History Main / EmotionsVsStoicism

* This is the dynamic between Sidhe Queens in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', with Summer Queen Titania on the side of Emotions and Winter Queen Mab on the side of Stoicism. This is most highlighted in ''Literature/ColdDays'', where Titania's emotions are such that she is fully prepared to kill Harry for the death of her daughter in ''Literature/SummerKnight'', even knowing that he is on a mission to save the world, while Mab's demand of him in that same story is to kill ''her'' daughter because [[spoiler:she's become a victim of TheCorruption that also drove Titania's daughter Aurora crazy and led to Harry killing her to, again, save the world]]. Yet neither is immune to the other as Titania does hold herself back from actually killing Harry, while Mab ordered Harry to do the deed because [[spoiler:she loved her daughter too much to do it herself]].

* This is the dynamic between Sidhe Queens in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', with Summer Queen Titania on the side of Emotions and Winter Queen Mab on the side of Stoicism. This is most highlighted in ''Literature/ColdDays'', where Titania's emotions are such that she is fully prepared to kill Harry for the death of her daughter in ''Literature/SummerKnight'', even knowing that he is on a mission to save the world, while Mab's demand of him in that same story is to kill ''her'' daughter because [[spoiler:she's become a victim of TheCorruption]]. Yet neither is immune to the other as Titania does hold herself back, while Mab ordered Harry to do the deed because [[spoiler:she loved her daughter too much to do it herself]].

* In ''Fanfic/IntelligenceFactor' ', the Porygon evolutions' thought processes are described as being complete opposites. [=Porygon2=] are entirely emotionless, yet they still have desires to do things. Meanwhile, Porygon-Z has chaotic emotions that seem to change every few seconds, and its behaviours don't follow the Vulcan idea of logic.

** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Gary Mitchell, a Starfleet officer, gains [[AGodAmI godlike powers]], and becomes increasingly [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity sociopathic]]. While the more emotional characters care for him too much to see [[JerkassGod what he's becoming]], [[TheSpock Spock]] is the only one to see that Gary Mitchell needs to die.

** The greatest irony is that if there is any hope for humanity at all, said Messiah will ultimately end up ''[[AGodAmI literally becoming God]]'' ([[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve Belief is literally power]]. And there are countless trillions worshipping the Emperor.) [[spoiler:More accurately, he will most certainly become the fifth Chaos god if allowed to die and will end up being warped to fit his peoples' perceptions of him rather than what he was when he was alive. Stressing secularism while demonstrating the vastest PsychicPowers in human history was rather contradictory anyway.]]

** [[Unreliable Narrator Vulcans claim they have such strong emotions that they're said to end up being brutal savages if they didn't control their emotions]], and, at some point after achieving interstellar travel, reformed their society to swear off emotions. Romulans, their ancestral cousins, don't suppress their emotions and are indeed [[ProudWarriorRace very passionate and warlike]]. While both Vulcans and Romulans are clever, it's established in the ''Starfleet Battles'' spin-off universe, that Romulan culture has the principle of "Unifying Duty" to serve as an outlet for aggression and passion, where individuals set aside petty jealousies and personal ambition in service to the greater good of the species. While this has allowed the Romulans to avoid descending into barbaric self-destruction, it has also meant they use other species as an outlet for their aggression.

** [[JustifiedTrope Vulcans have such strong emotions that they're said to end up being brutal savages if they didn't control their emotions]], and, at some point after achieving interstellar travel, reformed their society to swear off emotions. Romulans, their ancestral cousins, don't suppress their emotions and are indeed [[ProudWarriorRace very passionate and warlike]]. While both Vulcans and Romulans are clever, it's established in the ''Starfleet Battles'' spin-off universe, that Romulan culture has the principle of "Unifying Duty" to serve as an outlet for aggression and passion, where individuals set aside petty jealousies and personal ambition in service to the greater good of the species. While this has allowed the Romulans to avoid descending into barbaric self-destruction, it has also meant they use other species as an outlet for their aggression.

* One of the main conflicts between [[Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt Drizzt]] and [[EvilCounterpart Entreri]], though not based around morals. Entreri claims the superiority of his fighting style because he doesn't let himself feel emotions, while Drizzt claims his strengthen him. After repeated [[Literature/TheIcewindDaleTrilogy inconclusive]] [[Literature/LegacyOfTheDrowSeries fights]] Entreri is so desperate to prove his superiority that he has a duel set up in which he becomes completely enraged, while Drizzt keeps control of himself. In the end Entreri loses, while Drizzt dismisses the idea that this has proven either of them the better fighter. He considers it more due to luck, and the fact that Entreri is [[WeAreAsMayflies aging]] while Drizzt is [[OurElvesAreBetter comparatively barely out of his teens]].

* The subject of Music/{{Rush}}'s "Hemispheres", which tells of a civilization's struggle with balancing emotion and logic.

A RedOniBlueOni pairing can invoke this. Compare RomanticismVersusEnlightenment-- Romanticism would encourage emotions, Enlightenment would encourage stoicism. Contrast StrawVulcan ''and'' StrawmanEmotional.

* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' has this - along with TechnicianVsPerformer - as its central theme, as the judges for the music competitions rank a stoic, technically-perfect adherence to the score as-written most highly, but the audience responds ''far'' better to an imperfect, emotional performance.

* ''Manga/YourLieInApril'' has this - along with TechnicianvsPerformer - as its central theme, as the judges for the music competitions rank a stoic, technically-perfect adherence to the score as-written most highly, but the audience responds ''far'' better to an imperfect, emotional performance.

* [[RedOniBlueOni Rei and Asuka]] of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' both struggle with this problem, albeit from different ends. On the one hand Rei's upbringing left her unable to articulate her emotions properly, on the other, Asuka deliberately tries to hold her emotions in check lest they overwhelm her.

* This is a central core of the premise of ''ComicBooks/TheHulk''. Bruce Banner lived much of his life as a stoic scientist who avoided clear display of emotion. When exposed to gamma rays though, he tends to transform into The Hulk, who's basically raw, unprocessed emotion in its purest form. Writers will play around with the concept; Banner is a scientist and helpful, but some writers will point out he was building weapons of mass destruction before being transformed, or otherwise portray him like an asshole. The Hulk is a GentleGiant who ultimately doesn't go out and start fights, but at the same time is incredibly destructive and impossible to control once he gets going. Neither personality particularly likes the other.

* ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': Many heroes allow emotions to get the better of them, and this is one of their {{Fatal Flaw}}s [[spoiler:that leads to their demise.]] Thanos won't let emotions get in the way of his "simple calculus" of [[IDidWhatIHadToDO what needs to be done]] [[spoiler:and wins in the end]]. However, the Avengers (through their compassion and outrage) are firmly on the side of good, and Thanos (who suffers from LackOfEmpathy) is a [[KillEmAll genocidal maniac]].

** To a lesser extent, Misato and Dr. Akagi go through this, which slowly drives them apart throughout the series. Akagi is almost entirely reliant on the Magi computers (and Commander Ikari) to make her choices for her, which always pick the most logical approach, and doesn't lose her head when things go awry. Misato has been known to send [=EVAs=] out on nothing more than "intuition" and is very concerned with them when things go wrong in battle, especially when it comes to Shinji. [[spoiler: Eventually it comes south for both as Misato has to start making hard choices that could mean putting her job above her personal feelings and Akagi has an emotional breakdown when she finds Commander Ikari doesn't really love her.]]

** Much of what plays into ''Broken Gate'''s Nezumi being an EmotionlessGirl (after starting off as TheStoic) is this. In guarding the gate, she ignored whatever wasn't related that, her emotions included, making her unable to feel them until [[spoiler: she dies]] because it would probably be a distraction.

* This is part of the game mechanics of the tongue-in-cheek sci-fi role-playing game ''Lasers and Feelings''. Characters have a single stat that determines whether they're better at Lasers (science, technology, and rational thinking) or Feelings (diplomacy, intuition, and passionate action).

* {{Creator/Amoridere}} explores this in two cases:
** Much of what plays into ''Broken Gate'''s Nezumi being an EmotionlessGirl (after starting off as TheStoic) is this. In guarding the gate, she ignored whatever wasn't related that, her emotions included, making her unable to feel them, until [[spoiler: she dies]].
** In the poem, ''Weakness'', the subject is stoic because, when she was kid, emoting didn't go well for her, so, she suppressed them to not get a punishment. However, she can't sort out how to cope with or express them, so she's stoic to stay composed.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[Franchise/StarTrekNovelVerse Novel Verse]]:

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' [[JustifiedTrope Vulcans have such strong emotions that they'd end up being brutal savages if they didn't control their emotions.]] Romulans, their ancestral cousins, don't suppress their emotions and are indeed [[ProudWarriorRace very passionate and warlike]]. That said, they are highly sophisticated and clever, and quite a few of them are decent chaps. Perhaps ''not'' bottling up helps them control their emotions to some degree?
-->"They'll realize that beneath your unfeeling exterior is a heart that's breaking. [[StoicWoobie Silently, and in more pain than any of us can possibly understand, because that's what it is to be Vulcan!]]" (''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': "Muse").
** The Vulcans were sophisticated and clever too - they clearly got as far as interstellar travel before destroying themselves. Some suspect that the proto-Romulans probably agreed with the followers of Surak that ''something'' had to be done about Vulcan emotion, but strongly disagreed over exactly ''what''. Regardless, they have clearly found some way to manage their emotions, since they are not nearly as warlike as the ancient Vulcans appeared to be. This does somewhat belie the oft-repeated Vulcan [[FalseDichotomy assertion that logic and emotion cannot be reconciled]], but then again, the Romulans are no longer entirely the same species - perhaps they engineered the more volatile emotions out of their population?
** In the ''Starfleet Battles'' spin-off universe, Romulan Culture is stated as having a principle of "Unifying Duty" to serve as an outlet for aggression and passion, where individuals set aside petty jealousies and personal ambition in service to the greater good of the species. While this has allowed the Romulans to avoid descending into barbaric self-destruction, it has also meant they use other species as an outlet for their aggression.
** Inverted in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Empath"
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' had an episode where the crew was surprised to meet a sect of Vulcans who believed that as long as you were careful not to let it get away from you, actually emoting was not bad in and of itself; they also ate meat, although it isn't explained how that's totally relevant.
*** Vulcans have been demonstrated in an earlier episode to be culturally vegetarian. The fact that these Vulcans eat meat helps to demonstrates that they are unusual and do not subscribe to the same set of social tabboos as mainstream Vulcans.

* The two main attorneys of ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' exemplify this. Defense lawyer Phoenix Wright goes into every case armed with little more than his heartfelt belief in his client's innocence. His rival, prosecutor Miles Edgeworth, is calm, logical, and believes in saying the truth, no matter how unpleasant. It's made clear over the course of the games that both approaches bring a certain clarity and a certain blindness, and that the two of them get better results together than either one would alone.

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'': This trope is yet another angle to the [[LawfulEvil Law]] Vs. [[ChaoticEvil Chaos]] conflict. ([[CaptainObvious No prizes for guessing which alignment takes which side of this conflict]].) Also a meta-aversion: the games are ''very'' critical of any ideology that favors either Emotions OR Stoicism to the exclusion of the other.

* WordOfGod has it that this was originally meant to be the point of ''[[Website/BecomingABetterWriter The Wolf's Will]]''; unfortunately they lose their stoic after the first chapter
** And find a better stoic.