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Whispered Threat

137 statements
25 feature instances
14 referencing feature instances

Whispered Threat	type	FeatureClass
Whispered Threat	label	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat	page	WhisperedThreat
Whispered Threat	comment	You're in an argument, in an interrogation room, or just trying to let your enemy know that you're not one to mess with. How do you get your point across to them without just laying a smackdown on them? Easy! You just take a step closer and whisper a threat or demand that would otherwise be under your breath, but is said in a way that the other person has to take it seriously. This trope is popular in your average Police Procedural or psychological thriller, especially among the detective with the Jack Bauer type skills in dealing with the suspect (or, rarer still, with the public in general.) Furthermore, unless they're dealing with a particularly unmoved prep who isn't easily rattled, it's often a surprisingly effective tactic, whether the threat is empty or not. Keep in mind that in spite of its overuse in cop shows and films, this can also be Played for Laughs if someone is making a tantalizing comment either to gloat at someone or use sarcasm to irritate them. Bonus points if they say their news really fast or actually grab them (though this is normally to get their attention rather than do them physical harm). Sub-Trope of Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique. See also Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, Empty Cop Threat, Don't Make Me Destroy You, Implied Death Threat, and Just Between You and Me. Has nothing to do with Breath-Holding Brat. Since this is a threat (and both this and menacing are still against the law), please Don't Try This at Home.
Whispered Threat	fetched	2023-03-29T21:29:01Z
Whispered Threat	parsed	2023-03-29T21:29:01Z
Whispered Threat	processingComment	Dropped link to IsThisThingStillOn: Not an Item - FEATURE
Whispered Threat	processingComment	Dropped link to JustJokingJustification: Not an Item - FEATURE
Whispered Threat	processingComment	Dropped link to PlayedForLaughs: Not an Item - FEATURE
Whispered Threat	processingComment	Dropped link to SerialKiller: Not an Item - FEATURE
Whispered Threat	processingComment	Dropped link to WordOfGod: Not an Item - FEATURE
Whispered Threat	isPartOf	DBTropes
Whispered Threat / int_1463a028	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_1463a028	comment	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit This is a beloved tactic of Elliot Stabler when speaking with suspects. A particularly noticeable (over)usage occurs in the episode "Rage" when confronting a Serial Killer of young teenagers. He asks "Why you go after only teens? Is a grown woman too much of a challenge for you?" and tops it off with "I should do to you what you do to those girls!" Olivia Benson isn't above using this tactic either. In "Bedtime", she manages to rattle a suspect in a long-unsolved murder that was initially blamed on a Serial Killer. When confronting the killer, who fell for a married man and killed his wife to have him to herself, she said how much smarter she was than "all those other bimbos" that the man was seeing and threw in her face that one of them was even going to have his baby.
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Whispered Threat / int_1463a028	featureConfidence	1.0
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_1463a028
Whispered Threat / int_16aa3232	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_16aa3232	comment	Desperate Housewives: In Season 4, Carlos almost kills Victor while defending Gaby. When she visits him in the hospital, Victor acts perfectly normal...until he embraces Gaby and whispers in her ear that he remembers everything and she better play along or he'll suddenly "remember".
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Whispered Threat / int_16aa3232	featureConfidence	1.0
Desperate Housewives	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_16aa3232
Whispered Threat / int_261c8d3f	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_261c8d3f	comment	The Simpsons: In the episode "The Otto Show", Otto tells Lisa a story about a crazed maniac killer, ending the story by whispering to her that he was that maniac. Cue a blood-curdling scream from Lisa and him trying to allay her fears via a "Just Joking" Justification. In "Trash of The Titans" when campaigning for Homer's run as Trash Commissioner, Bart says on a loudspeaker to vote for him or "he'll beat us". Homer gets angry, tells him that he's only joking...then whispers to him (into the loudspeaker) "You're gonna get such a beating!" to the looks of horrified citizens. In "Black Widower", Sideshow Bob marries Aunt Selma, planning to kill her to gain her savings. While rubbing her feet, he repeatedly mutters under his breath his intent to murder her. When Selma overhears, he passes his statements off as loving compliments made in other languages.
Whispered Threat / int_261c8d3f	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_261c8d3f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Simpsons	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_261c8d3f
Whispered Threat / int_2e3e7ac2	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_2e3e7ac2	comment	In a scene from Justice League, Batman takes Deadshot aside and whispers a threat in his ear to keep him in line. It works like a charm, too. In an interview, Kevin Conroy said that the words Batman whispered during the recording session were "I know where you live, Floyd."
Whispered Threat / int_2e3e7ac2	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_2e3e7ac2	featureConfidence	1.0
Justice League	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_2e3e7ac2
Whispered Threat / int_457b671e	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_457b671e	comment	24: As a sub-trope of Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique, it's no surprise that there are numerous examples from this series, but the ur-example is likely this classic from s01e11:
Whispered Threat / int_457b671e	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_457b671e	featureConfidence	1.0
24	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_457b671e
Whispered Threat / int_46037ffe	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_46037ffe	comment	Towards the climax of Scrooged while Frank anticipates The Ghost of Christmas Future, he encounters an actor playing the Ghost of Christmas Future for his channel's production of Scrooge. He assumes that it's him and he breaks down and screams until it devolves into a whisper, "You think I'm afraid of you, after the day I've had?! I know what you're here for! Come and get it, you pussy!"
Whispered Threat / int_46037ffe	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_46037ffe	featureConfidence	1.0
Scrooged	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_46037ffe
Whispered Threat / int_4c99197e	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_4c99197e	comment	The Muppet Show: In the fourth season Stars of Star Wars episode, Miss Piggy dresses up as Princess Leia at one point and tries to sell herself as being the actual character. When Mark Hamill (as Luke Skywalker) doesn't initially buy in, she mutters in his ear to go along with it or she'll break him in half.
Whispered Threat / int_4c99197e	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_4c99197e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Muppet Show	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_4c99197e
Whispered Threat / int_58f28be1	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_58f28be1	comment	The Godfather: Vito Corleone learned through his years of developing his family, that to quietly reason with someone rather than making an outlandish threat is more likely to gain one's goals. When for example, his wife asks him to intercede on behalf of one of her friends who is facing eviction from a slum landlord, he simply asks for the man to reconsider his decision and to ask around the neighbourhood so that he knows Vito Corleone is a man of his word. By now, the landlord has caught the subtext of the discussion and disappears from sight for four days whilst letting his tenant know she is welcome to stay. Corleone also reproves his eldest son Sonny several times for his temper, saying that this is not a good way to do business.
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Whispered Threat / int_58f28be1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Godfather	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_58f28be1
Whispered Threat / int_60f02ddb	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_60f02ddb	comment	American Dad!: In "Don't Look a Smith Horse in the Mouth", Stan swaps bodies with a horse, though he retains the ability to speak English. When a boy starts harassing him, Stan retaliates by whispering that he will trample the youngster's parents, causing the child to run away screaming in fear.
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Whispered Threat / int_60f02ddb	featureConfidence	1.0
American Dad!	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_60f02ddb
Whispered Threat / int_625e571	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_625e571	comment	Law & Order: Criminal Intent Robert Goren uses this trope a lot, but not usually as a threat. One early episode has Goren offering an inmate and his family Witness Protection in exchange for information to put a crime lord away. When the man rebuffs him, citing how strong the latter's reach is, Goren then invokes this trope by saying how he knows people who can put them in the program so deep that even he would be unable to find them. The episode "Playing Dead" had a college-aged girl, forced to move back in with her estranged mother and stepfather due to receiving injuries from an assailant who also killed her boyfriend, end up being molested by her stepfather while she bathes. He soon begins to wash her himself while he whispers "You'll always be my girl" into her ear. The triggering effect of this causes the girl to attempt suicide.
Whispered Threat / int_625e571	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_625e571	featureConfidence	1.0
Law & Order: Criminal Intent	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_625e571
Whispered Threat / int_6bc0f10a	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_6bc0f10a	comment	In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Zaphod warns Arthur against telling Trillian about Earth, emphasized when his second head pops up and adds, in a whisper, "I'll pull your spleen out through your throat."
Whispered Threat / int_6bc0f10a	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_6bc0f10a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_6bc0f10a
Whispered Threat / int_7257afca	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_7257afca	comment	In Sword Art Online Abridged, Lisbeth gets an episode's worth of Ship Tease with Kirito, but when they return to her shop, Asuna "greets" her with one of these.
Whispered Threat / int_7257afca	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_7257afca	featureConfidence	1.0
Sword Art Online Abridged (Web Video)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_7257afca
Whispered Threat / int_7a806a09	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_7a806a09	comment	An unintentionally threatening example occurs in the film Always. As deceased pilot Pete's ghost sees his grieving ex-girlfriend Dorinda start to move on with her life with a new man, a jealous Pete whispers in her ear, "Don't forget; you'll always be my girl." Although she can't see him, the remark causes her once-jovial mood to turn sad again.
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Always	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_7a806a09
Whispered Threat / int_87684a93	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_87684a93	comment	In Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls, the Servant sneaks up behind Komaru to clip an explosive bracelet to her wrist while explaining that it will blow her up if she tries to leave the city. He continues to stand behind her and speaks in a low, breathy voice.
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Whispered Threat / int_87684a93	featureConfidence	1.0
Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls (Video Game)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_87684a93
Whispered Threat / int_95edb236	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_95edb236	comment	Living Dead Girl: Alice notes that Ray hardly ever shouts and he is actually more likely to whisper when he threatens her. As a result, she's much more scared of that.
Whispered Threat / int_95edb236	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_95edb236	featureConfidence	1.0
Living Dead Girl	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_95edb236
Whispered Threat / int_96b185bb	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_96b185bb	comment	There Will Be Blood: Overlaps with Riddle for the Ages. Daniel Plainview (who throughout the movie has no issue with threatening someone plainly to their face) is publicly humiliated by Eli during his baptism into Eli's church. While shaking hands after, Daniel leans in close and whispers something to Eli; we never hear it, but Eli looks discomfited. The only possible hint the audience gets is when Daniel is chasing Eli at the climax and screaming:
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Whispered Threat / int_96b185bb	featureConfidence	1.0
There Will Be Blood	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_96b185bb
Whispered Threat / int_986cb4dc	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_986cb4dc	comment	Balto has proven himself in a test run, but Glory Hound Steele dismisses the result, calling for his usual squad to prepare for a Fetch Quest. When Balto argues that he deserves to be on the team, Steele snarls at him and the two almost come to blows, until the wolf dog is reminded of the critical importance of the sled run. Steele agrees that the mission is paramount, but mutters one parting shot at Balto.
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Whispered Threat / int_986cb4dc	featureConfidence	1.0
Balto	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_986cb4dc
Whispered Threat / int_98c961e2	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_98c961e2	comment	At the end of the first episode of Helluva Boss, Blitzo whispers to Moxxie that if he ever screws up on the job again, he will fuck both him and his wife, Millie.
Whispered Threat / int_98c961e2	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_98c961e2	featureConfidence	1.0
Helluva Boss (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_98c961e2
Whispered Threat / int_9a0cb5f4	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_9a0cb5f4	comment	Played with in the Bob's Burgers episode "Mutiny on the Windbreaker." After Bob manages to get him removed from his position of authority, Captain Flarty leans in to whisper something into Bob's ear before being taken away.
Whispered Threat / int_9a0cb5f4	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_9a0cb5f4	featureConfidence	1.0
Bob's Burgers	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_9a0cb5f4
Whispered Threat / int_ae1c5c53	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_ae1c5c53	comment	Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja: When the alternate version of Hinata suspects Sakura is about to ask Naruto on a date, her jealousy causes her to whisper a death threat into her rival's ear.
Whispered Threat / int_ae1c5c53	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_ae1c5c53	featureConfidence	1.0
Naruto the Movie: Road to Ninja	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_ae1c5c53
Whispered Threat / int_b30ae4db	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_b30ae4db	comment	Game of Thrones, "Second Sons": Cersei and Margaery's Passive-Aggressive Kombat at Tyrion's wedding escalates, all with polite smiles for the benefit of onlookers, until Cersei quietly tells her, "If you ever call me sister again, I'll have you strangled in your sleep".
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Whispered Threat / int_b30ae4db	featureConfidence	1.0
Game of Thrones	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_b30ae4db
Whispered Threat / int_cf6f9a97	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_cf6f9a97	comment	During a City Hunter arc, after Kimiko's grandfather tricks Ryo into peeping at her while she's taking a shower and getting discovered in order to avoid answering questions while Ryo interrogates him, Kimiko decides to get Ryo to pretend to be her fiancee for the purpose of getting her Unwanted Harem off her back. Faced with Ryo's unwillingness to cooperate, she whispers to Ryo that she would tell Kaori about Ryo peeping on her while she was bathing if he doesn't play along. The thought of Kaori going ballistic towards him should she find out about this incident forces Ryo into agreeing.
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Whispered Threat / int_cf6f9a97	featureConfidence	1.0
City Hunter (Manga)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_cf6f9a97
Whispered Threat / int_e0231e90	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_e0231e90	comment	In Slap Her... She's French, Starla's anger at Genevieve's popularity eclipsing her own comes to a head at a big school dance. She confronts her rival when Genevieve dances with Starla's boyfriend in a suggestive manner. When Genevieve whispers that her "whorish" manner is a turn-on to him, Starla starts a Cat Fight with her.
Whispered Threat / int_e0231e90	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_e0231e90	featureConfidence	1.0
Slap Her... She's French	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_e0231e90
Whispered Threat / int_ee829854	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_ee829854	comment	House of Anubis: When Vera catches Mara snooping around in her room, she approaches her slowly and pauses next to her ear, muttering that if she's ever caught in there again, she will be sorry. A terrified Mara then runs out of the room.
Whispered Threat / int_ee829854	featureApplicability	1.0
Whispered Threat / int_ee829854	featureConfidence	1.0
House of Anubis	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_ee829854
Whispered Threat / int_f8df4747	type	Whispered Threat
Whispered Threat / int_f8df4747	comment	In The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye, Whirl tries to make peace with Cyclonus for attacking him earlier, yet still refuses to admit he was the one who started the conflict in the first place. Cyclonus responds by giving him a hug, during which he whispers a death threat into his ear before leaving.
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Whispered Threat / int_f8df4747	featureConfidence	1.0
The Transformers: More than Meets the Eye (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Whispered Threat / int_f8df4747

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Whispered Threat	processingCategory2	Cops and Detectives
Whispered Threat	processingCategory2	Dialogue
Whispered Threat	processingCategory2	Perp Sweating
Whispered Threat	processingCategory2	Threatening Tropes
Reversal of Fortune (TLH) (Fanfic) / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Always / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Big Jake / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Scrooged / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Slap Her... She's French / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
There Will Be Blood / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
City Hunter (Manga) / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Law & Order: Criminal Intent / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Balto / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat
Ice Age: Continental Drift / int_9a27e096	type	Whispered Threat

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