vitiligo-is-not-a-trend

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Hii! So I have a character with vitiligo who is the daughter of a mixed race couple (White and Black), and I was wondering if there was anything I should be extra careful about or if there's anything I need to change.

I'm considering having members of one of the parents family also have vitiligo to justify it, or to draw her in a way where she doesn't have it as a baby (In scenes with baby pictures of her or flashbacks) to express that she developed it later. Though, I'm not 100% sure if that would work exactly.

Personality-wise she's a very bubbly kid that loves to draw and come up with stories to play out with her friends. I have in the past drawn her with a lot of affected skin, about 40-50 percent of her body, is this realistic for an 11 year old? Sorry if i'm asking too many questions haha.

Thank you so much in advance!

Hi! Also don't worry about asking too many questions, I wouldn't have made this blog if I didn't look forward to them :D!

For things to be careful about, you definitely need to wary of any sort of racism/colorism that comes with giving an explicitly non-(fully)white character a disability that changes their skin tone to white. As a mixed person with (universal atp) vitiligo, I've had multiple people make fun of / deny my status as a mixed person because I'm/was too white passing. I've also seen vitiligo used in racist manners to "fix" POC characters (one such example was someone saying that they were using it to "cure" the character). Mixed characters also tend to get depicted as light skinned in media more often than not because of said colorism. (This is of course not me saying that you or this character is perpetuating this "stereotype", I just want you to be aware that these are subjects that might need to be tackled or considered in your story!)

Also to note vitiligo isn't something that develops in utero, so realistically I don't think that she would have it as a baby; usually there's some sort of external stress factor that causes vitiligo to trigger like with most auto-immune disorders.

As for how much her body would be covered I can't really say because it really does vary that much person to person and is extremely dependent on the variation of vitiligo the person has.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

I’ve got a question regarding one of the characters I’m working on. She was the god of the sky, and as a god the patterns of the sky would kinda move across her skin throughout the day, at one point in the story she ends up kinda cursed to live as a human for a long time, and at one point I kinda had the thought pop into my head of what if as a human she has vitiligo a little bit like the clouds that used to move across her skin. but I’m hesitant, I know when people like use it to like portray an animal character and stuff that’s a big no, and it seems like this is in a kinda similar but probably less bad group yk? Perhaps bordering on ok at best. so I wanted to get opinions from someone who actually has vitiligo, what do you think about doing this?

I think it’s important to mention she wouldn’t be the only disabled character, or even the only disabled god (so very tempted to make the god of healing disabled, it would be very funny ((saying this as a physically disabled person))) I’m a bit to tired to word it good right now, but like, i would plan to make it just a very human thing if that makes any sense, just part of the world yk?

so yeah, looking for thoughts, should I definitely not do this? Is there a way it could be done well? Got any options on other things i mentioned?

Honestly something like that would make me uncomfortable. While you're right it isn't exactly the same as the animal thing, it still has the same issues.

Besides the dehumanization issues with the "turning animal or magical prints into vitiligo" thing, it also makes vitiligo out to just be some silly pattern to put on your character. Because people view it as just a "weird/cool skin thing" a lot of people tend to forget or dismiss vitiligo as an actual disability. By taking these very explicitly non-disabled traits in a non-human character design and turning them into a disabled trait in their human character design is extremely uncomfortable (and frankly a little tone-deaf for lack of a better wording) and minimizes the impact that vitiligo can have on people.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Navigation: Helpful Posts

[large text: Navigation: Helpful Posts]

Complication of posts from CrippleCharacters, as well as other blogs providing advice on writing disabled characters!

This post covers the general topics - for posts on specific disabilities, please see part two.

Last update: 12/01/2025

Character Making Basics and Ideas

[large text: Character Making Basics and Ideas]

- How to Start Doing Research When Writing a Disabled Character - Disabilities that are Common but Have no Representation - Facial Differences that Would Be Cool to Actually See Represented - How to Do Historical Research - Our "Disabled Character Ideas" Tag - Our "Character Inspo" Tag - Am I a Bad Person for Not Knowing Something?

How to Describe XYZ?

[large text: How to Describe XYZ?]

- Blindness Tropes: the "Blank Look" - Describing Characters with Facial Differences as Pretty - Difference between Fetishization and Being Seen as Beautiful - First Description: when to mention the Facial Difference - How Often Should You Mention Mobility Aids? - Dialogue and Speech Disorders - Sign Language in Dialogue - Words for Residual Limbs (stumps) - Describing a Limp - Words to Use instead of "Walk" for Wheelchair Users - How to not Describe Facial Differences as "Scary"

How to Draw XYZ?

[large text: How to Draw XYZ?]

- Tips for Drawing Characters with Facial Differences - Annoying Tropes in Art Re:Facial Differences - Drawing Blind Characters - Drawing Amputees - How to Draw (and not draw) Characters with Vitiligo - Drawing Cane Users - Decorating Wheelchairs - Drawing Characters with Down Syndrome - Drawing Characters with Cleft Lip - Drawing Burn Survivors

General

[large text: General]

- What's Off-Limits for Non-disabled Writers? - Writing a Newly Disabled Character - Writing a Visibly Different Character - The Accident - Including Disabled Communities - Disabled Characters in Historical Fiction - Coming up with Fictional Disabilities - Tokenism Discussion - Disability and Superpowers - Curing and "Fixing" Disabled Characters - Is It Realistic to Have Multiple Disabled Characters? - "Jaws Effect": how media affect the real world - Worldbuilding with Accessibility in Mind - How to Let Readers Figure Out the Character's Disability - Does the Disability Need to Have a "Purpose"? - Including Ableism in the Story - Casual Representation vs Fetishization (with albinism as an example) - Including Body Horror without doing an Ableism - Including a Storyline of a Character being Traumatized from Causing Someone Else's Disability

General Tropes

[large text: General Tropes]

- "Super-Crip": Magic and Disability - Abled Characters Pretending to be Disabled - I Did a Trope but It's Too Late - What You Should Do - made with the mask trope in mind, but could be applied more widely - Magical Cure - made with blindness in mind - Including Healing Magic without Disability Erasure - Why is the Cure Trope Bad? - How to Do a Scary Disability Reveal without being Ableist? - Disabled Character Recovering, but without Disability Erasure - Killing off a Disabled Character without Doing an Ableism - Writing a Disabled Villain without Doing an Ableism - What is Fetishization of Disability, and what Isn't - Not All Sign Language Users are Mute and American

Mobility Aids

[large text: Mobility Aids]

- General Overview - Overview, but with More Options - not writing advice, educational - More Detailed Look at Crutches and Canes - Magic Mobility Aids - Tips on Writing Wheelchair Users - Writing a New Cane User - "But Mobility Aids Wouldn't Exist in my Fantasy World" - Basic Information on Service Animals - Should My Non-Modern Wheelchair User use XYZ instead of a Wheelchair? - Accessible Wizarding for Wheelchair Users - Fidgeting with Wheelchairs - Pet Peeves for Cane User Characters - Wheelchair user trying to navigate Inaccessibility - Walkers and Rollators

Other Disabilities

[large text: Other Disabilities]

- Writing Characters with Tourette's Syndrome - Introduction to Writing Characters with Speech Disorders - Writing Little People (characters with dwarfism) - Dwarfism and Fantasy Stories - Stereotypes around Characters with Dwarfism - Writing and Drawing Burn Survivors: basics and resources - Caring for a Burn Scar: the everyday things - On Chemical Burns - Writing Characters with ASPD - Writing a Character with Russel-Silver Syndrome - Complex Dissociative Disorders Terminology: A Basic Primer - What to Consider when Writing about Pollution-induced Disability - Portraying Psychosis + Review of Jinx from Arcane - Difference between "Nonverbal" and "Nonspeaking" - Stereotypes and Tropes around Characters with Gigantism - Writing Guide for Characters with Schizophrenia - Everything Except Hallucinations

Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers

[large text: Making Your Content Accessible to Disabled Readers]

- Why add alt text? - Image Descriptions Tutorial - Writing Image Descriptions for People Who Can't Write Them - "But how do blind people even use alt text" - How to Tag Your Posts (Tumblr) - ScreenReaders and Color Text (Tumblr) - FanFiction Accessibility

Recommended Blogs/Sources

[large text: Recommended Blogs/Sources]

- @blindbeta - @cy-cyborg - @a-little-revolution - @mimzy-writing-online - @writingdrugs - @vitiligo-is-not-a-trend - Fantastic website for any historical needs

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

hi hi!! I have an monk oc with vitiligo in a medieval setting thats heavily based on historical hypocrisies of christianity. i found theres a historical trend to pin physiological occurances and conditions on being religious in nature. so, this character developed acrofacial vitiligo in childhood that extends around the forehead and hands and feet (also to the ears, so he has hearing issues - not very aware of it though he blames everything about himself on being some type of religious thing since the other monks insist so too). this is by all means only the condition, but the monks interpret it as stigmata due to the placement. especially with burns at the areas with vitiligo since he isn't really getting treatment, that is also conflated/explained as being stigmata. as such hes made to believe so too that, but i want to make it clear that this ISN'T the case, that this ISNT stigmata, theres actual physical causes being ignored, especially with how disregard for how it actually affects him. it contributes to a general thread for the writing how in these monasteries pain and sickness was entirely glorified and remained untreated. ive been trying to do research to go into the disabled side of things for vitiligo and make it clear that this is for the larger narrative, basically kinda pointing out how people aestheticize it and ignore the disabled aspect of it. so uh. i just wanted to ask if you think this is fine or completely disastrous sjkshksjksdjs id hate to make people with vitiligo uncomfortable since it does try to grapple discrimination and fetishization.... especially because he himself is in nsfw settings a lot (the vitiligo is not a topic in the nsfw at all, i avoid that entirely) if you have advice to change things or anything else please do tell!

Honestly I AM a little conflicted on how I feel about this (which is why its been sitting in the inbox sorry lmao). Mainly because I DO think it's important to acknowledge that these views did and DO still exist, and to ignore the discrimination that people faced in history is obviously bad. On the other hand, this feels like more of a story best suited to be told from someone with a lived experience of these things, and feels uncomfortable coming from an outsiders perspective.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Gonna start frothing at the mouth.

I understand that the sentiment is always positive in context but it feels SO weird to me how people are always like "omg vitiligo is soooo pretty people with vitiligo are sooo sexy can't believe god gifted them with two skin tones" (<- actual comments I've seen). Like yes the positivity is nice but it feels like fetishizing the disorder and always makes me uncomfortable...

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Not all marks or discolouration can be attributed to vitiligo, so I was wondering if you would ever assume a character has vitiligo just because they had lighter discolouration on their skin? I've always found it strange how people treat vitiligo as simply a way to add fun patterning to their characters, especially since real vitiligo isn't like that at all. Because of those people though, I am a little worried that if I were to ever experiment with patterns on a character's skin, some may misinterpret them as being from vitiligo despite looking nothing like the real autoimmune disease. Thoughts?

You're that (unfortunately) because of those people/depictions the assumption that it is vitiligo will most likely occur. TBH I don't think there is any real way to avoid it, even when the characters are explicitly not human.

If you do want to experiment with patterns on skin you can try using tattoos, make up, scarification, tanning, or even metal work! Although you would still have to be careful to make sure you arent accidentally appropriating any cultures with these things tho!

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

heyo! just found your blog, great advice here!

so in a story im working on, one of the major characters has vitiligo (not sure what type yet). story is a space war kind of setting, and this character is a humanoid alien species with insect wings/antennae- other than making sure to avoid patterns that look like insect patterns, is there anything i should specifically avoid in this context?

also, she is the main character's girlfriend- is there anything i should make sure to keep in mind here and/or avoid? if its relevant, main character is human specifically because im writing my own disabilities into the hero. these two characters were originally not planned to be in a relationship, that just kinda happened while writing, i accidentally gave them good chemistry lol

sorry for rambling a bit at the end, thanks for taking the time for this :3

I think it's fine and youre welcome!!

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

How do you feel about animal characters with vitiligo? Cause animals can have it just in general n such. Or is cause there is so much bad association with animals n vitiligo on humans would rather have us just avoid that?

That’s perfectly fine!

Just make sure the vitiligo doesn’t look too much like animal print :P

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

I am so sorry to be ranting about a fucking Disney money sorry I mean movie (that was genuine Freudian Slip) but like….OUGH!!!!! WTF!!!! Not only are the villains all disabled, Mufasa is consistently ostracized and made fun of for being of “common blood”…HUH???? WHAT????? Like first off that’s not how lions function….secondly they’re putting way too much emphasis on the importance of blood ties in a movie that’s supposed to be about found family…

Like not only are the white lions are disabled, it’s even worse when you consider that the fact that they were made that way PURELY for an aesthetic reason.

ALSO!!! IRL??? White lions almost always come from abusive practices and inbreeding and tend to have extreme debilitating health issues because of that, and are bred solely for the purpose of wowing tourists.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

The bad guys in Mufasa: We were all ostracized for having a phenological disability and because of that we’re gonna fucking become genocidal colonizers

My honest to god reaction:

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

for a d&d campaign i made an elf with vitiligo, but then i was allowed to make her into a centaur instead like i originally wanted. as long as i don't make her horse body into a paint horse coloration, is this alright?

Yeah that’s fine! An animal with a pattern can still have vitiligo as long as the vitiligo itself ISNT the pattern

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Ok so, if an animal character has patterns its not the best idea to make them a person with vitiligo when you draw them human. Thats perfectly reasonable. But what if this animal has patterns BECAUSE they themself have vitiligo? Is that ok to draw their humanization with it? Just hypothetically speaking

As in the animal with vitiligo is basically remaking an animal based pattern? Like "oh thats not a dalmatian, thats a dog with so much vitiligo the original fur coat looks like spots"??

Honestly that makes me super uncomfortable; please dont do that, once again vitiligo isnt a tool to make certain aesthetics or to treat like makeup or whatever.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Is it ok for a person with vitiligo to temporarily become a non-human entity? For reference: supernatural mystery genre, this is something that has happened to almost the entire cast, and the character has a lot of agency before and afterwards (being one of the main investigators). The vitiligo plays no role in any of this, they just happen to have it.

Yeah that's fine :)!

The issue isnt non-human transformation, its utilizing vitiligo as a means of conveying non-human markings, like tiger stripes.

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Some more examples!

hey! apologies if this has been asked already or if it's a question you're not well equipped to answer, but do you have any advice on how to depict vitiligo in art (< not regarding patterns, but how to stylize the pale spots themselves? if that makes sense at all). thank you and have a great day/night :]

It’ll depend on your art style so here’s a very simple “cheat sheet” that should hopefully help regardless! I’ll also be reblogging this post with examples of my own art!

Text in image under cut:

Hair doesn’t always lose pigmentation!

Color reflects undertone of skin

can vary in lightness

blood pooling can make it more sat[urated] or look darker

edges of patch are crisp/solid &/OR dappled.

edges can bleed into dapple

does NOT blur!

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

hey! apologies if this has been asked already or if it's a question you're not well equipped to answer, but do you have any advice on how to depict vitiligo in art (< not regarding patterns, but how to stylize the pale spots themselves? if that makes sense at all). thank you and have a great day/night :]

It’ll depend on your art style so here’s a very simple “cheat sheet” that should hopefully help regardless! I’ll also be reblogging this post with examples of my own art!

Text in image under cut:

Hair doesn’t always lose pigmentation!

Color reflects undertone of skin

can vary in lightness

blood pooling can make it more sat[urated] or look darker

edges of patch are crisp/solid &/OR dappled.

edges can bleed into dapple

does NOT blur!

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

Hihi! I know enough to not do the whole "vitiligo from magic" thing but in my world I do want there to be some sort of physical indicator on somebody's skin of them being a magic user. I had a few things in mind with it being like... very distinct markings/patterns so they would be very much not natural seeming (Like straight edges, symmetrical patterns, etc.) as I know vitiligo is NOT that but I just wanted to get some input/advice on how to put enough distance between it that it's not being equated/associated with vitiligo. I also had another question about a specific character Mara. She's a magic user and would have these markings but she also has vitiligo (Among other things). I was kind of wondering about having the two different types of markings intersect. Is there anything I should avoid with this? (Or should the character be changed to NOT be a magic user/have the markings in general?) I had a few thoughts cross my mind about having the markings appear *over* her vitiligo patches... kind of like overlaying? But not sure if that's okay.

Absolutely no pressure to answer this if this isn't something you do but I appreciate the blog nonetheless!!

Apologies if this doesn't make sense. I just got top surgery a few hours ago (!!!) and am still a bit... *off* from the anesthesia 😅

CONGRATS ON THE TOP SURGERY!!!!! Hope you have a swift and kind recovery!

I think as long as it's obvious that the markings are different from vitiligo it should be fine. Like maybe have the markings reflect the element(or specialization?) so a fire magic user might have flames or embers that could even glow or flicker!

Having the markings go over the vitiligo would also be a good idea as it still treats the vitiligo like its "normal" skin, and helps differentiate the markings from the vitiligo!

As vocal as I am about vitiligo not being a magical side-effect I am a sucker for magic leaving physical impressions on the people that wield it LMAO

[vitiligo-is-not-a-trend]

hi! im asking for a human design of a character (ralsei) from the game deltarune. i made it a while ago but recently ive been having second thoughts about him having vitiligo.

i want to give him vitiligo as a reference to how his fur color changes between chapters 1 and 2 in canon (where he is some sort of anthropomorphic goat) and it seemed like a good way to go about referencing it in his design in a world without magic but im concerned it would be inappropriate.

it wouldnt be at all a reference to the goat part of his original design shapewise or shaped in any unnatural way at all and it wouldnt be magical like his fur color change seems to be in canon (seems to be some kind of glamour?) but im worried it might be in poor taste still on account of it being linked to something that Was probably magic in canon + him originally being nonhuman.

i also made sure at the time i put the design together that i knew what type he had so its not just randomly placed. im not completely sure because its been a while but i believe its generalized/nonsegmental.

do you think i should go a different way with this / not give him vitiligo? or would this be alright?

thank you for your time either way! i think your blog is really lovely.

Imma be so real I don't really know anything about Deltarune or the Undertale series so idk how much of an informed opinion I can give </3

As for different ways to still give a nod to the in-game changes, you could try hair dye maybe?