Star-Spangled Dismissal.
There are lots of ways to immediately show one's disdain for someone. Boom, Headshot!. Cruel Mercy. But if a character truly wants to show that the person they're dealing with means next to nothing to them, they will turn and walk away, never looking back. Sometimes they may deliver a pithy shot before they leave, sometimes they may simply leave in silence. Their foe might call after them, sometimes even screaming the name aloud in anger or frustration. The person they're calling after won't even pause.
The character who does the walking off in question may be an Implacable Man, Drama Queen, or just seen as unreasonable. It could also involve the end of a romantic relationship after someone learns of a betrayal. It can just as easily be done by protagonists and antagonists alike. Who the audience is supposed to sympathize with can vary.
Closely related to Unflinching Walk, but usually without the pyrotechnics. May also overlap with I Have No Son!. Compare Moving Right Through. Also compare Stealth Hi/Bye for another trope where someone leaves when someone is talking to them. Possible precursor or response to Stopped Dead in Their Tracks.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- BanG Dream!: In season 2, CHU2 shows up to invite Yukina to the debut concert for RAISE-A-SUILEN, her intent rub her success in Yukina's face for refusing to cooperate with her. Yukina returns CHU2's card, saying, "I have a culture fest on both these days", and returns to her band practice in Circle, ignoring the egotistical producer.
- Samurai Champloo: The "Misguided Miscreants" arc sees Mugen return to his home island, only to get involved in a lot of trouble over finding pirate treasure with his childhood friend Koza, who has developed a chronic dependency on others and Chronic Backstabbing Disorder just to survive. After she gets her revenge on Mukuro by having Mugen kill him for her, she runs off with her new boyfriend after thinking that she can finally leave that criminal island and start a new life. When they both see a very implacable Mugen marching along the same road, her boyfriend attacks and gets effortlessly cut down. Koza begs for Mugen to end her life as well, as death would be better than continuing her life of destitution at this point. Without saying a word, Mugen just keeps on walking and leaves her to her fate of being alone.
Comic Books
- Done in a comic continuation of Batman Beyond when Terry (i.e. the current Batman) teams up with Nightwing (as in Dick Grayson). Throughout the cartoon, it was heavily implied that whatever caused the final breakup of the Bat Family was especially bitter when it came to Dick and Bruce note . By that point, Bruce had managed to reconcile to an extent with both Barbara and Tim, and likewise tried to reach out to Dick through Terry's suit. Terry cuts Bruce's heartfelt appeal off by stating that Nightwing left the moment he heard Bruce's voice. Understandably, Bruce is crushed.
- X-Factor: After Dr. Valerie Cooper was manipulated by the Acolytes into trying to destroy X-Factor, the team learns of her involvement with Project Wideawake, a government project to develop Sentinels, which Valerie tries to defend as a last resort, in the event that X-Factor fails. She protests to the team that she never intended for it to be used against them, as they are her friends. Quicksilver spurns her apology as the team walks off.
Quicksilver: "Some of my best friends are mutants." Oh, Valerie, how very typical — of a Flat Scan.
Fan Works
- The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf often turns his back on people to leave, sometimes in the middle of a conversation. The people he does it to wonder if it's a deliberate insult on his part (in which case it's working) or part of the way he acts to pick a fight with anything and anyone.
Films — Animation
- Balto: When Balto succeeds in bringing the sled team home with the diphtheria antitoxin, all of Nome's dogs realize that Steele has been telling them bald lies. They already knew Steele was a Glory Hound, but this is a blatant dereliction of duty, which is unforgivable by dog standards. All the dogs turn up their noses and turn their tails toward Steele, and leave the storage barn silently. Steele has become a disreputable pariah in their view.
- How to Train Your Dragon (2010): Played with. Stoick does brush off Hiccup, walking away saying I Have No Son!. However, in this case, it doesn't stick, as it's clear Stoick regretted it the moment he'd said it, so when Hiccup flies in to rescue him from the Green Death, he willingly recants.
- The Incredibles: After Syndrome shoots down the plane with Bob's family aboard, Bob seizes Mirage, threatening to snap her in half if Syndrome doesn't release him. Syndrome calls his bluff, and after Bob releases her, Syndrome walks off, saying, "You're weak. And I've outgrown you."
Films — Live Action
- Heartbreak Ridge: After Gunnery Sgt. Highway has been released from jail, a police officer whose car Highway had urinated on said that he didn't care about the ruling, Highway should have to answer and he didn't do a "serviceman's discount". Highway answers with "Too bad, your old lady does." Highway walks away without looking, while the officer's partner has to restrain him to keep him from getting himself in trouble.
- Michael: After failing the assignment to bring Michael to their editor, Malt, Quinlan announces that he's quitting, and walks away. Malt calls after him, wanting to know who's going to fight with him now, but Quinlan is paying him absolutely no mind.
- Space Jam: During the Ultimate Game, Daffy Duck finds himself holding the ball, causing the five Monstars to target him. In a panic, Daffy passes the ball to Granny, who is sitting out of bounds, acting as a cheerleader. The Monstars switch targets and gang-tackle Granny. Lola Bunny gives Daffy a Death Glare, to which Daffy responds, "She was wide open." Lola says nothing but turns her back on Daffy, nose high, not deigning to speak to such a cowardly poltroon.
Literature
- The Famous Five: In Five Go Adventuring Again, George and Timmy the dog each do this to show their contempt for the tutor Mr. Roland.
- When Timmy first meets Mr. Roland and is told to "shake hands" with him, Timmy instead turns his back on Mr. Roland, and walks away, as if he senses that Mr. Roland does not like dogs.
- Later, George is at first excited to go on an outing with the others to search for the Secret Way. However, when she learns that Mr. Roland is going with them, she immediately changes her mind, and walks off to go for a walk with Timmy, as "a lonely little figure going down the garden path".
Live-Action TV
- Blue Bloods: After an inmate arranges to have one of his friends killed, Frank Reagan visits the man in prison, where he freely admits his involvement. He's serving a life sentence in a state without a death penalty, so he has nothing to fear. Frank nods briefly, then informs the felon that his friend was also a Federal Consultant to the Marshall's office, and as such, the man was guilty of murdering a Federal agent, and subject to the Death Penalty at the federal level, and would be transferred to a prison in the midwest, where he had no contacts or cronies. Frank gets up and walks away, while four guards have to restrain the now condemned murderer.
- House of Anubis: Mick attempts to help Mara become Class Representative by convincing the vote counter, Robbie, to stuff the ballot box while promising him a date with Patricia... who had never been notified about this. Robbie confronts Mick later, asking if he'd even spoken to Patricia. She overhears this and interrupts the conversation, leading Mick to ask if she's into "slimy, manipulative chess geeks in the year below". Instead of responding, she just gives Robbie a disdainful look and walks away, causing him to run off in humiliation.
- Law & Order: In "Immortal", EADA Cutter calls Lt. Van Buren to testify and he asks about her ovarian cancer while she is under oath. Afterwards, she gives him a "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "I know what you were doing. You were using me, Mr. Cutter. You violated my privacy so that you could win your case!" After the verdict is issued, they cross paths in the hallway, and he tries talking to her, but she snubs him with a chilly "Counselor," and walks on.
- Monk: In "Mr. Monk is On the Run", Monk gets framed for murder by Dale the Whale during the latter's scheme to get himself pardoned. After solving the mystery, Monk comes to see Dale, who has been stripped of his Luxury Prison Suite as punishment. Dale gives a Breaking Speech about how Monk is in an even worse prison than he is, only for Monk to get the last word by walking away mid-speech.
Dale: Come back here! I'm NOT DOOOOONE!
Monk [quietly, not turning around]: Oh, yes you are.
Pro Wrestling
- Honky Tonk Man was once interviewing Hulk Hogan. HTM made the mistake of asking the Hulkster if he'd ever turn his back on someone he was afraid of. Hulk said he would never turn his back on someone he was afraid of...and then immediately turned his back on HTM and immediately walked off the set, never once looking at HTM.
Video Games
- Fallout 4: If you reach the lowest affinity possible with Deacon, you can walk away from him during the final confrontation. This is the only time his Nice Guy ruse drops.
Deacon: (Disgusted): I can't believe I ever wanted to travel with you.
- There are a few moments of this in the God of War series, where Kratos, despite his Blood Knight tendencies and Unstoppable Rage, is willing to spare his opponent's life if he thinks they're Not Worth Killing, but the opponent in question just has to do or say something that ticks him off and get themselves killed anyway.
- First up, in God of War III, Kratos dismissively shoves Hera away from him when she tries attacking him (and doesn't do very well at it, seeing as she's drunk), and is content to walk away. But then she decides to insult Pandora behind his back. Kratos immediately spins around, runs back to Hera, and gives the queen of the Olympians an undignified Neck Snap.
- Next, at the climax of God of War (PS4), Kratos is talked out of strangling Baldur by Atreus, and lets the Ax-Crazy young god go, after warning him not to come after his family again, or Baldur's mother Freya, who he was trying to kill earlier. Baldur, however, is too vengeful and deranged to listen to Kratos, and he starts strangling Freya as soon as he thinks Kratos is far away enough. The Spartan immediately has to save Freya by killing her son, even if she hates him for it.
- Finally, in God of War Ragnarök, there are two examples of this, one of which ends less bloodily than the other. Kratos yet again ends up fighting another Aesir god, Heimdall, and decides to spare his life after blowing off one of his arms, so long as he doesn't try to kill Atreus. Heimdall, however, furious at the idea of being pitied, goes through a Villainous Breakdown and attacks the Ghost of Sparta again before he can walk away, which means that the second time they fight, Kratos has no choice but to use lethal force. In the other case, Atreus and his new friend Angrboda have just defeated Angrboda's abusive grandmother Gryla, by destroying the magic cauldron that she keeps animal souls in to use them like a Fantastic Drug. Gryla, in drug-induced anger and despair, shouts at her granddaughter to Get Out!, and Angrboda obliges, whilst convincing Atreus not to shoot Gryla. On the way out, Gryla delivers a scathing "Reason You Suck" Speech to Angrboda, telling her granddaughter that no one will remember her, not even Atreus. ("You'll just be a forgotten chapter in his story! He'll be too busy mourning his father!") Angrboda's expression makes it clear that her grandmother's words hurt her, but she doesn't respond to any of them and leaves Gryla's house silently, reminding Atreus that Gryla is a grieving, lost person, not a monster.
- Spider-Man (PS4): Following the Final Battle, Peter furiously calls out his old mentor Otto Octavius (AKA, Dr. Octopus) for throwing away his brilliant mind and genius intellect in favour of revenge on Norman Osborn and infecting thousands of New Yorkers with the deadly Devil's Breath virus, including Aunt May. Otto, powerless to defend himself after Peter removed the neural connection between him and his mechanical tentacles, tries claiming that the AI running the tentacles drove him to commit evil, and begs Peter (whom he thinks of as a surrogate son) not to let the authorities send him to prison, where the neurological disorder affecting Otto will eventually leave him with a still-working mind, but an immobile body. Of course, Otto then shoots himself in the foot by reminding Peter that he knows his secret identity, whereupon Peter disgustedly acknowledges that his mentor had always been vengeful and twisted even before the tentacles took hold of his mind, and decides to just abandon him in the wreckage of the building where they landed, to deliver the Devil's Breath antidote to the infected. All Otto can do is helplessly scream for Peter to come back whilst he walks away.
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales:
- The first is following the battle between Miles and his friend/enemy Phin Mason/The Tinkerer against the Rhino. Miles is trying to serve as Phin's Morality Pet and convince her to walk away once they have damaged Rhino's Powered Armour enough that he can't fight them anymore, but Rhino decides to taunt Phin about her brother Rick's death (the fault of Rhino's current employer, Simon Krieger). At this point, Phin loses her temper, and tries to stab Rhino to death, forcing Miles to dive in and stop her. Afterwards, Phin subjects Miles to a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown, blaming him for all her attempts to expose Krieger for the monster he is going wrong, and finishes by leaving her injured friend behind in a subway tunnel, coldly threatening to kill him the next time they meet.
- The second example comes later in the game, when Miles' uncle Aaron/The Prowler takes Miles prisoner to try to prevent him from participating in the battle between the Tinkerer and Roxxon, because Aaron doesn't want his nephew to be killed being a hero like his brother was. Miles, already furious at Aaron for apparently betraying him and getting him captured by Krieger in the first place, breaks through his force-field containment walk and engages in a boss battle with Aaron, before finishing it by calling him out. (For what it's worth, said calling-out does inspire Aaron to later end his conflict with his nephew in a peaceful way by doing a Big Damn Heroes to defend Miles' mother and a bunch of civilians from Roxxon's hired soldiers, and later revealing all of Krieger's crimes to get the evil businessman arrested.)
Aaron/Prowler: I know I messed up. I let you down. But we're family!Miles: "Family"?! That didn't stop you from lying to me! Manipulating me! Fighting me! Being "family" isn't enough anymore!Aaron: (collapsing his helmet to reveal his face) Doesn't have to end like this. You, me, hating each other. That's how it happened between me and your dad! I don't wanna repeat that.Miles: I don't want that, either. But I can't be the person you wanna turn me into. I can't turn my back when people need me! (walks away) I have to be better than that.
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines: In the Lone Wolf ending, the player character executes Decapitation Strikes against the Camarilla and Kuei-Jin leaders, then leaves the city for parts unknown, brushing past the Anarch leader with nothing more than a middle finger over the shoulder as he tries to recruit them.
Western Animation
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Zuko tries to give one to Ozai until he learns that they hold crucial information on his mother.
- Ben 10: Attempted by Ben towards Kevin in "Framed". Unfortunately, all it does is make him furious and trigger a Shapeshifter Mode Lock.
- Hey Arnold!: In "Arnold Betrays Iggy", Iggy tries to apologize to Arnold for forcing him to parade through town in rabbit pajamas. Arnold, calm yet clearly furious, just walks off in a huff and ignores him, as he has realized that Iggy just isn't worth his time.
- Superman: The Animated Series: Subverted in the second part of "The Main Man." After Superman breaks out from his enclosure in the Preserver's ship, Lobo asks Superman to break him out as well, only for Superman to call Lobo a criminal who deserves to be locked up, and walks away. Lobo starts shouting threats at Superman, who ignores him and walks off by himself, but when Lobo says that even if it takes him years to escape, he'll get his revenge on Superman and return Earth to destroy it. This statement causes Superman to go back and help Lobo escape on the condition he never return to Earth when he's free.
