History Main / AccentSlipUp

* ''ComicBook/XFactor:'' Siryn (also of X-Force fame) normally speaks without any discernible accent, so much so that the only way to know she was Irish would be if the reader already knew. During the fight with Cortex ([[spoiler:A heavily altered version of one of Jamie Madrox's dupes, whom she's already violently angry with]]) she gets so mad, she starts "getting her Irish up".

This is different from OohMeAccentsSlipping in that it's an in-universe trope. Instead of the voice actor or actor accidentally reverting accent due to being unable to hold their fake one, the character canonically slips their accent, and can be played deliberately instead of being something that just happens.

When a character is known to speak in one dialect or accent, but under certain situations (such they're just mediocre at keeping the acquired accent up or they're stressed) their accent slips. This is usually PlayedForLaughs but can be PlayedForDrama if they fake their accent to fit in or hide their background.

This is different from OohMeAccentsSlipping in that it's an in-universe trope. Instead of the voice actor or actor accidentally changing accents at random intervals, the character canonically slips their accent. Occasionally this is used as a reason to explain an actors poor ability at keeping an accent, however it's more commonly intentional.

* In rare moments of overwhelming emotion--usually fear or rage or both--Felix in ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'' will lose his posh accent and slip into a Lower City one. Ultimately he will always begin using his fake accent again the moment he notices.

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* Kobato from ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai'' tries to act like her favorite anime character -- down to speaking in a haughty tone -- but will snap back into her natural Kyushu accent whenever she gets flustered.
* Ebina from ''Manga/HimoutoUmaruChan'' will slip into her natural Akita dialect, in her own mind if not out loud, when especially excited or flustered.

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''FanFic/{{Asylum}}'', Applejack is a doctor who uses a less thick version of her Southern accent while on the job. Occasionally her actual accent will shine through when agitated.
* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9998634/1/Hear-them-chatter-on-the-tide Hear Them Chatter On The Tide]]'', a part-time Watchwoman finds herself surrounded by the Discworld equivalent of black "Africans" who are armed, angry, and having a street confrontation. She knows that if she spoke with her usual accent she would be identified as a [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra White Howondalandian]] among a hundred or so people with no reason to love people of her ethnicity. She ''tries'' to refine her accent to something more Ankh-Morporkian. But the assumed accent slips, her [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica native accent]] shows through, and attracts unwanted attention.

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* In rare moments of overwhelming emotion--usually fear or rage or both--Felix in ''Literature/DoctrineOfLabyrinths'' will lose his posh accent and slip into a Lower City one. Ultimately he will always begin using his fake accent again the moment he notices.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', "Ordeith" (a.k.a. [[spoiler:Padan Fain, a.k.a. Jeraal Mordeth]]) continually slips from one accent to another mid-sentence, which is noted by several people to whom he plays TreacherousAdvisor. He gets it from being a Shadow-touched madman who's also possessed by an ancient ghost; the people who uncomfortably ignore how totally bonkers he is have no such excuse.

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* While performing surgery on Thomas in ''ComicStrip/SafeHavens'', Maria's Italian accent starts to disappear, which Don notices. [[spoiler:It's actually early {{Foreshadowing}} that Maria's been faking her accent this entire time to hide the fact that she's Samantha and Dave's KidFromTheFuture from them until the time was right.]]

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* Palethorn from ''VideoGame/{{Medievil 2}}'' tries to suppress his natural cockney accent in order to pass himself off as a high society gentleman, but it tends to come out whenever he gets stressed or angry.

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* ''{{Franchise/Danganronpa}}'':

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* Twi'leks in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' universe are canonically established to speak with French accents, but Hera from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' uses an American accent instead. It isn't until she gets into a heated argument with her estranged father Cham Syndulla that she briefly relapses into her native accent.

* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' episode "Joust Like a Woman", the British-sounding "king" of a renaissance fair slips into his natural Texan accent. Funnily enough, he is voiced by the naturally-British Creator/AlanRickman.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' episode, the Squad find that UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein is masquerading as a car salesman in Texas named Big Al, complete with Texan accent. However, when someone commits a mathematical error, he lapses back into his natural German accent while angrily correcting it.

* Mild example in ''Series/BreakingBad'': most of the time, the Chilean Gustavo Fring speaks in perfect American English of the sort most Americans consider "unaccented". When he allows his Chilean accent to creep into his speech, it's a sign that he's showing what's BeneathTheMask. This can be a rare sign of trust and affection, or it can be a sign that [[OhCrap it's time to start running]].

* Teruteru Hanamura from ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'' slips into his natural accent (rural Japanese in the original, Cajun in the English version) when he's under extreme stress. It's so thick that Monomi has to act as his translator.
* In the ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'' English localization, Celestia has an affected French accent, which slips away when she's angry.

* {{Discussed}} in the ''Series/MadamSecretary'' episode "Standoff". At Liz's request Jay meets with Texas Governor Hal Lockwood, whom Jay worked for in college when Lockwood was running for Mayor of Galveston, to get Lockwood to sign off on withholding the death penalty for a CopKiller so Mexico will extradite him. Lockwood comments that Jay has gotten rid of his Texas accent, and Jay answers that it comes back "when I'm drinking or talking to my mama. And there are definitely some crossover moments."
* ''Series/{{MASH}}'', episode "Dear Comrade". Kwang, a spy for the Korean People's Army, masks his perfect fluency in English with broken Korean Engrish. Over the course of the episode, he becomes fond of a couple of the personnel on the base, and before going back to his division he decides to have a drink with them. Heavily inebriated, he declares that "When all is said and done, you're not such bad fellows!" and B. J. points out that the drunker Kwang gets, the better his English becomes. Kwang hesitates before replying that "it must be the whiskey", and pours himself another drink.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' a character is killed and resurrected as a vampire, and the vampire must adopt the victim's mannerisms in order to convince the victim's friends that it's still the same person. It struggles with the victim's accent (describing it as "ridiculous") and occasionally slips up while trying to mimic it, but no-one except [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] suspect anything is amiss until the vampire reveals it's true motives.

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* Mild example in ''Series/BreakingBad'': most of the time, the Chilean Gustavo Fring speaks in perfect American English of the sort most Americans consider "unaccented." When he allows his Chilean accent to creep into his speech, it's a sign that he's showing what's BeneathTheMask. This can be a rare sign of trust and affection, or it can be a sign that [[OhCrap it's time to start running]].

* {{Discussed}} in the ''Series/MadamSecretary'' episode "Standoff". At Liz's request Jay meets with Texas Governor Hal Lockwood, whom Jay worked for in college when Lockwood was running for Mayor of Galveston, to get Lockwood to sign off on withholding the death penalty for a CopKiller so Mexico will extradite him. Lockwood comments that Jay has gotten rid of his Texas accent, and Jay answers that it comes back "when I'm drinking or talking to my mama. And there are definitely some crossover moments."
* In ''Series/{{Quantico}}'' Alex sounds a little more Indian when she's under stress. Although she was born in the United States, she spent several years living with relatives in Mumbai. (Actually it's because actress Creator/PriyankaChopra is Indian.)
* Robin from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' acts "Super Canadian" when drunk, which includes slipping into a CanadaEh accent.
* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Sheldon Cooper's Texan accent slips in when he is extremely stressed or flustered. He tries to suppress it at all times to seem more cultured and respectable.

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'': When dressed as Mysterion, [[spoiler: Kenny]] talks with a gruff voice a la Creator/ChristianBale's [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy version of]] Franchise/{{Batman}}. But when he discovers that [[spoiler: his parents are part of a Satanic cult]], he slips and shouts "What the fuck?!" in his normal voice before correcting himself.

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' a character is killed and resurrected as a vampire, and the vampire must adopt the victim's mannerisms in order to convince the victim's friends that it's still the same person. It struggles with the victim's accent (describing it as "ridiculous") and occasionally slips up while trying to mimic it, but none of the victim's friends except [[TokenEvilTeammate Belkar]] suspect anything is amiss until the vampire reveals it's true motives.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9998634/1/Hear-them-chatter-on-the-tide Hear Them Chatter On The Tide]]'', a part-time Watchwoman finds herself surrounded by the Discworld equivalent of black "Africans" who are armed, angry, and having a street confrontation. She knows that if she spoke with her usual accent she would be identified as a [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra White Howondalandian]] among a hundred or so people with no reason to love people of her ethnicity. She ''tries'' to refine her accent to something more Ankh-Morporkian. But the assumed accent slips, her [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica native accent]] shows through, and attracts unwanted attention.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9998634/1/Hear-them-chatter-on-the-tide Hear Them Chatter On The Tide]]'', a part-time Watchwoman finds herself surrounded by the Discworld equivalent of black "Africans" who are armed, angry, and having a street confrontation. She knows that if she spoke with her usual accent she would be identified as a [[TheApartheidEra white Howondalandian]] among a hundred or so people with no reason to love people of her ethnicity. She ''tries'' to refine her accent to something more Ankh-Morporkian. But the assumed accent slips, her [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica native accent]] shows through, and attracts unwanted attention.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Tooth and Claw", the Tenth Doctor puts on a Scottish accent while trying to pass as a native of the Scottish highlands. Later, whilst being chased by the monster of the episode, he forgets to keep using the accent and is caught by Queen Victoria.

* ''Gotcha!'' (1985). The exotic European FemmeFatale who seduced the protagonist into a spy operation is revealed to be a CIA agent when she loses her accent during an argument with him.

When a character who has been faking an accent permanently reverts to their real accent, that's an AccentRelapse.

Supertrope to AccentRelapse.

* Inverted with ComicBook/HarleyQuinn. It's implied that her accent is exaggerated. In her original ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' incarnation, she has a deeper and less accented voice as Dr. Quinzel than as Harley Quinn. This is kept in most other incarnations.
* Wolfsbane from the ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' initially had a Scottish brogue, which she lost during the second volume of the series. She inexplicably began using her accent again in ''Comicbook/XFactor'', which was eventually explained in an issue of ''New X-Men''. Turns out she tried to hide her accent from her friends in order to seem "cool," but no longer felt any pressure to do so once she joined X-Factor.

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* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias) speaks with an American accent for formal situations, but with a German accent in private. The actor who plays him invented a backstory for the character in which his father was a Nazi, causing him to conceal his German ancestry in shame.

* In ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird,'' the Finch family's black housekeeper, Calpurnia, normally speaks with a "standard" accent but suddenly starts using black vernacular when she takes the kids to her all-black church. She later explains that it would seem rude to speak "properly" in front of other blacks since most of them aren't as educated as she is.

* In ''Series/GoodBehavior'', Letty sometimes uses her normal British accent while in disguise just to sway people.

* Invoked since the first 1963 series, ''Series/DoctorWho'' have HumanAliens (Time Lords race, especially [[NthDoctor The Doctor]]) with British, Scottish and Irish accents. A good example is in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose the start of Series One]]:
-->'''Rose:''' If you are an alien, how comes you sound like you're from [[OopNorth the North]]?
-->'''The Doctor:''' LotsOfPlanetsHaveANorth!