Dark-Skinned Blond

Cousin of the Dark-Skinned Redhead, opposite of Raven Hair, Ivory Skin and the Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette. If the series is matching Hair Colors to personalities, the DSB is often a Dumb Blonde if female (whereas the DSR is often hotheaded). The trope may have some relation to the Ganguro fashion trend that took over Japan for part of the 90s, consisting of bleached hair and an artificial tan.

The addition of a DSB in the cast often adds a foreign flavor to the show, and it is not uncommon for the DSB to be of uncertain or dubious origin. The fact that very few people in real life have this natural combination of hair and skin helps to create this impression, with the exception of surfers or others who spend lots of time in the sun, as the sun bleaches hair and darkens tans, sometimes to extreme degrees. It's also common for a DSB to be of mixed heritage and have their appearance handwaved through this, but more often than not, it just goes unexplained; light hair on dark characters is simply easier to draw and frames the face very well.

The trope also shows up with some frequency in Western works (either animated or live action), where it will either take the form of a very tan-skinned blond Caucasian or a nonwhite person with bleached hair. These characters will often play the role of either The Ditz or the Jerk Jock; in fact, the "arrogant, tanned, blond villain" has been a stock character in Professional Wrestling almost from its inception (see below).

Much in the same way that blonde hair and blue eyes have become the Phenotype Stereotype for Caucasian people, DSB is becoming—perhaps over more realistic choices—common for characters who are supposed to be of Indian or Indonesian descent. Blond hair and dark skin does occur frequently among children in the Aboriginal people of Australia and elsewhere in the South Pacific, but it usually darkens with age—see here for a Real Life example.

Incidentally, any skin/hair combination darker than "peaches and cream" and lighter than "auburn" can go here. (Light brunettes with dark skin may also fit, but that's pushing it.)

See also White-Haired Pretty Girl or White-Haired Pretty Boy, Hair Colors, and Ambiguously Brown.

Examples of Dark-Skinned Blond include:

Anime and Manga

  • Lieutenant Kitsurubami of FLCL (see above picture). Note that her name is also another way of writing brown, referencing her skin color. She also has a visual Expy, Lal'C Mellk Mal from the later Studio Gainax series Diebuster.
  • Triela of Gunslinger Girl, a girl of uncertain origin. The manga strongly implied that she was from Eastern Europe early on, but recently revealed she was from Tunisia.
  • Dearka Elsman of Gundam SEED, a male example. Ironically, he's the least exotic-looking of the Gundam pilots...
  • Integra Hellsing of Hellsing, explained (in the first anime series) by her being half-Indian. Also, Church Militant Alexander Anderson is one of these, and has his appearance Hand Waved via his uncertain origin. The fact that he speaks with a Irish accent in the English versions just makes this more confusing.
    • Averted in the manga, where Anderson has grey/silver hair.
  • Angol Moa of Keroro Gunsou. It is revealed at one point that she modeled her non-magical form after a local roughneck/implied ganguro girl who'd left quite an impression on her.
    • This is probably the main reason she speaks Spanish in the English dub; her tan complexion suggest Latin heritage to a Western audience.
  • Kaolla Su of Love Hina, a girl from the island kingdom of Molmol, and her sister, Amalla Su. She's usually mistaken for Indian by other characters, but the blonde hair and other details show otherwise. She is based off of either the Californian or Australian surfer girl... and damn, they got it right!
  • Mahya Blythe of Mai-Otome. Laula Bianchi, from the same series, has dark skin and cyan hair.
  • Kuu Fei of Mahou Sensei Negima, an Expy of Kaolla Su and an Anime Chinese Girl, though whether anyone from China actually looks like her is a good question. Zazie Rainyday of the same series is also worth noting. It's anyone's guess for this or any other characteristic of hers, though.
    • Kuu Fei's skin coloring could be explained as a natural tan and her hair as a dye job, both of which is plausible for people from China to have.
    • Jack Rakan kind of counts.
    • Possibly Sister Shakti. She hasn't been in any colored images, but her hair doesn't have any screentones, so...
    • Third Imperial Princess, Theodora!
  • Gorobei in Samurai 7 is black with stark white hair, despite not being the appropriate age for that hair color.
  • The entire Kuramitsu family of the Tenchi Muyo! series, perfect examples of The Ditz, most notably Mihoshi. (One of the supplemental novels makes it explicit that the Kuramitsu family are descendants of Washuu. Though they all look like her (presumably long dead) ex-husband, with none of her own physical traits. And Mihoshi, for all her apparently stupidity, is actually much smarter than she seems.)
  • Bikky from FAKE, explained by his mixed heritage (Caucasian mom and African-American dad).
  • Kalia of El-Hazard: The Magnificent World, who technically has white or silver hair but fits in with the trope.
  • Athena Glory from Aria is one of these, despite the fact that she has purple hair - she's a bit of a Genius Ditz, part Cloudcuckoolander, and very much in line with the trope otherwise.
  • Malik Ishtar in Yu-Gi-Oh!.
  • Aisha Clan-Clan in Outlaw Star is a Dark-Skinned Blond Catgirl...
  • Liru in Magical Pokaan is a Dark-Skinned Blond Wolfgirl...
  • The Arrancars Tier Harribel, Yylfordt Granz, and Findorr Calius of Bleach.
  • Hot Scientist Rakshata Chawla of Code Geass is officially from India but has blond hair. This is never really explained, but considering that green and purple heads also appear in that universe without much explanation, it may not be such a big deal. Likewise, Ace Pilot Villeta Nu has blue hair and dark skin.
  • Wendy Earhart of Read or Die looks like this because of her mixed English/Indian heritage.
  • Kei from the anime version of Shin Shirayukihime Densetsu Prétear (his skin is lighter in the manga).
  • Chelsea Muir from Coyote Ragtime Show, a ditzy ex-cop and sidekick to an Inspector Javert that looks like Angelina Jolie.
  • Lisa Vanette from "Scoop Chase", episode 8 of the original Bubblegum Crisis, may be one of the earliest examples. While a city in Japan, MegaTokyo is a multicultural melting pot, and Lisa probably counts as a "foreigner" because she has both a French name and an uncle who is black (Chief Todo of the AD Police).
  • Ron in King of Thorn, the Black guy who didn't die first, became this as a consequence of transformation sequence being interrupted.
  • Janet "Greenback Jane" Bhai of Black Lagoon, a blond Indian woman who's also a Dojikko.
  • Kahlua from Rosario + Vampire. She gets it from her mother.
  • Monique from Blood Plus.
  • Momo Adachi, the main character of Peach Girl. In fact, she's often bullied because people mistake her for a Ganguro.
  • Variation on this trope: in the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, the Ishbalans/Ishvalans all have white hair, dark skin, and red eyes. In the first anime, they have black hair, but Scar's has turned white for some reason (strongly implied to be of traumatic origin).
  • Another white-haired dark-skinned race are the Mushroom Tribe from Urusei Yatsura: The Final Chapter.
  • Akio Ohtori from Revolutionary Girl Utena is a dark-skinned man with light lavender hair. His actual ethnicity is unknown, although he certainly fits in the definition of foreigner, in the truest sense of the word.
    • Dios has this going on, too, though the reason for that should be obvious to anyone who's seen the series.
  • Bu-ling from Tokyo Mew Mew. Her hair gets a little bit darker when she transforms.
  • Tsume of Wolf's Rain.
  • Ho from Tower of God.
  • Barbara, one of Anna's partners in the second season of Kaleido Star.
  • Pyunma, aka Cyborg 008, from Cyborg 009.
  • Minato Ōba from Hyakko.
  • In Naruto, Killer Bee, his brother the Raikage, and some other people from the Hidden Cloud Village seem to have dark skin and white hair. (Omoi, Killer Bee, and the Raikage are all depicted in color splash pages with pale blonde hair).
  • Koshio Karako, self-proclaimed Proper Lady of Deadman Wonderland. It's safe to say her assessment is largely inaccurate.
  • Sela D Miranda from Basquash!.
  • Twellen from Toward the Terra.
  • Urd of Ah! My Goddess, who's a half-demon Goddess. She bears an extremely strong resemblance to her mother, Hild, who also qualifies.
  • Zafira of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, an alien Ridiculously Human Program. Hayate was able to pass him off as a foreign relative together with the other Wolkenritter.
  • Gloria from Daphne in the Brilliant Blue.
  • Atsuko Jackson from Michiko to Hatchin. Michiko calls her "Jambo", apparently to tease her for her dark skin.
  • If we count white hair, then Noble Demon Crisaor Krishna from Saint Seiya certainly counts.
  • Kiddy Grade has A-ou, who is not just blond, but white-haired and dark-skinned.
  • Midori Days, in an attempt to portray all American females (and then some), bring you Lucy.
  • Nijuku and Sanju from Shoulder a Coffin Kuro. They're a little out there, but their age and relative innocence is the cause for that.
  • In anime-based artwork, Rin Hirakoba from The Prince of Tennis looks like this sometimes.
  • Sherry Cromwell in A Certain Magical Index. Apart from making her really stand out at a time that's not very convenient for her, it doesn't appear to mean much.
  • Judia from Ragnarok The Animation.
  • Easily explainable example: Angel Sanctuary has some demons, e.g. Kurai, which have natural dark skin and pale hair.
  • Roy Focker from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, perhaps to make him look obviously foreign in a show with some extreme examples of Mukokuseki (just look at Misa Hayase and try to convince yourself she's Japanese. Yeah.).
  • Gupta from Hare+ Guu has his hair dyed blonde up till the tenth episode of the series. Asio could also be considered a toned down version of the trope. The series generally only seems to use dark skin to imply someone is originally from or a descendant of someone not from the city.
  • Jasdevi and Jasdero from D.Gray-man have blond hair.
  • Aion from Chrono Crusade, although he has white hair instead of blond.
  • Mizusawa, the hot-headed player of the high school boys soccer team, from Oniichan to Issho (official English title: Me & My Brothers).
  • Ouran High School Host Club has Yasamura Mei, a manga-only character. She's a ganguro girl (with less gaudy clothing choices), so her blonde hair and tan are fake.
  • Black Butler's Agni is from India, but has blond hair anyway.
    • Hannah Anafeloz in Kuroshitsuji II has dark skin and pale hair.
  • Psyren gives us Kyle, though no explanation is given.
  • From Fairy Tail, we have Shou, a minor character from the Tower of Heaven arc and one of Erza's old True Companions.
  • Saji Genpou from Ikki Tousen, though he's definitely NOT ditzy. In the anime, when he retakes his place as Ouin Shishi, he turns into a Dark-Skinned Redhead.
  • Julie Makimoto of Bakugan Battle Brawlers and her entire family all have dark skin and white hair. Add the fact that she's from Eagle Land, looks black, and has a Japanese last name and...well...
  • Silver-haired Iktidar from Harukanaru Toki no Naka de falls under this trope, since he is usually depicted as having noticeably darker skin than the rest of the Oni (all of whom are supposed to have blond/fair hair), and in some illustrations, his hair is shown as white, further emphasizing the contrast. The Oni Clan are foreigners, technically speaking, and sport a combination of typical blond-haired-blue-eyed "gaijin" appearance and Theme Naming of arabic/persian origins.
  • Amri gets bullied by 2 of these alongside a Dark-Skinned Redhead in episode 2 of Durarara!!.
  • LADDER Vice Chairman Aga Mbadi in Gunnm: Last Order. With his buzz-cut, he's also (almost) a Bald Black Leader Guy.
  • Captain Axe-Hand Morgan from One Piece is one of the less attractive examples of this trope.
  • The title character of Canaan is from the Middle East and has darker skin than the primarily Asian cast and white-blond hair. Like the Archer example, this is not natural.
  • There's one (as an unnamed background character) on the subway platform in the first episode of Gantz
  • One of Itsuki's unnamed school friends in Togari is a dark-skinned blonde and is likely just following the ganguro fashion trend.
  • In Soul Eater, Kilik's weapons, Fire and Thunder, are this.
  • Kaname Kenjo from Strawberry Panic—but only in the the manga and light novels. In the anime, she's an Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette with a completely different overall appearance...and characterization, and role in the story.
  • Phuan from Yureka definitely fits, though rather than being ditzy, she is hot blooded and violent to the point of giving off some feral vibes (in Real Life, she settles for being a deinquent).
  • Katsura "Tiger Cat" Rio from Ring x Mama, as the nickname implies she is just as wild as the one from example above.


Comic Books

  • Connor Hawke, the interracial second Green Arrow, originally had blond hair and very dark skin. Since then, careless artists have tended to draw him much paler, sometimes apparently just making him white, which goes over about as well as you'd expect.
  • In post-One More Day Spider-Man comics, Harry Osborn's girlfriend, Lily Hollister, is one of these.
  • Time-displaced Xman Shard, though it could also be because she's ethnically Australian Aborigine, who, in RL, occasionally manifested blonde hair as children due to a recessive gene. Her mutant nature could have allowed her to retain her hair color even as an adult. Her older brother. Lucas Bishop. though, possesses the usual-colored black hair of their ethnic group.
  • Angel St. Grace/Devlin from Codename: Knockout.
  • African-American superhero Thunder wore a blond wig for a while (to hide her identity), but she has since eschewed it.
  • The titular character of Atavar.
  • Infidel from Astro City is a black man with a platinum blond beard. This is a side effect of time travel; his archenemy the Samaritan's hair is snow white because of this as well. When he uses his powers, his hair turns an emerald green much like the Samaritan's turns sapphire blue.
  • In the 1990s, Batman and Robin were assisted in the Batcave not only by Alfred, but also by a mute dwarf named "Harold". Harold had actually been a former lackey of the Penguin whom Batman had rescued, and he worked as a mechanic on the Batmobile. Harold had very light brown hair (most would call it "auburn") but also relatively dark skin (though this could be due merely to the "shadowy" way the Batcave was inked and colored). He was later killed off during the Hush arc after confessing to Batman that he had betrayed him to help the eponymous villain.
  • Frostbite of DV8 is a black man with blond hair—naturally. His hair turned blond when he became Gen-Active. Even his beard is blond.

Fan Works

  • Azalynn dv'Ir Natashkan from the Symphony of the Sword cycle (and subsequent stories) of Undocumented Features. According to primary editor/writer Ben Hutchins, her appearance was based on Kaolla Su, as depicted in a single panel from the Love Hina manga which he came across. Strictly speaking, she's not exactly blonde, as her hair is a grey-platinum shade (and, when she was younger, had black stripes in it). She's also not human -- she's a native of the planet Dantrov, whose people evolved from an arboreal species, and has Four-Fingered Hands and a Prehensile Tail.

Film

Literature

  • Emberella from Witches Abroad. The text notes that this isn't uncommon in Genua (a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of New Orleans), which was known for being quite "easy going" with respect to genetic combination.
  • The Clayr, a clan of seers in Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series, are described as looking this way, partly due to living on a glacier and having their skin be nearly constantly tanned by reflected sunlight.
    • Has the added bonus of further isolating Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette Lirael from everyone else she knows. She may be half-Clayr, but it's the Abhorsen look that shows up.
  • In the Warworld anthology book series, there's an entire race of Dark Skinned Blondes, the Frystaaters, whose ancestors were mainly white Afrikaners who moved to a planet with such intense sunlight that they had to darken or die. Since their high-gravity planet also bred super-strength, most people don't tease them about it.
  • Mona Aamons Monzano, a character in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Cat's Cradle. She's of Finnish and black West Indian ancestry.
  • Cadence Drake in Holly Lisle's Hunting the Corrigan's Blood, due to her mother's gene splicing as political statement.
  • Telemakos, main character of Elizabeth E. Wein's Mark of Solomon books, because his father's British and his mother African. Genetically speaking, this shouldn't be possible (especially as his hair is almost silver- it's that light), but there's no mention of this.
  • The Folk in Eloise McGraw's The Moorchild are a species of Dark Skinned Blonds; the half-human, half Folk main character inherits the appearance, which becomes a point of teasing and persecution while she's living in a human village.
  • The Angyar of Rokanon are an entire race/culture of these in Ursula K. Le Guin's Ekuman universe. The lower-caste Olgyior (of the same species) are pale-skinned brunettes.
  • Eloise Pritchart in the Honor Harrington series has dark skin and "platinum" hair.
  • Amara, and all Alerans from her neck of the woods in Codex Alera are said to have blond/dirty blond hair and dark skin.
  • Daenerys Targaryen of A Song of Ice and Fire has a vision of what her stillborn son Rhaego would have been like as an adult. He is described as tall and copper skinned like his father Khal Drogo, and with long platinum blond hair like hers.
  • Tacroy/Mordecai Roberts from Diana Wynne Jones' Chrestomanci series.
  • Dona Sofia Salvara of The Lies of Locke Lamora in the Gentleman Bastard Sequence Sequence is described as having "skin like burnt amber and hair the colour of almond butter".
  • Collan in Melanie Rawn's Exiles Series is noted for being darker than most natural redheads.
  • In Michael Flynn's Spiral Arm series, the people of the planet Alabster have yellow hair and coal-black skin.
  • Samella Connel, in the ColSec Trilogy, has dark blond hair and still apparently looks tanned after three years indentured to an electronics firm.

Live-action TV

  • Delocated - Mighty Joe John, the Black Blond


Tabletop Games

  • Since their introduction, the Drow in Dungeons & Dragons have all had white or silver hair and dark grey to black skin.


Video Games

  • Common to the Phandarians from Tales of Destiny. Prince Garr/Woodrow is dark-skinned with silver hair, while Mary is dark-skinned with red hair.
  • In Tales of Eternia, the celestians fit this trope from time to time. Most notable with Max and Chat.
  • Rikku from Final Fantasy X. The dark skin is more noticeable in X-2 since there's, er, more of it on display.
    • Though, looking at the other Al-Bhed, this may be a racial trait.
    • Tidus, although he might just be incredibly tanned.
      • Tidus bleaches; you can see his roots. Also, in flashbacks to his childhood, young Tidus has brown hair.
      • Though he does apparently have natural blue eyes.
  • Archer in Fate/stay night, of the silver/white variety, who, besides being of dubious origin, has another twist: he's the adult self of The Hero Shiro, a pale redhead. It has been mentioned that this is caused by the strain on his body from tracing, and overuse of magic and magical tampering in this series is known to change peoples' appearances. Sakura Matou should be black haired and blue eyed, like her sister, and Dark Sakura should be purple haired, yet it all goes white when she goes crazy.
  • Liquid Snake of Metal Gear Solid isn't noticeably dark-skinned in the game itself, but official artwork shows both him and Fortune (of Metal Gear Solid 2) looking like this. Liquid's colouring is enhanced by spending about ten years in the Middle East being bleached and tanned by the sun (his brother is paler due to living in Alaska, and it's implied he dyes his hair dark); Fortune is your everyday naturally-blonde-and-blue-eyed black woman.
    • Don't forget Drebin from the 4th game.
  • Peppita Rossetti of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. She's an alien.
  • Vanessa Lewis from Virtua Fighter
  • The Kirschwasser realians in Xenosaga, who also possesses gold eyes, as does every single realian in the game.
    • Also, Pellegri.
  • Glen and Cormag of Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Hawkeye of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword, and his daughter, Ingrene, from The Sealed Sword.
  • Damon Gant from Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney, Klavier Gavin from Apollo Justice Ace Attorney, Quercus Alba and Colias Palaeno from Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth.
    • It should be noted that Gant and Alba's hair are light-colored not because they're blond, but because they're men in their 60's and 70's (respectively) whose hair has gone grey.
    • Whereas Klavier has highly tanned skin to help with his rock-star appearance.
  • Elena and Urien from Street Fighter III.
  • Drow, as mentioned above, appear in Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark had a significant Drow presence in the second chapter and both games have a female Drow Love Interest somewhere (Viconia in Baldur's Gate and Nathyrra in Neverwinter Nights Hordes of the Underdark).
    • Neverwinter Nights also has the module series A Hunt through the Dark, which is entirely focused on a drow raiding party.
  • Boman Delgado from Rival Schools, an American who has his blond hair in a mohawk.
  • Tetra, from The Legend of Zelda the Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass. But only when she's Tetra, not Zelda.
    • Sheik too, but it's hard to see in the N64 polygon graphics. Official artwork of the character makes it more obvious.
    • Impa looks to have dark skin and blonde/white hair, though mostly only in her Skyward Sword incarnation.
  • There's an entire culture of characters with dark skin and fair hair in Suikoden Tierkreis: the Magedom of Janam. Plotting the personalities and apperances of Manaril, Shams, Asad, and sundry supported characters between the DSB and the Dark-Skinned Redhead is an exercise left to the reader, but the end result is undeniable: Janam and its swarthy, light-haired natives seem downright otherworldly.
  • Nao Nao, partner of the equally dark-skinned Sota, in The World Ends With You. Of course, they're ganguro, and it makes sense, considering Shibuya is full of quirky fashions. The game's dialogue plays up her ditziness.
  • Vaan from Final Fantasy XII.
  • This is the default skin tone/hair color combination in Battlefield Heroes.
  • Ayumi, the protagonist of X-Blades.
  • Bazooka Cafe, the Hentai game, has Cocoa the chef.
  • Aisha (Sista A) from Rumble Roses.
  • Raven from Tekken, which shouldn't be strange since he's based on Wesley Snipes - more exactly, his character from Demolition Man (see above).
  • Volsung of Wild ARMs 5 has this going.
  • Zevran and Velanna from Dragon Age. Coincidentally, they're also both Dalish (or at least part, in Zevran's case).
    • The redesigned Qunari in Dragon Age 2 all have grey skin and pale hair along with their horns.
  • Shania from the Shadow Hearts series is a Native American with dark skin and very light blond hair.
  • Rock and the Wizard from the Harvest Moon series.
  • Non Player Characters in The Sims 2 tend to be these or Dark Skinned Redheads far more often than you'd expect in Real Life. It's not a very good look on most of them.
    • Also, there is Lola Belle from The Sims 3 Late Night. Her hair is obviously dyed though, as her roots are darker than the rest of her hair.
  • The Pokémon Jynx is now apparently based on the Ganguro trend, though she originally resembled a Yama Uba (warning: bringing this topic up can be the case of Internet Backdraft). There's also the legendary Darkrai, who looks more like a White-Haired Pretty Boy (as far as Pokémon go, at least).
  • Gloria from Devil May Cry 4.
  • Taokaka from BlazBlue.
  • The people of Escondido from Infinite Space, although the Basadre clan people have white hair. Also, Torlo.
  • Dragon Quest IX: Stella, The Hero's Valley Girl Ninja Butterfly Fairy Companion. It's also possible to make a character with this trait.
  • Xiatian from Beatmania IIDX. The tan is completely legit (from living on a sunny island for several years); the hair, likewise (it's IIDX).
  • The default Male Beast from Phantasy Star Portable 2 (who also appears in the intro) is a good example of this, although the player usually changes the character to look however they prefer.
    • See also Laia in Phantasy Star Universe (Episode 2). In fact, most Beastmen story NPCs count.
  • Elder McNamara in Fallout: New Vegas; considering he spends most if not all of his time in an underground bunker, it's probably not a tan.
  • Your instructor in Pilotwings Resort. Possibly justified, since the entire game is set on a tropical island.
  • Overlord Zenon, both the fake one and the real one Rozalin reverts to, from Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. Princess Sapphire Rhodonite and Fenrich are white-haired variations of the trope.
  • From Nexus War, Angelic characters are an exaggerated version of this trope, with completely pitch black skin and bleach white hair.
  • Myuu from |Atelier Marie, who has sandy white hair, blue eyes, and brown skin, plays this straight for foreign flavour. Also an example of White-Haired Pretty Girl, though she's arguably the least special character in the game (easy to recruit, pretty much the Jack of All Stats).
  • Peony from Tales of the Abyss. General Frings, too, which suggests that tan skin and light hair might be a native phenotype of Grand Chokmah. Some of the NPCs in that city are also at least somewhat tan, and nearly all of them have blond hair, regardless of skin color.
  • Samantha Pearce.
  • The female lead from Feel the Magic: XY/XX is depicted as just a black silhouette with light silver hair and a blue dress. According to one of the designers, the ambiguity of her character design is part of what made her endearing to many players, since she is ultimately a product of the viewer's imagination.
  • Believe it or not, General Leo is supposed to be this trope. You can see he looks Ambiguously Brown on his in-game portrait, but his sprite makes him look very caucasian.
  • Another Square Enix character, Escher from the iPod/Phone App Chaos Rings, is a white haired black guy, and is just about the most cruel hearted person in the entire tournament and, in a different storyline, an antagonist (mostly. He's selfish, an assassin, borderline evil for the majority of the game, even going so far as to threaten the two youngest competitors that even if they were kids, he'd still kill them, which he does, to his regret, however.)
    • The funny thing is, Escher is almost like a cross between Axel and Cloud, because he's a hired blade (Cloud), he has a sarcastic, sinister attitude (Axel), he has a very wierd stance (Axel), wields a very long sword with one hand (Cloud, though not original), and has only one person he cares for (both, although Cloud ends up getting more friends, and Axel does likewise).
      • And here's his picture (on the right).
      • And here's more of him in his Jerkass Anti-Hero glory
        • Another interesting version of this is Zhamo, arguable the nicest guy in the game. And he's black. There are no white people with white hair in a Square Enix game. This world is coming to an end.
  • The default palettes of Ms. Fortune and, arguably, Cerebella from Skullgirls. Arguable in Cerebella's case because her default hair is green, rather than blonde, but most of her other palettes also give her dark skin and very light hair.
  • Sheba from Golden Sun is one of the more tan player characters and comes from Egypt-like Lalivero.
    • Also, Akafubu of Kibombo apparently has blond hair under his red afro-looking Nice Hat, making him possibly the only non-Fire-Clan Mars Adept to not be a redhead.
  • Ophelia Nigmos and Dina Caliente from The Sims 2. This is also a common trait for NPC Townies.
  • Gravity Rush‍'‍s lead character Kat is this. While this turned out to be a common trait amongst the residents of Eto, the kingdom from which Kat originally resided, Kat is the only one who is an actual blonde. Part of the inspiration for Kat's design was the Japanese subculture in which Japanese women/girls rebelled against the fashion norms in that country. This also emphasises Kat as a foil character to her friend, Raven, who embodies typical Japanese beauty; pale skin and dark hair.
    • The other reason for Kat's design is because the creators didn't want her to come across as "too Japanese", so she was designed to have a more Western appeal (more specifically, European).

Webcomics

  • The angel Sariel in the webcomic Paradis exhibits this.
  • Jones from Gunnerkrigg Court is olive-complexioned with "dirty blonde" hair. It's also heavily implied that she's not entirely human (though she is not a robot).
  • Shannon from Bloody Urban, who has strawberry-blonde hair and dark grey skin. Originally, he was much paler, leading to Shannon becoming a Memetic Tanning Addict.
  • Judging by this Sunday strip, Dr. Haught-Sheik from Sluggy Freelance is one of these.
  • Timothy, one of the recurring original characters from the Hellsing-based And Shine Heaven Now. (Word of God says he's Turkish.)
  • Edgar from the Final Fantasy VI Webcomic is blond, blue-eyed, and very, very tan from living in the desert. This is artistic license, but the artist pulls it off nicely.
  • Wiglaf is this as part of the author using him to make fun of Purity Sues. Word of God from one of the recent U Stream sessions is that it was to show just how much time he spends outside saving people, and that the fact there's Swedish surfers who look like Wiglaf does was her proof-of-concept.
  • America and Australia in Scandinavia and The World. In America's case, his darkening skin is caused by his increasing racial diversity (and he may be bleaching his hair).
  • Minor character Tahlia from Cheer.
  • Elf Blood has the mercenary Carlita Delacroix, whose mixed race/species parentage probably contributes (she's a half-Cuban-feline-spirit-incarnum half-French-human).
  • Kili of The Dragon Doctors has chocolate-black skin and white hair. One character describes him as "a delicious cup of mocha with whipped cream on top!"


Web Original


Western Animation

Real Life

  • Melanesians are known for this phenotype, in addition to wider noses and curly-kinky hair - early European settlers actually thought they were African refugees who interbred with white men somewhere along the way, hence the name Melanesian.
  • If a person's hair color is lighter than their skin, it's usually a caused by bleached hair and/or an obsession with tanning. There are a few exceptions, though.
  • Strikingly light blond hair is very common among aboriginal Australians, although it always goes deep black before adolescence.
    • Oddly enough, a mild form of this is found in many Germanic blondes who work outside. They just tan really well as their hair bleaches.
  • Beyoncé Knowles, due to Dye Hard.
  • Tina Turner.
  • This is actually relatively common in the West Indies.
  • Polar bears' skin is totally black. Their fur is also not exactly white, it's translucent (and thus looks white or dirty yellow). Sunlight shines down the hair shafts and is readily absorbed by the black skin, which allows the bears to take full advantage of the weak Arctic sun.
    • You can't go through that polar bear warmth fact list without mentioning that their hair is also hollow, man!
  • Due to it being a melting pot of races, Brazil boasts spectacular dark-skinned blond people.
  • Lindsay Lohan.
  • It is not uncommon for Algerian people (especially Kabyles) to have blonde hair. Heck, some of them even have blue eyes!
  • Hulk Hogan, brother?
    • Scads of pro wrestlers, actually: Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, "Superstar" Billy Graham, Dolph Ziggler, Mr. Anderson....
    • Oh, and how could I forget Rikishi (although, to be sure, the man was so huge that it was hard to notice his hair color)?
    • Shelton Benjamin transformed into one in 2008 when he dyed his hair blond and became known as "The Gold Standard".
    • Goldust might fit, if you consider that his painted face is rich yellow and black while his wig is platinum.
    • Virtually all the blonde Divas. I think it was Sable who really kicked off the trend.
  • Anna Nicole Smith (rumored to be of mixed Scots-Irish/Native American descent, although this was never confirmed).
  • Jayne Mansfield, the 1950s actress and pinup model to whom Anna Nicole bore an uncanny resemblance. Interestingly, Mansfield was of purely northwestern European descent, so her color must have been due to lots of UV rays. (Incidentally, Mariska Hargitay of Law and Order Special Victims Unit fame is her daughter.)
  • Sarah Michelle Gellar, at least in her portrayal of Buffy Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Ironically, Gellar's really more of a, Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette (check out Cruel Intentions, where her hair is so dark in some shots that it almost looks black), but they had to make her look more like Kristy Swanson, who originated the role of Buffy in the 1992 film and is more of a straight example of this trope.
  • RuPaul, through the use of wigs.
  • Also not uncommon amongst brunettes who dye their hair blonde, also known as "Bottle Blondes" or "Bleach Blondes", assuming they aren't pale-skinned brunettes.
  • Shakira, but her tan has lessened and she is paler now, also a case of Dye Hard.
  • Takahashi Ai of Hello! Project in the video for "Only You" due to Dye Hard
  • The Philippines has the Badjao, or "Sea Gypsies", who are basically an entire ethnic group of these with hair ranging from brownish to platinum blond, partly due to genetics (the hair), and partly due to the sun (hair and skin, mostly skin). It's worth noting that it's really just them, as the average village kid will have the same skin color from sun exposure, but pitch black hair.
  • Blonde hair is also very common among Arabs, especially around Jordan and Syria. Those with blonde hair are often a bit paler and are considered extremely attractive regardless of gender.
  • Leona Lewis.
  • The Boers (or Afrikaners, to give the more politically correct term), those romantic rebels of late-Victorian South Africa. Originally blond-haired northern Europeans (popularly thought to be Dutch, but could be German or French Huguenot as well), the Boers gradually became darker as a result of several generations of living in a part of the world with a climate not unlike that of Southern California. In contemporary illustrations of the Boer War, you can quickly discern a contrast between the healthy complexions of the Boer frontiersmen and the pasty white skin of the British newcomers.
  • Siamese cats, with their dark brown faces and straw-colored fur. Interestingly, their naturally blue eyes only reinforce their "blondness".
  • Patricia Krentcil, the now-infamous "tanning mom," takes this trope to disturbing levels. See here. [dead link]
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