Dissonant Serenity: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

There's maiming and killing afoot. Screaming and cursing, the clattering of swords, gunfire. Faces distorted with pain and hate. It's terrifying, but it is to be expected.

* From ''[[Code Geass]]'', I give you Schniezel. Seemingly a kindly, reasonable fellow, greatly different from his siblings, he maintains a calm, serene demeanor throughout the entire series. {{spoiler|He continues to have this serene manner even while ordering the deaths of millions, announcing to his sister his plans for global domination, and gunning that sister down when she tried to stop him from nuking every major city on the planet, killing billions. What's that about reasonable again?}}

** Rolo fits this trope, as well. In one sequence, he greeted some childhood friends with a warm smile before slaughtering them mercilessly.

** Itsuki as well, often creeping out Kyon due to his constant smile capable of resisting the possibility of an [[End of the World Special]].

* To a certain extent, Hisoka in ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]''.

* Seishirou in ''[[X 1999]]'' and ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]''.

* Kaworu in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. Also, during {{spoiler|Third Impact, Giant Naked Rei/Lilith}} is smiling peacefully, and {{spoiler|she maintains this same smile even as [[Gorn|her body falls apart and her head is sliced in half]]}}.

* Lust and others in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

** King Bradley. Even when {{spoiler|stabbing Marta, who was hiding inside Al's armor}} he had that gentle smile on his face.

** Ling Yao was this up until [[Always Save the Girl|Lan Fan was injured]].

* The Lord of Nightmares from ''[[The Slayers|Slayers Next]]'' embodies this trope, dishing out apocalyptic destruction while never once raising her voice above an emotionless monotone.

* Legato Bluesummers in ''[[Trigun]]''.

** And in some scenes of the ''Trigun Maximum'' manga, {{spoiler|Knives}} butchers entire communities without any apparent emotion.

** And Gin is always smiling.

** {{spoiler|Mizuiro}} is this when he confronts {{spoiler|Aizen}}. The others are panicking around him. Instead, he simply begins experimenting with {{spoiler|molotov cocktails and empty bottles}} with almost clinical detachment. He's more fascinated than afraid. His companions even point out how scary a person he is.

* ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'''s [[Big Bad|Byakuran]] is almost [[Perpetual Smiler|always seen with a polite smile]] and [[Eyes Always Shut|closed eyes]]. He only opens them when he is making a serious statement or is noticeably distressed.

** We'd be lying if we didn't count Reborn in this too.

** Worth noting is that the protagonist is this while holding a knife to the throat of her love interest, making this easily one of the most chilling moments on this page.

* Akira Hojo from ''[[Sanctuary]]''.

** Anyone with the Will of D in the series always has a wide smile on their faces when faced with death. {{spoiler|Gol D. Roger}}, Jaguar D. Saul and even {{spoiler|Portgas D. Ace}} had these smiles before they died, so did Luffy during the Loguetown arc when Buggy was about to execute him.

* [[Vampire Princess Miyu|"I will not return you to the darkness... You,]] ''[[Vampire Princess Miyu|I will burn to ashes".]]''

** The lead Negi Springfield does this during his [[Unstoppable Rage]] against Wilhelm.

** Seeing Fate Averruncus display anything other than that look of utter calm on his face is so rare as to be unheard of. Even when he's caught completely off-guard (does not happen often) or is losing a fight (happens even less often), his face betrays only the slightest hint of surprise or annoyance.

** While [[Sociopathic Hero|Revy]] normally displays a wide range of emotions, [[Tsundere|all the way from affection to psychotic rage]], she seems to settle on a mix of tranquility and boredom whenever she comes down with [[Ax Crazy|Whitman Fever]].

** Balalaika even more so. Nothing says "I love my job" like grinning while snapping a Yakuza leader's neck, stopping to engage in a philosophic debate about the nature of the human condition with {{spoiler|a would-be assassin whom she has just had shot}} or politely apologizing to Lagoon Company for any inconvenience they may have experienced during their last mission which ends with some unlucky bastard's apartment exploding.

*** What about Sawyer the Cleaner, who smiles cheerfully when she's gotten across that {{spoiler|the smell that people were complaining about was the ooze from some bodies that decomposed badly before she was called in}} while everybody else is losing their lunch? Or Claude "Torch" Weaver, who wields a flamethrower {{spoiler|and casually talks about how he burned his wife to death in five minutes,}}, or Shenhua, who can calmly carry on a conversation {{spoiler|with a woman she's trying to kill}}?

** Ladd's girlfriend Lua always has a perpetually vacant smile on her face, despite her lover's frequent promises to murder her.

** Elmer's been through a lot and is a crowning example of this trope.

* Kirika from ''[[Noir]]'' defines this trope - from beginning to end, she never displays anything other than calm concentration while killing hundreds of people.

** [[Big Bad|Altena]] also qualifies, and her creepy-ass village of Noir worshippers/sacrificial lambs that suddenly pull out guns and start killing elite members of the Soldats could also qualify.

** Later on, we're introduced to one of the assistant instructors of Diego "Laughing Fist" Carlos, the Meatman, a rather large warrior who was charged with insuring that a bomb on the ship that several of the characters are riding goes off. When asked what he thinks will happen to HIM when the bomb goes off (by the characters who were trying to disarm it and therefore have to get past him first), he responds that he'll "calmly defeat" them and then run away before the bomb blows up.

* In "[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]", Kyo scares lots of people with his bloodlust in battle, but he is later repossessed by Kyoshiro, who scares people even more as he calmly slaughters elite mooks without showing any intensity in his expression.

* Kasumi Tendo tends towards this in ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma 1/2]]'' as the varying antics, feuds and outright wars brought on by Ranma's various fiancees and insecurities take their toll on the Tendo household she never, ever seems to break a sweat or be anything but utterly sweet and smiling (occasionally looking worried when something truly disastrous occurs).

* Fumio from ''[[Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo]]'': "When I started this chainsaw today... my heart stopped working."

* [[Cat Soup|"Big sis, big sis, my arm came off."]]

* Carol of ''[[Project ARMS]]'' is a cute little girl with the power to break and twist things with a thought. When she fights Ryo, she happily sets about breaking every bone in his body while [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/project_arms/v05/c003/3.html laughing. "Yay!"] Keith White would also count, {{spoiler|when he gently hugs Alice while she cries to him about how she is under so much pressure and just wants to be free for once. He kindly tells her that it's clear that he needs to change how she and the other children are being treated - before signaling for the kids to be shot.}}

* In ''[[Full Metal Panic]]'', this was a defining trait of Sousuke's [[Hot Shounen Mom|beautiful mother's]] death. When she was falling to her death, her face never showed a hint of terror or despair, and she calmly accepted her fate. Kalinin recalls from that instance that she was "surreally beautiful." Interestingly enough, this trait was apparently inherited by her son. As numerous instances afterwards, Sousuke has been described in very similar terms as being "surreally beautiful" the way he calmly massacres people.

** And Ch. 193 gives us {{spoiler|Alma Karma's [[Break the Cutie]] moment.}} [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/d_gray_man/c193/21.html Good] [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/d_gray_man/c193/22.html lord].

* While granting that like his other murders, it's kind of unclear whether or not it was intentional, the Claw in ''[[Gun X Sword]]'' exhibits this strongly in a scene where he deals with a mutinous subordinate. Personality-wise, the Claw is an affable [[Friend to All Living Things]]. So, he offers the subordinate a handshake (cue him squeezing the guy's hand hard enough to crack bone). Then, the Claw says that if the guy doesn't want a handshake, how about a hug. Not only is the hug also hard enough that you hear bones breaking, but when the Claw strokes the guy's back with his clawed hand, it's implied (but not shown) that he is ripping open his flesh. Throughout this horrible scene, the Claw is speaking in a gentle voice.

* Chizuru of ''[[Seitokai no Ichizon]]''.

{{quote| "My smile becomes more beautiful the angrier I get."}}

* The climax of the Kyoto arc in ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'' (''Descendants of Darkness''): {{spoiler|Tsuzuki has just stabbed Muraki, and called out Touda to burn down the lab. As the place burns and breaks down, he sits there numbly, doing nothing. It takes Hisoka to get him to even consider not staying there to die.}}

* Contractors of ''[[Darker Than Black]]'' frequently kill in gruesome ways with little emotion and no remorse.

* Kyubey of ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]'' keeps his [[Frozen Face|Frozen]] [[Cat Smile]] and friendly voice, no matter what horrors are going on around him. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] because {{spoiler|he's a member of an alien race which is unable to feel any emotions (the ones that do are considered mentally ill).}}

* Natives of the various [[Planet of Hats|Countries Of Hats]] in ''[[Kino's Journey]]'' often act this way. And then there's [[The Stoic|Kino]] herself, who remains eerily calm in the face of things that would send the average person screaming and running in the other direction. Probably because [[Broken Bird|she's seen worse]].

* {{spoiler|The original}} Ion from the ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' manga gaiden based on him. He almost always has a calm, friendly smile on his face even when he's {{spoiler|killing one of his Replicas or talking about how the world is trash.}}

** This becomes a critical fact at one point. While Light is being monitored by cameras from almost every angle, he still manages to write names on a hidden scrap of the Death Note without so much as batting an eyebrow. Even L remarks that Kira has basically already elevated himself to the level of God if he can knowingly kill people without the slightest change in expression.

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Togari]]'', Sena, is never shown without a calm smile plastered on his face, to contrast with Tobei's [[Unstoppable Rage]]. Not that he indulges in [[Tranquil Fury]], mind you; he never even ''feels'' fury.

* Cyclops of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' frequently displays this attitude in combat. Including, on at least two occasions, while fighting blind. He's just that much of a control freak.

{{quote| You would not ''believe'' the day I'm having.}}

* {{spoiler|Jan Arrah/Element Lad/the Progenitor}} in ''Legion Lost'', when he explains to the Legion the horrors he's suffered that drove him UTTERLY INSANE. And then {{spoiler|he kills one of them because he forgot who she was}}.

* In ''[[Blackest Night]]'', Sinestro does this when {{spoiler|he gains the power of The Entity, the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Life.}}

 

== [[Fan Fiction]] ==

* Hinata in [[Yet Again]] could possibly rival [[Bleach|Unohana]].

 

{{quote| '''The Dude''': Will you just take it easy, Walter?<br />

'''Walter''': I'm calmer than you are. }}

* John Ryder from ''[[The Hitcher]]''.

* This may be a stretch for serenity, but Colonel Kilgore in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' doesn't act like a normal man surrounded by gunfire and explosions. "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

* Gary Oldman's character in ''Leon, [[The Professional]]'' when he's killing Matilda's family while cheerfully humming along to the classical music in his headphones.

* ''[[Event Horizon]]''. "Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see." Also a pretty [[Badass]] line even with no context at all. And you can twist it to work for so many different scenarios.

* Captain Miller, in ''[[Saving Private Ryan]]'', is astonishingly calm during moments of phenomenal stress, i.e., the Normandy Landings. The problem is, his jitters catch up with him later; No matter how calm he may appear, Miller is a man on the ragged edge who knows he's right on the point of losing it. Ironically, this lends him the serenity he needs to be a [[Father to His Men]].

* Kevin, from the movie ''[[Sin City]]''. Oh god, KEVIN. {{spoiler|He even smiles as his HEAD is being cut off.}}

* In ''[[The Matrix]]'' films, various characters wear completely blank expressions while fighting, often further emphasized by impenetrable sunglasses.

* More appropriately, Amon Göth from ''[[Schindler's List]]'' fits the description to the tip, as he walks around the camp, casually glancing about while Jews are murdered and tortured. "Can you believe this? As if I don't have enough to do, they come up with this? I have to find every rag buried up here and burn it," he says as he watches the incineration of Jews' bodies.

{{quote| '''Kirk''': You fool, look around you! The planet's destroying itself!<br />

'''Kruge''': [[Casual Danger Dialog|Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?]] }}

* Fiver may have used this trope in ''[[Watership Down]]'' to defeat a larger rabbit by being overly polite and calm for the situation, freaking the other guy way the heck out.

* Chiun from the book series ''[[The Destroyer]]'' matches this. An 80 year old Korean man, he is calm and gentle... as he rips open throats and kills anyone who messes with him.

* Captain Tushin and Prince Bagration exhibited forms of [[Dissonant Serenity]] during the Battle of Schöngraben in ''[[War and Peace]]''. Captain Tushin might have briefly lapsed into [[Psychopathic Manchild]] for his disturbing calm though.

* Lara and Thomas Raith in ''[[The Dresden Files]]''.

"Cold." }}

 

{{quote| "I'd welcome any cat who'd help me rip out their entrails."<br />

"Just a few scratches. Mostly WindClan blood."<br />

** It should be noted that, most of the time, their battles are non-lethal. They fight to prove their superiority and defend their homes, not to kill, which even in battle is considered outright murder. When a cat accidentally dies during a border skirmish it is a ''huge'' deal. When a life-or-death battle actually happens, they are much more serious about it.

** Sol stays calm and composed all the time, even when surrounded by enemies and {{spoiler|accused of murder}}. He is so calm, other cats often find it unsettling. The only times he's lost his cool is whenever he's making a speech (and he's really more "incensed" than angry), and when Hollyleaf apparently pushes his [[Berserk Button]], and even then he recovers in ''less than half a second''.

** So was Jesus, one of the times they were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Another time he was so zen he was able to [[Walk On Water]].

* Over the course of countless pressures, near death experiences, sacrifices and losses and manipulations, Rand Al'Thor, The Dragon Reborn of ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' ''had'' become increasingly volatile, prone to losing his temper at the drop of a hat (oh, and he heard voices a lot), but in book 12 his slow building psychosis reached its zenith when {{spoiler|he is almost captured by Semirhage and forced to almost kill the woman he loves}}, and he becomes this trope for the rest of the book, greatly freaking out those already familiar with his building insanity.

{{quote| In his eye lit the passionless passion of slaughter}}

* In [[Forgotten Realms]] novel ''The Making of a Mage'' [[Does Not Like Magic|resentful]] Elminster (age 17) witnessed how one [[The Magocracy|magelord]] summoned and tried to command Dorgon "Stonecloak" Heamiiolothtar, one of few people who didn't [[You Kill It, You Bought It|won]] the office of Magister, but was given it by the gods of magic and remained in it longer than anyone save Azuth himself. Dorgon poked "with mild curiosity" the artifact supposed to make him powerless, ascertained that it ''is'' a challenge, teleported through the room and diced half of the magelords and they flunkies present at the party before anyone reached the door. Then disabled, judged and beheaded all present magelords one by one. All the while wearing much the same expression, ignoring their spells and complaining about their inability to throw at him something really interesting.

* During Act I, Scene III of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''Julius Caesar'', a heavy storm hits Rome, the earth shakes, fire is seen in the skies and lions, ghosts and burning men walk the streets of Rome. And into this, enters Cassius, who smiles contentedly and calls it "a very pleasing night to honest men."

** Later Mark Antony imagines a similar situation in which Ceasar's ghost stands beside Ate, the Goddess of [[Revenge|Vengance]] "''come hot from hell'' ", he then yells "''"Havoc!"'' " and she lets go of the leashes to a pack of [[Hell Hound|Hell Hounds]] borrowed from [[War God|Mars]] himself, engulfing the whole country of Italy in a bitter war that drags on so long that the people become so accustomed to the carnage that "''mothers shall but smile''" at the sight of their children's bodies being brought home so horribly mutilated that they are barely even recognizable anymore. Though the fact that these thoughts fill him with the warm an' fuzzies is another matter entirely, one with elements of several [[Revenge Tropes]] involved.

* ''Sisterhood'' series by [[Fern Michaels]]: In the book ''Collateral Damage'', Paula Woodley talks to Lizzie Fox about her husband Karl Woodley. She asks Lizzie if she's being too sadistic, and she says this in the tone of someone discussing the weather. Of course, she had been abused by her [[Complete Monster]] [[Domestic Abuser]] husband for years. No decent person could fault her for wanting to make him pay for that!

 

* The Sci-Fi Channel's miniseries adaptation of ''[[Dune]]'' had a minor Harkonnen officer who was a [[Mook Lieutenant]]. When said officer's troops get ambushed by the Fremen, he fights back until he sees Paul Atreides calmly walking through all the bloodshed and explosions and coming straight at ''him''. The officer promptly tries to run, but he doesn't get far...

* An episode of ''[[Smallville]]'' involves Clark and Lionel Luthor switching bodies. In order to lure Lionel-in-Clark's-body back to the prison to reverse the process, they manage to convince him that the change will be permanent if he eliminates his old body. In order to do this, he stages a ''full scale prison riot'', then walks through the chaos with the most supreme confidence.

* In ''[[The Mentalist]]'' after {{spoiler|killing the Red John imposter}}, as everyone in the mall runs screaming Patrick sits down and finishes off his tea while asking for a check.

** In many cases Patrick displays far more calm and control than seems sane in tense situations.

** Friend Computer just wants you to be happy. Happiness is mandatory. Failure to be happy is treason. Treason is punishable by summary execution.

*** Please report to the nearest Internal Security office for routine brainscrub therapy. Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice daycycle.

 

 

{{quote| {{spoiler|Nyx Avatar}}: Let us finish this! It is the path of your choosing!!}}

** The main character when he {{spoiler|prepares to summon his Persona for the first time. Just calmly whispering Per so na}}

** Additionally, the end of the "Meet the Sandvich" trailer has the Heavy standing on a ledge and eating the eponymous sandwich while battle rages around him.

** And most of the Spy's [[Man On Fire]] soundbites, "I appear to have burst into flames" and "I do believe I'm on fire", are delivered far more coolly than the panicked cries and screams of most of the other classes'.

** One of [[The Medic|Medic's]] taunts involves him playing his bonesaw like a violin. In the middle of a chaotic battlefield.

* Yuyuko Saigyouji from the ''[[Touhou]]'' Series, even though she is portrayed as a [[Big Eater]] with [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] most of times, possibly belong to this trope when she fights seriously. This feature is evident in ''Perfect Cherry Blossom''.

* ''[[Suikoden]] V'' has Sagiri, a former assassin turned detective who always wears a smile. She was conditioned from a young age to always smile, mostly because the Queen Bitch assigned to training her thought it would be funny to see people killed by a smiling little girl. One other character, Nakula, watched his father get killed as a child, and her smile is the reason he recognized her as an adult.

* Nessiah of ''[[Yggdra Union]]''.

* Walter, the [[Implacable Man]] of ''[[Silent Hill 4]]'', who never drops that creepy smile of his, not even when his face is splattered with blood or when he's being shot at.

** And [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23uQVAYvKIs this song] from the same game qualifies. It sounds like something that would play in a safe area. Here's a hint: The section it plays in is anything but safe.

* [[Neverwinter Nights]] does not possess the capacity for characters to change their facial expression. So people in combat and close to death have exactly the same expression as people sitting in a garden eating breakfast. The voices and the music do change in combat, though.

* The lack of [[Dissonant Serenity]] was an early clue to Bastila's {{spoiler|eventual [[Face Heel Turn]]}} in [[Knights of the Old Republic]]. She was visibly snarling in the flashback sequence of her dueling Revan.

** [[The Hero|Shepard]], ''constantly.'' If he/she isn't stoic during a crazy situation, Shepard is [[You Have Got to Be Kidding Me!|exasperated at the craziness of what is going around him.]]

* Sephiroth as he destroys Nibelheim in Cloud's flashback scene in ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]''.

** In fact, Sephiroth's been made to be a Triumphant Example of this Trope. You will rarely hear him raise his voice or shout (even when he is being struck by a weapon), he never loses his composure, and he will usually have either two looks: an amused smirk or a just a simple frown. Oh, and don't ever expect to see him bleed.

** Interesting case. Although The Joy remains relatively calm, she is not shown smiling through much of the game. The Sorrow on the other hand is rarely seen unhappy, even as {{spoiler|he's sending the ghosts of everyone you killed after you.}}

*** {{spoiler|Although, by heavy implication canon and how the game records your stats, he should have only killed the cobras by that point.}}

* This trope is DEFCON's bread and butter. As all of civilization is destroyed in a nuclear war, the player watches things unfold through a tactical computer depicting the carnage through simple wireframe models and numbers. [[Soundtrack Dissonance|This is accompanied by quiet piano music.]]

* One of the endings in ''[[Anchorhead]]'' involves the player character, who has by then [[Go Mad From the Revelation|Gone Mad from the Revelation]] {{spoiler|by reading through the [[Tome of Eldritch Lore|black book]] in the church}}, calmly [[Eye Scream|clawing her own eyes out]].

* Oasis from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' gets this a lot. [http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=090506 For example ...]

** She also flies in to impassioned rages at the drop of a hat. I.E. The very next strip.

* ''[[Frankie and Stein]]'' has Stein acting this way... a lot. From [[Grave Robbing]] grinningly, to stealing a brain with a grin on his face, to excitedly explaining what he's going to do next half-way through {{spoiler|creating his own Frankenstein's Monster}} with blood all over his face. Only, he's a little more upbeat than serene. [http://frankieandstein.com/2012/01/21/page-23/ This] strip, in particular.

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* From ''[[The Simpsons]]'': As an epic [[Mob War|Mafia war]] unfolds on their front lawn, Marge urges Homer into the house, but he points out that the one of the ''[[Yakuza]]'' is just standing in the middle of the fighting, arms crossed, not doing anything. "[[Pint-Sized Powerhouse|The little guy hasn't done anything yet]]! [[Genre Savvy|He's gonna do something, and you know it's gonna be good!]]" Homer still gets pushed inside, and immediately afterwards we hear the sounds of one loud karate yell, one connected blow, and about three bodies hitting the ground. Cue Homer's disappointed groan.

** Not to mention the same little guy's reaction to being [[Destination Defenestration|hurled through their window]] - calmly getting up. brushing off the glass, bowing to them, apologizing and walking out the front door.

* Overlapping with their casual danger dialogue, in the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode "Ill Suited" once they sort out their relationship problems Kim is all smiles while fighting a battle-suited Ron, even though the person remote-controlling the suit is trying to kill her.

* Many of Ren's more psychotic moments in [[The Ren and Stimpy Show]]. He'll go from a raging lunatic to calm yet scary as hell. In one episode, "Sven Hoek," he comes home to find that Stimpy and Sven have destroyed the house and his most prized posessions. He storms up to the two, raging mad... and then he snaps, and instantly cools down, saying in the creepiest serene/unhinged voice: "Oooh, what I'm gonna do to yooou... I'm so angry!... First, I'm gonna tear your lips out!... Yeah! And then, I'm gonna gggGOUGE your eyes out! Yeah... That's what I'M gonna do. Oh; you're scared, huh? Next, I'm gonna t-t-tTEAR your arms, out of the sockets! Then I'm gonna hicha, and yer gonna faaall... And I'm gonna look down, and I'm gonna laaaugh..."