History Main / PstandardPsychicPstance

* Mastermind Excello of ''The Twelve'', being a forties sensitive, constantly has this pose. Either because he's doing his ultra-senses thing, or because he's having headaches from all the noise he inadvertently senses.

* ''Zapped''. Barney Springboro is your typical 80's nerdy virgin teen who gains the ability to move objects [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peI4XH3wahk using only the power of his half-assed glare]]. Given that he's played by Scott Baio, it's hard to say if it's being subverted or played straight.

* Averted in the e-novel ''E.H.U.D.: Prelude to Apocalypse'', as the narration goes out of its way to show that the characters do NOT shown any physical signs of using psychic abilities.

[-[[caption-width-right:245:In a cave seven thousand miles away, Osama bin Laden's [[HilariousInHindsight head explodes]].]]-]

* ''Literature/Firestarter''. Andy does this when 'pushing' someone. After he's been captured by The Shop, Cap (the villain played by Martin Sheen) sees him doing this and realises too late that Andy is no longer drugged -- Andy takes control of Cap's mind before he can signal a guard.

* ''Firestarter''. Andy does this when 'pushing' someone. After he's been captured by The Shop, Cap (the villain played by Martin Sheen) sees him doing this and realises too late that Andy is no longer drugged -- Andy takes control of Cap's mind before he can signal a guard.

[[quoteright:245:[[GeorgeWBush http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psychicbush_894.jpg]]]]

* ''{{Naruto}}'': Gaara largely averts this. While he can make his sand move (and kill people) with various gestures, the hands-to-head thing usually doesn't happen unless he's having a psychic argument with [[SealedEvilInACan Shukaku]].

* Used to an extent in ''TheDresdenFiles'' with evocation. With enough willpower, it's possible to skip this entirely, and the stronger a wizard is, the more he can do with a simpler motion. [[MagicalDatabase The Archive]] is good enough that she can have multiple spells going with one motion.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In the film version of ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', the eponymous telekinetic girl usually would use the stare and squint version to use her powers, though she frequently slipped into gesture-based invocation. One particular example is near the end, when she twirls her forearm around in a circle to make the globe that the Evil principal was on top of spin rapidly.

* Sheldon does this on ''TheBigBangTheory'' in an attempt to blow up Leonard's head psychically, a la ''{{Scanners}}''.

* 8 In ''StarWars Episode II: AttackOfTheClones'', when Yoda was holding up a pillar to prevent some other Jedi from being crushed by it, he was using both hands and shaking besides.

* In ''StarWars Episode II: AttackOfTheClones'', when Yoda was holding up a pillar to prevent some other Jedi from being crushed by it, he was using both hands and shaking besides.

* Ness from ''EarthBound'' touches both his temples when using his powers in the ''SuperSmashBros'' series. [[{{Pokemon}} Mewtwo]] doesn't usually bother with this trope, but makes an exception when wielding a hammer.
** In contrast, in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'', Lucas uses hand signs and other hand motions when using his powers.
* Heavily used in ''CityOfHeroes'' and ''City of Villains'', as is to be expected from a game based on western comics. The psychic powers there run the gamut of such poses, from the pose (affectionately named "I'm shooting you with mind bullets!" by the community), through screaming, touching the target of a mind probe, and much gesturing when using telekinetic powers. In a possible partial subversion, most of those are offensive psychic powers. Those that deal with sleeping/stunning/controlling enemies actually do not use the Pstandard Psychic Pstance.

* ''SecondSight'' has several of these, including kneeling down with hand pressed to your head.
* Psyduck, a {{Pokemon}} with access to psychic moves such as Confusion, is always depicted looking off into space with both paws on its temples. Oddly enough, despite the "Psy" part of its name, it isn't actually a Psychic-type Pokémon, nor is its evolved form Golduck (both are pure Water-type Pokémon). That's mostly because Psyduck also always have constant headaches. It's sort of a double meaning; they're holding their heads because it well, hurts. It just so happens they're doing this when using their psychic powers, too.
* [[MindRape Shadow Priests]] of ''WorldOfWarcraft'' avert this completely -- the casting animations for mind-targeting Shadow spells are the same as those used for all other spells.
* Mentor of ''FreedomForce'' uses this in all of its hammy goodness of SilverAge comics when using his abilities.

* In the DeadMoney DLC of VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas, all holograms capable of offensive attack assume this stance before firing their deadly lasers.

* Quite a lot of this in the ''{{Film/X-Men}}'' film series, really. Jean is probably the biggest source, though Magneto, Storm and Xavier all do this to some degree. Professor X is shown doing this in all the posters for ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. As it's set before he lost his hair or used a wheelchair, you wouldn't be able to tell who he was otherwise.

** Similarly subverted in ''[[TortallUniverse Wild Magic]]'', first book of The Immortals quartet when Daine is having her first formal lesson in magic. Her impulse at first is to emphasise her mental movements physically but her teacher tells her it's not necessary.

* Creator/BelaLugosi used grand arm gestures in various movies when his characters used their hypnotic powers. Movies in which he does this include ''Film/WhiteZombie, Film/{{Dracula}}, Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetFrankenstein'', and ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster''.

* Done by both Tony and Tia in the Disney film versions of ''EscapeToWitchMountain'' and ''Return From Witch Mountain''.

* ''StarWars'': Most Force powers seem to operate this way. Telekinesis uses one or both hands to "grab" or "push" the object. Mind-trick usually uses a wave or a point. Blocking energy attacks involves holding out your hand to stop them. Force-choking involves holding your thumb and forefinger out in a "pinching" gesture. Force Lighting always shoots out of the fingertips rather than anywhere else.
** In ''StarWars Episode II: AttackOfTheClones'', when Yoda was holding up a pillar to prevent some other Jedi from being crushed by it, he was using both hands and shaking besides.
** An interesting variation in ''StarWarsCloneWars''. When Anakin's synthetic arm is destroyed, he uses force crush by lifting up what was left of his forearm.
** And on the other end, Luke has his hands tied up at one point in ''Return of the Jedi'', so he just levitates C-3PO without using any gestures. Waving your arms around just seems to be a concentration aid for the Force -- it isn't actually necessary.
** Luke states openly in the Jedi Academy Book series when instructing a potential recruit, that the motions are used to help visualize the action but not required. People that do them after they've mastered a power are doing so out of habit.

Whenever someone uses their PsychicPowers, they put a hand up to their head, most traditionally with the middle and fore fingers on the brow and thumb on the cheek. If they're doing something really hard, it takes ''both'' hands on their temples. If it's something ''really'' difficult, they have to use both hands -- and ''quiver'', and maybe [[PsychicNosebleed bleed from the nose]].

* Used multiple times in the StargateVerse, by various [[EvolutionaryLevels Advanced Humans]] (tm).

* Shawn Spencer of ''{{Psych}}'' has amazing detective skills and HyperAwareness, but such a lousy professional manner that he can't make it as a detective. So he pretends to be a psychic and ''really'' hams up the gestures while using his powers of observation instead.

* "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose" of ''{{The X-Files}}'':

* Similarly, Fin Raziel in ''Willow'', when using Elora Danaan's wand to toss Bavmorda around, uses gestures along with some sort of magic words. Abruptly becomes very funny when she shouts "Nananananana!" while twirling the wand to spin Bavmorda in midair.

* ''{{Carrie}}'' does this subtly -- usually, all she does is look at her target, as evidenced when she throws the asshole kid off his bike, or locks down the school gym at the start of her RoaringRampageOfRevenge. However, when she slams shut all the windows and doors in her house, she doesn't even do this. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that (at least in the {{Remake}}) by that point, Carrie had practiced enough with her powers that she wouldn't need to see an object to affect it.

* BelaLugosi used grand arm gestures in various movies when his characters used their hypnotic powers. Movies in which he does this include WhiteZombie, {{Dracula}}, AbbottAndCostelloMeetFrankenstein, and BrideOfTheMonster.

* ''MassEffect'' kind of justifies this trope, saying that the various poses struck by a biotic character when they use their powers is part of their training. Biotics are surgically implanted to give them direct and focused control over their powers, and these implants are wired to various nerves, meaning the best way to activate the eezo nodules in their bodies that actually produce biotic powers (eezo + electricity = AppliedPhlebotinum in the Mass Effect universe) is to make actual movements, thus triggering the nerves.