History Main / ContemplativeBoss

* ''SchlockMercenary'': Reverend Theo Phobius in [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2010-12-14 this strip]].

* ''{{Fearless}}'': Huo Yuanjia's long-estranged friend strikes the pose when turning down a request to lend him money. On a later encounter, their reconciliation is illustrated by his turning from the window to face him as Huo enters the room.

* So does Xykon, briefly, in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0662.html this strip]] of ''TheOrderOfTheStick''.

* ''{{Farscape}}''

* Lord Galcian from ''SkiesOfArcadia'' does this a lot.

[[caption-width-right:286:He's not looking at you, but he sees you all.]]

* A favorite pose of Dr. Nambu aka Chief Anderson, Dr. Brighthead, Dr. Keane of the much dubbed ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman franchise. He was usually looking at fish out the window (porthole?) of the team's underwater headquarters.

[[folder:Comics]]

* [[{{Superman}} Lex Luthor]] has done this in the comics. Many times.

* [[spoiler: Ozymandias]] in ''{{Watchmen}}'' proves he's CharlesAtlasSuperpower incarnate by basically doing this ''while fighting two superheroes''. When his RightHandCat joins the scene and the fight ends, he continues while walking his corridors.

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]

* ''{{The Sound of Music}}'': Captain Von Trapp.
* Similar to a Greatroom scene, where the higher-up gazes into the fire instead of looking at the protagonist, a la ''TheBigLebowski''.

* ''TronLegacy'': Clu when he has Sam brought to him.
* Aragorn is in this pose in Arwen's flashforward vision on the road to the Grey Havens.

* ''{{Discworld}}'': Vetinari does this a lot as part of his "Evil" Overlord trappings.
** He particularly likes the "tell me what you see" line while looking over the city, which generally leads to his companion saying something like [[CompletelyMissingThePoint "fog?" or "a very large bird?"]].
** 'Had I been taken ''less literally'', you would have said...'
* Very, ''very'' subverted in a a short story whose name shall be forever lost to the cosmos. One of the main characters is shown into a study for a meeting with one of her political rivals, who does this and says something like 'ah, I was wondering when you would get here' in true melodramatic ContemplativeBoss fashion. She shoots him in the back.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* In ''{{Farscape}}'', Scorpius would occasionally do this with the bay windows overlooking the hangar on his command carrier. Grayza did this as well at the climax of "La Bomba".
** A variation occurs during Scorpius' exile aboard Moya: in this case, whenever Crichton bothered to speak to him face-to-face, Scorpius would almost always be lying on his bunk, staring at the ceiling.

* [=LeChuck=] is introduced doing this in ''{{The Secret of Monkey Island}}''.
* The trailer/opening for ''TheMatrix'' MMORPG had Morpheus with his back to the camera at all times during the opening narration, looking out windows and rooftops, and jumping away when the camera got close, ''at least'' three times.
* Lord Galcian from ''{{Skies of Arcadia}}'' does this a lot.
* In ''{{Raidou Kuzunoha vs the Soulless Army}}'', when you encounter Munakata for the last time, he spends quite a length of time turned away from you as he speaks, only turning to you to pull off TheReveal.

* When he isn't looking at you with his creepy, creepy eyes, The Illusive Man from ''{{Mass Effect}} 2'' does this a lot. Can't blame him though, his view is awesome.

* [[BigBad Lacroix]] once in [[VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines Bloodlines]], before revealing he posted a bloodhunt on [[spoiler: Nines]].

* In ''MassEffect2'', Aria spends part of her initial conversation with Shepard like this, staring out over the Afterlife nightclub while s/he is getting scanned. Once Aria confirms Shepard's identity, though, she warms up (relatively speaking) and turns to face him/her.

* So does Xykon, briefly, in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0662.html this strip]] of ''{{The Order of the Stick}}''.

* ''{{Wakfu}}'': Nox at the end of episode 24, contemplating the Sadida kingdom he's about to attack from the window of his giant clockwork mecha.

* Colonel Halcyon and Commodore Tolwyn in ''{{Wing Commander}}'' 1 & 2, respectively.

* Very, ''very'' subverted in a short story I read once. One of the main characters is shown into a study for a meeting with one of her political rivals, who does this and says something like 'ah, I was wondering when you would get here' in true melodramatic ContemplativeBoss fashion. She shoots him in the back.

** In the page picture, from ''[[FiftyTwo 52]]'', he's watchign dozens of people plummet to their deaths form the skies of Metropolis. [[MoralEventHorizon He caused it to happen.]]

* A favorite pose of Dr. Nambu aka Chief Anderson, Dr. Brighthead, Dr. Keane of the much dubbed ScienceNinjaTeamGatchamant franchise. He was usually looking at fish out the window (porthole?) of the team's underwater headquarters.

If the other character is a trusted lieutenant or confidant, the senior figure may ask them to look out the window and "Tell me what you see" in order to segue into making a point.

[[quoteright:286:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Contemplative_boss.jpg]]

* ''Brutally'' subverted in a short story I read once. One of the main characters is shown into a study for a meeting with one of her political rivals, who does this. She proceeds to shoot him in the back and later comments on just how stupid this trope is.

* ''SchlockMercenary'': Reverend Theo Phobius in [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/ this strip]].

* Director Kakuzawa from ''ElfenLied''.

* Roy Mustang, ''Fullmetal Alchemist'' is usually seen sitting at his desk contemplatively with his fingertips steepled.