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Cquote1
"With my long, red hair flying as I beat them half to death, I got a new nickname: The Bloody Habanero."
Kushina, Naruto
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Miss-Sloane-rage-fit

Hot-blooded, hot-headed, and all around, hot.[1]

In Hollywood, you have your Dumb Blondes, your Brainy Brunettes... and your Fiery Redheads.

A Fiery Redhead is a red-haired character who is strong, passionate, outgoing, usually outspoken, and more often than not a woman. She has a big personality and she's not afraid to use it. Whatever you do, don't get on her bad side, or there will be hell to pay. (Especially if she has Elemental or Personality Powers, or both: she likes Playing with Fire.) She will be unladylike unless it's the rare case of a redheaded Spirited Young Lady. She might be One of the Boys, a Tomboy, or a lad-ette. Heroes might like redheads, but when it's an issue, redheads tend not to like their looks.

This hair-color stereotype probably developed since red hair was associated with the Irish for a long time, and Irish people ended up being stereotyped as loud, strong, and passionate. Maureen O'Hara was practically the embodiment of this stereotype and probably did a lot to spread it. On the other hand, it's even found in Eastern Europe where any association would have been with Russians or Swedes, nationalities not generally stereotyped as hotheaded.

In addition to this, it extends even into ancient texts from Babylonian and Scandinavian Oral Historian. In The Edda Prose, Odin is depicted as blonde, green-eyed, cool, and calculating - while his son, Thor, is a redheaded, blue-eyed (something of an omen of war/perfection in Scandinavian culture) fire-breathing stereotypical Viking (the raiding kind) who treats Earth as a giant freshman mixer. Gilgamesh is also a Fiery Redhead with blue eyes whose duties include...well...being a good precursor to Thor, for the most part - though with more reservation and a cooling trend near the end of his life (this makes both an eerie paradigm of Fiery Redheads at the creation of their respective peoples' writings). The whole "red-haired, blue-eyed" thing is usually split in Japan between two people.

Although real redheads can have Green Eyes, this association is exaggerated in fiction.

Compare Heroes Want Redheads, Dark-Skinned Redhead, Evil Redheads, Rose-Haired Girl, Redheaded Stepchild, and Redheaded Hero. In anime, could be a Shana Clone. If you have a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead in close proximity (i.e. in the main cast), it's Blonde, Brunette, Redhead. Contrast Shy Blue-Haired Girl for Red Oni, Blue Oni.

Please do not confuse this with a redhead being literally fiery, although the two tropes sometimes overlap.

Examples of Fiery Redhead include:


Anime & Manga

  • Anne Shirley in the anime version of Anne of Green Gables, who, in turn, is based on Anne Shirley in the novel series Anne of Green Gables, mentioned in the literature section below.
  • Madame Red from Black Butler
  • Nobara Kugisaki from Jujutsu Kaisen deliberately invokes this, having dyed her originally black hair red.
  • Renji Abarai and Ichigo Kurosaki from Bleach. That's all.
    • Subverted with Orihime, whose hair (in the anime) is the same orangey color as Ichigo's. However, she's so sweet-tempered that she hardly ever gets mad even when Rukia says she should.
  • Brain Powerd's Hime Utsumiya is not quite as fiery as other examples listed above, but she still has an outgoing personality (and won't hesitate to call out Yuu when necessary) and is an excellent fighter despite her preference for diplomacy.
  • Satella from Chrono Crusade, a Tsundere and "jewel witch."
  • Kallen Stadtfeld from Code Geass. In fact, just about everything about her is red, from her rebel headband to her mecha - hell, even the outfits she wears are associated with the color red.
  • The titular character from Cutey Honey. No matter what hair colour she has, she's still very fiery.
  • Jet Link--AKA Cyborg 002--from Cyborg 009.
  • Sara Yuki of Dancougar has literal red hair and matches Fujiwara Shinobu in spirit.
  • Rika Nonaka/Ruki Makino from Digimon Tamers started as an Arrogant Kung Fu Girl, and through all the series she remained as a Tomboy Action Girl always willing to fight.
  • Kei of Dirty Pair.
  • Terrence, the hero of Dreamland, subverts this: he is a redhead and has fiery powers, but is nonchalant and not really eager to fight. Eve, however, plays the trope straight.
  • Shayla-Shayla from El Hazard.
  • Lucy from Elfen Lied is a homicidally Fiery Redhead (or more specifically, hot pink head).
  • Fairy Tail has Natsu, a male version who literally fits this trope.
    • Erza Scarlet also, to a certain extent.
    • Knightwalker, on the other hand, is this very much so.
  • Mai Shiranui is one of these in the second Fatal Fury OVA and The Movie. She is passionate, outgoing, and outspoken, and has fire based attacks to top it off — although her physical strength is sadly underplayed. Note, however, that in most of the the games, she is usually represented with brown or black (with purple highlights) hair, but her cheerful, combative personality is pretty much the same and she gets to keep her Action Girl credentials.
  • Kyo Sohma from Fruits Basket. He may be male, but he practically is this trope.
  • Nami from Full Metal Panic, who encompasses most of the cliches that go with it. Hot tempered, passionate about what she does, outgoing, and fiery...the only thing is that, she's not nearly as violent as Tsundere Kaname and, more often than not, actually tries to be gentle and nice around Sousuke, the guy she likes.
    • That might have something to do with the fact that, in the original novels, she doesn't have red hair — her hair is described as "brown and unkempt". The red version was strictly the illustrator's fault. Then again, in the novels, Kaname doesn't have blue hair, either...
  • Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi.
  • Angel Omachi from Galaxy Cyclone Bryger.
  • Ayako Matsuzaki from Ghost Hunt.
  • Hanaukyo Maid Tai. Ryuuka in La Verite. In the first season, she had brown hair.
  • Averted with Mikuru from Haruhi Suzumiya, who is probably the meekest, most timid member of the main cast and definitely a contrast to the fiery brunette main character.
  • Bossy, Hot-Blooded Princess Flora of Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken.
  • Ayano Kannagi from Kaze no Stigma is a red-haired fire magic user.
  • Admiral Bittenfeld from Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Alliance soldier Katerose von Kreutzer. Averted with Admiral Kircheis, a fellow redhead.
  • Kyouko from Madoka Magica.
  • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has Vita, Teana, Agito, and Nove, who are all redheads with short fuses. For an extra kick, Agito is a literal fire elemental.
    • Nove's sister, Wendi, also has red hair. Unlike the other examples, she's quite cheerful.
  • Asuna of Mahou Sensei Negima. The series also has Anya, who's both a fire-user and very feisty.
  • Mai Tokiha of Mai-HiME is a subversion: she's a redhead with fire-based powers and presented as an example of this trope in the first episode with her violent outbursts at Yuuichi, but after that, she's shown to be compassionate and caring and remains that way until things go really bad for her and everyone else.
    • The manga plays it a bit straighter, giving Mai more of a loose temper that her anime counterpart, kept under better control. Both versions were played as "gutsy" and "passionate", which could fall under the redhead stereotype.
  • Both of the Grant brothers in Marmalade Boy, but especially Brian. Michael is more of a Keet.
  • Inaho Hitomebore from Master of Mosquiton 99.
  • Matilda Ajan, from Mobile Suit Gundam.
  • Naruto's mother, Kushina, was one of these, though she mellowed (slightly) with age. She was nicknamed "the Bloody Habanero/the Red Hot-blooded Habanero" because her face resembled a tomato...and because she beat the pulp out of every person that called her "Tomatohead".
    • Karin is a more current example. Sometimes.
    • Sakura, even though, technically, she has hot pink hair.
    • Karui seemed kind of hotheaded when she was beating the crap out of the titular character.
  • Asuka (once pictured above) in Neon Genesis Evangelion. Less so in the Rebuild of Evangelion series.
  • Nami from One Piece. Even her punches are emotionally charged.
    • Boa Marigold is just a shade lighter than red, but she earns mention for combining Prehensile Hair and Infernal Retaliation to pull off this trope literally.
    • We also have Eustass "Captain" Kidd, a sociopath who would also qualify for Evil Redhead.
    • Averted by Sanji's eldest brother Vinsmoke Ichiji, who is a redhead but also The Stoic.
  • Mana the tomboy in Onegai My Melody: a martial arts expert who is not adverse to using her kicks.
  • Misty in her early appearances in the Pokémon anime. Ironically, she specializes in Water-type Pokémon.
    • Flannery, on the other hand, does use Fire-types. Both typecasting and hotheadedness worked to her detriment in the manga back at Mt. Chimney, but she puts up a hell of a fight while stalling Kyogre later on.
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 I'm not afraid of you! Just come and face me... Sapphire!

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    • Let us not forget Jessie, the most Badass member of the Team Rocket trio.
    • Zoey qualifies delightfully.
  • Himeno from Prétear, another Junichi Sato Magical Girl anime, is a firey Redheaded Hero as well.
  • Ahiru from Princess Tutu isn't very strong in terms of combat, but she otherwise fits the description perfectly. (And she does catch the local Jerkass off guard once).
  • The titular character from Project A-ko.
  • Ranma One Half sort of has the titular character. As a teenager who was raised his entire life to fight and win in martial arts duels, Ranma Saotome has the general hot-headed, impulsive, passionate personality to fit into this trope. However, in his normal form, he's a black-haired boy. Thanks to Jusenkyo and an Adaptation Dye Job, he can gain the right sex and hair color and loses none of the attitude that lets him qualify.
  • Also subverted by pacifist Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin.
  • In Saint Beast, Maya has a tendency to throw tantrums when things don't go his way.
  • Lirin of Saiyuki definitely qualifies. While most of her behavior is more like "annoying," she has a hair-trigger temper and will scream at or drop boulders on people who annoy her.
  • Nobunaga of Sengoku Otome was told to squeeze a pipe to calm her down whenever she became frustrated. She does this, but it doesn't stop her from threatening ghosts who aren't scared of her stories.
  • Lady Satan, The Demon King of Wrath from Seven Mortal Sins (Sin: Nanatsu No Taizai). As highlighted, Satan is a ruthless and impulsive Demon, she serves as Belial's henchwoman and guilty of instigating combat almost naturally. Along with her red hair, Satan enjoys a good fight unlike most of her kind.
  • Shana, the Flame-Haired, Fire-Eyed demon huntress from Shakugan no Shana.
  • Tiara from Shamanic Princess.
  • Kiddy Phenil of Silent Moebius, but only in the TV series. Her hair is green in every other version.
  • Both Eco and Rebecca in Seikoku no Dragonar are this, though they also have plenty of fiery blondes around them as rivals and sometimes teammates.
  • Kyouko Mogami from Skip Beat, even if, in reality, her hair is black. After her Important Haircut, she turns out to be extremely fiery.
  • Lina Inverse from Slayers. Bonus points because she has a tendency to make everything go into flames when she's really pissed off... and it doesn't take much to piss her off either. She once let off a fireball in restaraunt because a fight broke out and her food got spilled.She had to be physically stopped from using one of the most powerful spells out there, called the Dragon Slave, on one of her friends because she wouldn't go back to her employer pretending Lina beat her.
  • Subverted in Solty Rei with Accela, who is very shy and timid (at least, until she goes Laughing Mad in the last few episodes).
  • Sonic X's incarnation of Knuckles.
  • Chocolat from Sugar Sugar Rune
  • Trinity Blood: Astaroth Aslan used to be a redhead when she was young (a traumatic event turned it gray/white, all but a streak). Esther Blanchett also fits, especially in the manga. She has more a grounded personality in the novels.
  • Princess Rubina from UFO Robo Grendizer -one of the Mazinger Z sequels could be quite the spitfire when she was angry. She was the only dared to call the Big Bad out.
  • Angel Salvia from Wedding Peach, although green-haired Angel Daisy is also pretty fiery as well.
  • Nakiami from Xam'd: Lost Memories is a subversion. She has red hair, but is taciturn and shows little to no interest in romance. She is an undeniable Badass, though...
  • Another literal example is Rin from Yes! Pretty Cure 5. Her hair even turns into a flame-esque style after her transformation.
  • Momoko Yamasaki from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird is an Intrepid Reporter whose temper is as fiery as her hair.
  • The Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics's versions of both Rose Red and the Bear Prince's younger brother are Hot-Blooded and red-haired. Naturally, they fall in love.
    • Averted by the Prince from Rapunzel, who is a red-haired Nice Guy. And by both Elise from The Six Swans and her Love Interest the Young King, though he does have a more emotional side when under pressure.

Comic Books

  • Mera, wife of Aquaman.
  • Natasha Romanov, the Black Widow.
    • Started out with black hair and was only "revealed" as actually a redhead in her ASM #86 makeover. Did not become appreciably fierier after the change.
  • Blackhawk's Chuck is a male example.
  • The titular character of Brenda Starr: Reporter.
  • Chassis
  • Sophie Otterloop from Cul de Sac.
  • Daredevil and Dum-Dum Dugan. Irish-American.
  • Ember of Elf Quest.
    • Redlance in Elf Quest is an inversion because he's usually very quiet and shy. Although not when it comes to sex, according to the novelization.
  • Fantastic Four: Frankie Raye, who went on to literally become a Fiery Redhead.
  • Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third Flash, is quite impulsive, though less so after some Character Development. This contrasts him with his slow-thinking mentor Barry Allen, the second Flash.
  • Guardians of the Galaxy: Nikki, quite literally.
  • Iron Man: Bethany Cabe.
  • Medusa of the Inhumans
  • Patsy Walker, Hellcat, formerly married to matching Fiery Redhead Daimon "Son of Satan/Hellstorm" Hellstrom.
  • Shanna The She-Devil, when her hair is properly colored.
  • Babs Gordon became one - originally, she was a Brainy Brunette; Batgirl's red hair was a wig attached to the cowl).
  • Dark Action Girl Ansea Latal from Le Scorpion.
  • The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck: Hortense McDuck.
  • Little Orphan Annie has all the trappings of one...as a 10-year-old girl.
  • Chili Storm, the friendly nemesis of Millie the Model.
  • Banshee and his daughter, Siryn. Irish.
  • Red Sonja. That is all.
  • Spider-Man: Mary Jane "Face it, tiger — you just hit the jackpot!" Watson.
  • Ember from the Dutch comic 'Storm'. Her Dutch name is Roodhaar, which literally translates to Redhair.
  • Superman: Maxima, who is definitely not a hero, but very much a spitfire.
  • Mariah from The Warlord
  • X-Men: Jean Grey and Rachel Summers, who not only fit the personality trope, but also happen to manifest their powers in the form of giant birds made of fire. Rahne Sinclair from New Mutants (Excalibur, X-Men, X-Force...) too, though it's hidden under repressive piety most of the time - she's at once shy, passionate, religious, conflicted, and a redhead.


Film — Animated


Film — Live-Action

  • Ann Sheridan in several movies from the late 1930s/early 1940s.
  • Black Mask 2: City of Masks: Chameleon is portrayed as hotheaded, generally angry, quick to judgment, and prone to fighting those who make her angry. These are unsparing physical fights with salvos of punches, spinning kicks, and volleys of thrown bottles, not verbal arguments.
  • Bortai, the redheaded Tartar princess played by Susan Hayward in the John Wayne flop The Conqueror.
  • April, the main character's friend in Definitely Maybe, forcefully tells him how to propose to his girlfriend.
  • Diamonds Are Forever. When James Bond first meets Tiffany Case, she's outspoken, quite rude to him, and has a bit of a temper. She changed wigs (from blonde to brunette), then appeared as a redhead.
Cquote1

 James Bond: I don't care much for redheads. Terrible tempers. But somehow it seems to suit you.

Tiffany: It's my own.

Cquote2
  • Down With Love - Renee Zellweger's character stops being a wimpy woman and dyes her hair red to show it.
  • Shannon of Far and Away fits this easily.
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  Joseph: I warn you. That redhead has a bite that stings.

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  • Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter is a double subversion as she is usually soft spoken but, in a certain scene where Harry REALLY needs people to shut up but can't get them to, she YELLS at them to do so.
  • Henriette de Nevers is an understated but still adventurous redhead in the film version of La Reine Margot.
  • Mr. Clarence Day, Sr. of Life With Father is a male example.
  • Free-spirited and flamboyant Delysia Lafosse from Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
  • The eponymous Miss Sloane, shown in the page image, is a cutthroat lobbyist with a bad temper.
  • The Ur-Fiery redhead, Mary-Kate Dannaher in John Ford's The Quiet Man. As another character puts it, "That red hair is no lie!" She tries to slug out John Wayne himself! Maureen O'Hara's finest Fiery Redhead hour.
  • Rose in Titanic, to some extent.
  • The fabulous Miss Vida Boheme in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. Subverted somewhat in that Vida Boheme is really Patrick Swayze in drag, and the red hair is a wig.
  • Knife Nut Lynne from The Warrior's Way.
  • The Woods with Heather, played by Agnes Bruckner.
  • Shapeshifter Mystique, usually doing infiltration and other covert ops in the X-Men comics, is more like the mutant version of the Angry Black Man in the movies. She's red-headed in both incarnations.

Literature

  • Practically every female character in the novels of Robert A. Heinlein. Even a few of the male characters qualify.
  • Felicity of the American Girls Collection is a spunky, spritely colonial girl, full of energy and independence.
  • Justified with Anne Shirley of Anne of Green Gables, whose temper was at its fieriest when she was teased about her red hair (being one of the few characters whose fire is connected to their coloring). She chewed out the neighborhood busybody (big mistake...), and also responded to being called "Carrots" by breaking her slate over a schoolmate's head.
    • But nobody ever teased her about her red hair again, after the social snubbing Gilbert got for five or so years. Ironically, they end up marrying.
    • Anne never quite gets over her dislike of her red hair. She didn't even like it when her children inherited it. When Jem is born and the nurse tells her his hair will be red, Gilbert reports to Marilla that "Anne is furious with her, and I'm tickled to death!"
  • Ce'Nedra from David Eddings' Belgariad.
  • Bronwyn in Bronwyn's Bane. Living with a serious curse increases her anger management issues.
  • Ciaphas Cain HERO OF THE IMPERIUM's comrades Colonel Kasteen and Trooper (later Corporal) Magot fit this trope to a T, Magot almost to the point of being a Psycho Lesbian. And, no, the two redheads are not a couple.
  • Gwen Jones from the Cherry Ames mysteries.
  • Renn from The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.
  • Princess Eilonwy of The Chronicles of Prydain, the extremely temperamental Tsundere Action Girl whose temper is feared even by her friends, and especially her love interest.
    • From the same series, a male example — the boisterous King Smoit, who is jolly and personable with his friends, but unleashes a warrior's temper on those who anger him.
      • Many (probably most) of the girls in Lloyd Alexander's books are fiery redheads.
  • 'Red' Blaze from the Civil War and Floating Outfit novels of J. T. Edson. Blaze is the most hotheaded and impetuous of Edson's heroes.
  • Dylan Marvil from The Clique.
  • The main character of the Dear America book A Coal Miner's Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska complains about everything about her looks except her red hair. At one point, she suddenly remembered that she was her mother's fiery redhead and started yelling at her ungrateful husband with a list of all the things she does for him.
  • Ysabeau Wilce's Crackpot Hall series has both male and female examples with Hotspur and Butcher Brakespeare respectively.
  • Sioned, Sionell, and Feylin, among others of Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies.
  • Karen from Dragons in Our Midst.
  • Princess Elizabeth of The Royal Diaries' Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor can swear up a storm when she wants to.
  • The Fire-witches in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles deserve special mention: when they get angry enough (which is often), their hair explodes.
  • April O'Brien of Everworld, who also has Green Eyes and an Irish ancestry, perhaps to sharpen the contrast between her and her half-sister, who is a blond, antisocial Emotionless Girl.
  • Maggy Mulligan from Faraway Dream.
  • Red in Aaron Allston's Galatea in 2-D; not only does Penny play Women Are Wiser in their Battle Couple, when Penny is dying and only their boss can save her, Red clearly has to fight to keep begging him to do so instead of attacking him.
  • The eponymous Gemma Doyle and her mother.
  • "Red" from Good Omens.
    • Also, Pepper.
  • Ginny Weasley of Harry Potter, as well as Molly and the rest of the Weasleys. A more mellow example is Percy, and he, well...
    • Harry's mother, Lily, was also like this, mostly around James before they ended up hooking up. Hmm, maybe the Potter men have a thing for fiery redheads.
  • I, Robot has engineer Mike Donovan, described as possessed of perpetually unkempt red hair, a short temper, and a generally Hot-Blooded personality, in contrast to his calmer dark-haired work partner Gregory Powell.
  • In Death: Feeney has ginger hair. He may seem rather calm, but he can be explosive when he's angry.
  • C. L. Moore's Jirel of Joiry.
  • In Robert Graves' King Jesus, Jesus has red hair, that being one of the eight "signs of royalty."
  • Clementine from The Liberation of Clementine Tipton.
  • Herrenna the Henna-Haired Harridan, a side character in The Light Fantastic has red hair (per her title) and absolutely no patience or pity for either Rincewind or Twoflower. Oh, and she has a very big sword.
  • Annie, aka Naughty Nan, in The Film of the Book, at least, of Little Men.
  • Arguably, Jack from Lord of the Flies.
  • Madeline from Madeline.
  • In "Nobody Here But—" a short story by Isaac Asimov, protagonist Cliff Anderson is deeply in love with his red-haired girlfriend Mary Ann, but does not quite have the courage to ask her to marry him. Throughout the story Cliff talks about how wonderful Mary Ann is, but always amends his statement with "but she does have red hair;" she acts fiesty and aggressive because that is how girls with red hair act.
  • Randle Patrick McMurphy, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
  • Calliope in John Barnes's One for the Morning Glory.
  • Rachel Elizabeth Dare in Percy Jackson and The Olympians. Although it's never lampshaded, even her initials spell R.E.D.
  • Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackrelmint Ephraim's daughter Longstocking, from the Pippi Longstocking series (and subsequent adaptations). Don't mess with this tank of a little girl.
  • Nerdanel, Maedhros, Amrod, and Amras from The Silmarillion are pretty much the only characters to be described as redheads in J.R.R Tolkien's books. The trope is perhaps averted with Nerdanel and Maedhros: being Fëanor's wife and eldest son, they're respectively strong-willed and slightly unhinged...but still much more cool-headed than the rest of their family.
    • Mahtan.
  • Sisterhood series by Fern Michaels: just ask Kathryn Lucas and Maggie Spritzer. They have red hair and the attitude to match!
  • Ygritte from A Song of Ice and Fire. All redheads are believed to be "kissed by fire" in the wildling culture and have a reputation for spirit. And on the averted side, you have Sansa, Catelyn, and Melisandre, who express their anger in different ways...
  • Tortall's Alanna, begining in the Song of the Lioness books by Tamora Pierce, has flaming red hair, a wicked temper, and, strangely, Purple Eyes.
    • Ditto with Tris in Tammy's Circle of Magic series. Except she doesn't have purple eyes and is somewhat dumpy and rude.
  • Talea in Alan Dean Foster's Spellsinger.
  • Star Wars Expanded Universe: Mara Jade Skywalker, Luke's wife and Deadpan Snarker extraordinaire. She can get very nasty if you hit her Berserk Button.
    • As is her son, Ben Skywalker. The striking similarities between the two (particularly their personalities) are brought up fairly often in profic, especially in Sacrifice, and a lot in fanfic. To be honest, probably the only notable physical feature he inherited from Luke are his eyes.
  • Jennsen Rahl in the Sword of Truth series. In-story, red hair is often (falsely) stereotyped as the hair color of witches among the blond-haired D'Haran purebloods, rather than indicative of personality.
  • In the "Tales of the Branion Realm" series by Fiona Patton, the royal family of an alternate Britain is this - literally. The sovereigns are the Jesus-style avatars of a fire god, and since there are strong Celtic elements to the series, they commonly have red hair. They also have tempers, which is not surprising given that effectively having a fire god inside you is not good for your mental stability.
  • Karen in the Three Worlds Cycle. Specifically in the first quartet, where she appears as a main character. I mean, she takes on freaking Rulke, for Io's sake, not to mention harassing pretty much every main character through the whole quartet. And she just happens to be described as having "extremely fiery red hair"...
  • Time Scout: Margo Smith.
  • Terry Brooks' Voyage of the Jerle Shannara introduces Rue Meridian, who steals airships single-handedly and kills lizard-men, and you had better not tell her she can't.
  • Squirrelflight of Warrior Cats would qualify as a Fiery Redpelt.
    • Her mother, Sandstorm, was one as well.
    • And, of course, Red, who defies her father's wishes to pursue a romance with her Star-Crossed Lover.
  • Aviendha (and, to a lesser extent, all Aiel women) from the Wheel of Time series behave like this. They are quite proficient with the spears and knives they threaten men who make unwanted advances with.
  • Wisty of Witch and Wizard is a Fiery Redhead who can actually light herself on fire.
  • 'Red' Kelly and his sister Kelly Kelly in the Young Bond novels. In fact, the whole Kelly clan might qualify.


Live-Action TV

  • Amy Dumas (Lita of the WWE) was a pretty decent personification of this, being flashy, outgoing, and pretty damn willing to jump in the middle of just about anyone who crossed her, male or female.
  • Jaime Edmondson from The Amazing Race and, to a lesser extent, her team-mate Cara Rosenthal.
  • At least early on, Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a subversion - quiet, plain (in a Hollywood Homely way), not especially strong, and easily the most intelligent and intellectual of the teenage characters. In fact, Oz probably counts too.
    • Not coincidentally, Willow's hair got distinctly more and more red as her character became more assertive and less nerdy and quiet.
    • However, the stereotype was completely avoided when Willow went berserk at the end of Season 6. Her hair turned black. So the only time she is seen as a truly badass redhead is via the alternative-universe Fetish Fuel Vampire Willow.
  • Castle is surrounded by fiery redheads (with varying degrees of redness): his spacy but tough mother, his sweet daughter who isn't afraid to tell him off when necessary, and his police detective partner who is a Badass Action Girl with a gun.
  • Vice-President Mackenzie Allen (Commander In Chief) was encouraged by everyone to resign when death by aneurysm got a hold of the President. Instead, she took the Oath of Office, won the country, and was generally a spitfire who shouldered the responsibility of the Presidency without getting drunk on power - and God help you if you stood in her way. Fiery Redhead, indeed!
  • Eleanor Grey from Covington Cross.
  • Melanie Jonas (formerly Melanie Layton Kiriakis) on Days of Our Lives. Despite being downright saccharine at times, if you get on her bad side, she'll really let you have it. Also, since she's about to gain her sixth love interest in less than three years, she definitely qualifies as an example of Heroes Want Redheads.
  • Major Kira Nerys from Deep Space Nine. Former Bajoran resistance fighter, current second-in-command of Deep Space Nine, and with an always fiery personality. She once beat the shit out of a serial killer while the equivalent of nine months pregnant.
  • Doctor Who
    • Donna Noble, who was probably the loudest companion yet (but that's not necessarily a bad thing).
    • Or the just-as-loud Melanie Bush.
    • Dr. Grace Holloway. Heroes Want Redheads, evidently, if only to go on adventures with and maybe kiss a little.
    • As well as Amy Pond. Not quite as loud, but just as fiery. Actually lampshaded in the show itself, with the line, "Loves a redhead, our Doctor!"
  • Bianca Jackson in Eastenders.
  • Raven Whitney from The Edge of Night.
  • Jool and Sikozu of Farscape.
  • Jordan Radcliffe from First Wave.
  • Red of Fraggle Rock with her extreme tomboy nature, her...very high self-esteem, and her dominant personality (which itself causes numerous conflicts), not to mention her own explicitly stated desires ("The Tale of the Triumphant Princess" anyone?).
  • Inverted on Glee: the only redheaded character is the super sweet Emma. Every other female character (except Brittany and Tina) is extremely fiery.
  • Addison Montgomery - former Montgomery-Shepherd - in Greys Anatomy and Private Practice. She's also pretty successful with men (Derek, Mark, Alex, Kevin, Noah), so she's also an example of Heroes Want Redheads.
  • I Love Lucy: Lucy Ricardo — 60% screwball, 40% spitfire.
  • Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, with the accompanying temper and Green Eyes.
  • When Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak of the Law and Order Special Victims Unit isn't on the scene with guns blazing and taking a hands-on approach to the cases, she is in softball batting practice or bicycling to work.
  • Jennsen Rahl in Legend of the Seeker.
  • Joan from Mad Men.
  • My So-Called Life: central character Angela Chase evokes this trope by dying her hair "crimson glow." Former best friend Sharon Cherski is a lot calmer and more manageable than Angela, but she still easily fits the trope. Same goes with Hallie Lowenthal, the series' resident adult Fiery Redhead.
  • In The Sentinel, we have Naomi Sandburg, who seems like a peace-loving ex-flowerchild, until you threaten her son; Jim's ex-wife Carolyn; and Megan Connor, the Antipodean Amazon.
  • Tess Mercer from Smallville. You do not want to get in her way or get her angry.
  • Ashka, the callous, mean, chronically double-crossing and power-hungry bitch from Spellbinder.
  • Captain Janeway from Star Trek Voyager, though, as she's The Captain, she doesn't have to lose her temper, just give them the Glare of Death. Strong, very expressive, and touchy in her body language even though she's a Celibate Hero, and quickly gets Badass on anyone who threatens her ship or crew.
  • Dr. Beverly Crusher from Star Trek the Next Generation - do not piss her off or you will find yourself dropped by Klingon martial arts faster than you can say 'hypospray'.
  • Tina from What I Like About You
  • Grace Adler of Will and Grace sometimes qualifies.
  • Dr. Dana Scully from The X Files is a deliberate inversion. She is a redhead, but, between her and Mulder, she is the analytical and restrained partner, while the Tall, Dark and Snarky Mulder is the passionate believer. It's also quite rare that we see Scully really angry, and it usually takes something pretty extreme to piss her off. Hurting Mulder in any way is a very bad idea, though.
  • Vyvyan, the resident punk on The Young Ones, actually breaks the bonds of fiery and crosses over into volcanic.
  • Deirdre of The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog gets this way sometimes. Interestingly, she uses an air weapon rather than one of fire.

Tabletop Games

  • The redhead Helena Daphnotarthius, a cleric of the Immortal Valerias, in the Dungeons and Dragons Dawn of the Emperors boxed set. She was "fiery in anger, in romance, in the pursuit of things she wants." She wanted to live "life to its fullest and promote the questionable virtues of reckless abandon and thoughtless enjoyment."
  • Magic: The Gathering gives us Chandra Nalaar, a young and impulsive pyromancer who is as short-tempered as she is dangerous. This makes her, both figuratively and literally, a fiery redhead. And literally on two levels--both in that her powers involve fire and in that, in most of her official art, her hair is actually on fire.
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation Tabletop RPG (Last Unicorn Games) supplement "Planetary Adventures". The adventure "The Enemy You Know" has a redheaded female engineer, who "can be hot-tempered and impulsive" and has a "tendency to charge into situations". She overhears a Vulcan woman speak a phrase in Romulan and confronts her, calling her a "dirty Romulan spy."
  • Warhammer 40000 has Angron, Primarch of the World Eaters. After he becomes a Daemon Prince, he's a literal redhead.


Video Games

  • Tasha/Zadia from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin/Dark Conflict.
  • Natalie from Ape Escape.
  • The titular heroine of Atelier Liese. She is slightly tamer by the time she reappears in Atelier Annie, but still.
  • Kimmy Eckman from Backyard Sports.
  • Subverted hard with Khalid in Baldur's Gate, who is anything but fiery.
    • Nalia in the sequel is a straightforward example, however.
  • Aurora from Black Sigil, with powers to match. So. Many. Fireballs.
  • Tsubaki from Blaz Blue begins as a studious, polite young lady. By the time the second game in the series ends, though, her sense of obligation has begun to clash with her sense of morals, leading to increasingly unstable behavior. Her musical theme reflects this: it's almost an homage to Double Consciousness.
  • Lilith from Borderlands takes this trope literally and has Elemental Powers in a game otherwise mostly devoid of sorcery.
  • Monica Raybrandt in Dark Cloud 2. Even though the game's point of view is centered on Max, she's pretty much the leader in the team and has a...unique sense of humor, especially where Firbits are concerned.
  • What Disgaea 2 Cursed Memories's Adell lacks in gender, he makes up in ridiculous levels of fieriness - both figuratively and literally.
  • At first glance, this trope is averted in Dragon Age: Origins, where pious "good girl" Leliana is a redhead and "bad girl" Morrigan is a brunette. But Morrigan is a frosty kind of dark - sexual but not emotional; whereas Leliana is a former seductress-assassin and potentially an affectionate romance option for the player's character (whether male or female).
    • If Leliana becomes "hardened" due to her personal quest, she plays this trope perfectly straight from then on.
    • Aveline from Dragon Age 2 also seems to be one, and various redheaded NPCs play it straight, subvert it, etc.
  • Jessica from Dragon Quest VIII is a classic Tsunde-redhead with the pigtails to match. She's also the games' richest source of Grade-A fanservice.
    • Ashlynn from Dragon Quest VI is an earlier example of a Fiery Redhead in the series and, like Jessica from VIII, specializes in offensive magic and thus is also literally fiery.
    • And Alena from Dragon Quest IV, who (despite the pointy hat) isn't even a magic user, but instead a princess who would sooner punch her problems away than act like the stereotypical princess her father wants her to be.
  • House Harkonnen from the Dune games. While this trope may not be entirely noticeable in Dune 2 and Dune 2000, this is very prevalent in Emperor: Battle for Dune. Several of the Harkonnen people notably have red hair (including Baron Rakan, Copec, and plenty of the house's infantry) and this very house is known to be cruel even to their own. The Baron does not hesitate one bit to scold a field general who failed a mission, giving a warning like "if this inept performance continues, I'll have you skinned alive!" Indeed, when you view the first FMV cutscene for this house, you hear the previous general cry out in agony, getting tortured by a slow and excruciatingly painful death because he failed his superior leaders. Note that, in the cutscenes, Copec and Rakan have short tempers. In the first cutscene when Gunseng attempts to help his ailing father, Rakan pushes Gunseng away with a hint of anger and tells him to go away. Heck, the whole House of the Harkonnen is corrupt and only consider their own desires, hence the artificial alterations to most of Geidi Prime; hardly anything can grow there by itself and new things require the expense of older substances to develop.
  • Cass in Fallout: New Vegas is a hard drinkin', foul-mouthed spitfire of a woman who also happens to be mighty handy with a shotgun.
  • That Fighter sprite from Final Fantasy I caused nothing but trouble. I hear that he likes swords.
    • Averted, of course, by the White Mage.
    • Subverted in Final Fantasy X with Wakka, who is probably the most laid back character in the game. He has his angry moments, though.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Subverted in the Elibe games: Eliwood and his son Roy are redheads, but very level-headed (The Hot-Blooded one among the Blazing Blade lords is Lightning Bruiser Hector, who happens to have...blue hair.) Same goes to Kent, who's an Officer and a Gentleman and The Lancer to Lyn.
    • Cain from the Archanea games, his genderflipped Expy Sully from Awakening and both Leonie Pinelli and Annette Fantine Dominic from Three Houses play this completely straight, however.
      • Severa, Owain and Cynthia from Awakening, plus Shiro, Ophelia and Selkie from Fates can potentially be fiery redheads. But it depends on who their non-fixed parent is.
  • Ghost Trick gives us an excellent example in the determined, passionate and energetic Lynne.
  • Excepting the game versions and art which depicted her as a blonde or brunette, Tyris Flare of the Golden Axe series. Literally a Fiery Redhead in that she was able to summon explosions and dragons with her magic.
  • Mars Adepts in Golden Sun typically partner this trope with Hot Blood and Personality Powers, making them good cases of Color Coded for Your Convenience. Red hair = fire! As of Golden Sun Dark Dawn, we have:
    • Garet (hair is more brown in his character art, but red on his sprite and he fits the personality)
      • Garet's siblings both demonstrate this trope; his parents, less so.
    • Jenna (hair is maroon, but the personality fits).
    • Akafubu of Kibombo (subverting Magical Negro in the process).
    • Karst (surprisingly, the only Fire Clan member to follow this trope).
    • Tyrell (considering Garet's his father).
    • Eoleo the Champa (debuted in Golden Sun: The Lost Age, but grew into the personality for Dark Dawn).
  • Harvest Moon has various Fiery Redhead's, though the most famous are the two Ann's.
  • Nariko from Heavenly Sword. There has perhaps never been so much red coming out of one head... Excepting, perhaps, cases of massive cranial trauma.
  • In The 1st Degree presents Ruby Garcia. She is a redhead (Captain Obvious), her first name refers to red, and she has the attitude. She is the girlfriend of the defendent James Tobin, and she wants to believe that he's not a murderer. In fact, asking the wrong questions (especially questions that make Tobin sound like a murderer) will get you an explosive outburst from her.
  • Liza, from Kaiser Knuckle.
  • Axel from Kingdom Hearts. Literally.
  • Midna from The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
  • Mass Effect 2: The Normandy crew has two redhead NPCs. One is the The Pollyanna, but the other is a hotheaded Brave Scot who fits even if he's an engineer rather than a fighter.
  • Atlas from Mega Man ZX Advent takes it literally, using fire attacks when merged with Model F. She doesn't mess around.
  • Claus and Kumatora from Mother 3.
  • Also inverted in Neverwinter Nights, in which (by hair color) Aribeth is the closest thing to a redhead among all of the NPCs but is also the most rational and collected of the entire cast (until the dreams begin).
  • Brooks in The Orion Conspiracy plays this trope straight to a T. She can cuss, she can fight, she can have sex, she can do a lot.
  • Joanna Dark from Perfect Dark and its prequel Perfect Dark Zero. Although, in the first game, her hair looks more brown than red, her personality is still Fiery Redhead.
  • Planescape: Torment features the sharp-tongued, passionate, brash tiefling thief Annah-Of-The-Shadows.
  • As stated above, Misty from Pokémon Red and Blue. Flannery (who's a Fire-type Gym Leader) and Gardenia fit to a point, too.
  • Steve Burnside from Resident Evil Code Veronica.
  • Rosenkreuzstilette presents to us Zorne Sepperin, who's a short-tempered, impulsive, and moody little girl with love affections towards Graf Michael Sepperin (whom she regards as her father despite the absence of blood ties) and a knack for creating and throwing bombs a la Bomberman.
  • Aika from Skies of Arcadia. She seems to be aligned with the Red Moon, which embodies heat, as well.
  • Ursula Unquenchablefire, the Amazon leader in The Spellcasting Series. Apparently quite the warrior and leader, but not real big on foreplay.
  • Princess Daisy of Super Mario Land. Friend and unconfirmed cousin of Princess Peach, the redhead Daisy was stated as a tomboy in Mario Tennis, her first modern appearance, and is known for her energetic, loud, and competitive character traits.
  • Asch from Tales of the Abyss. "I'm secretly helping the good guys out, but if they ask too many questions, I'll tell them," "Shut up, you stupid bastards"! "Quit asking so many damn questions and figure things out for yourself"!
  • Trauma Team features Maria Torres, who is in first response. She seems pretty tanned, too.
  • Of all the Redheads in The Witcher, Princess Adda is the one who could be called fiery. Triss has her moments but is more often the tactician in combat or politics, as does Shanni, but she is more often motherly.
  • Undyne in Undertale.
  • What, no Hwoarang? He may have dyed his haier red, but he compensates with a damn exploding temper.


Visual Novels

Cquote1

 Rena: When Keiichi-san is angry, he's twice [as scary as Oryou].

Keiichi: However, when Rena is angry she's twice as scary again.

Cquote2
  • Aoko and Akiha from Tsukihime and Melty Blood. Aoko's hair is probably dyed, as it was brown when she was younger. Aoko is one of the strongest mages in the world who enjoys messing with people and blowing stuff up. Akiha's hair is normally a severe black, as befitting an Ojou, but it Turns Red when she consciously or unconsciously calls upon her demonic blood to power up. She fits this trope well, since she gets redder the more fiery she gets, and gets more fiery the redder she gets. She's still in control until the point that her eyes turn red too, which is the sign that she's gone insane.
    • Akiha once claimed that the redness was her "true" hair color, but only in the sense that her "true" nature was demonic — she was being rather negative at the time. Her cousin, Kouma, has more demon blood than she does and still normally has black hair, and he's not the kind of guy who would bother with disguises.
  • Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko no Naku Koro ni. His half-sister Ange is a subversion of this trope.
  • Ukyo from Shall We Date Ninja Shadow downplays the trope in that he's emotional and impulsive in private, but coolheaded at his police and Vigilante job. Ryuunosuke straight-up averts it unless he's very, VERY angry.


Webcomics

Cquote1

 Reynardine: (To Antimony) Haha! Well, you may have everyone fooled with your stoic facade, but not me! You have a fire in you, child, a fire that belonged to your mother!

Cquote2
  • Mal from Head Trip. She can be calm, rational, and logical, but she is definitely a Heroic Sociopath and a lot more fun when she's being violent to the stupid people.
  • Dave from Homestuck, sort of - though the comic is mostly in black and white, fan art depicted him with red hair so much that the author eventually decided to declare that he does via Word of God.
  • Princess Voluptua from The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob.
  • Dana, "Cookie's Elle-Boy Rival" in the Jet Dream "It's Cookie!" Remix Comics. He's modeled on Chili Storm from Millie the Model (see above).
  • Ratheel of Juathuur is a male example.
  • Benny of Looking for Group is a hot, redheaded troll with a very short temper. She happily beats the living daylights out of anyone that irritates her...and she's a priestess.
  • MAG ISA — (subversion) Claudita is a red-head but violence is always her last resort.
  • Samantha from Molten Blade, who is another example of a literally fiery redhead in addition to the intended meaning.
  • Miriam from Out There.
  • Haley Starshine from Order of the Stick. "Sneak attack- BITCH!"
    • Haley is a bit of a subversion: she suffers from considerable self-loathing and feels it necessary to hide her true feelings much of the time, believing people wouldn't like her if they really knew her.
  • Kestrel from Queen of Wands.
  • Anja Baker from Regular Guy. Though she mostly keeps it on a low simmer, she is also the character least likely to put up with BS.
  • The eponymous main character of Sarah Zero is an example of this. Sarah is headstrong, loud, and the guitarist in a rock band.
  • Freija from The Senkari is implied to be this.
  • Oasis from Sluggy Freelance. She tends to alternate between extreme giddiness (usually when Torg acts nice to her) and extreme jealousy and rage (usually when something comes between her and Torg). Justified since these emotions were programmed into her by Dr. Steve. In addition, she's frequently accompanied by fire-related motifs such as The Phoenix. It turns out that "fiery" is literal; she's pyrokinetic.
  • Marron, the eggroll/bondage emporium waitress turned artist, from Voodoo Walrus is an example of this as her introduction involves threatening a co-worker with an iron maiden and then smashing a phone book into the skull of one of the main characters when he gets a little too blatant with his flirtations.
    • Mac could be seen as another example of this, but it's been over a year since she was last depicted with her natural red hair color.
  • Monica Villareal from Wapsi Square, although in comparison to her friend Shelly or the golem girls, she doesn't particularly stick out in terms of fieryness.


Web Original


Western Animation

Real Life

  • A lot of people, as listed on this site.
    • Winston Churchill, anyone? Seeing as most of the photographs we have of him are monochrome, you'll be forgiven for not knowing this.
  • William Bailey-Rose, aka Axl Rose, is a prime example of this. He even beat up an audience member during a concert who was taping him.
  • Dave Mustaine from Megadeth, probably best known for his bitter rivalry with his ex band mates from Metallica and his anger in his music and lifestyle.
  • Reba McEntire. Just look at the words to this song, or watch her own tv show Reba.
  • Queen Elizabeth I, who once boxed the ears of a courtier she considered overdressed. (Didn't help that the woman had secretly married her formerly-faithful Heterosexual Life Partners). She could also curse like a sailor and had a real-life Death Glare.
    • Also, her descendant and grandson to the actual Queen Elizabeth II, Henry of Wales, aka Prince Harry.
      • Actually, since Queen Elizabeth I was the Virgin Queen, she did not have any descendants. According to the other wiki, she is the current queen's first cousin fourteen times removed. They do share common ancestry, however, so the recessive gene still shows up.
  • Statistically speaking, the Scottish have more redheads per capita than any nationality, and we all know the stereotypes about Scots. In addition, the United States has more redheads than anywhere else in the world.
    • Both the Scots and the Irish inherited their red hair from Norse (predominantly Danish and Norwegian) invaders. In fact, the predominance of red hair among the Norse (Vikings) and Danes is likely the source of the vast majority of redhead stereotypes in European cultures.
      • That's not true, Roman sources inform us that the Celts did indeed have red hair, in sufficient numbers to be noticeable. That would be long before the Norse were in a position to invade. It should also be noted that the two groups most Badass gods were redheaded: the Morrigan, and Thor.
      • It is far more likely that red hair increased in prevalence amongst the Norse after they brought back some readheaded slaves to the Nordic countries, and then had kids with them.
  • Red hair is also very common among Israelis.
  • King Henry II
    • More famously still, Henry the VIII.
  • Boudica, or Boadicea, had reddish-brown hair.
  • Alicia Witt.
  • Brenda K. Starr.
  • Marina Anissina.
  • Lindsay Lohan.
  • Wynonna freakin' Judd. At least, in her early solo years.
  • The feisty Alex Kingston, known for her strong female roles, is a natural redhead but has gone for a blonde look since her forties.
  • Jo Dee Messina.
  • Tori Amos.
  • Anastasia Romanov.
  • Shirley Manson.
  • Gail Simone.
  • Saxophone Queen Candy Dulfer.
  • Ongoing research has suggested that redheads have a lower, or at least different, pain threshold than other people do.
  • Ginger Baker from Cream.
  • Hannie Schaft, a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II, better known as "the girl with the red hair".
  • Bobby Flay from the Food Network. Not only does he have red hair, but his cooking is fiery as well.
  • As of July 2011, Katy Perry.
  • Thom Yorke of Radiohead, who was full-on ginger around 1995 and still has a slightly red hair, is known for being rather standoffish and hostile during interviews and towards celebrities.
  • Brad Bird.
  • Chilean sports announcer/commenter Pedro Carcuro, when he goes into Large Ham mode. ME PONGO DE PIEEEEE!!
  • Bella Thorne.
  • Genghis Khan.
  • Neandertals may have been the original redheads.
  • Orangutans have red fur and can get very aggressive that they can beat adult human to death.
  • Andrew Jackson had red hair when he was young, but when he became the 7th president of The United States, his hair was mostly gray/white.
  1. Elizabath Sloane, played by Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane (2016)
  2. but she's got brown hair; in fact, most fans think Jazz and her brother are adopted.
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