While a foe is {{Monologuing}}, they'll be circling the hero like a wolf circles a lamb, hoping to ensnare the hero with their arguments and offers like a python hugs its victims. Spiraling ever inwards as their seductive yet CreepyMonotone reaches deeper and deeper to the core of the hero's motivation. The hero will usually have the facial expression of a deer in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler, or seem deeply conflicted, confused, or about to [[HeroicBSOD have a nervous breakdown.]] This is made all the creepier when the hero is bound and can't turn to face the villain, as they go behind the hero, [[BreakingSpeech monologuing the hero's flaws]] and how easily they could backstab them, or ''will'' if it's a JustBetweenYouAndMe moment.

It's rare, but sometimes the hero will do this. In this case, the hero usually isn't the [[NietzscheWannabe ideological predator]], but a flexible thinker, offering a LastSecondChance while TheStoic EvilOverlord remains dead set in their ways, immovable and proud before their [[KarmicDeath impending fall]]. Some examples are both of these at once, where the hero and villain circle ''each other'' while trying to convert each other.

Often a source of FoeYay.

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!!Examples

[[folder:Anime]]
* In the very first episode of the animated adaption of ''Literature/FateZero'', both Tohsaka Tokiomi and Kotomine Risei circle Kirei while they explain their {{plan}} to him in an effort to convince him to join them. See [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7rZDAojXNY here]] for an example.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films]]
* Grendel's mother in the 2007 movie of ''Film/{{Beowulf}}'' does this to the eponymous hero. She promises the trifecta of Sex, Money, and Power, strumming every chord of this flawed hero's heart and pride as she circled him.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' there's an example of a heroic, well, ''[[AntiHero Anti]]''-heroic circle. Anakin rounds Palpatine as the latter calmly and matter-of-factly lays out his motivations and plans, doing his best to convince Anakin that [[LoveMakesYouEvil it's best for Padme.]]
** The same happens between Anakin and Obi-Wan before their fight on Mustafar. And, in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Count Dooku was circling and tempting a captive Obi-Wan. The ''Star Wars'' prequels love this.
* Done in the ''Film/DungeonsAndDragons'' movie.
* The climax of ''Film/BigFatLiar''.
* Adria when talking to Vala in ''Film/TheArkOfTruth''.
* Wormtongue does this to Eowyn in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'', during his "Who knows what you've spoken to the darkness..." speech.
* In the climax of ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', Jareth circles Sarah in this manner as he explains how, while he is capable of cruelty, he has been "generous" to her all along. Her response is the heroine's speech from the play that inspired her adventure in the first place, and a battle of wills ensues.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' at a party scene SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker circles around Rachel and appears to [[PervertedSniffing sniff her]] while calling her "beautiful."
* ''TheMatrixReloaded'' plays with the trope as Agent Smith clones surround Neo, each one of them speaking a part of the monologue while the camera pans. It gives the impression he's circling, when they're mostly just standing still or walking towards Neo.
* Teatime does this to Susan in the movie version of ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''.
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[[folder:Literature]]
* Harry and Voldemort's final battle in ''HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' starts with them circling each other, debating who will triumph. Harry is level-headed, assured that he has the upper hand, while Voldemort is arrogant and dismissive, refusing to believe he can be beaten.
* In ''Literature/WhosAfraidOfBeowulf'' by Creator/TomHolt, the last viking king, Hrolf Earthstar circles the evil Sorcerer King before battle, determined to break his attempt to rule the world. Unusually, the mighty but doomed villain ''accepts'' the LastSecondChance given by the hero. After all, someone could have got ''killed''.
* This happens at least twice in Creator/MadeleineLEngle's books -- ''Literature/AWindInTheDoor'' and ''Literature/ManyWaters'', to be precise (although this is more of forcible-possession than monologuing, in both cases). In the latter, it's called the CircleOfExtinction, giving this trope its [[RenamedTropes former name]].
* A hero-to-villain example occurs in ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga The Vor Game]]''. MagnificentBitch Cavilo is in a suit of PowerArmor that has been depowered and acts as a TailorMadePrison, leaving only her head able to move. As Miles and Gregor pressure her for information, Miles repeatedly paces behind her because he can see it makes her nervous.
** Baron Ryoval also does this to Mark, it does not turn out well for the Baron.
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[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Dallas}}'', episode "The Family Ewing" (first of the "[[AllJustADream Dream]] Season"), Sue Ellen comes home the night Bobby Ewing, having been out all day with Dusty Farlow. Her chipper attitude was all J.R., who was openly ([[MenDontCry as much as a proud Texan man could]]) mourning the death of Bobby, could take. He circles her, berating her for not (never) being there, before driving her off.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has had this, particularly with the Doctor and TheMaster. In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]'', the [[FoeYay part-cheetah Master stalks around the Doctor]]. The scene at the beginning of part two of ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNSS4E17E18TheEndOfTime The End of Time]]'' has even more stalking, but it's the Doctor doing the pleading.
** "Dalek" had something like this, but with the Doctor circling the titular Dalek. A strange case as [[spoiler:the Doctor could arguably be the villain in that episode.]]
* ''Series/{{Buffy|The Vampire Slayer}}'' has an example in the first episode of the seventh season when the BigBad delivers a BreakingSpeech to Spike while circling him... and while shifting forms between the BigBad of each earlier season and, at the end, Buffy herself.
* A different use of circling than usual, but Dr Cox from ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has a tendency to circle people during his rants. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bB1F86_U96M In one memorable scene]] he and J.D. actually take turns on who is playing what role.
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', in the climatic three-way showdown between [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Vorlons, Shadows]] and the Army of Light each one of the former two pick a general of the Army and try to reason him/her into following them. Shadows do this with Delenn by having impersonations of her friends and even of herself circle around her while setting forth the Shadows' doctrines. Meanwhile, the Vorlon representative manifests as a woman frozen inside a block of ice, and Sheridan circles ''her'' while she argues the Vorlon point of view.
* In a Season Three episode of ''Series/{{Alias}}'', McKenas Cole pulls this on Sark. However, Sark makes it a point to keep shifting so Cole is never given the opportunity to stab him in the back.
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[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''MassEffect'' has both Shepard and Saren trying to convert one another to the other's side at the end of the Virmire mission.
** And again, at the very end.
** The second instance can be a [[spoiler:subversion, as with a high enough persuasion stat, Shepard can convince Saren that he's wrong/indoctrinated. Saren [[RedemptionEqualsDeath shoots himself]] to prevent Sovereign from using him further.]]
** But it doesn't stop Sovereign from doing just that for the final boss battle.
* The main character can try to convince the villain to abandon his plan in ''{{Arcanum}}''. At the same time, the villain will be trying to convince the main character of joining him to destroy the world.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games love this trope, allowing the protagonist to use this on several enemies and even sometimes on the BigBad. And at times ''succeed''.
* Ditto in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''.
* Done in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' both with TheDragon and the BigBad. The verbal duel with the Dragon is important both for plot and gameplay reasons. (Basically it's a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMOA]] of the developers.)
* Used by a race of ScaryDogmaticAliens in ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}''. With a spaceship. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eL7scjcj6A&feature=player_detailpage#t=51s Circling another spaceship.]]
* Used in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' during the battle with [[spoiler: Ra's al-Ghul. As Batman holds a sword to Ra's' throat, Talia circles around them both, urging him to kill Ra's and take his place as leader of the League Of Assassins.]]
* Occurs in SyphonFilter ''2'' between Gabe and [[spoiler:Chance.]]
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[[folder:Web Comics]]
* [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2385 This]] ''{{Sinfest}}'' comic.
* And [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0633.html this]] ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' comic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', as Ozai circles Zuko while extolling his accomplishments in Ba Sing Se. Zuko still seems very nervous to be there, especially when he finds out that [[spoiler: Azula gave him all the credit for Aang's supposed death.]]
* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' do this to Terra after she betrays them for the last time. Not to give her another chance, but to clarify that they will not be giving her any more chances.
* When the titular ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'' finally confronts her murderer [[spoiler:and former fiancee]].
* In ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', Dr. Facilier does this to [[spoiler: Tiana near the end, when he offers to make her dreams come true in exchange for his talisman. He shows her illusions of her restaurant while circling her and making his offer in a VERY seductive tone. (The fact that he's voiced by KeithDavid certainly helps.)]] This scene also doubles as FetishFuel.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' has this where Rameses' two priests circle Moses during their VillainSong.
* Scar does this to Simba on ''Disney/TheLionKing'' as he confronts him for being responsible for Mufasa's death.
** Earlier, the hyenas briefly surround Simba, Nala, and Zazu.
** Also done in ''The Lion King II'', in an odd example, Zira is ''talking'' to Simba, but ''[[MamaBear cir]][[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen cling]]'' Kovu.
* Jim does the heroic version in ''Disney/TreasurePlanet,'' but it's mainly to tell Silver that he won't be fooled a second time, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech condemning him]] for what Jim thought was a BastardlySpeech, and letting him know that he won't let Silver ever get ahold of the treasure which serves as both characters' motivation.
* Frollo in the Disney version of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' offers [[spoiler:Esmeralda a way out when she's about to be burned at the stake. He tells her, 'I can save you from the flames of this world and the next. Choose me, or the fire,' and Esmeralda promtly [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome spits at his face]] before giving him an epic KubrickStare.]]
* This is Mother Gothel's favorite choreography in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}''. She circles Rapunzel semi-affectionately at the start of her VillainSong, "Mother Knows Best." However, in the ''reprise'' of this song, she takes it UpToEleven, not only circling Rapunzel affectionately, but with mockery, derision, and she even does a semi-circle that has a ''seductive'' twist. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a9yJMItIJ8 Just watch for yourself.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' has the scene where the evil owl and his henchowls are shown threatening the farm animals as the barn starts to fill up with water by singing [[VillainSong "No Batteries!"]] (which for some reason contained the lyrics "Twiddly-dee, twiddly-dee") while marching around them in a circle.
* The Singing Cat Gang actually do this to WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry during the BigLippedAlligatorMoment from ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie''.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/CloudyWithAChanceOfMeatballs'': The mayor is trying to convince Flint to make more food fall from the sky, and uses OffscreenTeleportation to great and hilarious effect. First he whispers in one ear, then the other, then somehow from ''above.'' While driving a Rascal scooter.
* Syndrome starts this when confronting [[WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles Mr. Incredible]] after the TimeSkip, but is interrupted by a thrown tree trunk to the face.
-->'''Syndrome''': You sly dog, [[LampShadeHanging you had me monologuing]]!
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