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Rule #2: Tragic White Hair
Why This Rule?
Brown, black, blonde, red and all the colors of the rainbow are most of the hair colors out there, but have you ever seen a full head of white on someone young? Our hair naturally goes some shade of gray or white and depending on genetics it could go much earlier than someone else’s. Though, in a manga or anime, having a full head of white and being relatively young means something different altogether. Tragic even.
Naturally acquiring gray and white hair means that person has lived a significant amount of time, commonly 40 or more years, no matter if it’s in the 2D or 3D world. However, some anime characters will sport the same hair in their youth. If you see a character like this, male or female, then it’s highly likely they come from a tragic past. This is also known as the “Tragic White Haired Boy” archetype, but I find that it’s best to include both boys and girls because misfortune doesn’t discriminate. Exactly how tragic and the severity usually comes later, with a flashback or some necessary exposition, showing the audience a series of events, tragedy, or a traumatic experience that created the character that you see today. In fact, some recently famous characters actually change hair colors in a said experience, like Kaneki Ken’s
transformation birthed from gruesome torture in the Tokyo Ghoul series. Perhaps the experiences they had aged them - much further beyond where they should be - and they’ve blurred the lines between youth and wisdom. Think about it. Don’t they all seem wise, mature, or horrifyingly logical depending on their standpoint? Ironically, while their past may be a dark chasm, their hair is a brilliant white.
Examples & Exceptions
Examples include: Kakashi and Kabuto from Naruto, Killua and Komugi from Hunter x Hunter, Sakata Gintoki from Gintama, Ichimaru Gin from Bleach, Juuzo from Tokyo Ghoul, Yukishiro Enishi from Ruroni Kenshin, Menma from Anohana, and Shiro from Deadman Wonderland.
Even with a lineup of powerful characters coming from tragedy, not all are. The exceptions to this rule would be Jiraiya from Naruto, Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya from Bleach, the mysterious Near from Death Note and various other characters built with a connection to white, snow, or ice. This is not always the case and some characters have white hair for another reason entirely, which could be standing out, or another ulterior motive to be revealed.
Origins
As I mentioned before and when this rule applies, these characters are not the same as the others around them. They are mystical and powerful in their presence alone. Why? Chris Kincaid from Japan Powered said it best: “[Other] colors reject everything while white is easily contaminated by any color (1).” Depending on what you find on the Internet, some say that the idea of white hair in Japanese mythology is related to demons and demons could have whatever intention they choose whether it be positive, neutral, or negative. Even in Western mythology and urban legend, the color white is heavily related to the supernatural, which makes the effect of the paranormal more effective when analyzed. Looking at white hair in anime, it begins to explain why these characters seem to be otherworldly because by definition humans are complex and the white-haired version are pure in their motives and actions - usually clinging to a code self-constructed or heavily engraved in them. The fact remains that most mythology links white hair, or the color white, as surpassing humanity in some shape, or form - making it a marker for the extraordinary. [Note that I also ran across other pictures and sources that have Japanese apparitions with black hair and they seem to be the majority, but that’s just an informational piece.]
Overall Judgement
All of the factors above lead me to the theory that intense stress or traumatic experiences form these characters based on some medical and mythological truth being changed to a storytelling benefit. And it won’t be the last time. Despite the norm of natural hair in Japan, anime characters with white hair have a very different story to tell, and you should always keep an eye on them.
Likelihood of that white-haired character coming from a Shakespearean tragedy:
75%
*In no shape, form, or way am I trying to generalize a real group of people. Everyone is an individual with components that make up their identity and that should be respected. Always.*
(1)Kincaid, C. (2018). It is All About the Hair: The Color of Purity. [online] Japan Powered. Available at: https://www.japanpowered.com/anime-articles/it-is-all-about-the-hair-the-color-of-purity [Accessed 25 Aug. 2018].