intertext

That's fascinating to me, as it's a real life phenomenon, and a recognizable mark of trauma. Usually heroes have the "physical" markings to distinguish them as totally awesome, but the fading of hair marks something all together more sinister, and in Real Life often makes people uncomfortable. I say this because I knew a boy who had a shock of white hair, and I always wondered what caused it, but it was one of those "taboo" things to ask. I was also talking about X-Men in another comment, and the character of Rogue has a shock of white hair due to trauma.