History Main / AcousticLicense

A variation of this would be TheHero making a speech or any crucial information that somehow manages to reach his allies without any aids regardless the distance.

* Averted in the ''WebAnimation/ThePowerOfTwo'' episode "You Know Those Buttons Don't Do Anything, Right?", where nobody is able to hear Two explain a rule about the challenge while they are on the top of a large tower with no sound amplification, resulting in the contestants developing strategies that end up giving them all disadvantages due to not hearing the specific rule (not being able to go back down when they have gotten to the top of the tower).

** In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'' the Joker has crudely reattached his face and can still talk, but he shouldn't be able to control his lip movements and speak without mispronouncing certain words.

* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' actually shows the confrontation between [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes]] and Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, something the original story by Arthur Conan Doyle that it's taken from, [[http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FinaProb.shtml "The Final Problem"]], never bothered with (Watson just finds a letter and signs of a struggle and assumes what happened). Doyle thus sidestepped any problems of two men engaging in dialogue right next to a plunging, roaring waterfall, while Moore forges right through with [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness sesquipedalian]] flair.

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' Part 2, Marty is hiding in the back of Biff's car while Biff is driving. Marty is talking to the Doc on a walkie-talkie. At first, it seems to be an example of this trope when you wonder how could Biff not hear him, he is talking so loudly. However, it turns out to be FridgeBrilliance and an aversion - we are hearing from Marty's point of view, but the car is an open top convertible and Biff would have the wind in his ears.

* ''Videogame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' averts this trope in some scenes, notably in ''Going Hunting'' where the first Iranian fighters are encountered. You don't hear their planes' cannons until well after the bullets start hitting and/or passing by you. At the same time, though, the introductory sequence for the mission has the player character and her partner not bothering to put on their helmets, thus getting any sort of ear protection, until well after they've arrived on the flight deck, just feet away from their own already-running F/A-18 and a few more away from their wingmate launching from the catapult.

* In ''Manga/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', people have no problem talking to another in-flight from gunship to gunship without their voices being drowned out by wind and the noise from the engines.
* In ''Manga/KOn'', the girls attend an open air rock concert and have no trouble talking to each other at a fairly normal volume.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': Characters will often have long, complicated conversations while galloping on their horses. In real life, riding a galloping horse takes a bit of concentration, and you’d need to seriously be shouting at people riding next to you to be heard.

* ''ComicBook/BloodAndThunder'': In this ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' comic book, the newly-proclaimed Ork Warboss Skyva gives a speech from the top of a Gargant (a war machine standing over a hundred meters tall) to the thousands of orks at its base. Justified in two ways: not only are Orks [[LargeHam really really good at shouting]], they can make physics bend to their will slightly based on [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve what they think should be happening]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeeMovie'', there are ''numerous'' cases when you have to wonder how is it possible that everyone can hear a tiny bee crystal clear, no matter the distance. It gets especially stupid during Barry's speeches in the court during a trial, where he doesn't use a microphone or anything like that, and yet everyone can perfectly hear him.

* ''Film/{{Freejack}}'' has a scene where the hero is overheard talking by a camera crew from across the floor of a nightclub pounding with music.
* There were a few scenes in ''Film/SaturdayNightFever'' where the main characters had to be dubbed over by voice actors because the discotheques were too loud for the actors themselves to hear what the other was saying, let alone the recording equipment and the audience watching the film.
* ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' has a famous aversion during the Sermon on the Mount, when the people in the back of the crowd can't hear what Jesus is saying. One shouts, "Speak up!" and they later mishear "blessed are the peacemakers" with "blessed are the cheesemakers," which they immediately try to rationalize as profound.

* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' mostly takes places at high speed with a fleet of massive, mostly unmuffled V8s and the [[ThePowerOfRock Doof Wagon]] around yet wind noise only shows up maybe once and the roar of the engines is only audible when the vehicles themselves are the focus. People have no trouble yelling to other vehicles across several meters of air that should by all rights be flooded with cacophony.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers''. When Saruman is addressing his army of ten thousand Uruk-hai, his voice appears to be [[AWizardDidIt magnified by magical means]]. However in the extended version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]'' Saruman speaks to the protagonists from the top of Orthanc and no similar effect is used. Justified as Suruman is literally a wizard and amplifying your voice at will is shown to be a wizard ability and is used at other points in the films.
** In one of the commentary tracks for ''Return of the King'', Peter Jackson [[LampshadeHanging points out]] that despite being in the middle of a crowded, cheerful and very loud party in Meduseld, Gandalf and Aragorn can carry on a quiet conversation just fine.
* ''Film/ThisIsTheEnd'': Even a roaring party is not loud enough to prevent gentle knocking being heard at the front door.
* In ''Film/PointBreak1991'', Bohdi and Johnny Utah have a conversation in freefall.
* Hilariously subverted in ''Film/Shazam2019''. During the last fight between Shazam and [[BigBad Doctor Sivana]], the latter starts [[EvilGloating proclaiming how he'll never be defeated]], but Shazam can't hear what he's saying [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome because they're several dozen feet apart and flying over a busy city street]]. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] their situation.
-->'''Shazam''': Are you making some, like, big, evil-guy speech right now or somethin'? You're like a mile away from me, and there's traffic and cars and stuff! All I see is mouth-movin'!

* In ''Literature/TheTenetsOfFutilism,'' Sasha and Joe seem perfectly able to have conversations in noisy, crowded areas without speaking loudly or whispering into each other's ears.
* {{Lampshaded}} in Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/TheDreamQuestOfUnknownKadath'', where it is mentioned that the Dreamlands have their own rules about sound and air.
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] for Creator/LarryNiven's ''Literature/TheDracoTavern'' stories. The booths in the titular tavern have a [[AppliedPhlebotinum technological doodad]] which creates an acoustic bubble around the booth. This allows patrons to have quiet, private conversations.

* Averted in an episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit''. Casey turns around and speaks in low tones during a trial to prove that a witness could not have overheard a dialogue carried on some distance away in a crowded room. Indeed, no one could hear what Casey had said in the courtroom.

* Both played straight and averted in ''Franchise/PerryMason'', depending on the episode. Some witnesses would whisper or sob during their big moments and be heard perfectly; other times the judge would instruct them to speak up.
* The ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' examined the plausibility of the ''Film/PointBreak1991'' example above by having another skydiver tell Grant a [[ToiletHumor "pull my finger" joke]] in freefall. The joke was completely inaudible.

* Hilariously averted on ''Series/TheGoldbergs'' when Barry and his gang go to a nightclub where the music is so loud they can barely understand each other. The dialogue had to be subtitled for the audience; in fact, no sound other than the music is heard during the scene.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Daenerys makes a few speeches to assemblies of her followers that are so vast that she'd really have to screaming for even half of them to hear her.
* ''Series/{{Barry}}'': Subverted in the season 2 finale, in which Fuches exits a building and starts delivering a dramatic monologue to the Bolivian gangsters who have surrounded the place. After a PerspectiveFlip, we realize that the Bolivians are so far away that they can barely hear what he's saying and even have to ponder among themselves whether Fuches is talking to them or having a bluetooth phone call.

* Played with in the ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'' episode "The Mole". While Terry and Rosa are undercover in a club, they can have casual conversations without shouting... because it's a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_disco silent disco]] where people listen to the music on wireless headphones. Without the headphones, it's nearly silent. The first scene in the club has a bewildered Terry repeatedly putting his headphones on and off, represented as the music cutting in and out.

* In ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'', ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'', and ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'', you are always cognizant of what's going on over the entire battlefield even though you're controlling a single warrior (or single team of warriors traveling together, in the case of ''Orochi'')--you can instantly hear allies calling for help, ambushes go off, reinforcements show up, etc., and get a corresponding NoticeThis ping on the mini-map.
* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned'', you frequently participate in conversations with your fellow gang members while cruising down major roads and even highways on motorcycles. They're not even yelling at the top of their lungs. In real life, the noise of the motorcycles plus the wind would make this sort of conversation impossible.

* The begining of ''Videogame/{{Drakengard}}'' has our SociopathicHero Caim riding on a dragon Angelus and destroying airships and whatnot good kilometer or two above the ground. Somehow he can still hear the messages of his soldiers staying back on the surface that don't possess any telepathic skills. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by LetsPlay/TheDarkId:
-->'''The Dark Id''': That soldier has one epic set of lungs to relay that message. Goddamn.
* In ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'', each map features a large fortress that has a keep in the rear with a very high platform. During assaults, the attackers outside the gates and the defending Overlord on the platform have no trouble taunting each other. After capturing a fortress, Talion stands on the platform to give a victory speech to his horde of cheering followers far below.

* Averted [[http://oglaf.com/moonshine/ in this]] ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' comic (SFW, other pages not). Then played straight in the AltText regarding the tidbit of FridgeLogic.

* ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' - The ''Tokyo: 2040'' series has a great example in the episode "Minute by Minute". Priss and Leon have a quiet conversation together... ''while speeding down a highway on motorcycles''. No evidence of radios here, and in fact it's even crazier because Leon is wearing an open face helmet while Priss's helmet is totally enclosed, which would muffle her voice even if they were at a dead stop.

* Inverted in ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' story arc ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'' when ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} is struck by Silver Banshee's sonic scream. So readers understand Supergirl has become temporarily deaf, everybody's speech bubbles become blank.

[[folder:Comics]]
* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' comic book ''ComicBook/BloodAndThunder'', the newly-proclaimed Ork Warboss Skyva gives a speech from the top of a Gargant (a war machine standing over a hundred meters tall) to the thousands of orks at its base. Justified in two ways: not only are Orks [[LargeHam really really good at shouting]], they can make physics bend to their will slightly based on [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve what they think should be happening]].
* In ''ComicBook/DeathOfTheFamily'' the Joker has crudely reattached his face and can still talk, but he shouldn't be able to control his lip movements and speak without mispronouncing certain words. (Think Nicolas Cage in ''Film/FaceOff''.)

* The ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls arc in DC's ComicBook/New52 culminated in ''Batman #11''. All throughout a fight involving screaming jet engines, explosions, and men getting punched through brick walls, the head villain keeps up a steady stream of convoluted conversation regarding his backstory.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

* Subverted for laughs in ''Animation/BoBoiBoy The Movie'' where Cici Ko (from a flying spaceship) reveals to the heroes (on the ground) that [[spoiler:he was The Mole of the Tengkotak gang who was sabotaging the villains all the while to help the heroes]], but no one can hear him. They do wave back when he waves at them though.

* Averted/subverted for laughs in ''Animation/BoBoiBoy The Movie'', where Cici Ko on board the airborne Tengkotak spaceship speaks to the heroes on the ground below [[spoiler:that he was TheMole of the Tengkotak gang who was sabotaging the villains all the while to help the heroes]], except none of them can hear him. They get the implication [[spoiler:that he was GoodAllAlong when he beats up the Tengkotak members]] and wave back when he waves goodbye to them.

* ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' actually shows the confrontation between [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes]] and Moriarty at Reichenbach Falls, something the original story by Arthur Conan Doyle that it's taken from, [[http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/FinaProb.shtml "The Final Problem"]], never bothered with (Watson just finds a letter and signs of a struggle and assumes what happened). Doyle thus sidestepped any problems of two men engaging in dialogue right next to a plunging, roaring waterfall, while Moore forges right through with [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness sesquipedalian]] flair, as seen [[http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2614967.html here]].
* The ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls arc in DC's ComicBook/New52 culminated in ''Batman #11'', an excerpt of which serves as the trope image for this page. That panel isn't a fluke: all throughout a fight involving screaming jet engines, explosions, and men getting punched through brick walls, [[spoiler:Lincoln March]] keeps up a steady stream of convoluted conversation regarding his backstory.

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

* Hilariously subverted in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''. [[BigBad Lord Shen]] sails his ships to the open sea in order to conquer all of China. Then he sees Po atop a roof far away. Po stands heroically and then starts giving an inspiring speech... [[RealityEnsues except no one can hear him]]. After a few confused "What?"'s, Shen gives up trying to understand Po and just orders his troops to fire.

* In ''Film/{{Crank}}'', Chev Chelios calls his girlfriend and leaves a goodbye message on her answering machine [[spoiler: as he is falling from a helicopter several miles above the city]]. There is practically no wind noise as he does this. This turns into a ParodiedTrope in the [[Film/CrankHighVoltage sequel]] where it's shown that his girlfriend heard ''none'' of his heartfelt speech because [[RealityEnsues the only thing recorded on the machine was the overpowering sound of rushing wind]].

* Hilariously subverted in ''Film/Shazam2019''. During the last fight between Shazam and [[BigBad Doctor Sivana]], the latter starts [[EvilGloating proclaiming how he'll never be defeated]], but Shazam can't hear what he's saying [[RealityEnsues because they're several dozen feet apart and flying over a busy city street]]. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] their situation.

* Also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0IDiRBnaVY parodied]] in ''Series/ThatMitchellAndWebbLook'', where the obligatory CoolestClubEver [[RealityEnsues turns out to be far too overwhelmingly and intrusively loud]] for any ''sotto voce'' discussions with the boss. They try to pack it in and head for a quiet pub to talk business, only to barely miss last call.

* ''Revenge of the Red Baron'' has a doozy of an example of this trope. Two WWI pilots in open cockpit planes, dogfighting each other, are able to trade threats and insults through the communicative power of shouting their lines.

* The first ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movie features a climax where hero and villain are indeed hanging off a speeding helicopter. Following just behind a TGV Bullet Train travelling hundreds of kilometers per hour. In a ''tunnel''. Given this, it's probably just as well Ethan Hunt uses visual aids while shouting [[PunctuatedForEmphasis "Red Light! Green Light!"]], so that [[spoiler: Phelps]] can properly recognize things are about to get a little [[StuffBlowingUp 'splody.]]

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Di and Steve regularly talk to people while dangling from airplanes and no one ever so much as asks them to repeat themselves.

* The begining of ''Videogame/{{Drakengard}}'' has our SociopathicHero Caim riding on a dragon Angelus and destroying airship and whatnot good kilometer or two above the ground. Somehow he can still hear the messages of his soldiers staying back on the surface that don't possess any telepathic skills. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by LetsPlay/TheDarkId:

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Di and Steve regularly talk to people while they're dangling from airplanes and no one ever so much as asks them to repeat themselves.

* The ComicBook/NightOfTheOwls arc in DC's [[{{ComicBook/New52}} New 52]] culminated in ''Batman #11'', an excerpt of which serves as the trope image for this page. That panel isn't a fluke: all throughout a fight involving screaming jet engines, explosions, and men getting punched through brick walls, [[spoiler:Lincoln March]] keeps up a steady stream of convoluted conversation regarding his backstory.

* ''Film/TheTwoTowers''. When Saruman is addressing his army of ten thousand Uruk-hai, his voice appears to be [[AWizardDidIt magnified by magical means]]. However in the extended version of ''Film/ReturnOfTheKing'' Saruman speaks to the protagonists from the top of Orthanc and no similar effect is used. Justified as Suruman is literally a wizard and amplifying your voice at will is shown to be a wizard ability and is used at other points in the films.

* One strip of ''Webcomic/ThatDeafGuy'' points out how [[UsefulNotes/SignedLanguage signing]] is a convenient way around this problem.