Why do Japanese games like Pokémon represent poison using purple and not green?

In Japanese video games, toxic environments and poison status effects tend to be purple, whereas in western games, pools of poison and objects that are toxic to the player are most often green. This has not escaped the notice of some gamers, prompting numerous social media discussions on why these different color associations exist – including a thread on Japanese X this month.

*Green poison in Divinity Original Sin, made by Belgium-based Larian Studios (Image Source: Beamdog Forums).*

The thread began with user @hou_PN’s report on a discussion between people from different countries about how poison is represented. They then hosted a survey on the color of poison. Although it’s not clear which country the respondents came from, as it was hosted on X in Japanese, it is likely that many of the 4893 people who answered are from Japan. It revealed that 88.7% respondents associated poison with the color purple.

??の「毒の色」の話で。
??「ポケモンとかやってると思うんだけど、??人って「毒=紫」だよね」
??「確かに！自分は”紫”って雅な色だと思うんだけどね」
??「逆に皆さんは何色を”毒”だと感じるんです？」
??「”緑”だな、自分は」
??「”緑”だね」
??「”緑”だよ！」
”緑”って??だと回復系が多い不思議っ
— 鳳(ホウ) (@hou_PN) February 1, 2024

Post translation: About the “color of poison” in Japan:
American: I always think this when playing games like Pokémon, but in Japan, poison = purple doesn’t it?
French: That’s true! But for me, purple is an elegant color.
Japanese: So, which color seems like “poison” to you?
German: It’s green for me.
French: It’s green.
American: It’s green!
It’s strange that green has many associations with recovery in Japan.

poison color association survey Japanese X Twitter post — ***Survey post translation:*** *When you hear “poison”, which color do you associate with it?*
*Purple: 88.7%*
*Green: 8.2%*
*Other: 3.1%*

This is not the first time these color differences have been commented upon. The purple vs green poison topic pops up on X in Japanese occasionally, with a previous thread from 2021 also getting many responses. A similar query popped up in English on Reddit about 6 months ago.

[deleted by user]
by inNoStupidQuestions

Pokémon in particular seems to be an example that has stuck in many players’ brains when talking about this topic. There are many poison-type Pokémon that are purple, including Ekans, Nidoran, Grimer and recent addition Pecharunt (who shows up with poisoned mochi in the Scarlet & Violet DLC). In the Dragon Quest series, deadly poison swamps are dark purple, and the Poison Breath attack is also this color. The Mario series also tends to go with purple poison- who can forget all those oozing purple swamps in Super Mario Odyssey?

However, there are plenty of exceptions in Japanese games where poison is colored green. For example, the poison status effect in the Final Fantasy series tends to be green, with some exceptions like Final Fantasy IX, where the poison spell and status are purple colored. Japanese games with settings inspired by overseas locations sometimes opt for green too; an example would be the eerie green glow of the Black Gulch in the medieval Europe-inspired Dark Souls 2. The Toxic Tower stage from Donkey Kong Country 2 features pools of green poison, but this is probably because this entry in the Japanese franchise was developed by British developer Rare.

Dark Souls 2 Black Gulch — *The Black Gulch area in FromSoftware’s Dark Souls 2 (Image source: TheGamer).*

So, what is the reason for these different color associations? The most common theory is that it relates to the history of poisonous substances in Japan and abroad. Wolfsbane, with its bluish-purple flowers was a commonly used source of poison in Japan. Green’s association with poison in the west is likely linked to the invention of highly toxic vivid green pigments like Paris Green and Scheele’s Green. Scheele’s Green (invented in 1775) and similar compound Paris Green (invented in 1814) became highly fashionable among the wealthy for their brilliant color, being used in paints, wallpapers and to dye clothes. However, exposure to these toxic arsenic pigments over time gradually caused serious health problems, such as cancer. Thus, vivid shades of green became strongly associated with poison.

It was also theorized that old imagery of witches cooking up poisons from green plants could also have influenced the “green equals poison” association in the West

これ、元ツイでもリプ・引用RTでも言ってるけど、日本はトリカブト、西洋はシェーレグリーン・パリスグリーン(花緑青)の影響が大きそうだと思う。
後、以前トゥゲッターで何故毒の色は日本は紫で西洋は緑かについてまとめられてたから、この記事貼ります。https://t.co/IDILiNvLrd https://t.co/cTIucSEbGO
— ✞*ʚ┏┛ 旧支配者のくとぅるふくん ┗┓ɞ* ✞ (@Kutuluu_iaia) February 2, 2024

Post translation: I said this in my reply to/retweet of the original tweet, but I think wolfsbane had a big influence on Japan’s (color association with poison), whereas the West was significantly influenced by Scheele’s Green and Paris Green (Emerald Green). Also, I’m posting this link to an article on Togetter where I previously wrote about why the color of poison is purple in Japan and green in the West.

これ、日本ではポピュラーな毒の原料はトリカブト（花が紫）だけど西洋では毒薬は魔女が作る＝薬草の緑のイメージが強いからって説は聞いたことある。 https://t.co/5CUsQf4gls
— ぽい (@poipyonP) February 2, 2024

Post translation: I’ve heard that aconite (from wolfsbane which has purple flowers) is a popular poison ingredient in Japan, but in the West, poisonous medicines are made by witches, which is why there is a strong association with green medicinal plants.

There were also some other theories on the different color associations, including that it may be related to historical differences in food culture.

https://twitter.com/TexeTexe_GenKai/status/1753147703461326976?s=20

Post translation: I heard somewhere that this is to do with food culture. Europe and America = a culture of meat-based cuisine, Japan = a culture of vegetable-based cuisine. Meat turns green when it rots but vegetables turn purple when they rot. Rotten food is poisonous.

What color comes into your mind when you think of poison and what are your most memorable poison-related moments in gaming?