About: Staring Down Cthulhu   Sponge Permalink

An Entity of Type : owl:Thing, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

When a character is faced with a creature that should have him running away or cowering in fear -- or which could at least finish him off with one bite -- but instead beats it in an impromptu Staring Contest. But... wait. Despite having every reason to do so, The Hero hasn't turned her head in fear or closed her eyes to Face Death with Dignity. She just stares straight ahead. And she keeps staring, unaffected, unafraid; at the hungry lions, at the Complete Monster, even at that hideous, inhuman thing. They keep staring. The seconds tick by. And the forces of evil start to squirm a little bit.

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  • Staring Down Cthulhu
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  • When a character is faced with a creature that should have him running away or cowering in fear -- or which could at least finish him off with one bite -- but instead beats it in an impromptu Staring Contest. But... wait. Despite having every reason to do so, The Hero hasn't turned her head in fear or closed her eyes to Face Death with Dignity. She just stares straight ahead. And she keeps staring, unaffected, unafraid; at the hungry lions, at the Complete Monster, even at that hideous, inhuman thing. They keep staring. The seconds tick by. And the forces of evil start to squirm a little bit.
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abstract
  • When a character is faced with a creature that should have him running away or cowering in fear -- or which could at least finish him off with one bite -- but instead beats it in an impromptu Staring Contest. Picture the scenario: The Hero is cornered by the villain. Forget civility, reason, logic, God, this is serious. The Sealed Evil in a Can is about to be opened on the world, probably in the form of an Eldritch Abomination. The villain is locking the hero in a Cool Gate to Another Dimension with no chance of return. The Gladiator Games have commenced and it's one unarmed, wounded person against a whole pride of hungry lions. And there's nothing anyone can do. There's no backup, no escape, no Big Damn Heroes. All is lost, the world is undone, the lions are going to eat good tonight, etc. HE COMES. But... wait. Despite having every reason to do so, The Hero hasn't turned her head in fear or closed her eyes to Face Death with Dignity. She just stares straight ahead. And she keeps staring, unaffected, unafraid; at the hungry lions, at the Complete Monster, even at that hideous, inhuman thing. They keep staring. The seconds tick by. And the forces of evil start to squirm a little bit. They lions don't move in for the kill. The villain stops his insane cackling. The Ultimate Evil... hesitates. The hero, through sheer Badass, has intimidated something which had an infinitely superior advantage over him. Where the situation goes from here depends. Perhaps the bad guy turns tail and runs away. Maybe the hero's staredown has distracted the villain long enough for The Cavalry to arrive or the Big Damn Heroes to show up. Or maybe the villain gets over it and kills the hero after all, but they -- and the audience -- will remember that the hero may have died but he was never defeated. A sure sign of the character being Badass. Overlaps with Death Glare. If the hero goes out staring down and intimidating his killer, it's a good candidate for a Dying Moment of Awesome.
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