Condescending Calmness

There's no need to yell. All we're asking is for something completely unfair against you. I'm sure we can discuss this civilly.

This is the personality type that can really get under your skin. A character usually keeps a cool head, conversely to another character, for one of several reasons: they may be keeping tactical control over the situation, they may be trying to egg another person on, or they may be trying to make the other more-vocal individual look bad, as if they weren't thinking straight, if there are multiple people around. Even if the other vocal character has valid, or even completely correct, points, the people watching may side with the calmer, less-outgoing character, even when it's not in their best interest to do so, or even without critically thinking of the consequences.

If the character in question takes this kind of calmness too far, expect the other character to beat some sense into them.

If the character in question is haughty enough, they may use this kind of emotion in tandem with Skewed Priorities, as if understating or discarding the seriousness of the situation, either because they genuinely believe there is no need to escalate or be worried, or because they are mocking or uncaring of the other individual. Sometimes used in conjunction with a Rules Lawyer or a Principles Zealot if they are so inclined to stick to rules, force them on others, or point them out at inopportune times.

See also Politeness Judo. Compare the Blue Oni part of Red Oni, Blue Oni. Also Compare The Stoic, Dissonant Serenity, and Smug Snake. May overlap with Tranquil Fury. If a villain acts like this on a regular basis, compare Faux Affably Evil, Polite Villains, Rude Heroes, and Soft-Spoken Sadist. If the protagonist uses this against the villain, and it's strong enough, based on the situation, it may induce a Villainous Breakdown.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• My-HiME: Shizuru, in her role as President of the Absurdly Powerful Student Council, is often calm and collected, as compared to the more Hot-Blooded Haruka Suzushiro, head of the Executive Committee. Haruka frequently butts heads with Shizuru, only for Shizuru to dismiss her by sipping tea and making a reasonable, rational suggestion, often dumping more work on Haruka in the process. Even when Shizuru goes Psycho Lesbian later in the series, she still maintains a degree of Dissonant Serenity and Tranquil Fury when Haruka confronts her on dereliction of her duties. In fact, the only thing that cracks Shizuru's calm for even a second is when Haruka engages in Blaming the Victim of Natsuki after witnessing Shizuru kissing Natsuki in her sleep. And after slapping Haruka for insulting Natsuki, she immediately regains her composure, "What happened was something that I did to her. I will not allow you to insult Natsuki."

Fan Works

• Here Comes The New Boss: When Madison arrives at Arcadia High and people notice Taylor's animosity toward her, she proceeds to downplay their history and imply that she'd be happy to put the past behind her and reconcile — which Taylor finds infuriating. Which was probably Madison's intention. What Madison doesn't realize is that she's Mugging the Monster and Taylor has to restrain herself from quite literally taking Madison apart. (Several of the past Butchers would laugh and clap and offer helpful advice if that happened.)
  Madison: Are you feeling okay, Taylor? Are you having problems again?
• The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf's constant insults are usually delivered with bombastic contempt, but sometimes he uses a conversational tone that only serves to infuriate his victim further, such as when he's lambasting Cersei for her failures as a queen, wife, and mother.
• Taylor Hebert, Medhall Intern is so outraged, indignant, and upset, by contrast to the calm and apparently reasonable attitudes of her bullies, that the bystanders are all inclined to side with the bullies as they assault Taylor and brazenly rob her of hundreds of dollars of clothes that she just bought.
  Emma: I'm sorry, folks. We try so hard, as her friends. It's so easy to believe her, unless you know what she's really like.

Film — Live-Action

• The Ice Harvest: During an excruciatingly awkward Christmas dinner, Sarabeth stays perfectly calm during Pete's drunken tirade, and is clearly doing it to emasculate both Pete and Charlie.
• Reservoir Dogs: Overlapping with Dissonant Serenity, Mr. Blonde is the only member of the heist party who behaves calm upon meeting up with them at their warehouse hide-out, casually sipping a fizzy drink and not once raising his voice however much Mr. White furiously rails at him. In his case, however, Mr. White has more reason to be angry than Mr. Blonde has to be calm, seeing as Blonde is a deranged sociopath (however much he doesn't sound like it), and it was his decision to start shooting people that led to the robbery going wrong in the first place.
• In Serenity, The Operative almost always speaks in an infuriatingly calm, level voice, even as he ruthlessly stabs and slices his way toward the titular ship and her crew. This finally drives Mal into a fury after The Operative murders Shepherd Book and all of his followers then has the nerve to send a message expressing his condolences.
• Bill Lumbergh from Office Space is so much this, you'd swear he has Valium in his coffee mug. He seems to always be calm, even when abusing and bullying his employees and generally acting like a complete dick. (Actor Gary Cole noted he was glad they removed a scene involving Lumbergh yelling at an incompetent tow truck driver who rips the bumper off his car, stating it would've ruined the effect his portrayal had.)

Literature

• Professor Dumbledore of Harry Potter is often calmly serene in adversity, sometimes to the immense frustration of other characters.
  • In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, he remains calmly serene ^note in sharp contrast to his legendary reaction in the film when Harry's name has come out of the Goblet, which frustrates Madame Maxime and Igor Karkaroff, who are both furious. When Madame Maxime objects to the situation, Dumbledore calmly says that if she has an alternative suggestion, he would be delighted to hear it.
  • This is especially prominent in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore remains calm in the face of pure anger from Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, and near the end, Harry himself, who is beside himself with rage, is shouting and hurling Dumbledore's possessions to the floor, and Dumbledore makes no attempt at all to stop him.
    Dumbledore: By all means continue destroying my possessions, I daresay I have too many.
  • In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he even remains this way when he realises that he has been outwitted by Malfoy, and that his own death is imminent. However, it is later revealed that much of it was planned.

Live-Action TV

• In Doom Patrol (2019), Niles Caulder uses a calm, even voice whenever he has to upbraid one of his charges in front of the others, never yelling at any of them unless he's got one of them alone, subtly playing them against each other so that they never question the decisions he makes on their behalf.
• Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders is a master of this tactic, such as at the start of season two, when the British secret services try to recruit him for an assassination job... with a cocked gun to his head. Outwardly unperturbed, Tommy calmly points out to the gunman that they have already chosen him for the job, so any threats to him are basically empty, driving him into a rage — but he cannot do anything about it, since Tommy is right on all counts.
• Star Trek:
  • Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    • "When The Bough Breaks": The planet Aldea, a hidden planet of legend, is rediscovered, but the leader of the planet, Radue, abducts several children from the Enterprise, as the population is unable to bear children of their own. When Picard angrily contacts Radue, he is shut down by Radue attempting instead trying to discuss payment for them.
      Radue: (on viewscreen) Captain, your children are with us. My word of honor, no harm will ever come to them.
      Picard: Harm has already come to them.
      Radue: Captain, let us begin discussions regarding appropriate compensation.
      Picard: (quickly losing patience) Compensation?! You have stolen our children away from their classrooms, away from their bedrooms and you talk about compensation?! You claim to be a civilized world and yet you have just committed an act of utter barbarity!
      Radue: Captain, we will continue these discussions when you've calmed down. [He cuts communication]
    • Picard is actually very capable of this himself.
    • In "Skin of Evil", after the murder of Tasha Yar, Picard confronts Armus and has a conversation with him. Picard is unflappable, polite, and utterly calm, as he first shows pity to Armus, enraging the entity, then calmly tells him that he's not taking him anywhere.
    • In "Sins of the Father", Duras challenges Picard, insinuating to him that the Federation does not practice war. Picard calmly states, "You may test that assumption at your convenience."
    • In "Unification I", Picard is trying to ask for a favor from Gowron, only to be frequently ignored. Worf suggests that Gowron is rewriting history to portray himself as the hero and savior of the Empire and that the Enterprise's arrival is an inconvenient reminder of the truth. When they finally get ahold of a junior adjutant, Picard makes his request. When the adjutant asks what the benefit to the Empire would be, Picard says, calmly, "The only benefit would be our gratitude."

      Klingon Adjutant: (hot with anger) That is what you want me to tell him?

      Picard: (still calm) Yes. And if he won't, there are others in the Empire who might be willing to help. And then they would have our gratitude.

  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: This was part of Winn Adami's pious personality. When others seem to be more emotional, she seems to not let the situation bother her, or uses it as a way to prop herself above those she sees as inferior and emotional.
  • Star Trek: Voyager: In "Scientific Method", the crew discovers that some alien scientists had been secretly experimenting on them. When they capture one of the alien scientists, she speaks in a condescending manner about her alleged work.
    Janeway: What you're doing isn't self-defense. It's the exploitation of another species for your own benefit. My people decided a long time ago that that was unacceptable, even in the name of scientific progress.
    Alzen: You're a remarkably strong-willed individual. I've been very impressed by your self-control over the past several weeks. We've been increasing your dopamine levels, stimulating various aggressive impulses to test your behavioural restraints. There's been a great difference of opinion about how much more strain you can bear.
    (Janeway slams Alzen against the wall)
    Janeway: Not much.

Video Games

• Bioshock 2: Sofia Lamb always speaks in a soft, soothing monotone and never raises her voice to shouting volume, even in emergencies. On top of issuing faintly condescending monologues to Subject Delta as he progresses through Rapture, audio diaries reveal that she weaponized this in her public debates with Andrew Ryan: where Ryan spent most of these discussions quietly seething with irritation at having his beliefs questioned in his own utopia, Lamb remained as serene as usual as she rebutted his points one by one, even calling him by his first name in the manner of a disappointed kindergarten teacher. As such, Ryan's attempt to disarm Lamb in public not only failed but only ended up spreading her beliefs to a wider audience.
• The King of Fighters: One reason why Ash Crimson is Hated by All (besides Elisabeth, anyway) is that this is his usual attitude most of the time. Not even the threat of getting a ruthless beating by his former teammate Shen, let alone a pissed-off and depowered Iori, is enough to get Ash's veneer to break. The only characters that manage to make Ash's calmness slip are Athena and King (by reading into his emotions), Saiki (for presumably personal reasons, since he's also his ancestor), and Terry (by way of No Selling Ash's usual cocky attitude simply by being his usual lax self).
• Saints Row:
  • Saints Row: Benjamin King is an extremely intelligent and pragmatic man who spends most of his cutscenes throughout the Vice Kings arc staying extremely calm whenever the Third Street Saints are making attacks on his turf, always focusing on legal ways to make up for any financial losses the VKs suffer instead of retaliating with lethal force, as his Hot-Blooded lieutenant Warren Williams constantly pushes for. Overlaps with Tranquil Fury, because King is visibly annoyed by Warren's impulsiveness and belligerence, but he rarely ever raises his voice when he tells him to shut up.
    King: How much is the studio incident gonna set us back?
    Warren: The "incident?!" I'm sorry. I thought some motherfuckas blew up my shit! I didn't realize it ain't no thang!
    King: How. Much?
    Warren: Including the loss of revenue from Aisha's death... I'd say we're talkin' millions.
    King: Okay, there are some contractors who owe us. Convince them to hook us up... (to Big Tony Green) How's Tanya's side of things?
    Tony: Grip is short, Mr. King.
    King: I'm not happy, Anthony. You told me she could handle it.
    Tony: It's not her fault, Mr. King. The Saints have been fuckin' with her.
    Warren: That's what I'm talkin' about! Are you gonna let these bitches disrespect us?
    King: Everybody, calm the fuck down. We ain't gonna start a war every time some motherfuckas act hard.
    Tanya Winters: (entering King's office) We need to talk about the Saints... They've taken Prawn Court.
    King: How did this happen?
    Warren: How the FUCK do you THINK it happened?! Look, we need to get together here and just-
    King: (stands up to remind Warren he's taller than him) What we need... is for you to shut the fuck up, you feel me?
    Warren: (very bitterly) Yeah...
    King: What?
    Warren: Yes, Mr. King.
  • Saints Row 2: Dane Vogel is heavily prone to taking this attitude, with a heavy tinge of sarcasm, whenever he's interacting with the more Hot-Blooded gangsters of Stilwater, such as when he's negotiating with the Saints, or in this confrontation between him and Maero:
    Maero: They hit my boys while they were on the prison bus!
    Vogel: Between your girlfriend and your gang, I'd say you're a magnet for tragedy, Maero.
    Maero: You think this is fucking funny?!
    Vogel: No. But I do think it's your problem.
    Maero: (slams his hands on Maero's desk) My problems are your problems. Or do you need some fresh air to remind you?
    Vogel: No, see, my problem is that a sideshow freak is messing up my paperwork. Your problem is that there's an armed team of security guards with assault rifles pointed right at your back... I'm sorry you couldn't protect your friends, I truly am. But Ultor is done doing you favours. Come back here again, and I'll have you shot on sight.

Western Animation

• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Zuko sees his Uncle Iroh's personality as this at first. Iroh himself can be seen as this as well to the audience at the beginning of the series, given how the show hadn't quite grown its beard yet. When Zuko realizes that he's tearing himself and his relationships apart over an effort to pander to love he'll likely never receive from his father, Fire Lord Ozai, he realizes how level-headed and wise Iroh really is.
• The Simpsons, "Worst Episode Ever": Comic Book Guy has a heart attack and is forced to let Bart and Milhouse run the store until he recovers. Business starts to falter when Milhouse orders 2000 copies of a lame eyeglass-based superhero, and Bart starts to immediately treat him as if he were a toddler, seemingly because Bart genuinely sees Milhouse as too young to run a store.
  Bart: Oh, it's my fault for leaving you in charge. Sometimes, I forget how young you are.
  Milhouse: I'm only three months younger than you.
  Bart: Oh, look, you're getting cranky. You haven't had your juice.
  Milhouse: Well, my straw broke off in the carton... [realizes that Bart changed the subject] that's not the point! We're supposed to be partners, and you're pushing me around like a Playskool corn popper!
  Bart: [chortles] It's a vacuum cleaner, Milhouse.
  Milhouse: Whatever! I demand respect! I have feelings! I'm a human boy, just like you!
  Bart: Shh. Use your indoor voice.
  Milhouse: [completely lost all patience] Okay, that's it!
  [Milhouse takes off his glasses, only to realize he can't see without them]
  Milhouse: Huh? Oh. [He puts them back on, and leaps at Bart] AIYYYYEEEEEEEEE-YAH!!!
  [The scene fades to a freeze-framed comic-art-stylized version of the two, fade to commercial]
• Steven Universe: Sapphire sometimes comes off as this due to her "future vision" powers. Although she means well, her focusing on the outcome of a situation, without considering how it will come about or the feelings of the people involved, makes her come off as cold, ignorant, and unfeeling.
  Sapphire: I keep looking into the future, where all of this has been solved, as if it doesn't matter how you feel in the present. (starts to cry) No wonder... you think I don't care!

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