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Intimidation Failure

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When preparing to face an enemy, one thing that always helps is the ability to make yourself appear dangerous and intimidating. If a character pulls this off, it can make them look even more formidable than they already are, potentially scaring their enemy away or making them cave.

If they don't, however... That's where this trope comes in.

An Intimidation Failure is when a character tries to come off as scary, threatening, or dangerous, but it goes wrong and ends up making them look like a fool (with the person they were trying to intimidate being unimpressed, or even amused). Things can escalate pretty quickly if it turns out the character was Mugging the Monster or Bullying a Dragon.

How it fails can vary: maybe they stuttered at the wrong time, maybe the one attempting intimidation is a well-known pacifist or All-Loving Hero, maybe the person they're trying to intimidate has Seen It All and won't fall for false threats (or is even Genre Savvy enough to call out some of their tricks), maybe something happens that's beyond their control... So long as the attempt at intimidation fails, it's this trope. It can be made funnier if the "intimidator" tries to strike "fighting poses" while making Funny Bruce Lee Noises.

Common victims of this trope are Cowardly Lions (fearful characters who are brave when it counts), Big Bad Wannabes (villains who are nowhere near as scary or dangerous as they think), and Defiant Captives.

However, just because the attempted intimidator doesn't frighten their target doesn't mean they don't get results. For example, part of the strategy behind Good Cop/Bad Cop is the idea that a perp who isn't threatened by the Bad Cop will be willing to speak to the Good Cop (or let something slip in front of them that they wouldn't say in front of Bad Cop). Other ways this can be used to one's benefit are via Exasperated Perp (annoying someone until they let something slip) or The Perry Mason Method.

Super trope to Insult Backfire and Threat Backfire. Will often cross over with Failed Attempt at Drama. Compare with Failed Attempt at Scaring, where the goal is to simply scare someone (as scaring someone and intimidating them are different things). Contrast with The Dreaded, Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique, and Horrifying the Horror. See also Perp Sweating, Genre Savvy, Seen It All, Good Cop/Bad Cop, High-Altitude Interrogation, Defiant Stone Throw, Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh..., Cross-Operational Interference, and Brandishment Bluff. See You Wouldn't Shoot Me for the version where it goes horribly wrong for the unintimidated.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 
    Anime & Manga 
  • Fairy Tail ZERØ: Mavis and her small Ragtag Bunch of Misfits try running the Blue Skull guild out of Magnolia by threatening them with an army of fake soldiers conjured up with her illusion magic. It's convincing enough to fool almost all of them...all except their master, Geoffry, who calls her bluff and dispels the illusion with a wave of his hand, leaving her and her group open to a crushing defeat.
  • The Legend of Zelda (Akira Himekawa): Subverted in the adaptation of Oracle of Ages, where the powerful body-hopping witch Veran is amused by the short and scrawny Non-Action Guy Ralph trying to threaten her with a dainty smallsword. She then remembers she can't use any magic while possessing the human Queen Ambi, and runs for her life.
  • Sonic X: In "That’s What Friends Are For", the President’s Jerkass aide, Jerome Wise, sends a few secret service agents to Thorndyke Mansion to look for Sonic and force him to come to the party the President threw at the White House (because Jerome was planning to use Sonic’s celebrity status to increase the President’s popularity). The secret service agents barge in and try to intimidate the Thorndyke family’s maid, Ella, into taking them to see Sonic, but she’s unintimidated and tells them to get out. The agents then say they’re going to search the mansion, but Ella yells for Tanaka, the family’s butler/bodyguard. The agents also try to intimidate Tanaka, telling him not to get in their way, but Tanaka gives them a swift butt-kicking and sends them packing.
  • When Musashi and Denshichiro meet for their second duel in Vagabond, Denshichiro realizes exactly how badly he is outmatched and does a furious roar at Musashi, which intimidates everyone there... everyone except Musashi, that is. Musashi is so serene and focused that his only immediate thought is to wonder why Denshichiro would shout like that, since it would just cause his muscles to tighten up and become stiff when he desperately needs them to be loose and his movements fluid. Shortly after this Denshichiro decides his only possible chance is purposefully allowing Musashi to mortally wound him in the hope that Denshichiro can kill Musashi before he succumbs to his wound.

    Asian Animation 
  • Early in Power Top Plate, Dam-deong tries to goad Gong-myeong into a fight with him. Gong-myeong flippantly responds that he has no interest in it because he knows Dam-deong is secretly weak, hence why he always targets newbie and inexperienced players.

    Audio Plays 
  • Big Finish Doctor Who: Zig-Zagged. The Sixth Doctor once made a twenty-foot holographic projection of himself in full Time Lord getup to intimidate some bad guys into standing down. His companions just found it ridiculous, including cracking jokes about how he wouldn't be invited to weddings for fear of distracting from the bride, but it worked on the baddies, because they hadn't actually met the Doctor (or any other Time Lords) before and didn't know any better.

    Comic Books 
  • Green Lantern: Rebirth: At the start of the comic, Batman is shown in full shadow, showing him as a man who controls fear but is also ruled by fear, especially when it comes to Hal Jordan. In the first issue, Batman goes on a rant about how Hal could never be trusted, only for John Stewart to counter with a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how Hal was the only one who didn't buy into Batman's shtick, declaring, "What is 'The Batman' when you're not afraid of him? Just a man." Indeed, when Hal is fully revived, Batman is the only one who keeps demanding answers and gets a haymaker in return.
  • Justice League sees the Flash practically beg his Heterosexual Life-Partner, Green Lantern, to let him try being the bad cop. Against his better judgement, Green Lantern agrees. The Flash then attempts to intimidate the goon they’ve captured, but he’s way too nice a guy to come across as anything other than a kindergarten teacher scolding a student.
  • Discussed in The Reign of the Supermen when John Henry Irons aka The Man of Steel gets into a fight with The Kryptonian, the ruthless Superman claimant who has already demonstrated a willingness to kill. The resulting brawl takes them clear out of Metropolis, and Irons is aware that his suit of armor is on its last legs. He manages to get to his feet and lock his knee joints into position, admitting that this does nothing but make him look impressive, but he hopes to intimidate the Kryptonian into at least hearing him out. It doesn't intimidate him, but his appeal in reminding the Kryptonian that the S-shield of Superman would be tarnished by his murderous actions actually works. The Kryptonian commends him on his strength of his ideals, noting that it takes a truly brave man to stand up for his convictions, even when he can barely stay standing. After he departs, Irons breathes a sigh of relief.
  • Uncanny X-Men (1963): In issue #448, Viper captures Storm's team and uses a nanite injection to depower them. At the end of the issue, Viper has defeated Bishop and Sage and has Sage under the barrel of a gun aimed at her head. Bishop warns Viper not to do anything, otherwise "[The X-Men] will hunt her to the ends of the earth!". Viper simply answers: "Is that a threat?"

    Fan Works 
  • The Blue Dragon (Batman): When Zuko and Azula reunite, she tries to use her old tactics of manipulation and fear to gain control over him. Unfortunately for her, part of Batman's training/Dinah's therapy has taught him to recognize those same tactics and how to keep them from being effective.
  • Boldores and Boomsticks: Gladion announces his presence to Yang, Blake, and Casey with a dramatic speech about how easily he'll crush them and how doomed they are. They stare for a second before laughing at him for trying too hard.
  • Dungeon Keeper Ami: In "Desperation Move", Ami's ultimatum from the previous chapter was "delivered [...] with all the oratory talent of a shy Japanese schoolgirl." and therefore doesn't intimidate her enemies.
  • Family Loading... Please Wait: When Stone tries to make peace with the Wachowski family so they'll help him find Shadow, Sonic and Tails decide to interrogate him. Unfortunately, Maddie decides that (since they're in her clinic and she has animals to care for), the "interrogation" should double as feeding time for a litter of stray kittens that came in the night before. The whole time, Sonic is trying to come across as tough and intimidating... with a kitten sitting on his head. Needless to say, Stone isn't fazed.
  • Future Is Bright (Danny Phantom): Shortly after starting at Gotham Academy, Danny notices that his classmate, Jenny, is being picked on by a class bully named Caleb. Danny starts going out of his way to make sure Jenny is safe from Caleb, though he uses peaceful tactics (telling Caleb off without vulgarities/raising his voice, walking with Jenny so Caleb won't attack, etc). It comes to a head when Caleb drags two friends with him to try and scare Danny into submission. Danny, who is a teen vigilante, a ghost, and the newest ward of one of the city's most powerful men, is unfazed. He secretly records all of Caleb's threat on his phone and emails it to Bruce, who forwards it to the school principal. Caleb decides to back down.
  • If Wishes Were Ponies...: After the Equestrians go public, outing their existence to the human world and opening up trade with the UK, many wizards (namely Dolores Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy) are furious. They convince/order Fudge and Dumbledore to come with them to John Major's office to try and force him to sever ties with the Equestrians (secretly plotting to try and con the Equestrians out of their seemingly endless wealth and take it for wizarding England). Not only have their would-be victims predicted such a thing happening for a while, but the Equestrian guards are far more competent than the Aurors and officials, incapacitating them in seconds. Prince Blueblood's following "The Reason You Suck" Speech shows exactly why they predicted the wizards doing such a thing and proving why they don't see the wizarding world as a threat.
  • Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: The prequel has Roquelle, a vampire warden who stripped Chloe down and beat her to the point of dislocating a shoulder, threatening to torture Chloe to her breaking point...and realizes that Chloe is just standing there menacingly. This is because Chloe was distracting her so Lexi and Atticus could attack while she was too busy monologuing.
  • Played with in New Vegas Showtime — Futaba threatens Akechi that if he steps out of line, she'll "[wipe him] the fuck out with precisions of the likes of which have never been seen before", and Akechi reacts with utter nonchalance. He then clarifies that he does believe Futaba could carry out that threat, but he's "too dead inside to be scared" after everything he had gone through at that point.
  • Riding a Sunset: When the Beastformers are captured after they abducted Charlie, Steeljaw tries to scare his captors by saying he and his pack are high-ranking officers in the Decepticon army. He says this to Optimus Prime, who's dangling him by the ankle. Needless to say, Prime isn't impressed, and the Beastformers are put in stasis pods.
  • Spider-Ninja: After he and his Purple Dragons capture someone sniffing around their stronghold, Hun tries to scare their captive into confessing. Unfortunately, said captive is Deadpool, who is not only immune to any violence they may threaten, but can leave Hun red-faced with a few comments.
    Hun: Do you know why we brought you here?
    Hun: (flustered) Quiet!
  • wires and cloth: When the Decepticons take over Cybertron and capture Optimus Prime's crew, Bumblebee is taken as the personal prisoner of Shockwave. Despite being terrified at his situation, Bumblebee does everything he can to fight back. He even shuts down Shockwave's speeches about how the Decepticons could do more for Bee than the Autobots and gives every 'Con he can a Death Glare. While brave, Shockwave is not intimidated by Bee's actions. If anything, he seems to think it's cute.

    Films — Animation 
  • An American Tail: Fievel Goes West: When Cat R. Waul's gang rampages through the mouse neighborhood, one of the cats looms over Mama, Tanya, and Yasha, Fievel, imitating the way Wylie Burp talks in his dime novels, challenges the cat to a fist fight. The cat turns his attention to Fievel, who can only look on in horror as the much larger cat approaches to eat him. Luckily, Papa stuns the cat by purposefully playing a series of sour notes on his fiddle, allowing Fievel to run away.
  • Batman: Mask of the Phantasm: A flashback shows that Bruce Wayne initially tried to fight crime wearing what was essentially a balaclava and utility wear, ironically enough, similar to what a lot of criminals wear, too. And so when he tried to stop a crime in progress, the goons laughed at him until he beat them up (and he took a number of hits in the process). Upon returning home, he complains about it to Alfred, eventually coming to the conclusion that he had to make criminals afraid even before he takes action, and to do that, he needs some sort of edge. The creation of his Batman persona soon follows, and he becomes much, much more intimidating to Gotham's criminal element.
  • Hotel Transylvania: Quasimodo puts Johnny (who's disguised as "Johnnystein") through a litmus test to prove that he's actually a human and not a monster by having him scare his pet rat, Esmeralda. Johnny's attempts at scaring her completely unimpress the rodent, and her own little squeak of indifference in response frightens Johnny back into a corner.
  • The LEGO Batman Movie: The Joker's introductory scene has him attempt to pull off a Slasher Smile to intimidate the pilot of the plane he's hijacking… and said pilot doesn't react at all, pointing out that Batman is just gonna stop him as usual. He keeps this demeanor even as Joker outlines his plot, only giving him props after he reveals he destroyed the Bat-Signal.
  • Lilo & Stitch (2002): Cobra Bubbles is a large and rather threatening man. However, he's not even remotely intimidating to Stitch, who literally throws a book at the social worker when he pays an unexpected visit to the Pelekai house.
  • The Lion King (1994): As the hyenas have Simba and Nala cornered at the elephant graveyard, Simba tries to scare them off by roaring. But since he's just a cub, it's not very intimidating. Shenzi dares him to do it again, and he does, only now it's a booming roar... courtesy of Mufasa, seconds before he strikes the hyenas down.
  • Megamind: After kidnapping Roxanne Ritchi, Megamind and Minion try to intimidate her to make Metro Man come faster... Unfortunately, they've done this so many times that Roxanne treats this more like an annoyance than anything, snarks at them the whole time, and even predicts which "torture weapons" he's going to bring out next.
  • Mufasa: The Lion King: When Rafiki is banished from the baboon troop he grew up in, the mandrill finds himself hunted by Mufasa, Sarabi, and Taka. Mufasa comes at him first, getting in his face and growling at him. Rafiki is unfazed, calls Mufasa jamaanote , and continues on his way. The three (confused) lions keep following him and letting him know they intend to eat him. He's still unfazed and tells them (honestly and confidently) that he can take them to Milele. By the end of the conversation, he's no longer considered food.
  • In the short film Riley's First Date?, Riley's father goes into Boyfriend-Blocking Dad mode when his daughter brings a boy, Jordan, over before what may or may not be a date and spends most of the short trying to Twerp Sweat him. Even while he's giving Jordan a Death Glare in an attempt to intimidate him, Jordan still doesn't react the way Mr. Andersen wants (in fact, Jordan's emotions can't even figure out what's going on).
    Dad's Fear: Sir! Intimidation is failing!
    Dad's Anger: Increase the pressure! Engage!
  • Rio: During the fight between the monkeys and the birds, one monkey comes at Rafael the toucan making Funny Bruce Lee Noises and various karate poses to intimidate him. Rafael, completely unimpressed, just pecks him unconscious.
  • The Road to El Dorado: After being mistaken for gods (and accidentally making it seem like they caused/stopped a volcanic eruption), Miguel and Tulio start bragging about conning a whole city when Chel walks in. Tulio tries to intimidate her by threatening her with lightning... only to realize that Chel, a fellow con artist, already saw through their scheme. She also mocks Tulio's attempts at intimidation, making Altivo laugh.
  • Shrek 1: At the beginning, one of the villagers hunting Shrek points his flaming torch at him, saying "I warn you". Shrek puts the torch out with his fingers, then roars loudly at all the villagers, who scream in terror and freeze. Shrek then whispers "This Is the Part Where... you run away", and they do so.
  • Zootopia: In the film's first ten minutes, Judy tried to stop a childhood bully, Gideon Gray, from harassing her friends. When she managed to kick him in the face, he scratched her cheek and pinned her down, telling her she'd never be anything. As he walked away smug, Judy reveals that she secretly stole the tickets he'd taken from her friends while he was threatening her.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Carry-On (2024): One of Ethan's attempts to stop Traveler's plan from moving forward involves trying to pull rank, stating that he's a government official and can't be coerced. Traveler is completely unfazed and shuts him down quickly, just snarking that Ethan is a TSA agent and not someone with any actual power.
  • Haunted Mansion (2023): Towards the end of the film, Kent needs to hold off a group of ghosts trying to prevent the others from performing the banishing ritual that will send the Hatbox Ghost to Hell. To do so, he starts reciting an exorcism, trying to get the ghosts to back off. It doesn't work because not only are they empowered by the full moon, but Kent isn't actually a priest and thus doesn't really know how to perform an exorcism.
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005): During the Heart of Gold crew's mission to rescue a captive Trillian, Arthur tries to pretend to hold a Vogon clerk at gunpoint with Marvin's detached arm, in his bathrobe no less, and demands to know where "she" is. The Vogon blandly asks if Arthur is looking for the Director of Robot Arm Repair.
  • The Jungle Book (2016): After learning that Shere Khan killed Akela, Mowgli steals a lit torch from the Man Village, having learned from Kaa that Shere Khan fears fire. He confronts the tiger at the watering hole, where all the other animals have gathered. While he makes no move to touch Mowgli while he holds "the red flower", he tells all of the other jungle animals that Mowgli, now a man, will act like a man and hunt them all down. Mowgli chucks the fire into the water, claiming that he is and always will be part of the jungle. Shere Khan points out how stupid it was for him to throw away his weapon, and tries to attack.
  • Kingsman: The Secret Service:
    • When Arthur spontaneously presents Eggsy with a literal Shoot the Dog test, Eggsy struggles greatly and ultimately can't bring himself to do it. He turns around and points the gun at Arthur... who stares back at him, calmly. Eggsy is shaken out of it when he hears a gunshot, signifying that Roxy passed her own test; he hands the gun back, and Arthur proceeds to taunt him as he leaves. Later, we get some context as to why Arthur wasn't concerned; the gun was filled with blanks.
    • After Eggsy returns home, he's angry and impulsive. When he sees his mother with a black eye, he decides that today is the day to beat up Dean and stop this from happening again. Unfortunately for him, Dean just laughs when he pulls up in the car, talking to him sarcastically and taunting him when Eggsy demands a one-on-one. Eggsy's chance at actually shutting him up is dashed when, before he can leave the stolen Kingsman taxi, Harry remotely makes it start driving to his place — causing Eggsy to look like a massive coward and ensuring that Dean will continue to bully him and Michelle.
  • Lilo & Stitch (2025): Towards the end of the film, Lilo and Stitch run out of her house to escape Jumba, who indiscriminately starts blasting to lure them back in. As Jumba turns his attention to her parents' bedroom, Lilo orders him to "stop or else". When Jumba responds "'or else' what?" Lilo stands there, motionless, as Jumba slowly approaches her while towering over her. Luckily, Stitch uses the portal gun to surprise Jumba and attack from behind.
  • Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie: When Ivan Ooze is freed from his prison, the Power Rangers arrive to confront him. Tommy steps forward and orders him to surrender, warning him, "We're the Power Rangers!" An unimpressed Ivan simply rolls his eyes and retorts, "Well, just let me get out my autograph book!" and leaves a number of his Oozemen to engage the Rangers while he heads straight for the Command Centre to take out Zordon, not even considering them worth the time to annihilate personally.
  • Pixels: When Sam and Ludlow are recruited to save the world and placed in charged in a group of hard-core solders, Ludlow tries yelling at them like a Drill Sergeant Nasty. It doesn't work and leaves him unable to move.
  • The Princess Bride: When he tells Wesley about the death of his father, Inigo says that he tried to stand up to his father's killer. Since he was only eleven at the time, the six-fingered man merely laughed at him and left him with a scar on each cheek. This bites said man in the butt, as Inigo spends the rest of his life studying fencing so he can get revenge, and ultimately avenges his father.
  • Rocketman (2019): When arguing with John, Elton is trying to get under his skin and prove that he has power he can use against him... specifically, the power to make the money run out by refusing to produce music. He smugly tells this to John, expecting a reaction. John ends up amused, and just tells him that their contracts mean he'll still get money "long after you've killed yourself", ending the conversation entirely and making the real situation clear. Elton is reduced to Tantrum Throwing, and John has already walked out and closed the door.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (2020): While Sonic and Tom are hanging out in the bar, the Piston Pit, a bunch of thugs walk up to them and try to intimidate them into leaving, because they don’t like "hipsters". Tom wants to leave, but Sonic, who has superpowers, naturally isn’t intimidated by the powerless thugs. Sonic then tries to smash a bottle on the lead thug’s head (though he’s not strong enough to break the bottle). This then leads to a bar brawl, which Sonic easily wins with his Super-Speed.
  • Spider-Man: Homecoming: When Spider-Man is trying to get answers from Aaron Davis, the "Enhanced Interrogation" mode gives Peter a deep booming voice. However, Davis isn't convinced because he has already heard Spidey speak before, and even tells him he needs to work on his interrogation methods.
  • Taken: The kidnapper is not intimidated in the slightest by Bryan's iconic Badass Boast, simply replying, "Good luck" in an almost amused tone before hanging up. He should have listened.
    Bryan: I told you I'd find you.
  • Transformers: Rise of the Beasts: When Optimus Primal appears and looks ready to attack Elena and Noah, Mirage rolls up and points his weapons at him. Not only does Primal not flinch, but Cheetor pops out of the foliage seconds later and pins Mirage to the ground.

    Literature 
  • In The Fallen World, a group of thugs surrounds Allya and Pyn early in the series. They attempt to intimidate them into surrendering, but the lead thug is killed before he can finish his threat.
  • In the Fudge books, one of Fudge's friends is a six-year-old boy named Daniel. Daniel, along with being a Big Eater, has a habit of saying "Wanna make somethin' of it?" constantly and without provocation. Peter deduces (correctly) that Daniel does this to sound tough. When Peter's friend (as a joke) takes him seriously on his threat, Daniel falls to his knees, sobbing and begging that they not hurt him.
  • Harry Potter: Vernon Dursley, whenever he wants to get his way, often starts yelling at the top of his lungs, trusting his volume and large stature to scare anyone into compliance. In the very first book, he learns that this doesn't do much against wizards (as Hagrid bent his gun into a pretzel and gave Dudley a pig's tail when Vernon insulted Dumbledore).
  • The Horse and His Boy: Towards the end of the book, Prince Rabadash is captured and brought to Archenland for trial. During which, Rabadash makes faces and wiggles his ears as an attempt at intimidating his foes. This only succeeds at confusing King Lune and his associates. Rabadash doesn't understand that what is intimidating to his subjects (who know he can have them boiled in oil) won't work on people who have him dead to rights.
  • How to Train Your Dragon: In one book, three baby dragons run rampant in Hiccup's house, when only Toothless (Hiccup's pet dragon) is at home. Toothless tries to intimidate them into behaving by threatening to give them reward charts and put black marks on them all, but the baby dragons pay him no heed.
  • Ignatius MacFarland: Frequenaut!: After Karen gets her hands on a sword and charges the bad guys, causing them to scatter, Ignatius MacFarland tries to do the same with his own sword, but the villains stand their ground this time.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: In the pilot, Skye tries to invoke this trope. After she's arrested by Coulson and Ward, she tries to act like nothing they say can intimidate her... However, it quickly becomes clear that, even though she has skills, she's got nothing on two trained agents who've dealt with far more difficult prisoners than her. In the third episode, it's implied by Ward that he and Coulson were manipulating her the entire interrogation.
  • Babylon 5: In "Rising Star" Bester threatens to kill John Sheridan if he finds out Sheridan used Bester's lover Carolyn to help disable one of the Clark-loyal EA ships at Mars. Sheridan retorts that Bester's threats mean very little to him given what he's been through.
    Sheridan: "I find it amazing that you think that threats still mean anything to me. Do this or you're a dead man? Death: been there, done that."
  • In the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad, Walt attempts to threaten Saul into going into hiding with him so he can help him take out the neo-Nazis from afar, echoing a moment earlier that season where Walt intimidated him into continuing working for him. This time, however, Walt collapses into a coughing fit mid-threat while Saul leaves Walt to fend for himself.
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine, "The Box" has Captain Holt point out that Peralta is bad at intimidating suspects in interrogation, because "You have a boyish face and a big goofy grin. It's like being yelled at by a children's cereal mascot". He tries it on the suspect anyway, who can't help breaking into laughter because "it's like when a Muppet gets upset". Jake then attempts to throw one of the chairs through the mirror... and it bounces off and hits him in the face. Quoth a bloodied Jake, "Do you feel like I lost the upper hand? Because I still think it's about 50/50."
  • Chicago Fire:
  • The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: When the Hunter comes to try and capture Rian, Hup the Podling jumps between the two, brandishing his spoon and challenging the Skeksis. Skek-Mal calls his attempt "cute" before throwing the Podling aside like he's nothing.
  • Dexter: When Rita's abusive ex-husband Paul shows up at her house while Dexter's there and answers the door, Paul tries to intimidate him with the fake-out jerk forward. Dexter doesn't even flinch and Paul leaves with his tail between his legs.
  • Dinosaur Revolution: In "The Watering Hole", Broken Jaw the Allosaurus's attempt to intimidate the antagonistic Torvosaurus who'd taken over his resting spot not only completely fails to threaten the larger theropod, it riles up the Torvosaurus to the point he gets up and dishes out a Curb-Stomp Battle to Broken Jaw.
  • The Facts of Life: Downplayed; when tough Tomboy Jo arrives at the boarding school, she and rich, preppy Blair don't get along at all and constantly argue. Jo is a master at insults, and at one point, Blair tries to one-up her by giving her the stink-eye and sassily saying, "Turn blue!" Jo just stands there smirking with her arms crossed, turns to the other girls and states, "And that's all she's got." Blair's only response is to turn and walk off in a huff.
  • Get Smart: One of the show's running gags is Maxwell Smart making some grandiose bluff, having it called, and attempting to walk it back by asking "Would you believe (less grandiose variation)...?" only to have the new bluff called in turn.
  • iCarly: In the episode "iRescue Carly", Carly tries to look tough in front of Sam's old juvie friend, Dana. Exaggerated in that all of Carly's attempts just hammer home how she's too much of a girly Nice Girl to fit in with Sam's old crowd. In the end, her attempt to befriend Dana and act tough nearly gets her, Freddie, and Gibby seriously hurt (if not for Sam coming to save the day).
  • Kickin' It: In the episode, "Dojo Day Afternoon", Milton and Eddie are held hostage by a bunch of toddlers. When Milton is captured, Eddie decides to try and scare the kids into behaving by putting on a Bobby Wasabi bandanna and doing various katas. It doesn't scare the kids, but it does impress them. Eddie's able to keep them entertained by doing a karate demonstration (and accidentally kicking Milton in the face).
  • In the M*A*S*H episode "5 O'Clock Charlie", this trope appears in the form of a Running Gag. Frank Burns keeps trying to pull a gun on people to make them take him seriously, only to find that Hawkeye and Trapper swapped his gun out with something harmless (including a squirt gun, a stapler, a small plunger, and a clown's gun).
  • Zig-zagged in Murder, She Wrote. Oftentimes, if the killer is desperate not to be caught, they will threaten to kill Jessica as well. If Jessica puts the pieces together in time, then she can arrange to meet the killer and trick them into confessing in front of the police, thus she isn't intimidated by the death threats. However, if Jessica managed to figure out the murder at the last minute and is in a position with no backup, then she will be intimidated, though thankfully The Cavalry always arrives right before anything happens.
  • In the Power Rangers Megaforce episode, "Who's Crying Now?", two bullies try to intimidate Troy because he's the new kid in school. Troy tries to leave, but the bully blocks his way and asks if he's going to cry. In response, Troy looks the bully in the eye with his stoic expression and says, "Take a good look. Do you see any tears?" The bullies look surprised and leave, saying that he’s "boring".
  • The Troop: In the episode, "The Next Stop: Lakewood", the psychotic teenage nerd, Gus, has gotten into the Troop’s headquarters. When Jake, Hayley, and Felix come to stop him, he shows up and points one of their laser blasters at them. However, Gus is wearing a party hat because his new childish henchman, Fredo, refused to hack into the Troop’s grid unless Gus wore it. Gus says "I know you feel fear at the sight of me. Now that I have THE POWER!", but the heroic teenagers just laugh at him because even though he has a laser blaster, wearing a party hat while he says that just makes him come off as ridiculous. Gus then says "Stop laughing! What do you think this is, a party?!", causing them to laugh more. Gus then sheepishly realizes he’s still wearing the party hat Fredo gave him, and he takes it off.
  • Wizards of Waverly Place: Played for Laughs in "Wizards Exposed". The agent and scientist are trying to interrogate the Russo kids for information on magic and the wizarding world. Unfortunately for them, they start with Max, who is too ditzy to realize that he's being interrogated.
    Agent: Look, wizard, we want to know how your powers work!
    Scientist: Yeah, is there a power core somewhere? Are the powers in your wand? Do you plug yourself in at night?
    Max: Kind of. I have to use an electric blanket in the winter because it gets really cold at night. My dad doesn't like to turn on the heat. In fact, he makes us all gain a few pounds in the winter to keep heating costs down.
    Scientist: (writing) Wizards get fat in the winter...
    Agent: Don't write that down!
    Scientist: That's what he said!

    Podcasts 

    Tabletop Games 
  • BattleTech: When the Clans invaded the Inner Sphere, Inner Sphere forces initially mistook them for just weird Periphery bandits and attempted the usual tactic of trying to intimidate them with shows of force. Unfortunately for them, the Clans were not bandits conducting a raid, but were instead an invasion of Proud Warrior Race Guys who were attracted by the attempts at bravado. And have weapons that outclass anything the Spheroids have.

    Theatre 
  • Macbeth: In the climactic battle against Macduff, Macbeth warns his opponent that he lives "a charm'd life," since the Weird Sisters promised him that No Man of Woman Born can kill him. Macduff replies "Hold thy charm" and reveals that he "was from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd"—in other words, delivered by Caesarean section—and thus not "born" in the technical sense. Though the intimidation fails, Macbeth refuses to back down.
  • The Mrs. Hawking series has several of these across the series. Given that Victoria Hawking herself uses Perp Sweating on a regular basis, a failure to successfully intimidate someone is a sign of something being terribly wrong:
    • In the first play—also titled Mrs. Hawking—the titular hero faces off against Lord Cedric Brockton, a Knowledge Broker and "society blackmailer," with the help of her maid Mary and nephew Nathaniel. With Victoria's guidance, Nathaniel is able to find written records of the secrets Brockton's gathered, and when the blackmailer tries to threaten the group with their own ruin, Nathaniel warns him that they'll ensure that he goes down with them if he tries.
    • In Gilded Cages, Victoria meets the mysterious "Kingmaker," the most powerful crime boss in all of London. She's shocked to discover that the Kingmaker is none other than Elizabeth Frost, her former governess turned criminal mastermind; when Victoria threatens to expose them, the Kingmaker laughs off the warning and promises that there'll be hell to pay if she tries.
    • In Fallen Women, Victoria squares off against a figure known only as the Distinguished Matron, who proves even more immovable than the Kingmaker; when Mrs. Hawking warns that she'll spend her whole life working to "burn down everything" the Matron has created, the older woman just rolls her eyes and says "You will not be the first to try." Given that the Matron is actually Queen Victoria, who survived eight assassination attempts and ruled the United Kingdom at the height of its power for over fifty years, her refusal to back down makes sense.

    Video Games 
  • Age of Wonders 4: Dragon Lords can perform a "Primal" skill check to solve certain dilemmas through intimidation. Naturally, these can fail if you don't pass the skill check, and you take a temporary stat-malus, indicating that your Dragon Lord expended a large amount of energy for nothing.
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: In "Scoundrel's Folly", you are deployed to Solitude to interrogate Gulum-Ei, an associate of the Thieves' Guild who facilitated a property sale that the Guild did not approve of. The guy is a pain in the ass who refuses to give straight answers, but if you try to intimidate him by threatening to kill him, he smugly points out that he's Guild's insider at the powerful East Empire Trading Company, which means if you killed him, you'd get in trouble with the Guild boss.
  • Grand Theft Auto V: Trevor tries to intimidate Manuel, a Mexican-American man whom he previously had attacked and tazed with the Civil Border Patrol, believing that Manuel was an illegal immigrant. Manuel is completely unfazed by Trevor's threat, and instead demands that Trevor stop the Civil Border Patrol from hurting anyone else. Trevor, who respects people that aren't afraid of him, goes and kills Joe and Josef before they can gun down an innocent immigrant family on their farm.
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance II: During "Speak of the Devil", Zizka, Henry, Kubyenka, and some hired goons ambush the convoy carrying Hynek to rescue him; however, their initial "ambush" goes poorly because every one of their attacks miss, causing the convoy leader to laugh. Henry can try to intimidate the convoy by saying that they have several comrades in the woods: however, to successfully do so requires a very high Speech or Intimidate skill, and not having this causes several of the hired goons to abandon the fight.
    Henry: Listen to me carefully. In the woods around us we have dozens of archers and crossbowmen. If you don't surrender, we'll shoot you to pieces. We'll kill the rest the old-fashioned way.
    Soldier: Horseshit! There's barely a dozen of you. If you could kill us all, you'd have done it already.
    Henry: That's... not true at all! There's more of us! Many more!
    Soldier: How many?
    Henry: Eh... a gross! And we have armour, hammers... and... and cannons!
    Soldier: And you're hiding in the forest with all that gear, right? Have at them! Kill those bastards!
  • Pokémon:
    • The ability Intimidate makes opponents cower when the Pokémon enters battle, lowering their Attack. However, some abilities will cause it to fail: in addition to abilities which nullify Attack drops, Oblivious and Own Tempo users simply ignore the attempt, while Inner Focus and Scrappy users also won't be intimidated. The ability outright backfires when used against a foe with Defiant; it sharply raises Attack when a stat is lowered, so intimidating a Defiant user just makes them stronger.
    • Pancham (basically a baby panda) will try to put on an intimidating Death Glare; it rarely intimidates anyone, and patting it on the head will make it grin and end the facade.
    • As noted in its Scarlet entry, Maschiff (a Dark-type dog) is always scowling in an attempt to make opponents take it seriously, but it's so unconvincing even crying children will burst into laughter when they see its face.
  • The player can fail to Dominate Therese Vorrman, an older and much more powerful vampire in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. This is a variation since it's more of a mind-control spell used in conversation than traditional intimidation. Therese just laughs at you and orders you around. Her quest is plot-related and mandatory.

    Web Comics 
  • Batman: Wayne Family Adventures: In the mini-episode appropriately titled "Intimidation", Batman and Superman are interrogating Professor Ivo. Superman tries to use the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: he turns his eyes red with his heat vision and crushes part of the table. Batman takes him aside and asks him what he's doing. Superman admits he wants to try and be the scary one during an interrogation. Batman tells him why that won't work.
    Batman: You're not intimidating.
    Superman: Well, that's just hurtful.
    Batman: Superman, you're the best person I know. You're the best person anyone knows. Which is why everyone knows you'd never hurt a helpless person.

    Web Original 
  • Fluffy Pony: Smarty leaders of feral herds will frequently try to take over territory by declaring to nearby humans, "Dummeh hoomin, dis smawty wand now! Weave ow get foweba sweepies!" ("forever sleepies" is a fluffspeak euphemism for death). Naturally, this always fails due to fluffies being small, brightly colored creatures roughly the size of housecats with no fangs, claws, or any features that could be considered even remotely threatening. The human's response can be anything from laughing it off to gruesomely murdering the smarty and his entire herd.

    Western Animation 
  • Amphibia: In "True Colors", Polly lands in front of a group of toad warriors, screaming like a banshee and brandishing one tiny knife. The soldiers laugh at the idea of a toddler with a butter knife threatening them... and then General Yunan and Frobo arrive. Cue the toad soldiers all wetting themselves at once.
  • Arcane: After Silco's death sparks a gang war in Zaun, a little girl named Isha is running from several gang members. She accidentally crashes into a woman. The gang members, weapons drawn, circle the pair, their weapons ready as they try to frighten the pair. Then the woman pulls down her hood, revealing herself as Jinx. The gang members flinch back in terror before Jinx shoots all three of them dead.
  • Codename: Kids Next Door: In "Operation: C.A.N.Y.O.N.", the Toiletnator is trying to ruin Sector V’s plan to fill the Grand Canyon with Rainbow Munchies and milk. After getting to the Grand Canyon, he jumps in front of Numbuh 1, Numbuh 3, and Numbuh 5, and shouts "THIS party is OOOVER! Give up now, or face the wrath of the TOILETNATOR!" However, because of his reputation as a Harmless Villain, the kids just laugh at him and walk right past him. As they walk by, Numbuh 3 calls him a dork, and Numbuh 1 says "Whatever, Toiletnator, could you just keep it down? We’re kind of busy."
  • DuckTales (2017): In "What Ever Happened To Della Duck?!", Lieutenant Penumbra tries to intimidate Della by pointing a gun at her face and yelling. Della isn't fazed, and merely goes back to trying to go after the monster that stole her spaceship. Justified in that Della's been adventuring and facing scary situations since she was a child; like everyone in the Duck family, she's just Conditioned to Accept Horror.
  • Justice League Action: In the short, "Good Cop, Bat Cop", Superman and Batman swap their usual Good Cop/Bad Cop routine: Superman is Bad Cop while Batman is Good Cop. Deadshot, the villain they're interrogating, actually laughs at Superman's attempt at impersonating a mean, angry interrogator. That said, it's Batman trying to be nice that scares him into talking.
  • Zig-zagged in an episode of Justice League. Having captured Deadshot (who just attempted to murder Aquaman), Wonder Woman tries to interrogate him on who hired him. Deadshot merely replies with a crass comment and makes it clear he's not threatened by her. That's when Batman grabs him by the collar and drags him away. He only needs to whisper in Deadshot's ear before the assassin agrees to cooperate.note 
  • Miraculous Ladybug: Chloé Bourgeois has a habit of forcing officials to do as she says by abusing her father's status as mayor to intimidate them (to the endless irritation of her classmates). However, she learns fairly quickly that akumatized villains don't care who her father is, especially if she's the reason why they were akumatized in the first place (which is often).
  • My Life as a Teenage Robot: In "Killgore", the sentient windup toy, Killgore, tries to capture Jenny by popping up everywhere she goes and repeatedly telling her to "SURRENDER!", but since he’s tiny and harmless, all he does is annoy Jenny to no end. Later, when he actually captures Jenny and turns her over to the Cluster, the Cluster double-cross him. Killgore tells them "You are making a grave mistake! If you become my enemy, I will not stop until you are destroyed!" but one of the Cluster Drones just says "We’ll take our chances." and pulls off Killgore’s windup key, deactivating him. In Killgore’s second appearance, "Enclosure of Doom", he tries ordering Armagedroid to surrender, while threatening him with toy guns. Armagedroid just takes all of his toy guns away.
  • The Owl House: In "Once Upon a Swap", King gets mad when he sees Boscha picking on Luz. He tries to show Luz how to handle bullies by jumping in front of Boscha, making a fist, and yelling "You will tremble before me!" However, since King is a Ridiculously Cute Critter, Boscha just gushes over how cute he is, hugs him, takes a selfie with him, and then tries to buy King from Luz to be her pet.
  • Played for Laughs in the Phineas and Ferb episode, "Finding Mary McGuffin". During their mission to find Candace's missing doll, Phineas and Ferb are investigating the style of classic noir detectives. As such, whenever they want to ask someone questions about the missing doll, they perform a noir-style interrogation. Their attempts at intimidation (shining light in their faces and barking questions) don't work because a) they're obviously kids playing detective, and b) the people they interrogate are more confused by the situation than anything. They still get answers/clues, however, because no one was trying to hide anything: the doll wasn't stolen, and none of them had done anything wrong.
  • The Simpsons: In season four's "Lisa The Beauty Queen", Skinner decides to advertise the Springfield Elementary school carnival as "The Happiest Place on Earth". Disney sends a few lawyers to Skinner's doorstep to order him to cease and desist using a copyrighted phrase. When Skinner asks them if they really think that a small school carnival using the phrase is that big a deal, the lawyers threaten the school with a lawsuit, and push him. Skinner calmly tells the men that he's a former Green Beret, and he beats up the lawyers.
  • Sonic Boom: In "Mister Eggman", Dr. Eggman becomes a laughingstock after the whole village finds out he’s not really a doctor. Eggman comes to eat at Meh Burger and orders food, but Dave just mocks him and all the customers, including Team Sonic, laugh at him. Eggman gets mad and says "How dare you! I’ll destroy you all!" but Tails and Sonic just mock him some more, and everyone laughs at him again. Dave then has the hippo bouncer throw Eggman out.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): Casey Jones' Dark and Troubled Past started out this way. When he was a little boy, the Purple Dragons burned down his father's store after he refused to pay protection money (with it being heavily implied that they killed him later on). Casey tried to fight back against the Dragons (including a younger Hun). But seeing as how he was a little boy and they were a bunch of thugs, they threw him to the ground and laughed at him. They had no idea they accidentally created one of their biggest enemies.
    • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): The recurring character, "the Pulverizer", is a teenage wannabe vigilante who dresses in an outfit inspired by the Turtles and goes out at night to fight crime. While he's good at spouting off Badass Boasts, he tries to scare people away by making Funny Bruce Lee Noises and punching/kicking at the air. The Turtles meet him when he tries this on a group of Purple Dragons. They're unfazed and beat him up in seconds.
  • Transformers: Prime: When the Autobots manage to capture Soundwave, the Decepticon spymaster and The Dragon to Megatron, they try to pump him for information but Soundwave simply trolls them. Optimus warns that if they refuse to cooperate, they will have to resort to... harsh measures. In response, Soundwave emits a deafening, painful sonic screech. A frustrated Ratchet demands they just go ahead and open his head up, since he has the medical skills to do it, but Soundwave responds by deleting his own mind rather than risk anything being used against Megatron. Before he goes comatose, he speaks for the first (and only) time in the entire series, stating "Soundwave, superior. Autobots, inferior."
  • What's New, Scooby-Doo?: In one episode, when confronted with the Villains of the Week, Freddie says he knows judo and strikes some very odd "fighting" poses. The villains laugh at him. But it turns out in his favor when his "fighting moves" end up knocking a couple of crates onto the baddies, knocking them down.

    Real Life 
  • It's a common behavior for animals to growl or hiss to try and frighten away a potential enemy. In animals like lions or bears, it's very effective. In puppies and kittens, however... it's just adorable.
  • Benito Mussolini employed A Glass in the Hand when he was haranguing his lackeys and REALLY wanted to make a point stick in their minds. Didn't work so well the last time, when they laughed him out of parliament with a bloody, painful hand.
  • This trope can have tragic results when the target of the intimidation underestimates the danger. Pet dogs, for example, may get bitten by venomous snakes or attack highly poisonous toads because they don't realize that such animals are very dangerous to them. It's why places like Texas and Arizona frequently have classes that you can enroll your dog in to teach it to avoid such dangers.
  • Many threat displays from animals that often work on other animals are known to fail on humans. For example, frill-neck lizards use the frills their named for to look bigger and more threatening to potential predators, but to most humans, they just look silly. Desert rain frogs even moreso, as their main defense is a loud squeaking they use to ward off predators... but, like the aforementioned cats and dogs, humans find them adorable.

 
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Gumball Vs. Tina

During a game of dodgeball, after accidentally consuming supplements, Gumball transforms into a hulking beast that throws a dodgeball at Tina the dinosaur so hard he crashes through the wall. After Tina threw a bowling ball..

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