Search/Recent Changes
DBTropes
...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Elective Unintelligible

 Elective Unintelligible
type
FeatureClass
 Elective Unintelligible
label
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible
page
ElectiveUnintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible
comment
This character is The Unintelligible by choice, for many reasons, such as Obfuscating Stupidity. May require Translator Microbes or a Translator Buddy most of the time. When this character speaks comprehensibly, it usually means something important.
See also Completely Unnecessary Translator. Compare Elective Mute and Elective Broken Language.
Examples:
 Elective Unintelligible
fetched
2022-12-15T12:57:39Z
 Elective Unintelligible
parsed
2022-12-15T12:57:39Z
 Elective Unintelligible
processingComment
Dropped link to LilJon: Not an Item - IGNORE
 Elective Unintelligible
processingComment
Dropped link to TranslatorBuddy: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Elective Unintelligible
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Elective Unintelligible / int_17e8a772
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_17e8a772
comment
Mumbles from Dick Tracy. Only after enduring questioning under the lights for a time (and a specific threat from Tracy) does he suddenly speak clearly, "Eighty-eight Keys set you up. Big Boy paid him to get you out of the way."
 Elective Unintelligible / int_17e8a772
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_17e8a772
featureConfidence
1.0
 Dick Tracy
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_17e8a772
 Elective Unintelligible / int_1e2b8b3c
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_1e2b8b3c
comment
In the film version of The Little Rascals, "Uh-huh" is so named because that's all he ever says. At the end of the film he instead says "Uh-uh", causing the other Rascals to react with shock that he learned a new word. Uh-Huh immediately responds "Actually, I've always had a rather extensive vocabulary, not to mention a phenomenal grasp of grammar and a superlative command of syntax. I simply chose not to employ them".
 Elective Unintelligible / int_1e2b8b3c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_1e2b8b3c
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Little Rascals
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_1e2b8b3c
 Elective Unintelligible / int_35d98631
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_35d98631
comment
Taz in Taz-Mania, though he usually spit-growls incoherently, can speak perfectly well if need be, or if it's funny. On one occasion, all he has to say is simply "Taz hate water", but he chooses instead to give a long-winded speech. It isn't received well.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_35d98631
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_35d98631
featureConfidence
1.0
 Taz-Mania
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_35d98631
 Elective Unintelligible / int_45b21df3
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_45b21df3
comment
The two jailers from Monty Python's Life of Brian. The one played by Terry Gilliam speaks utter nonsense and the other (Eric Idle) has a severe stutter that causes him to draw out almost everything he says. These seem like verbal tics up until their last scene, where, after everyone else had left, they start speaking perfectly clear to each other, implying that it was all just an act to keep people from pestering them.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_45b21df3
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_45b21df3
featureConfidence
1.0
 Monty Python's Life of Brian
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_45b21df3
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4c4e08ca
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4c4e08ca
comment
A famous sketch on The Benny Hill Show has Nicholas Parsons playing an interviewer talking to Hill, playing someone with a very heavy accent — e.g., Chinese, French, shanty Irish. Parsons has to keep asking the interviewee to repeat himself every other sentence because what he [Hill] says is incomprehensible, and frequently sounds off-color. In another sketch, Hill plays a fumbling Dutchman who uses his inability to speak the language to chat up an attractive woman he meets in the park. It turns out he's faking it and speaks perfect English.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4c4e08ca
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4c4e08ca
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Benny Hill Show
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_4c4e08ca
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4d5b6107
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4d5b6107
comment
Fenster from The Usual Suspects, played by Benicio del Toro. He chews up his words so badly sometimes even his Heterosexual Life-Partner can't understand him.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4d5b6107
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_4d5b6107
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Usual Suspects
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_4d5b6107
 Elective Unintelligible / int_50bcf7a6
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_50bcf7a6
comment
In Homestuck, Damara Megido can speak Alternian (somewhat broken, but perfectly intelligible), but prefers to speak solely in her native "Alterniasian" dialect (that is, badly Google-translated Japanese) because it allows her to constantly mock and deride her False Friends.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_50bcf7a6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_50bcf7a6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Homestuck (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_50bcf7a6
 Elective Unintelligible / int_524e2e3b
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_524e2e3b
comment
Donald Duck is a meta-example, at least when voiced by Tony Anselmo. Despite his famous speech impediment, you can normally make out what he says if you listen closely. The only time he's completely unintelligible is when it's part of the joke.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_524e2e3b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_524e2e3b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Donald Duck
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_524e2e3b
 Elective Unintelligible / int_5755b96a
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_5755b96a
comment
The Order of the Stick has Blackwing, Vaarsuvius' raven familiar. Blackwing can speak Common, but considers it demeaning to speak anything but his native raven language. To Vaarsuvius, anyway. Later, once V thanks Blackwing for his noble efforts and starts treating him like a sentient being, Blackwing starts talking.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_5755b96a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_5755b96a
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_5755b96a
 Elective Unintelligible / int_58e80a40
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_58e80a40
comment
Comes up briefly in Paradigm Shift, when a middle-manager in the local Triads refuses so speak in any language but Cantonese while in police custody in an attempt to stall for time while his associates dispose of some evidence. Unluckily for him, one of the lead characters grew up in Hong Kong.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_58e80a40
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_58e80a40
featureConfidence
1.0
 Paradigm Shift (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_58e80a40
 Elective Unintelligible / int_60f02ddb
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_60f02ddb
comment
In American Dad!, Toshi understands English perfectly fine, but refuses to speak anything other than Japanese out of nationalistic pride.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_60f02ddb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_60f02ddb
featureConfidence
1.0
 American Dad!
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_60f02ddb
 Elective Unintelligible / int_671d5c19
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_671d5c19
comment
Grubber, one of the Gangrene Gang on The Powerpuff Girls, often speaks merely via raspberry-ing, which no one outside the Gangrene Gang seems to be able to understand, but in the Gang's premiere episode, he speaks eloquently (in a Bad "Bad Acting" kind of way) in order to lure Blossom and Bubbles into a trap. In another episode, for show-and-tell at the Powerpuff's school, he stretches his body into a more normal shape, and greets the class with "Hello, I'm Grubber. Very nice to meet you all." Before changing instantly back into his usual shape. In the episode where the Gangrene Gang make crank calls, Grubber is able to imitate the voice and speech patterns of anyone he feels like.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_671d5c19
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_671d5c19
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Powerpuff Girls (1998)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_671d5c19
 Elective Unintelligible / int_67c9eaab
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_67c9eaab
comment
In Barry Louis Polisar's "I've Got a Teacher, She's so Mean", the protagonist deliberately speaks in gibberish whenever his teacher asks him a question.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_67c9eaab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_67c9eaab
featureConfidence
1.0
 Barry Louis Polisar (Music)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_67c9eaab
 Elective Unintelligible / int_8d8100ab
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_8d8100ab
comment
Lost: Dogen, one of the Others, is perfectly fluent in English but prefers to speak in his native Japanese and have a colleague translate what he says. When asked why he doesn't just speak English he claims that he "doesn't like the way English tastes on my tongue".
 Elective Unintelligible / int_8d8100ab
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_8d8100ab
featureConfidence
1.0
 Lost
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_8d8100ab
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a183d57f
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a183d57f
comment
Nibbler on Futurama can speak clearly (though it was initially said he communicated via Telepathy), but just makes strange, gibberish noises around most people to appear as just an animal.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a183d57f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a183d57f
featureConfidence
1.0
 Futurama
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_a183d57f
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a57cf54d
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a57cf54d
comment
Pete in Darths & Droids took "mute" as a disadvantage in order to improve his stats, and must talk in beeps when speaking in character. Fortunately, nobody ever speaks in character, so this isn't much of a downside.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a57cf54d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_a57cf54d
featureConfidence
1.0
 Darths & Droids (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_a57cf54d
 Elective Unintelligible / int_b1f8e5ae
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_b1f8e5ae
comment
In Hanna-Barbera's version of The Little Rascals, Porky does speak English, but only when he and Buckwheat are alone. For instance, this exchange from "Wash and Werewolf":
 Elective Unintelligible / int_b1f8e5ae
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_b1f8e5ae
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Little Rascals
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_b1f8e5ae
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d80d2982
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d80d2982
comment
Donna Maria from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt deliberately speaks only in Spanish in spite of being trapped in the bunker for fifteen years. Nonetheless, she understands English and actually learned how to speak English after two years in the bunker.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d80d2982
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d80d2982
featureConfidence
1.0
 Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_d80d2982
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d8811eb6
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d8811eb6
comment
In Captain SNES: The Game Masta, upon being turned into a Chocobo, Bob pretends to only be able to speak like a Chocobo (saying variants of 'wark') because Alex started to catch on that there was more to Bob than his initial story would lead him to believe. When Alex finds out about the deception, Alex becomes enraged towards him, given the amount of manipulation Bob was pulling on him combined with the amount of danger he's been in due to Bob's withholding of critical information. Thanks to Cynicism's manipulations, Bob genuinely becomes The Unintelligible, due to Bob's transformation into Juan Valdez, who only speaks Spanish (which Alex doesn't understand).
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d8811eb6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_d8811eb6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Captain SNES: The Game Masta (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_d8811eb6
 Elective Unintelligible / int_e25322af
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_e25322af
comment
The Cheat from Homestar Runner is implied to be this. He normally speaks in squeaky noises, but he's shown to make his own cartoons, and the voices are apparently done by him. The characters in his cartoons speak English, although badly acted and with a monotone.
It's unclear but the voices may actually be monotone as they're supposed to be text-to-speech programs since Powered by The Cheat cartoons were the Chapmans making fun of poorly done Flash animations.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_e25322af
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_e25322af
featureConfidence
1.0
 Homestar Runner (Web Animation)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_e25322af
 Elective Unintelligible / int_ef57d399
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_ef57d399
comment
The Mountain and the Wolf: The Wolf is an omniglot, but is only understood when he wants to be, such as when he's talking to his crew when outsiders are nearby is a vaguely-Scandinavian language that doesn't get translated to the audience. Whenever he's speaking a fictional language but it's understandable by the audience (such as Nehekharan), there's a viewpoint character who hears it in their own language as well as the spoken language.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_ef57d399
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_ef57d399
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Mountain and the Wolf / Fan Fic
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_ef57d399
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f74b5f80
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f74b5f80
comment
Rebo and Zooty are a comedy duo from the fictional universe of Babylon 5. Zooty speaks through some kind of electronic device as part of the comedy. Rebo claims that in all their time together, Zooty has only ever said one thing to him out of character: "Why?" Before leaving the Station, Zooty tells President Sheridan, "Because it tells me to." Notable in that Rebo and Zooty were played, respectively, by the boisterous Penn and the silent Teller.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f74b5f80
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f74b5f80
featureConfidence
1.0
 Babylon 5
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_f74b5f80
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f99b4497
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f99b4497
comment
In Friday Night Funkin', Word of God has stated that, while Boyfriend genuinely speaks in beeps and boops when having conversations with others, he's actually fully capable of speaking clear English if he wants to (as demonstrated in the Boyfriend Remix of "Fresh", sung by his "voice actor" Kawai Sprite). He just dislikes conversing with people most of the time, so he deliberately invokes being The Unintelligible.
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f99b4497
featureApplicability
1.0
 Elective Unintelligible / int_f99b4497
featureConfidence
1.0
 Friday Night Funkin' (Video Game)
hasFeature
Elective Unintelligible / int_f99b4497

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

 Elective Unintelligible
processingCategory2
Characterization Tropes
 Elective Unintelligible
processingCategory2
Language Tropes
 Elective Unintelligible
processingCategory2
Rejection Index
 Cyberspace 3000 (Comic Book) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Dick Tracy / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Skip Beat! (Manga) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Barry Louis Polisar (Music) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Juno Songs (Music) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 The Jason Ellis Show (Radio) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Fairy Fencer F (Video Game) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible
 Friday Night Funkin' Soft (Video Game) / int_1e2152cd
type
Elective Unintelligible