History Main / CreepyMonotone

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', L and Near are both prime examples of this trope.

* Hannibal Lecter from the ''Franchise/HannibalLecter'' film series (''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', Film/{{Hannibal}}'', and ''Film/RedDragon''). Creator/AnthonyHopkins based his performance on HAL 9000.

* Hannibal Lecter from ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' series. Anthony Hopkins based his performance on HAL 9000.

* ''"Good morning annoying sibling, I am your sister Melanie."'' An evil duplicate ([[ReplicantSnatching Robot]], [[CloningBlues Clone]], ShapeShifter, [[EvilKnockoff Doppleganger]], or what have you, even zombie/ghost possession/mind control) has replaced the character. Their tell will usually be not knowing names and facts about their host and friends, knowing ''too much'' about their host, assuring everyone that they are MostDefinitelyNotAVillain, or a [[NotHimself radically different personality.]] May be TooDumbToLive at things the real one -- or even anyone without too much FishOutOfTemporalWater and minimal GenreBlindness -- could do perfectly fine. A ''protagonist'' doing this, impersonating the ''hero'' while the hero is doing something else, is almost inevitably going to be the one that will be the most idiotic and provide either Fanservice or tons of Squick and FanDisservice.

* The Androids from ''Manga/DragonBall'', though Android 8 uses a ''little'' more inflection than most.

* Hannibal Lecter from the ''Literature/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'' series. Anthony Hopkins based his performance on HAL 9000.

-->'''Gru:''' [''Trying to look impressed, instead of horrified''] [[BlatantLies That was good]]. Try it again, but this time less... [[BrutalHonesty like a zombie]].

* [[CatchPhrase Baudelaire says that]] Maxwell Madison Jr. from ''WesternAnimation/{{Phantom 2040}}'' speaks this way as well.

-->-- '''Creator/BruceTimm''' on Creator/MichaelAnsara playing [[AntiVillain Mr. Freeze]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''.

* Terminal, a one-shot ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' villain, is another good one. This from the man (Creator/MichaelRosenbaum) who went on to play the ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Flash]]''.
** This is especially creepy considering how Terminal is the leader of a gang of Jokerz. "You're not laughing. He's not laughing."

* Mr. Freeze on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' never really deviated from his cold, chilling (no pun intended) monotone, providing juxtaposition to the emotional depth of the character. It was effective. WordOfGod has it that his voice actor, Michael Ansara, struggled with this element of the role -- his instinct was to ''act'', and he had to be constantly reminded to be flat and robotic.
** Possibly especially so in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', where he stops being simply apathetic and starts being straight up merciless.
--->''"[[FalseReassurance There may be some]] [[IronicEcho momentary discomfort.]]"''
** Jeffrey Combs as both the Scarecrow in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and the Question in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. The difference being that Scarecrow's was creepy and Question's was hilarious.

** Question's speech to Luthor in "Question Authority" falls right into this trope, however, being disturbingly calm.

* In one of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''' Halloween specials, Bart is turned into a vampire. He rejoins the family and monotones, "Hello mother. Hello father. I missed you during my uneventful absence."
** Then there was the one where Lisa has to tell Homer that Bart had rented a car with a fake ID and was trapped in Tennessee. Homer's face goes red and he says [[TranquilFury calmly]], "Yes. That's a real pickle. Would you excuse me?" He puts on a radiation helmet and screams incoherently for a while, causing the faceplate of the helmet to fog up. He then takes it off and says, now using the monotone again, "Alright, I have thought this through. I will send Bart the money to fly home. Then I will murder him."
** Also used during the teacher's strike, coupled with TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior.

** Treehouse of Horror V has anyone who's been "re-Neducated", the final phase of which consists of people getting a total frontal lobotomy.
--->'''Bart & Lisa:''' Joiiin us, fatheeer.\\
'''Marge:''' It's ''bliiiiiiiis''.

* Braniac in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''.

* In ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' the [[CreepyTwins Albain Brothers] talk very calmly, with soft, purring voices that give off a sinister vibe. Throughout a tense conversation with Blake and Ghira, their tone and modulation barely rise, and they keep the same flat voice while casually discussing informing [[FantasticTerrorists Adam]] about Blake's whereabouts. It's one of several reasons Sun finds them creepy. AvertedTrope as they attack the Belladonna estate, where they yell like one would expect in the tense situation of a fight.

** ComicBook/TheJoker ''himself'' in much of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker''. Less laughing, more menacing.

---> "[[FalseReassurance There may be some]] [[IronicEcho momentary discomfort.]]"

* [[BigBad Vincent Volaju]] of ''Anime/CowboyBebop: TheMovie''.

* ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'': Ultraman himself when he and Hayata first met - he has an odd echo to his voice, and this appears to be his speaking voice rather than telepathic inter-alien communication.

* In the last {{OVA}}, after being possessed by an evil doll spirit, Akane from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' starts talking in a low monotone voice, even while ShowingOffTheNewBody.

* Legato Bluesummers of ''Anime/{{Trigun}}'' almost always spoke with a monotone (or simply very calm) voice.
** And then you find out that his English voice is ''[[Anime/RurouniKenshin Kenshin Himura]]'' of all people...
** Subverted in the manga: after being crippled by Knives for trying to kill Vash, he turns AxeCrazy, but still talks with the creepy monotone.
* Johan Liebert from ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' constantly speaks in a calm, quiet monotone as part of his DissonantSerenity. Anyone who hears it will likely end up dead.
* Paul von Oberstein from ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'' has a trademark monotone and is one of the grey characters of the series. While he has thrown his lot in with Reinhard, he also has his own goals and apparently has little need for the fellowship of the other admirals. [[spoiler:His actions lead to the death of Siegfried Kircheis, Reinhard's closest friend in an assassination targeting Reinhard.]] He is also a participant in the events that lead to [[spoiler:Oscar von Reuental's rebellion]], although he later exhibits something, not unlike sympathy.

* The Anti-Spiral leader in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', [[spoiler:and Nia when she's changed into an Anti-Spiral.]] Once the protagonists get the better of him, he snaps and starts getting HotBlooded.

* Precia Testarossa from ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' is a monotone speaker and just a [[PsychoElectro wee bit nuts]] on top of it.
* When Lilika in ''Anime/BurnUp Scramble'' uses her PsychicPowers, she gets MindControlEyes and speaks like this. Usually, she blurts out something embarrassing about Rio.
* Clare from ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' speaks like this to emphasize her [[TheStoic stoic badassery]].
** Priscilla, rather more creepily, after she becomes [[OneWingedAngel an Awakened One]].

* R. Dorothy Wayneright from ''Anime/TheBigO'' is monotone because she's an android (well, gynoid, technically). However, she is ''not'' {{emotionless|Girl}}, making it hilarious when she verbally abuses Roger in a calm, soothing voice.
-->"You're a ''louse'', Roger Smith."
* Rei Ayanami from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. She's practically the poster child for this trope when she does talk.
** Though she still has noticed subtle changes in tone if you pay attention. So it's not completely monotonic, actually. The Creepiness is up to the viewer to behold.
* Yuki Nagato from the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' speaks in a monotone, though she's not really that creepy, especially when compared to [[UncannyValleyGirl Ryoko Asakura]].

** Crona does this more notably, using this as a normal tone of voice. His/her voice becomes sing-song and [[AxCrazy insane]] [[spoiler:when his mind is snapped by Medusa]], complete with a SlasherSmile and {{Laughing Mad}}ness.
* [[BigBad Vincent Volaju]] of ''Anime/CowboyBebop: TheMovie''.
** Not to mention [[BigBad Vicious]].
* The Androids from ''Manga/DragonBall'', though Android 8 uses a ''little'' more inflection than most.

* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'' gives us Yuya's "Awakening". Half of the time he's screaming in rage. The other half is a monotone that basically says "die".
* Given that she's an EmotionlessGirl that drags people down to hell, Ai of ''Anime/HellGirl'' always speaks like this. The times when she doesn't is normally a time that you're REALLY screwed.
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', L and Near are both prime examples of this trope.
* Morgana in ''[[Anime/DotHackSign .hack//SIGN]].''
* Both of Aiko's parents in ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' speak in very flat, unemotional voices and have very slow speech patterns; this makes them sound ''horribly'' creepy, even when they seem to be very kind persons aside of this "detail". [[spoiler: This ''very'' subtly hints that they are actually DeadAllAlong.]]
** [[spoiler: Miyu]]'s father also speaks similarly in the flashbacks, which complements [[TheStoic his totally emotionless personality]] quite well. [[spoiler: This is because, after Miyu's mother bit him, he became an EmptyShell.]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Vamp}}'' has the character of Shizune, who is notorious for speaking with one of these.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0jHmaoH_r8 Sosuke Aizen's English]] voice from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''; [[Creator/KyleHebert his VA, Kyle Hebert]] used HAL as an a inspiration.
* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': Kululu, who gets inexplicably high pitched when he gets particularly excited about something (usually terrible or destructive), which actually makes him even creepier.
** There's also the Keronian resonance ritual, which acts as a bonding ritual of camaraderie between fellow countrymen far from home, but to anyone else [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T_CVXG0iyA it sounds like a satanic cult initiation...]]
* Shigure of ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' has NoSocialSkills due to a really awful upbringing (her own father ''never bothered to name her''; a friend of his finally did so when she was around 10), and what little dialogue she delivers is typically extremely flat. She, however, is distinctly not TheStoic; she just expresses her feelings with her body language and her actions.
* [[MalevolentMaskedWoman Nerabu]] in ''Anime/TweenyWitches'' maintains a level tone in all situations.
* Sucy Manbavaran in ''Franchise/LittleWitchAcademia'' speaks in a morose and raspy monotone, which adds to her generally unsettling nature.
* [[HeroKiller Death Gun/Sterben]] from ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. Due to his mask filtering out his voice, it appears almost completely drained of emotion. His icy tone gives a haunting quality to all his lines promising to kill someone.
* [[BigBad Muzan Kibutsuji]] from ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba''. He almost always speaks in a soft-sounding monotone, which makes him pretty unsettling whenever he's butchering someone.

* The robotic clones in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''.

** It's not just Hawking. Anyone who speaks using an artificial voicebox has no choice but to use a monotone, as the mechanism doesn't allow for inflection and tone. (For reference see Ned Gerblansky on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', or any number of laryngectomy patients in anti-smoking PSAs.) Later, Hawking was offered improved software that could affect tone better and use a more appropriate accent; he turned it down because the synthesiser is recognised as being his voice.

** It's not just Hawking. Anyone who speaks using an artificial voicebox has no choice but to use a monotone, as the mechanism doesn't allow for inflection and tone. Later, Hawking was offered improved software that could affect tone better and use a more appropriate accent; he turned it down because the synthesiser is recognised as being his voice.

** Eugene Victor Tooms bare-ly has an-y in-to-na-tion at all and talks real-ly slow-ly. It's ser-i-ous-ly freak-y.
** Donnie Phaster, the SerialKiller in "Irresistible" with a fetish for dead women's hair, has a creepy, calm, flat voice and almost never blinks. Somehow, he can get strangers to see him as [[DevilInPlainSight charming and affable]] for a short while. [[spoiler:He turns out much later to have [[DemonOfHumanOrigin become]] or always been a demon.]]

* Creator/AlanRickman was fond of this, often playing sinister characters who combined the delivery style with ColdHam, DramaticPause, and EvilSoundsDeep.

* The Emily clone in ''WesternAnimation/WorldOfTomorrow'' has one of these.

-->-- '''Creator/BruceTimm''' on Michael Ansara playing [[AntiVillain Mr. Freeze]] in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''.

%%* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', L and Near are both prime examples of this trope.
%%* Morgana in ''[[Anime/DotHackSign .hack//SIGN]].''

* Gary from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''. Voiced by ''Microsoft Sam.''

* The [[CatsAreMean hovercat]] from ''Machinima/WaterHuman''. Like Gary above, he's voiced by Microsoft Sam.

* Creator/ChristopherWalken may be the best example of this trope, so much that even Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Walken acknowledges it!]]

* Sucy Manbavaran in ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'' speaks in a morose and raspy monotone, which adds to her generally unsettling nature.