IF YOU HAVE/PLAN ON MAKING AN ALBINO CHARACTER...
…and for some reason can’t be bothered to do any research about it, here are a few things about albinism that’ll help you make an actual albino character, and not one of the “albino” characters (aka white-haired red-eyed not-actually-albino characters) that you might find helpful! (And if you want more details you can check out the wiki page)
(I don’t claim to be an expert on albinism, but I think it’s safe to say that I’ve become pretty familiar with it because my brother’s albino, and I’m really tired of seeing people make “albino” characters just for their appearance and don’t realize that there are a lot of other not-so-great things that come with it.)
- Their eyes are not red. They lack pigments, which makes the iris paler and thus, the retina is more visible. People talk tend to talk about albinos having red eyes like how people have brown/blue/green/etc. eyes, but that isn’t the case. They can appear quite “red,” but they’re typically light blue. The retina might show through to give a pink outline around the iris (this is the case for my brother). In photos, they almost always have red eye in photos
- Their eyes are sensitive to the light (photosensitivity). Your character should have some sort of eye protection (shades, hat, etc.)
- They’re very likely to have visual problems (I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a case where they don’t). They need to be up close to read things and probably needs a magnifying glass to make it easier. It’s like when people need to wear glasses, except even the strongest glasses won’t make their vision 20/20. Glasses can, however, relieve stress on the eyes. (My brother in particular has something called nystagmus, which is constant involuntary eye movement and is part of his bad eyesight)
- They’re way more likely to get sunburn, which makes them way more likely to get skin cancer. If they’re out in the sun, they’ll wear sunscreen, and I mean the strong kind (my brother uses SPF 50 Shiseido sunscreen. I’m not kidding about the skin. If my brother misses one spot on his skin, that one part will burn if he’s out in the sun too long. Seriously, he burns a lot.)
- They probably won’t play ball sports. If your giving your albino character a hobby/passion, it’s probably best involve throwing/catching fast-moving things or being out in the sun a lot. Y’know, because of the whole eyesight and sunburn thing. This isn’t to say an albino can’t play sports altogether. It’s just not the best thing to do professionally and/or competitively.
- People stare. Depending on your story’s society and the people’s take on seeing somebody who looks drastically different, this might be something worth mentioning, and it might happen often. If your character is with friends/family/anybody who would be bothered, those other characters might do something about it (personally, I like to stare really intently at the people staring at my brother until they stop).
Remember that albinism is the lack of pigments (and not just “oh cool you have white hair and skin!”), and that can lead to a lot of things that will mostly definitely affect the way your character does things. They aren’t restricted from everything - it’s just that they do things differently.
My brother can still play video games (I don’t really know how he manages to play multi-player and still kick everybody’s ass, but he does), he does great in school, he’s an amazing pianist (ARCT/grade 8 depending on what country you’re in, not sure if there’s other grading scales), and he doesn’t need a walking stick or a guide dog (though they’ve been offered before).
But sometimes he asks me to read things for him, or he’ll ask the bus driver where they’re heading so he knows he’s on the right bus, or ask to make sure he’s eating what he should be eating (and not a wad of spice or something).
TL;DR
Akise Aru from Mirai Nikki is not albino.
Allen Walker from D. Gray Man is not albino.
Nagito Komaeda from Dangan Ronpa is not albino.
White hair does not mean albino.
An actual example of an albino character is Pete White from The Venture Bros. It’s shown that his albinism affects his life in various ways, such as having to protect his skin and eyes form the sun.
Basically, don’t make your character albino just because you think the white skin and white hair and supposed-red-eyes looks cool. Albinism is much more than that, and it will definitely affect your character’s life. Just like any other character, people with any type of disorder (albinism is congenital) are NOT accessories.
