History Main / BringMyRedJacket

* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
** In his completely red outfit, Inuyasha is not particularly lucky, and despite ([[GoodThingYouCanHeal because of?]]) his demonic resilience, Kagome practically has to duct tape him back together after many battles, including once having a punch go through his abdomen and out the other side. It gets better; that red outfit is his armor. In addition to reducing damage from physical attacks, it's also fireproof.
** His brother, Sesshomaru, provoked the mutilation gods merely by having a few red ''stripes'' on his clothing, and subsequently lost an arm. The censor potential is especially notable here, as blood seems darker on dark-suited folks. In fact, the movies have less strict censorship rules than the anime, and the blood is red rather than [[BlackBlood mostly black]], so his injuries seem ''less'' stark than in the regular series. In certain cases, it's actually difficult to tell if he's been injured or not. You know, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal except on]] [[TheWorfEffect general]] [[DoomMagnet principles]].

* In ''Film/{{Hero}}'', the most violent version of the story uses red as the main colour.

* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'': when the titular character receives a gash on her hand, her colour-changing clothes immediately change to red.

[[folder: Music]]

The same goes for her red mech, Unit 02, which, in one battle, had both arms and its head cut off, while, in TheMovie, it was wrecked up in a manner [[{{Gorn}} so graphic]], it's only rivaled by the destruction of [[spoiler:Unit 03, piloted by Toji.]]

[[LittleDeadRidingHood Red is also a dangerous color for young girls to wear]] -- [[LadyInRed older girls, however]], are more likely [[FemmeFatale dangerous themselves.]]

* Mal Reynolds of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' wears mostly earth tones, including brown and red. These clothes are frequently ripped and torn, mostly by bullets and knives. Occasionally, this color scheme is the direct cause of some of Mal's injuries -- like when he wears it into an Alliance-friendly bar on Unification Day and picks a fight. Mal wearing red is played with in the side comic book story ''Film/{{Serenity}}: Those Left Behind.'' In the comic, River comments that she hates the color red on Mal, which is an ironic throwback to the episode "Ariel" in which she cuts Jayne with a butcher knife and then comments that ''he'' looks better in red. River's comment is very likely intended to suggest that Mal does this trope on purpose for the reason given in the page quote. River [[FoeYay may]] or [[WithFriendsLikeThese may not]] like Jayne, but definitely didn't like the [[EvilInc Blue Sun]] shirt he was wearing, and slashing him was the best way she came up with to get him and the shirt to go away.

** In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry, the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon wears [[https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tuchd/tuchd0627.jpg red and black]] robes before being assassinated.

* The distinctive red uniforms of the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', cast worn throughout ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' to ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'', technically making every character a RedShirt.
** The movie uniforms are very impressive but notoriously difficult to replicate as fan costumes earning them the nickname of the "Monster Maroons."

* In the second episode of ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'', Jessi gets her first period, unfortunately while wearing white pants.

* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''[[Literature/XWingSeries The Bacta War]]'' by an [[MookLieutenant Imperial Star Destroyer Captain]] who is about to engage in an affair with a {{Childhood Friend|Romance}} [[YourCheatingHeart who just happens to be the wife of the local Moff]]. [[spoiler:He does run into trouble, but not from said Moff and not of the fatal kind...]]

* Similarly, the gun decks of men of war in the Age of Sail were customarily painted red to lessen the shock of seeing the copious amounts of blood that covered them in battle. It was also cheap.

* Haldir in [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings the movie version]] of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'' wears red to the battle of Helm's Deep. [[spoiler:This battle proves to be his last.]]

* In Terry Goodkind's ''Literature/{{Sword of Truth}}'' series, the Mord-Sith are female torturer/bodyguards who have color coded outfits. Usually, they wear plain brown leather. When they switch to a red outfit, that's when they mean ''business''. They also have a white outfit, which symbolizes when a Mord-Sith has "trained" (read: tortured and broken) her pet so well that she doesn't ''need'' to coerce him into anything. This particular outfit shows up twice; once in the first book, where the main character is the pet, and once [[spoiler:in the last book, when one of the Mord-Sith ''gets married''. Either Goodkind was just going for a white outfit or he was trying to say something...]]
* In ''Literature/{{Hero}}'' by Creator/PerryMoore, [[spoiler:Ruth is stabbed through the stomach - BY A TREE BRANCH - but it takes Thom and Scarlett a minute to figure out that she's dying, thanks to her red dress]].
* A young Richard Bolitho (from the [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen novels by Alexander Kent]]) wonders why his captain wears a red coat before a battle. Needless to say, he finds out.
* One of the children's spinoff books based on ''[[TabletopGame/{{Clue}} Cluedo]]'' had [[spoiler:Miss Scarlet being identified for an accidental stabbing because she was the only one who had clothes she could use to wipe the blood off her knife.]]
* Occurs in ''[[{{Literature/Witch1990}} Witch]]'' by Creator/ChristopherPike. Julia has a vision of Jim dying in a gas station, and his red jacket is very prominent in the vision.
* The Eastern Empire from the later ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' books issues dull red uniforms to its army. The joke in that army is that the color was chosen to cut down on cleaning bills post-battle.
** Averted by the Bards of Valdemar, who also wear red uniforms. Thanks to their Bardic Immunity, it's against the law to harm them, and the relatively few major Bard characters tend to avoid suffering the same degree of trauma to which other characters - including the white-clad Heralds - are prone.

* In [[Literature/TheKingkillerChronicle The Wise Man's Fear]], [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Adem mercenaries]] prefer to wear bright red. Kvothe guesses this is so their enemies will not see them bleed. In contrast, Shehyn, an Adem master, wears white, because she [[BadassBoast does not bleed in battle]], and if she ever did, seeing her bleed would be her enemy's rightful reward.
* In ''{{Literature/Cerberon}}'', Aladavan is wearing a red jacket when he's nearly disemboweled by a skraad. He comments on this fact and is amazed that his white trousers didn't get bloody.
* Averted in ''LightNovel/AllYouNeedIsKill''. The [[RedBaron Full Metal Bitch]] wears red PoweredArmor, but she's famous for [[TheAce never having a scratch on it]]. It's meant as inspiration for her fellow soldiers and also to [[BloodKnight draw the attention of the enemy]].

* The miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner's ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'' puts long-suffering AIDS patient Prior in a red robe when he [[spoiler:goes to Heaven]], with a stylistic nod to ''Film/SchindlersList'' thrown in by having the red robe the only thing in color through that part of the sequence.
* In ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Claire Bennett's season one cheerleading uniform was mostly red, [[GoodThingYouCanHeal for good reason]].
* In ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'' (see ''Literature/SwordOfTruth''), the Mord-Sith only wore the red version of their outfit at first, with no explanation given, but an episode in the second season finally showed off the white leather, along with an explanation of what it meant.
* In ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'', Campbell wears a red team sweatshirt on the day [[spoiler:he commits suicide]].
* In ''Series/{{Daredevil 2015}}'', young Matt Murdock hears that his father's robe for the boxing ring is very red. He mentions the advantage.

* Ada Wong of the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series always wears at least a red shirt or a red dress, though she rarely suffers severe injuries (except for her NotQuiteDead moment in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'').

* Ditto for Vincent Valentine in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' - when he sustains a major wound, it closes up right away.
* Lemon, the "Red Baron" from ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII'', wears a deep red suit of armor. It is rumored that the red color comes from the blood of all the enemies he has slain. When he is [[spoiler:turned into a vampire]], he attempts to kill himself in several ways (because WhoWantsToLiveForever).
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', the party goes to the king of Tethe'alla to discuss the present situation. After making their case, they are sent to the "Crimson Room", where they keep visitors they're not sure what to do with. The implication is that should they decide to kill said guests, the all-red decor in the room will hide the bloodstains better.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld'', Killer, who sports red pants and hair, seems to sustain near-fatal injuries on a regular basis. [[spoiler:Interestingly enough, he actually does die after the boss fight in which he transforms into an all-red dragon.]]
* Ragna, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{BlazBlue}}'', wears a red coat and also has [[GlassCannon horrible defense]]. In addition, several of the {{Multiple Endings}} end with him dying [[FateWorseThanDeath or worse]].
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManZero's'' all-red Zero has a ([[NeverLiveItDown somewhat fan exaggerated]]) reputation for getting heavily injured and even killed. This extends to his playstyle as well, being a GlassCannon who gets up to his enemies and slashes them.

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' - Battler Ushiromiya manages to suffer from a double dose of this trope - red shirt, [[WhiteShirtOfDeath white jacket]]. He's also the only one who never simply dies, oh no, [[FateWorseThanDeath he dies and then is resurrected to be killed over and over again.]] [[spoiler:In the end, though, it turns out that he's one of only two people who actually survived the events on Rokkenjima.]]
* The school uniform in ''{{VisualNovel/Kanon}}'' is red. Mai, the EmotionlessGirl that swordfights with demons, sustains life-threatening injuries in her uniform, with accompanying red stains. However, in the ball scene, where nobody is wearing red, people are fiercely attacked and, in some cases, badly hurt, but nobody bleeds. In the [[LookBothWays SUV]] scene, the victim isn't even shown, and replaced in the remake with the red stain of a strawberry dropped on the ground.

* [[PsychoForHire Bangaladesh Dupree]] from Webcomic/GirlGenius tends to wear a red sweater, although it's [[ComedicSociopath almost never her blood]] that gets splattered on it.

* Zapp Brannigan of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' considers red velour the best choice of military uniform. [[{{Squick}} (But, for some reason, also no pants.)]]

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[[quoteright:348:[[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/redjacket.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:348:"Damn it, I dry cleaned these just yesterday!"]]

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* In the climax of the Kurosawa-based ''Anime/SamuraiSeven'', Kyuzo's violent, extremely ironic death was probably the result of his signature crimson BadassLongcoat.

* Van from ''Anime/VisionOfEscaflowne'' fits this trope to a T. Look no further than episode 14 as an example.
* Chrono from ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' wears a red coat and red shorts, and true to the trope, he's constantly getting injured, ''particularly'' in the manga. In the manga, he loses one of his arms at least three times. (Of course, as a demon, he has the power to heal his wounds...which is part of the reason why he feels like he ''can'' put himself in so much danger.)
* Kusanagi Mamoru from ''Manga/BlueSeed''. His [[LimitedWardrobe trademark outfit]] is a red coat, and ''boy'' does he tend to get injured [[spoiler:and even (apparently) die on occasion]] -- though [[HealingFactor it's usually not a big deal]]. [[SubvertedTrope One little problem]] with the red coat is that it only makes his injuries more visible, because his blood is ''[[AlienBlood green]]''...

* Ed from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has his standard [[BadassLongcoat red duster]]. On the evening before the final battle, he purchases a bunch of red fabric and replaces it because his old one got torn up after he went north. His reasons for wearing red is that red is a badass color and he reckons it psyches his mind. It doesn't do much to hide wounds, though, seeing as almost every time he's in a major fight, [[{{Fanservice}} at least part of his shirt comes off.]]

* In ''Manga/BlackButler'', Madam Red not only wears a red cloak, but the colour red makes up her a major part of her backstory. So does [[spoiler:Grell while in shinigami form]] and it is a major part of her character as well. [[spoiler:After Madam Red's death, she even takes the cloak from her, saying "You're not fit to wear the color red."]]
* ''Anime/BloodPlus'': After the TimeSkip, Saya, perhaps having grown into her BloodIsTheNewBlack[=/=]BloodSplatteredWarrior tendencies, starts wearing a dark red, almost maroon leather coat.
* Ban from ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'' is an immortal that is often subjugated to all sorts of bloody wounds that he can just simply heal from. Fittingly, his standard attire is predominately red.

* In ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry'', Asuka usually took the brunt of the fights due to her aggressive fighting style, and her red mecha was maimed in nearly every battle: [[spoiler:Zeruel loped Unit-02 head's off, Tabris cut its hands off, the MP-Evas nearly ate her alive again...]]
* In ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'', Asuka's fights are bloody, and often they involve someone getting stabbed to death or ripped apart. After tearing [[spoiler:Unit-08]] apart, Asuka's own HumongousMecha was covered with blood.
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Asuka got hurt constantly. Serve as an example her first engagement, in which the whips of [[EldritchAbomination Shamshel]] scarred her face.

[[folder:Film]]

* Haldir in [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings the movie version]] of ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'' wears red to the battle of Helm's Deep. [[spoiler:This battle proves to be his last.]]
* ''Film/TheSpirit''. "Somebody get me a tie -- and it sure as hell better be red!"
* The distinctive red uniforms of the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', cast worn throughout ''Film/{{Star Trek II|The Wrath of Khan}}'' to ''Film/{{Star Trek VI|The Undiscovered Country}}'', technically making every character a RedShirt.
** The movie uniforms are very impressive but notoriously difficult to replicate as fan costumes earning them the nickname of the "Monster Maroons."
* ''Film/RebelWithoutACause'': Jim wears the iconic red jacket for most of the film, but lends it to Plato shortly before the latter is killed. When Jim's father arrives on the scene, he recognizes the jacket and thinks it's his son who's been shot.
* ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'': when the titular character receives a gash on her hand, her colour-changing clothes immediately change to red.

* Lampshaded in ''{{Film/Deadpool|2016}}'' as our hero is attempting to scrub his blood out of a white hoodie at a laundromat. Blind Al suggests he wear red instead.
* The [[{{Mooks}} palace guard]] in ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' wore red outfits.
* In one scene in ''Film/PeeWeesBigAdventure'', Simone's jealous boyfriend Andy chases the protagonist into a rodeo. Unfortunately for Andy, he's seen by a bull, and he's wearing a red shirt; cue OhCrap expression when he realizes how bulls react to the color red...
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Film/{{Nerve}}'': Vee wears a red hoodie to the Nerve finale and gets shot, [[spoiler:but she had arranged the whole thing beforehand with her shooter, to spook the Watchers into believing that they were accessories to her murder. Presumably, the red hoodie was meant to conceal the lack of blood.]]

* In the Korean movie ''Steel Rain'' (2017), a cluster munition airbursts above hundreds of female factory workers in red parkas waiting to greet Kim Jong Un. This allows a GoryDiscretionShot when they [[DeathFromAbove collapse en masse]].

* Lampshaded in ''{{Film/Deadpool}}'' as our hero is attempting to scrub his blood out of a white hoodie at a laundromat. Blind Al suggests he wear red instead.

* Ed from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has his standard [[{{BadassLongcoat}} red duster]]. On the evening before the final battle, he purchases a bunch of red fabric and replaces it because his old one got torn up after he went north. His reasons for wearing red is that red is a {{badass}} color and he reckons it psyches his mind. It doesn't do much to hide wounds, though, seeing as almost every time he's in a major fight, [[{{Fanservice}} at least part of his shirt comes off.]]

The same goes for her red mech, Unit 02, which, in one battle, had both arms and its head cut off, while, in TheMovie, it was wrecked up in a manner [[{{Gorn}} so graphic]] it's only rivaled by the destruction of [[spoiler:Unit 03, piloted by Toji.]]

* Ed from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has his standard [[{{BadassLongcoat}} red duster]]. On the evening before the final battle, he purchases a bunch of red fabric and replaces it because his old one got torn up after he went north. His reasons for wearing red is that red is a Badass color or he reckons it psyches his mind. It doesn't do much to hide wounds, though, seeing as almost every time he's in a major fight, [[{{Fanservice}} at least part of his shirt comes off.]]

* ''Fanfic/GhostsOfEvangelion'': Asuka -who loves wearing red- often gets hurt and wounded even after the War. [[spoiler:She nearly dies by childbirth, and Shinji got scared because she was bleeding a lot during the delivery]].
* ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': Shinji often reminds what Asuka -who always wore red- got worse wounds than Rei or himself during the battles, and she got killed in the most gruesome, bloodiest way.

** Averted by the Bards of Valdemar, who also wear red uniforms. Thanks to their Bardic Immunity, it's against the law to harm them, and the relatively few major Bard characters tend to avoid suffering the same degree of trauma that other characters - including the white-clad Heralds - are prone to.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', {{Red Shirt}}s are famous for guaranteed deaths. (Scotty and Uhura excepted.) Scotty was killed by the probe NOMAD in "The Changeling". He got better.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' - Rin Tohsaka wears red in all of her outfits (except her sleepclothes), but it's pretty much a subversion, because the one time you see her seriously wounded, her blood isn't just on her, it's ''[[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank everywhere.]]''

* [[PsychoForHire Bangaladesh Dupree]] from Webcomic/GirlGenius tends to wear a red sweater, although its [[ComedicSociopath almost never her blood]] that gets splattered on it.

* According to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._P._Hill that other wiki]], Confederate general A. P. Hill had a red "battle shirt". He was never seriously injured so long as he wore the red plaid shirt, making it a subversion of Bring My Red Jacket and RedShirt, as well as being a combination of ContractualImmortality and TheLadysFavour, since it was given to him by his wife, who said "As long as you wear this, you'll come home to me.". He died the only time he didn't wear it into battle, at Petersburg.

* In Japan, red is the traditional color of the hero. Many of these heroes fit the red formula in the RedOniBlueOni duo, as well as highlighting their usual [[HotBlooded fiery spirit]].

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', {{Red Shirt}}s are famous for guaranteed deaths. (Scotty and Uhura excepted.) Scotty was killed by the probe NOMAD in "The Changeling". [[UnexplainedRecovery He got better.]]