Basic Trope: A character maintains a calm façade and/or continues to be able to think and reason while under pressure.
- Straight: Smith develops a strategy in the midst of fighting Drake despite being scared.
- Exaggerated: Smith calmly performs complicated mathematical calculations in his head to disarm a nuclear bomb that's at ten seconds on the clock while under heavy machine gun fire, with sirens and strobe lights going off around him.
- Downplayed:
- Smith is too stupid and/or absentminded to recognize threats against him, and thus does not fear anything.
- Smith only gets worked up if the situation is far more serious than what he usually has to deal with. Which given his line of work, is saying something.
- Smith is visibly nervous, but he is still able to think and reason well.
- Justified:
- Smith is actually a Cyborg, or has endured enough stressful incidents in the past to have deadened nerves.
- A very important part of Smith's training was devoted to develop a fortitude that would allow him to keep his calm even under the most stressful situations; an important skill that professionals in real life, like combat pilots, have to attain in order to excel at their jobs.
- Inverted: Smith breaks down in tears after grazing his toe.
- Subverted:
- Smith is dealt a critical injury, and breaks down under threat of his imminent death...
- Smith is secretly a Nervous Wreck who's just really good at hiding it.
- Smith explicitly has the same emotions but expresses it in ways most people don't recognize as such.
- Double Subverted: ...but gets back up, steels himself and carries out the plan.
- Parodied: Drake brings about the end of the world. Smith nonchalantly decides to have a cup of tea as he watches.
- Zig-Zagged:
- Smith is stoic and fearless when facing down Drake's demon army, but runs in fear from an insect on the ground. But that's because he happens to be especially vulnerable to insects of this species. But he rebalances his keel and goes back to kill the insect calmly.
- Smith isn't necessarily brave - in fact, he's cowardly at heart and wants to run away - he's just Seen It All and Drake's army just feels like another tuesday for him.
- Averted:
- Drake summons his ultimate demon, a 200-foot hellbeast. Smith panics and runs away.
- Being a Lovable Coward, Smith avoids situations that could strain his emotional fortitude.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: "Heh, that guy is a pretty cool customer. I have to wonder how much he's really scared by all this."
- Invoked: Smith puts himself through training to look calm.
- Exploited: Smith is used as an example by his superiors, so other soldiers strive to emulate his fortitude.
- Defied: Smith deliberately exaggerates his emotions so he doesn't look like an Empty Shell.
- Discussed: "Hey, did you see Smith the other day? He was so calm."
- Conversed: "This Is the Part Where... I don't flinch, right?"
- Implied: Smith's defeat of Drake is an Offscreen Moment of Awesome, but his right-hand man Lanny enthuses afterwards about how he looked so badass having done it so coolly.
- Deconstructed: Keeping up this image is shown to take a toll on Smith, and he can't pull it off much longer, which itself induces no small nervousness in him.
- Reconstructed: He becomes calm in earnest after learning how to mask this manifestation of his worry.
Back to Nerves of Steel. Whatever you encounter there, stay calm and keep your wits about you.
