Tranquil Fury: Difference between revisions

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[[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. ]]

[[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."''

|'''''[[~~Discworld/Eric|~~Eric]]'''''}}

|'''''[[Eric]]'''''}}

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.]]

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* 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 ''[[~~Discworld/~~Men ~~At Arms|Men At~~ Arms]]'' dropped the [[Big Bad]] with barely a word. He would be just doing his duty... if it weren't for {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]] having shot his girlfriend}}. Significantly, he does so by putting a sword into (well, through) a stone, which earlier in the book is described as vastly more impressive than [[King Arthur|drawing a sword out of a stone]].

** Captain Carrot, in ''[[Men at Arms]]'' dropped the [[Big Bad]] with barely a word. He would be just doing his duty... if it weren't for {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]] having shot his girlfriend}}. Significantly, he does so by putting a sword into (well, through) a stone, which earlier in the book is described as vastly more impressive than [[King Arthur|drawing a sword out of a stone]].

** 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 ''[[~~Discworld/~~Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', facing Carcer, he calmly, carefully, and methodically disarms him, pins him against a wall, and {{spoiler|arrests him.}}

** Vimes himself gets into one of these—most of his rages are barbaric, but at the end of ''[[Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'', facing Carcer, he calmly, carefully, and methodically disarms him, pins him against a wall, and {{spoiler|arrests him.}}

** Normally accompanied by Carrot calmly pointing out that "personal isn't the same as important." He really believes this too—in ''[[~~Discworld/Jingo|~~Jingo]]'' he manages to have a quiet sleep while sailing after his kidnapped girlfriend, because it won't do him any good if he's tired once he catches up to her.

** Normally accompanied by Carrot calmly pointing out that "personal isn't the same as important." He really believes this too—in ''[[Jingo]]'' he manages to have a quiet sleep while sailing after his kidnapped girlfriend, because it won't do him any good if he's tired once he catches up to her.

*** It should be noted that the one time we see Carrot abandon this trope (When he chases after Angua in ''[[~~Discworld/The Fifth Elephant|~~The Fifth Elephant]]''), he ends up getting utterly pwned by Angua's [[Complete Monster]] brother.

*** It should be noted that the one time we see Carrot abandon this trope (When he chases after Angua in ''[[The Fifth Elephant]]''), he ends up getting utterly pwned by Angua's [[Complete Monster]] brother.

*** 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.

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* 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|"Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work. Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, 'Dammit, stop!' I don't know what Thompson's committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did. From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: 'Tough' and 'Competent.' Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write 'Tough and Competent' on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control."}}

{{quote|Spaceflight will never tolerate carelessness, incapacity, and neglect. Somewhere, somehow, we screwed up. It could have been in design, build, or test. Whatever it was, we should have caught it. We were too gung ho about the schedule and we locked out all of the problems we saw each day in our work. Every element of the program was in trouble and so were we. The simulators were not working, Mission Control was behind in virtually every area, and the flight and test procedures changed daily. Nothing we did had any shelf life. Not one of us stood up and said, 'Dammit, stop!' I don't know what Thompson's committee will find as the cause, but I know what I find. We are the cause! We were not ready! We did not do our job. We were rolling the dice, hoping that things would come together by launch day, when in our hearts we knew it would take a miracle. We were pushing the schedule and betting that the Cape would slip before we did. From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: 'Tough' and 'Competent.' Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for. Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect. When you leave this meeting today you will go to your office and the first thing you will do there is to write 'Tough and Competent' on your blackboards. It will never be erased. Each day when you enter the room these words will remind you of the price paid by Grissom, White, and Chaffee. These words are the price of admission to the ranks of Mission Control.}}

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[[Category:More Than Meets the Eye]]

[[Category:Hidden Badass]]

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[[Category:Badass]]

[[Category:Hatred Tropes]]

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