History Main / DramaticDeadpan

[[AC:FanFics]]

-->'''Lord Kril:''' We die.

Contrast ChewingTheScenery, LargeHam.

*** Which would be TemptingFate, since the cave troll is [[MarathonBoss topped soon thereafter]] by the arrival of the [[DiabolusExMachina Balrog]].

*** Which would be TemptingFate, since the cave troll is topped soon thereafter by the arrival of the [[ImplacableMan Balrog]].

* ''M* A* S* H'' TV series. Christmas Episode in Season 9, Episode 5 ''Death Takes a Holiday''. Winchester is comforted by Klinger and says in a calm tone of voice, "Thanks, Max." Remarkably affecting for a simple statement of gratitude.
* [[DoctorWho The Ninth Doctor]] had a few of these (in addition to some requisite [[LargeHam hammy]] speeches):

* In one of the Norse sagas a war party is about to attack a man in his homestead. They send in a man to see if their enemy is there. When he exits...

* [[FistOfTheNorthStar Omae wa mo shindeiru (You're already dead).]]

** Napoleon's [[EliteMooks Imperial Guard]] ended up in a similar position during the Battle of Waterloo in 1814. Historical accounts render the commander's response as either "La Garde meurt, elle ne se rend pas." ("The guard dies, it does not surrender."), or the similar "Merde." ("Shit.").

* Mr. Freeze in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' usually talks in an emotionless CreepyMonotone, but, when he's revived in ''BatmanBeyond'', he put his tragic past behind him and talks with more emotion. When he's betrayed and left for dead, he still talks more emotionally that he used to, but a few lines are dramatically used in his classic monotone. For example: "[[FalseReassurance There may be some momentary discomfort,]]" and "[[DeathSeeker Believe me...]] [[TearJerker you're the only one who cares]]."

* From ''PowerRangersRPM'': A few episodes into the season, we find out that the Rangers' {{Mentor}}, [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Dr. K]], was responsible for the creation and accidental release of the Venjix computer virus which has wrecked nearly the entire world except for [[DomedHometown Corinth City]]. A few episodes later, Dillon, a HalfHumanHybrid with Venjix implants, has become infected with that same virus, accelerating his transformation into a complete cyborg under Venjix's control. The only way it could be stopped was by Dr. K implanting the base code for the virus. What she says next, in a completely deadpan manner (as [[BrokenBird her personality is ''very'' deadpan because of her upbringing]]), shocks her team:

Compare TranquilFury, and the stage direction ''sotto voce''- "in soft tones, not to be overheard." Closely related to MajorInjuryUnderreaction. Can overlap with ChuckYeager.

Sometimes used for ThisIsGonnaSuck, as the Boromir example shows.

-->Touga: You can't win, you know.
-->Utena: [[TheDeterminator I won't lose]].

** I took his tone as being more of sarcastic resignation, ie "Oh great. A cave troll. What else can go wrong?"
*** Which would be TemptingFate, since the cave troll is topped mere moments later by the arrival of the [[ImplacableMan Balrog]].

-->Mook: She won't answer the helm! We're locked into the moon's gravitational pull. What do we do?
-->Lord Kril: We die.

-->Cop 1: How're the kids?
-->Cop 2: Lost another one this week..
-->Cop 1: How?
-->Cop 2: Playing with matches.

-->Sandra: "But one soldier, against seventeen. What are you going to do?"
-->Todd: "I'm going to kill them all, sir."

* [[LordofTheFlies "You let the fire go out."]]

-->Lara Croft: "It was you. ''You'' were the Queen of Atlantis."
-->[[spoiler: Jacqueline Natla]] replied, "Once."

See LittleNo for a subtrope.

** Another Norse favourite is the story of a king being assaulted and killed by axe-wielding assassins. His last words, roughly translated from Swedish? "I see that broadaxes are popular this year."

* In one of the Norse sagas a war party is about to attack a man in his homestead. They send in a man to see if their enemy is there. When he exits... - Was he at home? - His axe was (keels over dead).
** Another Norse favourite is the story of a king being assaulted and killed by axe-wielding assassins. His last words? "I see that broadaxes are popular this year", roughly translated from Swedish.

** After the battle of Cyzicus the Spartans sent the following message home: "Mindaurus (the spartan admiral) dead, ships lost, men starving. Don't know what to do."

* ''TheLittleShopOfHorrors'' (Roger Corman's version). Two cops are talking

* ''StarWars'' Alec Guiness as Obi-Wan Kenobi says "Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan... Now, that's a name I've not heard in a long time. A long time."

* Mr. Freeze in ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' usually talks in an emotionless CreepyMonotone, but, when he's revived in ''BatmanBeyond'', he put his tragic past behind him and talks with more emotion. When he's betrayed and left for dead, he still talks more emotionally that he used to, but a few lines are dramatically used in his classic monotone. For example: "[[FalseReassurance There may be a momentary discomfort,]]" and "[[DeathSeeker Believe me...]] [[TearJerker you're the only one who cares]]."

Compare TranquilFury, and the stage direction ''sotto voce''- "in soft tones, not to be overheard." Closely related to MajorInjuryUnderreaction.

* In ''IndianaJones and the Last Crusade'', Indiana Jones is hanging by his fingernails above a bottomless pit. A fellow treasure hunter has already fallen attempting to retrieve the Holy Grail. At that, his father softly says, "Indiana, let it go." referring to hi as "Indiana" rather than "Junior" for the first time. This convinces Indy to abandon the Grail and get to safety.