History Main / DissonantSerenity

** Many of the inmates in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' have a very calm attitude despite the living hell around them. Notable examples are the duo you encounter throughout the game who watch you from a distance calmly discussing that they are going to give you a running start before tearing you apart, and who gets what body part. Also the doctor who chats with you like friend even when [[spoiler: he is torturing you, cutting off a couple of your fingers, and later chasing you]].

* ''[[HalfLife Half-Life]]'''s G-man remains cool and businesslike in corpse-littered, alien-ravaged Black Mesa.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' EccentricMentor the Drifter bets TheHero Lion-O that he can't split the willow reed the Drifter holds [[OralFixationFixation in his mouth]]. Lion-O is given [[RuleOfThree three swings]] of his sword to try. After a very brief {{facefault}} when he realizes the ''finesse''-less Lion-O intends to charge him BarbarianHero style, the Drifter [[EyesAlwaysShut shuts his eyes]], [[PerpetualSmiler smiles]], and proceeds to bust out {{wuxia}}-level NotQuiteFlight {{Nonchalant Dodge}}s and DanceBattler moves, all while keeping the same expression and delivering [[IShallTauntYou taunts]] in a relaxed, conversational tone, to make a point about Lion-O's lack of swordsmanship.

* More appropriately, Amon Göth from ''SchindlersList'' fits the description to the tip, as he walks around the camp, casually glancing about while Jews are murdered and tortured. "Can you believe this? As if I don't have enough to do, they come up with this? I have to find every rag buried up here and burn it," he says as he watches the incineration of Jews' bodies.
* Hannibal Lecter from ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', ''Film/RedDragon'', etc. The only time he ever raises his voice is to make himself heard over a screaming nutter.

* Garland Greene from ''ConAir''. He's a deranged serial killer who rarely changes his expression and speaks in a CreepyMonotone (and also a DeadpanSnarker with shades of AffablyEvil). The serenity is most contrasting when the plane crashes, and he hilariously sings "He's got the whole world in his hands".
* KellysHeroes has 'Oddball'. He's a 'Proto-Beatnik' (it's only the 1940's) and thrives on 'positive waves'. He also settles down for a picnic deep inside enemy territory while his crew tries to fix their damaged equipment, since "...everybody here seems so friendly." Oh, and did we mention he's [[BunnyEarsLawyer the best damn tank commander]] in the whole division?

* The characters of ASongOfIceAndFire usually react as one would expect if they had to live in the CrapsackWorld of Westeros, whether they be commoners, nobility or seasoned warriors. An exception to the rule is resident MagnificentBastard Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish, who remains cheerful and upbeat even when [[spoiler: [[ChronicBackstabbingDisorder betraying everyone left, right and centre,]] kicking off bloody civil wars and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness nonchalantly killing anyone who was no longer of any use to him.]]]]

* Samara from the ''Videogame/MassEffect'' series fits this one: snarky pilot Joker remarks that she could probably shoot him "in a very tranquil way...which does ''not'' make me feel any better about it."

** Meet The Pyro shows [[spoiler: that he views the world as a SugarBowl, and spreads rainbows and happiness. In reality, she's torching everything and everyone in sight.]]

* Natsume from''Manga/Beelzebub'' is almost invariably smiling, even while his (albeit short so far) fights.

* Title of a ''Sports Illustrated'' article: "Tom Maure Will Politely, Serenely Crush You."

* Hear the female trainer spout off all her cheerful motivational lines in ''VideoGame/WiiFit'' and you'll think nothing off it. Hear her say those exact same lines while beating up opponents in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', however, and you'll come to see her as a surprisingly demented lady.

* Hannibal Lecter from ''TheSilenceOfTheLambs'', ''RedDragon'', etc. The only time he ever raises his voice is to make himself heard over a screaming nutter.

** Lara and Thomas Raith, pretty much whenever we see them fighting.

* Not uncommon in {{Smallville}}, due to [[GreenRocks kryptonite]] being literally [[KryptoniteIsEverywhere everywhere]], and there are ones that don't involve kryptonite too.

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', a group of pagan gods meet to discuss about the upcoming Judeo-Christian apocalypse. Lucifer finds them, explains his disdain for the pagans to Mercury, and [[spoiler: calmly kills each and every one of these gods (except for Kali, who got away).]]

* Loki in ''Film/TheAvengers'' rarely, if ever loses his cool, looking quietly amused even while committing genocide. It's a sign of his impending VillainousBreakdown when he starts showing other emotions in the final battle, going very quickly from a SingleTear when fighting Thor to a full-on AGodAmI rant when faced with the Hulk.

* Loki in ''Film/TheAvengers'' rarely, if ever loses his cool, looking quietly amused even while committing genocide.

* ''MahouSenseiNegima'': One of Evangeline A.K. McDowell's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome crowning moments of awesome]] during the Kyoto Arc involved this. Give that girl her powers back for a little while and she'll freeze the world with the snap of her fingers and a smile on her face.

* One of [[MahouSenseiNegima Evangeline A.K. McDowell's]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome crowning moments of awesome]] during the Kyoto Arc involved this. Give that girl her powers back for a little while and she'll freeze the world with the snap of her fingers and a smile on her face.

* Kasumi Tendo tends towards this in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' as the varying antics, feuds and outright wars brought on by Ranma's various fiancees and insecurities take their toll on the Tendo household she never, ever seems to break a sweat or be anything but utterly sweet and smiling (occasionally looking worried when something truly disastrous occurs).

* In ''Lightnovel/FullMetalPanic'', this was a defining trait of Sousuke's [[HotShounenMom beautiful mother's]] death. When she was falling to her death, her face never showed a hint of terror or despair, and she calmly accepted her fate. Kalinin recalls from that instance that she was "surreally beautiful." Interestingly enough, this trait was apparently inherited by her son. As numerous instances afterwards, Sousuke has been described in very similar terms as being "surreally beautiful" the way he calmly massacres people.

* In ''{{Film/Battle Royale}}'' all versions include the adviser explaining the rules cheerfully, which all include slaughtering your friends, but it [[FromBadToWorse there's and even worse scene]] in the film since there's a video featuring a GenkiGirl explaining everything cheerfully. The effect is ''very'' creepy.

* Hakkai in ''{{Saiyuki}}'' is like this most of the time, utterly calm with a cheerful smile in battle and all other situations.

* Yu Narukami in ''[[{{Persona4}} Persona 4: The Animation]]'' doesn't let anything get to him, in contrast to his more emotional partners. For example, when Teddie bites him through the TV screen in episode 3, he remarks how the pain makes him want to cry, even though he doesn't look to be in any lasting pain. [[LampshadeHanging His friends note this as well.]]