>>18027868To me, it's often a(nother) dead giveaway of the first-timer who starts a story by describing the lead character at length and stacks every “positive” attribute upon it as possible. However, if it can be meaningful it's as valid a plot device as anything else that is uncommon but plausible, like acquiring a legendary or becoming the very best like no one ever was. (Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.)
I screwed with this pseudo-trope in my Can’t Escape by making one of its featured pokemon "officially" shiny and never mentioning it. (Okay, eventually I slipped a hint somewhere, but it still changes nothing; just an easter egg for those paying attention.) Then, when I picked up Love Lost, Grace was originally normal, but the executive-producer/artist changed her to shiny while we were first discussing what the story and comic should become. Ergo, her hue became a circumstance that drives her conflict, not just another petit snowflake uniquity.
