- 8,675
- 5,560
See the title. Where on the color pie do characters you enjoy fall?
For those who don't know the color pie... prepare for a wall of text, whoops.
The color pie is like the alignment system of Magic: The Gathering, though it's much deeper and more intricate in every way. While D&D's alignment system strictly analyzes things on a Good to Evil basis, judging them primarily on their actions, the color pie judges things based on their personalities, motivations and beliefs, not so much their actions. While characters in D&D fall under a single alignment, they can fall under any number of colors; though more than three is rare.
There are five colors on the color pie, and each can be summed up with distinct goals:
White seeks peace through structure. White sees a world of disorder, where individual goals and emotions get in the way of the group's needs. White sees a world that needs to be carefully ordered by laws, belief, and unity. It's the color of organized religion, of deep ethical laws, of careful organization. It seeks peace and prosperity for all, and believes in honor, chivalry, and loyalty. Out of all the colors, White is the most altruistic. And while it may sound like the most heroic color - and indeed, it is the color of classical heroism - it is just as prone to villainy as any other color.
For example, White villains tend to firmly believe that they are in the right, and that their goals are just. They tend to believe that the end justifies the means. They tend towards hypocrisy, denying their own evil while accusing others for the same evils. It tends towards very black and white morality, and strictly punishes what it sees as evil. And while it claims to seek peace, White often violently exterminates anything it sees as a threat, often before the threat even arises. In addition, White can stomp out individual freedom in the name of what it sees as peace, believing that their happiness is irrelevant in the face of the greater good. It expects others to sacrifice themselves for the greater good without hesitation. White also tends to be inflexible, demanding, and cold. Fascism and communism are White beliefs; Fascism is built around the nationalistic idea that a united people are stronger, for example.
White's allies are Blue and Gree. In Blue, White finds a similarly altruistic color who seeks to make the world a better place, though sometimes, Blue is a bit too individualistic for its tastes. In Green, White finds a similarly communal color, but they conflict over Green's focus on the natural over civilization, and instinct over thought.
White's enemies are Black and Red.
Blue seeks perfection through knowledge. Blue sees a world of untapped, infinite potential. Of all Blue's beliefs, one of the most important concepts is Tabula rasa; the idea that the world, and all those who live in it, start as blank slates, and are defined by their experiences and decisions and actions. Blue beliefs that people can, through hard work, deliberation, and knowledge, become anything they want and make all their dreams into reality. This is the perfection Blue seeks; while Blue often believes perfection cannot truly be achieved, that does not make it any less important a goal. Just as Blue believes one should perfect themselves, it believes that people should perfect the world; in a perfect world, more people can realize their dreams with greater ease. Blue is the color of technology, change, and progress.
Just as with any other color, Blue can easily be antagonistic. Blue holds knowledge in high regard, and many Blue characters are willing to do awful things for the sake of knowledge, disregarding morals as unnecessary restraints. In addition, Blue is often very, very cold, discarding emotions as illogical things that hold one back and cause them to squander their potential, through impulsiveness and impatience.
Blue's allies are White and Black. Like White, Blue is generally altruistic, and even if not, it is generally not blatantly or deliberately antagonistic. Blue is also similarly focused on organization; together, White/Blue is the color of bureaucracy and careful control. Meanwhile, it shares very different traits with Black; a willingness to discard morals for personal gain, a strong individualistic streak, and a belief that one is the architect of their own destiny.
Blue's enemies are Red and Gree.
Black seeks power through opportunity. White sees the world and sees something that should be ordered, a world where the weak should not suffer, and Blue sees the world and sees a place of untapped, endless potential, a world where perfection is the greatest of all goals. Black sees both of these things as unnecessary. When it looks at the world, Black sees a single, simple fact; power is what matters. To be safe, to be secure, to be in control, one must be powerful; therefore, power, in itself, for no other reason than the possession of power, is what should be pursued. It is the color of ambition and ruthlessness.
Out of all the colors, none are as individualistic as Black. The two other individualistic colors, Blue and Red, are Black's allies, and what they share in traits is their individualism. Black believes in personal agency, that people should not bow their wills to any other force. When someone does, Black sees them as weak, and will often happily exploit those who do for personal gain. A Black character's prime focus is themselves; success by any means necessary. For these goals, Black will discard anything and will sacrifice what is necessary. Black is the color of amorality. For its own goals, Black is willing to sacrifice itself (or, if possible, others); demonic contracts that come at a price are Black concepts.
While Black seems the most blatantly evil color - and it is certainly the color of simple, classical villainy - it is not necessarily evil. Black characters can be heroic; though generally for selfish reasons (such as rebelling against a stifling rule, or fighting against something that seeks to kill them). More often, Black characters are simply neutral; often times, harming others is unnecessary to reach their goals, which are generally either harmless or too small in scope to be threatening. Such characters just want to be left alone to pursue their own ambitions, and will only seek the power they need to reach them.
Black's allies are Blue and Red. These colors all share an individualistic streak; Blue seeks personal perfection, Black seeks personal importance, and Red seeks personal gratification. If they conflict, it's because Black sees Blue as too cautious and altruistic, and sees Red as too short-sighted and hedonistic.
Black's enemies are White and Gree.
Red seeks freedom through action. It doesn't focus on long-term goals or any lofty ideals; Red focuses on personal happiness and gratification, usually in the short-term. It's the color of impulse and hedonism; Red does what feels good because it feels good, and pursues its passions because they make it happy. It's the color of creativity, and love, a color caught between selfishness and selflessness. While Red won't sacrifice itself for a person it does not know, it will gladly throw not only itself, but anything else away for the sake of one it loves. It is perhaps the simplest, easiest to understand color.
While the room for heroism is obvious - White/Red is one of the most common heroic color combinations - the room for villainy is equally obvious. Sadists usually fall in red, for example. Also worth noting is that just because a character is emotional doesn't mean they're Red; all colors are emotional, it's just that Red is driven by these emotions. Red believes that people should welcome their impulses, as the key to their own happiness, and doesn't want to waste time with excessive caution. This does not make Red stupid, however; it's just impatient.
Red's allies are Black and Gree. As mentioned before, Black is a similarly individualistic color, and is also focused on personal fulfillment and happiness. Meanwhile, Green shares Red's focus on impulse, though Green calls it "instinct".
Red's enemies are Blue and White, and the conflicts have already been addressed.
Gree seeks acceptance through growth. Green looks upon the natural world and sees perfection. Progress is unnecessary, as the world is already perfect, and the steady, gradual growth it undergoes is also perfect. Green believes in predestination, in a natural order of things. Of all the colors, Green is the most fatalistic; Green accepts death as an inevitability, a natural part of the world and its cycle, one that should be embraced and understood instead of feared. Green is often passive and accepting; many Green characters believe that things will simply align themselves eventually, and that going out of one's way to act is unnecessary when destiny will simply line all the pieces up.
However, passivity should not be excused for docility. Green is the color of the wild, of instinct, and what the wild brings is predators and carnivores. Green is one half of Social Darwinism on the color pie, with Black occupying the other. Green believes that, in the natural order of things, the weak are eaten by the strong, and the strong grow stronger. The weak are a necessary part of the cycle, as the food for the strong, and the strong are just as important, weeding out the weak and growing stronger. Green is also a bigoted color; the belief that some people are inherently better than others is Green, and of all colors, none rejects civilization and technology like Green does. Green fights against what it sees as unnatural.
All of Green's allies and enemies have already been explained.
Anyways, wow, that's a lot of text. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not, because I love writing about this stuff. The color pie's awesome. It's one of the deepest and most intricate systems for character analysis there is. The alignment system is a joke in comparison to something as multifaceted as this; no color is inherently evil or good, and while characters can often be easily placed on the alignment system with minimal knowledge on their character, it takes deep analysis to come to a true conclusion regarding a character's place on the color pie.
I wrote less for Red and Green, I know, but they're both much simpler colors than the rest. What you see with them is what you get, while the others have further depth that needs to be explained. Also I started getting tired at that point.I also just don't like Green, it's both boring and personally uncomfortable even in its most positive incarnation.
I'll start us off;
For those who don't know the color pie... prepare for a wall of text, whoops.
The color pie is like the alignment system of Magic: The Gathering, though it's much deeper and more intricate in every way. While D&D's alignment system strictly analyzes things on a Good to Evil basis, judging them primarily on their actions, the color pie judges things based on their personalities, motivations and beliefs, not so much their actions. While characters in D&D fall under a single alignment, they can fall under any number of colors; though more than three is rare.
There are five colors on the color pie, and each can be summed up with distinct goals:
- White, which seeks peace through structure.
- Blue, which seeks perfection through knowledge.
- Black, which seeks power through opportunity.
- Red, which seeks freedom through action.
- Gree, which seeks acceptance through growth.
White seeks peace through structure. White sees a world of disorder, where individual goals and emotions get in the way of the group's needs. White sees a world that needs to be carefully ordered by laws, belief, and unity. It's the color of organized religion, of deep ethical laws, of careful organization. It seeks peace and prosperity for all, and believes in honor, chivalry, and loyalty. Out of all the colors, White is the most altruistic. And while it may sound like the most heroic color - and indeed, it is the color of classical heroism - it is just as prone to villainy as any other color.
For example, White villains tend to firmly believe that they are in the right, and that their goals are just. They tend to believe that the end justifies the means. They tend towards hypocrisy, denying their own evil while accusing others for the same evils. It tends towards very black and white morality, and strictly punishes what it sees as evil. And while it claims to seek peace, White often violently exterminates anything it sees as a threat, often before the threat even arises. In addition, White can stomp out individual freedom in the name of what it sees as peace, believing that their happiness is irrelevant in the face of the greater good. It expects others to sacrifice themselves for the greater good without hesitation. White also tends to be inflexible, demanding, and cold. Fascism and communism are White beliefs; Fascism is built around the nationalistic idea that a united people are stronger, for example.
White's allies are Blue and Gree. In Blue, White finds a similarly altruistic color who seeks to make the world a better place, though sometimes, Blue is a bit too individualistic for its tastes. In Green, White finds a similarly communal color, but they conflict over Green's focus on the natural over civilization, and instinct over thought.
White's enemies are Black and Red.
- White and Black is the classical conflict of the individual vs the group. Black believes that one's prime concern should be themselves, while White believes people should rely on and protect each other. Black sees this as weakness, while White sees Black as unapologetically evil, as Black rejects laws and morals as constructs meant to control it and take away its agency. White wants conformity, Black wants to stand out, even if in little ways.
- White and Red is another simple, classic conflict; order vs chaos. White believes that the world must be carefully ordered in order to be secure, while Red sees all its laws as far too controlling, stomping out the potential for freedom. White sees this as dangerous and destructive, and sees Red's impulsiveness and flair as a threat to society. White is the color of government; Red is the color of anarchy.
Blue seeks perfection through knowledge. Blue sees a world of untapped, infinite potential. Of all Blue's beliefs, one of the most important concepts is Tabula rasa; the idea that the world, and all those who live in it, start as blank slates, and are defined by their experiences and decisions and actions. Blue beliefs that people can, through hard work, deliberation, and knowledge, become anything they want and make all their dreams into reality. This is the perfection Blue seeks; while Blue often believes perfection cannot truly be achieved, that does not make it any less important a goal. Just as Blue believes one should perfect themselves, it believes that people should perfect the world; in a perfect world, more people can realize their dreams with greater ease. Blue is the color of technology, change, and progress.
Just as with any other color, Blue can easily be antagonistic. Blue holds knowledge in high regard, and many Blue characters are willing to do awful things for the sake of knowledge, disregarding morals as unnecessary restraints. In addition, Blue is often very, very cold, discarding emotions as illogical things that hold one back and cause them to squander their potential, through impulsiveness and impatience.
Blue's allies are White and Black. Like White, Blue is generally altruistic, and even if not, it is generally not blatantly or deliberately antagonistic. Blue is also similarly focused on organization; together, White/Blue is the color of bureaucracy and careful control. Meanwhile, it shares very different traits with Black; a willingness to discard morals for personal gain, a strong individualistic streak, and a belief that one is the architect of their own destiny.
Blue's enemies are Red and Gree.
- Blue and Red is a simple conflict, one already touched upon; emotion vs logic, the heart vs the mind. Blue sees Red as impulsive and foolish, wasting time that could be spent deliberating and perfecting things instead pursuing short-term pleasures. Meanwhile, Red sees Blue as cold and distant, forgetting the happiness they could find in the present and instead pursuing a distant shot at perfection.
- Blue and Gree is the conflict of nature vs nurture. Blue believes that a person can become whatever they want, that people are the result of their own efforts. In strict opposition lies Green, which believes that things are a certain way from the beginning; that a person is not defined by their actions and their life, but that who they are is decided at birth. In addition, while Blue is the color of artifice and progress, Green is the color of tradition and the natural.
Black seeks power through opportunity. White sees the world and sees something that should be ordered, a world where the weak should not suffer, and Blue sees the world and sees a place of untapped, endless potential, a world where perfection is the greatest of all goals. Black sees both of these things as unnecessary. When it looks at the world, Black sees a single, simple fact; power is what matters. To be safe, to be secure, to be in control, one must be powerful; therefore, power, in itself, for no other reason than the possession of power, is what should be pursued. It is the color of ambition and ruthlessness.
Out of all the colors, none are as individualistic as Black. The two other individualistic colors, Blue and Red, are Black's allies, and what they share in traits is their individualism. Black believes in personal agency, that people should not bow their wills to any other force. When someone does, Black sees them as weak, and will often happily exploit those who do for personal gain. A Black character's prime focus is themselves; success by any means necessary. For these goals, Black will discard anything and will sacrifice what is necessary. Black is the color of amorality. For its own goals, Black is willing to sacrifice itself (or, if possible, others); demonic contracts that come at a price are Black concepts.
While Black seems the most blatantly evil color - and it is certainly the color of simple, classical villainy - it is not necessarily evil. Black characters can be heroic; though generally for selfish reasons (such as rebelling against a stifling rule, or fighting against something that seeks to kill them). More often, Black characters are simply neutral; often times, harming others is unnecessary to reach their goals, which are generally either harmless or too small in scope to be threatening. Such characters just want to be left alone to pursue their own ambitions, and will only seek the power they need to reach them.
Black's allies are Blue and Red. These colors all share an individualistic streak; Blue seeks personal perfection, Black seeks personal importance, and Red seeks personal gratification. If they conflict, it's because Black sees Blue as too cautious and altruistic, and sees Red as too short-sighted and hedonistic.
Black's enemies are White and Gree.
- Black and White is a simple conflict that doesn't need to be gone over twice.
- Black and Gree is free will vs destiny. Green believes that things happen for a reason, that the world has a plan, that everything is going to go a certain way and that what happens is out of people's control. Black thinks that that's bullshit. Black hates the idea that anyone but itself is responsible for its actions; Black is so obsessed with its own agency that it rejects all concepts of destiny, focusing only on its own willpower and goals. Things happen because people make them happen.
Red seeks freedom through action. It doesn't focus on long-term goals or any lofty ideals; Red focuses on personal happiness and gratification, usually in the short-term. It's the color of impulse and hedonism; Red does what feels good because it feels good, and pursues its passions because they make it happy. It's the color of creativity, and love, a color caught between selfishness and selflessness. While Red won't sacrifice itself for a person it does not know, it will gladly throw not only itself, but anything else away for the sake of one it loves. It is perhaps the simplest, easiest to understand color.
While the room for heroism is obvious - White/Red is one of the most common heroic color combinations - the room for villainy is equally obvious. Sadists usually fall in red, for example. Also worth noting is that just because a character is emotional doesn't mean they're Red; all colors are emotional, it's just that Red is driven by these emotions. Red believes that people should welcome their impulses, as the key to their own happiness, and doesn't want to waste time with excessive caution. This does not make Red stupid, however; it's just impatient.
Red's allies are Black and Gree. As mentioned before, Black is a similarly individualistic color, and is also focused on personal fulfillment and happiness. Meanwhile, Green shares Red's focus on impulse, though Green calls it "instinct".
Red's enemies are Blue and White, and the conflicts have already been addressed.
Gree seeks acceptance through growth. Green looks upon the natural world and sees perfection. Progress is unnecessary, as the world is already perfect, and the steady, gradual growth it undergoes is also perfect. Green believes in predestination, in a natural order of things. Of all the colors, Green is the most fatalistic; Green accepts death as an inevitability, a natural part of the world and its cycle, one that should be embraced and understood instead of feared. Green is often passive and accepting; many Green characters believe that things will simply align themselves eventually, and that going out of one's way to act is unnecessary when destiny will simply line all the pieces up.
However, passivity should not be excused for docility. Green is the color of the wild, of instinct, and what the wild brings is predators and carnivores. Green is one half of Social Darwinism on the color pie, with Black occupying the other. Green believes that, in the natural order of things, the weak are eaten by the strong, and the strong grow stronger. The weak are a necessary part of the cycle, as the food for the strong, and the strong are just as important, weeding out the weak and growing stronger. Green is also a bigoted color; the belief that some people are inherently better than others is Green, and of all colors, none rejects civilization and technology like Green does. Green fights against what it sees as unnatural.
All of Green's allies and enemies have already been explained.
Anyways, wow, that's a lot of text. I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not, because I love writing about this stuff. The color pie's awesome. It's one of the deepest and most intricate systems for character analysis there is. The alignment system is a joke in comparison to something as multifaceted as this; no color is inherently evil or good, and while characters can often be easily placed on the alignment system with minimal knowledge on their character, it takes deep analysis to come to a true conclusion regarding a character's place on the color pie.
I wrote less for Red and Green, I know, but they're both much simpler colors than the rest. What you see with them is what you get, while the others have further depth that needs to be explained. Also I started getting tired at that point.
I'll start us off;
- Ahzek Ahrima is White/Blue/Black. In true Blue/Black fashion, he rejects all attempts to control him, even rejecting his patron god, Tzeentch, in the pursuit of his own ambition to become a God, a God of Ambition. As a Blue character, he seeks greater and greater knowledge; partly for its own sake, seeing it as the most valuable resource of all, and partly for power. His White is the smallest of his three colors, manifesting in his goals to fix the curse on his brothers and atone for his failures. He also respects the idea of the Imperium as an institution, though, as he's fallen further into Chaos, this has diminished.
