Magical Girls By Colour: Purple Edition
Of all the colours so far, Purple is actually the rarest in the genre - at least for the heroines. It’s often considered a villain colour, and associated with redemption arcs and stoic older sister types. But how many of these rare characters truly follow that path?
Mew Zakuro of Tokyo Mew Mew - 2000
Zakuro begins her Mew journey as a solo superhero by night, and independent pop star by day. The eldest of the group, and and only child, Zakuro is a natural loner, yet when required, steps up into a leadership role.
Although initially opposed to teamwork, Zakuro is later proven to be deeply loyal and passionate about her friendships, often acting as an older sister whom the others turn to for advice. Zakuro, though reserved, is always polite and later becomes openly friendly with others. She is intelligent, particularly when it comes to street-smarts, and thus makes a good secondary leader for the group.
Like the other Mews, Zakuro’s power comes from an animal, namely the Grey Wolf, and includes energy control using her whip weapon. Her idol career also means she’s a trained dancer and acrobat, and her transformation increases her already high strength and flexibility.
Initially a minor antagonist, Onpu is initially opposed to the Doremi witches’ trio, as well as their competitor. It is only later in the series that she changes to a protagonist, and comes to view the other girls as her equals and partners.
Much like Zakuro, though, once she warms to her teammates, and shares much of Zakuro’s personality, as well as also being an idol.
Onpu, however, has additional depth to her character. While on the surface she may be friendly and intellegent, it’s shown she often feels herself to be inadequate and undeserving, often feeling alone and not understood in spite of her friendships.
Milky Rose of Yes Precure 5 GoGo
Mliky Rose is the first Purple character to introduce the idea of a fallen character to the Purple group, a trope that would continue throughout the Precure franchise, and go on to influence many others.
Although she was not evil, Milky Rose lost her world and her love before she was able to redeem herself and become a magical girl. Her traumatic past often influences her ability to function, and her difference in origin also puts her at odds with her team and the world she now lives in.
Milky Rose is also considered the youngest and most immature of her group, the polar opposite of her purple predecessors. In spite of this, she’s still highly driven and motivated by success.
Cure Coral- Tropical Rouge Precure
While other since Milky Rose all followed the more traditional big sister and redemption tropes of purple characters, Sango takes the trope in a new direction.
Sango is naturally kind and, while lacking in confidence, is eager to make friends and isn’t scared to approach people. Unlike the others on this list, who tend to be disinterested in such things, she has a deep love of makeup and beauty, and is arguably the most traditionally feminine of her group.
Like her predecessors, she is deeply protective of her friends, and is on her way to stardom, pursuing a modeling career.
Sara/Sandy/ Xiao Qian of BALALA
Although not Balala’s first purple character - Lily before her followed the traditional fallen character turned big sister arc - Sara differs from the usual tropes.
The youngest by several years, she’s a gifted fairy whose search for her mother and intelligence beyond her years lead her to cause chaos for her friends. In spite of her powers and genius-level IQ, she’s often thoughtless about how her actions affect others, and has trouble making friends. Unlike the usual loner trope, it’s not intentional, and she quickly warms to the older girls sent to help her.
For the most part, Syuel (also spelt Shuel) follows the redemption arc seen on her Japanese predecessors. But, we decided to mention her, as she’s one of the rare villain characters to get a full transformation sequence!
Although she follows the same issues as the rest of her group, which is that, though her initial suit is purple, her powers and later outfits are indeed green. But, her very big-sisterly nature, high levels of intelligence, and the fact she’s often more comfortable on her own or outside of the group lend her a lot of purple tropes.
Lolirock’s Carissa is quite unique.
A team player at heart, she’s a sporty tomboy who tends to follow the older, more experienced members of the group. However, she also has a tendency to show off, and does tend to act without thinking when left to her own devices, which rarely works out well.
Sage and Clover of Star Darlings
Disney’s Star Darlings has three different purple magical girls.
Sage is arguably the group leader, and in many ways her personality far better fits the typical pink character archetype. But, like purples, she does have a habit of acting without thinking things through or conscidering others.
On the other hand, Clover, who is a more minor character within the series, clearly fits within typical purple tropes. She appears older and more mature than the others, is often seen as distant and independent by the others, yet is often deeply lonely. She often struggles to explain what she means and can be misinterpreted by her friends. But she’s also very intellegent and a natural performer.
Purple, of all character colours, is the most likely we’ve found to be partially present in a character, both aesthetically and trope wise.
Angel Salvia has a purple uniform and eyes, but is otherwise red-themed, in terms of her aethetics and personality. Yet, though her backstory varies greatly from manga to anime, it’s similar to that of Zakuro.
Sailor Saturn also possesses purple elements, though sometimes these are portrayed as navy blue or even grey. She possesses the same sisterly nature as Zakuro, but is portrayed as younger.
Who is your favourite purple magical girl? Let us know below!
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