaoGaiGar himself and King J-Der. Twist: GaoGaiGar's G-Stone is green, while J's J-Jewel is red. Also, GaoGaiGar is a mostly black-colored robot while King J-Der is mostly white.
• On the same side, but Ryoma and Hayato from Getter Robo definitely fit. Ryoma's a heroic burning-sense-of-justice type (well, most of the time...), while Hayato is a cold-blooded loner. This is taken into extremes in Getter Robo G, where Ryoma's Getter Dragon is red and Hayato's Getter Liger is blue!
• GoLion plays with this trope. Isamu has all the stereotypical characteristics of the Red Oni: impulsive, rebellious, loud, confrontational, outgoing, nervous... but wears a blue uniform, while still piloting the red lion! Akira has the Blue Oni traits: levelheaded, cool-minded, rational, quiet, calm, composed, judicious, reasonable... but wears the red uniform and civilian attire! Fala has an even mix of traits from both red oni and blue oni, wears a pink uniform and civilian clothes, and pilots the blue lion.
• Gundam:
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Wing features calm and cold Heero Yuy and hot-blooded Duo Maxwell. There are also two mobile suits designed to complement each other in battle: Vayeate, a blue colored suit that specializes in attack, and Mercurius, a red colored suit that specializes in defense.
  • ∀ Gundam features Sochie Heim, a feisty (read: bratty) tsundere, and Miashei Kune, her relaxed and practical friend, who both wind up piloting Kapools and partner with each other often.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray, Lowe Guele (loud, dramatic, impulsive) pilots the Astray Red Frame and Gai Murakumo (cool, intelligent, professional) pilots the Blue Frame.
  • Gundam Build Fighters has Sei Iori, a blue-haired responsible young man who's terrible at physical activities, and his friend Reiji, a red-haired goof off with amazing hand-eye coordination.
    • The sequel, Gundam Build Fighters Try, has Yuuma Kousaka, a blue-haired glasses wearing boy who specializes in long-range tactics, and Sekai Kamiki, a red-haired martial artist who specializes in barefisted brawls.
• Guy: Double Target stared Reina, the cheerful, whiney, and outgoing red oni, and Guy, the collected, sensible, and serious blue oni.
• In Haikyuu!!:
  • The Protagonist Hinata and Deuteragonist Kageyama. As made clear with their red hair vs blue eyes and Meaningful Name translating to sun vs shadow.
    • Hinata is extroverted, loud, enthusiastic, and fiery to a fault. He lacks basic skills in volleyball but he has the passion and he is determined. His addition to the team makes Karasuno unpredictable to their opponents as Hinata is the most unconventional middle blocker and volleyball player one can imagine. While he is respectful to his superiors/elders, his single-mindedness about volleyball often results in him talking big and even breaking some rules such as the time he sneaked into the Miyagi training camp despite not being invited.
    • Kageyama, on the other hand, is a volleyball prodigy with high analytical, technical, and physical skills on the court. Unlike Hinata, he is introverted and socially awkward. He is the quiet type unless his feathers are ruffled (mostly by Hinata, then he becomes quite loud and angry). While as passionate and single-minded about playing volleyball as long as possible as Hinata, the way he plays is calm, collected, and observant - which is how he can be as unpredictable on the court. He is also difficult to read, seeming cold-hearted and snobbish but it is mostly his reserved nature. Under his unemotional image, though, he carries a lot of baggage pertaining how to be a good teammate after his middle school teammates revolted against him and he came to understand that communication is as important as the talent/skill on the court.
    • Another example of blue oni to Hinata's red oni is his fellow middle blocker, Tsukishima. Tsukishima is Smart People Wear Glasses to Hinata's Book Dumb. He is a Deadpan Snarker, not really looking to socialize with his teammates. He seems unemotional and uninterested in the sport, however, this is later explained with him choosing not to get invested as a way to prevent himself from getting hurt. He later finds his own passion for the sport. Whereas Hinata is all instinct and enthusiasm when he is playing, Tsukishima only plays based on what he can see/analyze is happening on the court (to the point that he does not trust his own instincts). Like Kageyama, he also shares Opposites Theme Naming with Hinata, with "tsuki" meaning moon ("hi" means sun). This is Lampshaded in the series.
  • An example between teams would be Karasuno and their friendly rivals Nekoma High. Karasuno is a team known for their unpredictable and aggressive offense whereas defense-focused Nekoma's philosophy is to receive the ball and keep the rally going. Personalities within the teams vary, however, the frontman of each team reflect teams' natures. Hinata is passionate about the sport and is always on the move when he is on court as he is responsible with quick attacks and being a decoy. Whereas, Nekoma's setter Kenma plays the sport "just because", not showing particular interest in winning. He also does not like getting tired and tries to move as little as possible on court, depending on his defense-strong team to keep the rally going and bring the ball to him (with which he makes analytical decisions to score).
• If you look closely, the Haruhi Suzumiya series contains a very subtle subversion. At first glance, it may seem as though Yuki (quiet, rational, and unemotional) is the Blue Oni to Ryoko's (cheerful, pleasant, compassionate, and somewhat Ax-Crazy) Red, but actually, it's reversed. Over the course of the series, it's revealed that beneath Yuki's expressionless face exists a complex inner world which comes boiling to the surface in the fourth book/second season, while Ryoko is actually a ruthless and emotionally vacant Stepford Smiler whose foiled attempt on Kyon's life was actually a calculated act designed to prompt a reaction from Haruhi.
  • Haruhi and Kyon themselves could count as well: Haruhi is a passionate Genki Girl, while Kyon is the calm voice of reason and Deadpan Snarker.
  • In the 6th episode of the Endless Eight, Kyon wears red swimming and Itsuki wears blue.
  • Also, in the 13th (11th) episode of Season 1, Haruhi is wearing a red uniform, while Kyon is wearing blue.
• Hayate the Combat Butler has two: Hayate Ayasaki (extroverted, outgoing, cheerful) and Hinagiku Katsura (Sugar-and-Ice Personality, cultured, distant, aloof, collected). Both are a mixture of traits; Nagi Sanzenin and Wataru Tachibana.
• A variant of this occurs in Heat Guy J with Clair and Daisuke. The former is a bloodthirsty, volatile young mob boss with a Hair-Trigger Temper, who wears a purple shirt and tight-fitting black leather pants, whereas the latter is a cool, collected, laid-back detective who wears a blue undershirt and breezy white jacket and pants. The show also gives us, of course, Daisuke and the titular J, the latter of which is an android with all that implies.
• Alucard and Anderson from the Hellsing Ultimate OVA. Partially subverted — they both have a cause, but both are also fighting for the fun of it.
• In Hetalia: Axis Powers, Red Oni US is cheerful, idealistic, and brash, if a little too much; whereas Blue Oni England is his cynical, grouchy, critical, sometimes underhanded longtime 'frenemy'.
  • US also has this with Canada. US, as mentioned above, plays the Red Oni to Canada's softspoken, gentle, thoughtful, and passive-aggressive-sarcastic Blue Oni.
  • England himself, with his Hair-Trigger Temper, can be considered the Red Oni to France's Blue.
  • There's also Red Oni Prussia, an albino who is Hot-Blooded and Crazy Is Cool in the extreme, juxtaposed with his brother, Blue Oni Germany, who is an aloof Perpetual Frowner and Drill Sergeant Nasty. Also, in what may be a possible Lampshade Hanging, Prussia and Germany have red and blue eyes respectively.
    • Prussia also makes a perfect Red Oni to Austria's Blue (or perhaps Purple), with a hair and eye colour contrast, and just about every personality trait in opposition to each other — Prussia is loud, boisterous and aggressive where Austria is calm, uptight and solves his problems with schemes rather than violence. The two are constantly at loggerheads. Slightly ironically, Prussia is heavily associated with his trademark shade of blue, while Austria's flag is red.
  • Denmark and Norway are a fantastic example of this. Denmark is nearly always happy, smiling, and cares openly and deeply for his Nordic family, whereas the stoic Norway is mush more subdued and calm. Likewise, they're dressed head to toe in red and blue, respectively.
    • One could possibly replace Norway with Sweden, who is quiet and calm and dresses similarily to Norway in nearly all blue.
  • The loud and brash, hot-blooded Turkey is the Red to and the extremely laid back, somewhat soft-spoken Greece's Blue.
    • Egypt can replace Greece as well compared to Turkey.
  • Russia's Sisters, Ukraine and Belarus can be seen this way. Red Oni Ukraine is a lot more emotional, needy and sometimes helpless compared to her creepy, misunderstood and surprisingly calm younger sister, Blue Oni Belarus.
    • However, considering Ukraine is the more reasonable big sister figure and Belarus is Ax-Crazy and prone to spitting curses and throwing coat hangers, this could easily be reversed.
  • Taiwan and Vietnam set this example for the Asian women of the series. If they weren't named after real countries, one could mistake them for best friends or siblings.
  • The eccentric, forceful Poland acts as the Red to the kind and patient Lithuania's Blue.
• Highlander: The Search for Vengeance features a strong Red vs Blue rivalry between its protagonist and antagonist. Colin is a red with a two thousand year old grudge against the Roman general who slaughtered his people and wife; the blue Marcus cares only for bringing "civilization" and order to the world.
• The main characters of Hunter × Hunter seem to pair off in these. Leorio is the Red Oni to Kurapika's Blue Oni. Same goes with Gon and Killua, Gon obviously being the Red Oni and Killua being the Blue Oni. Heck, they've even stated it themselves; Gon is the one who's supposed to do the stupid stuff and Killua's there to bail him out of it. And Gon absolutely forbids it to be the other way around.
• Ice Revolution: Hot-Blooded tomboy (her coach thought she was a boy for a while) Idiot Heroine ex-karate prodigy-turned-figure skater Masaki and her rival Saaya, a Defrosting Ice Queen with (naturally) a tragic past.
• Infinite Ryvius: The Aiba brothers, Yuki (confrontational, defiant red) and Kouji (obediant, introverted blue). And Also Kozue (red) and Aoi (blue), though only by comparison. During Airs Blue's takeover of the ship's bridge, Fuu Nam Chai (red) and Stein Heigar (blue)'s incompatibility quickly becomes apparent.
• Jin and Jo from Innocent Venus. Jin is the smooth talker and nice guy at first; Jo is the intimidating stoic. Appropriately, Jin has white hair and pilots a white mecha and Jo has dark hair and pilots a black mecha. Subverted in that Jin really was the villain all along and Jo is the true hero of the series.
• Innocents Shounen Juujigun: A couple examples: Nicolas (Red) and Etienne (Blue), Nicolas (Red) and Guy (Blue), Etienne (Red) and Michael (Blue), Lillian (Red) and Laurent (Blue), Nicolas (Red) and Christian (Blue), and Pierre (Red) and Guillaume (Blue).
• Inuyasha:
  • Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru.
  • Also, Inuyasha and Miroku, each dressed in their respective color.
  • Kagome is compared to Kikyo in this regard. Kagome is loud and cheerful as a red oni and quickly gives way to her inclinations, while kikyo as a blue oni is calmer and more stoic.
  • Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon shows the two half-demon twin sisters Setsuna and Towa. The wild, cranked Towa is the red oni, and the cool, reserved Setsuna is the blue oni. However, Moroha, the half-cousin of the two, is also there in most of the episodes. And she is so wild that compared to Towa she is the red oni and Towa the blue oni.
• Is This A Zombie?: Haruna (Genki Girl, Tsundere, Magical Girl) and Eucliwood Hellscythe (The Stoic, Sugar-and-Ice Personality, Rei Ayanami Expy Necromancer). Alternatively, Kyouko (Ax-Crazy, Yandere, Serial Killer Magical Girl) and Eucliwood.
• Jewelpet:
  • Jewelpet (2009): Tomboyish and impulsive Minami is the red to cultured and reserved Aoi's blue.
  • Jewelpet Twinkle☆:
    • Akari's closest friends Miria and Sara; the former is an energetic and brash aspiring pop star, while the latter is a rational and cold scientist.
    • Alma's Jewelpets Diana (who's playful and follows Alma's wishes without question) and Opal (who tries to reason with Alma).
  • Jewelpet Sunshine:
    • Kanon is loud and dramatic while her boyfriend/secret brother Mikage is polite and distant.
    • Knucklehead Shouko and introverted Hinata.
    • Class Representatives Nishigori (easily angered) and Opal (demure and caring).
  • Jewelpet Kira☆Deco!: Hot-Blooded Retsu and princely Blue Knight are a textbook example.
• Lady!!:
  • Lady Jewelpet: Friendly Rivals Momona and Lillian. The former is cheerful and clumsy, the latter is proper and calm. They are respectively represented by pink and purple. This also applies to their respective Jewelpet partners: The ditzy yet energetic Ruby (who has red eyes) to the stoic and serious Luea (who has blue eyes).
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency's main hero and villain. Joseph Joestar, the red oni, is extraverted, ill-tempered, and playful even in the deadliest situations. He gets himself in dire situations when it feels like the right thing to do, uses his hamon powers in experimental and unexpected ways, and figures out life as he goes. The Pillar Man Kars on the other hand, the blue oni, is meticulous, observant and rarely shows emotion. He avoids messy confrontations in favor of well-planned executions, and is fixated on his goal of achieving the pinnacle of all lifeforms.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders zigzags this. While both Jotaro and Kakyoin are essentially very stoic and collected, the former is more prone to physical violence than the latter.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable follows this trope with the main protagonist and antagonist.
    • Josuke Higashikata, the Red Oni, is a rebellious, eccentric and occasionally ill-tempered, but deeply good-hearted teenager from a somewhat dubious descent. Josuke's approach to stand battles is quickly charging straight at the enemy to gain their attention, figuring out a strategy as he discovers the enemy's weak spots through trial and error.
    • Yoshikage Kira on the other hand, the Blue Oni, is a modest and aloof salaryman from noble descent who chooses to live a solitary, unremarkable and neatly structured life for himself — while anxiously hiding one horrible secret from the world. Kira's combat approach is meticulous: he conceals himself, biding his time until he can methodically erase his enemies using few decisive blows while remaining anonymous.
  • Inverted in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind:
    • The protagonist Giorno Giovanna is a young thug who makes a living by stealing. He is empathic, unpretentious, has a strong sense of justice, never abandons his allies, and doesn't hesitate to unleash his rage onto those he deems truly evil, which are typical red oni traits. However, he's also stoic, calculated, and always thinks before he acts, like a blue oni would. Like the other characters, he's colour-coded with blue clothes in the manga. His stand has the power to turn inanimate objects into all kinds of plants, animals or other living things, but he always summons specific organisms with a tactical, goal-oriented reason in mind.
    • The antagonist Diavolo, the powerful and anonymous mafia boss who controls much of Italian society, is extremely secretive and self-centered, as well as cold and cruel to his enemies; signature traits of a blue oni. However, he is also mentally unstable, prone to outbursts of rage, and tends to make emotional, impulsive decisions, like an unstable red oni. His stand is even colour-coded red and always has an angry look on its face. His stand allows him to predict the future, swiftly execute his enemies, and always stay out of sight, but also relies on brute strength and compensates for the Boss's erratic decision-making.
• In Jujutsu Kaisen, Yuji is the Red to Megumi's Blue. Yuji is outgoing, excitable, and much more optimistic, wanting to save everyone he can. Megumi is sullen, collected, and much more cynical, only wanting to save those he believes deserve to be saved. Visually as well — Yuji has pink hair, a red hoodie, and red shoes while Megumi's black hair has a blue tint and he has blue eyes in the anime.
• K has this quite literally with the Red Clan, HOMRA, and the Blue Clan, Scepter 4. The top three members of both groups have this between them as well, topped with loads of Foe Romance Subtext.
  • The Red King, Mikoto Suoh, and the Blue King, Reisi Munakata. The plot of the first season revolves around Reisi trying to prevent Mikoto from going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge that will result in a Super-Power Meltdown and having to kill Mikoto in the end when he does it anyway. Mikoto's replacement ends up being a subversion. Mikoto is a Fiery Redhead who isn't quite as responsible as he should be as a King. Reisi is calm and collected, and his hobbies include jigsaw puzzles and tea ceremony.
  • Their seconds, Izumo Kusanagi and Seri Awashima, are a milder example, since they meet fairly often without fighting, and tend to share plans. Notably, they're both blond/e, in contrast to their Kings and subordinates' Fiery Redhead vs. blue-black hair colors.
  • Finally, there's the thirds-in-command, Misaki Yata and Saruhiko Fushimi. Saruhiko notably has traits of both, since he was originally a HOMRA member who defected to Scepter 4 — and Misaki hates him for it. Misaki is the archetypal Fiery Redhead, prone to hasty action and loudness, while Saruhiko is calmer, and more calculating. He's also Scepter 4's resident hacker.
  • The dynamics in the two Clans also play to this — HOMRA gives off the appearance of a street gang, with the members wearing whatever they want and acting and fighting rather chaotically. Scepter 4, meanwhile, has a very organized structure, with uniforms and synchronized sword-drawing. They also tend to use computer analysis quite a bit, while HOMRA does not. The first season shows that HOMRA is a very tight-knit group — the plot revolves around the lengths they'd go to to get revenge against the murderer of a Clansman. But the second season shows that Scepter 4 also has strong bonds, in their own way that HOMRA members (like Misaki) might not understand.
    • The Silver King's Clansmen, Neko and Kuroh, also have shades of this. This can be seen in the second episode of season 2, when Neko goes to visit HOMRA and Kuroh goes to Scepter 4.
• Kamisama Kiss: Nanami is red: passionate, energetic, frequently acts on impulse, very extroverted. Tomoe is blue: is very proud along with being much more calm, intellectual, tends to think before acting, and is more introverted.
• Kämpfer: The fiery Akane (when transformed into her Kampfer form) is a stark contrast to the "go with the flow" Natsuru Senō. Another possible matchup is the lovely Shizuku Sangō (Blue) and the childhood friend Mikoto Kondō (Red) Interestingly enough in the series the concept is that the Red team and Blue team are against each other (indicated by the bracelets) and have 1 Red Oni and 1 Blue oni on each.
• Ayano and Kazuma from Kaze no Stigma. Ayano has a fiery, impulsive, very caring personality, while Kazuma has a calm, impassioned, jaded personality. The colors fit them too; in the OP, Ayano is colored red and Kazuma blue. Kazuma has blue eyes when his power is activated and a general blue theme, and Ayano has red hair and reddish eyes.
• Kiddy Grade has Eclair (red oni and boisterous Action Girl) and Lumiere (blue oni; calm, logical, and cultured Technopath), and they both wear colors to match.
  • Kiddy GiRL-AND has the antagonist duo Saphir and Rubis, with hair colors to match their names (though Saphir's hair is actually closer to green than blue), with the "blue" one able to use ice-based attacks (the "red" one doesn't use fire, though, but rather is a beast-humanoid with long claws), and with contrasting personalities in line with this trope.
• Kiki and Tombo from Kiki's Delivery Service. Tombo (Red) is an energic and vivacious but very intelligent boy and wears a white T-shirt with red stripes and Kiki (Blue) is a kind and fresh girl and wears a dark blue dress.
  • Jiji and Lili could also invoque this. Jiji (Red) is a grumpy and chatty cat and Lili (blue) is a graceful and ladylike cat. They also have respectively black and white color.
  • Osono and the baker man (we don't know if he is her husband, a friend or just a worker although he become the "father" of Osono's baby at the end). Osono (Red) is a confident woman, always ready to help people, and the baker man (Blue) just do his job, never saying any words.
• Kill la Kill has siblings Ryuko Matoi as the red oni and Satsuki Kiryuin as the blue oni. Ryuko is brash, prone to letting her emotions get the best of her, and favours on-the-fly battle tactics rather than long-term strategy. In contrast, Satsuki is more of a calm and collected Chessmaster.
  • Later Ryuko plays the red oni to blue oni Magnificent Bitch Ragyo her mother.
• Kimagure Orange Road has multiple examples:
  • The most notable and obvious one, is, of course, the two heroines of the series — Madoka is calm and serious, making her the Blue Oni, while Hikaru is loud, energetic and childish, which makes her the Red Oni.
  • Kasuga twins are an infantile and goofy Kurumi (Red) and reserved and reasonable Manami (Blue).
  • Kyousuke is actually the Blue Oni in every comparison to the other characters, especially Hikaru, Yuusaku, Kazuya and Komatsu & Hatta duo. The only exceptions where Kyousuke is the Red Oni are Manami and Madoka.
  • Madoka (Blue Oni) and Akane (Red Oni).
  • Kyousuke's grandpa is the Red Oni to his wife.
• In Kiniro Mosaic we have Genki Girl Youko to tsundere Aya.
• Zenki and Goki in Kishin Douji Zenki. There was also Gulen and Gaula.
• Reversed in Kurohime — the Fire Elemental is a pale-skinned, dark-haired Ojou while the Ice Elemental is a pair of hyperactive dark-skinned redhead(s).
• Kuroko Tetsuya and Kagami Taiga in Kuroko's Basketball. Kuroko is calm, kind, rational, blue-haired, and blue-eyed. He is both quiet and deadpan and is said to have no presence. On the other hand, Kagami is ambitious, stubborn, determined, red-haired, and red-eyed. He has a furious fighting spirit but this means he is also hot-headed.

L-Z

• Lady!!: Sarah is the blue to Lynn's red. She is much more ladylike and composed, and because she's Delicate and Sickly, she has to act with caution for her own wellbeing. Whereas Lynn is a Genki Girl who loves making friends, is a Passionate Sports Girl and is determined to make it to the Olympics and represent Britain.
• Layton Mystery Detective Agency: Katrielle is red passionate instinct to Emiliana's blue calm logic, and they usually even dress the part. Shown in dramatic fashion in the round title cards when they duel in episode 40.
• Played With in Legend of the Galactic Heroes with Wolfgang Mittermeyer and Oskar Von Reuental. Much of the trope is played straight: Mittermeyer is a blond commoner, more brawny and passionate and, in his youth, was clearly a bit more goofy. In any other anime, he could be the Idiot Hero. Reuental is colder and more distant, dark haired and elegant son of a noble family. They are even colour-coded: their otherwise identical flagships have a red stripe for Mittermeyer and a blue one for Reuental, and after the uniform change in season 3, they sport adequately coloured capes! The playing with comes into play in many ways, firstly because they are best friends rather than rivals. Secondly, because they are both masterful tacticians and very brawny. However, their tactical preferences for commanding fleets are quite different: Mittermeyer prefers swift attacks, while Reuental prefers a slower, methodical, more calculating approach, thereby matching the trope.
• An arguable case is Ogami Itto and Yagyu Retsudo from Lone Wolf and Cub. Although Itto doesn't have the not-so-bright or tasteless qualities of many red oni, he is driven to incredibly reckless behavior and horrid deeds by a passion for revenge, while Retsudo prefers being the puppetmaster and using traps, mooks, and the like. Along the way, he sacrifices an appalling amount of men and his own children in his attempts to stop Itto.
• In Lotte no Omocha, Lotte and Asuha even wear the matching colors for their roles (Asuha wears pink, but close enough).
• The case of Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! is a bit complicated. Rikka's red to Yuuta's blue, yet when she's paired with her "servant" Dekomori, the latter's red to Rikka's blue.
• Color Coded in Love Live! Superstar!!: Redhaired Mei as the passionate and more emotional girl and bluehaired Shiki as the stoic and silent part of this duo. They got both included to Liella! in the same episode. In this episode Shiki tries to push the School Idol fan Mei into Liella! and even kicks her out of the science club to help her to get to Liella!.
• In Lucky Star, we have Kagami Hiiragi (Red) and Tsukasa Hiiragi (Blue). With Konata's cousins, we have Yui Narumi (Red) and Yutaka Kobayakawa (Blue).
  • Or, if you want to put into the perspective of Konata Izumi (Blue Oni), Kagami is the Red Oni.
  • Then we have Misao (red) to Ayano (blue), the Those Two Guys pair.
• Macross:
  • Miriya/Max from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Or the updated version, Klan/Michael from Macross Frontier. In both, they pilot appropriately color-coded mecha. Although, rather than being rivals, they end up love interests, but hey, what's the difference?
  • In a weird way, Sheryl and Alto from Frontier qualify for this trope as well, as their aura color is Red and Blue respectively due to Chromatic Arrangement, but the attitude between them and their individual behavior when it's just the two of them (most notably in episode 5) fits. Possibly unintended, as the Chromatic Arrangement doesn't appear in its finalized form until much later in the series.
• Aoko (literally "blue girl") the innocent love interest and Akako (literally "red girl") the mischievous teen witch from Magic Kaito.
• In Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, the passionate, pink-aura-ed Nanoha, with her philosophy of befriending people with "Maximum Power", is a red oni. Meanwhile, The Stoic, blue-aura-ed Chrono, who frequently bemoans Nanoha's tendency to use a lot more power than necessary, is a blue oni. The two were even enemies (and eventually lovers) in the original Nanoha mini-scenario of Triangle Heart 3: Sweet Songs Forever.
  • The second season changes things up by introducing Vita, a tiny girl clad in red that carries around a massive hammer with a hair-trigger temper. Throughout the second and third seasons, she is the Red Oni and Nanoha, who by this time has become much more level headed and calculating, is the Blue Oni.
  • And reversed in the case of Subaru and Teana. The former's a blue-aura-ed, blue-haired, Hot-Blooded Genki Girl of a red oni. The latter, especially after her Rage Against the Mentor, is a red-aura-ed, red-haired, hyper-competent and The Smart Guy of a blue oni.
  • Played with in ViVid Strike!. While Fuka seems to be the Red to Rinne's Blue, it's actually the opposite (and not just in the colors of their magic auras). Once the hot-headed Fuka joins Nakajima Gym, she becomes much more calm and thoughtful, and it reflects on her fighting style, heavily influenced by Einhart (and, to a lesser extent, Vivio). Meanwhile, Rinne's stoic exterior hides psychological and anger management issues, and her fighting reaches berserker levels. After Rinne becomes her old self by the 12th episode, she becomes the shy blue to Fuka's outgoing red.
• Played straight in Magika Swordsman and Summoner with Amasaki Mio (red) and Hiakari Koyuki (blue). The two are love rivals (at least Amasaki thinks so) for the protagonist's affection, and they are also rivals for the top ranking in their class. Amasaki is a Hot-Blooded Tsundere and is very emotionally reactive, and her Diva is a phoenix; Hiakari is cool, calm, and self-conscious, and her Diva is a water/ice-type.
• In Majokko Meg-chan, Meg and Non are the Red and Blue respectively, complete with conveniently color-coded hair.
• Harunobu Nikaidou and Rei Kiriyama from March Comes in Like a Lion have this dynamic, and it manifests in the way they approach shogi as well as in life. Nikaidou's passion, enthusiasm, and strong determination make him the Red Oni, while Rei's calm intellectualism and introversion make him the Blue Oni.
• Marginal Prince has Alfred and Henri. The former is a Hot-Blooded Fiery Redhead, while the latter is a stoic Deadpan Snarker and of course the two quarrel quite a lot over the course of the series. In one episode when Henri is abscent, everybody comments on how he's the one with the fixed role of snarking at Alfred's Large Ham moments. Naturally, their hair colors (Alfred = red, Henri = blue) respond to their roles too and bonus points also go for Alfred's nickname, which is, well, Red.
• Matoi the Sacred Slayer: Matoi (blue) and Yuma (red) have this dynamic. Matoi just wants an ordinary lie and blend into the crowds, while Yuma is reckless and energetic. Interestingly, Matoi has pinkish hair while Yuma has blue hair.
• Mazinkaiser SKL's opening doesn't even try to hide who's the red oni and who's the blue oni between the two main characters.
• Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's: Pat is more hot-headed and brash, while Isabelle is more calm and studious, adjusting to St. Clare's slightly faster than her sister.
• In Missions of Love, you have three: Shigure and Yukina; Shigure and Akira; Mami and Yukina.
• Momogumi Plus Senki takes it literally that Kou is the literal reincarnation of the titular "Crying Red Oni" folklore , with everything about him is red, starting from his hair, eye, horn and even Battle Aura, and Shaoran is the reincarnation of the Blue Oni from the same folklore, and everything about her is blue just like Kou. However, if we take the definition of Red Oni, Blue Oni here, it would invert it because Kou is always speaks politely, when he's not crying he just gently smiles, much more calmer and kinder than Shaoran that speaks most of her dialogues yelling, really rude and brash to anyone, almost always grumpy, and he's the one in charge to stop her whenever she got mad, and despite being a crybaby as he's after all the reincarnation of titular "Crying Red Oni", he ALWAYS have a reason to cry, unlike her that often get mad, yells and hit him for no reason.
  • The gender flipped reincarnation of the Grandma and Grandpa, Ryoichi and Kyouko. The Grandma is clearly more graceful and calm compared to the vigorous and fiery Grandpa. Another one is the Black Oni, Hakuhou Kurihito, which is always collected so it makes him the Blue to the Sakura Oni's red as she's really temperamental and rude.
• Mischievous Twins: The Tales of St. Clare's: Of the two O'Sullivan twins, Patricia is more hot-headed and brash, while Isabelle is more calm and studious, adjusting to St. Clare's slightly faster than her sister. This causes Pat to start rebelling even more.
• Monster Musume features the literal Red Oni Kinu and her Lizardwoman partner Liz. Kinu is an actual red oni, being a big, not so bright bruiser, although her nature is gentle rather than aggressive. Liz is the figurative blue oni, and tends to use her head a bit more. Though it's worth noting neither of them is exactly a genius.
• In Muhyo and Roji, Muhyo is a blue oni to virtually everyone he's partnered with. His old friend and current enemy Enchu comes off as fairly stoic most of the time, but inwardly held issues with jealousy and felt pressure to become an executor, leading him to snap and perform a Face–Heel Turn after his mother's death. Roji is also quite the Red Oni, being more impulsive, emotional, and concerned with others than Muhyo is. Busujima and Imai are another Red Oni, Blue Oni pairing.
• My Hero Academia has rivals Izuku Midoriya (blue) and Katsuki Bakugo (red). Katsuki is rude, aggressive and prefers to hammer down his opponents with brute force, while Izuku is kind, sensitive and has to use his sharp mind to win battles, due to the limitations of his quirk. However, both of them end up being the Red Oni to quiet, composed Shoto Todoroki, especially after both of them declare him as their rival as well.
  • Shota "Eraser Head" Aizawa and Hizashi "Present Mic" Yamada, two of the teachers at UA High. One of them is Class 1-A's stoic Sink or Swim Mentor, the other is the fun-loving English teacher/DJ with No Indoor Voice. They've been friends since childhood.
  • Also Aizawa and Ms Joke. She has a quirk that gets people to laugh and has a goal of someday getting Aizawa to laugh but he won’t make it easy. They’ve know each other for years and that’s why she isn’t afraid to keep trying.
  • All Might and All For One have the deadliest of rivalries. All Might chooses to punch first then ask questions later, while All For One's critical logic and genius-level analysis backs-up his devastating power.
• My-HiME:
  • Mai Tokiha is the Red Oni (emotional, passionate, concerned with people) and Natsuki Kuga is the Blue Oni (aloof, mysterious, and concerned with goals). They even have hair colors to match (Mai's is reddish-orange and Natsuki's is bluish-violet).
  • Mirrored by Arika (red) and Nina (blue) in My-Otome. In the prequel mini-series, Nina's mother Sifr plays Red to Arika's mother Lena's Blue, seemingly just for the irony.
• My Love Story!! lampshades this dynamic between Suna and Takeo by one of the big events of their childhood being a grade school play where Suna was the blue oni and Takeo the red. The story even opens the first episode of the anime.
• My Neighbor Totoro has Mei as the Red, cheerfull and happy little girl and Satsuki as the Blue, sage and protectress elder sister.
  • It could also be Mei as the Red and her father as the Blue, Kanta as the Red and Satsuki as the Blue and the two little Totoro as the Red and the great venerable Totoro as the Blue.
• In My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected, Yui Yuigahama is Red and Yukino Yukinoshita is blue. It may help that Yui has orange-red hair and Yukino has been compared to a stream.
• Naruto loves this trope. Pretty much every team has the two guys as this with the girl making it a Freudian Trio. The girl is the Ego most of the times, but not always.
  • Naruto and Sasuke (complete with the colors of their clothing and demon forms). In the third opening of Naruto Shippuden, "Blue Bird", the pair are shown against a red-and-blue background◊. Unusually, Naruto has wind-based powers and Sasuke's are fire-based.
    • Lately, Sasuke has been showing a few Red Oni traits, while Naruto has been showing some Blue Oni traits. But they haven't switched quite yet.
    • However, before and after the Uchiha Massacre Sasuke was the red compared to Itachi's blue.
  • Other Red Oni/Blue Oni pairs include Lee and Neji, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, Guy and Kakashi (and, before that, Obito and Kakashi), Kiba and Shino, Choji and Shikamaru, and arguably even Kankuro and Gaara (at least after his Heel–Face Turn). With Choji and Shikamaru, Choji is easily set off and uses close attacks while Shikamaru is known to think things through thoroughly and always be ten steps ahead, and he also uses his shadows to attack from a distance. Shikamaru is not exactly blue but he does have a cool-color based theme while Choji has his bright red symbol, and in Shippuden, his outfit is nearly all red.
    • To a lesser extent, their dads qualify. Shikaku is a fiercely intelligent, rational strategist and Jounin Commander of Konoha. Choza is calmer than his son, but is still the fieriest of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and he has red hair.
  • Karui and Samui of Kumogakure are a female Red Oni/Blue Oni pair. Karui is a hot-tempered redhead, while pale blonde Samui is level-headed and calm—hell, her name even means "cold." She also serves as the Blue Oni to her Red Oni brother, Atsui (though they look similar in appearance and hinted they are twins). Unsurprisingly, his name means "hot."
  • The color scene is inverted with Akatsuki partners Itachi and Kisame, the former being a cold, calculating Aloof Big Brother with red eyes and several fire jutsus and the latter being a Blood Knight that specialises in Water Jutsus and has the blue skin of a shark.
    • See also Juugo and Suigetsu. Juugo has red hair, but is a Gentle Giant when he's not flipping out and is the calmest out of Taka. Suigetsu, meanwhile, is a white-haired Blood Knight from the same village as Kisame.
    • A subtle subversion with Suigetsu and Karin.
  • A few of the Akatsuki pairings invert this. Between Sasori and Deidara, Sasori has the orange eyes and Deidara has blue.
    • Deidara was also blue compared to his later partner, Tobi who was red. In truth it was the reverse.
    • Just like with Deidara, Sasori was also blue to his former partner, Orochimaru. However, the level of distrust between them was far greater by comparison.
  • Despite their hair colors mismatching the trope (at first), near the end of Pain's fight with Naruto, Pain becomes the Red Oni by losing his emotionless attitude and slowly turns drastically infuriated when fighting the enraged Jinchuuriki. Pain's Blue Oni exterior finally faded showing what many years of torture can do to you. Konan proved to be the Blue Oni after warning Nagato not to over-exhaust his power, and attacks her foes when it is truly personal or she is ordered to. This is a clever example of how both Onis can switch at any time of a story.
  • Then there's Hidan and Kakuzu. No colour association, but jeez, the contrast couldn't get much stronger.
  • Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga are another female Red Oni/Blue Oni pair. Whereas Hinata is a Shy Blue Haired Nice Girl who can barely talk to Naruto until Part II, Sakura is a Hot-Blooded rose-haired Tsundere who is ready to inflict unnecessary damage on Naruto. By Part II, even their fighting styles became total opposites to each other's: they both use chakra, but Sakura is using it to increase the strength of her punches to monstrous levels, making her a Cute Bruiser, whereas Hinata is using the Pressure Point-based Gentle Fist-style of the Hyuga clan, making her a Lady of War. Furthermore, as a result of their respective personalities and body figures, Sakura has A-Cup Angst whereas Hinata is hiding her buxom figure in baggy clothes. Also, according to the anime, Sakura is a Lethal Chef whereas Hinata is a supreme one.
    • After the War, Temari joins Sakura as the more proud and short-tempered Red Oni mother duo, while Hinata and Ino settle down as the elegant and intuitive Blue Oni mother duo.
  • Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha are this as well with Hashirama being the red to Madara's blue, but after Madara goes mad from the revelation, it becomes the exact opposite with Hashirama as the blue and Madara as the red.
  • In the latter stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Obito and Madara form an interesting version of the trope. When Madara is first reanimated, he appears to be a stoic villain who kills his enemies with a perfectly straight face. However, when Hashirama is reanimated, he starts wearing a Slasher Smile and generally going off the deep end while Obito remains perfectly stoic, only being briefly fazed when he first becomes the Ten-Tails' jinchuuriki.
    • On a much grander scale, Madara becomes the Red Oni to Kaguya Otsutsuki's Blue Oni.
  • The two Senju brothers Hashirama and Tobirama. Their armours colour makes it obvious, as well as the fact that Hashirama has more involvement in the Leaf's past than his brother despite that both of them were Hokage.
  • The two snake shinobi Orochimaru and (eventually) Kabuto can fit. Orochimaru was the Red Oni as he sacrificed too much and recklessly in his quest for power which ultimately resulted in his death. Kabuto was the Blue Oni who patiently followed the latter and even became a far greater threat, manipulating more appropriately.
    • The main Jutsu types can be seen this way; Taijutsu (red) focuses on upfront combat like brutal kicks and general martial arts. Genjutsu (blue) focuses on illusions and breaking your opponents will without risking physical injuries (unless the use of the Sharingan is included). Ninjutsu (in-between) mixes both physical and environmental attacks using all natural elements.
  • The 5th female Kage's, Tsunade Senju and Mei Terumi can count too. Tsunade being the Red Oni has an awful habit of losing her temper and starting bad habits very easily, her strength is astonishing easily making her one the most powerful female characters of the series. Mei being the Blue Oni not only wears blue but acts with much elegance and kindness even towards her enemies, although she also has a Berserk Button like the latter, however she'd rather warn them than outright knock them out.
  • Political rivals, Hiruzen Sarutobi (The 3rd Hokage) and Danzo Shimura had a similar dynamic to Hashirama and Madara. As a leader, Hiruzen was generally very kind, empathetic and wanted people to cooperate. Danzo on the other hand was skeptical, shady and power-hungry. Hiruzen wholeheartedly protected Konoha, putting his very life on the line, to spare his people. Danzo actively undermined the village, being responsible for many avoidable catastrophies, all behind the scenes. Hiruzen died with honor and respect, Danzo died with disgrace and regret.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion: Asuka Langley Sohryu and Rei Ayanami, although more in the rivalry sense, as Asuka despises Rei and Rei is characteristically indifferent to Asuka much of the time. That doesn't stop Studio Gainax from pairing them up in merchandising, though.
  • Note that their 'theme colour' is inverted in their eye colour: Rei is blue-haired with red eyes, Asuka is a redhead (drawn as blonde in the manga) with blue eyes. This arguably reinforces their contrast and even complimentarity.
  • Their mecha are, however, all red and all blue respectively and explicitly compared to oni in concept and design just to be obvious.
• In Night Raid 1931, Aoi is a red oni, being friendly and easygoing, is very open about his feelings, and uses his powers a lot, even when not necessary. He frequently butts heads with blue oni teammate Kazura who is The Stoic, generally keeping his emotions in check and often appearing humorless (although he can be The Comically Serious). He only uses his powers when necessary. For extra points, Aoi wears his clothes casually and has a red tie hanging loosely, while Kazura dresses conservatively and generally wears dark colors.
• One Piece:
  • The giants Dorry and Brogy are respectively titled "The Red Ogre" and "The Blue Ogre", although they're really a Subversion as they have basically identical personalities.
  • Also, Sanji and Zoro fit.
  • And we have Luffy (red) compared to Zoro (blue)
  • Nami and Nico Robin also fit this dichotomy as the two women aboard. Orange-haired Nami tends to react loudly and angrily to the crew's stupid antics and gets very passionate over money, while black-haired and blue-eyed Robin is introverted to a fault, reacting quietly to everything short of a world-ending crisis.
  • Not to mention Nami and Vivi, whose hair (orange for Nami, sky blue for Vivi) even helps to fit this trope. Nami, as mentioned above, is short-fused and quick to react with anger, while Vivi is sweet and sensible. In a crisis, however, this trope is completely inverted; Nami usually is the one to react with a plan, while Vivi has a meltdown.
  • Among the Supernovas (in addition to Luffy and Zoro above):
    • Luffy's two rivals he meets in Sabaody are this to each other: Eustass "Captain" Kid is the Hot-Blooded Fiery Redhead, while "Surgeon of Death" Trafalgar Law has blue-black hair and is a Deadpan Snarker.
    • Kid is also the red to his right-hand man (and fellow Supernova) Killer's blue, with Killer being level-headed to balance Kid's Ax-Crazy personality.
    • Once they team up after the timeskip, Luffy (red) and Law (blue) provide a great example.
  • For the Marines, Admiral Akainu (Red), who is prone to passionate bouts of well-intentioned extremism, and Admiral Aokiji (Blue), who is very laid back. Even their names reflect this—"aka" is red, "ao" is blue. Also, they are bitter rivals.
    • A friendship-based duet of the kind in the Marines are Sengoku and Garp, with Sengoku usually being the cool one and Garp the emotional one.
• Arikawa and Misaki from Only the Flower Knows. Arikawa is cheerful, sociable and honest about his feelings. Misaki is quiet, antisocial and emotionally repressed. The Chapter 4 picture lampshades this trope, by outlining how both characters' birth flowers describe their personalities (Arikawa is honest and free; Misaki is delicate and sensitive).
• Ouran High School Host Club:
  • They aren't quite colour-coded, but Tamaki and Kyouya seem to embody this trope rather well with cool-headed, intellectual Chessmaster Kyouya balancing up exuberant, people-focused Sheltered Aristocrat Tamaki.
  • Interestingly, at various times during the anime series, each member is represented by a coloured rose. Kyouya's is a pale blue, almost mauve, whereas Tamaki's is white. The red rose went to Haruhi.
  • Alternatively, the twins Hikaru and Kaoru represent the red and blue oni, respectively. It's not always obvious, since they tend to use the 'identical twins' act, but a few episodes that focus on the twins delve into this aspect. Exemplified in one episode when, each twin trying to distinguish himself from the other, Hikaru dyes his hair pink (red) and Kaoru dyes his hair blue.
• Color coded in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt: Panty has red nails and usually wears shades of red and Stocking wears shades of blue. Even their weapons are color coded: Panty's gun, Backlace, is a pair of pink panties before transformation and Stocking's katanas, Stripe I & II, are a pair of blue and black striped stockings before transformation.
  • Character-wise the Angel sisters are the red onis, compared to their rivals the Demons sisters Scanty and Kneesocks who are the blue oni (despite their red skin). Though Panty and Scanty serve as the Red sister, while Stocking and Kneesocks serve as the blue sister from both groups.
• Paprika: The titular character and Dr. Chiba are the same person, with the former being the persona the latter assumes when entering people's dreams, but their personalities are polar opposites. Paprika is perky, whimsical and energetic, in contrast to Dr. Chiba's cold, serious and businesslike approach.
• In Parasyte, the hot-blooded and combative Shinichi is clearly a red oni, whereas the cool, analytical and somewhat unfeeling Migi is a blue oni.
• Noa Izumi and Kanuka Clancy from Patlabor. One is a slobbish redhead without a college degree who constantly rushes into trouble; the other is a super-professional MIT graduate with glossy black hair (that looks blue) who never lets any situation get to her.
• Brothers Kanba and Shouma Takakura in Penguindrum are a classic example, with their hair colors being an instant giveaway. Kanba is the handsome, emotional, brash brother who usually takes immediate action, is popular with the ladies, and is determined to follow in their father's footsteps as the family protector. Shouma by contrast is practically a House Husband, being mellow, cheerful, cautious, and often the voice of reason and restraint to Kanba's hotheadedness.
• Persia, the Magic Fairy: While Persia is a wild, adventurous tomboy, her best friend Sayo is more reserved, feminine and the face of the school's student council cultural club.
• Pokémon:
  • Pokémon: The Series:
    • Ash, the Idiot Hero, as the perfect example of the Red Oni, while Gary, The Rival, definitely qualifies as the Blue Oni. Paul, Ash's rival in Diamond and Pearl, seems to have taken over the Blue Oni role, mixed with Jerkass.
    • From the first movie: the cute and cheerful Mew as the Red Oni to the badass and angsty Mewtwo as the Blue Oni.
    • Zig-zagged with Roark and Byron. While both are Fiery Redheads, Roark is usually more calm while Byron is one of the most Hot-Blooded characters of the anime, if not the most. However, Roark's offensive strategy has been portrayed as kind of reckless, while Byron's defensive strategy is shown to be more thoughtful.
  • Pokémon Adventures:
    • The first arc features the heroic trainer Red and his rival, Oak's grandson, Blue, who befitting their names lean towards Stock Shōnen Hero and Stock Shōnen Rival respectively.
    • Gold and Silver fit the trope better, although they don't get the colors.
    • Inverted with cultured, urbane Ruby and wild, tomboyish Sapphire.
    • Diamond (quiet, thoughtful and lazy) and Pearl (loud, rash and hyperactive) use this as part of their double act and their team make ups (Diamond's are all mighty glaciers while Pearl tends towards fragile speedsters)
• Pop Team Epic: Popuko has a nasty Hair-Trigger Temper, while Pipimi leans closer to The Stoic.
• Pretty Cure
  • The titular duo of Futari wa Pretty Cure: Nagisa is the lacrosse-playing tomboy who wears the black and red costume, Honoka is the intellectual one in the white and blue dress. At one point, they even fight a pair of red and blue Oni just to drive the trope home.
  • And, of course, their Expies in Splash Star and Suite fulfill the roles as well.
  • In Yes! Pretty Cure 5, this trope is played both straight and inverted. Cure Rouge and Cure Aqua play it straight, complete with a story showing how their opposite personalities clash. However, while Nuts usually wears red and Coco wears blue, especially in their human prince forms, Nuts is the quieter, more aloof one of the two, so they are the inversion of this trope (with the quieter one wearing red).
  • In Fresh Pretty Cure!, Love is the red oni to Setsuna's blue. Interestingly, Setsuna is the who wears red while Love wears pink, but Setsuna also wears darker colors (especially black) in contrast to Love's bright clothes.
  • HeartCatch Pretty Cure! also inverts this. The pink-wearing Tsubomi is a shy and introverted blue oni; her partner, the blue-wearing (and water elemental!) Erika, is an outgoing and energetic red oni.
  • It's played straight again with Smile Pretty Cure! and its rainbow theme with Miyuki and Akane as Red and Nao and Reika as Blue. Yayoi (Yellow) falls in between.
  • Doki Doki! PreCure: Mana is the red oni to Rikka's blue oni. Also, Alice and Makoto are blue onis to Mana's red. However, when Regina is there, she becomes the red oni to Mana's blue oni.
• The Prince of Tennis:
  • Kaoru Kaidoh (skittish, kinda naïve, aloof) and Takeshi Momoshiro (cheerful, a bottomless pit, carefree) might not dress in red and blue, but otherwise, they fit the trope to a T. And yes, they play doubles.
  • In Hyoutei, we have the flighty and loud redhead Gakuto Mukahi and his doubles partner, the suave Yuushi Oshitari (who has blue hair).
    • The brash and outgoing Kenya Oshitari from Shitenhouji is also the red to his cousin Yuushi's blue.
  • Rikkaidai has Sanada and Yukimura as red and blue, respectively, even though Sanada also displays blue traits of being proud and stern. He comes from a very traditional family and, in addition to tennis, has interests in more cultured and refined activities like kendo and calligraphy, but he's also one of the most Hot-Blooded players in the series and has a temper to match. Applied to Yukimura, it's largely played straight: he loves art and gardening, is friendly and gentle off the court, but is also a cold and calculating Knight Templar while on it.
• Duck (or Ahiru in the Japanese version) and Fakir from Princess Tutu follow this trope very well. Duck has orangy-pink hair and is a loud, determined, dizty klutz who cares deeply about people and wants to be everyone's friend. Fakir is a green-haired boy who is cold, seemingly prideful, and anti-social. They start off as bitter rivals but later discover they have the same goal — to help and protect Mytho — and end up becoming awkward partners. In the second season, Fakir develops a crush on Duck and the two become even more closely associated.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • The cynical, aggressive Kyoko Sakura and the idealistic, insecure Sayaka Miki, right down to the respective colors of their hair, eyes, and combat outfits.
  • Madoka (outgoing, cheerful) and Homura (aloof, collected) also fit, including their color identifiers (pink, gray).
  • Madoka and Sayaka, meanwhile, the two best friends at the start of the series, count as an inversion of sorts — Madoka is pink and Sayaka blue, as already mentioned, but gentle, slightly ditzy Madoka is definitely the blue oni to boisterous, Jumped at the Call Sayaka's red oni in terms of personality.
  • Finally, though it's not reflected in the colour-coding, both Madoka and Sayaka could be seen at the beginning of the series as the naïve red onis to Mami's calm, experienced blue. It seems that Kyouko might also fulfil the red oni role to Mami in the prequel manga much as she does to Sayaka in the anime.
• In Real Bout High School, Ryoko has red hair and usually wears her (red) school uniform, while Lady of War/The Ojou Heir to the Dojo Azumi Kiribayashi has blue hair and wears blue. On the other hand, Ryoko's central rivalry is with Hot-Blooded Shizuma Kusanagi, who has a knack for Playing with Fire and has got a slight red tint to his skin.
• Reborn! (2004), with Gokudera and Yamamoto as Red Oni and Blue Oni respectively. In so many ways. A strange balance between rivals and comrades, Gokudera has the firey disposition while Yamamoto is almost always composed. Heck, even their Flames correspond perfectly to this trope.
• Shiris and Orson from Record of Lodoss War are red oni and blue oni respectively. There's a slight twists, that Orson is also a Berserker and falls into an Unstoppable Rage in combat, but at these times, he's literarly not himself.
• In Re:Zero, the twin maid sisters, Ram and Rem, are a literal example of this trope. They are loosely based on the tale of the Red and Blue Onis. While subtle, Ram is the more assertive, teasing one, while Rem is the more submissive, calm one. To further their connection, Ram has red hair, while Rem has blue hair.
  • Contrary to her depiction as the blue oni, Rem is prone to impulsive and rash decisions and behavior. It's what led her to attack and kill Subaru twice, even though he directly did nothing to provoke her. Both times, she acted without any concrete evidence to confirm her suspicions.
• In Rosario + Vampire, the two main characters are Aono Tsukune (the only human among monsters and often the Only Sane Man) and Akashiya Moka (who's much more excitable, to say nothing of her true vampire personality). Most of the other characters also have colour-based names. When their super-powered evil sides show up, the status is switched.
• Louie and Genie in Rune Soldier Louie are both very tall and extremely strong, and very good in combat as well. They are also the two characters who are arguing and getting into fights with each other the most. Interestingly, they are the only two characters with unnaturally colored hair, but it's stoic and responsible Genie who has bright red hair and funny guy and troublemaker Louie who has blue hair. While Genie has her violent moments, it is almost always because of Louie's antics.
• Rurouni Kenshin has Sanosuke and Kenshin, who are even cast in their respective colored lights during their first battle. After losing, Sano becomes The Lancer.
  • A lot of the time, Kenshin becomes the Red Oni, especially compared to stoic antagonists such as Saito and Aoshi.
• Sailor Moon :
  • The manga has Usagi/Minako as impulsive, outgoing red, with Ami/Rei as cool, introverted blue. Makoto's in the middle. As for the first anime, Rei contrasts better with Ami, since Rei is just as impulsive as Usagi and is actually a fire soldier to counteract calm Ami's water powers.
  • While Haruka and Michiru both had the same intentions in season 3, Haruka's attitude was more outgoing and harsh in comparison to Michiru's calmer, more introvert demeanor.
  • Chibi-Usa is a rather hot-headed Bratty Half-Pint, while her best friend Hotaru is calm and sweet.
  • Luna is often borderline temperamental, while Artemis is usually laid-back and gentle in comparison.
• The opening credits of Saint Beast: Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan present Judas (blue) and Goh (red) like this, except this assignment only invites Epileptic Trees. When the other way around (Goh->blue, Judas->red) invoking this trope makes quite a bit more sense, especially as both are different interpretations of The Hero.
• Zenon and Shien, the two gods that appear about halfway through Gensou Maden Saiyuki.
• Jin and Mugen from Samurai Champloo. They are not only dressed in the respective colors and are Foils, they represent every trait possible of the trope. Water and fire (fish and rooster in the OP), past and future, tradition and innovation (Technician Versus Performer), orthodox and unorthodox, predictable and unpredictable, economy and extravagance, controlled purpose and chaotic energy, order and chaos, stoicism and emotion, etc. They also verge on being a deconstruction of the common character types; Jin is practically unable to feel passionate about anything or form attachments to anyone, while Mugen is recklessly passionate without direction, morality, or purpose. (Or the brain power to put it to use.) Fortunately, they get better throughout all the whirls of yin and yang.
• It varies with Joe and Ken of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. Usually, Ken is the steady, reliable one and Joe the impulsive, but later on, the roles reverse themselves, namely during the final Red Impulse arc.
• Scryed was completely based around this trope, with Kazuma and Ryouhou being eternal red/blue rivals.
• Seraph of the End: Yuuichirou and Mikaela are a prime example of this trope. Yuu is hotblooded, fiery, and full of determination. Mika, though having some obsessive qualities, is level-headed, calm, and often a voice of reason to his companion.
• From Seven of Seven, Nanappe is hot-tempered, violent, wields a red crystal, and wears a red Nana Ranger costume. Regular Nana is much more calm, rational, and level-headed, wields a blue crystal, and wears a blue Nana Ranger costume.
• Sgt. Frog: One color may be off, but Keroro (green) and Giroro (red) not only exemplify this trope, they even drag out the trope namer and elaborate on it in one episode.
• Shamanic Princess: Tiara (red) and Lena (blue). Or, alternately, Tiara (red) and Sara (blue).
• Shaman King loves this. Firstly, there are several instances where the show uses an overlay of two characters, one in red and one in blue — Yoh, the calm, cheerful protagonist, is always the blue character. Also, Amidamaru, Yoh's spirit partner, condenses into a blue spirit flame in battle, which means that Yoh's various oversouls are all blue as well. The major baddies he winds up fighting (Ren at first, then later Hao) have spirits who manifest themselves in red. Finally, there are Zenki and Kouki, two genuine oni who are actually red and blue.
• In Shiki, the passionate doctor Toshio Ozaki pulls red oni duty while his lifelong friend, a melancholy monk named Seishin Muroi, plays the blue oni. Several of the important younger cast members exhibit this dynamic as well: among the girls there's excitable pink-haired Megumi (red) and her friend Kaori (blue) who has more neutral brown hair and a more reserved disposition. Kaori is also the blue oni to her orange-haired brother Akira's red oni. For the three main teenage boys, long-time antagonists Masao (red) and Natsuno (blue) have this dynamic, as lampshaded by their mutual friend Toru, who himself is the gleeful red oni to Natsuno's blue. Or, Masao is the blue oni while Tatsumi's red.
• In Shirokuma Cafe Skirokuma/Polar Bear (Blue) is calm, always relaxed, barely ever showing emotions and always ready for a good chuckle. While his best friend Grizzly (Red) is tempermental, swears constantly, has an Hair-Trigger Temper, aggressive, but is still a nice guy. Even their professions reflect this trope. As Shirokuma/Polar Bear runs a quaint little home-style cafe that serves coffees and cakes that is open during the day. While Grizzly runs a dimly lit bar serving only alcohol and seems to be only open at night, and the first scene of said bar gives tiny hints towards being a Bad Guy Bar, but in subsequent appearances it's shown to be just as friendly a place as the cafe, despite the differences.
• Sky Girls has Ranko and Haruko Mikogami, as shown in the page image for this subpage, who fit this trope to a T.
• Slam Dunk: Sakuragi is the boisterous and boastful newbie while his teammate and rival Rukawa is the cold and aloof ace. Sakuragi has red hair, while in the anime Rukawa has blue eyes.
• Slayers (movie/OVA timeline) has the rather shy Lina with her quiet, unassuming temper of a bounding mine and narcissistic Naga showing off herself but not keeping a teaspoon of powder in reserve — she isn't wound up at all even when fighting. Lina is leaning toward fire magic and Naga is more inclined to water, though they have personal reasons for this.
  • The TV timeline has Lina as a textbook Red Oni with her red hair, red outfit, red eyes, love of fire magic, and red-hot temper. "Heartless magic-using swordsman" Zelgadis is the Blue Oni. Unusually, Lina and Zelgadis are near-equals in intelligence and strategic ability.
• The Snow Queen of the anime named after her has a red imp and blue imp as bumbling servants. It's based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
• In Sorcerer Hunters, the relationship between the brash and thoughtless Carrot and his suave older brother Marron is a good example.
• In Soul Eater, almost every meister/weapon pairing does this.
  • Maka is a cool, intelligent planner, while Soul is impulsive, emotional, and aggressive. It may say something that the Blue Oni is in charge in this case!
    • Later on, the roles switch; Maka becomes more headstrong and direct, while Soul becomes more of a calm and cool foil.
  • Maka's father Spirit/Death Scythe mirrors Soul's traits, with a double shot of lechery. His former meister, Dr. Stein, is much like Maka... except that his curiosity is so strong, it drives him to do medical experiments on people while they're asleep! However, Spirit was also the Blue Oni at times as Stein was quite the problematic child and thus Spirit's soul wavelength helped keep him sane.
  • Black Star is a classic Idiot Hero and a complete show-off, while Tsubaki is calm, mature, and patient.
  • The Thompson sisters as well. Patty, the Red Oni, is a ditzy, genki Cloud Cuckoo Lander with a hyena laugh, while Liz, the Blue Oni, is calm, serious, and cynical.
  • The two Witch sisters, Medusa and Arachne Gorgon play this rather well. Medusa though scheming and vindictive, always relied on her impressive acting to lie her way to victory and often expressed glee in torturing others openly. Arachne (her older sister) always kept a mild and dignified expression despite being more emotional than Medusa, her feelings were more of melancholy than viciousness and used this quality to make even Asura work with her.
• The Summer You Were There has both pairs of main characters.
  • Kaori Asaka is the red oni to Shizuka Hoshikawa's blue oni. Kaori is outwardly cheerful, and at least seems more energetic than most of the rest of the cast. Shizuku is withdrawn, gloomy and suffers from suicidal depression.
  • Seri Ichihara is the red oni to Ruri Ichinose's blue oni. Seri is hot-tempered, brutally honest and protective of Ruri. Ruri is timid, passive and relatively unemotional.
• Tamagotchi:
  • Downplayed with Mametchi and Memetchi, while both are passive tamagotchis, Mametchi is more level-headed, intelligent, and cries less, while Mametchi doesn’t cry much, Memetchi is very Prone to Tears.
  • Out of the four main protagonists, Mametchi and Lovelitchi are the blue to Memetchi and Kuchipatchi's red, usually because Mametchi and Lovelitchi are calmer and Memetchi and Kuchipatchi are more emotional.
• Tenchi Muyo! has the very obvious example of sex-crazed, alcoholic, sailor-mouthed Ryoko and her traditionally-minded, honor-driven counterpart, Ayeka.
  • There is also a possible inversion with Ryoko being blue-haired and base and Washu being Red-haired and cerebral.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann:
  • Kamina and Simon — blue-shirted and blue-eyed Simon is the comparatively rational one of the two, while red-caped and red-eyed Kamina is... well, Kamina. Kamina is also the Red to Yoko's blue (despite their reversed hair colours).
  • Later, Simon becomes the Hot-Blooded, determined red to Rossiu's collected, pragmatic blue.
  • On the villain side, the four Beastman generals have this dynamic as well, in a way. Thymilph and Adiane, the fire and water generals, are off-the-wall Berserker Blood Knights, whereas Guame and Cytomander, the earth and air generals, are much smarter, calmer, and more calculating.
  • The final battle pulls one of these between Team Dai-Gurren and the Anti-Spirals. While Team Dai-Gurren make use of Spiral Energy, which is all about being Hot-Blooded, Chewing the Scenery, and fighting with passion, the Anti-Spirals want to eliminate Spiral Energy, and are thus emotionless, aloof, distant, and uncaring. The colour schemes of their mecha even match, with the good guys' Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann being red, while the Anti-Spiral pilots the Grand Zamboa, which has a Battle Aura of blue fire. However, by the end of the battle, even the Anti-Spirals have given in to the Spiral Instinct and began hamming it up.
• The eponymous duo of Tiger & Bunny exemplify this. Heroes with identical abilities forced to work as partners by their sponsoring company, their personalities and views on their profession are vastly different. Wild Tiger is the Red Oni — relying on emotion, instincts, and personal beliefs in justice to guide him; Barnaby is the Blue Oni — relying on logic, reason, and the best interests of his sponsors instead.
  • Their color schemes are actually inverted. Tiger originally wore blue but moved on to green (still a "cool" color) early on in the series; in constrast, Barnaby wears red, a "warm" color.
• In the movie Tokyo Godfathers, homeless Transvestite Hana uses the story of the red and blue oni to illustrate a point to tomboyish runaway Miyuki; in it, Hana explicitly compares himself herself to the blue oni and the gruff but good-hearted Gin to the red oni.
• The Four Heavenly Kings from Toriko have this dichotomy from Blue to Red, Coco, Toriko, Sunny and Zebra.
  • Ichiryuu was the Blue Oni to Midora's Red Oni.
  • Toriko literally has a Red Oni and Blue Oni in his body; however their dynamic is reversed, the Red is more calm and collected where as the Blue is down right psychotic.
• The two ghosts (or whatever they are) in The Tower of Druaga, although it's not immediately obvious for two reasons: one, the red girl doesn't show up until episode 8, and it's not the girls themselves that demonstrate the appropriate personality, but rather the person to whom they appear. The blue girl shows herself to Neeba, while the red one appears to Jil.
• From trash., the legendary assassins Bullet & Francesca. Bullet is calm and stoic, to the point of being heartless, even in the face of danger. At one point she was about to be raped, and not even blink an eye, instead even taunting the rapist to kill her. Her brand of anger is of Tranquil Fury kind, thus making her the blue. In contrast, Francesca is a Kindhearted Cat Lover when out of work, and even insisting on taking in stray kittens and kids to live with them, despite Bullet having a point of them not having enough resource to help everyone (not to mention their line of work who kills people). In combat, Francesca engages in melee with her axes, and when she's sufficiently angered, would exhibit primal aggression where she threatens (and follows through) to bite her enemies' throat off, thus making her the red.
• In Train to the End of the World, Reimi and Akira share this relationship. In terms of personality, Reimi is energetic and optimistic if slightly dim while Akira is intelligent but sullen and pessimistic. In terms of appearance, Reimi is very tall and well-endowed, has blond hair, and wears a standard bright blue uniform with red accessories. Akira by contrast is very short and slender, has black hair, and wears a nearly black uniform with blue accessories. The two have squabbled with each other since childhood due to their clashing personalities.
• In Trigun (especially on the manga covers), Vash is associated with fiery reds and poses full of dynamism while Wolfwood is associated with blue and grey tones and more static positions. Bonus points if Wolfwood also glares coldly at the reader. This is an accurate representation of the contrasts between their personalities.
  • There's also the contrast between Vash and cold-blooded Legato, who's gotta have blue hair.
  • Vash vs. Knives is a more complex case: Knives is the brainy and coldly rational part of the "duo", but he's also incredibly violent and psychologically unstable. While Vash is a passionate and dynamic character, Knives is prone to feeling lonely and depressed and tends to hang around doing nothing. Moreover, Knives's grand theories actually hide his crazy irrationality, while Vash is able to think with a cold head so as not to take personally all the shit he takes from humans. Manga Knives is often associated with blue and aqua colors, but also with darker reds than his brother. Also, note that, during their fight at the end of the anime, Vash's vortex is blue and Knives' is red.
• Fai and Kurogane from Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-, especially in the first arc. They're almost completely colour coded (eyes/clothes even skin colour and hair to an extent) until their positions start to change and Fai starts to crack.
• In Urusei Yatsura, Lum's two best friends Benten and Oyuki are a Hot-Blooded Badass Biker, and a Stoic Ice Queen.
• In The Vision of Escaflowne, brothers Van and Folken wear red and blue—the latter wearing blue as a young man. Van plays out as a brash hot head, with Folken a great candidate for The Spock as well as a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
• Voltes V has Kenichi and Ippei, but in an unusual case, the calmer Kenichi wears red while the brash Ippei wears blue. Kenichi takes his mission seriously and believes that being a pilot for the titular Super Robot trumps all personal responsibilities, while Ippei is more laid-back, snarky and (unsuccessfully) hits on the Voltes team's only female member.
• In Wolf's Rain, Kiba's relationships with both The Lancer Tsume and eventual Big Bad Darcia reflect this dynamic.
• This is played with in Xam'd: Lost Memories with the male lead Akiyuki and his school friend Furuichi. At first it looks like joker Akiyuki is the red oni while the more focused and serious Furuichi is the blue oni, but as they diverge from one another, the line between which is the red and which is the blue becomes more and more blurred, with Akiyuki maturing as he learns to harness his power and Furuichi slowly being driven insane by the hiruko inside him and his jealousy over losing their mutual friend, Haru, to Akiyuki. In the end, Furuichi's Xam'd form manifests as a bright red flaming monster, while Akiyuki's is shown to be a more neutral white with colored marking.
• Ame-warashi and Zashiki-warashi, the fairies of ×××HOLiC. Ame-warashi has red hair and is brash, rude, and aggressive, while the blue-haired Zashiki-warashi is the shy, quiet, kind one.
  • In the manga, however, the Ame-warashi has blue hair and the Zashiki-warashi has black hair.
• Yaiba offer us Yaiba (Red) and Onimaru (blue), though the more suitable comparison would be Raijin and Fujin.
• The theme of Your Lie in April is the difference between plaing music with passion and following the score, so it's unsurprising that there are multiple examples.
  • Kosei and Kaori are blue and red, respectively. Kosei always won piano competitions by following the score exactly, and he was nicknamed the "human metronome". Kaori went wild during her violin recital, and won the audience award, but her accompanist quit afterwards and she got tons of deductions from the judges.
  • The pianists Aiza and Igawa are also red and blue, respectively. Aiza pours her feelings into the piano, and plays differently depending on the weather, or what she ate for lunch, or if she likes her hair that day. Igawa is more serious and calm when he plays. In the anime, we even get a shot of them with glowing red and blue energy before Kosei's recital in episode 9. However, they're both more moderate when compared to Kosei and Kaori.
• Yowamushi Pedal: Naruko Shoukichi and Imaizumi Shunsuke are a Red Oni, Blue Oni duo. While Imaizumi is a tad stoic, approaching everything from a serious point of view, and tends to be a loner, Naruko is hotheaded, fierce and loves attention. Additionally, their associated colors are red for Naruko, and blue for Imaizumi.
• Yu-Gi-Oh!:
  • Jonouchi (Joey) and Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh! follow this trope to the letter, right down to their trademark cards.
  • Also, Yami Yugi (red) and Seto Kaiba when they duel together. Also present in their past incarnations, where Seto tends to calculate and plot behind the scenes.
  • Sometimes, Honda (Tristan) is the blue oni to Jounochi's red oni when Kaiba's too busy, Honda being more romantic, quiet, contemplative, and likely to choose his battles than Jounochi.
  • As do Fubuki (Atticus) and Kaiser (Zane) from GX. Although, this probably isn't entirely coincidental... Subverted that in season 4, they were more of Chromatic Arrangement when Yusuke is still around, with Yusuke being green.
    • And in the manga, Judai (Jaden) and Manjoume (Chazz).
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds has Yusei Fudo as the Blue Oni and Jack Atlas has turned to be the Red Oni. Remarked with Yusei's white and blue Stardust Dragon and his Clear Mind and Jack's Red Dragon Archfiend and his Burning Soul.
  • ZEXAL, pairs the stubborn, Hot-Blooded, and dim-witted protagonist, Yuma Tsukumo, with his calm, strategic, and stoic spiritual partner, Astral, for this trope.
    • On the villains' side, there's Heartland's two henchmen, the high-spirited and energetic Gauche, and his female partner, the cold and stoic Droite. (To emphasize this, their names are French for "left" and "right", respectively.)
  • VRAINS pairs the calm, quiet and aloof Yusaku to mischievous, laid-back and energetic Ai. As do the former’s avatar Playmaker's cool-headed and serious towards Soulburner's cheerful, hot-blooded personality. The latter pair was appropriated by their theme color, especially during their Transformation Sequence (Playmaker's blue and Soulburner's red).
    • In terms of archetype, Soulburner (Takeru/Theodore) can be paired with mature Blue Maiden (Aoi/Skye). Soulburner uses fire-type Salamangreat while Blue Maiden uses water-type Marincess.
• Mei and Yako of Yurara are red and blue oni, respectively. Appropriately, Mei uses fire elemental powers, while Yako uses water.
• Yuri!!! on Ice has shy and insecure Yuri Katsuki as blue and aggressive Yuri Plisetsky as red.
• YuYu Hakusho has literal blue and red oni — the blue oni are the bureaucrats in the Spirit World, while the red oni are security. With the protagonists, Yusuke and Kuwabara are both brash and eager, ready to throw themselves at a challenge, while demonic protagonists Hiei and Kurama are far more calculating and keep much cooler heads about them.
  • Even then, the demon protagonists can be split between being Red and Blue. Hiei prefers trying to take his opponent out with as little time spent as possible, and generally has little time for planning and mind games, such as when they were in Kaito's territory. Kurama, on the other hand, takes more time than normally one should allow in combat. Kurama's way of thinking is "If I can figure out their strategy, then I can come up with one of my own to counter it." The only time he did not plan at all was when he ripped off Gourmet's head to reveal Elder Toguro.
• Zatch and Brago from Zatch Bell!. Also, Zatch and his Evil Twin Zeno, later on in the series. The former is a kind, but childish boy who wishes to be friends with anyone he meets, while the latter is a cold, manipulative person who hates humanity and bears a grudge towards Zatch, though this is only because Zatch received the Baou power instead of him. Their owners and even the color of their books reflect this as well.

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