Tranquil Fury: Difference between revisions
→Literature: Replaced redirects
(Un-potholing work titles) |
(→Literature: Replaced redirects) |
||
| (3 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:tranquil 1368.jpg|link=Equilibrium|frame|[[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.
{{quote|''"Astfgl had passed through the earlier stage of fury and was now in that calm lagoon of rage where the voice is steady, the manner is measured and polite, and only a faint trace of spittle at the corner of the mouth betrays the inner inferno."''
|'''''[[
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.]]
Line 177:
* 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.}}
* In one of the ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon|Callahans Crosstime Saloon]]'' stories Jake mentions that Callahan doesn't shout or get loud when he's ''really'' angry, but he'll do that to people who don't know him if they act like jerks to intimidate them. When he well and truly pissed, he doesn't say a word.
* Harry's entire fight with Voldemort at the end of ''[[Harry Potter and
** Also, Professor McGonagall's conversation with Umbridge in ''[[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (novel)|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
** This is Snape's default setting, along with [[Deadpan Snarker]]. Him snapping at Harry in a fury towards the end of ''[[Harry Potter and
* 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.}}
* 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.}}
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Captain Carrot, in ''[[
** 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."}}
** Vimes himself gets into one of these—most of his rages are barbaric, but at the end of ''[[
** Normally accompanied by Carrot calmly pointing out that "personal isn't the same as important." He really believes this too—in ''[[
*** It should be noted that the one time we see Carrot abandon this trope (When he chases after Angua in ''[[
*** 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.
Line 276 ⟶ 277:
{{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.
* ''[[The A-Team
* ''[[Starsky and Hutch
* Teal'c, [[The Big Guy]] in ''[[Stargate SG-1]],'' is exceptionally good at this.
** Indeed.
** The episode "Talion" showcases it nicely, as seen in the excerpt currently at [[Stargate Verse/Awesome|Stargate Verse]].
* ''[[The West Wing]]'': "[[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 Sarah Connor Chronicles
* ''[[Angel]]'' can do this when he's especially angry. Of course, judging by the Darla plot arc in the third season, this is a sign of a descent into darkness that we'd prefer not to see.
** Wesley as well, in late season 5, though that's also just total despair on his part after {{spoiler|Fred dies}}
Line 288 ⟶ 289:
** 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...]]
Line 294 ⟶ 295:
* Raylan Givens in the very first minutes of the first episode of ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]]'' and several times after.
* 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.''
* ''[[Dad's Army]]'', "High Finance": Wilson, after hearing {{spoiler|Hodges}} would write off a £50 debt he was owed to him in rent by Mrs. Pike ([[Old Money|Pre-decimalisation, remember]]) if she'd be "nice" to him. Cue Wilson walking calmly from one end of the table to the other:
{{quote|'''Wilson''': I say, would you mind awfully if you could stand up.
Line 466:
* The U.S. Army's Delta Force selects for this. Their usual send-off before training or a mission is a calm "Have a good one".
* On January 27, 1967, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed when a fire broke out in the cockpit during a routine test on the launch pad. The Monday after the fire, Flight Director Gene Kranz called everyone at Mission Control in for a meeting and gave everyone the biggest ass-chewing that they had ever experienced. The speech he gave that day became known as the "Kranz Dictum":
{{quote|
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:More Than Meets the Eye]]
[[Category:Hidden Badass]]
Line 475 ⟶ 476:
[[Category:Badass]]
[[Category:Hatred Tropes]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
| |||