Line #60 Main/MenacingStroll


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/TheDarkKnightRises https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tumblr_mc1niev5ud1riirfno1_1280.png]]]]
2
3	->'''Alucard:''' I take enthusiastic walks through the woods.\
4	'''Integra:''' And kill homicidal vampire priests.\
5	'''Alucard:''' ''Very'' enthusiastic walks.
6	-->-- ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged''
7
8	The Menacing Stroll is the lithe, athletic walk of the perennial badass. Not quite a strut, it is a subtle, confident gait that lets everyone know that the walker could kick the collective ass of everyone in the room without breaking a sweat. It is a message expressed in BodyLanguage, an unspoken but clear statement that they are ''just that awesome''. It can be found in assassins, thieves, and the leaner species of badass. A FeetFirstIntroduction can ensure that the first detail revealed about a character is the powerful way they walk.
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10	Compare UnflinchingWalk when it's coupled with StuffBlowingUp. Can often be performed by the ImplacableMan. TeamPowerWalk is when multiple heroes do this together. A little bit faster than the SlowWalk. Compare OminousWalk, which is more monstrous and predatory.
11	----
12	!! Examples:
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17	* Cell from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' practically oozes evil as he walks.
18	* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'''s Major Motoko Kusanagi. It helps that she ''can'' walk through walls and anyone stupid enough to stand in her path.
19	%%(ZCE)* Jue Viole Grace from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' from time to time.
20	* As part of his thrill in screwing with every single person's head, Alucard from ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' tends to do this instead of just rushing forward and ending a fight instantly. Even when [[GoodThingYouCanHeal being shot by about 10,000 bullets]] he barely [[UnflinchingWalk breaks stride]]. Bonus points for once doing it down the side of a high-rise hotel.
21	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
22	** The series tends to put the "Menacing" in menacing stroll. [[UnsoundEffect To the point where whenever it happens (or anything "Menacing" for that matter), Japanese onomatopoeia "ゴゴゴゴ" begins to float around the character in question, which roughly translate into "Menacing"]]. To be more specific...
23	** Part 3 of the manga/anime ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' features a scene where Jotaro confronts Dio. They both [[https://i.imgur.com/cC930EJ.png begin to walk toward each other slowly before attacking]], [[FountainOfMemes which has been parodied too many times to count]].
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Fanfiction]]
27	* This, in addition to their larger size, is what separates soldiers from the workers in the [=Kalash93=] story, ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/119688/1/you-obey/the-interrogation You Obey.]]''
28	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' sometimes has Harry do this in the sequel, particularly when looking to make a point. However, it usually manifests as a menacing, predatory stalk that's a bit ''too'' graceful to be human, and promptly makes the observer's instincts stand up and scream.
29	* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the Shades of Anhk-Morpork are a place where normally no woman would dare to walk alone by night. [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6093110/16/Clowning-is-a-Serious-Business Given sufficient reason and fired by anger]], Miss Alice Band conveys via body language that of all the dangerous scary things that could be encountered by night in a dark badly-lit WretchedHive, a Lady Assassin with vengeance on her mind and anger to burn off is pretty much the scariest. Other denizens of the night notice this and give her a wide berth and lots of personal space.
30	* ''[[Fanfic/WhenYouLoveItHereAreMyUpturnedHands When You Love It (Here Are My Upturned Hands)]]'' by [=RayShippouUchiha=], Ichigo comes home from the store to find Kisuke has been taken. He takes the time to collect the dirty tea cups and put away the ice cream(to enjoy when they return) before calmly annihilating everyone who gets in his way when he goes to get him back.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Film]]
34	* {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} by ''Film/BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon'', where Leslie reveals that he runs full-tilt when the victim isn't looking and switches to a power walk when they are. He does a lot of cardio to make the illusion work.
35	* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'', the Winter Soldier often walks like this, most notably during the highway ambush.
36	* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'', Gru does this kind of walk as he prepares to board his spaceship for the mission to steal the moon. Unfortunately, the mood is kind of ruined by the fact that his spacesuit is colored a hot pink after being washed with the girls' ballet costumes.
37	* [[Characters/GodzillaTheGodzillas Godzilla]] often thunders forth at a slow, ominous pace as he destroys any and everything close and clashes with any monsters in his way.
38	* ''Film/TheGrandBudapestHotel'': Dmitri attempts this while stalking Agatha down a hotel hallway, but when he rounds a corner he realizes that she started running as soon as she was out of sight, forcing him to start frantically sprinting after her.
39	* Michael Myers of the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series' highest level of speed, at least when the [[OffscreenTeleportation camera isn't on him]]. Even when his victims are running away from him, Michael manages to keep up with them with nothing more than a MenacingStroll.
40	* Ivan Vanko in ''Film/IronMan2'' has a moment like this in the beginning, moseying on over to Tony Stark in his Whiplash rig [[UnflinchingWalk while racecars crash and explode behind him]].
41	* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': ''[[ComicBook/{{X 23}} Laura]]'' pulls an ''epic'' one combined with DecapitationPresentation, TheGlovesComeOff, and KubrickStare. After Pierce sends a couple mooks into Logan's home to retrieve her, Laura emerges alone and tosses the head of one of the Reavers at Pierce's feet. Then she throws away the cuffs the guy had been carrying. And casts aside her backpack. ''Then'' the claws come out. All while stalking towards Pierce and an army of men ''twice her size'' with murder in her eyes. It's made even ''more'' badass by the fact it's being done by an ''eleven year-old girl'', and that her actress, Creator/DafneKeen, ''completely sells it''.
42	* ''Film/NoNameOnTheBullet'' manages to have a killer stroll menacingly ''away'' from his victim: an old man [[IHaveYourWife whose daughter he is threatening,]] goading the man into following him.
43	* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'''s Captain Barbossa, when looking to make an entrance - he even manages it after losing his leg. Captain Jack Sparrow, not so much.
44	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7gIpuIVE3k Used narmfully]] in the already SoBadItsGood ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNightPart2''.
45	** Due to his poor (but surprisingly strong) physical condition, Ricky can only walk in a Menacing Stroll in ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNightIIIBetterWatchOut''.
46	%%(ZCE)* Darth Vader from ''Franchise/StarWars'' is a master of this, even before he puts on the dark helmet.
47	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'': In the opening scene, Bowser's Castle lands in front of the penguin's castle and Kamek introduces Bowser, the King of the Koopas, followed by Bowser slowly walking out of the statue of his head attached to the front of his castle while being backed by fire.
48	* ''Film/SwordOfDoom'' Ryunosuke never moves faster than a sedate walk, even while fighting his way through a horde of enemies.
49	* The various models of Franchise/{{Terminator}} can pull this off even when buck naked. Robert Patrick was even cast [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay as the T-1000]] for his ability to do this at a very brisk pace.
50	* Valkyrie does an impressive example in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' as she prepares to join battle with Hela's forces on the bridge.
51	* Lockdown of ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' has this down pat.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Literature]]
55	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' calls this "Cat Crossing The Courtyard". In ''[[{{Prequel}} New Spring]]'', Lan does one of these unconsciously when agitated called "Leopard in High Grass". A horse groom who sees this [[OhCrap runs]] [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere away]].
56	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Harry Dresden walks like he's "heading to tear someone's face off" when he is in a bad neighborhood to avoid looking like a good target for some mugger. Granted, he most certainly is ''not'' a good target for mugging, usually being outfitted with a variety of magical defenses, but having a gun shoved in his face is still a liability.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
60	%%* Spike from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''... and Buffy developed one too, for that matter.
61	%%* Sylar's done it once or twice on ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.
62	* Done very well multiple times in the miniseries ''The Deliberate Stranger'', about the exploits of SerialKiller Ted Bundy. A happy-go-lucky unsuspecting victim would walk past, the camera would pan down to the ground, and the viewer would get a shot of Bundy's feet as he slowly stalked her.
63	%%* John Reese practically ''owns'' this trope on ''Series/PersonOfInterest''.
64	%%* ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'''s Richard Harrow.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Video Games]]
68	%%(ZCE)* Simon Belmont and his kin from ''{{Franchise/Castlevania}}''. Also, rather than change into some nasty form, Dracula does this in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia''.
69	* Altair in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. It's genetic - Ezio, Connor, and Desmond walk the same way. Altair's traditional robes make it the most obvious out of the four though. Alternatively, it's only Desmond that has the walk, and he's projecting it into the others when he's in the Animus.
70	%%(ZCE)* Jotaro in [[TheAnimeOfTheGame The Game of the Anime]] ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''.
71	%%(ZCE)* The Menacing Stroll is almost always part of the repertoire of an SNKBoss.
72	%%(ZCE)* Dante from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''.
73	* Commander Shepard in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. Particularly notable when Shepard walks into the Shadow Broker's lair despite knowing that he is "[[LargeAndInCharge very large]]" and that anyone who has gone in there has never come back out. And then Shepard points a gun at the Broker's head from 10 feet away.
74	%%(ZCE)* [[VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}} Arcueid]] in ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood'', in both vanilla and SuperpoweredEvilSide modes.
75	%%(ZCE)** Also, Nanaya.
76	* How we are introduced to the Pyro of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' in the video ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUhOnX8qt3I Meet The Pyro.]]'' His menacing stroll sends the others running. [[spoiler: Of course, s/he assumes [[InnocentInaccurate s/he's just skipping]] in a SugarBowl world.]]
77	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' has [[BigBad Master Xehanort]] and [[MesACrowd his various selves]]. When he's not invoking PowerFloats, he's usually just walking slowly. ''[[SNKBoss And it's terrifying.]]''
78	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', during the Fade portion of the Circle quest, the Spirit transformation engages in this when you're walking. It's a very slow way of moving, but damn if it doesn't look awesome. When you move faster or enter combat, it switches over to PowerFloats.
79	* The Burnt Ivory King from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' is introduced as an ominous silhouette quickly walking out of the massive {{Hellgate}} that appears in the middle of your fight against the Charred Loyce Knights in the Old Chaos. As soon as he completely emerges from it, his boss theme starts blaring and he joins the fray by sprinting towards you and your allies. He is by far the biggest threat in this boss battle.
80	* [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Wesker]] moves with a menacing, confident stride when he isn't {{Flash Step}}ping in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''[='s=] The Mercenaries mode.
81	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake:'' [[TheJuggernaut Mr. X]]'s main form of locomotion; neither concentrated gunfire, nor zombies, nor walls can halt his slow, but constant stride towards you, and he searches the area in much the same speed if he loses you. He will only sprint after you if you make the mistake of [[BerserkButton blasting his hat off]].
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Western Animation]]
85	* [[BigBad Amon]] in the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' where he comes off like someone from a slasher movie.
86	%%(ZCE)* Megatron of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. Constantly.
87	* ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'': One of Tesler's trademarks. Dyson also has one, albeit slightly understated.
88	* [[MadGod Nightmare Moon]] from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' does a brief one in the second half of the season 4 premier episode.
89	* Katz is known for this among fans. Most of all in his debut episode on ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' where it cuts between Courage frantically running as far away as he can, set to the panic theme, and a shot of Katz' feet strolling casually as his [[CreepyJazzMusic jazzy leitmotif]] plays.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Real Life]]
93	* Creator/CharlizeTheron explains how to do it: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2cUtdv99ig "You have to come from your core really tight, shoulders down, neck long... and then just think 'murder,' and walk."]]
94	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MenacingStroll