View source for Clasp Your Hands If You Deceive

{{trope}}
[[File:6a00d8341c68f553ef01310ff3f483970c-800wi 7998.jpg|link=Neon Genesis Evangelion|frame|It's. '''The'''. Pose. [[Memetic Mutation|The Gendo Pose.]]]]

{{quote|''"I've waited a long time for this... the finger pyramid of evil contemplation."'' (clasps fingers)|'''Roger''', ''[[American Dad]]''}}

Particularly [[The Chessmaster|devious]] and [[Magnificent Bastard|magnificent]] villains have a habit of putting their hands together at around chest or mouth level, with fingers either interlocked or tip-to-tip (in which case it shouldn't be confused with [[Shy Finger-Twiddling]]).

One possible reason behind this gesture is that when a person lies, they often unconsciously cover their mouth with their hand (as if to prevent the lie from escaping their lips). Thus, putting both hands in front of your mouth means that you're lying big time. Another reason is that in [[Real Life]] body language, people tend to automatically steeple the hands when feeling overly confident, or superior to whoever they happen to be speaking to. Someone who does this too often will quickly come across as arrogant. But this pose has the advantage of completely blocking arms and chest, making their body language impossible to read anymore.<ref>Since this pose does hide the character's mouth, it's also useful in animated works on a low budget - the animators only need to draw one picture of the character, not a collection of pictures that differ only in where the lips are at any given time.</ref>

The word usually used for this action in novels is "[http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steeple steepling]".

A [[Just for Pun|play on]] [[Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]. Bonus points if combined with ominous lighting, [[Scary Shiny Glasses]], a slight [[Slouch of Villainy]], a [[Beard of Evil]] or a [[Kubrick Stare]]. Double bonus for a [[Psychotic Smirk]]. Not related to [[Intertwined Fingers]]. Usually.

See [[Hand Rubbing]] for the poor man's version of this trope.

{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Gendo Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', as shown in the page image. His trademark covering-the-mouth variant is often called "[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-gendo-pose the Gendo pose]". For a while adding the "Gendo Hands" to existing works were a meme. (As a bonus, using the pose repeatedly helped cut down on animation costs.)
** [[Subverted Trope|Oddly enough, scans from the original designs for Shinji show him doing a]] ''[http://wiki.evageeks.org/Image:Proposal_17_shinji.jpg happy version] [[Subverted Trope|of the pose]]''. [[In the Blood|It must be a tradition in the Ikari family.]]
* Roy Mustang from [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]] does this, too, whenever he isn't out on a date.
** Kimbly, Envy, first Greed and even [http://i51.tinypic.com/55hsgj.jpg Edward Elric] do this at least once.
* Lelouch from ''[[Code Geass]]'' commonly does this while his plans go as expected. When they fail... [[Large Ham|he does all sorts of different gestures.]]
** Schneizel does this while he's telling the ''truth'' about Lelouch to the Black Knights.
*** Not [[Affably Evil|the]] ''[[Consummate Liar|whole]]'' [[Manipulative Bastard|truth]] though.
* [[Naruto|Sasuke Uchiha]] is seen doing this at the beginning, just to show how much of a [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Disney Anti Hero]] he was. Oddly, after his genuine [[Face Heel Turn]] he doesn't do it again until some time after {{spoiler|joining Akatsuki}}.
** This is [[Lampshaded]] in an early episode of [[Naruto the Abridged Series|the abridged series]]:
{{quote|'''Sasuke:''' "I'm sorry, I was practicing my Gendo Ikari impression."}}
** Shikamaru also does the tip-to-tip style while he's planning. It gets mistaken for a hand sign.
** Tsunade did this on occasions.
** Gaara seems to have picked up this habit when he's sitting down lately too. It seems to be a replacement for his usual standing-up habit of crossing his arms.
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Light]] from ''[[Death Note]]'' does this on occasion, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090124203031/http://www.onemanga.com/Death_Note/62/09/ most noticeably] after he talks the task force into {{spoiler|[[Big Brother Instinct|not making him kill his sister]].}}
** Takashi Ooi does this a lot as well.
* Shizuku from ''[[Kämpfer]]'' does this to help show the audience that she's a particularly cunning and devious [[Student Council President]].
* [[Monster (manga)|Johan]] does it while talking to a small orphaned boy (who, as a result, attempts to commit suicide later in the day). The screen focuses on his hands for a long time before panning out to show his face.
* Zeera, Emperor of Ruin is often shown in this pose when plotting the future of his ''[[Litchi Hikari Club]]''.
* Doc, resident [[Mad Doctor]] in [[Dawn Tsumetai Te]].
* Seemingly subverted in ''[[Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force]]'': Hayate does this in chapter eight but nothing has come of it yet.
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Treize Khushrenada]] from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''.
* Used humorously in [[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]] when ''James,'' of all people, does this while guiding [[Enemy Mine|Jessie, Meowth, and the twerps]] in ''landing an out-of-control rocket.''

== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Magneto]] does this.
* The comic book adaptation of [[The Thrawn Trilogy]] has Grand Admiral Thrawn doing this often. That, or [[Right-Hand-Cat|cradling and stroking a creature]] that is probably intended to be a ysalamiri. Notably he doesn't do much of either in the novels, but Magnificent Bastards steeple, and Thrawn is a Magnificent Bastard, so "steepled" is the second-most common way his hands are drawn in the comic, in other official art, and in fanart. The ''most'' common way his hands are positioned is undeniably clasped behind his back, a gesture of restraint. Notably you can't clasp your hands behind your back while sitting, and [[steepling]] just looks stupid when you're standing up.

== Fan Works ==
* [[Left 4 Dead|The Boomer]] [http://accelagirl.deviantart.com/art/Left-4-Dead-Combo-Attacks-113506612 has been doing some thinking].
* Subverted by a [[Yakuza]] boss in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'', who does this when asking a subordinate to apologize for a rogue yakuza  {{spoiler|shooting Kyon}}. He doesn't intend to deceive them and honestly wants to apologize.

== Film ==
* ''[[The Matrix]]'': Agent Smith, while interrogating Neo.
* ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'': Old Dracula does this when he's laughing at Johnathon Harker.
* Nicolae Carpathia as depicted by Gordon Currie in the ''[[Left Behind]]'' film series.
* [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Judge Claude Frollo]] is often depicted as doing this in promotional material. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150517055046/http://images.sodahead.com/polls/001863459/5516170360_frollo_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg See?]
* Vice-Counsel Dupont does this at the climax of [[Equilibrium]] and drops the pose in a most satisfying [[Oh Crap]] moment when  {{spoiler|Preston kills Brandt in a [[Single-Stroke Battle]]}}.
* In one scene in [[Out Of The Past]], Whit Sterling does this while having breakfast with Jeff.

== [[Literature]] ==
* [[Sherlock Holmes]] does this often.
* Havelock Vetinari of ''[[Discworld]]''.
* The Magician Trent in the ''[[Xanth]]'' novels does this - while he's not precisely a [[Chessmaster]], he's definitely a pretty smart cookie.
* [[Harry Potter (novel)|Albus Dumbledore]] in cordial confrontation mode.
** Most depictions of Salazar Slytherin (like the one on JKR's Wizard of the Month) will have him doing this.
* [[Magnificent Bastard|Dravis]] of the ''[[Descent]]'' novelizations is fond of this.
* [[Artemis Fowl]] often makes this pose when he's revealing something particularly devious/unexpected
* The cynical executive put in charge after the buyout of the ''Hitchhiker's Guide'' offices, Vann Harl, does the finger-steepling thing while talking to Ford Prefect in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/Mostly Harmless|Mostly Harmless]]''. The narration marvels that this gesture has not yet been made a capital offense.
* From ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Marcone often steeples his hands, [[Expy|very much like]] Xanatos. In the illustrated RPG book, nearly every time you see Marcone he's doing this.
* Subverted in ''[[The Acts of Caine|Heroes Die]]'', where Kollberg laces his fingers together not as a sign of deception, but to try and keep calm while talking to [[He Who Must Not Be Seen|the Board of Governors]].
* Tang Shou Dian in the [[Dale Brown]] novel ''Sky Masters''.
* [[Historical Villain Upgrade|Machiavelli]] in ''[[The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel]].'' Almost inevitable, really.
* One of the trademark gestures of [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Tywin Lannister]], though other characters are known to do it too.
** One of the priests of the Many Faced God, when teaching  {{spoiler|Arya}} how to lie, mentions that some people will instinctively cover their mouth when lying, which is the [[Truth in Television]] part of this trope.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[Just Shoot Me]]'':
{{quote|'''Nina:''' Are you planning something devious?
'''Dennis:''' Of course. Why else would I be doing this? }}
* ''[[Profit]]''. Look at the picture!
* In one episode of ''[[Corner Gas]]'', Wanda teaches Lacey on when to use "schemey fingers"

== [[Video Games]] ==
* Igor is always doing this in the ''[[Persona (video game)|Persona]]'' games. He seems to be manipulating humanity into following a higher path; but enjoys seeming sinister in doing so. It certainly helps that he would look creepy enough without it.
** That being said, he still ''THE'' nicest (and most helpful) supernatural entities you will find in '''any''' [[Shin Megami Tensei]] game.
* Kohaku in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' clasps her hands while talking with Shiki after having sex in her own route. Since {{spoiler|she'd been trying to manipulate him to kill Akiha}}, this might make sense, but it's actually a ''subversion''. {{spoiler|She wasn't lying to him, and she later tried to ''stop'' Shiki and the then-insane Akiha from killing each other}}.
** She {{spoiler|does drug him so he can't come after her immediately after that though.}}
* [[Command & Conquer|Kane]], [[Magnificent Bastard]] he is, is quite fond of doing this.
* Shizune from ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'' seems to like "tenting" her hands and otherwise follows the personality tropes associated with this to the letter, though as far as [[The Chessmaster|chessmastery]] is concerned, all she's got to show for herself is a mean game of [[Risk]].
* In the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series, evil-aligned mage Edwin is shown clasping his hands in this fashion in his [http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG/npc/Edwin.jpg character] [https://web.archive.org/web/20030129142544/http://planetbaldursgate.com/bg2/encounters/npcs/edwin/edwin.jpg portraits].
** Subverted in that he's a [[Smug Snake]] and a [[Chew Toy]] for much of the games. It certainly goes hard on the trope during [[Gender Bender|a certain 'event' in the second game]]...
* [[Ghostbusters|Walter Peck]] has pulled one in the game version.
* ''[[The House of the Dead (series)|House of the Dead]]'' has Goldman pulling this while discussing his plans.
*  {{spoiler|Andre Oliveri}} from ''[[Ace Combat Joint Assault]]''.
* Colonel Longhena is shown having a habit of doing this in the [[Do Don Pachi]] series.

== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[Devil Bear]]'' the [[Parody]] character of Rainbow Brite is striking a Gendo Pose while [http://www.thedevilbear.com/?p=70 plotting at her desk] when the Daivas show up.
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', Klaus Wulfenbach pulls this off ''with a [[Humongous Mecha]]''. [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090130 Check it out.] Isn't it just—wait, [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]?
* Dale in ''[[Questionable Content]]'' exhibits a [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1693 textbook example] of the Gendo Pose while plotting.
* [http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1838#comic An example] from ''[[Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal]]''.

== [[Web Original]] ==
* In ''[[Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog|Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog]]'', Dr. Horrible was practicing this.

== [[Western Animation]] ==
* David Xanatos of ''[[Gargoyles]]''. Just [[media:Xanatos.jpg|see for youself]]. And yes, he is indeed [[Xanatos Planned This Index|magnificently]] [[Xanatos Gambit|devious]].
* ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'': Mr. Burns's [[Catch Phrase|signature line]] "Excellent" is usually delivered in this pose (the tip-to-tip version), though he is usually tapping fingertips, not clasping.
* After coming up with a plan to get back at someone he felt had wronged him, Roger from ''[[American Dad]]'' expressed delight that he would get to do this, calling it 'the finger pyramid of evil contemplation'.
* Slade from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''.
* [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111229073208/mlp/images/4/40/Discordisevil.png Discord]{{Dead link}} from ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''.
* Lucius on ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' engages in this on occasion.
* Megavolt on ''[[Darkwing Duck (animation)|Darkwing Duck]]''.
* Oil Slick the Decepticon is currently{{when}} the only [[Transformers]] toy who can cross his fingers like this. [[Complete Monster|Probably for good reason.]]
* Lex Luthor pulls one in the pilot episode of ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]''.
* On the ''[[Aeon Flux]]'' episode "Thanatophobia," one character tells off Goodchild for being too soft on Breen citizens trying to escape the city while making this pose. It's even more disturbing when you notice that this man is missing every other finger.

== [[Real Life]] ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170515044627/http://www.lejdd.fr/Election-presidentielle-2012/Actualite/De-1974-a-2007-le-meilleur-des-debats-d-entre-deux-tours-505904 Former French president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing during a presidential debate].
** A specialist explained it is a good pose to protect yourself from body language reading.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Evil Tropes]]
[[Category:Body Language]]
[[Category:Just for Pun]]
[[Category:Hand Tropes]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]