History Main / HairColorSpoiler

* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'' Season 5, it is supposed to be a huge reveal that Leon Wilson is actually the younger brother of season villain Zigfried von Schroeder. Except that the von Schroeder brothers have pink and purple hair, suggesting a family resemblance.

* In ''Manga/PandoraHearts'', Jack's identity is kept mysterious for some time...except the series pretty heavily uses similar hair/eye colors for families, and Jack has literally Oz's hair except with a braid attached. Little surprise when it's revealed that Oz is his descendant and partial reincarnation. But then, there was that plot point dropped a while back that the Oz we knew might not be the 'real' Oz Vessalius... and then the recent point about how Oz's body is actually Jack's...
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** The Fourth Hokage being Naruto's father was guessed by readers from the moment he first appeared (in the ''first chapter''), mostly due to their similar hair and facial structures.
** And in hindsight, Karin being a member of the Uzumaki clan was foreshadowed by her sharing the red hair that also belonged to Kushina, Naruto's mother. Nagato having dark red head also foreshadowed him being an Uzumaki.
** Furthermore, [[IKnewIt many fans guessed]] that Tobi was in some way Obito Uchiha even AFTER he claimed to be Madara Uchiha in part because of his identical short, spiky black hair. Not soon after Tobi was introduced, fans speculated he was Obito.

* ''Anime/{{Betterman}}'': The heroine's brother has gone missing. The good guys are repeatedly helped by a mysterious man with the same odd and otherwise unique tri-colored hair shock the heroine has. It's her brother, right? No. It turns out, the mystery man obtained the brother's appearance by eating a seed that grew from his body.
* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', people inhabited by a god have hair colors not found in nature. Andromeda Shun has green hair, though this is never remarked upon by anyone. Come the Hades plot arc....
** This is Anime only, as in the Manga, both Shun and Saori are brunettes. Also, many of the Anime blue-haired characters are originally blonde, which includes Julian Solo. Considering how many non-god unnatural hair colors there are in the Anime, it's hardly a spoiler for anybody.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'': Combined with eye colors for [[OurAngelsAreDifferent the angels]]. Angela and Ash are the only character to have white hair and purple eyes (though Angela's hair is [[TrueBlueFemininity blueish]]). Turns out [[GenderBender they're]] [[{{Hermaphrodite}} the same]] [[VoluntaryShapeshifting being]].
* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', this is a trait several of the Titan Shifters have in regards to their Titan forms. For instance, [[spoiler:Eren]]'s Titan form shares his eye and hair color, as does [[spoiler:Annie]]'s. [[spoiler:Reiner]]'s titan form shares similar build and hair color, but [[spoiler:Bertolt]]'s form is bald and only shares the eye color. Notably, [[spoiler:Bertolt sweating profusely]] matches the [[spoiler:Colossal's emissions of steam]].

* ''Manga/FairyTail'':
** In the episode of the ''Manga/FairyTail'' anime where Mystogan is unmasked, it blatantly shows tufts of blue hair, a shade which is shared only by Jellal. It then goes a step further by showing he has the exact same tattoo as Jellal around his right eye. This came as a huge frustration to fans of the manga, especially the latter hint, which wasn't even given in the manga, making TheReveal much more surprising.
** The manga also makes the relationship between Jellal and Siegrain painfully obvious. While the anime dismisses their shared information and completely identical appearance by stating that they're twins at the earliest possible point, the manga gives no explanation, and viewers are left with two identical characters who know what one another is up to, as well as the knowledge that one of the characters is able to create temporary magical copies of himself. It's still treated like a big twist when it turns out that Siegrain is Jellal's magical copy.
* In retrospect, in ''Manga/SoulEater'' the late-series reveal that Asura and Death the Kid are brothers is hinted at by them both having black hair with white patterns in it.
* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'', there's some mystery regarding the strange princess from the Moon Kingdom. It's eventually revealed to be Usagi...after several earlier episodes had shown Tuxedo Mask having dreams about a woman in a princess dress and the exact same {{odango hair}}style as Usagi.

* ''Film/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|2002}}'': Albert, the son of the Count's mortal enemy Fernand, is turned into [[RelatedInTheAdaptation the Count's bastard son]] raised as Fernand's. This is foreshadowed by having the future Count and Albert's mother (who marries Fernand while pregnant) be dark-haired, while Fernand is blond.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', the revelation that party-member Meru and penultimate villain Lloyd are both Winglies is spoiled by their platinum (with a blue tint for Meru) hair, which is exclusive to Winglies.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', the relation between N and Ghetsis is played as a very dramatic twist. However, more fans were speculating some sort of relationship before we even knew much of who they were, starting the moment they noticed such close shades of green and distinctive curls/fray/whatever-you-want-to-consider-it. [[spoiler:Strangely enough, it turns out N was adopted; good luck trying to figure out how that one works.]]
** It's easily missed on the first playthrough, however fans with a watchful eye will notice that in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' the only four major characters with green eyes and blond hair are Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, and Mohn. Late in the game it's revealed that they're a family. Lusamine is explicitly noted to be OlderThanTheyLook (looking as if she's in her late teens or early twenties when she's really in her forties), which only makes the reveal more obvious. The [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon anime]] didn't even [[LateArrivalSpoiler try to hide this]], as it showed a picture of Lusamine and her children together only a few episodes in and had Lillie note that Gladion is her brother in his introduction episode.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': The only party member with hair similar to Rutee's (dark, cut short) is Leon. Guess who's her brother?
* Notably ''avoided'' in ''VideoGame/LastScenario''. A OneDegreeOfSeparation twist is hidden by the fact that one character's hair [[DiseaseBleach changed color]], and by the time that fact is revealed, the player probably won't think to connect them to a random person in someone else's backstory.
* In ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' games, only Adepts ever have AnimeHair in wacky colors and styles, usually [[ColorCodedElements reflecting their elemental affinity]]. Knowing this, anybody picking up ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' will immediately identify Amiti (cyan-blue) as a [[MakingASplash Mercury Adept]], and Blados (dark green) and Chalis (pink) as Adepts of some sort. Amiti's blue hair is a twofer, since he lives in an area otherwise exclusive to non-Adepts with brown or black hair. This gives away the fairly early reveal that he's [[HeroicBastard not entirely of local stock]].

* ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters!'': Although the two girls couldn't be more different in other respects, the fact that Haruka and Kanata have the exact same shade of pink/purple hair -- and the fact that they both have identical [[ImportantHairAccessory hair bobbles]] -- is a pretty obvious sign from early on that they're related. Naturally, the game treats whatever relationship they might have as a total mystery until the reveal.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', you'll probably assume from the box art that the two blondes with blue eyes and similar clothing styles are siblings. They even show up together; it's actually surprising when Rhyme mentions she actually just met Beat a few days ago. [[spoiler:They ''are'' siblings, but she's lost that memory.]] The matter doesn't come up until near the end of the game, and Neku is surprised at the reveal... but Beat is surprised Neku ''hadn't'' figured it out.
** In the sequel, ''VideoGame/NEOTheWorldEndsWithYou'', the party run into a mysterious stranger wearing a hood and facemask. While they have no idea who he is, many other characters recognise him as [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Neku]] returning to the Reapers' Game after a three-year absence. However, any player familiar with the first game will immediately notice something's off, as while his hair was originally bright orange, here it's blond. [[spoiler: Sure enough, while he ''is'' a returning character, he's not Neku, but the aforementioned Beat. When the real Neku shows up later on he looks much closer to his original design, orange hair and all]].
* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' almost every [[HumanAliens Homs]] character has a normal hair color, which is a rarity in the genre. The only exception is Alvis, who has MysticalWhiteHair similar to the High Entia he serves as an oracle for. [[spoiler: By the end of the game, it's revealed that Alvis isn't a Homs, after all. Shulk and company simply assumed he was.]]

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Ends up being a RedHerring in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', where Sephiroth and Aerith's similar hairstyles end up being of no relevance. This was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen intended]] to {{foreshadow|ing}} a twist where Sephiroth and Aeris turned out to be half-siblings, but this was lost when the plot was changed to incorporate Jenova.
** Some have noted half-jokingly that the pairings in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' match up characters based on their hair colour. This gives away that Quistis is a RomanticFalseLead.
* In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'': Days of Ruin, there are some fairly important connections between some of the characters that aren't immediately disclosed – unless, that is, you pay attention to who has whitish-blue hair. [[spoiler:That said, simply realising that the characters in question are members of the same family doesn't tell the whole story; there's more than one way to be genetically related to someone in a series with cloning technology…]]
* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', one of the ''numerous'' clues that Nero is Vergil's son and Dante's nephew is obviously the fact that he has the same white hair as the sons of Sparda yet it wasn't formally revealed until the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 fifth game]]. Even Nero himself picked up on this and suspected [[FamilyRelationshipSwitcheroo Dante was his father]] before meeting Vergil.
* In ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm'', Rachel Amber has strawberry blond hair while both her parents have dark brown hair. [[spoiler: It turns out that her father's mistress Sera who has similar hair to Rachel is her biological mother.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/YourTurnToDie'', resident loose cannon Sou Hiyori has greenish-teal hair, while his MoralityPet Kanna Kizuchi has lime green hair. [[spoiler:They are estranged siblings, with Kanna having been adopted out of the family.]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' stretches this out. In season one, we learn about Tabitha's backstory and meet her mother, who has the same exact shade of light blue hair as her. Her butler, MisterExposition, tells us about Tabitha's evil uncle who usurped the throne. The story is dropped until season three, which introduces the mastermind behind the mastermind behind the mastermind of the events of season one. He wears a crown, and his hair color is the exact same shade of blue as Tabitha's and her mother's. There's also Isabella, who also has blue hair and turns out to be the daughter of Joseph and her {{Jerkass}} cousin. And the much bigger reveal is Josette herself, who is not only Tabitha's long-lost twin sister, but she also has blue hair and is ''very identical'' in appearance.

* ''Literature/TheFamiliarOfZero'' stretches this out. In season one, we learn about Tabitha's backstory and meet her mother, who has the same exact shade of light blue hair as her. Her butler, MisterExposition, tells us about Tabitha's evil uncle who usurped the throne. The story is dropped until season three, which introduces the mastermind behind the mastermind behind the mastermind of the events of season one. He wears a crown, and his hair color is the exact same shade of blue as Tabitha's and her mother's.

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]

** It's easily missed on the first playthrough, however fans with a watchful eye will notice that in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' the only four major characters with green eyes and blond hair are Lillie, Gladion, Lusamine, and Mohn. Late in the game it's revealed that they're a family. Lusamine is explicitly noted to be OlderThanTheyLook (looking as if she's in her late teens or early twenties when she's really in her forties), which only makes the reveal more obvious. The [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]] didn't even [[LateArrivalSpoiler try to hide this]], as it showed a picture of Lusamine and her children together only a few episodes in and had Lillie note that Gladion is her brother in his introduction episode.

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' stretches this out. In season one, we learn about Tabitha's backstory and meet her mother, who has the same exact shade of light blue hair as her. Her butler, MisterExposition, tells us about Tabitha's evil uncle who usurped the throne. The story is dropped until season three, which introduces the mastermind behind the mastermind behind the mastermind of the events of season one. He wears a crown, and his hair color is the exact same shade of blue as Tabitha's and her mother's.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', which house a person belongs to can often be determined simply by their appearance. This becomes a huge plot point in the first book, when Ned realizes that all King Robert's children are blonde, like the Lannister family on their mother's side, as opposed to having the dark hair associated with House Baratheon. He checks the lineage archives and goes to inspect all of Robert's illegitimate children (there are ''tons''), and not a single one is fair-haired. It's crucial to Ned realizing that the King's children are the product of an [[BrotherSisterIncest affair Queen Cersei had with her twin brother Jamie]] and that one of Ned's close friends Jon Arryn had also discovered this (though despite initial evidence, the Lannisters were actually ''[[NotMeThisTime not]]'' the ones behind Arryn's death).

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', one of the ''numerous'' clues that [[spoiler:Nero is Vergil's son and Dante's nephew]] is obviously the fact that he has the same [[spoiler:white hair as the sons of Sparda]] yet it wasn't formally revealed until the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry5 fifth game]].

* ''Anime/{{Betterman}}'': The heroine's brother has gone missing. The good guys are repeatedly helped by a mysterious man with the same odd and otherwise unique tri-colored hair shock the heroine has. Is it her brother, right? No. It turns out, the mystery man obtained the brother's apperance is by eating a seed that grew from his body.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776'', the {{Interquel}} to the above, also has Sara, a MysteriousWaif with silvery white hair. It's pretty much a dead giveaway that she has connections to the Loptyr Cult, specifically, that she's their leader Manfroy's granddaughter.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', one of the ''numerous'' clues that [[spoiler:Nero is Vergil's son and Dante's nephew]] is obviously the fact that he has the same [[spoiler:white hair as the sons of Sparda]] yet it wasn't formally revealed until the fifth game.

* TheStinger of ''Animation/BoBoiBoy Movie 2'' features a man in red armor - who also has a white hair streak in his dark hair, just like the title character. [=BoBoiBoy=]'s father never appeared onscreen until that moment, and officials confirmed the armored hero to be [=BoBoiBoy=]'s dad. The {{prequel}} series ''Animation/{{Mechamato}}'' showcases the armored hero's younger days, and also reveals that Tok Aba, [=BoBoiBoy=]'s grandfather, also used to have white in his black hair.

** Although not exactly a spoiler or a secret (since you make the pairings yourself first), in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', all the children except for Lucina inherit the hair color of their parent's spouse, making it easy in some cases to tell who the child's other parent is with just a glance.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is much the same. With the exception of Shigure, all the children inherit the hair color of their parent's spouse.

A Hair Color Spoiler is a plot twist that is spoiled by bizarre and improbable hair styles often seen in anime. In its most common form, a character is introduced who is related to an existing character. The writers might start dropping hints right away about their relationship, but it doesn't matter -- you already noticed that only those two characters have that exact shade of blue hair, because YouGottaHaveBlueHair.

** This is Anime only, as in the Manga, both Shun and Saori are brunettes. Also, many of the Anime [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair blue haired]] characters are originally blonde, which includes Julian Solo. Considering how many non-god unnatural hair colors there are in the Anime, it's hardly a spoiler for anybody.

* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'', a mysterious girl that you keep encountering has blue twintails [[MulticoloredHair that turn orange at the end]]. The popular IdolSinger Quna has orange twintails that turn blue at the end. [[spoiler:They're the same person.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' had this with the Queen family. No attention is ever drawn to it, but it's easy to notice that her brother Oliver, mother Moira, and father Robert are all blondes. It's revealed in the second season that she's the biological daughter of Malcolm Merlyn.

* In ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', a new senshi appears at the end of an episode, sporting blue cat ears, a blue tail, and blue hair. It is 'revealed' in the next episode that she really is Luna, the, you know, blue-furred cat.

* Subverted in ''{{Series/Scrubs}}''. Dr Cox is seen going on a date with a blonde, after he's spent the whole episode having sexual tension with the blonde Dr Miller. But it turns out it's Jordan, who has just dyed her hair blonde.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBad'' has the BigBad, Nergal, whose hair color is a teal-green shade (though thanks to his turban, only his beard can be clearly seen). This fact, along with sidequests in Hector's Tale, heavily imply that ''he'' is the father of Ninian and Nils, and thus everything he did was all so he could reunite with them. However, TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget then tragically sets in, while Ninian and Nils are themselves too young to remember their parents.

For a rather more blatant genetic hint, see ChocolateBaby. Sub-trope to FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras.

For a rather more blatant and certainly more realistic genetic hint, see ChocolateBaby. Sub-trope to FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras.

For a rather more blatant genetic hint, see ChocolateBaby. Sub-trope to FlashyProtagonistsBlandExtras.

* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', after traveling to the Kingdom of Zeal in 12,000 BC, you meet Queen Zeal and her children, Schala and Janus. The three of them have the exact same shade of light purple hair which is found on nobody else -- except Magus, who is actually an older Janus.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'', one of the ''numerous'' clues that [[spoiler:Nero is Vergile's son and Dante's nephew]] is obviously the fact that he has the same [[spoiler:white hair as the sons of Sparda]] yet it wasn't formally revealed until the fifth game.