Why is the red and black mane pattern disliked?

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

It never recurred to me until now. How come a lot of bronies hate it? It's just a pattern of color.

[Megas 27,786]

Because a lot of the time, black and red screams "edgy" especially when applied to something like MLP

Edited November 24, 2014 by Domon Kasshu

[Metemponychosis 1,262]

Because it clashes with the color palette used in the show. At least that is what I think.

Also it's because people tend to use these colors with "edgy" OCs. Like the dangerous looking batpony with ragged leathery wings... And a sharp curved horn. These kinds of OCs tend to be associated with really bad fanfictions that defined the term "Mary Sue".

 

in the end, it's just that the majority don't like it. For reasons.

[AlbaTross 1,586]

I didn't know people disliked it, but it does seem to be overused for OCs, and this is coming from someone who hasn't had much experience with OCs. I imagine there are plenty of red and black OCs out there that I haven't seen.

[Moonlight 7,288]

Mostly because it wouldn't fit into the brightly colored world of MLP and because black/red patterns seem 2edgy4u.

 

The only black/red character I like is Shadow the Hedgehog, other than that, it's a bad color used mostly on red/black mary sue alicorns. 

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

  On 2014-11-23 at 4:38 AM, moonlightavenger said:

Because it clashes with the color palette used in the show. At least that is what I think.

Also it's because people tend to use these colors with "edgy" OCs. Like the dangerous looking batpony with ragged leathery wings... And a sharp curved horn. These kinds of OCs tend to be associated with really bad fanfictions that defined the term "Mary Sue".

 

in the end, it's just that the majority don't like it. For reasons.

I've seen a few OCs with this pattern that weren't anything like that.

  On 2014-11-23 at 4:41 AM, WheatleyCore said:

Mostly because it wouldn't fit into the brightly colored world of MLP

I've seen a lot more OCs that wouldn't fit into MLP that didn't have the black and red pattern than the ones that did.

[Lisa 5,553]

From my personal opinion, not every person's: it's ugly. Red and black has to be my least favourite pattern of colours. Just next to green and black. And as others have said, it doesn't fit with the show's colour palette. 

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

  On 2014-11-23 at 4:51 AM, Colour said:

From my personal opinion, not every person's: it's ugly.

I looks good if it the pony has a white coat. At least in my opinion.

[Lisa 5,553]

  On 2014-11-23 at 4:55 AM, Red Sage said:

I looks good if it the pony has a white coat. At least in my opinion.

 

Well, in mine, that would make it look even worse. ;p My art teachers throughout the years have taught me never to use vivid clashing colours along with white.

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

  On 2014-11-23 at 4:56 AM, Colour said:

Well, in mine, that would make it look even worse. ;p My art teachers throughout the years have taught me never to use vivid clashing colours along with white.

Well I don't really have the greatest taste in art. I just like the way it looks sorta.

[Fhaolan 4,484]

It's something brought over from several other fandoms. In comic-book circles, a black and red colorscheme was rather... overwhelmingly popular back in the 90's when grim-n-gritty was the rule. It was the same back in the 50's, with the noir movement. It's supposed to represent darkness and blood, of course. Teenagers, the primary audience for that kind of art, have a tendency to latch onto it, due to hormones. Then there was the slightly more recent goth subculture along with all the vampire imagery... black and red again.

 

When it started to show up in pony circles, it was pretty rare for it to not be used in the same way. The people using it really were trying to be dark, edgy, and all that. Unfortunately those people tended to be the younger ones who didn't really understand that it wasn't new. It wasn't edgy because it's the kind of stuff their parents, and in some cases *grandparents* did.

 

So really, it just has a lot of baggage now that it's going to be pretty hard to shake.

[Red Cedar 1,408]

True black also doesn't work well with the art scheme of the show. If you look at vectors of ponies, they're outlined in a darker shade of their primary colour. Well, that's hard to do with actual black, but some have attempted it (using pony creators, no less) and the result lacks definition. (This is why, if you look closely at most cartoons or comics that feature characters with a black colour scheme, they are not truly black but very dark grey, so that details in black will still stand out.)

[A goat 323]

Because it's been done to death and people are tired of it.

[Wind Chaser 4,768]

There's the color clash with the show's pastel palette and the "edginess", but I really think it's just the ubiquity of it that's very problematic. There are so many who try to stand out the same way that they end up blending back in, to a different crowd. It doesn't really sit well with us who want to go with the rules of the show and what made it so great in the first place, or those of us who actually put thought and meaning into our OC's color choices.

[Ianpiersonjdavis 513]

The red and black color pattern doesn't really fit too well into the pastel color scheme of the show and the only two characters who have utilized it to date were both villains; Sombra (which garnered criticism for his OC-like design) and Tirek, but the latter wasn't a pony and he was more or less already close to that color scheme in G1, so people didn't really mind too much.

 

And then there is the natural assumption that one is trying to be 'edgy', as an attempt to stand out from the crowd-which comes across as annoying and not really all that original, given that it is considered a cliche among original characters to have it.

 

This also bugs people due to the fact that it's become a little too cliche for new fans to use this specific colored scheme along with a tragic backstory, or the original character themselves sometimes being overpowered, and sometimes all of these are used at the same time-so the color scheme is just assumed to be a representative of those traits.

[Solid 1,327]

I don't have an issue with red & black and I don't see why I should.

[Pony Munchies 47]

I'm on the line about red & black ponies. It really just makes a pony look like an evil pony. We are talking about candy colored ponies and that combo just looks like a muber seen,and ya the colors clash, but I've only had red and black problems on ponies. If a pony is more than just a red and black pony and it has clothing you can get away with it. I happen to like your pony OC, Red Sage.

[Stone Cold Applejack 381]

  On 2014-11-23 at 7:34 AM, Pony Munchies said:

I'm on the line about red & black ponies. It really just makes a pony look like an evil pony. We are talking about candy colored ponies and that combo just looks like a muber seen,and ya the colors clash, but I've only had red and black problems on ponies. If a pony is more than just a red and black pony and it has clothing you can get away with it. I happen to like your pony OC, Red Sage.

Oh thanks but my OC is grey and red.

[KokuraiNoSenshi 3,463]

I don't know, I don't mind it personally, I m tempted to just make a Black and Red OC who is like Pinkie Pie and then a more brightly colored one that is a villain Just to see how people would react

[MozillaToast 233]

IMO Its vastly overused in any context. Most peoples characters have (for anime) Have Black hair with red highlights, it's also common IRL for the "goth" kids to dye their hair black and have red highlights (That is for my area anyway) and its very typical to see a red and black combo, it's just been used so much it's become ergh now. It was nice but it's lost it's uniqueness.

 

  On 2014-11-23 at 6:05 AM, Ianpiersonjdavis said:

The red and black color pattern doesn't really fit too well into the pastel color scheme of the show

And this ^

Edited November 23, 2014 by Tempest Shift

[Malinter 3,064]

The Black and Red colour combination is basically a cliche for characters that are dark or evil. Dracula's cape in most portrails? Black and Red. Shadow the Hedgehog - Black and Red.

 

Theres even a joke about this in the MLP comics where "evil" Luna wears black and red armour and Rarity calls her out for it being a rubbish colour scheme XD

Edited November 23, 2014 by Shire Pony Malinter

[SilverStarApple 849]

Because it's a bad cliche. The character is supposed to be "Edgy" and "Grimdark", but just ends up looking like a bad The Punisher/Shadow The Hedgehog ripoff.

[Sabrinie 392]

For me, like others have already said, the black and red color scheme is really jarring when used in a pastel colored palette. The rest of the world is pastel and soft and black and red is just too intense and overly saturated in comparison. 

[ManaMinori 4,145]

I see a lot of people saying that darker colors don't fit the feel of the show....what, then, of Luna? Or Thunderlane?

[Larkybird~ 734]

It's overused, is a pretty bad color combination, it doesn't fit in with the pastel colors, and it's hard to figure out just how much of the combo is enough to not make it look ugly, like a red and black mane/tail is fine, but using it for the coat color just doesn't look right. It's best to just use it for short, messyish manes and tails, or something to that effect.

  On 2014-11-24 at 2:38 AM, Nightmare Muffin said:

I see a lot of people saying that darker colors don't fit the feel of the show....what, then, of Luna? Or Thunderlane?

Luna represents the night. She gets a pass for that. Since it's obvious princess of the moon/night wouldn't be bright pastel colored. Plus Thunderlanes rarely seen. Edited November 24, 2014 by GhostlyMelodies