Basic Trope: Someone who shows (almost) no emotion, regardless of what happens.
- Straight:
- Sam generally shows little to no emotions in most situations, as he prefers to hide his true feelings behind a super-serious facade.
- Emotionless Girl
- Exaggerated:
- Sam never shows any emotions, whatsoever. Even when his wife Alice fell sick, when his daughter Claire had her first birthday, during holidays, when his sister has an accident, when his cat dies, or his life is in imminent danger...
- Sam never shows any emotions, not because he's hiding them, but because he's completely incapable of feeling anything. He may as well be like a cold-hearted, soulless robot.
- Downplayed:
- Sam does show emotion, but not to the same extent as his peers. When the situation calls to be happy, whereas other people would be cheering and have their arms in the air, Sam just has a slight smile. Or, when the situation calls to be angry, whereas other people would be shouting and making spit fly everywhere, Sam just gives a Death Glare.
- In a World of Ham, Sam is either normal or makes do with Cold Ham.
- Justified:
- Sam has found it... easier to not be overly emotional, either because he's just that professional, or because of an event in his past, but either way he has an easier time coping by being stoic.
- Sam is a strict adherent of a philosophy that demands suppression of emotions.
- Sam has No Social Skills and never learned how to react to things in ways others expect him to.
- Sam had a cranial injury that has destroyed his ability to feel or emote.
- Sam comes from a race where emotion is either suppressed or nonexistent.
- Sam is an extremely powerful sorcerer who suppresses his emotion, because otherwise he will lose control of his powers.
- Sam has a disorder that makes it difficult for him to express his emotions.
- Sam is Emotionally Tongue-Tied.
- Sam is simply the kind of person who takes a lot to visibly emote simply because he's that composed.
- Inverted: Sam is a Hot-Blooded Large Ham who enjoys Chewing the Scenery, and letting everyone hear whatever he's thinking and feeling out loud.
- Sam has a Hair-Trigger Temper, is whiny, or a Nervous Wreck.
- Subverted: Sam starts showing his emotions to his True Companions, showing himself to have a Sugar-and-Ice Personality.
- Double Subverted: ...Except it was just that his stoic facade fell for a moment.
- ...HA HA HA—No
- Parodied:
- Sam is so silent, he doesn't even react to the most ridiculous of circumstances.
- All of Sam's reactions are ridiculously inexpressive, ex. When tickled, he only responds "Ha ha ha" in a stoic manner.
- Zig Zagged: Sam has multiple personalities, which means he'll be stoic sometimes, highly emotional, other times, and yet other times, right in the middle.
- Averted: Sam was never stoic. He emotes just as much as the rest of the cast.
- Enforced:
- "Alice is extremely Hot-Blooded, so let's have Sam be a contrast to that."
- Sam's actor is Playing Against Type due to being known as a Large Ham, so this performance allows him to show He Really Can Act.
- Lampshaded: "You know, Sam, normal people would be whooping and cheering right now."
- Exploited: The Big Bad relies on transforming into the things that scare the heroes the most to defeat them. Sam's stoicism makes it so the Big Bad has no idea what he fears, allowing Bob to defeat him.
- Invoked: Sam adopts a stoic facade so the Big Bad is unable to figure out what he is thinking.
- Defied: Sam's friends and family try their hardest to turn Sam into a kuudere.
- Discussed: "I wonder if Sam actually feels anything, or he really is that unemotional."
- Conversed: "How does Sam hide his emotions so well?"
- Deconstructed:
- Sam's stoicism makes others view him as unapproachable, and his unemotional attitude to everything unnerves even those who try to befriend him, driving Sam into isolation and loneliness.
- Sam's lack of emotional expression comes from the traumatic experiences of his past, and he suppressed his emotions so they wouldn't overwhelm him.
- Sam's creepily apathetic attitude, callousness when others are hurt, and utter lack of remorse whenever he harms or even kills others to further his goals, is a sign that something is very wrong with him.
- Reconstructed:
- Sam lives and fits in with a society where stoicism is the norm and his ways are accepted.
- Sam gets therapy, and over time starts to open up to those around him.
- Played For Laughs: Sam acts cool and collected all the time, even in the most ludicrous situations.
- Played For Drama: In a moment where his stoic facade drops, Sam reveals that he's stoic because he doesn't want pity for the awful things that have happened to him.
Let's go back to The Stoic, but in the meantime, try to show a little feeling.
