Fictional depictions of the occult, paranormal, or supernatural frequently make use of Color Motifs to signify creatures, objects, people, and places as otherworldly. Said colors can also be used for mortal/normal people who are merely interested in the otherworldly (i.e., Goths, Nightmare Fetishists, etc.). The colors most frequently used for this are black, green, orange, and purple, all of which except black are secondary colors (unless you're using an RGB color scheme - as in the majority of computer monitors and, as such, used internally in many image formats - in which case green is actually primary and orange and purple are tertiary). Since green, orange, and purple aren't the primary colors people are used to seeing, it makes sense for them to represent or symbolize the otherworldly and unknown. Additionally, green, orange, and purple form a triad, which means they're balanced together and look pleasing to the eye while still maintaining a vibrant contrast.
Bright green can evoke sickliness, stereotypical evil witches, and The Undead (Frankenstein's Monster being an iconic example). Orange resonates with the occult due to its associations with jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins. Purple has a longstanding connection to the arcane. Because black is a fairly neutral color that nicely complements many other colors, combinations of black, green, orange, and/or purple are the most common. A green-skinned witch who wears black and/or purple clothes is a good example of this.
Another notable example is, of course, Halloween. The holiday has a predominant black and orange color scheme that also frequently includes green and purple. Black represents bats, black cats, the night sky, and the above-mentioned witches. Orange represents the aforementioned jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins, alongside autumn leaves and candlelight. Green represents pumpkin stems, the above-mentioned Frankenstein's monster, and witches (again). Purple represents the aforementioned night sky (again).
Green and purple are another frequent spooky combination of colors. In addition to the above-mentioned witches, green-skinned goblins who wear purple clothes (making them an obvious Shout-Out to the Spider-Man supervillain Green Goblin, who also makes use of scary imagery and is sometimes depicted as an actual goblin instead of a mere man in a costume) and lean more towards Dark Fantasy or Horror as opposed to just straight-up Fantasy also qualify for this trope.
Compare Black and Blue and Scary All Over, Red and Black and Evil All Over, and White and Red and Eerie All Over for other creepy color combos. Additionally, see Color-Coded Wizardry, Emerald Power, Mysterious Purple, Purple Is Impure, Purple Is the New Black, Purple Is Powerful, Sickly Green Glow, and Technicolor Magic for other instances of colors being used to signify magic, mysticism, and/or the unusual. See also Supernatural Light, which may overlap with this if said light is green, orange, purple, or a combination thereof. Not to be confused with Secondary-Color Nemesis, which is about villains associated with secondary colors, although there might be overlap for cases of creepy villains. That said, being evil isn't a requirement for this trope.
Examples:
- Final Fantasy: Unlimited: Omega, Chaos, and their main offshoots are inexplicable, functionally immortal, and destructive Eldritch Abominations with powers far beyond most beings in Wonderland, and have a predominant color palette of purple, pink, and black that sets them apart from mortal characters. Oddly enough, however, both Omega's "heart" Clear and the core of the "true" Chaos behind the Earl look more cyan.
- Fairy Friends: In "Fright Fest," the Halloween costume Jermaine's mother wears is black-and-purple and combines aspects of vampires and witches. Accompanying the costume are purple eyeshadow and black lipstick with a purple shine. Jermaine even says that she looks "spooktacular."
- Phantom Pains: In "Flames of Love", the green-eyed ghost girl Ember McLain wears purple eyeshadow, a sleeveless black-and-purple dress, elbow-length black opera gloves, and black heels for the school dance at Casper High.
- The Nightmare Before Christmas: Halloween Town is mainly grayscale, with many shades of dull purple, eerie green (or "slimy" green, according to the film's Theme Tune "This is Halloween"), and orange to complement its muted palette.
- The Princess and the Frog: Dr. Facilier/The Shadow Man (who currently provides the page image), a voodoo witch doctor/Demon Sorcerer with Casting a Shadow powers, wears primarily purple (along with having purple eyes and a cane topped with a purple orb) and has a neon green-accented tarot deck. He also wears a black hat with a red hatband and a purple feather sticking out of it. The Loa he works with have a Color Motif comprised of black, green, and purple. When Facilier does magic, most prominently during his Villain Song "Friends On The Other Side," the background colors change to neon green, orange, purple, and red.
- Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed: Most of the Magitek-created monsters have a general green-gray-black color scheme, with green mist rising from their bodies. One exception is the 10,000 Volt Ghost, whose palette is black and varying shades of orange.
- Discharge! (gelefant): In "Haunted Heroine," all of the cemetery ghosts are in various shades of blue, green, and/or purple.
- Earth's Scariest Monsters!:
- Morgana is a female vampire who has green eyes, black hair, and black-and-green clothes.
- Isabelle's favorite colors are black and purple, and she loves Halloween, monsters, and mysteries so much that she's quite knowledgeable about the paranormal and supernatural. In "Womanly Charms," her new look for the makeover Deborah gives her includes black-and-purple glasses, purple eyeshadow, black lipstick with a purple shine, a black-and-purple dress, and black flats. Although Isabelle doesn't identify as a Goth despite her love of dark colors and spooky things, Jermaine thinks she looks like a Goth queen in her new black-and-purple getup. In "In Deep," she brings a large black-and-purple beach ball and wears a black-and-purple one-piece swimsuit for her beach day with her friends. At the end of "Halloween Haunts, Part One," she combines the look for her makeover with a black-and-purple witch's hat for her Halloween costume.
- Diana is a young, green-skinned witch who enjoys black and purple as much as Isabelle does, which is something they bonded over. Diana's normal outfit includes a pointed black hat with a purple hatband, a black T-shirt, purple pants, and black flats. In her Samhain Form, she retains her natural green skin, but her outfit changes into a black-and-purple bandeau top or crop top and a black-and-purple sarong or skirt with a slit up the side. In "In Deep," she wears black-and-purple sunglasses and a black-and-purple tankini emblazoned with crescents and stars for her beach day with her friends. In "Training Daze," Isabelle happily lets Diana wear her new purple glasses. Isabelle says that her glasses totally go with Diana's outfit. At the beginning of "Halloween Haunts, Part Two," Isabelle lets Diana (who's in her Samhain Form) wear her black-and-purple glasses. As before, Isabelle feels like her glasses complement Diana's outfit nicely.
- The Scaredron's new Cool Car the Monster Mobile, which was built and designed by the Scaredron (all of whom are heroic monsters) themselves, is a black-and-purple 1955 Toyopet Master.
- The Ghost World can be accessed from Earth via naturally occurring portals. Said portals can be black, green, purple, or any combination of those colors (the portals can also be blue or white).
- In her Samhain Form, the Cute Ghost Girl Nicholette's necklace pendant becomes black and purple in addition to growing in size. She also generally loves black and purple as much as Diana and Isabelle do.
- Every creature or monster that has a Samhain Form accesses said form via a Transformation Sequence. Black, green, orange, and purple energy swirl around them. Within seconds, the creature/monster is engulfed in a large orb of the same colors. Cracks appear on the orb as energy swirls around it. The energy orb then breaks apart. A small, stylized orange jack-o-lantern symbol made of the same kind of energy quickly appears above the orb before disappearing just as quickly.
- At the end of "Halloween Haunts, Part One," Isabelle happily lets Jermaine wear her black-and-purple glasses while he's wearing a green ghost costume (which also includes black pants and black sneakers with orange and light green accents) for Halloween. She says that her glasses really bring the costume together.
- Erina Jones is a female Ghastly Ghost who has black hair and pale light green skin. Additionally, her dark energy blasts are black-and-green.
- Holiday Heroes: Halloween Man is, as his name implies, a superhero themed around Halloween who's also the In-Universe embodiment and personification of Halloween. His costume is black-and-orange and emblazoned with an orange pumpkin with a capital H inside it.
- Beetlejuice: The titular character wears a black-and-white-striped suit with sickly green hair and skin as his signature colors. Similarly, the Netherworld (while dimly-lit) is clad in neon lights split between green and orange, while the hallway of doors expresses a cooler palette of purple and cyan.
- Pokémon: Black and purple are common colors for Ghost-type Pokémon. The Gastly family, the Litwick line, and the Shiny forms of Pumpkaboo and Gourgeist are examples of Ghost types whose designs incorporate both colors. As a result, many Trainers who specialize in Ghost types wear black-and-purple clothes. Such Ghost-type Trainers include the Ecruteak City Gym Leader Morty (in his HeartGold and SoulSilver redesign), the Unova Elite Four member Shauntal, the Alola Trial Captain/Elite Four member Acerola, and the Stow-on-Side Gym Leader Allister.
- Skylanders: The Undead element is associated with darker colors, like grey, black and a very dark shade of violet. While the color of the element symbol is normally grey, many of the Skylanders it have a black color scheme.
- Ben 10: The Anur System is a collection of planets whose inhabitants closely resemble classic horror monsters. The system's color scheme is largely black and purple. As for the aliens themselves, there's Dr. Viktor, who's a member of the Frankenstein's Monster-esque Transylians and has black hair, green skin, and purple eyes. The electricity he generates is also purple. There's also Whampire, the Omnitrix's sample of the vampire-like Vladats. Ben's appearance as Whampire includes a black-and-green costume alongside his natural green eyes.
- Danny Phantom:
- In general, nearly all ghosts have green as a Color Motif. This commonly manifests in them having glowing green eyes (as is the case with Danny himself in ghost form, Ember McLain, and Johnny 13's Living Shadow) and/or glowing green skin (Desiree and Vortex). Black is also frequently included in their appearances as Danny's jumpsuit is mostly black, Ember's normal outfit is also predominantly black, Johnny's shadow is a wispy black specter, Desiree has long, black hair, and Vortex wears black gloves and metallic black armor.
- Sam Manson is a female Perky Goth whose design includes dyed black hair, purple eyes (for some reason), purple lipstick, a black choker, a black-and-purple crop top, black bracelets, a black skirt, purple leggings/stockings/tights, and black boots. She's Danny's Best Friend and eventual girlfriend and is interested in the otherworldly and subliminal, including ghosts. In the episode "Parental Bonding," she wears a fancy black-and-purple dress for the dance at Casper High.
- The true, ghostly form of Penelope Spectra is black and purple, with the inside of her mouth being green.
- The Fright Knight, who's considered the age-old Spirit of Halloween, has purple Flaming Hair, black armor, and a glowing green Cool Sword (the Soul Shredder).
- In the episode, "Pirate Radio", Ember wears a black-and-purple bicorner hat and a purple cape as part of her Pirate Girl getup while acting as a hired mercenary for her fellow ghost Youngblood. This concept art
depicts her in a fully black-and-purple pirate outfit complete with two green feathers sticking out of the hat.
- The ghost, Prince Aragon, wears a green crown, a long-sleeved purple shirt, a black-and-purple cape, and black boots. His dragon form maintains the black, green, and purple color scheme.
- Nocturn, the ghost of dreams and sleep, has a black Celestial Body and curved purple horns.
- DuckTales (2017): Magica DeSpell, a Wicked Witch who has powerful Casting a Shadow abilities, has black hair with a purple streak in it, green feathers, and a black dress with purple accents. Even after losing both her magic and the green feathers along with it at the end of the first season, she keeps the black-and-purple clothes and hair to signify her lingering connection to the supernatural, which could be considered a form of Foreshadowing since she ultimately regains her powers near the end of the third season.
- Invader Zim: Irkens, the galaxy-conquering alien race, as a whole have a green, purple, pink, and black palette. Ghosts also possess a sickly green color scheme.
- Martin Mystery: As a whole, the series has a prominent green-and-purple Color Motif for many of its supernatural phenomena. This includes Martin's U-Watch, purple dimensions, green Ectoplasm, purple slime, and so on.

