Superhero Color Theory: 7 Colors And What They Mean

Ever noticed similar color patterns on superheroes? This wasn't coincidence, find out why.

RYB Color Model

Superheroes are designed in numerous color combinations, but the most iconic superheroes are composed of the above colors: red, yellow and blue.

"Red is the color of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love."

"Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth and stability. It symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven."

"Yellow is the color of sunshine. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy." -Color Wheel

Usually, you'll see that superheroes are composed of two dominant colors. This is because single colored characters only represent one trait and may be seen as too simplistic, whilst three or more colors may be seen as too complex.

Dual coloring leads into 3 interesting pairings:

* Red and Blue (Superman, Wonderwoman, Captain America and Spiderman)

* Red and Yellow (The Flash, Iron Man, Human Torch and Robin)

* Yellow and Blue (Wolverine, Cyclops, Power Man, Booster Gold)

Red and Blue Costumes

Red and blue superheroes are the most recognized characters nowadays. Part of the reason for this is because these heroes embody the passion, determination and strength of the color red whilst having the wisdom, intelligence and trust of blue.

They are what people see as having ideal goodness, and something to strive towards. Some scholars even argue that they play the same roles as ancient myths in Greece and Rome: teaching us morals and virtues.

Red and Yellow

Yellow and red superheroes come next in popularity. They are a combination of strength, passion from the color red and the flashyness of the color yellow.

Yellow is the brightest of the 3 warm colors (red, orange and yellow), so it symbolizes joy and happiness. For this reason, these characters tend to be the cockier types of heroes who like to steal the spotlight.

Blue and Yellow

Most of the original X-Men characters were blue and yellow. The color blue emits trust and confidence, similar to why police uniforms are blue. In fact, a psychological study conducted at the University of Georgia found that blue subconsciously evokes feelings of comfort and security. Thanks to Professor X, these characters also have the wisdom of blue embedded in them.

The color yellow symbolizes their energy to fight for good. This makes them look flashier, but they lack the boldness of the color red.

Other Colors For Villains

Via cartridgepeople.com

The primary colors are blue, red and yellow and these are used for the main superheroes.

Following on, it's usually a good idea to distinguish superheroes from villains, by using secondary colors on villains. According to Cartridge People, the colors used on villains tend to be: Green, Orange and Violet.

Natural green can be used for the 'good guys' too, with the most notable hero being Hulk. With that said, even though we tend to root for Hulk, he is neither good nor bad. His creation was an accident and when he turns into hulk, he becomes a wild animal.

Furthermore, black might be another obvious choice for villains, but it can also be used for anti-heroes, with the most famous example being Batman. Characters with black costumes tend to have dark pasts and are more relatable than other superheroes since they are portrayed as being more human. Imagine if Superman had a really dark past, he'd look something like this:

Christophe Le Galliot / Via au.pinterest.com