The cartoons I’ve seen that always had a fat, red-haired king character were very obviously making reference to Henry VIII.
Why are kings almost always redheads?
Submitted 1 month ago by cheese_greater@lemmy.world to [deleted]
Comments
Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 month ago
Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Because none of the other characters are? It’s a quick way to set them apart at a glance, I reckon.
PlzGivHugs@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I can’t say I’ve noticed this, but depending on the design, it might just be about ensuring contrast of different elements. Red contrasts a yellow crown and beige skin pretty well whereas blonde hair would might blend with skin and crown, brown isn’t as bad but isn’t great. Black works, but can be hard to do with any detail in a minimalist style or one using black outlines. This leaves, red, and grey.
Depress_Mode@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’ve never noticed such a pattern myself and I’m not sure I’d agree that most kings are depicted as red-headed. What specific depictions are you talking about? Could you give us a list of examples? If you google “cartoon king”, you’ll find only a few redheads among dozens of brown or white-haired kings, which is what I’d expected to find.
yarr@feddit.nl 1 month ago
If I go to Google image search and put in “cartoon king”, there appear to be a mix of blonde, black, red and white haired kings. Red doesn’t appear to be over-represented here. What cartoons are you thinking about?
xtr0n@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Because it goes with the red-black color scheme of the cards?
EndOfLine@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Do they? Most cartoon kings I can think of have either white or gray hair.
nokturne213@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
cheese_greater@lemmy.world 1 month ago
K not aged kings haha
Apepollo11@lemmy.world 1 month ago
The most well-known British King, Henry VIII, was a large bulky man with a bushy red beard, dressed exactly as you imagine a King would be.
I imagine he’s something of a blueprint for the appearances of fictional kings.
cheese_greater@lemmy.world 1 month ago
He must be the prototype 😅