Among trolls, hemotyping is an “old tradition whereby one types in his or her own blood coloUr.”
It is one of two prominent troll traditions regarding online communication, the other being the quirk.
While blood color is considered a highly important trait on Alternia, it is unknown to what extent hemotyping is regulated among Alternian trolls. A troll such as Karkat Vantas who wishes to hide their blood color from other trolls may instead employ “lame gray anonymity” (and matching gray clothing and symbol), though other trolls may find this to be a boring or uncool trait.
Like other characters, a troll's choice in typing color seems to be reflected in their speech. While a quirk is sometimes considered a kind of accent, it is unknown whether the color of a troll's speech has any audible quality to it. Some trolls have also been known to write in ink matching their blood color.
In Homestuck[]
| Aradia and Damara Megido #a10000 |
Tavros and Rufioh Nitram #a15000 |
Sollux and Mituna Captor #a1a100 |
Karkat Vantas (anonymity) #626262 |
Nepeta and Meulin Leijon #416600 |
Kanaya and Porrim Maryam #008141 |
| Kankri Vantas and future Karkat #ff0000 | |||||
| Terezi and Latula Pyrope #008282 |
Vriska and Aranea Serket, Mindfang's book #005682 |
Equius and Horuss Zahhak, Aradiabot #000056 |
Gamzee and Kurloz Makara #2b0057 |
Eridan and Cronus Ampora #6a006a |
Feferi and Meenah Peixes, the Condesce #77003c |
In the comic, there is some minor inconsistency in the exact hex code color used by each troll.
- During the intermission narrated by Doc Scratch, Gamzee types in a brighter purple to be more easily read on a black background, with the hex code #4200b0 (referencing Gamzee's association with drugs and stoner culture).
- Seemingly in error, during his appearances in the Openbound flashes, Horuss' speech is rendered in the purple blood color, rather than that of his dancestor Equius.
In Hiveswap[]
In Act 1, Xefros Tritoh and Dammek are shown to communicate with the Rebelgram chat client which, rather than displaying blood colored text, shows messages in white on a blood colored background:
| Xefros Tritoh #bb0000 |
Dammek #b25900 |
In Act 2, most communication is face to face; as such, the characters' text colors are slightly lighter and more muted than their actual blood colors so as to show up better on a black background. Chittr headers and direct message text are also rendered in these colors:
| Rust bloods #f42123 |
Bronze bloods #cd7f32 |
Gold bloods #abab1a |
Olive bloods #71a020 |
Jade bloods #2caa6b |
| Teal bloods #26baba |
Blue bloods #3796c6 |
Indigo bloods #6464ff |
Purple bloods #a954ff |
Violet bloods #791a79 |
Trizza Tethis #d121c1 |
In Hiveswap Friendship Simulator (Dubiously Canon)[]
Inversely, dialogue in Hiveswap Friendsim is depicted as white text on a blood colored background, so these colors have been slightly adjusted to better contrast white:
| Rust #6f210e |
Bronze #a25200 |
Gold #a2a200 |
Olive #426800 |
Jade #008342 |
Teal #008484 |
Blue #005682 |
Indigo #000058 |
Purple #2c0059 |
Other text colors[]
Despite not being trolls, Calliope and Caliborn both refer to hemotyping, though in the context of their decision to abstain from it, instead hiding their blood colors behind grey much like Karkat does. After killing his sister, Caliborn instead begins to type in her blood color, as a trophy of his victory.
Lacking variable blood colors, humans are instead usually inclined to type in their eye color, though no cultural reason for this is provided. In many cases but not all, this color is similar to the color that human wears on their clothing.
Sprite speech is depicted in a color unique to each sprite, and they seem to replicate this color when communicating digitally. All known trolls' sprites match the color of their associated troll; the humans' sprites, however, are associated with the colors of their human's ectobiological family members, with some slight variation. Sprites are able to manifest physical writing in this color, though at some point it fades to an inky black.
Dad is unique among Serious Business users for typing in a color other than black. Doc Scratch types in pure white, almost impossible to read without his unique dark green background or by highlighting his text by mouse.
| John Egbert and Jane's sprites #0715cd |
Rose Lalonde and Roxy's sprites #b536da |
Dave Strider, Lil Hal and Dirk's sprites #e00707 |
Jade Harley and Jake's sprites #4ac925 |
| Jane Crocker and Nannasprite #00d5f2 |
Roxy Lalonde #ff6ff2 |
Dirk Strider and Dave's sprites #f2a400 |
Jake English and Jade's sprites #1f9400 |
| Jaspersprite #f141ef |
| Calliope #929292 |
Caliborn (anonymity) #323232 |
Caliborn ("hemotyping") #2ed73a |
| Dad and fedorafreak #4b4b4b |
While neither Joey Claire nor Jude Harley have been seen using any online communication, their speech in Hiveswap is color coded. Much like John and Jade, while the kids wear green and blue on their clothing, respectively, their speech is colored the opposite.
| Joey Claire #71daff |
Jude Harley #d3ff8f |
In The Homestuck Epilogues and Homestuck: Beyond Canon (Dubiously Canon)[]
Starting in The Homestuck Epilogues and continuing into Homestuck: Beyond Canon, some characters' text colors were changed. Notably, rather than in a sprite color, Davepetasprite^2's speech was instead rendered in Nepeta's blood color. Some of these changes may have served to improve readability in the Epilogues' print format.
Hemotyping continues to be practiced by trolls on Earth C, with Vriska Maryam-Lalonde, Swifer Eggmop and Cliper Borden all typing and speaking in the same colors as their Alternian counterparts. Harry Anderson Egbert and Yiffany Longstocking Lalonde Harley all type and speak in unique colors, while Tavros Crocker uses the same color as his "uncle" Gamzee.
| Jane Crocker #0097d7 |
Karkat Vantas #7c7e81 |
Calliope #a1a3a6 |
Eridan Ampora #7e0048 |
| Harry Anderson Egbert #0671cd |
Tavros Crocker #2b0057 |
Yiffany Longstocking #d00009 |
| Avril Thorpe #FFC600 |
Imode Kurita #BDB49C |
Silas Beauregard #71D666 |
Trivia[]
- A troll's text color occasionally seems not to match up exactly with the color of their blood, with Equius and Gamzee in Homestuck as notable examples. As blood color may be subject to variation, however, based on the compression of a comic panel, environmental factors such as lighting, and presumably slight biological variations, the accuracy to which any given troll knows their exact blood color is not clear.