History Main / DeliberatelyMonochrome

* In the bonus ending of ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'', the protagonist falls through a dimensional rift into an alien dimension where everything is in black and white. That realm happens to be modern-day Tokyo; the black and white is to emphasize the otherness of that dimension to Caim and his dragon.

* ''VideoGame/Limbo2010'' has a foreground that's entirely in black silhouettes except for the protagonist's MilkyWhiteEyes, and a greyish, shadowy background.

* ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}'' has a foreground that's entirely in black silhouettes except for the protagonist's MilkyWhiteEyes, and a greyish, shadowy background.

* Music/TheStrokes: The album cover of ''This Is It''.

* Music/ArcticMonkeys: The album covers of "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not", "Suck It and See" and "AM".

* Music/LinkinPark: The album covers of ''Music/{{Meteora}}'', ''Minutes to Midnight'', ''A Thousand Suns'', and ''The Hunting Party''. This also applies to the [=LPTV=] episodes released throughout the ''A Thousand Suns'' era.

* The 2023 anime adaptation of [[Creator/JunjiIto Junji Ito's]] ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}'' is completely in black-and-white to match the manga's artstyle.

There is also a limited palette version of this when the work is entirely desaturated, save for a few accent colors. Supertrope to "SplashOfColor" which is when a predominantly grayscale work includes rare sparks of color on important characters or objects.

This '''desaturation'' can also be used to [[{{Retraux}} mimic the look of older films]], particularly colorized black-and-white films or faded prints of color films. This has led to use of Sepia tones ([[RealIsBrown browns]] and tans that mimic faded photographs) [[FlashbackEffects to indicate the scene in question is a flashback]]. It can also be used to symbolize [[GloomyGray depression]]. There is also a limited palette version of this when the work is entirely desaturated, save for a few accent colors.

Supertrope to "SplashOfColor" which is when a predominantly grayscale work includes rare sparks of color on important characters or objects.

* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'': ''Film/{{Go|dzilla1954}}jira'' was shot in black and white, not because it couldn't be shot in color, but because it was decided that black and white would send the message better, and because although it was possible to shoot film in color, doing so would have poor quality (see ''Film/{{Rodan}}''), and also because it is easier.
* ''Film/{{Godzilla Minus One}}'' will be getting a black-and-white release in Japan, titled ''Godzilla Minus One/C''[[note]]Minus Color[[/note]].

[[folder:Advertising]]
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=YMy_--iNqKQ Nuprin]]. Little. Yellow. Different. Better.
* Many ads use Limited Palette; a good example being the Gatorade "Is it in you?" series, in B&W except for any liquid, which is in one of Gatorade's colors.
* Commercials for Rice Krispies aimed at parents are displayed in black-and-white except for the box of Rice Krispies on the table, which is colored quite vividly. Sometimes, the cereal is also in color. The idea seems to be to evoke a feeling of a nostalgic childhood, or perhaps to relive it as a parent, with the colored box to draw attention to it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Manga/MyLesbianExperienceWithLoneliness'' has pink as its only hue in an otherwise black and white manga, excluding the cover.
* The ''Manga/{{Shigurui}}'' anime makes use of this to great effect through the recurrence of red in an otherwise-washed out/dark palette -- Irako's lips, Iku's nipples, and blood, lots of it.
[[/folder]]

* In Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/BlackOrchid'' (painted by Creator/DaveMcKean), people and everything man-made were black-and-white (or blue-and-white or brown-and-white in some scenes), while superbeings were in full color, as was nature and everything natural. So you'd have a color flower in a black-and-white room with black-and-white people, or orange firelight on a black-and-white face.
* The only color in ''ComicBook/{{Championess}}'' is the yellow used in Elizabeth's caption boxes and a dull red on interstitial pages.
* ''ComicBook/DeepSea'': The comic is mainly black and white, but it has blue and red to emphasize water and blood respectively. The graphic novel expansion adds in yellow, which the creators have left up to the readers' imagination as to what it could represent.

* One of the cornerstones of ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'' with heavy shadows and scarce highlights. Our red hero really stands out.
* ''ComicBook/JFKSecretOps'' has grey pictures, with any colour appearing on the outlines of buildings/objects/people.

There are a few common variants: Desaturation, Near-Desaturation, and SplashOfColor.

'''Desaturating''' the color of a film can also be used to [[{{Retraux}} mimic the look of older films]], particularly colorized black-and-white films or faded prints of color films. This has led to use of Sepia tones ([[RealIsBrown browns]] and tans that mimic faded photographs) [[FlashbackEffects to indicate the scene in question is a flashback]]. It's worth noting that combining a Desaturated picture with Splash of Color can result in a Limited Palette. It can also be used to symbolize [[GloomyGray depression]]. Near-Grayscale is when the work is entirely desaturated, save for a few accent colors.

There are a few common variants: Desaturation, Limited Palette, and SplashOfColor.

'''Desaturating''' the color of a film can also be used to [[{{Retraux}} mimic the look of older films]], particularly colorized black-and-white films or faded prints of color films. This has led to use of Sepia tones ([[RealIsBrown browns]] and tans that mimic faded photographs) [[FlashbackEffects to indicate the scene in question is a flashback]]. It's worth noting that combining a Desaturated picture with Splash of Color can result in a Limited Palette. It can also be used to symbolize [[GloomyGray depression]].

A '''Limited Palette''' is a work completely in Black and White except for one or two recurring colors, shown in full vibrancy and linked to an important character or object. It's as if someone was making a "Paint by Numbers" movie with only two colors available. The net effect of these strategic and recurring uses of color in a B&W film may help to draw the viewer's attention; whether it’s to the MacGuffin, the FemmeFatale or ChekhovsGun. The colors themselves also inform roughly what emotions or themes are present in the work. Whereas Splash of Color is usually just a visual grab, a Limited Palette with colors like red or blue means the world is violent or sad, and that the character or object is somehow more alive or real than the world they're in. This is why a common FlashbackEffect is to use a limited palette of warm colors to signify [[HappyFlashback happy and old memories.]] Until [[TroubledBackstoryFlashback the tragedy kicks in]], anyway.

A '''SplashOfColor''' is much like the above, but appears only once or twice throughout the entire film as opposed to throughout.

* "Film/{{Bramayugam}}" is completely in black-and-white, which fit with it being a {{PeriodPiece}} and its use of shadows as a horror movie.

* ''Film/TwoThirtySeven'': The "interview" segments the film cuts to every now and then, wherein one of the viewpoint characters details background information or their thoughts on various subjects to someone slightly off-camera, are in black and white.
* ''Film/ThreeIdiots'': Scenes set in Raju's house in the chronological timeline, which "came out straight from a 50's film", are black-and-white. It is to emphasize how poor the Rastogis are.

* {{Postmodern|ism}} painter Mark Tansey works in monochrome as often as not, partly because his art is intended to invoke the relatively recent past, which is defined by black and white photography, rather than the Renaissance and earlier, which we know by varicolored paintings.

See also {{Retraux}}, RealIsBrown, and ColorFailure. A MonochromePast is this trope limited to a {{flashback}}. A MonochromaticImpactShot is limited to a strong (often lethal) blow. Compare {{Colorization}}.

* "Art/MysticalMedleysAVintageCartoonTarot": {{Satan}} in "The Devil" is done entirely in greyscale. This contrasts the man, the woman, and the podium to which they are chained, and the torch in Satan's hand -- all of them are colored.

* ComicBook/{{Venom}} is almost entirely black and white, though only his lens and symbol are white.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': While Sunday strips were ordinarily in color, one used an surreal ArtShift in which Calvin saw the world in a bizarre patchwork of heavy monochrome blotches (not resembling the ''necessarily'' monochrome daily strip format). Color returns only for the last panel:
-->'''Dad:''' The problem is, you see everything in terms of black and white.\\

** In another episode his father explains that old photographs are in black and white because the world was actually black and white until the 1930s.

-->'''Narrator:''' Unfortunately for Britta, and millions of photographers like her, just because something's in black and white doesn't mean it's good.

* Music/LinkinPark: The album covers of ''Music/{{Meteora}}'', ''Minutes to Midnight'', ''A Thousand Suns'', and ''The Hunting Party''.
** This also applies to the [=LPTV=] episodes released throughout the ''A Thousand Suns'' era.

-->You may be wondering why on earth this book is in greyscale, when ''OOTS'' has always been in glorious full color. Clearly, it is to give that "nostalgic" feeling, so that you really feel like you are peering into the past. After all, these are the "home movie" of the ''OOTS'' characters, and so black-and-white seemed appropriate. [[SarcasmMode I was outraged]] to learn that it was, in fact, less expensive and faster to produce, and insisted on paying the printer the full cost for a color book, simply to appease my conscience. That's just the kind of guy I am.

* ''Webcomic/FreeSpirit2014'' uses shades of gray and white instead of colors, unlike the rest of the Website/PlatypusComix series.

* ''Webcomic/TheManorsPrize'' is drawn in grayscale to emulate the style of old black-and-white movies.

* ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdIIAssimilation'': The first two [[BigBoosHaunt "Monster Madness"]] stages are in black and white, being an homage to vintage horror films, although the second has switches to temporarily activate the color, while [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon "Virtual Insanity"]] is black and red in the style of the UsefulNotes/VirtualBoy.

* A few UsefulNotes/BBCMicro games, including ''Cholo'', ''Plan B'' and ''Spellbinder'', have graphics in black-and-white. To be sure, there were technical reasons for this (MODE 4 offered fairly high resolution while not tying up over half of the Model B's RAM as video memory), but it's not that color graphics were impossible on the system or that monitors would only accept monochrome output.

* There's a neat use of this in the obscure UsefulNotes/{{P|layStation2}}S2 game ''[[Manga/{{Dororo}} Blood Will Tell]]''. Set in medieval Japan, the player character Hyakkimaru had most of his body parts stolen by demons as a baby (then replaced with magical substitutes by a friendly wizard), so the main quest involves tracking down those demons and defeating them to get his real body back a piece at a time. The first couple of levels are in Black and White, but after an hour or two of gameplay you get to fight and kill the demon who had taken Hyakkimaru's eyes. At that point Hyakkimaru gets his "real" eyes back, and the game switches to color.

* The original version of ''VideoGame/{{Closure}}'' uses only black and white color. The UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 version has some shades of gray in between.

* A level in Rainbow Resort from ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' for the UsefulNotes/{{N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES has an all-B&W level, as a [[NostalgiaLevel throwback]] to ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' for the original UsefulNotes/GameBoy.

* ''VideoGame/{{The Punisher|THQ}}'' for UsefulNotes/XBox was considered too violent, and the game turns to black & white whenever you use one of the special interrogations to kill somebody. It's generally discouraged, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential but c'mon, you know you want to see a drill through that guy's face...]] This is actually a good thing, as the game is a last gen game. The PC version doesn't have the B&W happen, and it looks pretty silly, but the console versions make the blood look like blood in B&W instead of pixels.

* In the '80s, monochrome computer monitors tended to have higher resolution than color ones, so people who did a lot of text work favored the former. This is why the original UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh had a black-and-white screen.

* Most of ''VideoGame/MouthSweet'' is rendered in a UsefulNotes/GameBoy-like palette. Though the game starts with you choosing a colorful avatar, this decision is forcibly overridden in order to better fit [[PredatoryBusiness Chalfont, Chalfont and Chalfont Inc's]] dress code.

* One of the many ''VideoGame/MarioPaint''-inspired {{Easter Egg}}s located within the title screen of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'' applies a sepia filter to whatever is on the screen, complete with 8-bit music reminiscent of the original UsefulNotes/GameBoy.