History Main / TheVoiceless

* In ''{{Joker}}'', Harley Quinn of all people is this. She does do some awesome stuff (and [[OfCorsetsSexy look]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} damn] [[FetishFuel good]] doing it), though. This might just be because Harley's [[PerkyFemaleMinion usual characterisation]] wouldn't gel with the comic's atmosphere so well.

* In ''{{Joker}}'', Harley Quinn of all people is this. She does do some awesome stuff (and [[OfCorsetsSexy look]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} d***]] [[FetishFuel good]] doing it), though. This might just be because Harley's [[PerkyFemaleMinion usual characterisation]] wouldn't gel with the comic's atmosphere so well.

*** In ''Film/ChasingAmy'' he starts gearing up for his speech when Jay gripes that, oh look, Bob's opening his mouth, motherf***er thinks that just because he never says anything that one time he motherf***ing says something he thinks it's so motherf***ing profound. Bob points out that he at least has a leg up on Jay, who talks all the time and yet has never said anything remotely meaningful.

* Dwayne of ''LittleMissSunshine'', begins the film as this because he's taken a vow of silence until he can join the Air Force Academy. However, he begins speaking regularly after [[spoiler:finding out he's color-blind and thus can't become a pilot]]. His first word is a very loud [[PrecisionFStrike "F***!"]]

* Similarly, Jason Voorhees of ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' never spoke except as a child in the flashbacks and in the earlier films before he became a zombie he would occasionally grunt and scream. He wouldn't even talk in the ''Film/FreddyVsJason'' pre-movie conference when asked a question. This was even lampshaded by [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy himself]], which served to p*** Jason off. No one died that day, thankfully.

-> '''Bang Bang:''' F*** me.

* In ''[[Literature/BlackCompany The Chronicles of the Black Company]]'', one of the company wizards (called [[ExactlyWhat***aysOnTheTin Silent]]) is quite the embodiment of this trope.

*** The speech-plus-gimmick format is retained in their TV series ''Series/PennAndTellerBulls***''; Teller does speak occasionally, but he's usually facing away from the camera or has something in front of him. (One memorable example has Penn standing alone on the set, referencing the kiddy rhyme "Liar, liar, pants on fire"; Teller runs by in the background with his own pants actually on fire, screaming in ostensible terror.)

* Dane Cook mentioned this trope (and the "speaking for one dramatic moment") in one of his jokes about action movies. He says that every team in an action movie has the one guy who "never says anything, he just stands there. And he never talks, ever, except for like, ''one'' scene near the end where he says 'Let's go kill those b****es.'"

* In ''{{Joker}}'', Harley Quinn of all people is this. She does do some awesome stuff (and [[OfCorsetsSexy look]] [[{{Stripperiffic}} damn]] [[FetishFuel good]] doing it), though. This might just be because Harley's [[PerkyFemaleMinion usual characterisation]] wouldn't gel with the comic's atmosphere so well.

*** In ''Film/ChasingAmy'' he starts gearing up for his speech when Jay gripes that, oh look, Bob's opening his mouth, motherfucker thinks that just because he never says anything that one time he motherfucking says something he thinks it's so motherfucking profound. Bob points out that he at least has a leg up on Jay, who talks all the time and yet has never said anything remotely meaningful.

* Dwayne of ''LittleMissSunshine'', begins the film as this because he's taken a vow of silence until he can join the Air Force Academy. However, he begins speaking regularly after [[spoiler:finding out he's color-blind and thus can't become a pilot]]. His first word is a very loud [[PrecisionFStrike "FUCK!"]]

** EddieIzzard's character Bailey is silent in all but one of his appearances. Reportedly, to avoid a PG rating an F-word was added on the soundtrack just before his demise to bump it up to PG-13.

* Similarly, Jason Voorhees of ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' never spoke except as a child in the flashbacks and in the earlier films before he became a zombie he would occasionally grunt and scream. He wouldn't even talk in the ''Film/FreddyVsJason'' pre-movie conference when asked a question. This was even lampshaded by [[Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet Freddy himself]], which served to piss Jason off. No one died that day, thankfully.

-> '''Bang Bang:''' Fuck me.

* In ''[[Literature/BlackCompany The Chronicles of the Black Company]]'', one of the company wizards (called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Silent]]) is quite the embodiment of this trope.

*** The speech-plus-gimmick format is retained in their TV series ''Series/PennAndTellerBullshit''; Teller does speak occasionally, but he's usually facing away from the camera or has something in front of him. (One memorable example has Penn standing alone on the set, referencing the kiddy rhyme "Liar, liar, pants on fire"; Teller runs by in the background with his own pants actually on fire, screaming in ostensible terror.)

* Dane Cook mentioned this trope (and the "speaking for one dramatic moment") in one of his jokes about action movies. He says that every team in an action movie has the one guy who "never says anything, he just stands there. And he never talks, ever, except for like, ''one'' scene near the end where he says 'Let's go kill those bitches.'"

* In ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}'': ''Literature/GhostsOfOnyx'', [[SuperSoldier SPARTAN-III]] Lucy-B091 is one of only two survivors of Beta Company (minus [[VideoGame/HaloReach a few others]]). The experiences of that mission are so traumatic that she becomes utterly incapable of speaking until ''HaloGlasslands''. Despite this, she becomes a capable NCO under Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose when training Gamma Company. She also coordinates well with the other [=SPARTANs=], who mostly communicate by hand gestures and comm beeps anyways. She can't do the SPARTAN version of the "all clear" signal (an "Olly olly oxen free" whistle), though.

* The enigmatic racing driver known as The Stig on the British car show ''TopGear'' has only been seen to speak once in an interview, although he didn't say much else other than confirming that his name is The Stig. He is always wearing the same coveralls and helmet, which when added to his muteness suggest that more than one man may be playing the role.

* Remeber the Interrogation Droid that Darth Vader used on Leia in ''Film/ANewHope''? This was actually an inversion. Expanded Universe novels have shown that these droids are perfectly capable of speech, but are usually simply told not to by whoever is conducting the interrogation, because a torturer who remains silent can be far more effective than one who speaks to the victim.

* Josef Stalin, interestingly enough, virtually never spoke in public or allowed his voice to be recorded, because his voice was surprisingly high-pitched and he didn't think it was intimidating enough.
** This troper calls complete and utter bullshit: not only Stalin spoke frequently live and on the radio (as, say, in the case of his famous "Brothers and sisters" speech after the German attack in 1941), but his historical speeches were widely released and later re-released on vinyl. Hell, you can find them on YouTube, for God's sake (here's an [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFxO51a9VVA example]], a year before his death).

* Brother Finland of ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'' was at first depicted as physically mute, communicating his thoughts with [[KnifeNut threatening knife gestures]] or the occasional (usually noverbal) sign. His only actual word was [[{{Fuck}} Perkele]]. Later comics have revealed that he ''can'' speak both Finnish and, to his eternal shame, Swedish -- it's just that he really, really hates talking, and avoids it whenever possible. Sister Finland, on the other hand, still hasn't spoken a single word in the comic.

* The stagehands in ''SamuraiSentaiShinkenger.''
** And, years earlier, Grifforzer of ''KyoryuSentaiZyuranger'', until he was reunited with his wife Lamie, at which point Bandora gave him a voice.

* On an episode of ''TheXFiles'' set in a town full of sideshow performers, the heavily-tattooed Conundrum doesn't say anything until the very end, when he breaks his silence to deliver a lame punch-line.

* "The Shooter" Dean Malenko in the original Wrestling/{{ECW}} NEVER spoke, usually having a mouthpiece (Jason, Shane Douglas). At times this was played up in promos, such as when Douglas noted that Malenko was very happy after winning a title, and for his victory speech... he said nothing (even as Douglas held the microphone to his mouth). This made it an even bigger event after Dean's and Wrestling/EddieGuerrero's last match in ECW when he asked for the mike and gave a farewell speech.

* Wrestling/SinCara, a high-flying masked WWE wrestler, hasn't spoken a word[[hottip:*:though a rival wrestler who briefly replaced him (and now wrestles as "Wrestling/{{Hunico}}") did speak while assuming the identity]], opting instead to gesture at his opponents, and dazzling the fans with an impressive aerial arsenal.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' Soundwave combines this with TheBlank to creepy effect. WordOfGod says he does have a voice, but chooses not to use it since coming to Earth[[hottip:*:To be more specific, he took a vow of silence, according to an off-hand remark by Starscream]]. Instead, he "talks" through recordings of others [[DeadpanSnarker (and it's usually something snarky)]].

A variant of HeWhoMustNotBeHeard. The gag may be extended by having other characters refer to just how talkative this character is -- [[InformedAbility but that's never seen on screen]]. ("Sorry I'm late, but (TheVoiceless) caught me in the hall, and I couldn't get him to shut up.")

Contrast TheSpeechless, who never says anything because he actually cannot. Not to be confused with TheQuietOne. May utilize a VoiceForTheVoiceless or MouthOfSauron. For the video game protagonist version, see HeroicMime. When TheVoiceless communicates entirely by body language, see TheSilentBob.

*** Just as Morn never speaks on screen, so the novels never give him dialogue (again, despite mentioning how he's actually a chatterbox). In the first book of ''StarTrekMillennium'', it briefly looks like Morn has been giving dialogue as part of a CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Turns out it's actually Odo taking Morn's form.

** It's not clear whether the Breen are TheSpeechless or TheVoiceless. However, given ''Franchise/StarTrek'''s amazing translation technology, it seems likely that the reason they don't communicate with other characters is that they don't want to.

* Bill from ''TheRedGreenShow'' is usually considered one of TheVoiceless, though this may be unfair: he most often appears in the ''Adventures With Bill'' segments, in which the dialogue is replaced with a narration by Red, though he has shown up in the regular scenes from time to time, as well as in the ''Red Green'' movie ''Duct Tape Forever''. In the "Behind The Scenes" special, the character of Bill appears, and points out that many people assume him to be mute, but he is actually quite talkative.

** Incidentally, ''Top Gear'' has been far from hesitant to play around with The Stig's role as TheVoiceless, as demonstrated in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOxHV6QfJkg DIY Caterham vs. The Stig]] segment.

* Maine of Machinima/RedVsBlue was TheVoiceless before becoming TheSpeechless, speaking clearly a grand total of three times in season 9 before being shot in the throat and becoming mute.

** Ironically, this exception to the trope backfires when Jericho. infiltrating a villainous stronghold, uses a borrowed body to respond to another Mook's question. [[spoiler: Turns out that the borrowed body's owner, Cinderblock, is ''also'' TheVoiceless. "Since when can you talk?"]]

* Mitobe from ''Manga/KurokoNoBasuke''. He never says a word (and if I recall correctly, he doesn't even have a single bubble with ellipses in the whole manga). Played with in a scene where he shows eating with his family, who all seem to be chatterboxes. But surprisingly he has a seiyuu in the anime!

* Eucliwood from ''LightNovel/KoreWaZombieDesuKa''... her words are powerful enough to kill so she doesn't speak (except writing on paper and Ayumu's imagination).

* In fact, a decent number of people (about 1 in 150 children, the same ratio as autism, and much fewer adults) have an anxiety disorder called selective mutism. As it sounds, this makes them mute in certain situations, usually because of extreme anxiety about social situations or communication, though occasionally for no apparent reason. The manifestations can be quite odd, from being able to speak to only one person in one situation to being able to speak anywhere but school to speaking to anyone but a teacher, while using gestures, written words, non-word noises, and/or whispers or not communicating in no-speak situations.

* Buddha is one of these in ''{{Sinfest}}'', serving as a comparison for the in-your-face Devil and the DeadpanSnarker / CloudCuckoolander God.

* ChillyWilly the Penguin from the WalterLantz company almost never spoke; there are only a small handful of cartoons in which he actually speaks.

* In ''Film/{{Up}}'' although she was plenty talkative as a child, Ellie is never heard speaking once as an adult in the montage ([[NoDialogueEpisode though neither is anyone else]]).
* In "Disney/PeterPan", Tiger Lily was mostly taciturn. A rare speaking moment from her was when she cried to Peter for help.
** This is partly justified, since Captain Hook has been threatening her to give up information, and the Indian princess bravely refuses to disclose anything.

*** Done ''again'' in ''StarTrekOnline''. Morn almost never says anything, but the player character thinks he does [[ComicallyMissingThePoint and gives responses.]] There is one option where he speaks, though... in a GilliganCut so we don't actually see it. Morn never changes expression either, making him the ComicallySerious... and puts a whole new light on the "Morn never shuts up" thing.

* ''TheGunsOfNavarone'': Anna has never spoken after her torture by the Germans. [[spoiler:But that's all a lie, since she's actually TheMole.]]

* Cute little Vorena, the Younger from ''{{Rome}}'' emits only three brief sounds throughout the entirety of the series despite featuring regularly as a background character.

* Eucliwood from ''LightNovel/KoreWaZombieDesuKa''... words are powerful enough to kill so she doesn't speak (except writing on paper and Ayumu's imagination).

* Egypt from Hetalia: Axis Powers may fit this trope. He's never spoken a word in the anime or the manga, and the only thing he's done on screen yet was deliver a mild beat down to Italy with a stick and his fist. All without saying a word.

** A crossover comic with ''{{Transformers}}'' (one of many, actually), also plays with the second part of the trope, when, before the formation of the group, then-Colonel Hawk calls Snake-Eyes "Chatterbox", and reveals that he made a bet with the other soldiers that Snake-Eyes couldn't stay silent for the entire mission. Then Cobra attacks with brainwashed Autobots and Decepticons, rendering him silent for the rest of his life. The cause this time was Starscream (rebuilt with the alt-mode of a Cobra Nightraven) blasting the missle tank Snake-Eyes was near and the explosion doing it to him. Part out of guilt over this (and that Snake-Eyes' family was killed in damage from the related attack), Hawk then insists Snake-Eyes be included in GIJoe. [[Spoiler: Snake-Eyes meets the now-free thinking Starscream on Cobra Island, getting his revenge when he slashes open Starscream's left optic and shoving a grenade into it.]]

* Mini-Me Dr. Evil's clone from the AustinPowers series, the only things he ever says are "Me or Eee" and during Dr. Evil's music video he says "You and I" in a deep voice.