"Silly Me" Gesture

Scissors optional.
Cuteness mandatory.

A self-inflicted version of the Dope Slap, this is when a character hits herself softly on the head, winks, and sticks her tongue out after tripping, dropping or doing some other mistake in acknowledgement of her blooper. As it is considered a childish and endearing mannerism, this gesture is most often employed by a klutz, the overly cute, or The Ditz; though it may also be used ironically, to feign innocent clumsiness. Though the female pronoun is used throughout this article, this trope is not Always Female and can be found, for instance, in many a Keet's repertoire or someone deliberately going for the dissonance factor between appearance and behavior. Possibly the gesture is a literal presentation of the idea of "knucklehead"...or this is simply an American interpretation upon seeing a similarity,

Sticking the tongue out is sometimes forgone from the gesture, but other variants are also possible. This is referred to in Japanese anime fandom circles as tehepero, which was coined by voice actress Yōko Hikasa. Another gesture that is used in similar circumstances but conveys a somewhat different image is the Hand Behind Head.

May overlap with Tongue-Out Insult. This is one kind of an Idiosyncratic Cultural Gesture.

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Examples

Anime & Manga

• In A Certain Scientific Railgun, Mugino scolds Frenda for leaving behind her bombs. Frenda apologizes and does the gesture, only for Mugino to kick her in the shin.
• In Danganronpa: The Animation, Junko Enoshima does this at one point. The real one, and it's meant to accentuate her creepy cheeriness.
• Darker than Black: Mai does this in her introduction episode when explaining why she isn't isn't going to her friend's house.
• Gabriel Dropout: Vigne does this after she "dropped" (read: "threw") a fork at Satania, complete with a very silly face.
• Gundam:
  • Nena Trinity in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, after "pressing the wrong button" and blowing up a wedding.
  • Eri Shinoda, vice-president of the Plamodel Club in Gundam Build Fighters Try, does this when she charges her Hobby Hizack into battle only to get shot down in seconds. Afterwards, Fumina wonders if she threw the match on purpose.
• Haikyuu!! has Oikawa sometimes make this face as a way of playing innocent after he's been caught messing with his teammates.
• Komi Can't Communicate: In her introduction, Komi's mother Shuuko tries to call her son and husband so they can meet her daughter's new friends, only to realize they're not at home and she does the gesture, much to her daughter's embarrassment.
• Yui and Sawako-sensei combine this with Hand Behind Head in episode 5 of K-On!, in an apparent shout-out to a candy mascot.
• In the Little Busters! anime, Kud does this when Riki reminds her about Mio.
• Maken-ki!: Done by Celia, in chapter 49, after she almost forgets to tell the others that her Inversion would wear off the islanders after 30 minutes.
• In the Nue Arc of Mononoke, the Medicine Seller does a very subdued (but extraordinarily sarcastic) display of this when he "realizes" he "accidentally" used poisonous oleander in a concoction that he gave to someone.
• Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun: Nozaki does this when he deliberately makes too much lunch while trying to gain an understanding of Mamiko. Nozaki being Nozaki, he does it with a flat voice and no expression.
• In a NEEDLESS side story, Mio knocks herself out with her own Super-Strength by making this gesture.
• In Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, Lana does this from time to time after playfully telling a lie.
  • During the Hoenn series, May would occasionally do this, such as when her little brother Max chastised her for not knowing Pelliper's type.
• In Potemayo's opening, Mikan bops herself on the head and sticks her tongue out after falling over.
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Harumi does this to herself in the episode centering on Never Heard That One Before. She comments how it doesn't make sense that Shōnen manga isn't about boys, and then does this gesture, to indicate that this is something everyone has probably thought of a million times. However, she then gets blank looks from the rest of the class, and ends up Blue with Shock when she realizes no one else shares her tastes.
• Tenchi Muyo!: In one episode of the OVA series, Ryoko does this during her engineered classic meeting with Tenchi, saying that she wasn't paying attention and is being clumsy. Saying that she's "clumsy" is because she kicked him from behind in order to start her classic meeting with him.
• Tokyo Mew Mew: Retasu does this when explaining why she lets her friends boss her around.
• You're Under Arrest!: Yoriko does this gesture in the third OVA, when she's confronted for spreading a rumor about Miyuki entering an Arranged Marriage after making some hasty assumptions.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V: Ayu does this when she forgets that she cannot attack in her first turn.

Fan Fiction

• Tsuruya in Kyon: Big Damn Hero when she had to explain about "kinship rituals" to Haruhi.

Film — Live-Action

• The New Daughter: John hits himself in the head a few times when Sam has to remind him to leave the door to his room open a crack, a self-deprecating gesture against his failure as a parent.

Literature

• Haruhi Suzumiya:
  • This is Kyon's sister's trademark gesture, as depicted in the trope image.
  • The adult Mikuru Asahina makes the gesture (minus the tongue in the anime) in a bit of a Kawaiiko move.
• Mayo Chiki!: Kanade does this towards Jiro after he wakes up at the hotel resort they're staying at. He at first is annoyed at having to be brought here, along with Kanade's cover up story that they're lovers and fled there since their parents refuse to recognize their relationship. In reality, they went there because Subaru, Kanade's butler, wanted to visit her mother's grave on the anniversary of her death, and wouldn't have been able to come if Kanade had to travel with her parents overseas.
• In No Game No Life, Feel does this after admitting that her country, which she dislikes for, among other reasons, its system of slavery, "can up and vanish" for all she cares.
• Oreshura: Masuzu does this over the phone in episode 8 after realizing her plan of taking an embarrassing picture of Ai and Eita couldn't be done very well in a dark movie theater.
• Ringing Bell: In the anime adaptation, Chirin cheerfully bops himself on the head after digging up a mole.
• So, I Can't Play H!:
  • Mina does this after saying, "I can be pretty clumsy. Tee, hee!" This is after she said she accidentally washed Ryosoke's cell phone and computer.
  • Ryosuke himself does this, including the "tee, hee," line after he's caught cheating at strip poker.

Live Action TV

• Grange Hill: Played for laughs when Stern Teacher Mr. Mitchell slaps his own wrist when talking to Tucker Jenkins, with whom he has a love-hate relationship.
  Mr. Mitchell: How is the model coming along?
  Tucker: Don't touch it, sir, it's still wet!
  Mr. Mitchell: (slaps himself) Oh! Jenkins, I'm sorry, good gracious!

Video Games

• Final Fantasy VIII: Selphie's introductory FMV shows her trying to climb down a hill, followed by her tripping and almost falling down. Her reaction leaves out the head-hitting, but it leaves the tongue-stickout and wink intact.
• Guilty Gear: Anji Mito does a variant with his fan at the end of his Destroyer.
• Sengoku Basara: Tsuruhime does this in her standard stage ending video while giggling. It makes bubbles appear.
• Colette Brunel of Tales of Symphonia and its sequel can be seen doing this (minus the head-hitting) in the anime-style cut-in that appears when she messes up the incantation for Holy Song. This results in her Holy Judgement Mystic Arte.

Visual Novel

• Ace Attorney: Trucy Wright uses the gesture occasionally (hitting the top of her hat instead of her head, but the overall effect is the same). Ini Miney also uses the hat variation in Justice for All. Or rather, Mimi Miney does. It's very much the "feigning innocence" type.

Webcomics

• In El Goonish Shive, Grachamp does a variation with both eyes closed after accidentally getting a critical hit on Gracemander.
• Jupiter-Men: When Jackie ribs Arrio over his struggles in Spanish class, he points out that she's a straight-C student. Jackie responds by knocking herself on the head while saying "tee-hee" with a blush sticker.

Web Original

• The Winking Face With Tongue Emoji (😜).

Web Video

• When he replaced The Nostalgia Critic for the review of The Never Ending Story, Chester A. Bum does that at the very end, once he realized he forgot to ask for CHANGE! Ya got change!?

Western Animation

• Ready Jet Go!: In Back to Bortron 7, Jet softly knocks his head while wondering why he didn't think of an idea.
• Young Justice: Miss Martian's catch-phrase, "Hello Megan!", goes with the little forehead slap. No tongue or wink, but sometimes she rolls her eyes.

Real Life

• Popular Japanese voice actress Yōko Hikasa use this as trademark gag and sort of named it.

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