Silly Walk

Ministry guidelines!

"Funny walk that kid has."

— Vince McMahon, in re: Mr. Kennedy.

When a character demonstrates a rather odd way of walking, often involving deliberate contortions.

Watch out for this after someone says Walk This Way. Also recall that one does not Silly Walk into Mordor.

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Examples:

Advertising

• This guy in a Levi's commercial.

Anime & Manga

• Edward from Cowboy Bebop seems incapable of walking normally. She will get around by either dancing, sauntering, rolling, crawling, or anything else. Heck, even when she does walk around somewhat normally, she tends to kick her feet forward in her stride while noodily waving her arms before her body.
• In Death Note, L's distinctive way of walking while slouching forward with his knees slightly bent is another one of the traits that Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba incorporated to his design (along with other strange quirks like sitting in a crouched position and holding objects with only his thumb and index) in order to make him the perfect rival of Light: as brilliant as him but the total opposite of his perfect image.
• Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu: When Bocchi is told to jump the hurdles, she takes it literally and jumps in regular interval while running. Later combined with her Human Hummingbird movements she does to prevent cramping up. One of her classmates ends up joining in.
• Satotz from Hunter × Hunter can seemingly run long distances and climb stairs with his knees and elbows locked.
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
  • Diamond is Unbreakable: Masazo Kinoto walks entirely making sure no one gets a full view of back by being against the wall or standing behind someone else.
  • Stone Ocean: Weather Report is a very tall, long-legged man which is emphasized by his form-fitting pants and the fact that he prefers walking tiptoes.
• One Piece:
  • Outrageous character designs are a noticeable part of Eiichiro Oda's style, so silly walking isn't a rare phenomenon.
  • There are Jango (moonwalk à la Michael Jackson), Doflamingo (who walks like a flamingo), Perona (who seemingly has pigeon toes), Miss Doublefinger (who sways her hips so hard that her legs zigzag in front of one another as she walks), and everyone from Long Leg Tribe.
  • Brook can run on water by wildly flailing his legs.

Comedy

• In one of stand-up routines on Bill Cosby: Himself, Bill Cosby talks about how every boy in his neighbourhood had to have their own "cool walk". He demonstrates his and, while the full effect is lost on the recorded version, the audience's reaction gives a good indication of exactly what this looked like.
• One routine by Larry the Cable Guy, when he talks about visiting Wal-Mart late at night and comments on the peculiar ambulation of the people found there, "It looked like the Department of Silly Walks in there!"

Films — Animation

• The Incredibles: Syndrome's walk was based on a person's deliberate attempt to cure a strange walk.

Films — Live-Action

• At the end of Austin Powers in Goldmember Scott Evil had one of these.
  Dr. Evil: I'd just like to point out that no one else in my gene pool runs like a girl.
• Robin Williams in The Birdcage and other times he's playing a homosexual character does a rather exaggerated mincing walk. Compared to Nathan Lane it's downright manly, though.
• Charlie Chaplin had an iconic wobbly walk. Probably one of the oldest and most iconic examples is the waddling gait of his Little Tramp, often accompanied by a twirl of his cane.
• Randal's "wrangle" into the Quick Stop in Clerks. Thereafter referred to by many fans as "the Randal strut".
• In Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams encourages each student to find his own walk, some of which are rather silly. One even exercises his right to not walk.
• Anyone playing Igor in a work based on Frankenstein does this, notably Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein.
• Gramps Is in the Resistance: Ludwig von Apfelstrudel has a weird way of walking, part goosestepping and part "legs giving way at the knees without warning". Explained in-universe by him having survived a bombing attempt and gone through physical therapy.
• Discussed, but not shown, in Grizzly Man when one of the interviewees mentions how Timothy Treadwell got into trouble at the restaurant he once worked at for doing one of these in front of customers.
• Life Is Beautiful: Guido, the hero, often performs a comically exaggerated and slowed-down goosestep as a mockery of Mussolini's Fascists and the Nazis. Used to poignant effect when Guido says good-bye to his son as the death camp guards lead him off to be shot.
• Torgo in Manos: The Hands of Fate has an odd gait meant to imply that he's a satyr with goat-like legs whose knees bend the wrong way.
• Groucho Marx has a distinctive walk, bending down low at the knees and taking large steps. This was an exaggeration of an outdated fad at the time. Groucho's walk was so distinctive that any gait requiring a low stance, such as for exercising or shooting, is called a "Groucho Walk" or similar term.
• Mickey Blue Eyes has a scene where the eponymous protagonist and his Mafia Princess love interest are running; she collapses in laughter, telling him to "stop doing the funny run" and he's embarrassed to admit that he wasn't doing it for comic effect; that's just how he runs.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Captain Jack Sparrow has a rather odd gait based on that of Keith Richards. He also has a silly run, known as "The Lizard Run" because he waves his hands around while he does it.
• The Three Stooges: Curly Howard had a limp caused by an accident as a child in which he shot himself in the foot. It did add comedic effect during scenes where he walked or ran, to whoever doesn't know the reason behind the silly walk.
• Eddie in To Have And Have Not walks with a limp that makes it look like he is desperately trying to make it to the toilet before he has an accident.

Literature

• Discworld: In Making Money, the Ambiguously Human accountant Mr. Bent has a unique walk, raising his feet high and setting them down flat like a slow goosestep. It foreshadows that he's actually a clown by birth.
• The "Black Hats"/Wogs in Robert A. Heinlein's The Number of the Beast have an extra joint in each limb, and without sophisticated prosthetics, they have a very odd shambling gait. Even with the prosthetics, they have a slightly detectable strange way of walking.
• In one of the Otto Stahl novels, our German anti-hero is being trained to impersonate a US soldier prior to the Battle of the Bulge. His instructor apparently believes that Americans Are Cowboys and encourages Stahl to adopt a hip-swinging saunter, causing Stahl to gripe that he feels like a male prostitute selling his ass on the Reeperbahn.
• The War Against the Chtorr.
  • Captain McCarthy is saddled with Major Bellus who accidentally walks near a grove of shambler trees: Man Eating Plants hosting an entire ecology of carnivorous symbiotes that swarm when they sense the vibrations of nearby prey. McCarthy points out that these vibrations are relayed by the creeper vines lying all around them, and the only way not to trigger them is to walk out of range at five meters per hour. Cue a Silly Walk that (as McCarthy enjoys pointing out to Bellus) is being relayed via cameras to an extensive internet audience hoping they'll die in an interesting and horrible fashion. Eventually Bellus breaks down under the strain and begs for his life, so to conclude this Humiliation Conga McCarthy walks out normally, saying they weren't in any danger as the shambler grove was uninhabited. This stunt destroys Bellus career; unfortunately it also earns McCarthy the ire of his superiors who try to get rid of him with an Uriah Gambit.
  • During Rage For Revenge, McCarthy gets suicidally stoned and wanders into a Chtorran nest where he has a weird dream in which Ted (a male former Love Interest who joined the Telepathy Corp) helps him back to his helicopter where he'll be safe. When McCarthy looks at the camera footage the next day to find out what happened, all he sees is himself doing a Silly Walk like someone else is controlling his body. McCarthy just puts this down to the drugs and doesn't consider the possibility that he's been secretly implanted by the Telepathy Corp.

Live-Action TV

• In Cycle 2 of America's Next Top Model Camille was criticized for her weird wobbly runway walk. She insisted it was her "signature walk" and that she would not change it.
• Frank Zappa has a memorable role as a hunchback in "The Boy Who Left Home to Learn About the Shivers," an episode of Faerie Tale Theatre. His bizarre walk has to be seen to be believed.^note The video has a small Shout-Out to Young Frankenstein for good measure.
• The serial killer Sqweegel, from CSI, employs an extremely creepy style of walk while sneaking around his intended victims' homes, going on all fours and alternately moving one hand and the opposite foot. Together with his black leather bodysuit and lithe build, it creates the visual impression of a crawling spider.
• In Fawlty Towers, Basil, played by John Cleese, evokes part of it and calls it "a funny walk" when he infamously tries to stop mentioning the war but performs a goose step in front of some German guests.
• Friends: After inviting her to go jogging, Rachel discovers that Phoebe runs by flailing her arms and legs around. When Rachel admits she's embarrassed to be seen next to her, Phoebe claims she just runs the way she did as a kid because it's more fun. The next time Rachel goes jogging she decides to try doing her own silly run which she really enjoys... until she runs into the side of a police horse.
• When George Jefferson (The Jeffersons) was in a cocky mood he had a rather silly way of walking where he would stick out his chest and swing his arms behind him. Sherman Hemsley would later reuse the walk for his character Deacon Frye in Amen.
• LazyTown's Robbie Rotten's trademark walk involves slouching heavily while flailing his arms and swaying his hips far harder than any person should deem necessary.
• Married... with Children gave us the famous "Peggy Bundy Walk." Katey Sagal later explained that it was the only way she could walk in the heels Peggy would wear.
• Monty Python's Flying Circus: The Trope Namer is the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch.
  • Because of the sketch's extreme popularity among fans, it's been requested of John Cleese so many times that he's reportedly entirely sick of it and has started to politely refuse. In an episode of the miniseries The Human Face talking about fame, he has an Indulgent Fantasy Segue of shooting a fan who requests it.
    • Even if he wanted to do it, he can't anymore due to age and hip replacement surgery.
    • In the Monty Python farewell show, the entire sketch was turned into a dance routine, but lacked John Cleese.
• One Foot in the Grave: "Oh no, here it comes, the Ministry of Silly Walks!"
• Pythagora Switch: The Algorithm March.
• Kryten of Red Dwarf is particularly strange, but not lampshaded till Series 7. Robert Llewellyn, Kryten's actor, came up with the walk during the audition... and when he learned Doug Naylor has a false leg, left the audition lamenting about how he'd blown his chance.
• Schitt's Creek: Bob has the most peculiar shuffling walk that is his character's signature trait.
• Taskmaster: In the "record the highest number of steps on this pedometer" task in "The 75th Question", Bridget Christie appears to not understand how pedometers work, and initially tries a ridiculous high-kicking motion. In "The House Queens", Christie's titular song has her dancing in a very similar way to her walk, which is immediately pointed out. Later in the episode, all five contestants perform Christie's walk/dance together during the credits.
• Arby the assassin from Utopia has a very peculiar, waddling gait, usually with his gun hanging carelessly at his side.

Music

• Madness: The band members on the album cover of One Step Beyond Album, where they walk directly behind each other. They also mimick this in the music video of "One Step Beyond".
• The music video for Louis Cole's "Weird Part of the Night" is absolutely littered with these, giving us such iconic shots such as the lead vocalist menacingly vibing towards a Foodmax.

Pro Wrestling

• The Bushwhackers are known for their odd manner of walking: holding their arms at right angles and swinging them up and down with each step. The Iron Sheik did a similar (albeit less exaggerated) version.
• When Vince McMahon makes his entrance, he likes to walk with his chest pumped out, swinging his arms back and forth. This is usually referred to as his "power" walk.
• Santino Marella speed walks to the ring as a parody of the Team Power Walk.
• Kairi Hojo's open handed march away from her opponent (preferably tied up in the corner) after which she returns backwards.

Radio

• Invoked in the I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 25th aniversary Reunion Show, which portrayed the post-Python John Cleese as obsessed with silly walks, and constantly attempting to work them into his film roles. ("In Silverado they wouldn't even let me hop! The part of the sheriff was crying out for it, but they wouldn't even let the horse do it!") He agrees to rejoin the Prune gang on condition he is allowed to use "the comedy legs", only for this to prove terrible radio.

Theatre

• This version of the "Monarch of the Sea" sequence from H.M.S. Pinafore has Sir Joseph think he's a velociraptor.

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: Loki has his Weapon Across the Shoulder while having a strict-tight walk when fighting in a battle.
• Batman: Arkham Asylum: The Joker in the DLC has a very unusual default walk — Milking the Giant Cow upstairs, Saturday Night Fever pimp-strut downstairs with more than a hint of Cockney / Madchester swagger thrown in. All part of the plan, of course.
• Castlevania: Most of the members of the Belmont family in the series walk in a very peculiar way that has since been dubbed the "Belmont walk" or "pimp walk," depending on whom you ask.
• Frank West of Dead Rising has a rather unusual gait. Earlier plans for the game would have him hurt his ankle when he jumps out of the helicopter at the very beginning; the plot point was dropped but the odd, gimpy walk was kept.
• Deltarune mostly has sensible walk cycles. However, when enacting her plan to escape the Fun Gang, Queen has a comically grotesque walk cycle that is seen for all of three seconds. Toby Fox admitted that he created Queen's exaggerated running animation for the gag because he thought it was funny.

• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, while most characters either charge, jump attack or fly into a clash, the Joker instead does an exaggerated stride with a crowbar in hand.
• Bonne Jenet of Garou: Mark of the Wolves walks with hands on her hips, swaying her ass. She runs more normally, except for the part where she waves. All part of being an Attention Whore.
• In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Deadpool has a sliding shuffle when walking forward (he looks like he's walking backwards) and moonwalks backward.
• Mega Man V: Venus the Stardroid, due to his crab design, cannot walk forward, but he can walk sideways. This forces him to turn about 90 degrees perpendicular to the desired direction in order to walk in the desired direction.
• In Messiah, when you possess a pimp, you walk with, well, an exaggerated pimp strut.
• In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Mela of Team Star walks in an awkward goose-step due to wearing boots that reach all the way past her knees. In the Indigo Disk DLC, where she's out of costume and wearing a normal school uniform she still walks in a goosestep.
• In Oddworld, the Glukkons have a comical way of walking where they shuffle with their feet, accompanied by a sound of xylophones. This is thanks to their biology where their legs are so comically small that they have to cover it up by wearing an outfit that emphasizes their imposing figure, which had the consequence of forcing them to shuffle underneath its conical opening, and can't risk increasing their walk speed without exposing their true appearance.
• The runner in QWOP runs like he has spasms. This is because the player is controlling his leg muscles individually, and likely not very well.
• All playable characters in Rogue Legacy walk by goosestepping around with their sword over their head.
• As part of the deep character customization in the Saints Row games, you can choose your walking style, and some of them are really out there. All running and jumping looks roughly the same.
• Amy Rose from Sonic Adventure is pigeon-toed, giving her a short stride and bouncy run which make her the least agile of the hedgehogs.
• Super Mario Maker: The Wii Fit Trainer costume has a walk cycle where she walks while simultaneously holding the dance yoga pose.

• In Team Fortress 2, crouching interacts with the standard animation cycle in strange ways, resulting in very silly walks. To wit:
  • Spy Crabbing◊ - as Spy, take out your disguise kit. Crouch, aim upwards, and walk. While you won't be able to see anything except the ceiling, to everyone else it looks like you're imitating a crab.
  • Pimp walk: As Demoman, have your melee weapon out, crouch, and look up. This gives the Demoman a very silly looking strut.
  • Disco Sniper: Crouch and then zoom in and out rapidly on your rifle. Sniper will then proceed to gyrate his hips rapidly.
• The protagonist of Treasure Master doesn't walk so much as exaggeratedly strut everywhere.◊
• "Stupid Walking" can be unlocked in West of Loathing from the start. The perk cycles your character through a whole variety of silly walks.

Web Animation

• Baman Piderman: The title characters walks like a baby taking its first steps. That said, they rarely even do anything that can be called walking.
• The main character in Not Stanley walks sideways in a crab-like manner with no arm movement.

Web Videos

• Agent Martinez from The Cry of Mann walks very stiffly, and moves forward by moving her entire body side-to-side and shuffling ahead.
• Jet Lag: The Game:
  • New Zealand has a curse that forces players to roll a die and take that many steps forward.
  • Japan has the Ice Tower that does the same thing as the New Zealand curse, and the Mud Tower that forces players to walk sideways.
• Stupid Mario Brothers: Mr. Redhead in this episode.
• The Spy is makin his way downtown.◊
• From the Vlogbrothers, say hello to the Hank Gait (starting at 0:24 seconds in).
• Walking! with Cory Williams and his friend.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series: Enraged that Joey botched a romantic moment with Mai, Téa yells at him for ruining her shipping fantasies and walks off like a pimp.

Western Animation

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force: In "Party All The Time", Andrew W.K. walks while singing into a microphone.
• Classic Disney Shorts:
  • Goofy had a distinctive walk in the 1930s, with his knees bending backward and his feet swiveling nearly all the way around. It carried over into Kingdom Hearts. It's particularly noticeable in the Timeless River.
  • Donald Duck has a distinctly duck-like waddle, which also carried over into Kingdom Hearts.
• Cow and Chicken: The Red Guy often 'walks' on his buttocks when crossing large distances. When he's in a hurry, he's just rolling.
• Dinosaur Train: Iggy Iguanodon demonstrates that ornithopods can walk on two legs or four by doing a variety of walks, such as a conga or pretending to be a dancer.
• The titular characters in Ed, Edd n Eddy. In fact, the first teaser for the series consisted of the Edds just walking and running around:
  • Ed runs with his body bent 90 degrees to the ground and leaning backward. Edd attempts it while imitating him but just falls backwards.
  • Edd runs with bolt upright posture, with his arm hooked inward. One would assume, with Edd's scientific mind, he does this to lower wind resistance. But this posture actually would maximize his wind resistance.
  • Eddy runs at a 90 degree angle like Ed, except leaning forward.
• Zoidberg from Futurama does a kind of scuttle, albeit during his more quirky moments. Justified in that he's basically a crab with an octopus for a face.
• Kaeloo: In the episode "Let's Play Hot-Cold", Mr. Cat attempts to teach Stumpy how to impress girls. Part of his act involves strutting around like a deranged rooster with a ridiculous smile on his face.
• King Rollo never goes anywhere without flailing his arms wildly.
• Looney Tunes: Marvin the Martian's distinctive shuffling walk.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: All the other ponies will trot or gallop. Pinkie will bounce, complete with unique sound effect. The name for this gait is "pronking" and there arguably could not be a better word for how Pinkie Pie travels.
• Ruby Gloom: In "Hair(less): The Musical", while singing "I Tried to Fit In", Skull Boy does an exaggerated walk where he's leaning back while taking large steps, at one point pausing to lean forward on one foot while holding the other behind him and to the side before sweeping it around in a wide circle to the front, shifting his weight toward the back again to resume the gait.
• The Teaser of the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "The Sponge Who Could Fly" pulls a trolling moment on Patchy, passing off an animation in which SpongeBob walks in very silly ways down a CG-rendered street as a complete new episode, before letting him know and moving on to the episode proper.
• Alejandro in Total Drama All Stars moves by using his hands, until it's revealed that his legs are healed after all, although he still does that in order to keep Heather's guard down and to avoid letting his fellow villians see him as a threat in order to vote him off as part of a Wounded Gazelle Gambit up until Nobody Egg-spects the Spanish Opposition.

Real Life

• The guards at the Government Palace in Lima have a rather bizarre walk, as seen during the changing of the guards. Having them march in time to "O Fortuna" makes it all the more surreal.
• Tiptoeing is a very silly way to stealthily move (as opposed to a more Boring, but Practical crouch walk).
• Woodcocks have very particular bobbing walks; it's meant to disturb the soil enough for worms to make themselves known, but it mostly looks like they just can't stop dancing wherever they go.

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