History Main / ContemplateOurNavels

** The episode "The Guru" is an entire episode of this, at least while Aang is on screen. That he is unable to continue his passive detachment when faced with visions of his loved ones in danger means he ends up IncompletelyTrained (for a brief but significant period at least)

Not to be confused with [[UsefulNotes/NavalGazing Contemplating Our Navy]]. If the viewers get to contemplate a character's navel, it's NavelWindow or perhaps BareMidriffsAreFeminine.

* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "The Groovy Guru", Max and 99 have to infiltrate a hippie cult, and the guru tells them to contemplate their navels. Max immediately checks out a hippie chick in a BareYourMidriff outfit only for the guru to retort, "Your OWN navel!" 99 then pretends she's seeing visions, causing Max to complain that she has a widescreen navel.

Not to be confused with [[UsefulNotes/NavalGazing Contemplating Our Navy]]. If the viewers get to contemplate a character's navel, it's either BareYourMidriff or NavelWindow.

->'''The Warden''': What did you want to talk about, Alistair?\\
'''Morrigan''': His navel, it seems. He's certainly been contemplating it enough.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'':

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' features this in episode 23, Brain Scratch, where the climax of the episode is villain Londes' lengthy speech on the philosophical nature of television.

[[folder:Film]]

* The entire film ''WesternAnimation/WakingLife''.

When contemplating his or her navel, a character will sit quietly and contemplate the purpose of [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Life, the Universe, and Everything]]. In visual media, this can be accompanied by surreal visuals (sometimes an excuse to recycle material from previous episodes). In written media, this can involve long, [[InnerMonologue usually internal]] monologues.

When the moment becomes significant as an energizing, self-motivating speech, it is a NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech. When a character frequently indulges in navel contemplating, he's ThePhilosopher.

* Wiki/{{SCP|Foundation}}-[[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-058 058]] is a bovine heart with legs and tentacles that attacks everything while spouting philosophical-sounding gibberish.

* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "The Groovy Guru", Max and 99 have to infiltrate a hippy cult, and the guru tells them to contemplate their navels. Max immediately looks over at a hippy chick in a BareYourMidriff outfit only for the guru to retort, "Your OWN navel!" 99 then pretends she's seeing visions, causing Max to complain that she has a widescreen navel.

* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "The Groovy Guru", Max and 99 have to infiltrate a hippie cult, and the guru tells them to contemplate their navels. Max immediately looks over at a hippy chick in a BareYourMidriff outfit only for the guru to retort, "Your OWN navel!" 99 then pretends she's seeing visions, causing Max to complain that she has a widescreen navel.

* Literal example; in one episode of ''Series/GetSmart'' where Max infiltrated a group of both male and female hippies. The guru told all the hippies there to contemplate the navel. The Guru had to tell Max [[BareYourMidriff "Your OWN Navel"]]

* In ''[[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/gamer/ Captain Gamer: OOC]]'', [[StreetFighter Sakura]] questions the Captain's commitment to personal justice. It leads to an 88-panel discussion of identity that completely blows the top off a long-running theme in the entire first arc.

* Batman 041 featured an [[http://i.imgur.com/qtKiqqJ.png attempt at navel gazing,]] done in Scott Snyder's [[DeconstructedTrope now familiar]] [[SubvertedTrope style.]] "Batman" then goes on to try to continue his entire inner monologue in "Bat-syle", literally thinking to himself "Bat-thoughts."

* In the ''Comicbook/RoboCopVersusTheTerminator'' graphic novel, ''the Terminators'' do this, since [=RoboCop=] is essentially a divine being to them (as in this continuity, he was an integral part of [=SkyNet's=] creation). It gets really weird when they start discussing the fact that he doesn't want to help them.

* [[WeaponizedTrope Weaponized]] by [[MadScientist Brainstorm]] in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye''. He built an existential gun that, when accidentially used on [[ButtMonkey Pipes]] caused such a bad case of ennui that he almost shrugged himself to death.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'''s popular staple in the comic was the characters sitting in a dandelion field while analyzing whether THIS latest popculture event will inspire the end of the world, or that will. Most especially with Binkley, who was known for having panic attacks on the idea of reincarnating as a toaster.
* Calvin, from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', has a tendency to do this. They tend to cap off with him going off a cliff in his wagon, attacking or being attacked by others, or some outside event otherwise intervening.
[[/folder]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'''s Orks are a subversion of this - one of the quotes in their codex postulates that they've become so successful ''because'' of the fact that they don't bother with the heavy philosophical questions that plague other races and just stick to shooting or smashing things in the face.

** Admittedly in the movie the English translation made it sound a lot more like an AuthorFilibuster than the Japanese original seemed to intend - the Major was definitely not sure of herself in the Japanese voicing, yet seemed to be talking directly to the viewer in the English one.
** Similarly, Batou goes on a lot of philosophical ramblings in the novel ''After the long Goodbye'', which is a sequel (or prequel?) to ''Innocence''. He too isn't really sure about anything, questions if he himself has a soul or not and why Gabriel has left him, often thinking of reasons more emotional than rational and reflects on the beliefs of other characters he meets.

** Gundam 00 is heavy on this in the same way as ''Gundam Wing''. In fact, in ''Gundam 00'', it appears that all the most awesome battles are the ones with most dialogue. The more epic the battle is, the more dialogue there is. Especially the final battle in Season 1 between Setsuna and Graham, where they argue about quite a lot of serious subjects in less than three minutes, and actually manage to get over ''every single detail'' about Graham and Setsuna's relationship, as well as a few other things! All while chopping eachother's mobile suit to pieces.

*** Nearly everyone in [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Wing]] does this ALOT. Whether it be the Gundam pilots themselves, everyday run-of-the-mill soldiers, rebels, or just politics. Zechs Marquise tends to do it the most, after Treize.
** Gundam 00 is heavy on this in the same way as Gundam Wing. In fact, in Gundam 00, it appears that all the most awesome battles are the ones with most dialogue. The more epic the battle is, the more dialogue there is. Especially the final battle in Season 1 between Setsuna and Graham, where they argue about quite a lot of serious subjects in less than three minutes, and actually manage to get over ''every single detail'' about Graham and Setsuna's relationship, as well as a few other things! All while chopping eachother's mobile suit to pieces.

What are you looking at? A plothole?

* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series has had a history of existential angst ever since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where the main heroine Terra finds out she's a HalfHumanHybrid and deals with the weight of the knowledge. Every game in the main franchise since then has dealt with identity issues and such to some extent.
** Used [[Narm/FinalFantasy unintentionally hilariously]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' when [[TheHero Squall]] monologues about how he doesn't want people to talk about him after he dies and then shouts "I won't have it! I won't have anyone talk about me in the past tense!" which makes sense... until you realize that the entire monologue just took place ''in his head''.

* Robert Asprin's later ''Literature/MythAdventures'' books started to do this more and more.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya''

* Negi of ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' does this on occasion, primarily during the Mahora festival arc, where he contemplates whether or not maintaining TheMasquerade is the right thing to do. It's subverted as he never really finds an answer, and decides to maintain it simply because the BigBad can't prove that breaking the Masquerade is worth screwing over some of the mages.

* ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'': As a child, [[IJustWantToBeNormal Iceland]] spent a lot of time wondering about the nature of his existence. It makes sense, considering that he was [[FriendlessBackground born alone]], and had no [[AnthropomorphicPersonification other nation]] around to explain anything to him.

* The ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' fanfic ''FanFic/AnEndToAllThings'' features Okazaki doing this periodically.
* Terrance, in the WesternAnimation/SouthPark fanfic ''Fanfic/TheBalladOfStootAndArgyle'', combines Contemplate Our navels with {{Gayngst}} in his internal monologues. It's not a very healthy combination.

* The [[MoeAnthropomorphism ship girls]] in ''FanFic/KancolleAlt'' sometimes [[DoAndroidsDream question their origins and contemplate life questions]], the three guiding principles of strength which are talent, potential and experience, as well as the nature of reincarnation and the yin-yang nature of ship girls and Abyssals.

When the moment becomes significant as an energizing, self-motivating speech, it is a WorldOfCardboardSpeech. When a character frequently indulges in navel contemplating, he's ThePhilosopher.

* [[DarkAndTroubledPast Cloud]] gets into the habit of this during ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' as part of his gloomy, depressive phase from the loss of his two closest allies [[spoiler: Zack and Aerith]].

* [[DarkAndTroubledPast Cloud]] gets into the habit of this during ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' as part of his gloomy, depressive phase from the loss of his two close allies.