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1[[quoteright:350: [[VideoGame/{{Smite}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_4895_5.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:"What are you lookin' at, squidlips?"]]
3
4->"But why-- but why should any wish to kill me?" said Mowgli.\
5"Look at me," said Bagheera. And Mowgli looked at him steadily between the eyes. The big panther turned his head away in half a minute.\
6"That is why," he said, shifting his paw on the leaves. "Not even I can look thee between the eyes, and I was born among men, and I love thee, Little Brother. The others they hate thee because their eyes cannot meet thine; because thou art wise; because thou hast pulled out thorns from their feet -- because thou art a man."
7-->-- ''Literature/TheJungleBook''
8
9When a character is faced with a creature that should have them running away or cowering in fear (or which could at least finish them off with one bite) but instead engages it — maybe even beats it — in an impromptu StaringContest.
10
11Picture the scene: Bob TheHero has been cornered by the villain. The SealedEvilInACan is about to be unleashed, probably in the form of an EldritchAbomination. The villain is locking the hero in a CoolGate to AnotherDimension with no chance of return. The GladiatorGames have commenced and it's one unarmed, wounded person against a whole pride of hungry lions. ''There's nothing anyone can do''. There's no backup, no escape, no BigDamnHeroes. All is lost. The world is undone. The lions are going to eat good tonight. '''[-[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt HE COMES]]-]'''.
12
13And in the other corner, we see Bob, alone and defenseless, seconds away from complete and utter doom, standing with his eyes fixed directly on what's going to kill him. He stares straight ahead, unaffected, unafraid; at the hungry lions, at the EvilOverlord, even at that hideous, inhuman '''''[-[[EldritchAbomination THING]]-]'''''.
14
15The seconds tick by. The forces of evil start to squirm a little bit. The lions don't move in for the kill. The villain stops his insane cackling. '''[-HE... HESITATES-]'''. The hero, through sheer badassery, has intimidated something which had an infinitely superior advantage over him.
16
17Where the situation goes from here depends. Perhaps the bad guy turns tail and runs away. Maybe Bob's staredown has distracted the villain long enough for TheCavalry to arrive or the BigDamnHeroes to show up. If the mighty being develops a sense of respect for the lesser character's moxie, then you've transitioned into WowingCthulhu. Or maybe the villain gets over it and kills the hero after all, but they — and the audience — will always remember that Bob, though he died, was [[DefiantToTheEnd never defeated]].
18
19Overlaps with DeathGlare and is often portrayed as a KubrickStare. TheSlowWalk is optional. If the hero goes out staring down and intimidating his killer, it's a good candidate for a DyingMomentOfAwesome.
20
21----
22!!Examples:
23
24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
27* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
28** The rare-but-powerful "Conqueror's Haki" grants the ability to do this to anyone who has it. With a sufficiently powerful stare, the user can cause giant monsters to back down in fear, and even cause those with weak constitutions to faint.
29** Big Mom's YourSoulIsMine abilities work best if the victim is afraid of her. Jimbei's faith and conviction in Luffy was so strong that Big Mom was unable to take his soul, shocking everyone. Especially notable as Charlotte Moscato, one of her own ''children'', had tried to do the same, but got scared at the last minute and got his soul ripped out to fatal results.
30* TeenGenius Light Yagami of ''Manga/DeathNote'' stares down Rem, a [[{{Shinigami}} God of Death]]. Mind you, the Death God is a [[TokenGoodTeammate nicer person]] [[KnightTemplar than he is]] and [[spoiler:[[DidYouJustScamCthulhu through his manipulations]] he has turned her into an UnwittingPawn.]]
31* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
32** Son Goku often ends up staring down hideous monsters such as Demon King Piccolo or Space Overlord Frieza. Later, God of Destruction Beerus gets stared down. And then Frieza again.
33** His son Gohan inherits the same trait upon ascending into Super Saiyan 2 against Cell, and 7 years later pulls it off again against Majin Buu.
34** Vegeta gets his own moment of glory against Kid Buu. Even after getting pounded into the ground not once, not twice, but three times. Buu thinks he's won, when Vegeta stands up, covered in blood, slowly walks toward him, and starts making a speech about how he can't be defeated by such measly attacks. "What are you gawking at? What did you think, huh? That I was gonna roll over and die from an attack like that? You're nothing. Just a trickster. I am a warrior... the Saiyan Prince... VEGETA!!!" Buu is frozen with a look of utter shock on his face, and then he takes a step back in fear. When you scare the fight out of Majin Buu, you know you're Badass.
35* On two occasions, the titular character of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' stared down the Kyuubi. The first time, Naruto was blackmailing it for chakra; the second time, he was telling it to stop nay-saying.
36* This is how the ''Manga/FairyTail'' team, battered and barely able to stand, defeats a still fresh and well-rested Sting in the last day of the Magic Games: they stare him down until he realizes beating them like this wouldn't help him in the slightest and surrenders.
37* In ''Literature/TheTwelveKingdoms'', staring is exactly how a Kirin, a creature of IncorruptiblePurePureness, gains the allegiance of [[OurMonstersAreDifferent youma]]. If the Kirin's will is strong enough, the youma will submit and protect it for the rest of its life; if the Kirin wavers, the youma will eat him. One young Kirin protagonist is told to start on very small and weak youma and work his way up to the dangerous ones; instead, he happens upon the most dangerous kind known, that has never been forced to submit- and wins.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Comic Books]]
41* The master of DidYouJustScamCthulhu, John Constantine the ''Comicbook/{{Hellblazer}}'', does this when face-to-face with the most powerful beings in the universe, such as {{Satan}} and {{God}}. He stares them in the eye while puffing smoke from his cigarette. He even {{flip|pingTheBird}}s Satan a finger.
42* ''ComicBook/{{Casanova}} Quinn'' is forced into a psychic staring contest with a hive mind of evil monks. [[spoiler:Cass wins by having [[http://www.4thletter.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/c1p12.jpg a mind full of spiders.]] ]]
43* ''ComicBook/DoctorDoom'':
44** Victor von Doom is intimidated by precisely ''nothing''. For instance, when he faces the Overmind, an alien being with the telepathic strength of ''billions'' of aliens, and which had already mind-controlled Reed Richards, he looks it right in the eye and doesn't back down.
45** Or when the Purple Man helps him TakeOverTheWorld, then tries to threaten him. Doom takes off his anti-mind control mask and looks Purple Man right in the eye.
46--->'''Doom:''' [[ShutUpHannibal Now... who deserves to rule?]]
47** Doom may be hideously evil, but you gotta give the jerk props for his [[HeroicWillpower willpower.]] Dude kept his composure while being ''[[{{Squick}} vivisected]]'' by the Beyonder.
48** Also demonstrated in ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies''. Every other villain and hero on earth is consumed by hunger when bitten. Reed Richards takes it like something that he needs to spread, Colonel America starts chowing down on government officials hidden in presidential bunkers, Thor's hammer abandons him, and Spider-Man's first meal as a zombie is Aunt May and Mary Jane. Doom? He calmly helps [[Franchise/EvilDead Ash Williams]] escape, only revealing he's been bitten and zombified just before Ash is teleported to another dimension. "Doom is no slave to hunger."
49* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'': The Scavengers, a gang of D-list Decepticon nobodies, are forced to escape from Fortress Maximus, an Autobot war hero famous for the number of Decepticons he’s killed. Fortress Maximus is there to crash a [[SuperhumanTrafficking trafficking operation moving lobotomized Transformers]]; the Scavengers are innocent, just at the wrong place at the wrong time. When Fortress Maximus finally backs them into a corner, Crankcase stands off against him, bluffing that he’s got the detonator to a bomb that’ll kill all the kidnapees. Fortress Maximus calls his bluff, but when Crankcase continues to stare him down, he decides he can’t take the risk and lets the Scavengers go. He doesn’t know that Crankcase has a brain injury that sometimes paralyzes his face — the only reason he didn’t crack was because he was physically unable to.
50* ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'': [[https://assets.boundingintocomics.com/content/uploads/2018/03/Cap-vs-Thanos1-e1521470340372.jpg Captain America going up alone against Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet]]. Naturally, [[http://media.comicbook.com/2018/03/captain-america-vs-thanos-1094266.jpeg he doesn't fare very well]], but you gotta respect his dedication, especially considering he was never supposed to win in the first place and the entire battle was a case of DelayingAction by Adam Warlock.
51* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
52** When Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman go to Apokolips to save ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', Batman threatens to blow up Apokolips if {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} doesn't give up Kara. Even though the New God pummels him, Batman still threatens him. Darkseid later concedes.
53** During the story that introduces Bloodsport, the title character can pull any weaponry he can think of out of thin air and has just shot Superman with a Kryptonite bullet. He fails to get the kill, however, because [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen]] stares down the supervillain while threatening to use one of his own weapons on him.
54[[/folder]]
55
56[[folder:Fan Works]]
57* In ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife'' Light does this to Sidoh, a God of Death. Though Sidoh is, admittedly, kind of a pushover.
58* ''Fanfic/{{Green}}'':
59** We get an [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLP]] example that isn't Fluttershy for a change. Applejack stares an enraged [[PhysicalGoddess Princess Celestia]] dead in the eye and manages to talk her out of vaporizing Pinkie Pie over a serious misunderstanding.
60** Fluttershy herself later proves that even Princess Luna is no match for The Stare.
61* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan fiction ''Fanfic/TheMonsterMash'' tale ''Rarity: Blood and Water'', [[{{Dracula}} Count Drache]] attempts to use his vampiric mesmerism on Fluttershy. She meets his gaze with her own and it's the vampire who looks away.
62* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''/''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheManyWorldsInterpretation'', Sheldon Cooper looks Death full in the eye-sockets and refuses to go, as [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith Death is not the manifestation Sheldon expects to meet when his time comes]]. Death is rather confused and backs off. [[note]]Although on that occasion he wasn't there to claim Sheldon's soul.[[/note]]
63* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': Sanakan stares up defiantly at Kyril, the grey-coated OneManArmy [[spoiler:and HumanoidAbomination]] who has just [[{{Gorn}} slaughtered]] all the Black Dog mercs who were busy committing RapePillageAndBurn, while the other villagers can do nothing but behold the [[BloodSplatteredWarrior blood-splattered entity]] with fear. The reason being that she (mistakenly) thinks he wants to have all of the women, herself included, to himself. Kyril internally notes that the young girl's hardened eyes "[[WowingCthulhu amazed]] and saddened him".
64* In the Wicke & Nephew Interlude of ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', the titular nephew, Zilant, is offered a Z-Ring by Tapu Koko. Zilant, [[CultureClash who is a Ranger and not a Trainer, refuses it]]. Tapu Koko keeps insisting, but Zilant's continued refusal eventually angers it, so [[ShockAndAwe it summons a lightning storm]] and channels it into [[FingerPokeOfDoom one finger pointed at Zilant's neck]]. Zilant takes his chance to stare into Tapu Koko's eyes and use [[TheEmpath an empathy power to make it understand why he refuses.]] Tapu Koko is still angry but ultimately leaves him alone.
65* In ''Fanfic/{{Solitude}}'' [[Manga/DeathNote Light]] does this to [[spoiler:[[RapeAsBackstory his rapist]].]] Light would stare him down every time they were in a room together and evidently [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide this drove him to suicide]]]].
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Films — Animation]]
69* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rango}}''. This is how Rango finally earns the respect of Rattlesnake Jake, having been terrified of him on their first encounter.
70* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': Hercules, when riding CERBERUS to meet Hades in the underworld.
71* ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' features the Bewilderbeast, an absolutely massive dragon whose sheer size alone asserts its dominance over all other dragons, and it [[MindControlEyes enforces it by staring at anyone who resists]]. Toothless eventually falls in line and loses its will to fight. Hiccup spends much of the film training to help Toothless regain his confidence and challenge the Bewilderbeast. When Toothless is finally ready to fight, [[spoiler:he stares into the Bewilderbeast and forces it to look away. The rest of the dragons snap out of it and begin to follow Toothless as their established leader]].
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
75* This is how Mowgli defeats Shere Khan in ''Film/{{The Jungle Book|1994}}''. Much is made of him being the one who can stare down the tiger and live.
76* Creator/GeorgeCScott in the 1980 horror movie, ''Film/TheChangeling'', has the nerve to glare at the [[spoiler:vengeful ghost of a murdered child]] and yell: "Joseph, you Goddamn son of a bitch! What is it you want?" It works [[spoiler:temporarily]].
77* V'Ger of ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' effortlessly destroys anything that affronts it--including a Klingon task force of three battlecruisers--on its way to Earth. Depending on the cut of the film you're watching, the energy field that V'Ger creates around itself has a diameter either [[ScifiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale greater than that of the solar system]], or just greater than Earth's orbit around the sun. When it arrives at Earth, the machine casually prepares to obliterate the planet's biosphere. None of that stops [[TheCaptain Jim Kirk]] from playing chicken with V'Ger, and winning; making the leviathan stand down by threatening to not reveal who its creator is if it doesn't.
78* ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'': This seems to be a favorite of Riddick when he's faced with some alien monster.
79** ''Film/PitchBlack'': Played with. Riddick realizes that the flying alien creatures have a "blind spot" right in the center of their echolocation-based vision. When he's confronted with one of them, he gets right up in its face so it can't see him. It does work but then falls apart when a second one suddenly shows up.
80** ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'': On the prison planet Crematoria, the guards release vicious "{{Hellhound}}s" to feast on the prisoners. Riddick hides behind a waterfall until one of the hounds sniffs him out. Then he gets into a staring contest to assert his dominance, and because his silver eyes resemble those of the hound, it accepts him as one of the pack.
81* ''Film/XMenApocalypse'':
82** Immediately after Xavier accomplishes a DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu by modifying the final sentence of Apocalypse's [[spoiler:planet-wide]] NewEraSpeech, Charles brazenly glares at his captor, unflinching and undaunted by any punishment that may befall him. It proves that Professor X will oppose Apocalypse with every fiber of his being, [[DefiantToTheEnd no matter how futile it is]].
83** Before that, ''Caliban'', of all people, not only doesn't flinch from Apocalypse when he arrives demanding his assistance locating other mutants but [[DeadpanSnarker mouths off to him]] and ''pulls a gun on him''.
84* ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'': Loki does this to Algrim during the PrisonRiot when the latter approaches his cell, wondering if he'll break Loki out. Algrim seems to consider but eventually walks on. According to behind-the-scenes commentary, Algrim actually decides against letting Loki out of his dungeon because he realizes that a guy locked up by himself in an Asgardian prison and doing nothing but smirk menacingly at people who pass by is probably too dangerous to be set free.
85* In ''Film/TheHungerGamesCatchingFire'' the [[PresidentEvil evil president Snow]] forces Katniss to be a [[GladiatorGames gladiator]] to ensure her [[DeadlyEuphemism neutralization]]. During the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8VLwvY6m8Q&t=2m41s chariot parade]] Snow smiles at her while she approaches him, but Katniss locks eyes with Snow for a very long time with the [[TranquilFury calm cold facial expression]] of a determinator until the president stops smiling and gets out of view. Katniss may well die but she sure will be [[DefiantToTheEnd defiant to the end]].
86* The Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} for this for a day job to the point where [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu insulting them after looking them in the eye]] is almost standard operating procedure. Taking it to an art form, however, was [[LittleMissBadass twelve year old]] Phoebe Spengler of ''Film/GhostbustersAfterlife'' who stared ''Gozer'' in the eye (the entity that scared her grandpa "past rational thought") and distracted them with juvenile jokes while her partner in busting (also a twelve year old kid) steered one of her grandpa's traps into position.
87---> '''Gozer:''' "Are you prepared to die?"\
88'''Phoebe:''' "No! I'm twelve. ({{beat}}) [[PreAssKickingOneLiner Are you?]]"
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Literature]]
92* ''Literature/TheJungleBook'' (the ''book!):'' Crossing over with HumansAreCthulhu, wild animals can't hold Mowgli's gaze.
93* Aragorn does this to ''Sauron'' with the Palantír in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''... sort of. He challenges Sauron by staring into the Palantír and has enough willpower to break away from Sauron's visions.
94* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
95** Mouse, a dog, gets a few of these in. Two of the most impressive times are once to Leanansidhe, one of the most powerful [[TheFairFolk fae]] in the series, and later to Nicodemus, a man with a literal FallenAngel in his head. {{Justified|Trope}}: Mouse is a Temple Dog, and this is exactly what Temple Dogs are bred for.
96** In ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'', Harry himself does this to Maeve, the Winter Lady. Since she can squish him like a bug, it's a moment of understated awesome for Harry. Though, he does mention in his FirstPersonSmartass narration that he's really just up against a shark, and trying to make himself look nice and inedible and praying that the shark doesn't take a couple of bites just to test. Even better, he does this while calmly, quietly, tonelessly talking about how [[spoiler:he killed Aurora, Maeve's peer and equal.]] He ends his little talk by [[OldSchoolChivalry holding a chair open for Maeve]] and asking her to play nice, as he doesn't want a confrontation.
97** In ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' Harry, [[spoiler:suffering from a broken back, running out of time to save his child, and short on options, calls up Mab to accept her offer of becoming the Winter Knight.]] Of course, Mab being Mab, [[spoiler:asks Harry why she should allow him to enter her service.]] Harry informs her in no uncertain terms that [[spoiler:accepting her offer]] is the least evil of his options, and if need be, he will [[spoiler:exploit his position as one of the few to know the whole secret of the Darkhallow, go curbstomp the Red Court, save his little girl, and come track down Mab for a nice chat as a newly-minted necromantic god.]]
98--->'''Dresden''': "If you don't want to do business, I'll go elsewhere. I could still call [[spoiler:Lasciel's coin to me in a heartbeat - and Nicodemus and the Denarians]] would be more than happy to help me. I am also one of the only people alive who knows how to [[spoiler:pull off Kemmler's Darkhallow. So if Nicky and the Nickelheads don't want to play,]] I can damned well get the power for myself - and the next time I call your name, I won't need to be nearly so polite."
99** And in ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry stares down ''Mab'', and threatens to [[spoiler:have Demonreach imprison her.]] She actually seems to take the threat seriously, although for her that means being happy that [[spoiler: her new knight is worth the trouble]].
100* And in a reversal of the above, the ''villain'' of ''Literature/WatershipDown'' grants his troops seconds for a vital getaway by confronting a dog. (Though he didn't just stare, he also fought, as the dog later turns up with bites and scratches, drawing a remark from a human observer that it "must have gone for something that put up a fight.")
101* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
102** The Luggage successfully stares down a Basilisk. And Discworld Basilisks have supposedly-fatal stares. And the Luggage [[FridgeLogic doesn't even have eyes.]]
103** Rincewind repeatedly reflects on how creepy it is that the Luggage is clearly watching things without having any eyes.
104** The Luggage once batters down the gates of Hell. Except it didn't even have to, after staring them down for a while and backing up the gates throw themselves open. Doesn't stop the Luggage from giving it a contemptuous kick on the way in.
105** In ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'', the motherly young cook Glenda Sugarbean stares down the [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld ancient]], [[CreepyGood eerie]], [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] VampireMonarch Margolotta after suffering an [[ActuallyThatsMyAssistant extremely embarrassing]] first encounter. When Lady Margolotta remarks on her audacity afterwards, Vetinari idly comments that Margolotta looked away first.
106** ''Literature/GuardsGuards'' has Lady Sybil Ramkin stare down the giant dragon just like she usually does with her smaller and mostly harmless swamp dragons. Unfortunately, she then also searches her pockets for a cookie - and in doing so looks down and loses the eye contact...
107* A big point is not made of it, but in ''Literature/{{Dinoverse}}'' the first time the kids are menaced by a UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex [[TheRunaway Janine]] just stares defiantly at it. Unlike the others, she can't fight or run.
108* Played with in ''Literature/{{Unique}}''. The vampire Ophelia tries looking at Jan with an expression of predatory sexuality, in the hopes of seducing and overpowering him. Jan, being a young Veiðimaðr who has trained to fight things like female vampires, makes it very clear that it's not going to happen.
109* Conrad Kurze, the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Night Haunter]], has good reasons for viewing himself as his [[GodEmperor father]]'s terror weapon and is scary enough that even his brother [[SuperSoldier Primarchs]] have trouble meeting his gaze. In the Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''The Unremembered Empire'', [[SilkHidingSteel Tarasha Euten]], the woman who largely took care of the actual work of raising Roboute Guilliman, one the other aforementioned Primarchs, faces Kurze down when he's in the middle of a rampage through Guilliman's stronghold, looks him dead in the eye and tells him to go to hell. [[spoiler:And thanks to the very timely intervention of a squad of Space Marines, manages to actually survive it.]]
110* Downplayed at the end of ''Literature/FateZero'', Waver Velvet (an IneptMage) stands his ground and faces down Gilgamesh (a near-PhysicalGod) eye-to-eye, [[spoiler:explaining to Gilgamesh that he won't try to fight him since it would be suicide, and Rider (another near-PhysicalGod and Waver's 'master', who Gilgamesh just killed) had told him to live on and bear witness]]. Despite Gil being a SocialDarwinist and Jerkass supreme, he appreciates Waver's loyalty and conviction enough to let him live. Once Gil has left, [[HeroicBSOD Waver breaks down]].
111** Later on, Gilgamesh himself pulls this off [[spoiler:against Angra Manyu, a GodOfEvil. Angra Manyu, who in this universe is created by human sin (rather than being the origin of it like in [[UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}} Zoroastrian teachings]]) asks Gilgamesh who shall take responsibility for humanity's sin and bear their burdens. Gil essentially answers that he will, [[IncorruptiblePurePureness because he's just that awesome]]. Angra Manyu backs off]].
112* In ''Literature/{{Wolfsangel}}'', [[SexSlave Saitada]] burns her own face so as to put off rapists. It works- not because of the wound itself ("a man in passion is a beast that no small deformity can deter"), but because it made her eye so grave that even they could not delude themselves into ignoring her pain.
113-->There on her face he confronted the damage he had done and, as a coward, could not bear to look at it in his home. […] the bloody eye that seemed to look through you and expose your sins to shame.
114* In ''Literature/TheHobbit'', Bilbo does this with Smaug because any running or direct fighting would instantly earn him death. He is also the only member of the Company to stand up and outright defy a deranged and ''very'' gold-obsessed Thorin, blunting stating he is not afraid of him and if no one will talk some sense into him, then Bilbo will.
115* ''Literature/OneHundredCupboards'' has seventeen-year-old Monmouth's first appearance, as he watches [[BigBad Nimiane]], [[SealedEvilInAnotherWorld Dread Queen of Endor]], [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Last of the Undying Race]] appear in the centre of the wizards' stronghold and [[CurbStompBattle kill his colleagues and their wolves in seconds]]. He stares her down and demands to know her name and business, and survives it.
116[[/folder]]
117
118[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
119* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': Hotch gets back to his apartment to find a serial killer waiting for him, a guy so bad he stabbed ''himself'' multiple times to throw police off his tracks. And Hotch shows no fear. Not when the guy shoots the wall right next to his head; not when the guy pulls out his knife, not even ''after the guy starts stabbing him''! It's so badass, even the other characters speak in awe about how badass it is. Reid and Garcia muse maybe The Reaper let Hotch live specifically because he didn't even blink.
120-->'''The Reaper:''' Is this part of my profile? You can't show me fear?\
121'''Hotch:''' If you don't see fear maybe it's because I'm not afraid of you.
122* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor, although [[TheDreaded dreaded]] by many of the universe's most dangerous beings, is by themselves just a HumanAlien who's not ''that'' physically dangerous in person and also [[BewareTheSillyOnes often seems too weird to be that dangerous]]. But then they'll turn on the DeathGlare and let evil ''know'' they mean business, and the OhCrap moments will come. For instance, they once made [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E9ForestOfTheDead a swarm of living shadows]] retreat just by telling them to look the Doctor up, and made ''them'' blink.
123* ''Series/GameOfThrones''
124** [[PluckyComicRelief Hot Pie]], [[LovableCoward of all people]], does this to Gregor Clegane. Clegane has made it a habit of coming down to where prisoners are held each day and personally selecting one person to be questioned and tortured to death. Another prisoner tells Hot Pie he's managed to avoid being picked for torture by invoking this trope on Clegane. The next time Clegane comes down to pick a victim both the prisoner and Hot Pie enact this trope. Hot Pie doesn't get picked. The other guy does. [[BringMyBrownPants Hot Pie then needs new pants]].
125** Arya Stark does this to Tywin Lannister. Tywin's death glares are known to leave even hardened warriors quaking in their boots, and Arya -- a little girl -- stares him down. It seems to be becoming a recurring theme for her to lock eyes with the most dangerous characters in the land without backing down. She later does it to Melisandre (who is actually disturbed by what she sees in Arya's eyes) and the Hound. Though averted with the Mountain; as mentioned above, the one person who tries this trope gets tortured to death in front of her.
126** Jon and the Night's King stare at each other while Jon retreats from Hardhome.
127** In King's Landing, most people are utterly terrified of Cersei's monstrous, resurrected henchman. Kevan Lannister, however, is completely unimpressed and treats him more as a nuisance than a threat.
128** At the beginning of "Blackwater", Bronn stares down Sandor Clegane, whose intent is very much to murder him. He later ends up saving Clegane himself during the ensuing battle.
129--->'''Sandor:''' You like fucking, and drinking, and singing. But killing... that's the thing you love. You're just like me. Only smaller.\
130'''Bronn:''' And quicker.
131** Bronn even snarks ''Lord Tywin'' with his "You wouldn't know him" comment. That's gotta count under this trope.
132** In Season 7, Bronn manages to one-up himself even further, operating a Scorpion with a '''fucking dragon''' bearing down on him. He not only survives but manages to get in a hit on Drogon's wing, coming within a couple of feet of ending Daenerys Targaryen's bid for the Iron Throne then and there.
133* In ''Series/{{Jekyll}}'', Hyde not only stares down a pride of lions but puts them under his mind-control.
134* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Lex Luthor is introduced staring down a venomous snake which slithers away in fear.
135* [[BadassPreacher Mr. Eko]] not only stares down, but actually ''scares off'' the [[spoiler:Black Smoke]], which is about as close to an EldritchAbomination as ''Series/{{Lost}}'' gets. However, in the next season, [[spoiler:they meet again, and it kills him]].
136* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': [[ColonelBadass John Sheppard]] does this to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Wraith]] [[HiveQueen queens]] a couple of times. It works better sometimes than others, but it still unnerves the Wraith pretty good. Or, y'know, keeps them from just straight off eating him.
137* This is part of the EstablishingCharacterMoment for young [[YoungGun Michael Lee]] in ''Series/TheWire''. Drug kingpin Marlo Stansfield, who owns the west side of Baltimore, is running a ReignOfTerror where he brutally murders anyone who even ''thinks'' of disrespecting or challenging him. (And sometimes their family too.) One day, perhaps convinced by his slightly more humane Dragon, Marlo gives away some money to a group of young kids in a bid to [[VillainWithGoodPublicity get a good reputation on the street]]. Michael, however, not wanting to be in anybody's debt, refuses and begins to walk away. Marlo, none too pleased with giving away money at all, goes to confront Michael. Michael, rather than backing up, fixes Marlo with a DeathGlare. After a few seconds, an impressed Marlo nods, smiles and lets Michael go. Afterwards Marlo begins actively trying to recruit Michael into his gang. Michael is '''''13''''' at the time.
138[[/folder]]
139
140[[folder:Music]]
141* Invoked in "Jolene, A Cautionary Tale" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwRVU8YjGH0&list=PL_RYcgJkFA2BXnAlA3RMkuNcM2pVAGl-m&index=44]], wherein the singer is warning the [[HumanoidAbomination beautiful eldritch monster Jolene]] that if she'll come after her if Jolene tries to take her man away, presumably to eat him:
142-->But I've seen beyond that auburn hair
143-->My eyes have met your vacant stare
144-->[[NervesOfSteel And I've been told I'm hard to scare, Jolene]]
145[[/folder]]
146
147[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
148* Gideon Jura, a Planeswalker from the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' franchise, took up a staring contest with that universe's closest thing to Cthulhu: Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. It happened at the end of the Battle of Fort Keff. Gideon, spotting the horizon darkening as if to herald the arrival of the great Emrakul, beckons the inhabitants of Fort Keff to flee. Gideon, however, remains to witness the Eldrazi first hand before Planeswalking away to Ravnica to seek help. This epic staredown is depicted in his first printing: [[http://magiccards.info/m12/en/16.html Gideon Jura]].
149[[/folder]]
150
151[[folder:Video Games]]
152* In ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'', this is one of the things you can use against [[BigBad Springtrap]]. He won't move when you're looking directly at him, so when he's behind your window or at your door, as long as you don't move the view away or pull up the cameras or maintenance panel, you can stare him down until [[InstantWinCondition 6 AM]]. Of course, if you don't pull up the maintenance panel you can't reboot the ventilation, and if you don't reboot the ventilation you'll start blacking out and allow him the chance to attack, but it can still provide a few life-saving seconds of delay.
153* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', this occurs near the end of the ''Leviathan DLC'' when Shepard comes face-to-face with the Leviathan itself. Happens again on Rannoch, when s/he fights a 160m tall Reaper in a BullfightBoss battle.
154* Librarians in ''VideoGame/{{Metro 2033}}'' are on par with the vicious Demons, Moscow's apex predators, in terms of danger level, being tough-as-nails, rather fast, and surprisingly hard-hitters. Your best option is to stare them down until they lose interest (or get intimidated themselves) and leave, as Ulman tells you to. Otherwise, you're in for, if not death, at least a very hard fight.
155* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', Link throws his DeathGlare to [[spoiler:Demise, who is the incarnation of all evil. Demise is impressed, as every single human he'd ever faced before had fled in terror from him. He recognizes Link's courage, admitting that he never expected that from a human]].
156* A literal instance of this trope occurs in Cthulhu's reveal trailer for ''{{VideoGame/Smite}}''. From [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Zeus]] nonetheless. While Cthulhu is driving the entire populace of Greece insane with his mere ''presence'', Zeus stands his ground and fearlessly meets the Great Dreamer's terrifying gaze, readying his iconic thunderbolt for the clash between gods to come.
157[[/folder]]
158
159[[folder:Web Animation]]
160* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "Mammon's Magnificent Musical Mid-Season Special (ft. Fizzarolli)", Fizzarolli insults Mammon, the [[DemonLordsAndArchDevils archdevil]] of [[SevenDeadlySins Greed]], in front of everyone and tells him he's going to quit his service. Mammon becomes enraged and grows into a giant part-spider form, but Fizzarolli stares him down... soon revealing that he has the other archdevil Asmodeus backing him up, so he doesn't really have a reason to fear.
161[[/folder]]
162
163[[folder:Web Comics]]
164* [[HairRaisingHare Bun-bun]] in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' does this to an angry bear, making her (actually him, which may explain it) his crony. He's brought "her" cub along and everyone assumes he's going to go MamaBear at the slightest provocation, but when Bun-bun isn't the least bit intimidated, he apparently knows a KillerRabbit when he sees one.
165-->'''Bear:''' You're on your own!\
166'''Cub:''' [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Well]] [[SymbolSwearing $#!&]].
167* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'': [[http://lfgcomic.com/page/588 Richard vs a great eye, wreathed in flame.]]
168* In the climax of Book 2 of ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'', Allison stares down the royally pissed off PhysicalGod and DimensionLord Mottom, and dares her to kill her, on the basis that Mottom had previously revealed that killing Allison would put her in a really dangerous position. Mottom hesitates, buying Allison's group enough time to escape.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Web Original]]
172* ''Website/SCPFoundation'':
173** Some of the finds can be dealt with in this manner. In particular, SCP-173 is rendered completely harmless as long as you're maintaining eye contact with it... [[Series/DoctorWho don't blink]].
174** Dr. Clef once did this to ''[[OmnicidalManiac SCP-682]]''!
175[[/folder]]
176
177[[folder:Western Animation]]
178
179* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'': This is how Lana and Malory first met: Lana was protesting a fur shop and was about to throw paint on Malory's new fur coat when all of a sudden Malory pointed a gun at her. Lana just stared her down without flinching. Impressed, Malory offered her a job.
180* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Fluttershy has subdued a dragon (whose eyes were larger than her body, so she lectured while pacing on his snout) and a cockatrice (whose gaze was ''turning her to stone'' as she did so, but who still gave up first) by staring them down and scolding them. {{Subverted|Trope}} (twice%subverted_twice_is_not_double_subverted_because_a_double_subversion_ends_with_the_trope_not_being_subverted_after_all_thank_you%) however, when she tries to stare down [[MadGod Discord]] -- he only pretends to be horrified to mock her. She does manage to scold him into backing down later on when the situation has changed.
181* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'':
182** Towards the climax of the Cadmus arc, Prof. Hamilton stares down Superman, whom he (justifiably) expects to go on a tangent and try to take over the world at any moment.
183** A more literal example would be in "The Terror Beyond", where Hawkgirl after she and Solomon Grundy are ensnared in the grip of [[WritingAroundTrademarks Ichthultu]], has this to say:
184--->'''Hawkgirl:''' Nothing to say. [[FlippingTheBird I have a]] '''[[FlippingTheBird gesture]]''' [[FlippingTheBird for you,]] but my hands are tied.
185* On ''WesternAnimation/BeanyAndCecil'', "Beany Meets The Monstrous Monster" has a little fish called Staring Herring, who uses his talent to hypnotize. He does this to the Monstrous Monster.
186* A Chuck Jones ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon had Jerry's lookalike magic-performing cousin visit. When Tom grabs the cousin and laughs sinisterly, the magic mouse simply stares at him until he ends up hypnotizing him.
187[[/folder]]
188
189[[folder:Real Life]]
190* In some cases, this can be used by a familiar person to calm a possibly violent animal. Many large dogs will respond submissively to their owner, or someone familiar, standing looking down at them with a firm stance and unwavering stare. (Please DoNotTryThisAtHome with any dog but your own, folks, even then it's always better to call professionals if you think there is a strong threat.)
191* People are often warned not to break eye contact with certain dangerous animals that are watching them because that prompts them to attack.
192* There's a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGxnm9BLVug video]] of a goose refusing to back down from some cows who sort of charge it to butt it with heads bigger than its body. The cows back down when the goose stands its ground.
193[[/folder]]

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