History Main / GrinOfAudacity

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'', the king of the penguins can be seen smiling with furrowed brows as he orders his soldiers to attack the Koopas — even though [[CurbStompBattle his confidence is woefully misplaced]], with the battle quickly ending with Bowser and the Koopas having barely taken damage from the penguins' snowballs and ice projectile.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/Batman1989'': Creator/MichaelKeaton’s Dark Knight could [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpL4VeV2fmNJgSEA4E_4wxYjsCCVPDgINH4Q&usqp=CAU pull this off]], as seen facing off against Jack Napier in the chemical plant. In ''Film/BatmanReturns'' he infamously [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRGfP1W0Thpu6QrS9p5oaE_y7oP6izgtI-V_A&usqp=CAU has a full on]] SlasherSmile while killing one mook with dynamite. [[spoiler:In ''Film/TheFlash2023'' he marks his long anticipated return with another [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQMOBUGDzHBWlwfAFwxVWq87jmvdTHsFaIX9w&usqp=CAU one of these]].]]
* ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': [[spoiler: Wonder Woman]] in contrast to everyone else fighting [[spoiler: Doomsday]], sports a grin after being thrown across the battlefield that says they're [[BloodKnight enjoying this battle]].

** Being as wild as the day is long, Tony Stark in ''Film/IronMan'' films often grins like this. Special mention to the [[https://64.media.tumblr.com/24b1d273bcc92801b737d624df123785/804ff534b26067c7-fa/s400x600/d02516ec784d924e02dc54990d876565b071ff9f.gif little smile]] he has when Thor unintentionally charges his suit up to 400% capacity during their fight in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}''.

** In the {{Stinger}} of ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', when told that fighting the humans is to "court death", Thanos smiles.

* In ''Franchise/ThePowerpuffGirls'', Blossom tends to range between this and your average benevolent smile, while Buttercup the PerpetualFrowner ranges between this and an outright ''scowl''.

* Franchise/TheFlash is prone to these, at least the DCAU version.
* So are many Robins and ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} in the ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' family. Usually: in their case, it's youthful enthusiasm, insecure optimism, and a bit of a prankster spirit. Batman himself often had this expression during the 70s (especially during the Neal Adams era) before The Dark Knight slipped nigh-totally into PerpetualFrowner mode.

* Among the ''ComicBook/XMen'' while Wolverine has the SlasherSmile ComicBook/{{Gambit}} has this whenever he’s kicking ass. ComicBook/{{Beast}}, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}, ComicBook/{{Rogue}}, ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} and ComicBook/{{X 23}} often have these kind of grins too.

* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'': Indy being a very dangerous man does this twice, [[https://i.makeagif.com/media/4-22-2017/vSdDqD.gif first]] during the truck chase when ramming a Nazi bike and sidecar off the road and the [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jW1CeAVPhVg&t=100s second time]] when noticing that propeller of the Nazi plane is gonna mulch the Nazi huge engineer he’s being pummelled by. The latter may count as a SlasherSmile.

* ''Series/TheBoys'': Billy Butcher has a particularly badass grin overlapping with SlasherSmile, special mention goes to the [[https://media.tenor.com/-MOHgP9LI3UAAAAC/herogasm-billy-butcher.gif one]] he has while having a BrawlerLock with ArchEnemy Homelander in Season 3.

* In ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'', Akira often sports one of these when in the thick of a fight, especially when Alpha offers him any semblance of good news given his bad luck. People who see him doing this mistake him for a Blood Knight, when Akira is actually terrified.

An athlete in a race, an adventurer [[TraintopBattle on top of a train]], a {{pirate}} [[BoardingParty boarding a ship]], a [[MagnificentBastard cunning politician]] executing an [[XanatosPlannedThisIndex amazing plan]], a LovableRogue during a {{Swordfight}}, a warrior during a LastStand, two friends sparring--anyone facing an interesting and fun challenge with a reasonable chance of failure will sport one of these smiles. It's usually a bit forced, showing the strain and stress the user is under, and sometimes there could be a certain edge of malice and aggressiveness to it, even ''insanity'': a hint of BloodLust, to be precise. Alongside genuine heroes, it's also very common amongst [[AntiHero AntiHeroes]] of the [[UnscrupulousHero Unscrupulous]] and [[NominalHero Nominal]] types as well, especially if they are [[YoungConqueror young]] and/or [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkies]]. It is usually coupled with a steady gaze, even a frown of sorts.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' is definitely iconic for this. A lot of his art has him in his classic pose either with a smirk, or a cocky grin. Even when he could be kicked down to near-death, he doesn't let his grin fall.

It may overlap with DyingSmirk and MischiefFace.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'':