#murder strut

General

The most important thing there is to walking like you intend to kill someone is to keep your core, which is your belly and to a lesser extent your chest, tight. This alone exudes the feeling of control and that is what makes these actually intimidating. Humans fear people in control, because they seem unstoppable and because we hate feeling like we aren’t in control.

The core of any intimidating walk is to make the other person understand they’re fucked without saying anything of sorts, or even expressing any emotion towards them. The only thing that stands between them and pain is you. 

Type I: Dignified

AKA “Think murder and walk”

The quote is from an interview with Charlize Theron about her role in the “Snow White and the Huntsman” movie, where she played the evil Queen. You can see the original interview clip here and it summarizes everything there is to this version: “You have to come from your core, really tight; shoulders down, neck long, and then just think murder and walk.”

Add a stone cold bitch face, maybe with a little of disgust or contempt to it, and you’re set. If you look at someone, look from above, or straight ahead. The idea of this is to make others feel like worms. You’re way above them, and you will savour the suffering you inflict upon them. It’s a cold, slow kind of intimidation, perfect for suggesting indirect harm and/or for people not necessarily built strong enough to pull off intimidating with their strength. 

Type II: Violent

AKA “Walk like you’ve been sent to kill Captain America”

The original name for this, “Murder Strut”, is a fan-given name for the way Sebastian Stan walks as Bucky Barns in MCU movies (hence the quote). The man knows what he’s doing, really. 

To pull this off you should square your shoulders, lean a little to the front by hinging at your hips, and set your feet wide as you walk in deliberate, powerful steps. Once again, your core should be tight and straight. When you look at someone, it should be from below, without tilting your face up, just your eyes; it makes you look like you’re frowning without actually expressing the emotion and thus lessening the impact.

The idea behind this is still that you’re the one in control, but the control is not over the situation, but over your own unbridled rage. You want to look like you want to run at someone full-speed and deck them or crash them through a wall, but you’re not doing it only by sheer power of your own will. It will feel natural to add a sway of the shoulders to it, to walk like a gym bro trying to start a fight, but while that exaggerates the physical strength intimidation factor, too much of it takes away from the power exuded by the controlled stance.