Tranquil Fury: Difference between revisions

[[File:tranquil_1368.jpg|link=Equilibrium|frame|<small>[[The Stoic|For the record, that glare is his standard face for most of the movie]]. His actual level of anger is expressed by how dreadfully he kills you.</small> ]]

 

 

In every [[Badass]]'s life, there may come a time when going berserk simply does not work. In this case, many people choose to turn to Tranquil Fury. This state of mind allows much whoop-ass to be uncanned without undue stress. When the time comes for the showdown between the [[The Hero|Hero]] and the [[Big Bad]], do not expect to see furious angry rage. Instead, expect [[The Hero]] (or [[Anti-Hero]])'s face to be serenely, eerily calm. They will not appear to be even slightly put out with the villain. Of course, that won't stop them from trying to hack the villain to hundreds of tiny pieces. A defeat by someone in the grip of Tranquil Fury is likely to be more comprehensive than others, as the job ''will'' [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|be done in a properly thorough fashion.]]

Tranquil Fury is often preceded by the phrase "[[This Is Unforgivable!|I didn't want to have to do this]]," or something similar. A loose real-life equivalent would be the concept of [[wikipedia:Mushin|mushin]]. Typically, a [[Meditation Powerup]] invokes or results in such a state.

 

 

Contrast: [[Berserker Tears]], [[Unstoppable Rage]]. Compare ''and'' contrast [[Dissonant Serenity]]. These characters often use [[Creepy Monotone]], [[Death Glare]], and [[Slasher Smile]].

 

== Anime and Manga ==

** Monkey D. Luffy is a master of this, especially in the original Japanese. There are few times when Luffy will go in screaming and rip roaring mad, though to look at him you'd suppose otherwise. His most angry, serious look tends to be blank eyes.

** Whitebeard is known for [[Unstoppable Rage|going apeshit over anyone harming his]] "[[A Father to His Men|sons]]". Killing one of them is a different story. In fact, it's this trope when {{spoiler|[[Magma Man|Akainu]] kills Portgas D. Ace, and Whitebeard silently but brutally punishes him by using a [[Megaton Punch]] and sending him through a fault with his earthquake-powers. The only words he said were after Akainu ''[[Only a Flesh Wound|burnt half his face off]]'': "I'm just getting started". Fittingly, the chapter was called ''Silent Rage''}}.

** When Yamamoto defeats [[Dark Action Girl|Halibel's]] three fracción, [[Mama Bear|Halibel]] proceeds to unleash a brutal [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] on Hitsugaya in an attempt to finish the fight as fast as possible so she can take her revenge against Yamamoto. She fails (mainly due to the intervention of the [[Big Damn Heroes]], but it's the thought that counts).

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

** In a [[Filler]] arc, [[Big Bad|Shusuke Amagai]] is so chillingly icy during his fight with Ichigo that he seems to combine Tranquil Fury with [[Creepy Monotone]].

** Ichigo himself shows signs of this at the start of his Deicide battle with Aizen, mostly at the beginning of the fight when he first arrives and assesses the torment and mayhem Aizen has created. {{spoiler|He softly tells Aizen they will adjourn to a different battlefield and when Aizen tries to stall, Ichigo simply grabs him by the face and drags him there.}} All done with such icy calm and detachment that is so abnormal for his usually fiery temperament that it borders on [[Dissonant Serenity]].

** Recently, {{spoiler|the newly re-instated Third Division captai Rojuro "Rose" Ootoribayashi}} has slipped into this state as well, after seeing {{spoiler|half of his squad (including Kira, his liutenant) brutally and horribly curbstomped by the Vandereich.}} [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|It's awesome.]]

* Briareos in ''[[Appleseed]]'' is quite good at this. Having a blank metal plate and five cameras in lieu of a face certainly helps.

** There's a convenient scale on Arcueid's path: {{spoiler|Killing Arcueid? Definitely heated fury. Killing Nero? Middle-ground. Killing Roa? Pure calm.}}

* In ''[[Dragonball Z]]'', the Super Saiyan form is typically unlocked after emotional stress and anger reaching peak. Once they do this, the Saiyan becomes truer to their nature, becoming colder and more sadistic, although with enough training these negative traits fade away.

{{quote| '''Vegeta''': [Calmly] You know... I thought I'd be angrier, what with the utter humiliation and loss of my tail... Or maybe I'm just so unbelievably enraged that I've come full circle. Oh well! Either way, it's time to put an end to this.}}

*** Which was preceded by his [[Unstoppable Rage|complete flip-out]] earlier. "That's IT, ''EVERYBODY DIES!''"

** It could be argued that Afro is in a constant state of quiet rage for the entire series.

* [[The Stoic|Jin]] of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' is nearly the personification of this.

** And again in the Kyoto Arc. During the fight with Chou "Sword Hunter" Sawagejou, Chou makes as if to impale an infant on his sword, in an effort to break Kenshin's concentration. It works. Sort of. Kenshin does indeed lose his focus, but instead of forgetting about Chou's special attack, {{spoiler|Kenshin instead forgets that he doesn't want Chou's cervical vertebrae to part ways. He was only saved by the fact that the new sword was, unbeknownst to everyone, a sakabatou. Even then, the sheer force of the blow might have Darth Mauled him anyway(and would certainly have snapped his spine), if not for the BFS wrapped around his torso like a bandage}}

* In ''[[Saiyuki]]'', [[Stepford Smiler]] Hakkai is very good at this, able to carry on polite conversations as he is engaged in battle. But his {{spoiler|past life}} Tenpou in the ''Gaiden'' manga raises this to a very creepy new level, politely saying "excuse me" before he calmly punches his superior's lights out, and {{spoiler|in the battle where he sacrifices his life}}, engages in all manner of meaningless prattle that is totally unrelated to the battle at hand.

** [[Big Brother Mentor|Maiza]] also exhibits Tranquil Fury, although not to such a dramatic degree as the above, when a police officer makes the mistake of [[Big Brother Instinct|insulting Firo in his presence]].

** Sensui (the real one). I'd shake his hand if I were you.

** Also, Kurama. He's never loses his reserve, but you can always tell when he's mad. [[Beware the Nice Ones|Yeah, you can definitely always tell]].

* 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.

* Kenshiro of ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' does this ''every single time'' that there's anything shown between the mook of the week crossing the [[Moral Event Horizon]], and Ken getting into his screaming [[Rapid-Fire Fisticuffs]].

* Negi from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' spends most of Chapter 315 in this state {{spoiler|after he sees that [[Ax Crazy|Quartum]] has cut [[Robot Girl|Chachamaru]] in half. He [[Curb Stomp Battle|curb stomps]] Quartum, culminating in Quartum '''[[Laser-Guided Karma|being ripped in half.]]'''}}

* If [[Change 123|Motoko Gettou]] is in tranquil fury mode, then that means {{spoiler|[[Super-Powered Evil Side|Zero]] has come out to play.}} And if that said tranquil fury is directed at you, you had better start praying. ''Fast.''

** 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.

* In ''[[Inu X Boku SS]]'', Soushi does this in episode 3 when two young men are insulting Ririchiyo. After dousing them with his drink, he very calmly, very politely says, "Pardon me, it's just that, you've angered me."

 

 

** Or death, if it just happens to be a What If universe. {{spoiler|Oh and if it wasn't for a [[Retcon]] Spider-man would've committed his first real murder.}}

* V of ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' serves his vengeance cold, not once raising his voice to his targets (unless you count Madam Justice). His kills are usually done quietly and made to look like unrelated accidents, but by the time we see him in the comic, he's elevated killing to high theater. Sometimes he slaughters men while reciting Shakespeare or Bible verses, sometimes he abducts them and puts on little plays, or manipulates an [[Innocent Bystander]] into doing the killing for him, and in the "Vertigo" episode simply stands motionless in complete silence and compels his victim to kill himself. The fact that at all times he's wearing a mask with the most cheerful smile imaginable makes him all the more terrifying to those who wronged him.

** 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.

* Word of advice: when [[Superman]] [[Unstoppable Rage|gets angry]] and you don't have [[Kryptonite Factor|kryponite]] on you, run. Sure, no one but [[The Flash]] can actually outrace him, but he'll respect the effort, and your best shot is to hope that something more important will distract him in the seconds he lets you run. However, when he's gone past the point of anger, and entered [[Batman]]-levels of rage, [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]] and all, pray to your maker, because you'll be lucky to end up in critical condition.

== Fan Work ==

* Emily Hastings from ''[[An Entry With a Bang (Fanfic)|An Entry With a Bang]]'' does this when a friend of hers gets killed, toying with the ASF pilot responsible and taking him out methodically weapon-by-weapon.

{{quote| '''Shino:''' What variety of flowers would be appropriate?<br />

'''Tenten:''' What?<br />

'''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}}.

{{quote| "Well," says the prosecutor, "maybe you love your ambition more than you love your wife."<br />

If Ed were blind, he would still be able to see that this is the Wrongest Thing anyone has ever said to Mustang. He fully expects him to light the prosecutor on fire, although this wouldn't exactly help his case. At the very least, he expects Mustang to explode.<br />

He doesn't. His black eyes are burning a hole through the prosecutor's head, but he remains seated, clutching the arms of the chair in a furious grip. And when he speaks, his voice is dangerously low and hissing, and fully informing the prosecutor that he has crossed the uncrossable line.<br />

''"I don't love '''anything''' more than my wife."'' }}

** Luna is [[Nightmare Fuel|unnervingly calm]] when she [[And I Must Scream|turns Discord to stone in the dreamworld]], even showing ''no reaction at all'' when he [[Villainous Breakdown|begs her to stop.]] Whether this counts as a [[Moral Event Horizon]] for Luna has sparked some debate among fans.

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

 

 

== Film ==

* Eric Draven, in the big shootout in the club towards the end of ''[[The Crow]]'': "You're all going to die." Said so calmly and quietly he probably wasn't even heard over the thumping music.

* John Preston in ''[[Equilibrium]].'' Four words: "No. Not without incident."

** Accompanied by two other words when the polygraph he's hooked up to flatlines after the Tranquil Fury takes over: "Oh, ''[[Oh Crap|shit!]]''" So either he was so angry that his heart stopped, or the machine was broken by his PURE RAGE!

** What makes this scene ''truly'' powerful? If you've watched the TV series and know that River is not only one of the most erratically emotive characters in the series, but that she is ''physically incapable of controlling her emotions.'' Especially ''fear.'' So to see her slowly, calmly turn her head, look straight at {{spoiler|the Alliance soldiers}}, and prepare to massacre them too without the tiniest twitch of emotion on her face isn't simply awesome...its a bit terrifying.

** Earlier in the film she has another. After she wanders into the bar where Mal is meeting with a contact, the Alliance bad guys trigger her [[Berserk Button]] with a subliminal message. She proceeds to wipe out everyone in the bar with more or less the same calm as she shows in the previous example. What makes it especially disorienting is that the scene includes a few shots of the fight through River-vision: she's almost alone in a bright, empty space, moving so slowly and gracefully that she's almost dancing. Then it immediately cuts back to the noise and chaos in the crowded bar where she's attacking everyone who comes within reach.

{{quote| '''Kittridge:''' Ethan, I understand you're upset...<br />

'''Ethan:''' [[Pre-Ass-Kicking One-Liner|Kittridge, you've never seen me very upset.]] }}

{{quote| '''Inigo:''' [[Hello]]. [[My Name Is Inigo Montoya]]. [[You Killed My Father]]. [[Prepare to Die]].}}

** In the actual book, it is explained that this is what [[The Chessmaster|Vizzini]] becomes like when he gets mad: he speaks in a very soft voice, with a very calm face, and scares the ''hell'' out of Inigo and Fezzik. Of course, in the movie, he just gets higher and higher pitched.

* Dustin Hoffman's [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|long-awaited]] rampage at the end of ''[[Straw Dogs]]''. He's slightly nervous, and that's about it.

* William Wallace in ''[[Braveheart]]'' after his wife is killed. His expression is virtually blank from the moment he rides into the village to the moment he cuts the murderer's throat.

** Which is shown by the fact that he is casually strolling ''ahead of a newly activated laser beam.'' That's faster-than-light strolling.

* The assassin named T, from the Singaporean movie ''One Last Dance'', has this as his signature style. It is shown mainly in the confrontation with his former partner-in-crime, as well as the ensuing revenge on {{spoiler|the men who raped his friend's sister.}}

* Would-be presidential assassin Mitch Leary in [[In the Line of Fire]].

* The protagonist of [[I Saw the Devil]] may qualify, as he gets on a revenge fest, looking very calm and cold most of the time. His fury goes on during the WHOLE. MOVIE.

* [[Evil Genius|Gru]] in ''[[Despicable Me]]'' when in his {{spoiler|[[Papa Wolf]]}} mode. Culminated with him {{spoiler|[[Offhand Backhand|offhandedly punching out]] a ''shark''}}.

* In ''[[Snatch]]'', Brick Top is always very loud and aggressive. Until he gets truly pissed off. Then he gets very, very quiet.

* When [[Ip Man]] challenges the ten Japanese pugilists after {{spoiler|seeing Master Liu get shot}}, he is calm and focused, with only a steely [[Death Glare]] to show his anger, even when he's [[Combat Pragmatist|dislocating joints and dealing out other brutality.]]

** 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]].

* In [[Cape Fear]], Max Cady has a quiet, permanent animal rage under his skin. And occasionally, [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|it breaks out.]]

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

'''Bruce Banner''': [smiling] "That's my secret, Cap. I'm always angry."]] }}

== 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.

* Invoked ad infinitum in ''The [[Black Jewels]] Trilogy,'' where hot anger is the lesser danger; Blood can be pushed to something called the 'killing edge' which is a sort of glacially calm-seeming berserker state. You can be sure that when a character is speaking "too gently" or is "too calm" that they are a breath away from tearing someone apart.

{{quote| There were winds that came down from the north, screaming over miles of ice, picking up moisture as they tore over the cooling sea until, when they finally touched a man, the cold, knife-sharp damp seeped into his bones and chilled him in places the hottest fire couldn't warm. Saetan, when he was this calm, this still, was like those winds.}}

** For clarity's sake, it should be noted that said [[Big Bad]] was ''between'' Carrot's sword and the aforementioned stone. Carrot's expression does not change.

** Vimes' thoughts on the subject are virtually the definition of Tranquil Fury.

{{quote| "If you have to look along the shaft of an arrow from the wrong end, if a man has you at his mercy, then hope like hell that man is an evil man. Because the evil like power, power over people, and they want to see you in fear. They want you to know you are going to die. So they'll talk. They'll gloat. They'll watch you squirm. They'll put off the murder like another man will put off a good cigar. So hope like hell your captor is an evil man. A good man will kill you with hardly a word."}}

*** Which is very likely a (perhaps subconsciously planned) [[Xanatos Gambit]] on Carrot's part, to put himself in a position where Angua would have to come to ''his'' aid, and therefore force her hand against her brother.

** Terry Pratchett quite likes having his heroes remain outwardly calm as they knock seven bells out of the villains. Granny Weatherwax seems to do it once per book, and is described as storing up her anger behind a mental dam in her head, so that when she really needs it she can turn the tap and let it out.

** Incidentally, that event? Gregor was confronting the man who tried to murder his head of security, framed his foster brother for the crippling attack, then framed his new fiancee's friend ''and'' tried to bribe the aforementioned foster brother when that did not stick. The foster brother in question observed that he was "so neutral he was grey."

{{quote| '''Miles''': [''Thinking''] So this is what rage looks like on him.}}

** Honor personifies this in her duel with Pavel Young. He tried to rape her in the academy, he's used his family connections to block her advancement, he's left her to die when he was her superior, ''he arranged the death of her lover'', and when she managed to corner him and challenge him to a duel, he broke the laws on dueling by turning early. Her response was to send 3 bullets into his heart without a single twitch of facial muscle despite his cheating in the duel and ''turning around early to shoot her in the back''.

*** From the (first) climax of ''Flag in Exile'':

*** Her reaction when she finds some of her captured subordinates who have been brutally raped and beaten over and over and over, in ''The Honor of the Queen''. She calmly walks out of the room, finds the CO of the base that allowed it to happen, and is only barely prevented from calmly blowing his brains out when a marine in power armor physically interposes himself, while begging her to not do it. She doesn't actually lower the gun, however, until a man representing the local authorities promises the man will be executed by the courts.

** Havenite leader Eloise Pritchart is manages to remain calm, if frustrated, while negotiations with Manticore spiral downward during ''War of Honor''. Arnold Giancola, {{spoiler|who's been manipulating diplomatic correspondence}} realizes too late that he went too far and Eloise's outward calm actually hid the fact that she was pissed off enough to order a resumption of hostilities.

** Really, ''anybody'' in the Honorverse who can maintain a level of Tranquil Fury is going to be about twenty times more dangerous than someone who rants, raves, and screams. Perhaps best highlighted with Manticore's Queen Elizabeth. She's an intelligent, crafty, and very effective leader. ''If'' she keeps her head. Her biggest blunders, such as failing to get into a better position to head off the High Ridge Government's excesses and resuming hostilities with Haven after peace talks were sabotaged, occurred primarily because the "famed Winton temper" was provoked.

* 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.

Nothing.<br />

And the more of that you have, the easier it is. }}

* In the Iain M Banks [[The Culture|Culture]] novel ''[[The Culture/The Player of Games|The Culture]]'', there is an example of Tranquil Fury against a whole civilisation. The protagonist, Jurneau Gurgeh is sent to the foreign Azadian empire to play in a games tournament (winning the tournament makes you the emperor). After having a fairly enjoyable time playing and drinking in what he sees as a crude but still interesting society, Jurneau's companion shows him just how bad things are in the empire (exploitation of mentally sick people, no support for the elderly or poor, brutal police force etc). He gets a bit upset, but doesn't think much of it. He's then shown a series of TV programs showing, in order, normal pornography, sado-dominative pornography, and finally, the most twisted kinds of sexually motivated anatomically horrific torture possibly conceived (a particularly vile example shows a pregnant woman being thrown into a room with a violently psychopathic prisoner armed with knife and injected with a massive amount of sex hormones). He is then informed that this kind of thing happens all the time in the Azadian Empire. Cue his next games match. Where previously, he'd been playing out of sport and fun, Jurneau utterly annihilates his opponent in the most absolute way possible.

** And it's a sign of how complex a writer Banks is that the opponent being annihilated is the most sympathetic one Gurgeh has ever faced and the penalty for losing is ''gelding.'' And what makes it worse is that the opponent is ''pregnant'' for the first time and will lose all hope of ever having children, as well as his/her job (the ruling class in the Empire are hermaphrodites.) There are strong hints that Gurgeh has been driven somewhat [[Ax Crazy]] by seeing the dark side of the Empire up close and personal.

** For that matter look at the Aes Sedai all throughout the books. An angry Aes Sedai is always described as being "cool" and not showing outward signs of emotion.

* Niko, the martial-arts expert, self-educated, "Buddha-loving" swordsman brother of [[Cal Leandros]] is almost always tranquil, the epitome of Zen. But threaten the ones he loves, '''especially''' his little brother, and that tranquility turns into a cold rage that makes him the perfect weapon, driven by nothing but the desire to bring death. He says himself that the thing he does best is kill.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files|Changes]]'', this pretty much defines how Harry spends the majority of the book, with him struggling to keep his ever-intensifying anger at what is happening to his daughter from transforming into an outright [[Unstoppable Rage]]. As he points out at the beginning of the book, a wizard who cuts loose can level city blocks in their fury, so he has to keep his anger on a tight leash. It nonetheless leaks out; for example, when fighting the vampires in his office building, Harry keeps his cool but unthinkingly pumps [[White Magic|soulfire]] into his flame blasts, without even considering the consequences, because he's ''that damned angry'', proving that even Tranquil Fury can potentially be self-destructive.

* In the last book of ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'', [[Ax Crazy]] Jedi Master clone Joruus C'baoth (half of the trilogy's [[Big Bad Duumvirate]]), goes into a quite spectacular [[Villainous Breakdown]] during the climax. At first, he's completely flipped and incoherently raging, but then he goes right ''past'' that and straight into Tranquil Fury. Everyone thinks it's ''much'' more disturbing than the mad screaming.

** The ''Original Series'' [[Battlestar Galactica Classic|Adama]], could be even ''worse'' when he got pissed. Because he's frakking Lorne Greene.

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Tenth Doctor, in contrast to the [[Unstoppable Rage|Ninth Doctor]], is very fond of doing this. At the big showdowns against the Sycorax (Christmas special 2005), the Racnoss (Christmas special 2006), the Family of Blood (2007), and the Vashta Nerada (2008) he has displayed very little emotion. [[No Indoor Voice|Then again, loud is his normal state.]]

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

{{quote| "He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing. The fury of the Time Lord. And then we discovered why. Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden... He was being kind."}}

{{quote| '''Rory Williams''': Would you like me to ''repeat'' the question?}}

*** Amy Pond finally goes off the deep end in "The Wedding Of River Song", and very calmly {{spoiler|murders Madame Koravian}}. Went she returns to her normal life, she reveals that she's traumatised by it.

* [[Starsky and Hutch|Starsky]] is generally the most impulsive of the Zebra Three pair. But the calmer he looks, the more worried you should be. In other words, if you mess with his partner, Starsky will hand it back to you in a silver platter.

* Teal'c, [[The Big Guy]] in ''[[Stargate SG-1]],'' is exceptionally good at this.

** Indeed.

* "[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|I am not frightened. I'm gonna blow them off the face of the earth with the fury of God's own thunder.]]" Don't mess with anyone who [[The West Wing|President Bartlet]] likes. In fact, don't mess with Americans, period.

* [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles|Cameron]], being an almost [[Emotionless Girl|emotionless]] [[Robot Girl|robot]], can ''only'' enter Tranquil Fury when she gets angry - usually when someone [[Berserk Button|lies to her.]]

** Still in ''Buffy'', The Mayor shows this when trying to smother Buffy at the hospital.

** Xander is a surprising example of this trope given his usual goofy temperament, but threaten some one he cares about and it doesn't matter how much stronger than him you may be he will calmly inform you that he will kill you (see his conversation with Buffy after she got Willow kidnapped, or his conversation with Angel at the hospital.) It is telling that none of the super powered characters he has threatened have ignored the threat. The man can be scary when he wants to be.

*** His latest interview with Bill O'Reilly on the O' Reilly Factor [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icp0tAsl95s&feature=response_watch should also count where he rips into] [[Fox News]].

** Let's just say that slighting New York City's patriotism in front of Jon Stewart is a [[Berserk Button|very bad idea...]]

* [[David Letterman]] in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKftpGB03vU&feature=related this video].

* Gene Hunt from ''[[Life On Mars]]'' is normally given to yelling his head off at all and sundry... but when one of Ray Carling's screwups results in a death in police custody, his punishment is cold, calm and severe.

* 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 />

* Played with hilariously in an episode of ''[[My Name Is Earl]]'' . While on court ordered happy pills, Joy turns from blonde bitch to annoyingly calm, even putting up with some obnoxious neighbors who park their trailer right next to hers... until they tag Earl Jr. with a beer can. Even the pills couldn't turn off her [[Mama Bear]] instincts. She explains in a scary happy voice that she's gonna come back in a few days, when the chemical calm wears off, and thrash them in several unpleasant ways. They decide to move before she does.

* [[Law and Order|Ben Stone]] was a master of this. If he's yelling, he's losing. If his voice doesn't rise, someone's going down hard.

* On ''[[Babylon 5]]'', when [[Magnificent Bastard|Alfred Bester]] learns that Captain Sheridan may have used his lover (and the mother of his child) as {{spoiler|a living weapon in the liberation of Earth}}, he drops his usual [[Deadpan Snarker]] persona completely and replaces it with blunt threats on Sheridan's life. But he never once raises his voice.

** Delenn usually expresses anger with an imperious [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]. But during the Drakh attack in ''Lines of Communication'', when she said "who said we were leaving" you knew the drakh were doomed.

'''Mal:''' Define "interesting."<br />

'''Wash:''' "Oh God, oh God, we're all going to die"? }}

* John Reese on [[Person of Interest]] is quite capable of taking out enemy assassins without so much as raising his voice, even when it's personal.

 

* The berserkers of the Crab Clan in ''[[Legend of the Five Rings]]'' were originally portrayed as this, but are occasionally Flanderized into the normal, [[Unstoppable Rage]] kind of berserkers.

* In [[Dungeons and Dragons|D&D 4th Edition]], a [[Prestige Class|Paragon Path]] for the rage-focused Barbarian class called "Calm Fury" is available in the supplement "Primal Power," allowing them to use some of their most powerful abilities while not explicitly raging. According to the flavour text, "You now attain the furious clarity on the far side of rage".

** Space Marines and Eldar deliberately try to enter this state rather than "hot" fury. Given what they know about Chaos, justified trope. Tau are also normally calm during battle unless their [[Berserk Button]] gets pushed.

** In fact, Tau are ''so'' calm during battle, that when their [[Berserk Button]] is pushed, ''this'' is the trope they exemplify. The Tau Codex gives a very good description of a Tau force advancing relentlessly pouring an ever-increasing torrent of fire into the enemy after their Ethereal is killed.

** Even the home-brew Angry Marines aim for this. While their motto is "Always Angry, All the Time", it's a ''focused'' anger.

 

 

** "Deadly Cam" was reworked and now just let you use any attack for no rage while you gather more rage. Nothing more, nothing less.

** And the final straw it's a universal skill for warriors named "Inner Rage", in when you use it the cooldown in Heroic Strike (strong blow with lots of threat that can be used with other attacks) and Cleave (same, but striking two objectives) are reduced in half for 15 sec. The thing is, even if a Protection warrior use it always because it means he will do more threat, and Fury warrior can achieve a rate of decent rage generation to allow him to use it from time to time, you cannot use Deadly Calm and Inner rage at the same time as Arms (using one locks the other), and where Deadly Calm it's beneficial for the Arms warrior, he never have a rate of rage generation comparable to that of the Fury warrior. It's like the devs saying that those Arms warriors are the real badasses of the crew and they actually are in peace at themselves.

* Even though he may yell from the force of his attacks, don't expect [[Silent Hill 4|Henry Townsend]] to have much, if any, expressed anger or fear.

{{quote| '''Shepherd''': ''[draws a gun and speaks in a calm voice]'' Conrad, let me make this perfectly clear. ''[shoots Conrad in the foot]'' This is not acceptable.}}

** In the Operation Overlord DLC, one can ''hear'' this in Shepard's voice if s/he chooses to {{spoiler|spare David and take him to Grissom Academy}}. When Dr. Archer draws his gun, Shepard's only response is to [[Pistol Whip]] him and then tell him, in cold, calm, enraged, and entirely certain terms, that if Archer {{spoiler|tries to come after his brother again}}, that [[Good Is Not Soft|"This bullet will be waiting for you."]]

{{quote| '''Tali:''' [[Beware the Nice Ones|He needs to die.]]}}

** Shepard's final confrontation with Kai Leng. After Shepard curb-stomps him, leaving him defeated-but-alive, s/he calmly goes back to what they were doing before the assassin showed up. Kai-Leng slowly gets back to his feet, picks up his sword, walks over and prepares to strike Shepard from behind. In a split second, Shepard turns around, {{spoiler|either dodges or breaks the sword in half with their ''bare hands'', unfurls their omniblade and [[Karmic Death|stabs him hard in the gut.]]}}

* Diego Armando at the end of Case 3-4 of [[Ace Attorney]]. Having witnessed what {{spoiler|Dahlia Hawthorne}} has done, he calls her a witch, claims that [[This Is Unforgivable!]] and then squeezes his coffee cup so hard that it shatters and the shards cut him. Then he turn to Mia, smiling and with his hand full of blood and tells her it isn't over yet.

* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', Fenris is nearly permanently in this state. One of his abilities (Veneer of Calm) even invokes this, noting that while outwardly he appears calm and emotionless, inwardly he's infuriated and deals more damage based on the amount of damage he himself has taken.

** As your constant conversing with him along the Lonesome Road shows, Ulysses speaks to you calmly, slowly and with pure unbridled hate dripping from every word.

* This is presumably why casting Calm in the middle of combat is a very [[The Many Deaths of You|bad idea]] in [[Quest for Glory I]].

* 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]].

* With all the anger tropes in the game, ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'' would obviously use this at some point. His {{spoiler|[[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|Mantra Form]] is basically all the anger of Asura's berserker form, concentrated into a much more powerful, more controlled form. His anger hasn't diminished in the slightest, but he no longer has any control gone.}}

{{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. }}

 

 

== Web Comics ==

* In ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'', what did begin with a normal and quite amusing, really, [http://samandfuzzy.com/archive.php?comicID=974 Unstoppable Rage], became first a little [http://samandfuzzy.com/archive.php?comicID=975 monologue] from Mr. Black (that, actually, made me feel really bad for Mr. Blank), then [http://samandfuzzy.com/archive.php?comicID=976 Tranquil Fury] from Mr. Blank. The funny thing? ''I'm even more sorry for Mr. Blank''... even if that is, probably, a [[Kick the Dog]] moment. Or... [[Shoot the Dog]]. Choose the best.

{{quote| Pathetic little green worm. I ought to pop your sickeningly warm head off of your disgusting fluid-filled sack of organs.}}

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', [[Implacable Man|Airman Axel]] [[The Magnificent|"The Unstoppable"]] [[Made of Iron|Higgs]] slides into this state after Zola {{spoiler|stabs Zeetha}}. Every panel showing him afterwards depicts him with this look of pure yet tempered and determined fury on his face as he relentlessly pursues and fights her.

* In ''[[The Salvation War]]'': ''Armageddon?'', the Soldiers in the PLFH (particularly Aeanas) experience this when they come across the {{spoiler|[[Moral Event Horizon|demonic merchants who sell human children as delicacies]]}}:

{{quote| ''Aeanas stared at the scene with cold fury. He did not angrily demand that they throw caution to the wind and charge in to save the children, a hot-blooded rage that blinded its victim to common sense would have called for that. Instead, stone-faced, he watched the merchant empty his wagon, pack up his other trinkets, and be off down the rutted dirt road. So did Cassidy and [[Mc Elroy]]. There would be a time for vengeance, a time when debts like this one would be paid but this was not it. Three humans attacking 300 baldricks with edged weapons was simply a way to die. Or be thrown back in the lava streams.''}}

{{quote| '''Vegeta''': You know, I thought I'd be angrier, what with the utter humiliation and loss of my tail, or maybe I'm just so ''unbelievably'' enraged that I've come full circle.}}

 

 

== Western Animation ==

** This is how Aang is ''supposed'' to unlock the [[Unstoppable Rage|Avatar State]]. Maybe he should get tips from [[Emotionless Girl|Mai]].

** {{spoiler|In the [[Final Battle]], he does. Unlock it, that is, not take lessons from Mai.}}

*** And their previous confrontations were the reverse.

**** Minus the insanity.

** Brock is the master of both Tranquil Fury AND [[Unstoppable Rage]].

* Prowl, of ''[[Transformers Animated]],'' as befits a [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|robot ninja]]. (''Yes.'')

** Megatron in the first episode of the same series has an especially good moment as well. After being half blown-up (by none other than [[The Starscream|Starscream]]), he still manages to get aboard the Autobots' ship and pins Optimus Prime to the wall whilst demanding the whereabouts of the All Spark. Prowl and Ratchet attempt to attack him from behind; he casually swings around (still holding Optimus) and knocks them away, then pins Optimus again. He then very calmly states, "I grow impatient."

*** In fact, the only time he really seems to lose his cool is at [[Villainous Breakdown|the end of the final episode]], though in the latter half of season 3 the strain starts showing.

{{quote| '''Megatron:''' [[Sarcasm Mode|Oh, a STICK.]] [[Tempting Fate|What are you going to do with it?]]<br />

'''Dinobot:''' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Im... pro... vise.]] }}

** And then Soundwave's [[Curb Stomp Battle]] beatdown of Airachnid in the first season finale of ''[[Transformers Prime]]''.

* ''[[Justice League]]'' has a good example of what would happen if you push [[Superman]] too far. Many times, mind you. {{spoiler|Superman kills [[Lex Luthor]], with his heat vision. Superman talking about [[World of Cardboard Speech|World of Cardboard]].}}

* Happens very (very) occasionally on ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. At one point, Spectra has successfully driven Danny into a [[Heroic BSOD]], and he finally snaps out of it by realizing that Spectra is a ghost who feeds off depression. This leads to this awesome interchange in the confrontation:

''(Bertrand turns into ninja, much posturing ensues)''<br />

'''Danny (flatly):''' [[Shut UP, Hannibal|I so don't have time for this.]] ''(sucks into thermos)'' }}

** In "Scott Tenorman Must Die", Cartman appears to be making himself the [[Butt Monkey]] by constantly asking Scott to give him his money back. Turns out he was keeping Scott complacent all the while putting in motion his plan to {{spoiler|serve Scott his own parents in a big pot of chili, then have Scott's favorite band call him a loser}}. When this is calmly revealed in detail by Cartman the other kids just stand there, open-mouthed, totally in shock. The only comments they can manage are Stan's horrified "Jesus Christ, dude!" and Kyle's episode-concluding "Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again."

** In "T.M.I.", a therapist tries to test Cartman's anger response with [[Tempting Fate|a barrage of fat jokes]]. Cartman calmly types away on his iPhone, while the doctor comes to the conclusion that the boy has no anger problems at all. Then the doctor gets a call from his wife, hysterically ranting about web chat logs with a 14-year-old girl and a police report before shooting herself. Cartman calmly but firmly replies, "I'm not fat; I'm big-boned." The therapist obsequiously cowers before Cartman for the rest of the episode.

** In the ending of "Bass To Mouth". Cartman gave laxative-laced cupcakes to the school administrators as revenge for getting thrown under a bus, which said bus effectively gave him a broken arm and leg, all while calmly saying [[Faux Affably Evil|"are you okay?"]]

{{quote| '''Harvey Dent([[Dissonant Serenity|oddly calm]]): "There's just one problem...[[Evil Sounds Deep|you're talking to the]] [[Oh Crap|wrong Harvey]]."'''}}

* In the classic ''[[Simpsons]]'' episode "Bart on the Road", Lisa just finished a [[Motor Mouth|rapid fire explanation]] of Bart's predicament to Homer, who responds with:

'''(Bart and Lisa do so, Homer stands up and inhales deeply)'''<br />

Homer (Loudly) F- (The rest of it is (luckily) drowned out by a loud, harsh F-cord on a pipe organ). }}

** Princess Celestia, the [[Out-of-Character Moment|(very) few times]] she's gotten angry. It's...somewhat unsettling, particularly when she reprimanded Twilight in "Lesson Zero".

** Fluttershy as well, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|particularly in "Dragonshy"]]:

{{quote| ''How dare you...''}}

{{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!]]}}

** Blossom's response to this is merely a furious silence, followed by her dodging every single one of Princess' attacks, and then her sisters wake up and deliver her one deliciously awesome [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]].