Basic Trope: Something isn't clearly subtitled like it should.
- Straight: The dialogue is mostly English, but when Alice speaks to Bob in Russian, the subtitles just say, "[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]".
- Exaggerated: Everything is subtitled, even the English, with the exception of Alice's Russian, which is outright ignored by the subtitles.
- Downplayed: Alice's Russian dialogue is subtitled, but the subtitles are in Russian too.
- Justified: The subtitles are being written by an In-Universe character who doesn't speak Russian.
- Inverted: Alice's Russian dialogue is subtitled, but most of the dialogue is subtitled as "[SPEAKING ENGLISH]".
- Subverted: Initially, Alice's dialogue is just subtitled as "[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]", but eventually the translations come in.
- Double Subverted: Then, they go away.
- Parodied:
- The subtitles look like a translation, but they're translated wrong.
- Alice's dialogue is given subtitles, but they are just what her dialogue sounds like to an English speaker.
- Zigzagged: Whether or not Alice's Russian dialogue is subtitled depends if the listener understands the language or not.
- Averted:
- Nobody speaks a language other than English.
- Alice's Russian dialogue is translated in the subtitles.
- Enforced: The writers want the viewers to be just as confused as Bob (who also doesn't speak Russian) in order to relate to him.
- Lampshaded: Bob tries to read the subtitles to help himself understand Alice, but upon seeing that they just say, "[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]", he shouts, "I know what language she's speaking! I just want to understand!"
- Invoked: Alice has Medium Awareness and doesn't want the audience to understand her, so she rubs out the subtitles and replaces them with "[SPEAKING RUSSIAN]".
- Exploited: Alice uses her Russian to get away with a Stealth Insult to Bob.
- Defied: The subtitles are written by an in-universe character who makes sure to translate.
- Discussed: "If this was a TV show and it was subtitled, would it translate when I speak Russian?"
- Conversed: "I was watching this movie and it never subtitled foreign languages. I'm still begging to know what those characters were saying!"
- Implied: N/A, subtitles are either there or not.
- Deconstructed:
- Reconstructed:
- Played for Laughs: A joke is written instead of a translation.
- Played for Drama:
Back to Reality Has No Subtitles.
