Casual Danger Dialogue: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A common trend for characters in works of fiction seems to be to shrug off danger, or laugh at it. In totally serious drama, characters might be crying in fear or become "shell-shocked" from life-threatening situations, but in virtually any other genre, characters react to danger in any number of different, more calm, ways:

 

{{examples}}

* This is a pretty common occurrence throughout the ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' anime. Sure the Digidestined may be facing a monster that holds the fate of the two worlds in its hands, but that won't stop them from making small talk and cracking jokes during the battle.

** Only in the English dub, though.

* ''[[Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran]]''. Overlaps with [[Excuse Me While I Multitask]]; the title samurai throws thugs around while hitting up her partner for lodging cash. Said partner has been imprisoned in a dungeon and she's breaking in.

 

* Some form of this ''will'' happen if two heroes end up in the same room together.

** In danger of course, but that goes unsaid right?

* ''[[Boneyard]]'' does this a few times

{{quote|'''Paris:''' Are you trying to scare me? Because, good job. Nice use of terror.}}

 

{{quote|'''Voldemort:''' You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?

'''Harry:''' I've been taught to drop my wand and summon snakes. Our dueling club was kind of substandard. }}

 

* ''[[Yellow Submarine]]'': After the submarine is swallowed by an [[Eldritch Abomination]].

{{quote|'''Paul:''' What should we do?

** This one's more shell-shock and [[Genre Savvy]] than disregard for danger. At this point in the story, Kuzco has been booted in the nuts by fate so often that the waterfall genuinely isn't all that scary anymore. It'll certainly be an improvement over the days leading up to this moment.

* In Disney's ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', while in a major battle, Robin proposes to Marian and they then proceed to discuss plans for their honeymoon and how many children they should have.

* [[James Bond]] is a perfect example of this trope, particularly when it's [[Bond One-Liner|someone else's danger]].

* Jake and Elwood engage in these during both [[Drives Like Crazy|epic]] [[Hot Pursuit|police]] [[Lemming Cops|chases]] in the first ''[[Blues Brothers]]''. Not once do they acknowledge the police or the ridiculousness of the situation, instead commenting on interesting items and sales ''while driving through a shopping mall.'', including lines like "Pier 1 Imports. This mall’s got everything" and "The new Oldsmobiles are in early this year."

* Mocked mercilessly in ''[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life]]''. One section shows British army officers in Africa completely ignoring a raging battle ''in their own camp'' [[Stiff Upper Lip|in order to have their morning tea]].

** In ''[[Monty Python's Life of Brian]]'' there is a character played by Eric Idle who casually tells the man sending him off to be crucified that he's been set free and then laughs and cheerily admits he was yanking his chain when the man believes him, and walks off to get his cross. Later he asks the guards what the hold up is and japes, "How 'bout a reach-around? We've got time." Upon being put up on the cross he tells Brian, "See? Not so bad once you're up."

{{quote|'''Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond:''' Do? We're not going to DO anything. We're British.}}

* ''[[Dr. Strangelove|Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb]]''. Imagine, if you will, the American president speaking over the telephone to the Soviet Premier in an extremely timid, friendly voice:

'''Ardeth:''' This was my first bus ride. }}

* At the climax of ''[[North by Northwest]]'', Roger and Eve engage in witty banter while dangling by their fingertips from Mt. Rushmore.

{{quote|"How do you pronounce it, like a stutter?"

"No, just a straight 'fuh'." }}

{{quote|'''Venkman:''' Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon. What've you got left?

'''Egon:''' Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought. }}

* In the ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]'' movie, regardless of whether they're hovering over a [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doomy canyon of doom]], or trying to thread narrow walkways with falling pillars, Justin and Alex still find time to snark incessantly at each other.

* In the movie adaptation of ''[[Angels & Demons]]'', Robert Langdon has this to say upon finding himself locked in a hermetically sealed vault in the Vatican Library with no incoming oxygen because the power is being cycled throughout Vatican City:

{{quote|'''Robert Langdon:''' Oh, that's disappointing.}}

* In ''The Bourne Identity'', the always understated title character is in the middle of a high speed chase, being pursued by the entire Parisian constabulary. Trying to keep calm for the benefit of his shell-shocked passenger, he remarks that "We're going to have... er... a little bump here." before driving a Mini Cooper down three flights of stairs.

{{quote|"What do you need?!"

"A rope! Get us a rope!!"

'''Watson:''' You did.

(Man passes out.) }}

{{quote|'''Wilson:''' Stuck in an elevator with five guys on a high protein diet. Dreams really do come true.

'''Stryker:''' Just shut it. You're up next.

* The final conversation over the radio between Steve and Peggy in ''[[Captain America: The First Avenger]]''. They were making plans to go dancing, even when they both know Steve [[Tear Jerker|isn't going to make it.]] (Of course, this was a given both in [[In Medias Res|the film's setup]] and the history of the character)

{{quote|"It'll have to be a slow dance, I don't want to [[Killed Mid-Sentence|step on your-]]"}}

* In ''[[Black Hawk Down]]'', McKnight seems very casual under fire, conducting conversations in a neutral tone while everyone is freaked out about it and bullets fly by.

 

* Even [[Rudyard Kipling]] did this. In ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Book]]'', when the villagers are turning against Mowgli for his [[Raised by Wolves]] behaviour, it's the wolf Akela who first recognises how much trouble Mowgli is in.

{{quote|The old Tower musket went off with a bang, and a young buffalo bellowed in pain.

"Now what is this?" said Mowgli, bewildered, as the stones flew thicker.

"They are not unlike the Pack, these brothers of thine," said Akela, sitting down composedly. "It is in my head that, if bullets mean anything, they would cast thee out." }}

* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' novel The Long Patrol, during the required massive battle scene at the end of the book, two hares carry out the third kind of this trope while outnumbered 5-1. The book specifically notes that they "talked like old pals and fought like demons."

* Remo Williams and Chiun of the ''[[Destroyer]]'' book series (to some extent, the movie as well) may be the most extreme example. Their combat arguments regarding Ung poetry, Remo's alleged unconscious seduction of flight attendants, who left the toilet seat up (all right, not that one, but they ''have'' covered toilets in more general terms), and suchlike are used to show that a few hundred soldiers firing assault rifles at them are barely worth paying attention to, let alone commenting on. If the threat's a yawner like the average Bond-style Dragon trying to repeatedly shoot, stab, poison, or bomb them, the authors sometimes (when writing from the attacker's perspective) don't even bother ''writing explicit lines of dialogue'' for the two, just to emphasize the disconnect and the frustration that an experienced, professional killer feels trying repeatedly to kill people who apparently don't even notice that they're being attacked.

'''Crossbowman:''' [[Animal Motif|Lion, Wolf or Fish?]]

'''Jaime:''' We'd hoped for capon. }}

** Played straight by Ranger, who has a famously cool head, except for that one time {{spoiler|when his daughter was kidnapped.}}

* ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' by Jim Butcher rarely, if ever, show anything but CDD during tense situations. In the narration Harry makes sure to note how he's only doing it to cope and is really scared shitless on the inside.

* [[Anita Blake]] does this. All. The. Time.

* ''[[Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor]]'' has Luke commanding in a battle where everything pretty much goes to hell. He's ''incredibly'' calm about the whole thing, and soothes officers who aren't taking it as well. He also records an emergency signal to be broadcast on loop. The narration mentions that his voice is low and "preternaturally calm".

{{quote|This is New Republic Cruiser ''Justice'', Luke Skywalker commanding. Admiral Kalback is dead. The ship has broken up, and there are no escape pods remaining. I have taken the helm and will attempt to set down behind the dawn terminator above the north tropic. Begin the search for survivors at the coordinates on the encoded supplementary frequency. Good luck, and may the Force be with you. Skywalker out."}}

* In ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'', Knight Leader and Carissa are fighting in World War III and the former is fed up by the latter's behavior. He wonders if he should contact Elizard (Carissa's mother) and ask for permission to spank her daughter. Carissa becomes flustered and tells him to stop, as Elizard almost certainly would grant permission.

 

* ''[[Firefly]]'' on numerous occasions. Most notably in the episode War Stories, when Mal and Wash argue about shipboard romance while being horribly tortured. Earlier in the episode, when the two are ambushed and held at gunpoint, Wash's response is an annoyed, "Now I'm learning about scary."

** And the exchange as they're landing, "I'll likely crash, kill us all." "Well, if that happens, let me know."

{{quote|'''Mal:''' Define "interesting".

* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Bad Girls", in the middle of fighting some vampires, Faith asks Buffy if she has ever slept with Xander.

** Lampshaded in the season 7 episode "Bring on the Night," where Xander's making jokes while the Potentials are scared to death waiting for night to fall and the übervamp to come crashing in:

'''Sylvana''': Oh, please. You're not rebels. We're not deaf, you know, everyone in this room knows it.

'''Daniel''': That doesn't matter. You're hostages, we're... we're your captors. We're heavily armed. There's uh... there's rules, there's a whole school of etiquette to this. (pause) Don't eyeball me. }}

{{quote|'''Jed:''' Bet you can't guess where he lives.

'''Alan:''' Erm...

'''Jed:''' ''(slightly releases his grip)'' Where?

'''Alan:''' Ches-? Chester. Near north Wales off the M56. }}

** Right before said patient electrocutes himself, as he's pulled out the knife, House thinks he wants to use it to attack him, and doesn't scream for help, or yell, or run for his life—he takes a step back and goes "whoa".

* ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]'' has a sketch which is set in an episode of ''[[Question Time]]'', after the Soviets have just launched the missiles. Most of the panel members continue sniping at each others' parties and using statements like "I think we're missing the real issue here, which is the government's appalling record on education reform..." while one [[Only Sane Man]] gibbers "We're all going to die!"

** And then there's this classic, when Mulder and Scully are examining a weird viscous substance:

{{quote|'''Mulder''': (''puts his fingers in the substance to examine it'')

'''Mulder''': ...So, is there any way I can get this off my fingers quickly without betraying my cool exterior? }}

* There are definitely elements of this in the Doctor of ''[[Doctor Who]]''—partially justified that when you've been in a war and encounter this type of thing on a daily basis, it starts to lose its edge. Topics range from romantic issues, bananas, little hospital shops, dancing and whatever random topic is on the Doctor's mind.

** The Doctor does kinda get to play this both ways. Half of the time he's genuinely fearful when he's quipping and he's relying on his gob to at least misdirect them for a few seconds, but other times he just knows the threat's beneath him and decides to have a laugh with it. Compare the Daleks - who he fears more than anything else in the universe and yet happily taunts just to see how long they'll keep him alive - to the Sycorax, who he flat-out ignores in order to quite nonchalantly reintroduce himself to a small group of Londoners.

{{quote|'''[[Damsel in Distress|Amy]]''':''Is this really important flirting? Because I feel I should be higher on the list.''}}

* In ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'', [[Emotionless Girl|Cameron]], being, well, [[Robot Girl|Cameron]], only speaks this way in combat situations. At one point, she's pinning another Terminator in place that's trying to crush her and kill everyone else, asks for a knife and then pliers to extract its chip in the same tone one would order coffee. Later on, after punching another rampaging Terminator through a wall and blowing it apart, she glances to Derek and remarks "Sometimes they go bad." as if she'd just stepped on an insect.

{{quote|'''Frank:''' After you.

'''Joe:''' Me? You're the oldest.

'''Joe:''' Since ''when?''

'''Frank:''' Since right now. }}

* ''[[Breakout Kings]]'' gives us a particularly weird example when some kidnappers make their terrified victim call home:

{{quote|*Terrified* "It's Julianne, I've been kidnapped..." *Suddenly calmer, to her kidnappers* "It's call waiting, click over."}}

'''Alex:''' Are you kidding me? }}

 

* Lewa, the [[Plucky Comic Relief]] in ''[[Bionicle]]'', does this in just about every scene he's in. This leads to a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] when he decides to start telling his friends the story of the [[Rule of Three|three]] [[Little People|Matoran]], the [[Big Creepy-Crawlies|Rama swarm]] and the [[Fantastic Fruits and Vegetables|basket of Bula berries]]... ''in the middle of a battle''. He even annoys Kopaka into a [[Not So Stoic]] moment with his seemingly pointless babble.

** As a matter of fact, pretty much all Toa have the ability to make lame jokes while fighting.

 

* The Mantel Soldiers in ''[[Haze]]'' take this to an extreme, joking, rapping, and generally having fun in the middle of combat. This is intentional, intended to show how [[Psycho Serum|Nectar]] causes a disconnect from reality and humanity. The Promise Hand still uses the fourth type, though.

* In ''[[Dragon Quest VIII]]'', when Marcello is dangling above a gaping crater and certain death, his only reaction is to try to talk Angelo out of saving him.

* [[Max Payne (series)|Max Payne]] [[Deadpan Snarker|deadpans]] his way through most of his gunfights.

* Meryl and Johnny Sasaki take the cake for this in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'' where they casually discuss {{spoiler|their wedding plans}} while trying to hold off waves of FROG soldiers.

* In ''[[Alan Wake]]'', while Alan and Barry are holding off waves of Taken from [[It Makes Sense in Context|a concert stage]], Barry talks about things like the large amount of ammo around, the pyrotechnics, and how bad this 1970's-era wiring is. But this takes the cake:

{{quote|'''Barry:''' Al, this may be [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|the most AWESOME MOMENT of our ENTIRE LIVES!]]

'''Barry:''' [[Crowning Music of Awesome|"Children of the Elder God"!]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}7M1k1tgq87g Enjoy it], dammit! }}

* The Survivors of ''[[Left 4 Dead]]'' do this all the time, cracking jokes, bantering and insulting the Infected. They do [[Sincerity Mode|get serious]] when they're heavily injured, though.

** The Spy from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' will, when [[Kill It with Fire|set on fire]], occasionally say [http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Spy_responses#Set_on_Fire "I do believe I'm on fire" or "I appear to have burst into flames"] without any hint of pain.

*** But considering the most useful way of finding spies, it might just be commonplace to him by now.

* Dante from ''[[Devil May Cry]]'' lives this trope, especially in 3 and 4.

* ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'' has [[Dialog During Gameplay]] that the player can engage in - in which York talks to his imaginary friend Zach - while driving around town, which is normally a safe activity. However, after midnight, zombies infest the town and giant zombie dogs are in the streets. The [[Dialog During Gameplay]] doesn't stop despite this, and the result is that you can drive around and talk to your imaginary friend, holding conversations about movies and previously worked-on cases, while seeming to be totally oblivious to the numerous zombies and demon dogs trying to kill you.

{{quote|'''Marine:''' I need a medi evac!

'''Radio operator:''' Who is this? I can't get a read on your med chip.

'''Radio operator:''' What? That chip is installed near your heart!

'''Marine:''' I know, I can see it. }}

 

* Elan does this all the time in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', much to the other party members' chagrin.

** Well, this is Elan's designated role as the party's bard. But just about everyone does this anyway, since most are [[Deadpan Snarker]]s and [[Talking Is a Free Action]]. No mere action sequence is going to slow down the puns. Belkar is especially prone to it.

** [[Death Is Cheap]] for the ''Schlock'' universe, and even accounting for that, Schlock knows Ebbirnoth's injury isn't as serious as it looks (especially since the sniper thought he was delivering a deadly headshot to a being that keeps its brain in its abdomen); it can be regenerated with the help of nanobots. Casual annoying injury dialog maybe?

* Almost every fight in ''[[Antihero for Hire]]'' is rife with this.

* In ''[[Blip]]'', Liz gets kidnapped and imprisoned in some extra-dimensional space. You wouldn't know that from the way she telepathically contacts Mary, and asks if Mary can cover for her on stakeout duties while she's out of town.

* Kitti and Dries in ''[[What the Fu (webcomic)|What the Fu]]'' discuss their relationship while beating up a bunch of cultists.

* Quant and Androssi in ''[[Tower of God]]''. Quant being one of those people who achieved the nigh-impossible goal of reaching the top of the Tower, Androssi being one of those who got the power of the King and third strongest person of the Tower. There is a lot of danger here to be ridiculed with casual quips.

 

* In the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Univerdse]]'', Diamond and Bungie once had a heartfelt discussion about Diamond's plans to adopt a baby while they escaped a [[Ancient Conspiracy|Tarot Base]] crawling with gun-toting [[Mook]]s and supervillains.

* Rob from the web fiction serial ''[[Dimension Heroes]]'' is notorious for cracking stupid jokes before, during, or after most battles, usually leading to him being smacked upside the head by Wyn.

** Basically, ''all'' of Team Kimba, except Lancer, who is stuck playing team leader. Their instructors in Team Tactics have been getting on their case about it. When attacked by a stream of lethal robots in a simulation of Crucible's supervillain lair, they pretty much have a contest to see who can come up with the best robot joke.

* In the ''[[Hardly Working]]'' episode ''Emergency Flirt'' Pat start flirtingvwith the animal control operator, and forgets about the tiger trying to eat them all.

 

* In ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' episode "Escape to the House of Mummies, Part II", spiked walls are closing in on Doc, Brock, and the boys. They're unbelievably calm about it (it's hinted that they've encountered this situation dozens of times before, but still...), except for Doc, who is only slightly more aggravated than usual. At one point, Hank sits atop a spike and "rides" the wall.

** Another good example from the same episode:

* [[Bugs Bunny/Characters|Bugs Bunny]] and other ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' characters are fond of throwing little asides at the audience during tense moments. One notable example: in ''Hair-Raising Hare'', Bugs is barricading a door with a monster on the other side and shouts frantically "Is there a doctor in the house?" When [[Born in the Theatre|one stands up]], Bugs merely give him his [[Catch Phrase]] "Eh, what's up, Doc?" The [[Catch Phrase]] is also delivered with total cool when Elmer is pointing a gun at him. When they were first created, ''Bugs Bunny'' cartoons were funny because of all the responses the audience expected from a rabbit facing a hunter, casual flippancy wasn't even on the list.

* In ''[[Beast Wars]]'': Dinobot and Rattrap (who never got along, since Dinobot was [[Heel Face Turn|originally a bad guy]]; his sense of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior's honor]] caused him to join the good guys) are arguing as they drag Tarantulas down a tunnel. They stop to continue arguing and Tarantulas wakes up, pulls a gun, and stands up. Upon aiming it at the two good guys and screaming a threat, both Dinobot and Rattrap yell "[[Big "Shut Up!"|SHUT UP!]]" and punch him out... in unison!

* ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]''. Not as badly as some, but enough to get a bit annoying when, in the middle of a perfectly good story, Spud keeps making forced-sounding criticisms of Dark Dragon's [[Evil Laugh]]. (Spud, for the record, [[The Ditz|has no idea what he's talking about]]—Dark Dragon had a ''great'' evil laugh.)

* ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]''{{'}}s title character and his [[Rogues Gallery]] engage in this when they aren't [[Witty Banter|bantering wittily]] or [[You Fight Like a Cow|trading insults]].

** Hawkeye (as Ronin) and Spider-Man once had a [[Witty Banter|witty banter contest]] while fighting off hordes of ninjas, including musing about what ninjas got as job benefits. ("Oh, and throwing stars. Lots and lots of throwing stars.")

* In one particularly memorable scene of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', Superman and Batman are fighting a group of anonymous masked criminals while casually talking about Captain Marvel, a new member of the League. About halfway through the scene, one of the heroes suddenly realizes something:

{{quote|'''Batman:''' What do these guys want, anyway?

* Done all the time in ''[[Archer]]''. [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist|Sterling]] and [[The Rival|Barry]] argue about Barry ruining Sterling's suit and how Sterling slept with Barry's fiance while they are being shot at by the KGB. Later, [[Dogged Nice Guy|Cyril]] wastes no time laying into Sterling about trying to get them all killed by taking on the [[Yakuza]] stone drunk just because they might have his [[Cool Car|birthday present.]] And, of course, any time Sterling and [[Action Girl|Lana]] [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|talk about their failed relationship.]]

 

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131022160532/http://skippyslist.com/2010/02/25/my-son-the-next-me/ This kid], who may not be [[Made of Iron]], but probably has balls of steel.

* Anyone who has spent time around people routinely in dangerous situations (police, firefighters, paramedics, and soldiers) will have seen this. (Compare [[It Never Gets Any Easier]].)

* Captain Al Haynes while guiding a [[wikipedia:United Airlines Flight 232|DC-10 with no flight controls]] approaching the Sioux City airport even cracked a joke. When told he was cleared to land on any runway, he laughed and replied "You want to be particular and make it a runway, huh?" He did hit the runway, and 184 of 296 people on board survived.

** If that seems like a large number of deaths (only 13 people were uninjured), realize that the plane hit wing-first, started a fire immediately, lost that wing completely, and flipped over. This was probably an incident where everyone on the plane and some bystanders could have died had the landing not been done so well.

* [http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=985_1261528577 Man Impaled With Knife Orders Coffee]

* Lawrence Oates, British arctic explorer. Aware that his failing health was impeding his comrades' chances for survival, [[Heroic Sacrifice|he chose to speed up his death]] via exposure [[I Will Only Slow You Down|in order to give them a better chance.]] His last words before walking out of the tent into a blizzard were "I am just going outside and may be some time."