Why is purple associated with evil?
- Thread starter Johnny Novgorod
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In more catholic places, purple is associated with greed because od that same reason. Purple dye was incredibly expensive.NephilimNexus said:
The choice of color has a lot to do with contextualizing the villain. It's not so much that purple is indicative of evil, but it does become shorthand for certain scenes or kinds of evil. As many have pointed out, green, yellow, red, black ect. are all used to denote evil characters. I think the question isn't so much, "Why is purple used to denote villains?" but "Why is color X used to denote the evil intentions of character Y." This can even change scene by scene or even in the same scene.
Some really cool answers on here that I've never thought about.
As someone pointed out, green is often associated with evil as well, but I've noticed that in games it's very often associated with Necromancy too. Quan Chi, the "Spirit" mastery from Titan Quest, the Necropolis faction in the "Heroes of Might and Magic" games, The Necromancer from "Diablo 2", all tend to have a green tinge to them and their spells.
As someone pointed out, green is often associated with evil as well, but I've noticed that in games it's very often associated with Necromancy too. Quan Chi, the "Spirit" mastery from Titan Quest, the Necropolis faction in the "Heroes of Might and Magic" games, The Necromancer from "Diablo 2", all tend to have a green tinge to them and their spells.
When it comes to Japanese media, purple is an evil color in Japanese culture. Or it symbolizes death in some way, either one or both. For example, I know that when Rayman was being sold in Japan, they had to change his shirt color since the purple denoted that he was evil.
Anyway, I do like purple as a sort of evil color. I guess because black is just too obvious, and my favorite color is red, which usually is another "bad guy" color. Plus, purple is a dark color, but it has some allure, and it makes other colors pop out more I guess.
Anyway, I do like purple as a sort of evil color. I guess because black is just too obvious, and my favorite color is red, which usually is another "bad guy" color. Plus, purple is a dark color, but it has some allure, and it makes other colors pop out more I guess.
In come cases or rather I read somewhere green AND purple are always the colours that a supervillain wear which you already embedded (classic Green Goblin is green and purple than the Sam Rami version) and the Joker had that colours combo too.TheRiddler said:Not just purple. Green's a pretty common bad guy color too. To wit:
And me, of course.
[image/]http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130407200053/barney/images/8/81/King_Barney_-_Magical_Musical_Adventure.jpg[/IMG]
An intersection of green and purple!
Fear him.
OT: Yeah, it's basically just a coincidence of the bad guys in your examples all being associated with royalty, or being regal. And since purple is a color associated with royalty, it seems that it's associated with evil.NephilimNexus said:
I personally always associated purple with pimps and playahs, because they seem to love that color in the overly cliche Pimp stereotype. A Pimp Named Slickback for example.
It all stems from the fact that purple is an extremely rare pigment in nature.
This leads to two things. First of all, for centuries purple dye was so hard to come by that it was only available to the wealthiest, and became the symbol of royalty and nobility. Of course, in the 20th century where cultural attitudes have changed and a particularly American suspicion of aristocracy has set in, it's become a reference point against which the plot pits a younger, poorer hero against a rich, regal villain. Obviously this is not always the case - considering how Batman is wealthier than the Joker, for instance. But for the Joker it still works because purple is associated with vanity, extravagance as a result of this history.
The other reason is that in terms of visual contrast, purple pops very well against yellows and greens, of which there are more natural textures that make it into comics/films etc. Clothing a villain in purple always allows them to stand out effectively against the most common backgrounds you might find.
This leads to two things. First of all, for centuries purple dye was so hard to come by that it was only available to the wealthiest, and became the symbol of royalty and nobility. Of course, in the 20th century where cultural attitudes have changed and a particularly American suspicion of aristocracy has set in, it's become a reference point against which the plot pits a younger, poorer hero against a rich, regal villain. Obviously this is not always the case - considering how Batman is wealthier than the Joker, for instance. But for the Joker it still works because purple is associated with vanity, extravagance as a result of this history.
The other reason is that in terms of visual contrast, purple pops very well against yellows and greens, of which there are more natural textures that make it into comics/films etc. Clothing a villain in purple always allows them to stand out effectively against the most common backgrounds you might find.
In japan purple is the color of death. Outside of that however I really wouldn't know why purple is used like that.
I'm detecting a lot of polarity in the answers. Everything from conflicting theories to facile humor. I like it.
And purple seems to be the dominant color in Ghost Pokemon in general. IN GENERAL.
As well as poison Pokemon in general. IN GENERAL.
It also makes sense that, as an unusual color in nature, it would be used in stark contrast to all things natural (and therefore "alive"). Japanese culture is obsessed with the duality of purity and pollution, and purple is almost always used to indicate poison, toxin, etc.
It's true most mediums and exorcists (in Japanese media) tend to dress in purple.lord canti said:
And purple seems to be the dominant color in Ghost Pokemon in general. IN GENERAL.
As well as poison Pokemon in general. IN GENERAL.
It also makes sense that, as an unusual color in nature, it would be used in stark contrast to all things natural (and therefore "alive"). Japanese culture is obsessed with the duality of purity and pollution, and purple is almost always used to indicate poison, toxin, etc.