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{{trope}}
{{quote|''It's quiet...too quiet...''[gunshot; bullet whizzes past his head] ''Now, suddenly, it's too loud. I preferred it when it was quiet.''|'''O'Malley'''
{{quote|''How could it be too quiet? It's your house, man. It doesn't get quieter before a missile shoots your house. I haven't had a missile shoot my house but I can't think of any reason why if a missile did shoot my house, why it would get quiet first. Do missiles kill all the birds or something? I don't get it.''|[http://outlawvern.com Vern], reviewing ''[[The Transporter]]''}}
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Compare [[Nothing Is Scarier]].
Often happens when the [[Jungle Drums]] stop.
At least partially [[Truth in Television]]; in forests and crowded cities, there's always stuff making noise - insects, birds, etc... [[Paranoia Fuel|unless they're hiding from something]].
{{examples
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' parodies this in their Blooper Reel.
{{quote|
*pause*
'''Kenshin''': [[Crowning Moment of Funny|I can't hear any FISH!]] }}
* Kurama remarks on the quiet in episode 74 of ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Even the usually reliable ''[[Elf Quest]]'' comics couldn't resist having a character say "it's too quiet" in the expanded version of Volume One.
* Played with in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|BtVS]]'' Season 8:
{{quote|
'''Willow:''' Are you about to say that it's ''"too quiet"'', dear?
'''Kennedy:''' No, I'm gonna say I think we're okay. }}
* The line gets thrown about in [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[Miracleman]]''.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Lampshaded during the story that brought [[Aria (manga)|the undines]] into ''[[My Apartment Manager is not an Isekai Character]]''.
{{quote|'''Aika''': It's so quiet.
'''Alice''': Maybe too quiet. Like... it's unnaturally still.}}
==
* [[Disney]]'s ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'' has a scene where Captain Phoebus doesn't like the quietness of the catacombs:
{{quote|
* ''[[Shrek]]'' utters this line when he and Donkey enter a deserted Kingdom of Duloc. (Everyone there has gone off to watch the tournament.)
* In ''[[The Fox and
* Robert Stack says the line to Lloyd Bridges as their characters await the arrival of the [[Airplane!]].
== Films -- Live-Action ==▼
▲* Robert Stack says the line to Lloyd Bridges as their characters await the arrival of the [[Airplane!]].
* In ''[[Asterix]] Mission Cleopatre'', the Egyptian architect, trapped in Cleopatra's Palace under Roman siege, utters this line as everything is silent and a [[Dramatic Wind|tumblewheed rolls by]]. Right after, the Romans show up with siege engines.
** "It's quiet... Too quiet... I like
* Done in the first scene of ''[[
* Used seriously at the time in ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (
{{quote|
'''Leonardo:''' Yeah, a little ''too'' quiet.
''<they knock out the only two guards>''
'''Donatello:''' Well, that was easy!
'''Leonardo:''' Yeah, a little ''too'' easy.
''<they see Raph tied up>''
'''Donatello:''' Look! It's Raph!
'''Michaelangelo:''' Yeah, a little ''too'' Raph!
''<Leo [[Dope Slap|hits Mikey on the head]] for turning it into an [[Overly Long Gag]]>''
'''Leonardo:''' You guys, knock it off!
'''Donatello:''' ''<[[Face Palm]]>'' Oh brother. }}
* A variation in ''[[
* When Native Americans who aren't slaves show up for the first time in ''[[Aguirre
* In the movie ''[[The Marksman]]'', the main character runs back late to the extraction point, he can clearly hear the helicopter waiting although he's still in enemy territory, he turns around frequently watching for potential pursuers, but after a while he stops, and notices no one is chasing him. He correctly assesses he and his team have been set up, and the extraction chopper is destroyed shortly after by a traitor.
* While the exact words aren't used, there is a scene in ''[[Sleepy Hollow (Film)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' where local Young Masbath points out to city slicker Ichabod Crane how quiet the forest is, and has to explain that forests are supposed to be ''noisy,'' like crickets and birds and stuff - noises that the forest lacked at that point.
* A variation on the trope is seen in ''[[We Were Soldiers]]'' when the Mel Gibson's character arrives at a section of the American Line that's too quiet. When asked what's wrong he explains, "There's nothing wrong here...[[Genre Savvy|except that there's nothing wrong...]]"
** Later in the movie, during an especially dark night, one character starts freaking out because it's so quiet, and his commanding officer asks for a flare to see by...revealing that it was quiet because the Vietnamese soldiers were a couple of feet away, trying to sneak attack.
* Inverted in ''[[The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra]]'':
{{quote|
* In the remake of ''[[Assault
== [[Literature]] ==
* Parodied by Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' book ''[[
* In ''[[Dragaera|Five Hundred Years After]]'', one of Khaavren's guardsmen says that since most of the civilians were evacuated, Dragaera City is so quiet that the Guards aren't really needed. Khaavren asks if he's ever spent any time in the jungle, where there are dzur or dragons? The guardsman says he has. Well, if he was out in the jungle and all the birds and little critters suddenly hid or went quiet, would he feel ''safe''? The guardsman sees Khaavren's point.
* In Jerry Pournelle's ''[[
* In ''h.i.v.e.: the overlord protocol'', Nigel specifically tells Franz not to say this. After Nigel leaves, Franz says it anyway.
* In [[Tamora Pierce]]'s ''Trickster's Choice'', Aly notes that the jungle animals are all quiet...however, her sneakiness and the experience of the guards thwart the subsequent ambush.
* In ''[[The Zombie Survival Guide]]'' by Max Brooks, this trope is invoked in numerous ways; wildlife of all kinds instinctively flee when they detect Solanum, the virus responsible for reanimating zombies. In areas abundant with noisy wildlife such as jungle and swamps, silence means that the undead must be close as these areas would never, ever be silent normally. In addition, heavily infested areas are found devoid of any wildlife by survivors as everything has been consumed by ghouls, so cities especially but also other areas known for constant noise, whether human or wildlife created, become jarringly and eerily silent.
* Happens more often than not in ''[[The Hounds of the Morrigan]]''. The main characters are looking for a [[McGuffin]] that, in theirs hands, will bring down the Celtic goddess of war; in hers, [[It Got Worse|well...]] However,
* The first chapter of ''[[The Day of the Triffids]]'' is a very effective combination of this trope and [[Nothing Is Scarier]]. The protagonist is in hospital recovering from an injury that required both his eyes to be covered in bandages for several days and is lying awake in what he assumes is the early hours of the morning, because the building is very close to the main road and the noise from the traffic is near-deafening from dawn to midnight. But then he hears a clock chiming eight...
* In ''[[Band of Brothers]]'', O'Keefe mutters that it's "awfully quiet" while a handful of soldiers are on patrol in the German woods. Moments later, they stumble across a Nazi concentration camp.
▲* In ''[[Band of Brothers]]'', O'Keefe mutters that it's "awfully quiet" while a handful of soldiers are on patrol in the German woods. Moments later, they stumble across a Nazi concentration camp.
* Used in the movie ''Zombie Nightmare'', featured on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', where it was parodied by Mike and the Bots:
{{quote|
'''Mike:''' A little '''too''' ominous.
'''Crow:''' A lot of cars in here.
'''Mike:''' A little '''too''' a lot of cars in here. }}
** Mocked in another episode of [[
* From the ''[[
{{quote|
'''Cat:''' No.
'''Kryten:''' Precisely. No one can hear anything! And you know ''why'' we can't hear anything?
'''Rimmer:''' Why?
'''Kryten:''' Because THERE ARE NO SOUNDS TO HEAR!
'''Rimmer:''' Kryten, isn't it 'round about this time of year that your head goes back to the lab for retuning?
'''Lister:''' No, no, he's right. There's no sounds because the engines are dead. We've lost all power! }}
* On ''[[Deep Space Nine]],'' Quark once used this line literally. He noticed the ambient noise in his bar was 35 decibels below normal, which made him the first to realize something was wrong with his [[Boisterous Bruiser|Klingon]] clients. When ''Klingons'' are quiet, you know something's up.
* A good twist put on it in "[[
▲* A good twist put on it in "[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]" on a couple of occasions, in that it's not that it's quiet, but the fact that it's NOT quiet that's the problem. Two excellent examples of [[Oh Crap]] moments (both courtesy of [[Steven Moffat]]) follow.
** ''The Doctor Dances'', where the Doctor is listening to a tape recording of the Empty Child, but there's a whirring flapping noise in the background.
{{quote|
'''The Empty Child's Voice:''' I'm here; can't you see me?
'''Rose Tyler:''' What's that noise?
'''Doctor:''' End of the tape. It ran out about 30 seconds ago... I sent it to its room. This is its room! }}
*** Earlier in that same episode, a boy using a typewriter to write a letter to his dad. The sounds of his typing are under the dialogue of the scene, until Nancy, the leader of these kids, points out that the boy isn't typing anymore. It's typing by itself.
** "The Girl in the Fireplace", Doctor staring at a broken clock.
{{quote|
'''Reinette''': You're scared of a broken clock?
'''Doctor''': Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a tiny bit. 'Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only one in the room, then what's that ticking? }}
* The [[Horatio Hornblower|Hornblower]] episode ''Duty'':
{{quote|
* An episode of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' plays with this. O'Neill comments that it's quiet, but that's just because the [[It Makes Sense in Context|annoying little man who'd been implanted in all their heads]] was gone.
* Officer Reed on an episode of [[Adam-12]]: "It's almost too quiet." On a prowler call Reed and Malloy suspect is a setup to lure them into an ambush - turns out to be just the "normal" amount of quiet after all, as it was, in fact, just a prowler call.
* ''[[Babylon
** Earlier in the series, Commander Ivanova states that she is more comfortable when there is something going wrong. Because on Babylon 5, something is ''always'' going wrong. Thus, if everything seems to be going smoothly, it simply means you don't ''know'' what is going wrong yet.
* In ''[[The Wire]]'', McNulty says this line to his wife, speaking of their children's bedroom.
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* Used in ''[[Primeval]]''. While investigating a possible creature sighting on a golf course, Abby notes that it's too quiet. In this case, she's specifically referring to the absence of birdsong.
== [[Recorded and Stand Up Comedy]] ==
* A [[Bob Newhart]] [[Stand-Up Comedy]] routine, "The Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline and Storm Door Company," involves the pilot on a low-budget airline talking to the passengers, a short time into the flight.
{{quote|I'm sorry, sir, I can't hear you over the roar of our engines.
''Beat''
Oh, wait, they've stopped now, sir.}}
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Inverted in ''[[Warhammer
▲* Inverted in ''[[Warhammer 40000]]: [[Fire Warrior]]''; occasionally an Imperial Guardsman will say this phrase. You can [[Hilarity Ensues|take the cue to make things noisy.]]
▲* Straight video game example: ''[[Star Fox (Video Game)|Star Fox]] 64''.
** And kinda ruined by the fact that the game's lockon system will mark the first enemy (hidden behind an asteroid) way before the "trap" goes off.
** And the fact that it's an on-rails shooter and you fly in a straight line the entire time. Kinda hard to set up a trap when you're never expected to drop your guard.
** Later repeated on the second mission of ''Assault'', which seems to work better than the above example.
* A chapter in the first ''[[Halo]]'' game is ominously titled "It's quiet..." What level is this? The one where you first encounter [[Eldritch Abomination|The Flood]].
** "Into The Belly of the Beast".
*** "No Covenant defenses detected... Contact! Lots of contact!"
*** "No Covenant? You HAD to open your mouth!"
* ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', in [[Call Back]] to the first game, has a chapter titled "...Too Quiet."
* ''[[Command
{{quote|
'''Second Soldier:''' An imaginary base.
'''Officer:''' Quiet!
'''Second Soldier:''' Exactly. It's ''too'' quiet.
Needless to say, they shortly fall prey to a Nod ambush. }}
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the [[
{{quote|
'''Prince''': [[Genre Savvy|Don't say it's quiet. Don't EVER say it's quiet.]] }}
** During a boss fight in that level, the Prince might say, "I told you, ''never'' say it's quiet." If you knock the boss off a cliff, he says, "''Now'' it's quiet."
* ''[[Uncharted]]'':
{{quote|
'''Elena''': Hear what?
'''Nathan''': Nothing. Absolutely nothing. }}
** Amusingly, Nathan's voice actor is the same as that of the Prince of Persia in the above example.
** Nolan North seems to be very [[Genre Savvy]], as in the sequel Chloe is trapped in an elevator and the power's out, leading to this lovely gem:
{{quote|
** Which is understandable since he had to face {{spoiler|zombie nazis}} in the first game.
* ''[[Ratchet and Clank]] Future: A Crack in Time'':
{{quote|
* This is explained in ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Path of Radiance'', where it is noted that even the area's naturally occurring sounds are gone (such as animals) indicates they are surrounded.
** ''[[The Legend of Dragoon]]'' observes the exact same phenomenon prior to the nighttime attack on Hoax.
* Parodied? in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]''.
{{quote|
* A NPC exchange from ''[[City of Heroes]]'', where the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Rikti]] have taken a human sympathizer hostage, doubles as an inversion of [[Perp Sweating]]:
{{quote|
'''[[Meaningful Name|Lk'Onik]]:''' ...: ...
'''Rikti Captor 2:''' Status Correction: Too Quiet.
'''Lk'Onik:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|...: Heh.]] }}
* From ''[[Evil Dead|Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick]]'':
{{quote|
** And then in ''[[Evil Dead|Evil Dead: Regeneration]]'':
{{quote|
'''Ash''': Yeah, ''too'' quiet. Let's make some noise! }}
* ''[[Dead Rising]]'': This trope is what first tips Frank West off that the situation in the small Colorado town is more than what meets the eye. In his words, "It doesn't sound like civil disobedience. It's too quiet."
** And, again, late in the game, commandos will show up and start slaughtering the zombies. You've gotten used to the place being full of the undead by now, so [[Nothing Is Scarier|seeing it empty is eerie.]]
* Somewhat Lampshaded in ''Randor Land 3'' (a ''[[Super Mario World (
* Uttered after a lengthy dinosaur chase in Sega's ''[[Jurassic Park|The Lost World]]'' Arcade shooter. Cue the T-Rex crashing right through the wall in front of you (just before [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|delivering the final shot]])!
* In [[Mass Effect]], [[Wrench Wench|Tali-Zorah nar Rayya]] points out that this trope is usually in effect [[In Space]]: if the engines and/or life support aren't making noise, that means they ''aren't working''. The Normandy creeps her out - since it's a brand new ship, there are almost no noises at all, and her instincts are insisting that she's in danger.
* Said in [[House of the Dead]] 2, almost word for word. A later scene also has James say something similar when looking around the baddie's base: "It's like they're inviting me in..."
* In ''[[Paper Mario:
* "It's quiet. Too quiet." [Enemies appear.] "''Be careful, it's a trap!''" - Peppy, [[Star Fox (
* In [[Dragon Age Origins]], at one point in the Dalish Elf origin, Merril mentions that all the woodland animals are silent. She speculates it's because the [[The Virus|Darkspawn]] are in the area. {{spoiler|She's right.}}
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' ''Mark of the Assassin'', as your party searches for signs of a wyvern, it suddenly becomes ''very'' quiet.
{{quote|
* In [[Call of Duty]]: ''World At War'' during the mission Ring of Steel, Sgt. Reznov tells his men to be quiet when they are moving through an asylum:
{{quote|
'''Reznov:''' [[Genre Savvy|No, that is why I am suspicious]]. }}
** Sure enough, there is an ambush up ahead.
* Used as a device in [[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]] and, to the lesser extent, in [[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]. When you travel cross-country, there is usually soft music in the background. When you enter dangerous area with enemies lurking about, thw music fades and there is a brief moment of silence before enemies engage you and the combat music starts playing. When player reacts quickly and plays a stealthy character this can nicely increase the suspense value of stalking the enemies.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://www.bmoviecomic.com/?cid=320 This] ''[[The B
* ''[[
==
* Used as part of a string of action movie parodies in ''[[The Fairly
▲* [http://www.bmoviecomic.com/?cid=320 This] ''[[The B Movie Comic (Webcomic)|The B Movie Comic]]'' strip and the associated [[The Rant|rant]].
▲* Used in ''[[The 10 Doctors (Fanfic)|The 10 Doctors]]''.
▲* ''[[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic (Webcomic)|Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic]]'' page "[http://yafgc.net/?id=2165 Watching the Fireworks]" starts with Adwen's observation that "it's so quiet" and, as the title suggests, gets better.
▲* Used as part of a string of action movie parodies in ''[[The Fairly Odd Parents]]'', "Action Packed".
** A lot of cartoons Butch Hartman seems to be involved with parodies this trope.
* Xandor says it in ''[[The Herculoids]]'' episodes "Mission of the Amatons" and The Island of the Gravites".
* In the ''[[Mighty Mightor]]'' episode "The Tiger Men", Tor says "I don't like it. It's too quiet tonight...I sense danger tonight." before the Tiger Men attack.
* Happens twice in the 2003 ''[[
* In ''[[Weekenders]]'' when they stay in Lor's house (the house with 13 run-around brothers) after they can't stay in other houses. But they decide to leave instead when it's just too quiet.
* Parodied in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "Lisa's Rival", in a scene at an apiary after all the bees leave to steal Homer's sugar.
{{quote|
'''[[Large Ham|Beekeeper 2]]''': Yes, a little ''too'' quiet...if you know what I mean.
'''Beekeeper 1''': Hmm... I'm afraid I don't.
'''[[Large Ham|Beekeeper 2]]''': You see, bees usually make... a lot of noise. NO NOISE... suggests no bees. }}
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
* Said by Doc in ''[[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
* Used in [[Teen Titans (
{{quote|
* In ''[[Taz
* Used in an episode of the original ''[[Transformers]]'' cartoon. Prowl even [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it by saying "Yeah, like they say in the movies, too quiet."
* This was lampooned in an episode of ''[[Rick and Morty]]'':
{{quote|'''Rick:''' Shh, wait. It's too quiet.
''Beat''
'''Summer:''' You skipped "quiet".
'''Rick''' ''(annoyed)'': I didn't "skip" quiet, it's obviously quiet if it's "too quiet".
'''Summer:''' Yeah, but you're supposed to say -
'''Rick:''' No, Summer, ''now'' it's not quiet enough!}}
=== Machinima ===▼
▲== Machinima ==
* One of the page quotes is from ''[[Red vs. Blue]]''; the situation is parodied.
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* This first developed from the fact that natural background noise in the wilderness will disappear when the animals making the noise are alerted to intruders. If you are in the woods, and everything suddenly goes quiet, it is a safe bet that [[Paranoia Fuel|you are not alone]].
** Inverted if you're hiking in bear country, in which case ''you'' being "too quiet" is more likely to get you killed, because you might unintentionally startle one into attacking.
*** Applies to gorillas too; this troper once saw a documentary on gorillas where the documenteers constantly cleared their throats when they thought they might be near by, because apparently it's "good manners" for gorillas to grunt constantly when approaching another troop so as not to startle them by suddenly appearing.
*** That probably applies with most animals, even domesticated and fairly placid ones. One of the first rules of handling horses is to make sure they don't suddenly get spooked because you've accidentally sneaked up on them, and try to avoid walking in their blind spot for the same reason.
* This is actually a usable rule of thumb in counter-insurgency operations. If a street is filled with people, you're probably safe. If it isn't and it should be, [[Paranoia Fuel|you're probably about to be ambushed]].
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* Many parents of young children consider "too quiet" an urgent signal to find out what the kids are up to.
** In his stand up special ''Lock 'n Load'', Denis Leary mentioned how much he missed quiet in his house with 7 and 5 year old kids, and one day when he was reading the paper enjoying a rare dose of quiet, it suddenly hit him that he hadn't seen the kids in a while. Turns out one of them was defacing his truck, and the other was giving the dog a bath. In the toilet.
* In 2008, the USAF held a major air exercise over Alaska, primarily to test the [[
** Walk out on a USAF flightline on a rare day when no one is working and you'll have to clear your throat to make sure you still have your hearing.
{{reflist}}
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