When Fic Authors Describe Jonouchi Katsuya's Hair As Dyed.

When fic authors describe Jonouchi Katsuya's hair as dyed.

I get it, okay?

I get that usually you can find a blond delinquent in Japanese media and assume that the hair dying is an artifact of that. But we see that he's been blond since he was a kid, he wasn't rebelliously dying his hair to look like a thug when he was eight.

AND it's thematic okay!

People can assume Jou has dyed his hair and that changes their perceptions of him--they say ah he must be a violent thug, he's performing the Violent Thug Indicators. But he's not, and if he had been dying his hair when he was in the gang I think he would have stopped sometime after becoming friends with Yugi, as a physical demonstration of how he's leaving his violent past behind him.

The blond hair is just another way to indicate what assumptions people make about him not knowing the truth behind them.

For example blond hair = thug but really he's just half American and the hair is natural.

In duelist kingdom he really wants the money and people assume it's because he's poor and wants to spend it on getting cool stuff, but actually it's because his sister needs a surgery.

People choose Jou to duel because they believe he's an idiot and they can manipulate and beat him easily, and he is dumb and easily manipulated but also constantly surpassing people's expectations.