History Main / DullSurprise

[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools That said, the trope does have its uses]]. An entire branch of acting called "minimalist" goes on the assumption that it's actually much easier to overact, and underplaying a performance can create more emotional peaks and valleys for the character to express. In specific scenes this look may be used to convey a sense that the character is experiencing something genuinely incomprehensible, where they don't have the faintest idea how to react. Or that the character in question is [[TheStoic utterly unflappable]], even in the face of the most astonishing events, or has gone through the wringer [[SeenItAll one time too many]].

*** "More Than Meets the Eye, part 3" has a scene where Ravage is allowed to escape captivity as part of a gambit by the Autobots; when Optimus responds to news of the escape with "Perfect", the four characters who told him all react with bored, open-mouthed looks on their faces.
*** Ironhide also reacts this way in "Starscream's Brigade" to the news of Powerglide having spotted Jazz and Cliffjumper's whereabouts after they get kidnapped.

* This happens a lot in ''Manga/{{Gantz}}''. One the most obvious examples is [[http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/9506/001wv.jpg this panel]] from chapter 303.

* Creator/ChanningTatum and Creator/SiennaMiller in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''. Their roles could have been played with cardboard cutouts and tape recorders and nobody would have noticed the difference.

* The supposed dullness of Canadians, at a time it would have otherwise been a discredited stereotype, was one of the sticking points in Petey Williams's interactions with Wrestling/AustinAries in Wrestling/RingOfHonor and Wrestling/ScottSteiner in [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]]. Whether or not these programs actually helped him becoming more charismatic or not is a matter of debate. Half the crowd agreed with Aries in ROH.

* [[Wrestling/ImpactWrestling TNA]]'s financial backers go out of business, Wrestling/JeffJarrett makes a deal with Panda Energy that involves making company heiress Dixie Carter owner, Jarrett figures out how to turn a profit with a Spike TV Television deal, Dixie Carter decides she wants to be on tv too and shows none of her excitement on camera...she was a mixed blessing.

* Speaking of InNameOnly ECW and [=McIntyre=], [[Wrestling/TarynTerrell Tiffany]] is perhaps the most infamous female example in the English market. Unlike most charisma pits, it's not a lack of conviction in her voice but rather as much-enthusiasm-given-to-each-and-every-word-as-possible-often-with-a-static-expression-that-makes-her-promos-look-and-sound-forced. Indeed "dull" surprise may not be the right words to describe her, but Tiffany's body is an incredibly inefficient machine when it comes to transferring that energy to an audience. Taryn Terrell spoke a little better in Wrestling/{{TNA}}, with it having less scripted promos, but in physical action she still seemed pretty automated when doing anything other than wrestle, such as her referee stint.

* Wrestling/RomanReigns of Wrestling/TheShield and Wrestling/TheAuthority is [[SpearCounterpart like a male Made]], [[TheBrute only]] he's [[TheBigGuy big]] enough not to need to be expressive. His laconic contributions to promos served him [[{{Foil}} well enough]] alongside the insane BigBadWannabe Wrestling/DeanAmbrose and gleefully obnoxious Wrestling/SethRollins, and might have even done him well on his own. Still someone either insists or has somehow convinced the man extended promos are something he should be doing, no matter how many times audiences lets him know otherwise.

* In the American UsefulNotes/{{Super N|intendo Entertainment System}}ES version of ''VideoGame/FinalFight'', when you destroy the car in the car destroying minigame, the owner of the car will come out and say "Oh, my car.", which he's supposed to be yelling, judging by the Japanese version's "Oh! My god!" and the subtitles "OH! MY CAR" which lack a second punctuation mark.

* Used intentionally in ''VideoGAme/GadgetPastAsFuture'' where nearly every character will discuss topics such as being brutally tortured, fearing the dictatorship of the Empire where they live, and plans to save as many people as they can from an incoming asteroid, all the while having wall-eyed expressions that ''occasionally'' come across as melancholoic. The game's creator, [[WordOfGod Haruhiko Shono, once stated]] that this was not only a result of technical limitations of the time but was something that the developers embraced in order to show the effects of the authoritarian government they are subjected to, leaving them unable or afraid to show emotion out of fear of judgement from others. The one character to avert this, Paulo Orlovsky, has a perpetual PsychoticSmirk on his face, as he is the root cause of all this oppression. The doll-like rigidity of the characters helps contribute to the unnerving UncannyValley atmosphere the game is going for.