History Main / ImplausibleHairColor

* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' is full of examples, especially for a cast that's (supposedly) pure-bred Japanese.
** There seems to be a trend with red hair: both Battler and Ange share the same dark red hair color, but their parents have different hair colors (might be disputed, since Battler's mother isn't ever described in detail [[spoiler:and isn't even his real mother]]). Eva is a FieryRedhead, and Maria shares the brown-red hair color.
** Kyrie has white hair, which [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight no one questions]]. Note that her skin tone is the same as the other women. At the very end of the story, [[spoiler:Battler's hair also goes white, which symbolizes his acceptance of that fact that she was his real mother]].
** Natsuhi has MulticoloredHair that starts out as light brown, goes to brown, and ends with (you guessed it!) red.
** Krauss and Rosa both have really light brown hair.
** Natsuhi's daughter, Jessica, is the only (human) character in the cast to have blonde hair.
* ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'': For all its wackiness, is actually pretty good about hair colors. Most of the cast either has brown or black hair, and those who don't clearly dye their hair (they all have black eye brows). However, there are still a few exceptions in the cast; most notably, Taka's been a white-haired pretty boy since childhood, Agon was light-haired as a child, and Sakuraba's hair ranges from light brown to blonde.
** Given Sakuraba's status as an idol, it's probable that he was forced to dye it.

* Rin from ''Manga/UsagiDrop'' is the only character with blonde hair. Not even her parents have blonde hair. [[spoiler:Considering the reveal late in the series that Rin is not biologically Daikichi's grandfathers daughter, it could be considered {{foreshadowing}}. She might be [[PhenotypeStereotype biracial]].]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* Pretty much all the main characters of ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}''. This is tricky to spot because nearly all the strips are black-and-white, but you can see it in the rare coloured strips and book covers. Kimiko has a light-brown-blonde colour. Erika's hair is orange-red. Miho's hair is purple, but given [[DarkMagicalGirl who]] [[MindScrew she]] [[IllGirl is]], it may not be natural.

* Early artwork of Yuki's boyfriend in ''WanderingSon'' had him with blond hair, while everyone else in the manga has realistic colors. The next volumes clear it up, giving him brown hair.

[[folder: Film]]
* The main villain of ''Film/DemolitionMan'' (played by Wesley Snipes) is a black man with blond hair. No explanation for this is ever given.
* ''Film/MyLifeAsADog'': Manne is the closest thing Ingemar has to a friend but Manne has an unusual genetic trait. His hair is green. It's not bright green. It's a natural blonde hair that has somehow gotten a slight shade of green mixed in due to genetics. This makes Manne as much of an outsider as Ingemar.

* [[RefugeInAudacity Surprisingly]], most Japanese characters in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' have realistic brown or black hair, except for Kasuga, Sorin and Rikyu, who are blond, and Kotaro, Magoichi and Yoshiteru, who are redheads. No one draws attention to this and it's apparently natural. There're also no fewer than six (young) characters with white/silver hair, implying it's an even more common occurrence than a blond or a redhead in the Basaraverse.
** Sakon one-ups everybody else by having two-tone hair.

* Violet from ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' has long raven black hair while both her father and younger brother have blonde hair and her mother has brown hair. Because dark genes are dominant she should have had brown hair at the darkest. However, considering her gloomy personality, it is possible that she wanted to dye it black.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', the title character's parents both have dark brown hair while her own hair is blue, although it's actually dyed blue. You can see in the picture with her and her parents at the zoo that her real hair color is brown like her parents.
* Lincoln Loud of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' has white hair, while his sisters have either brown or blonde hair (except Lucy, who has black hair, though given her {{goth}} personality, it's probably dyed).

* ''UltraManiac'' has a few people with blonde hair. Nina is justified because [[ItWasHisSled she's a witch]], but on normal people, it's a bit jarring.

Usually, this is at least a little [[JustifiedTrope justified]]. The character might have foreign parents, or dye their hair, or something more interesting (like [[RobotHair being a robot]]). Other times, the reasons are left to the viewer's imaginations.

* ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is full of examples, especially for a cast that's (supposedly) pure-bred Japanese.

* ''{{Eyeshield 21}}'': For all its wackiness, is actually pretty good about hair colors. Most of the cast either has brown or black hair, and those who don't clearly dye their hair (they all have black eye brows). However, there are still a few exceptions in the cast; most notably, Taka's been a white-haired pretty boy since childhood, Agon was light-haired as a child, and Sakuraba's hair ranges from light brown to blonde.

* In Webcomic/KillLaKillAU, we have a six-year old Ragyo's hair, which is blonde. Both of her parents have black hair, however, this is a tad excusable in that Amoridere isn't sure what hair color Ragyo would have had as a child, pre-life fibers, and figured it would have been either black (like [[spoiler:Ryuuko]] and Satsuki's) or blonde ([[spoiler:like Nui's]]). Apparently, blonde hair must be a recessive gene that both of her parents have, seeing that only then one of her daughters have blond hair (then again, [[spoiler:Nui is an artificial human who has some of her mother's genes as a basis]]) and both of her other daughters have black hair.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Chlorine Grown Roses}}'', Azusa's hair is half black and half blond. This is explained as being natural because her mom had black hair and her dad had blond hair, but it doesn't make sense because both of her parents are Japanese. Additionally, her friend Akira--who is also Japanese, presumably--is blond, and the tips of Akira's hair are still burnt from a fire she was involved in ten years ago. According to Azusa, "they would be there, for the rest of her life."

** There's also the blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman from the Zashiki Warashi arc, though she gets a shocked reaction out of the innkeeper.

* Creator/SpikeMilligan and his Army mates were astonished in 1943 to visit an Arab village in Tunisia where everybody had bright natural red hair. They nicknamed it ''Bin McDonald''. A cultured officer with an {{Oxbridge}} education pointed out that the Romans, the Visigoths and the Normans had all been this way and all were European peoples, especially the Scandinavian Normans. Could they be surprised?

* ''{{Soul Eater}}'' has a variety of hair colours ranging from the implausible to the [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair impossible]]. An example of the former would be Maka's hair, in that her mother is suggested to be Japanese and her father has bright red hair (worth noting that the other Japanese women do have black hair). Maka's own hair is more a light brown or blonde.

* Kwashiorkor (a form of sever malnutrition) can cause one's hair to turn red. The effect is especially jarring in ethnic populations that usually have brown or black hair, such as sub-Saharan Africans.

* Mariko from ''Manga/ElfenLied'' has blonde hair in the manga, despite both her parents being Japanese with realistic hair colors.
** This is partially justified, as Mariko is of a completely different species.

* Three characters (two of them being siblings) in ''Anime/YourLieInApril'' have blond hair when their parents have dark hair. It's even more noticeable as the rest of the cast has black and brown hair.

* In ''Franchise/SailorMoon'', Usagi and Minako both have blonde hair, while Makoto has auburn hair.

* Hinata from ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'' has bright red hair and stands out amongst the predominantly brunette and raven haired crown. Unlike other characters in the series his hair seems natural as his little sister has the same tone.

* Kwashiorkor can cause one's hair to turn red. The effect is especially jarring in ethnic populations that usually have brown or black hair, such as sub-Saharan Africans.

* In Webcomic/KillLaKillAU, we have a six-year old Ragyo's hair, which is blonde. Both of her parents have black hair, however, this is a tad excusable in that Amoridere isn't sure what hair color Ragyo would have had as a child, pre-life fibers, and figured it would have been either black (like Ryuuko and Satsuki's) or blonde (like Nui's). Apparently, blonde hair must be a recessive gene that both of her parents have, seeing that only then one of her daughters have blond hair (then again, Nui is an artificial human who has some of her mother's genes as a basis) and both of her other daughters have black hair.

** The same goes for {{No6}}'s [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Sion/Shion]], whose originally brown hair was changed to a stark white [[spoiler: due the trauma of almost dying from a parasitic bee's attack.]]

** White hair unrelated to aging: Gin, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] with his name, meaning silver. [[AnIcePerson Hitsugaya's]] indicates his elemental powers. Isane and Kensei have silver hair. Ukitake's natural brown hair [[DiseaseBleach turned white due to illness]] in early childhood. In the manga, Ryuuken had white hair even as a child; with blue eyes and pale skin, it may be Justified as [[HeroicAlbino some form of albinism]]. The anime gives him dark brown hair in flashback, creating a different kind of implausibility (since it implies his hair went completely white in less than 7 years).

* ''RurouniKenshin'', the redheaded ronin from 19th century Japan. Though redheads ''are'' known to exist naturally in Japan, they're still incredibly rare.

* Lampshaded, and even somewhat deconstructed, in ''FruitsBasket''. Although some of the [[EasternZodiac Members of the Zodiac]] have dark brown or black hair, most of them have hair ranging from red/orange to blonde, and a few of them have grey or white hair (always corresponding to their [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting animal forms]]). [[CaptainObvious This is not normal for Japan.]] It's constantly noted by other characters, with most adults suspecting that they dye their hair. It's even worse with other students - ''all'' of the Juunishi with such unusual hair colors ([[ButNotTooForeign except Momiji]]) got teased, or even bullied for it, as kids. Most of them were able to get through it relatively unscathed, but poor [[CuteMute Kisa]] was traumatized by it.

* Akagi Shigeru of ''{{Akagi}}'' and his body-double Hirayama Yukio both have silvery gray hair, despite being fairly young. No one in the series thinks it's strange at all.

* While the other team members in ''ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' all have brown hair, Jun is the odd one out with long deep green hair. This could be chalked up to HairColorDissonance in the original series (as colorists sometimes made it more on the black or brown side), but the sequels and most modern artwork and merchandise make her hair a blatant emerald green shade.

* There are a surprising number of auburn-haired Japanese in ''MartianSuccessorNadesico'', but it's otherwise realistic if you consider blue or purple hair to be stylized black, and you remember that Ryoko and Inez are both dye-jobs (and Inez's nationality is pretty vague anyway). [[HeroicAlbino Ruri]] gets a pass for being a Rei {{expy}} (see below).

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in ''SketDance'' in the [[DatingServiceDisaster online dating plot arc]], where Himeko and Bossun become e-mail sweethearts without knowing it. Since Himeko told Bossun through e-mail that her hair is dark (and it's otherwise blonde), when they are about to meet each other for the first time, she dyes her hair black to keep the masquerade. When Bossun (not knowing why she is at the meeting place) asks her why she dyed her hair, she answers that it's none of his business and that it's anyway unnatural for a Japanese to have blond hair. Though it should be noted that she is a natural Brunette.
* In ''WeissKreuz'', Aya's hair is ''bright red'', and Youji and Omi are both blond. Youji's might be bleached, but flashbacks indicate that Aya and Omi's hair colors are most likely natural (and their other family members are all dark-haired).

* [[RefugeInAudacity Surprisingly]], most Japanese characters in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' have realistic brown or black hair, except for Kasuga and Sorin, who are blond, and Magoichi and Kotaro, who are redheads. No one draws attention to this and it's apparently natural. There're also no fewer than six (young) characters with white/silver hair, implying it's an even more common occurrence than a blond or a redhead in the Basaraverse.

* Red or blond hair is more common than many Westerners think among South and Central Asian peoples, like the Kalash, Nuristanis, Tajiks, Uyghurs, [[http://pastmist.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/blond-mongol-girl.jpg and Mongols]] (GenghisKhan himself was said to have red hair and green eyes). Light-colored hair also naturally occurs in Middle Eastern and North African populations, like the Kurds and Berbers.

* Chris Griffin of ''FamilyGuy'' has blond hair, despite the fact that his father's hair is brown and his mother's a redhead. None of his grandparents have blond hair either. His hair probably stems from the original design for his mother Lois, who was a blonde until they changed it.

* Pretty much all the main characters of ''{{Megatokyo}}''. This is tricky to spot because nearly all the strips are black-and-white, but you can see it in the rare coloured strips and book covers. Kimiko has a light-brown-blonde colour. Erika's hair is orange-red. Miho's hair is purple, but given [[DarkMagicalGirl who]] [[MindScrew she]] [[IllGirl is]], it may not be natural.

* The manga, TV series, and video game adaptations of ''{{Area 88}}'' give Shin blonde hair for no readily apparent reason, even though he's ethnically Japanese. Ryoko also has pink hair in the OVA and TV series, while Taeko has red hair in the OVA.

* Pretty much all the main characters of ''{{Megatokyo}}''. This is tricky to spot because nearly all the strips are black-and-white, but you can see it in the rare coloured strips and book covers. Kimiko has a light-brown-blonde colour. Erika's hair is orange-red. Largo's hair is the same colour as Erika's (a bit darker in some illustrations). Ping's hair changes colour but is usually very pale. Miho's hair is purple, but given [[DarkMagicalGirl who]] [[MindScrew she]] [[IllGirl is]], it may not be natural.
** Ping is a robot video game accessory from Sony, so hers is relatively excusable.
** Largo and Piro are similarly excusable, seeing as they're American and just currently living in Japan.

* Other than the [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair purple/blue/pink/green-haired]] characters in YamadaKunAndTheSevenWitches, we have fair-haired Shiraishi and strawberry blond Rika - in an entirely Japanese setting.