History Main / SpeechImpediment

* [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8347440/1/Legends-of-the-Lion-Kings Legends of the Lion Kings]], a fanfic of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', shows that when Mufasa was younger, he had a stuttering problem, and Scar teases him about it. The author mentions that they like the idea of a powerful and grand-speaking king having a problem with stuttering when they were younger before overcoming it.

** Tara stutters when she's nervous in her earliest appearances in the fourth season, notably when we first meet her in "Hush", and when Faith-in-Buffy grills her in "Who Are You?". She later gains enough self-confidence to overcome the stutter, and even face down other characters. (Note that Willow noticeably stuttered in the first season as well, and occasionally tripped over syllables well into the series, though any impediment was almost gone by the last season.) Tara's stutter was clearly a side-effect of her abusive childhood as it gets worse when her family comes to town.

* ''Series/{{MASH}}''; one patient that passed through the camp was bullied by his squad mates for his stutter, to which Major Winchester quickly came to the man's defense before encouraging him and sending him off with [[Literature/MobyDick some reading material]] "fitting for his intelligence" (the other soldiers had been calling him "stupid"). As it turns out, Charles' beloved sister has a similar stutter and he couldn't help but relate.

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' Daffy Duck, [[PorkyPigPronunciation Porky Pig]], [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome Elmer Fudd]] and Sylvester. Daffy and Sylvester both lisp, Elmer is a textbook example of rhotacism, and Porky stammers ("T-T-T-That's all, folks!").

** In Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit, Daffy rather hypocritically (especially given his extensive catalog working with Porky Pig) complains about Donald. "This is the last time I work with anyone with a speech impediment!"

* Creator/BenedictCumberbatch has a slight lisp, which is more noticeable in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpvYssxp1jU earlier films]]. He controls it very well, and now it only seems to come out when he's really comfortable with someone or tired.

* The computer scientist Katie Bouman, who developed the algorithm for black hole imaging, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIvezCVcsYs hath quite a notitheable lithp]].

* Demosthenes[[note]]Anyone who has seen "Don Gato y su Pandilla" (the Latin-American Spanish dubbed version of ''WesternAnimation/TopCat''), will known this name. It was given to Brain, the CloudCuckooLander of the group.[[/note]], one of the most famous orators of the ancient era, had a serious speech impediment in his youth. There are several anecdotes about how he overcame it, such as that he used talk with pebbles in his mouth, recited verses while running and to strengthen his voice, he spoke on the seashore over the roar of the waves.

* UsefulNotes/JoeBiden is a [[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/joe-biden-stutter-profile/602401/ lifelong stutterer]], which is partly responsible for his history of OpenMouthInsertFoot. He worked to overcome his stutter by reading Irish poetry out loud, which led to his habit of mentioning poets -- like William Bulter Yeats and Ralph Waldo Emerson -- and quoting verses in his speeches. During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden's interactions with Brayden Harrington, a student with a stutter, became a trending news story as he gave Brayden the confidence to speak on live TV and show the world how he himself is working to overcome his speech impediment.

* Minor character Lieutenant Katie Jensen from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 12-13 speaks with a very pronounced lisp, and even chokes on her own spit when introducing herself.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'':

---> [[Wrestling/{{Edge}} The fact that you named it the]] ''Thwagger Thoaring Eagle'' [[Funny/{{Edge}} makes it especially]] ''[[Funny/{{Edge}} THTUPID!]]''

** In ''Literature/TheAmazingMauriceAndHisEducatedRodents'', it's said that one of the rats had a stutter when he learned to speak. Then he got eaten.

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' has you doing a series of missions in the town of Overlook for the town's administrator, Karima, who speaks with a stutter due to suffering from skull-shivers like everyone else in town. It goes away after you deliver medicine to the town, however it was {{Retcon}}ned to be a permanent affliction unrelated to the shivers after a fan messaged Gearbox thanking them for giving people with stutters some positive representation.

* The villain of the third ''Literature/MollyMoon'' book, the Maharaja of Waqt, often unintentionally speaks in spoonerisms, meaning that he says many words "frack to bunt," for example saying "maby Bolly" instead of "baby Molly."

* Demosthenes[[note]]Anyone who has seen "Don Gato y su Pandilla" (the Latin-American Spanish dubbed version of WesternAnimation/TopCat), will known this name. It was given to Brain, the CloudCuckooLander of the group.[[/note]], one of the most famous orators of the ancient era, had a serious speech impediment in his youth. There are several anecdotes about how he overcame it, such as that he used talk with pebbles in his mouth, recited verses while running and to strengthen his voice, he spoke on the seashore over the roar of the waves.

* Shoko from ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is deaf and when she speaks her words are quite slurred. This is most noticeable when she was bullied by Shoya as an elementary schooler and later [[spoiler:when he doesn't understand her AnguishedDeclarationOfLove (mistaking "love"/"suki" for "moon"/"tsuki").]]

* Jean Chrétien suffered from Bell's palsy and partial deafness which started in his youth that made his speech and face very difficult to understand in his native french (and the butt of jokes in English). When Prime Minister Kim Campbell attached his disability, not only did he become a 3-term Canadian Prime Minister but he also sent the Progressive-Conservative Party to the [[Main/KarmicDeath Trash-Heap of Canadian Politics]].

* [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata Hyuga]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a rather pronounced stutter, tripping over her own words and saying "Ano/Um" a lot more than necessary. More than likely, this is the result of [[AbusiveParents her abusive upbringing]]. Some fanfics have her [[{{Flanderization}} stutter on every syllable]]. [[CharacterDevelopment She gets better]] in Part II. By the Invasion of Pain arc, she completely loses her stutter.

* In VideoGame/SabresOfInfinity, Sergeant Hernandes suffers from this, which is needless to say, an unfortunate trait for a {{Drill Sergeant Nasty}} to have.

* If you listen closely, Classic Tails in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' has a lisp. He lost it as he grew.

* ''Videogame/DawnOfWar'': Indrick Boreale's [[{{Narm}} Narmtastic]] speech impediment has made him the [[MemeticMutation biggest meme]] in the Warhammer 40k fanbase.
* ''VideoGame/{{Lisa}}'' has Rando. An extremely powerful warlord who speaks with a heavy stutter, which serves as a hint to his identity as [[spoiler:Dusty, Brad's adopted son]].
* Lammy from ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'' has a habit of stuttering on account of being a nervous wreck 90% of the time.
* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankSizeMatters'', the photographic child Luna speaks this way. [[spoiler:Its all an act; [[TheDragon Luna]] is really a [[NoBiologicalSex genderless]] [[SpaceshipGirl puppet-warship]] who can speak normally when not pretending to be [[TheFakeCutie an innocent child]]]].
* Grim Matchstick of ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' has a stutter in his death screens.
* Funtime Freddy from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'' has one. If anything it makes him more terrifying then not.

* [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata Hyuga]] from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a rather pronounced stutter, tripping over her own words and saying "Ano/Um" a lot more than necessary. More than likely, this is the result of [[AbusiveParents her abusive upbringing]]. It's taken UpToEleven in some fanfics that have her [[{{Flanderization}} stutter on every syllable]]. [[CharacterDevelopment She gets better]] in Part II. By the Invasion of Pain arc, she completely loses her stutter.

* Ed from ''VideoGame/BraveFencerMusashi'' has a stuttering problem that takes it UpToEleven: He actually spells out his stutters ''in a written letter''.

* On ''Western/Animation/SnooperAndBlabber'', Blabber Mouse slurs his "S"'s when he talks.

-->Johnny Hammer had a tuh-tuh-tub-terrible stammer

->Then they guh-guh-guh-gave him medicinal compound
->And now he's suh-suh-suh-seen but never heard

-->Johnny Hammer had a tuh-tuh-tub-terrible stammer,//
He could hardly suh-suh-suh-say a word.//
Then they guh-guh-guh-gave him medicinal compound//
And now he's suh-suh-suh-seen but never heard.

May be faked as ObfuscatingStupidity, or has to be overcome to [[FeigningIntelligence look intelligent]]. Rarely is [[SpeechImpededLoveInterest The Hero or a Love Interest affected with this]], though there's a whole [[http://forums.rtbookreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=8327 list of such characters]]. Frequently [[LoserArchetype The Loser]]. Not to be confused with scared stuttering.

* ''Film/BlazingSaddles'': Lili Von Shtupp is German but speaks English but with JustAStupidAccent. To compound this she also pronounces all her Rs as Ws, e.g. a "A wed wose. How womantic."

A speech impediment is a condition affecting some people that hinders their speaking abilities. Unfortunately, those afflicted with a speech impediment tend to be seen as less intelligent than those without. As a result, speech impediements are almost always given to stupid or awkward characters.

* There was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{TheSecretShow}}'' where Victor Volt spoke with a lisp for the entire episode much to Anita Knight's disapproval because Dr. Hypno caused him to have his face numb and talk with a lateral lisp.