Tranquil Fury: Difference between revisions

''This is different'' from [[The Quiet One]] and [[The Stoic]]. The character in the grip of Tranquil Fury isn't necessarily an emotional cripple, and in day to day life they may be perfectly normal and happy. What ''defines'' Tranquil Fury is the tendency to become [[Let's Get Dangerous|deadly serious]] when it gets deadly serious.

 

 

Compare [[Don't Make Me Destroy You]], [[Bored With Insanity]], [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], [[Rage Breaking Point]], and [[Heroic Safe Mode]].

* ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'':

** This can be a fairy common attitude that indicates a character has gained superiority, or is feeling superior, in a fight. It's a way of showing the character is in completely control, even over their rage. One particularly glaring example occurs in the [[Mood Whiplash]] battle between Charlotte and Yumichika. This swings from a [[Silly Reason for War]] into a [[What You Are in The Dark]] character reveal, with both characters having initially vented their emotions in a comically melodramatic fashion. The moment the fight changes from comic to deadly serious is the moment Yumichika stops playing the emotional goofball and turns into something that is pure [[Tranquil Fury]] and [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomps]] Charlotte into oblivion. This is a common pattern for fights in this manga.

*** Speaking of Yamamoto, he's now in a constant state of this due to {{spoiler|the death of his lieutenant, Chojiro Sasakibe}}.

** Hisagi displays some tendency towards this during his fight with Findor, especially at the end when his rage at Findor trying to pass himself off as captain-class results in very softly-spoken anger.

* Circe Augusta von Zerbst, from ''[[Zero no Tsukaima (Light Novel)|Zero no Tsukaima]]''. Usually hot-blooded, she gets unusually calm and lady-like when angered.

* Revy's "Whitman Fever" from ''[[Black Lagoon]]'', which is more of a relapse of [[Ax Crazy]] than actual anger -- when she starts to look like she's sleep-deprived and ''stops'' yelling and swearing, there will be blood and there will be lots of it.

* Only to be expected given the [[Tin Man|slightly weird]] [[Lack of Empathy|mindset]] of contractors in ''[[Darker Than Black]]''. We see it the most from Hei (unless someone hits his [[Berserk Button]], in which case the "tranquil" part disappears), but it's also fairly prominent when November 11 is really mad.

** Good November 11 example would be after his partner, April, gets badly injured. As he watches her at the hospital, his face is no longer his perpetual smirk, or even the expected rage; it's basically expressionless, although slightly glum. This is pretty much [[Dull Surprise]] made terrifying.

* Though his signature reaction to most serious situations is [[Unstoppable Rage]], Guts from ''[[Berserk (Manga)|Berserk]]'' often starts out with Tranquil Fury. Before he [[Impaled With Extreme Prejudice|confronts]] the man who {{spoiler|tortured and mutilated Griffith for a year}}, Guts [http://www.mangakong.com/manga/Berserk/048.058/139 gives an expression that is on the same level of creepiness] as his signature [[Slasher Smile]], just to show how dangerously enraged he is inside.

* The end of the first arc of the ''[[To Aru Kagaku no Railgun (Manga)|To Aru Kagaku no Railgun]]'' anime has Mikoto, a [[Tsundere]] with [[Shock and Awe]] powers [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4HfgsWZZtk going Tranquil Fury on the AIM Burst]. You can pick your jaw off the floor now.

* In episode 22 of ''[[Fairy Tail (Manga)|Fairy Tail]]'', after [[Playing With Fire|Natsu]] learns that Lucy has been kidnapped, he captures a mook and drags him across a mountain trail. While dragging the guy, he orders him to reveal where Lucy is being held. When the mook won't answer, Natsu sets him on fire, then calmly declares that if he doesn't answer, the flames won't go out until he's ash.

** Black Mage Zeref needs only to flash a [[Death Glare]] at somebody and announce they've angered him to have everyone on the floor shitting themselves.

* This is how ''[[Watchmen (Comic Book)|Watchmen]]'''s Rorschach operates. Unlike the other characters, who express fury through violent outbursts (The Comedian particularly), Rorschach is almost always calm and quiet in his violence. Even when pushed to his very limit in 1975, he didn't yell or lash out, he retained his quiet demeanor. Of course, Rorschach is emotionally withdrawn and during his adulthood he only makes a facial expression twice in the book (Panel 8 of Page 7 of Chapter 6, when he remembers a childhood incident, and when he {{spoiler|orders Manhattan to kill him}}. For the rest of the story his face is either covered by his mask or a blank stare.

** This is changed in the movie, however. His blank stare is replaced by a [[Clint Squint]], and he is prone to fits of eye-twitchery. In 1975, when pushed to his limitations, instead of breaking down into the calm psycho he breaks up into an aggressive animal.

** When Superman narrowly managed to defeat Subjekt-17, an alien with strength and speed on par with him coupled with [[Psychic Powers]], Subjekt-17 comments:

{{quote| "You get cold inside when angry, Superman, but never wild."}}

'''Shino:''' For your teammate's funeral. }}

* [[Enemy of My Enemy (Fanfic)|Vtan]] [[Big Good|'Arume]] goes into this {{spoiler|after his old friend Rukth is killed}}. Vtan's human friend Perry states that this is the first time he's ever been truly scared of Vtan. Torikus also had a moment during which he acted like a "calculating murderer".

** It's also one interpretation of {{spoiler|Kyon's mental state after someone nearly killed Tsuruya}}.

* In the last installment of the ''[[Elemental Chess Trilogy (Fanfic)|Elemental Chess Trilogy]]'', Roy Mustang is on trial {{spoiler|for the murder of Fuhrer Grumman}}. As the [[Amoral Attorney]] prosecutor continues to badger him about everything under the sun, he gets progressively more and more agitated. Then the prosecutor is pushing the idea that Roy committed the crime to further his ambitions, and Roy points out that even setting aside the other reasons he wouldn't have done it, he could never hurt his wife by committing such an act.

{{quote| '''Fluttershy''': I... I will not run! You will not hurt my friends again!}}

* In [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5945419/1/A_Month_as_Naruto_Uzumaki A Month as Naruto Uzumaki], Sarutobi [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|spends a month as Naruto]] to see how bad the village really treats him. In less than 3 weeks he decides he's seen enough and recalls something the First Hokage told him, "A Hokage must never give into rage. But, should your anger be too much to contain, you must make sure that your anger be three things. Your rage must be cold. Your rage must be reasoned. And your rage must be legendary." In the end, Naruto owns roughly 30% of Konoha, the Uchiha clan is down to six children, and the entire main branch of the Hyuuga clan has been wiped out except for Hinata (Hiashi had told Hanabi about Sarutobi's law).

 

 

** Specifically, Picard dispassionately [[Mercy Kill|kills]] a partially-assimilated crew member who was asking for help, shows obvious pleasure at gunning down two drones, and finally shatters a display case in the observation lounge during a argument.

* In ''[[The Great Mouse Detective]],'' Ratigan spends most of the movie like this whenever his lackeys mess up, reigning in his anger enough to threaten and kill them [[Faux Affably Evil|in a polite sort of way]]. During the climax with Basil, however, [[Villainous Breakdown|his patience finally gives in]].

* At the climax of ''[[The Avengers (Film)|The Avengers]]'', {{spoiler|Bruce Banner reveals that he can turn into The Hulk at a second's notice with no drawn-out transformation sequence required.}}

{{quote| [[spoiler:'''Captain America''': "Doctor Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."<br />

== Literature ==

* The titular character in "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" After being {{spoiler|blackmailed and brutally raped by her new caseworker,}} Lizbeth Salander reminds us that "cooperative" is very much NOT the same as "submissive." Where another might fly into a homicidal rage or even BSOD, our heroine instead puts the scumbag in his place with a focus and purpose not unlike channeling a nuclear blast through a gunbarrel. {{spoiler|having capture the rape on camera, she turns the tables an blackmails HIM, but not before giving him a taste of his own medicine, tattooing I Am A Rapist on his chest, and leaving him tied up to think about what he did.}}

* Harry's entire fight with Voldemort at the end of ''[[Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows]]'' was a great example of this. In fact, if Mr. Potter isn't going out of his mind with rage -- if he is in fact calm and collected -- be afraid. Because you're about to get had.

** Also, Professor McGonagall's conversation with Umbridge in ''[[Order of the Phoenix]]''. Actually, everytime McGonagall's angry, you will see this trope.

*** Which is why, when she very uncharacteristically flies into a screaming rage at Fudge over the Dementor incident at the end of [[Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire|Book Four]], it really smacks the reader (especially a younger one) with just how colossal a trainwreck has been set in motion.

* A trait of ''[[Elenium]]'''s Sparhawk. In fact, when {{spoiler|his wife}} is kidnapped, he acts so calm that one of the knights {{spoiler|(who's infatuated with her)}} actually tells him that he doesn't love her, or he would be angrier. Some very scared friends of Sparhawk have to stop him and basically describe this trope for him before something unfortunate happens.

** Also, the final battle of the Tamuli Trilogy. {{spoiler|Of course, being a God kinda helps.}}

* The Outlaw Chronicles have Robin Hood himself as being almost perpetually like this, being described by Tuck as a 'Cold-hot man' fire inside, icy control on the outside. And the results are ''terrifying''. The narrator, Alan Dale, has by Book 3 begun to become something similar, previously mentioning his wife (who has an incredible temper matched only by her courage) having described him as ruthless, without pity, and Friar Tuck as being a cold man.

* Gordon Dickson wrote a short story about this, in which the dominant powers of the galaxy recruit a Token Brigade of humans and other less-advanced species to help fight an oncoming invasion--[[You Suck|we're useless]], but we have a stake in the outcome and deserve to have our shot. Turns out said dominant powers are [[Straw Vulcan|Straw Vulcans]]--when they see how large the invasion fleet is, they prepare to surrender because their calculations indicate there's no way to win (even though surrender means the destruction of all life in the galaxy). The "less-advanced" folks pass through a state of fury and into Tranquil Fury, allowing them to use the ship's psychic weapons more effectively; it then turns out that the super-aliens never considered a berserker one-ship attack as a viable tactic. The enemies are thrown into disarray, and the defenders win the day.

** "Look at me."

* The eponymous hero of [[Andrew Vachss]]' [http://www.vachss.com/av_novels/index_theburkeseries.html Burke] novels is a master of this:

 

== Live Action TV ==

** In "The Christmas Invasion", the Doctor kills the Sycorax leader by arising open the floor beneath his feet, announcing "No second chances. I'm that sort of man." Moments later, he has a second moment against the Prime Minister, after she shoots down the retreating fleet, killing thousands needlessly, as he sees it. He talks over her pleas, saying "I could bring down your government with a single word... No... six words. Six." He whispered to her aide, "Don't you think she looks tired?" This ''alters the course of history'' and strongly reverbarates all the way through to the end of series 3 of ''Doctor Who'' and the ''[[Torchwood (TV)|Torchwood]]'' miniseries ''[[Torchwood Children of Earth (TV)|Children of Earth]]''.

** There's a quote from "The Family of Blood" that pretty much sums up this trope:

** Faced with his own daughter's dead body, the Doctor picks up the gun that killed her, holds it against the head of the man who fired it and delivers the spine-chilling {{spoiler|"[[This Is Sparta|I. Never. Would.]]", destroying that man's support with three words.}} If you pay attention to the background music as he holds the guns, guess what it is? Drums. Yeah that's right. The Doctor was nearly pushed into becoming The Master mk2.

** To be honest, most of the Doctor's incarnations have behaved similarly at least once. As he gets angrier, he tends to go from smiling to annoyed scowling to shouting to steely-eyed gazing.

** The Eleventh Doctor shows flashes of this a couple times <ref>The Beast Below, Victory of the Daleks, and The Hungry Earth, among others</ref> and is genuinely menacing. You do ''not'' want to get him angry at you. He also displays some truly fearsome Tranquil Fury in "A Good Man Goes To War", complete with the [[Humiliation Conga]] for the target of his anger.

{{quote| '''The Doctor:''' Those words. "Run away." I want you to be famous for those exact words. I want people to call you Colonel Runaway. I want children laughing outside your door, 'cause they've found the house of Colonel Runaway. And when people come to you and ask if trying to get to me THROUGH THE PEOPLE I LOVE!...is in any way a good idea, I want you to tell them your name.<br />

* Vulcans in every incarnation of ''[[Star Trek]]'' are pictures of perfect tranquility, even when fighting. Whether they take someone out with a nerve pinch, fight hand-to-hand or blast it out with phasers, they always have a blank look of complete calm.

** Sometimes that calm slips a bit, and we get a glimpse of the Hot Green Blood that made them choose this path as an alternative to ''completely destroying themselves.''

{{quote| '''Wilson''': I say, would you mind awfully if you could stand up.<br />

''He stands and Wilson promptly lands a punch on his face.''<br />

* Kazuma Kiryuu of ''Yakuza'' exists in a state of Tranquil Fury pretty much all the time. Which makes the moments when he ''does'' get visibly pissed off that much more awesome.

* In ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]: Deadlocked'', when Vox catches Ratchet in his attempt to {{spoiler|deactivate the cells holding the other heroes captive}}, Ratchet just smiles as if to say, "Congratulations, now watch me destroy your frickin' space station."

{{quote| '''Katina:''' Wow. He can stay calm even through this?<br />

'''Ryusei:''' No. I've never seen him this angry before. }}

{{quote| ''Why, how cute! You cast the Calm spell, and the monster visibly relaxed. Why, now it's calmly and relaxedly ripping you to shreds and eating you.''}}

* Garrett from ''[[Thief]]''. He's hardly interested in the City's various nutty goings on and has nerves of iron, but even at his most emotional he rarely so much as raises his voice. Try to assassinate him and narrowly fail? He's annoyed by the lack of style, and proceeds to comprehensively destroy the enemy's credibility. {{spoiler|Eyeball ripped ''straight out of his head''? Well, he screams at the time, but recounts the event with at best mild irritation. Robbing a ''god'' - the one who ripped his eye out? He's intrigued by the challenge. Fanatical splinter group converting homeless people into cyborg slaves, consciousness intact but tormented, without will and unable to die? "I could really learn to hate these guys."}} Threaten to destroy the entire city, and possibly more? He'll take his time to think of a nice, methodical way to crush you. Kill his friends, and all hell will break loose...but he'll remain chillingly calm throughout. And then you'll die very suddenly, [[Stealth Expert|without ever seeing him]] [[Paranoia Fuel|at all]].

* In ''[[Batman: Arkham City (Video Game)|Batman Arkham City]]'', after seeing that the Penguin is torturing and murdering captured cops, Batman never raises his voice at all, but it's quite clear that he is absolutely enraged.

{{quote| '''Batman:''' I was only here for Fries and the hostages. But now, I'm taking you down to.<br />

'''Penguin:''' Aren't you scary! ([[Evil Laugh]])<br />

'''Batman:''' You're about to find out. }}

* Pit in [[Kid Icarus]]:Uprising is prone to throwing out one-liner's, snarky comments, and even manages a few [[In the Name of The Moon]] speeches. But when [spoiler: Hades mockingly presents the very real possibility that Pit may be forced to kill his Goddess, Lady Palutena when she is possessed by an evil force] all Pit manages is an oddly calm, very blunt, "Go home."

 

* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls (Animation)|The Powerpuff Girls]]'': This is how Blossom reacts in "Stuck up, up and away" when [[Spoiled Brat|Princess]] uses her newly-bought supersuit to temporarily knock out Bubbles and Buttercup.

{{quote| Princess: "So Blossom. Are you jealous? Are you ''scared''? Seeing how easily I ''thrashed'' your sisters, without even breaking a sweat! Oh, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Very well then! Prepare to [[Kneel Before Zod|bow to your Princess!]]}}

 

 

[[Category:Badass]]

[[Category:Tranquil Fury]]