Line #96 Main/LeaningOnTheFurniture


1	[[quoteright:200:[[VideoGame/GuiltyGear https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robo_ky_table.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:200: [[TelescopingRobot That end table comes out of his elbow]], by the way.]]
3
4	Our character is trying to show that he (usually a man, occasionally a woman) is cool, casual, and intent upon whatever is being said by their superiors. The character does this by artfully leaning in a doorframe, or [[EdgyBackwardsChairSitting flipping an armless chair around and sitting facing the chair-back]]. While not always taking part in the dialogue, they are engaged in the scene as an on-camera observer, and ready to interject an idea or quip.
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6	If they are a [[TheWestern Cowboy]], {{Swashbuckler}} or LoveableRogue, they will lean back in an armless chair with one or both feet propped up before them, taking care to keep one or both knees locked and their legs close together, typically with their boots crossed, to suggest manliness and a firm grasp on one's [[strike:sexuality]] [[TooManyBelts numerous leather belts and sidearms]]. Unlike the effete, [[SlouchOfVillainy Slouching Villain]] who wraps his arms over the armrest and splays his legs in an undignified fashion (perhaps to allow room for a [[GoGoEnslavement Go-go Girl]] or [[RightHandCat Cat]]), the masculine AntiHero, by contrast, may rest ''one elbow/knee'' insouciantly over the head of his chair, while the other is held by his side, ready to [[HanShotFirst reach for a weapon]], usually chewing on [[OralFixation manly finger-food]] in the meantime (or a [[SmokingIsCool cigar]]).
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8	Generally, this behaviour isn't received well in the real world when one is being briefed by one's occupational or military superiors, regardless of established familiarity or friendship. You never see this in polite characters, at best, especially when standing, it's a form of RebelRelaxation.
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10	Optional: If seated, they may hunker down on an open stool with their knees out and their feet up, and lean far to their left, all the way back against the wall, as if to suggest rebellion against the laws of gravity itself. The "hunker down" pose is always a sign of a good guy that you'd like to have a beer with. They may tent their fingers above their head, lean forward with both elbows draped over a piece of furniture, stare upward into space with optional headgear covering their eyes, or fiddle with a prop, as if to indicate that they already know where the discussion is going.
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12	If the character is actually a bad guy, compare SlouchOfVillainy. The villain's underlings may do this pose, however, to indicate that they are [[TheDragon a force to be reckoned with]], especially if they are a [[ProfessionalKiller hired killer]] with [[DragonWithAnAgenda no particular loyalty]] to the BigBad. If so, expect them to be lounging [[FaceFramedInShadow in the shadows]] [[HitlerCam from the feet up]].
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14	Contrast the CaptainMorganPose, where one foot is placed forward in brazen display of one's [[strike:balls]] leadership prowess.
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16	As a purely practical consideration, having a character lean on something can often be a useful trick to improve the composition of a scene, as it plays down the fact that human beings are taller than they are wide, while television screens (especially widescreens) are wider than they are tall.
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18	A comedic variation of this is to have the character lean to appear cool, then mess it up by falling over, or something similar.
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20	Often used as a {{Modeling Pose\|s}}. Unrelated to LeaningOnTheFourthWall.
21	----
22	!!Examples:
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24	[[foldercontrol]]
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26	[[folder:Advertising]]
27	* Flo from the Progressive commercials does this when she is talking to the {{Badass Biker}}.
28	* There's a commercial currently out (think it's for 1-800-Contacts) where the presenter starts to lean on the furniture ''before there's anything there to lean on'', and a table (along with some contacts) magically pops up beneath his elbow. He's just that cool.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'''s Ed Elric is rather fond of this. He once did it in a church, just to be extra rude.
33	** In ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'', when Al discovers the new hideout of the refugee Ishvalans, Scar is seen leaning against a wall to deliver a few sparse comments on who Al is, that he's not a threat, and why their new hideout is (literally) underground.
34	* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', Autor leans forward onto a piano when he's essentially bossing a character around. (Although this may be more because he's trying to assert himself more than a casual gesture.) He also has a tendency to lean against a wall with his arms crossed. Fakir also does this at least once or twice.
35	* Mirielle of ''Anime/{{Noir}}'' occasionally leans against her desk chair when talking about new jobs, and Kirika also does this at least once when deep in contemplation.
36	* Joe of ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman'' could invariably be seen propping up a wall while the rest of the team sit attentively on a couch.
37	* ''Manga/CaseClosed'': When he firsts matches wits against Hattori Heiji, Shinichi leans against a bookcase to show how easy the case is to him. [[spoiler:He then has to lean on the wall in a much less cool manner, as he starts to de-age again and begins to double over from the pain.]]
38	[[/folder]]
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40	[[folder:Arts]]
41	* ''Art/DrinkingBacchus'': In his zeal to drink more and more wine, Bacchus has become so drunk that he has to lean on a wooden barrel behind him for support.
42	* Creator/AlphonseMucha: Quite a few of his most well-known posters of attractive women show them leaning an elbow on some piece of furniture or scenery — a {{Modeling Pose\|s}} that in this case conveys an air of pensiveness.
43	* ''Art/SevenVirtues'': "Fortitude's" left arm leans on a side of the throne as a way to convey TheStoic part of her characterization. The fortitude to stand calmly against everything life throws at her.
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45
46	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
47	* When the Furious Five first confront Tai Lung in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda1'', Tigress faces up to him on a half-destroyed rope bridge over a bottomless chasm. While she balances carefully on the rope handholds, he plants his feet on one rope and casually leans against the other, arms crossed.
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49
50	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
51	* [[Film/ANewHope Han Solo]] is leaning on the furniture in the Mos Eisely saloon when introduced. All that's missing are the [[SpaceWestern spurs on his boots]].
52	* The Comedian does this in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' while the very first meeting of the Watchmen are being briefed, complete with a newspaper and a flask of whiskey.
53	* In ''Film/DirtyRottenScoundrels'', part of Creator/SteveMartin's TrainingMontage involves learning how to casually approach and lean against a pillar while holding a cocktail.
54	* Dr. Moreau does this briefly in ''Film/IslandOfLostSouls''.
55	* ''Film/SupermanII''. General Zod leans against the wall and enjoys the sight of his CoDragons tearing up the White House and everyone in it. This stops when a soldier tries to shoot him through the window; he pulls them through the glass, takes their [=M16 rifle=] and starts gunning people down [[AxCrazy with a big grin on his face]].
56	* ''Film/ThorRagnarok'': Thor briefly attempts to lean on Hulk's furniture when he appears behind Valkyrie to talk to her, but he quickly awkwardly rearranges his arms.
57	* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Tony Stark leans on the furniture in the New York Sanctum.
58	-->'''Strange:''' Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Literature]]
62	* Creator/PGWodehouse's eccentric GuileHero Literature/{{Psmith}} makes a habit of this, frequently leaning on mantelpieces and elevating his feet when sitting.
63	* In ''Literature/HorusHeresy'', snarky sociopath Sevatar leans on walls and furniture fairly often, mostly to show his casual disregard of the speaker.
64	* ''Literature/CaptivePrince'': When Laurent and Damen reunite at a fraught time in their relationship, Laurent is casually leaning against a tent pole and delivers a cold "Hello, lover." Damen quickly notices that Laurent carefully {{invoked\|Trope}} the trope to hide an injury.
65	[[/folder]]
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67	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
68	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': When he's not kicking ass, Bronn leans or sits (read: sprawls) on anything available. Walls, doorframes, pillars, tables, rocks...
69	* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''
70	** Dr. [=McCoy=] does this all the time. When on TheBridge, he's always leaning against the captain's chair or the console or another convenient piece of furniture. He might be dipping into his stash of Saurian brandy a little more frequently than he lets on.
71	** Combined with SlouchOfVillainy in the evil MirrorUniverse, where the normally well-disciplined Starfleet {{Redshirt}}s are seen leaning against the turbolift doorway, to give them a more thuggish air.
72	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''
73	** Will Riker does this incessantly. Due to the actor's physical build, this was probably originally to make sure that he was actually in frame for his scenes.[[note]]According to [[http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/35410/what-is-the-origin-of-the-riker-chair-maneuver Wil Wheaton,]] it persisted because Frakes had a back injury that made it difficult for him to stand up on set for long periods.[[/note]] Riker's most iconic variant of this now has its own trope: the CaptainMorganPose. He does it in plenty of other ways as well.
74	** Q was also quite fond of this trope, especially when he was using furniture that directly belonged to--and would undoubtedly anger--Picard.
75	* Not at all unusual in scenes between Mulder and Scully on ''Series/TheXFiles''. A ten-inch height difference between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is probably the main reason for this. ScullyBox or high heels were also employed.
76	* In the Las Vegas ''Series/{{CSI}}'' series, Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle do this frequently, though they straighten up if someone other than their CSI team comes into range.
77	* The doctors (particularly Chase and Kutner) from ''Series/{{House}}'' tend to do this during the differential diagnosis. Then again, so does House himself, regardless of location, so he's probably not too worried about them disrespecting his authority. He also has a good excuse, missing part of his leg and all.
78	* Spike from ''Series/{{Buffy the Vampire Slayer}}'' was fond of this. When he made the transition to ''Series/{{Angel}}'' and was rendered incorporeal, the actor mentioned how tiring it was not being allowed to lean against things during shooting.
79	* All three presenters on ''Series/TopGear'' tend to lean on the cars they are discussing or reviewing.
80	* Manny from ''Series/BlackBooks'' swings a chair around and sits on it, unfortunately crushing his bits in the process. "Sat on myself to some degree there..." Later on, he does it again High-Pitched Voice "that was a particularly bad one..."
81	* In ''Series/FawltyTowers'', Basil casually puts out a hand to lean on a door, which is opened, causing Basil to fall into the room.
82	* In the pilot for ''Series/HappyDays'' Richie leans on the doorframe of his date's apartment when he's talking to her outside. Which is also the side of the door the doorbell is on.
83	* Avon of ''Series/BlakesSeven'' liked to lean on most things, particularly when talking to people. His intention was probably to unnerve them.
84	* In the first episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'' Rimmer (apparently still not used to being a hologram) leans on a console and goes through it.
85	* ''Series/RobinHood'': Guy of Gisbourne tends to do this, as pointed out several times in the DVD commentaries. It has been jokingly suggested that it's to minimize the (sizable) difference in height between Richard Armitage and Keith Allen.
86	* Olly in ''Series/TheThickOfIt'' tries this in Malcolm's [[UsefulNotes/{{Whitehall}} Number 10]] office. It does not go down well: "Feet off the furniture, you {{UsefulNotes/Oxbridge}} twat. You're not on a punt now."
87	** Malcolm's BastardUnderstudy Jamie does this habitually but gets away with it because [[PsychoForHire most people are terrified of him]].
88	* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Done in a NotSoInnocentWhistle kind of way by Chandler Bing in an attempt to see if the maid had stolen Monica's bra. When she turns around and sees him, he insists "I'm leaning. This is where I lean,"
89	* Conversations between Don Draper and Roger Sterling in ''Series/MadMen'' tend to involve one or the other standing and the other LeaningOnTheFurniture (both Creator/JonHamm and John Slattery are pretty tall, so it probably helps keep them in-frame). When Bert Cooper is around, it often ends up looking like a round of "Standing, Sitting, Leaning" from ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway''.
90	* ''Series/HoratioHornblower'':
91	** In "The Even Chance", when midshipmen Horatio, Archie and Clayton discuss Horatio's upcoming duel, they all lean on a cannon. They are teenagers, which might explain a lot; however, they are alone and it's employed for the sake of the composition of the scene. Doing it in front of their superiors in the Royal Navy in Regency England would get them [[ATasteOfTheLash to kiss a gunner's daughter]] very quickly.
92	** In "Retribution", Lieutenants Kennedy and Bush lean on a very high chair when they are negotiating the conditions of a truce with Senor Ortega, a commander of the fort they captured. It's meant to show Senor Ortega who's got the upper hand, but considering that by this time they have very little respect for their Acting Captain, it could be done for Mr Buckland's benefit as well.
93	* In ''Series/OnlyFoolsAndHorses'', one of the most infamous moments of the series has Del attempt [[RebelRelaxation to do this]] while out on the pull, only to fail to realise that the barman lifted the hatch while he wasn't looking, causing him to fall straight through the bar.
94	* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Servant Of Two Masters", Bodie and Doyle are leaning on [[DaChief Cowley]]'s car, causing them to stumble when he abruptly drives off. Bodie then smirks that he got his own back by using the opportunity to plant a TrackingDevice on the car.
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97	[[folder:Theater]]
98	* Draco Malfoy in ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' constantly tries to do this, usually falling over what he tries to lean on.
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100
101	[[folder:Video Games]]
102	* While he is rarely seen inside the Narumi Detective Agency, the title character of ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'', when he ''is'' seen (usually in cutscenes), is always, without fail, leaning against the stair railing.
103	* In Shelby's segments of VideoGame/HeavyRain, the player can have Shelby lean dramatically against the nearest available surface as he asks his questions.
104	* As the page image shows, Robo-Ky of ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' is fond of this... so much so that his SwissArmyWeapon has a ''"[[http://www.fightersgeneration.com/characters3/roboky-gif.gif table]]" setting.''
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107	[[folder:Web Animation]]
108	* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Parodied in Volume 7 when General Ironwood interrupts the heroes' training to instruct them. While the rest of the group are serious and attentive, Yang interjects an air of casual attentiveness by using young Oscar's shoulder as a leaning prop, much to his silent surprise. He doesn't object, so they remain in this position for the entire conversation. Yang lost some of her adventurous, thrill-seeker personality after losing her arm, but this moment is one of several scenes in Volume 7 that show she has recovered enough for some of this personality to return.
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111	[[folder:Web Original and Webcomics]]
112	* David Jackson does this in a flashback during v1 of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'', leaning back in his chair so it rises onto its back legs, and putting his legs on the table. However, this wasn't so much to be rude as to relax, as he was exhausted from [[TrainingFromHell practice]] earlier. Amusingly, he is sitting back to back with Jack O'Connor, his teammate, so not only is his chair resting against Jack's, but they converse (with a ShoutOut to ''Literature/BattleRoyale'') without even facing each other.
113	* It's only for a moment, but in WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}, [[spoiler:Ma-Ti leans against the wall during a dream sequence.]]
114	* Emil of ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'' does this a lot, but it has an unfortunate habit of backfiring, whether by breaking the furniture in question or [[spoiler:inviting a vengeful ghost to take it as disrespect.]]
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117	[[folder:Western Animation]]
118	* Danny tried this once in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' by leaning his hand on a tree to play off as a cool guy to his crush [[AlphaBitch Paulina]]. Unfortunately, his [[PubertySuperPower nervousness triggered his invisibility]], causing his arm to go intangible. He came crashing down, much to his embarrassment.
119	* In the DVD commentary for the second season of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', Doc and Jackson point out an odd moment where Brock leans against the wall for a single second before walking away from it. They joke that it was just to show that he's cool.
120	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Beast Boy tries to woo a couple of girls at a pizza parlor, and tries leaning against the table. Unfortunately he puts his hand in the pizza and slips.
121	* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', while trying to look cool, Irving leans against a lamp post to hit on Isabella. However, the lamppost was apparently moved, and he falls to the floor.
122	[[/folder]]

Context Main / LeaningOnTheFurniture