With season 2 of Good Omens now streaming on Amazon Prime, fans are once again obsessing over a certain angel and demon. Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) the angel and Crowley (David Tennant) the demon are the slow-burn pair we can’t get enough of. Aziraphale is relatable with his deep love of books and tasty treats, but for me, Crowley’s look and attitude are everything. His little snake sideburn tattoo is the best. Then, there’s that car, those clothes, and of course, there is his iconic red hair.
Since season 1 of the show, Crowley’s hair has been a point of discussion for fans. In the original Good Omens novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Crowley had dark hair. Tennant himself has naturally dark brown hair. So, when promotional pictures were released showing Tennant with red hair, fans had questions. Although his hair was still dark, it wasn’t what everyone was expecting. As it turns out, it seems the coloring is an intentional nod to Hell, possibly right down to his exact shade.
Is it a sin to look as good as Crowley?
Before the premiere of the first season, Tennant spoke about the infamous red hair color during an interview. Tennant said the design team linked to his demonic origins. “It wasn’t in the book, but red seemed quite appealing as he’s from the flames. There’s also a part of me as an actor who likes to transform.” Crowley’s hair is very much linked to his personality. Through flashbacks, we see Crowley’s hairstyles change from era to era, whereas Aziraphale always seems to keep his hair the same. Maybe it’s because the demon always wants to look good. (And he always does.)
Beyond the obvious connection between Crowley’s red hair and the blazing flames associated with Hell, fans may have found an even deeper link between the underworld and Crowley’s hair. For those of you who are not hair dye enthusiasts, hair color is ranked on a scale from 1 to 10. The darkest shade of black is a 1, and the lightest shade of blonde is 10. Every other color falls somewhere on that scale. Many hair dye colors have decimals because they fall in between solid colors.
One fan tweeted that the red hair dye color number to match Crowley’s is 6.66. It’s just a decimal away from being the mark of the Beast. I guess it only makes sense that the enticing deep shade of red is somehow connected to something that is supposedly evil.
The theory has caught on both on Twitter and Tumblr, where Neil Gaiman himself is fairly active, and the fan who posted the above tweet also said that Gaiman liked the post on Tumblr.
Now that most of us have watched at least the first episode of season 2, we know that Crowley hasn’t always been a demon. When Crowley and Aziraphale first met, they were both angels. This information has spawned a bunch of fan theories about Crowley’s angelic identity. Many (including me) think Crowley was actually once known as the archangel Lucifer. As an angel, Crowley’s hair was still that same red shade, possibly showing that he’s always been demonic and different. It might be another clue to Crowley’s true identity. Or it may be a red herring. (Haha, see what I did there?) No matter what, it looks sinfully good.
(featured image: Prime Video)
