Flirty Voice Ploy

Torian Cadera: (holding the player character at gunpoint) Thought you'd be harder to get the drop on.
Female Bounty Hunter: ([Flirt] dialogue option) I was just eager to see you again after Dromund Kaas.
Torian: (starts to lower his blaster) You what—?
Female Bounty Hunter: (grabs his arm and judo-flips him over her shoulder, getting him at gunpoint) Men... Time to tell me what you're doing out here.

— Star Wars: The Old Republic

There are many ways to talk to someone to get them to do something you want. There's gentle persuasion. Nagging. Threats.

And then there's the flirty tone of voice, where a character puts all of their sex appeal into their tone in order to manipulate someone.

This is a trope that can be applied to both genders, but men tend to have a higher failure rate, at least in the realm of fictional works, particularly if they were low on sex appeal to begin with. Once associated with The Vamp and The Tease, these days even a Nice Girl can use the flirty voice to get her way.

In manga or comic books, they might Say It with Hearts or musical notes in the word balloon.

This tactic can fail if the recipient is Above the Influence, of an Incompatible Orientation, or simply isn't interested in them romantically.

An invoked form of Distracted by the Sexy, and subtrope to Show Some Leg and Eyelash Fluttering. Compare I Have Boobs, You Must Obey! for the more-physical way to get someone's attention. May overlap with Heroic Seductress or Honey Trap if applied to female archetypes who utilize the flirty voice as one of their seduction methods. If the voice has hypnotic powers, then it's Compelling Voice, though there can be overlap. It can overlap with Aroused by Their Voice, if someone is aware of how the recipient feels about their voice.

For reasons of pragmatism, No Real Life Examples, Please!

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Haruhi Suzumiya
  • Ryoko Asakura in "Disappearance" uses this on Kyon when she asks him to be the go between for the class and Haruhi.
    Ryoko: (coquettish pose) Pretty please.
  • The human version of Ryoko pulls this in The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan in the first episode.
    Ryoko: (holding several grocery bags) My hands hurt. Carry these for me?
  • Once Kyon is holding the bags, she lunges forward, putting her cold hands on his face to warm them up. Kyon struggles, to which she once again uses her flirty tone.
    Ryoko: Now, now. Don't thrash around. You don't want to smash the eggs.
• My-HiME gives us Nao, who uses this skill as part of her Enjo Kosai routine, with the twist being that she intends to use her powers to rob her "clients" blind.
• Princess Resurrection has Reiri Kamura, vampire. And she used a flirty tone with Hiro to draw him in so she could turn him and send him after Hime, and she also used it with Hime while planning to drink her blood.
• Ranma ½ has the titular Ranma frequently using a flirty tone and various wigs and costumes to try and deceive Ryoga. Ranma once posed as Ryoga's fiance to distract him.
• Teasing Master Takagi-san has the titular Takagi, who will frequently used the teasing voice ploy to distract Nishikata in their ongoing (one-sided) prank war. Interestingly enough, she actually is interested in Nishikata, but she delights in teasing him for his reactions, and counts on him not realizing that there's actually something to her flirting.

Comic Books

• Sovereign Seven has an issue where Power Girl is fighting Guy Gardner, who for complicated reasons, doesn't believe she is who she says she is. At one point during their fight, she calls out "Oh Guy," Complete with a flirty musical note in the word balloon. She then uses this to deliver a "Hey, You!" Haymaker.

Films — Animation

• Holli Would from Cool World adopts a cooing, velvety voice to get Jack (now a cartoon superhero) to hand over the Spike to her. It works, as Jack almost hands over the Spike to Holli. Only a 'toon goon gloating at the hand-over foils Holli from fusing Toon Town and the real world together permanently.
• Used to great effect by Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
  Jessica Rabbit: I'm not bad. I'm just drawn that way.
• The Secret of NIMH has a scene where Mrs. Brisby is trying to get rid of Jeremy, who insists on helping her. He says he can't leave her alone, because if something were to happen to her, think of the children! Mrs. Brisby has a flash of inspiration, and uses her soft, feminine voice to butter up the crow:
  Mrs. Brisby: Jeremy! Someone strong should be protecting my children. In case that tractor starts up again.

Films — Live-Action

• Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: Parodied with Bad "Bad Acting" when Bethany tries to coach Martha on flirting with some guards as a distraction. Martha's attempt at a smoky voice sounds more like a smoker's voice, while the flirtatious Hair Flip makes her look Limp and Livid.
• Small Sacrifices has Diane Downs, in custody after being sentenced to three life terms, try to get flirty with one of the deputies in the prison van. Her cooing falls on deaf ears, as the man knows just how depraved and manipulative Diane can be.

Literature

• Spice and Wolf: Holo uses a flirty tone to cover her true activities. A group from a rival trading faction are poised right outside of the door to their room at the inn, and they're there with bad intent. Fortunately, Holo's hearing caught them before they could put their plans in motion. She whispers to Lawrence what is going on, then, she throws open the window to facilitate their escape. Knowing that this will alert their foes, she covers it by calling to Lawrence, "Perhaps you should take advantage and admire my body in the moonlight!"

Live-Action TV

• Burn Notice: Discussed in "False Flag" by the Monster of the Week, a hitwoman named Evelyn that Michael's tangled with before and has a crush on him.
  Evelyn: You know what I love about Miami? Apart from you, of course. The cheap labor. You know, I can get a kid off the street to do a hit for about, mmm, a grand. Well, if I flirt with him a little.
• Castle:
  • "Always Buy Retail", features a male example from our lead, Richard Castle. Beckett has been teasing him through the episode with his ex-wife's Embarrassing Nickname for him. So after he saved her from the killer of the week, he tells her she owes him.
    Beckett: Owe you what?
    Castle: Whatever I want. (flirty tone) And you know what I want. You know exactly what I want. (whispers in her ear) Never ever call me "kitten". (walks off while Beckett bites her lower lip)
  • Beckett will sometimes use a Flirty Voice to distract suspects or get information out of informants. On one occasion, she had gone undercover to find a drug dealer who was a person of interest in their investigation. She tells him in a flirty tone that she wants something to feel "Shiny".
• Doctor Who
  • Series 5, "Victory of the Daleks", Amy strikes up a flirty tone with Bracewell to stir up the human emotions he has, and thus defusing the Oblivion Continuum that the Daleks had installed in their Android creation.
  • Inverted in the Series 6 episode, "Day of the Moon". The Doctor is so involved in flirting with River Song that he's forgetting that he's there to rescue Amy and stop The Silence.
    Amy: Is this really important flirting? Because I feel that I should be higher on the list!
• Firefly has recurring foe "Saffron" (not her real name, but the alias she's known by best). In her debut episode, she plays The Ingenue and seduces pretty much half the male crew into a trap, and then, attempts to seduce Inara who sees through her act and tells her that her skills are quite good.
• The George Lopez Show: Invoked and Played for Laughs in one episode in which Angie tries to help George with his dyslexia by reading Max's textbook to him in a sultry, seductive tone. His response is to ask her to help him with some papers from his job.
• Gilligan's Island: Mary-Ann and especially Ginger could engage in a Flirty Voice Ploy to get whatever they wanted, particularly if the target of their efforts was Gilligan. One of the earliest examples was in the second episode, when Ginger was acting particularly sultry towards Gilligan in order to borrow tools from him after the Skipper had told him not to loan any out.
• Leverage:
  • Grifter Sophie Devereux includes a Flirty Voice Ploy in nearly half the characters she plays against the various marks.
  • In another episode, Eliot tries to flirt with a police detective to get information that they need. Eliot is usually highly successful with women, but in this instance, it proves to be a case of Incompatible Orientation, as the detective tells him it would work better if Sophie tried it. Sophie, for her part, seems flattered, and Eliot takes it in stride.
• Det. Jane Rizzoli of Rizzoli & Isles will occasionally use a flirty tone to get information that she wants (though she's just as prone to angry rants). On one notable occasion she uses a flirty tone to get the proprietor of a lesbian bar to kiss her on the neck, so that she can then run a DNA comparison against a sample they knew came from the killer.

Music

• Pretty much the whole point of the Doris Day song "Sentimental Journey". Particularly when she croons "Kiss me once, and kiss me twice, and kiss me once again."
• "Santa Baby" is Eartha Kitt's flirty song trying to get on Santa's "Nice List".

Video Games

• Escape from Monkey Island: Guybrush can try to use what Carla the Sword Master calls "[his] picking up wenches voice" on several female characters in the game. It never seems to work.
• Parodied in Investi-Gator: The Case of the Big Crime. When Insti-Gator is trying to convince Polly to let him into the evidence room at the police station, one of the player's options is "Flirt." This causes Insti-Gator to try to flirt. He's not very good at it.
  Insti-Gator: I... Your eyes... sparkle like... sparkling cider...
  Polly: The eyes behind very dark sunglasses, yes. Go on, go on.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic has a number of instances where female Player Characters can use [Flirt] dialogue options to get NPCs to do their bidding.
  • During the Imperial Agent prologue, a pirate the PC encounters threatens to blow their cover identity as the mysterious "Red Blade", saying they know the real one. The female Agent can flirt with him to dissuade him from exposing her, which they can optionally take as far as an Optional Sexual Encounter.
  • While the Bounty Hunter PC is looking for Torian Cadera on Taris, he ambushes them at gunpoint. The female PC has the option to Distract and Disarm him by flirtatiously telling him she was just eager to see him again after their last meeting—then she grabs his arm the second his blaster is out of line and judo-flips him over her shoulder. "Men..."
• Katrina in Quest for Glory IV takes on a flirtatious tone of voice when speaking to the Hero, at least until the Hero sees through her act.
• Undertale: If you've befriended Papyrus and Undyne, you can call them at one point in Hotland for hints at getting past a steam vent puzzle. Papyrus will suggest Undyne call Alphys and ask her for help "in a hot voice". An embarrassed Undyne will refuse, and refuses even harder when Papyrus offers to do the "hot voice".

Western Animation

• Parodied in the Chowder episode "Chowder's Catering Company." When Chowder begs Mung to try his disgusting "Foof 'n' Scoops" sandwich, he briefly turns into a woman with long eyelashes and a deep seductive voice. All it does is freak Mung out.
  Mung: No thanks, Chowder.
  Chowder: Pleeease?
  Mung: No, Chowder.
  Chowder: (turns into a woman, asks seductively) Pretty please?
  Mung: WHAT THE—?!
• Daria gives us Quinn Morgandorfer, and the episode "Cafe Disaffecto" shows that she's practically an expert at weaponizing this trope. To elaborate, Quinn is sent out, along with her fellow students, to raise money for a new cafe as part of an extracurricular activity. Her task is selling long distance phone cards. We see an exchange between her and a man named Danny who was unfortunate enough to answer the door. Quinn handily strings him along in a pretend phone call.
  Quinn: So, call me, Danny.
  Danny: Hello? Uh, Quinn?
  Quinn: Danny? Is that you?
  Danny: Hi! Quinn?
  Quinn: Speak up, Danny, I can't hear you.
  Danny: Hi! Quinn? It's me, Danny.
  Quinn: I've been thinking about you all day. The way your hair falls over your eyes when you laugh. I can't get it out of my head.
  Danny: Really?
  Quinn: You gotta speak up, Danny. Listen, do you want to come over tonight? My folks went away for the whole weekend.
  Danny: Yeah! I mean, um, s-sure, Quinn.
  Quinn: Oh, that's okay, Danny, I understand. I'll see if Pete wants to come over.
  Danny: But I said...
  Quinn: Bye!
  Danny: Wait!
  Quinn: Click. See what can happen with bad long distance service, Danny?
• Futurama: In "Love's Labours Lost in Space," Leela reluctantly calls Zapp Brannigan to help get the Planet Express ship off of the imploding Vergon 6. Zapp, still convinced Leela is into him after their Pity Sex, insists Leela ask "a little more sexfully." Leela is incredibly reluctant, but given the life-threatening circumstances, she puts on a cutesy voice and asks, "Please... Big Z." He's more willing after that, though he still won't budge because Leela won't abandon her new pet.
• In PJ Masks, Amaya tries to sweet-talk Connor into giving her the extra concert ticket in "Catboy's Tricky Ticket" by saying that she'd loved to help him with his skateboarding tricks any time.
  • She does this again as Owlette, but with Howler this time in "To The Moon and Back," by saying in a somewhat flirty voice that he might want to give his ride a say in the matter while giving him a bedroom eyed look.

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