I'm writing a character and they have bright magenta Irises.
How could I explain the reason why they have that feature?
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$\begingroup$ I posted a similar question here: worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/238552/… $\endgroup$– RhymehouseCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 3:32
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1$\begingroup$ Check out: 6 rare and unique eye colors. Note that specifically Magenta is, IMO (I am not an ophthalmologist) not possible or plausible. Eye color is the result of the reflection of light. Magenta is easy to produce with emitted light and requires impressive chemistry to produce with reflected light (talk to someone who understands paint to confirm that). I understand color gamut and paint well enough to know that you're asking for a tall order. Please set you expectations accordingly. Cheers. $\endgroup$– JBHCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 5:26
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$\begingroup$ If you want to do some covert marketing I'll give you an advice. Wait for a while before answering your question with the second account. The quick sequence question-reply can be easily noticed. $\endgroup$– FluidCodeCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 13:56
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$\begingroup$ @FluidCode it's . . . not their second account? Lol. I just happened to be on the site when the Q popped up and thought "oh, easy answer." $\endgroup$– BMFCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 14:32
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2 Answers
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Mutation (and a freak one at that).
Perhaps just an extreme shade of blue verging on purple, due to a natural mutation. Purple/violet is quite close to magenta, and a further one-in-a-million chance mutation might get you there.
For a real-world example, Elizabeth Taylor, a Hollywood actress of the 1940's, was well-known for her violet eyes.
Per @JBH's comment, this proves to be a common myth.
Magenta can "simply" be made from red and blue paints. Paint mixes according to subtractive color, and so does all reflected light (light reflecting off irises), too. Shine white light on a red surface and you'll receive red light back due to the other color components having been subtracted (absorbed).
So, if your iris contains equal parts blue and red from, say, a higher-than-average blood vessel density, you could hypothetically get a magneta color, though leaning more towards a dark violet. To get a bright magenta color (the kind that commonly comes to mind when people say "magenta" or "fuchsia"), you need something very white-ish mixed in there. A blue iris with an overabundance of light-pink blood vessels, for example.
Magneta is special in that it is the only color that's perceived as a combination of two hues. The obvious choice, imo, is a natural (and deep) blue eye color, like Elizabeth Taylor's, and some kind of absolutely nightmarish (for the opthalmologists, anyway) mutation creating an abundance of light-pink something distributed throughout the iris.
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$\begingroup$ Elizabeth Taylor having violet/purple eyes is a myth (even the link you provide states they were blue, only appearing violet, which would have more to do with the light and what she was wearing than her actual eye color). However, the link I provide has good insight into the very rare condition of having purple/violet eyes, including one genetic possibility for why they exist. $\endgroup$– JBHCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 5:22
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$\begingroup$ @JBH Yeah, her eyes are clearly blue. Talk about a myth that persists, lol. IMO, without some kind of eye defect/damage, it's not possible to have actual magenta irises. Even with natural, vibrant, violet eyes, you need something light pink-ish in color mixed in to give an identifiably magenta/fuchsia color. $\endgroup$– BMFCommented Nov 27, 2022 at 15:20
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Keratoprosthesis.
https://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/eyeforum/tutorials/cornea-transplant-intro/6-kprosth.htm
Your character was not born with magenta irises. She has prosthetic corneas and they are magenta. Why exactly she needed corneal prosthetics is a matter for your story - maybe she was ill or congenitally abnormal like the people in the linked article, or maybe they are bionic augmentatons.
The prosthetics are magenta because of structural coloration from the layers of material they are made from. People with these prosthetics who don't like magenta wear colored contact lenses. Your character sometimes does, but just as often wears glasses with magenta lenses or can't be bothered and just goes with magenta. Perhaps she has other prosthetics that are difficult to disguise.
