History Main / InnerThoughtsOutsiderPuzzlement

[[quoteright:300:[[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kronk_dramatic.png]]]]

* In ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', the second time Kronk is visited by his [[GoodAngelBadAngel shoulder angel and devil]], it's with the other characters around. So when he begins talking to them about how he's feeling conflicted about obeying [[BigBad Yzma's]] orders to kill the good guys, everyone else hears him, and they react incredulously at Kronk, who as far as they can see is suddenly having an intense debate with thin air.

-->'''Jirou:''' Hey, dude. ''[waving her hand in front of his face]'' You kind of zoned out there for a second. ''[gives a coy smile]'' [[GenreSavvy You having a dramatic inner monologue or something?]]\\

* Humorously referenced in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' during the dual between Yami and Marik. Kaiba starts to give an dramatic inner monologue about it, only to get interrupted by Yami's inner monologue, and somehow they have a conversation. Yami is surprised that Kaiba also monologues, to which an irritated Kaiba asks what he ''thought'' was happening whenever he would "stare off into space not talking for like ten minutes". Yami just assumed that he was being really slow. Their conversation is then interrupted by ''[[Cloudcuckoolander Tristan's]]'' inner monologue, and it turns out he thought both them were really slow.

[[caption-width-right:300:Above is what Kronk sees; a dramatic [[GoodAngelBadAngel inner conflict between good and evil]]. Below is what everyone else sees; some musclebound idiot talking to himself.]]

Compare and contrast NotSoDire, (where an audience is misled by serious sounding dialogue into believing that a situation is critically important when it's actually over a much more trivial matter) AntiClimaxCut, and ActingOutADaydream. Compare the various "[[TalkingIsAFreeAction x]] [[TransformationIsAFreeAction is a]] [[ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction free action]]" tropes, PlotTime, ImagineSpotting, and CaughtMonologuing. Can overlap with, or be a sort of meta FailedAttemptAtDrama.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Rain}}'', after being asked for her thoughts, Rain [[http://rainlgbt.smackjeeves.com/comics/1910744/a-lot-of-faces/ goes through a variety of facial expressions while thinking but says nothing]]. This weirds out Emily and makes Kylie think she's holding in a sneeze.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Rain}}'', after being asked for her thoughts, Rain [[http://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/502/ goes through a variety of facial expressions while thinking but says nothing]]. This weirds out Emily and makes Kylie think she's holding in a sneeze.

** Much later in the comic's run, the [[spoiler:vampire spirit]] possessing Durkon's body thinks that Durkon is trying to invoke this so that Durkon's friends will notice the odd behavior and realize that Durkon is NotHimself. It's then defied in that the interactions are happening at the speed of thought, so only a split second is passing no matter how long the in-head discussion seems.

** Much later in the comic's run, the [[spoiler:vampire spirit]] possessing Durkon's body thinks that Durkon is trying to invoke this so that Durkon's friends will notice the odd behavior and realize that Durkon is NotHimself.

* In ''Fanfic/AmazingFantasy'', Izuku meets Jirou at the U.A. Entrance Exam and begins looking off into the distance while having an internal monologue about how he was going to pass and make [[TheMentor Peter]] proud. Jirou sees this and waves his hand in front of his face.

* Inverted on ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' when Jake gets high on meth and tries to play normal in front of a bunch of criminals. His inner monologue tells him to stay cool, but it turns out he's talking out loud.

'''Scaramouche:''' ''[stops playing his magic flute, stares at Jack]'' That samurai has gone rukoo cuckoo.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2009-12-12 references]] ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' tendency to use this trope.

* In the Creator/ProZD sketch ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgx_xBLz6fg When your friend doesn't know a character dies but you do]]'', two friends are playing a video game, (The King Dragon Canon that [=ProZD=] has done a number of skits about) with one having already played before and one who hasn't. The friend who hasn't played the game begins gushing about a character who is going to die before long, and the friend who has already played does an internal reaction that includes EvilLaughter, then crying internally and mourning over the character's fate and begging to have them back. This goes on for a solid 15 seconds (with things like him blinking being sign that real time is actually passing) before the friend who has played the game finally manages a response. Something of a variant, since the video never shows his friend's reaction, it's more for the benefit of the audience.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': In "Cartman Finds Love", Cartman plays with an imaginary cupid version of himself called "Cupid-Me", but all his mother sees is him spinning around giggling to himself.

->'''Nale:''' ''[Thinking]'' My machiavellian plan is beginning to come together. Now that I have secured the aid of these gullible saps, the Talisman shall soon be mine! Indeed, I have worked for years for this very day. It seems like just yesterday when my father took me aside and told me-
->[BeatPanel of Nale, Haley, and Roy standing around]
->'''Haley:''' ''[whispering]'' Why is he just standing there?
->'''Roy:''' ''[whispering back]'' Internal monologue. Give him a minute.

!!Examples Include:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film-Animated]]
* In ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', the second time Kronk is visited by his [[GoodAngelBadAngel shoulder angel and devil]], it's while the other characters around. So when he begins talking to them about how he's feeling conflicted about obeying [[BigBad Yzma's]] orders to kill the good guys, everyone else hears him, and they react incredulously at Kronk, who as far as they can see is suddenly having an intense debate with thin air.
* During the course of ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever'', the [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles ninja turtles]] from [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 the 1980s cartoon]] keep up their trademark wacky antics, like BreakingTheFourthWall and making {{Aside Comment}}s to the audience, much to the increasing frustration of other characters, who simply see those turtles as randomly stopping to look at nothing and then talk to nobody.
-->'''Hun:''' Why do you keep doing that?! Who are you talking to?! '''THERE'S NO ONE THERE!!!'''

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* On ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' Kelly goes out on a date with Vinny, after Al threatened to kill him if he touched Kelly. He spends the entire night talking to the angel and devil on his shoulders about what to do. Kelly noticed.

* The CloudCuckooLander main character of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', J.D., was horribly prone to going off into {{Imagine Spot}}s at the drop of a dime when his friends said something that his imagination could seize a hold of. As time went by the other characters realized this and increasingly were shown reacting in various ways to J.D. getting lost in his own imagination, such as trying to snap him out of it, making themselves comfortable until his imagine spot was over so they could pick the conversation up again, or even invoking an ImagineSpot and then standing around and watching him in amusement. Later it was also deconstructed and PlayedForDrama when we find out that J.D. ''has'' hurt himself due to how abrupt these {{Imagine Spot}}s are, and he does ''not'' keep note of his surroundings when they happen, making him trip, crash or mishandle stuff and his friends ''have'' tried to make him stop.

* ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':

* In the ''WebVideo/DragonballZAbridged'' related ''Cell vs'' videos, (where BigBad Cell takes on the stars of various other series/franchises) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XJKbvEPuFQ when Cell fights Ryu and Ken]] from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', Ryu has to suddenly wrestle with [[TheDarkSide the Dark Hadou]]. From Ryu's point of view, we see a dark, evil energy enveloping him and trying to take control of his body. As he tries to avoid being taken over, we switch to Cell's point of view and see the scene as he does: all he sees is Ryu (who came off as a CloudCuckoolander who was spouting {{Ice Cream Koan}}s when they first met) on his knees for no reason while twitching and mumbling to himself.
-->'''Ryu:''' The-the Dark Hadou! It's coming out! I... can't control it... it's going to overtake me!
-->'''Cell:''' ''[Staring at Ryu in confusion]'' ... [[CureYourGays have you tried praying it away]]?

* In ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsForAdults'' Episode 5, Rainbow Dash faces a moral dilemma and consults her conscience (represented by the gang from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'') about it. In the middle of the lengthy conversation, the scene cuts back to the rest of the cast, who are beginning to wonder why Rainbow's been silently staring into space for so long.

-->'''Child in Jack's Vision:''' Jack. Help us Jack!
-->'''Other Children:''' Help us, help us! Jack, help us!
-->'''Jack:''' Please, no! You must understand!
-->'''Scaramouche:''' ''[Stops playing his magic flute, stares at Jack]'' That samurai has gone rukoo cuckoo.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:300:Above is what Kronk sees; a dramatic inner conflict between good and evil. Below is what everyone else sees; some musclebound idiot talking to himself.]]

* The CloudCuckooLander main character of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', J.D., was horribly prone to going off into {{Imagine Spot}}s at the drop of a dime when his friends said something that his imagination could seize ahold of. As time went by the other characters realized this and increasingly were shown reacting in various ways to J.D. getting lost in his own imagination, such as trying to snap him out of it, making themselves comfortable until his imagine spot was over so they could pick the conversation up again, or even invoking an ImagineSpot and then standing around and watching him in amusement. Later it was also deconstructed and PlayedForDrama when we find out that J.D. ''has'' hurt himself due to how abrupt these {{Imagine Spot}}s are, and he does ''not'' keep note of his surroundings when they happen, making him trip, crash or mishandle stuff and his friends ''have'' tried to make him stop.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kronk_dramatic.png]]

NeedsABetterName

Compare and contrast NotSoDire, (where an audience is misled by serious sounding dialogue into believing that a situation is critically important when it's actually over a much more trivial matter) AntiClimaxCut, and ActingOutADaydream. Compare the various "[[TalkingIsAFreeAction x]] [[TransformationIsAFreeAction is a]] [[ChangingClothesIsAFreeAction free action]]" tropes, PlotTime, ImagineSpotting, and CaughtMonologuing.

* A non-comedic example happens in ''Manga/{{Vagabond}}''. During the climax of his duel with Musashi, Seijuro has a FlashBack about his life. During that time Musashi, who is [[DontThinkFeel no longer thinking consciously but just acting on instinct]], starts to attack him, and Seijuro snaps out of the flash back just a little too late to react in time.