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I think it has something to do with the symbolism of the color as being associated with divinity (and with divinity being conflated with light). White has been used for everything to angel wings to Zeus' toga. So the color has been associated with light and divinity both, and with one being associated with the other to the point of conflation, that means that white had become a symbol of Good. Hence the trope Black-and-White Morality and its related tropes.
Int his case the color symbolism here is white = light = good and black = dark = evil. We assume those by default inspire of the prevalence of the tropes Light Is Not Good and Dark Is Not Evil. Due to prevalent symbolism from various mythology embedding the mold to the collective unconscious. This means that there are two qualifiers for this trope. One must either have control over light (Lightning and Fire would also work for reason I'll get into later) or an atmosphere associated with divinity or good. Villains meeting at least one of this criteria are clear cut examples of the trope. Common atmospheres of divinity would include angelic or divine appearance. Re-enactments of mythological scenes involving divine beings or having divine beings themselves as motifs. Lightning and Fire make substitute for Light because they are also associated with divinity and both emit light.
However other cultures interpret the color differently. The Japanese and other cultures see white as the color of death. and certain species of undead such as ghosts tend to be pale (leading to white).
Over all I'd say that there is misuse involved as a result of people being unable to divorce the holy symbolism from the color. King Candy would be misuse because he looks like a ghoul, not a god. A demon, not an angel.
Edited by MorningStar1337
Thank you for the advice, I'll try to clean up the examples.
So would someone who looks ghastly, and wears black but uses explicitly holy magic, depicted as Gold Light, count as this trope? Like Riev
from Fire Emblem Sacred Stones?
I'm thinking maybe we could list the two examples in the trope description to avoid misuse.
Edited by Monsund
i'd say so, yes
Thank you for your input.
Would you mind if I later put a briefing on the trope page.
Like:
- Villain has a culturally good appearance such as handsome angel.
- Villain uses traditionally good powers like Holy magic.
I wouldn't mind, but I think a second opinion might be needed.
Edited by MorningStar1337
I think the latter might be Good Powers, Bad People. I don't remember the name of the first trope.
As for Light Is Not Good, see I don't think "light" and "white" are necessarily the same thing.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Do you think it can be both Light Is Not Good, and Good Powers, Bad People.
Though to further explain it, in most Fire Emblem games, all magic is pretty much neutral. I believe a character once said roughly "Tomes can't tell the difference between good and evil." So I guess in Fire Emblem its more "Light is Neutral."
The first one might be Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon
Working on cleaning up List Of Shows That Need Summary
At the very least, a note that it doesn't matter what color the character is wearing might be necessary.
Using white to present a false front of goodness would be a different trope, methinks.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
White is also associated with the grave, which makes Zombies, Vampires and Ghosts an exception to Light Is Not Good, since it's more Undead Wear White (do we have that, it's VERY common, occurring in Eastern European and Japanese folklore, for example.)
Keeper of The Celestial Flame
Please, no more ZCE-bait appearance tropes.
Edited by Fighteer "It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
1) It would need a much better name.
2) It might be too common to trope.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
^ About 2... read No Trope Is Too Common.
Edited by MagBas
White grave clothes likely hits too common because of People Sit On Chairs. Linen and cotton wrappings have been a thing since the Egyptians.
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving. -Terry Pratchett
Bed Sheet Ghost sounds like it covers Undead wearing white.
I'll do a small write up for the two examples of Light Is Not Good, and try to post them tonight.
I see examples of ghoulish characters like Turbo from Wreck it Ralph listed as Light Is Not Good simply because they wear white, even though they're appearance is otherwise very traditionally evil in Appearance. Like for Turbo, he may wear white, but his skin is a deathly gray pallor, his face is zombie-like, and his teeth are yellow. Wouldn't he be more along the lines of Dark Is Evil, and Bright Is Not Good?