History TheUnintelligible / AnimeAndManga

* ''Anime/LastPeriod'' has Iwazaru. In keeping with her "speak no evil" theme, everything she says comes out as an unintelligible mumble. Kikazaru translates for her.

* Penelope from ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' can only say the words ookyoo or ookwee; her "older sister" Pashmina is always on hand to explain what the youngest member of the group says.
* Blade Knight in the English dub of ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' speaks with such a thick accent, it's very hard to tell what he is saying. However, key names and points of interests are said much more clearly.
* Almost all Pokemon in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'', who can say only their names or parts thereof. With a little careful listening to regular cast members (such as Pikachu) in the original Japanese, though, it's possible to make out patterns. Ash (Satoshi) is "Pikapi", while Togepi, during the seasons that Misty (Kasumi) was with them, was "Pipipi." Likewise, Misty herself is "Pikachupi" and Team Rocket was "Pipikachu." Here's a [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ash%27s_Pikachu#Pikachu.27s_language list]]. The human characters understand them just fine; actions speak louder than words, after all.
* Likewise Mokona from ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' can only say "Puu." While he may not seem to act like it and is accorded little respect, Mokona is arguably more intelligent than anyone else in the cast -- but the details are a spoiler of monumental proportions. (Also TheVoiceless.) Hikaru is able to interpret his sounds.
* Daikichi Komusubi from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' communicates mainly through grunts and short sentences. It's said he speaks in ''pawa-go'' ("Powerspeak"), which only strong men, like his "sensei" Kurita, can understand (though oddly enough, Mamori seems able to understand him as well).
* This trope is made fun of in ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'' when Sousuke (using a suit of PoweredArmor whose voice filter turns every word he says into "fumoffu") and a man dressed in a pony mask (don't ask) have a discussion consisting entirely of "fumoffu fumoffu" and "pony pony." Kaname then yells at them for reaching an understanding just by exchanging unintelligible words.

* The ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'' TV series featured a cute dog creature named Potato that "spoke" exclusively using the word "piko" and, occasionally, "pikori." Her owner, Kano, could understand him perfectly, but nobody else could.
* Young I-Pin from ''Manga/Reborn2004''. She's supposed to be speaking Chinese, but no one else among the group can understand her. Aged-up I-Pin is somewhat easier to understand, having "taught herself" to speak the language (still not perfectly, but she's getting there).
* The MonsterOfTheWeek on ''Anime/SailorMoon'' usually suffered from Pokemon Speak syndrome.
* Ryo-Ohki, the WeaselMascot in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' can only say "Miyaa," but is clearly an intelligent being capable of communicating complex ideas to the people around her. This is mainly due to the fact she is still very young. In ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' however, she is fully capable of speaking clearly. (Also TheVoiceless)
* The Minicons in ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' speak in beeps. Towards the end of the series, they start actually talking. It's not clear how that works.
** The other characters' ability to understand them also varies. The humans get it most of the time, but Jetfire can't understand them at all and most of the others only vaguely know what they're saying some of the time. It's possible they just have really, really thick accents.
* Targetmasters in ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'' also speak in random sounds.
* [[GentleGiant Sweden]] from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' often becomes this in FanWorks, after an [[AccentAdaptation attempt at localizing]] his Tohoku accent[[note]]Which, in Japanese, is perfectly understandable, if a bit unusual[[/note]] in {{Scanlation}}s gave him truncated words and occasionally missing vowels. And after {{Flanderization}}, Sweden's often shown sp'k'ng l'k' th's. Strangely enough, most of the Nordics speak in similar dialects (Tsugaru for Norway and Iceland, and Ibaraki for Denmark), but none of them get the same treatment in scanlations or in fanon.
* Satsuki, Sentarou's girlfriend from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Only Kasumi, a fellow YamatoNadeshiko, can understand what she says.
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', within the setting, messenger crows assigned to hunters have been taught how to speak human language. Zenitsu's messenger though is a sparrow that cannot speak normally, and tries to communicate by just repeating "chu, chu, chu" over and over again accompained by gestures; narrator text will sometimes translate to the audience what the bird is trying to say, but Zenitsu will remain lost on what Chuntaro is saying. Tanjiro on the other hand can understand the bird perfectly.

* Lum's Mother from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', due to her lack of knowing Japanese, speaks in her native language, which humans can only interpret as gibberish (shown quite clearly in the manga, using various symbols in place of text). Naturally, Lum and other aliens don't have trouble understanding.
* President Aria from ''Manga/{{Aria}}'' is described as having human-level intelligence, but speaks only with the syllables "pui" and "nyu." Similarly, President Maa also only says "maa" (and was named so named for that very reason). Somewhat justified in that they are both ''cats'' - they're special breeds that can understand human speech, but they aren't capable of producing it.
* Shouko from ''Manga/ASilentVoice'', due to her hearing impairment, has a very difficult time vocalizing and many characters do not understand what she is saying.
* Similarly, Mone-chan in ''Anime/{{Yumeria}}'' only says "Mone" or parts thereof. (It is unknown whether or not "Mone" is her real name; it was (unsurprisingly) the only thing she said when asked what her name was.)

* [[GentleGiant Sweden]] from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' often becomes this in FanWorks, after an [[AccentAdaptation attempt at localizing]] his TohokuRegionalAccent[[note]]Which, in Japanese, is perfectly understandable, if a bit unusual[[/note]] in {{Scanlation}}s gave him truncated words and occasionally missing vowels. And after {{Flanderization}}, Sweden's often shown sp'k'ng l'k' th's. Strangely enough, most of the Nordics speak in similar dialects (Tsugaru for Norway and Iceland, and Ibaraki for Denmark), but none of them get the same treatment in scanlations or in fanon.

* Almost all Pokemon in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', who can say only their names or parts thereof. With a little careful listening to regular cast members (such as Pikachu) in the original Japanese, though, it's possible to make out patterns. Ash (Satoshi) is "Pikapi", while Togepi, during the seasons that Misty (Kasumi) was with them, was "Pipipi." Likewise, Misty herself is "Pikachupi" and Team Rocket was "Pipikachu." Here's a [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Ash%27s_Pikachu#Pikachu.27s_language list]]. The human characters understand them just fine; actions speak louder than words, after all.

* ''Anime/ZombielandSaga'': The Legendary [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTaeYamada Tae Yamada]], being a zombie, can only "speak" through groans, grunts, shrieks, and occasionally garbled imitations of others. And also chicken noises.

* Similarly, Mone-chan in ''Anime/{{Yumeria}}'' only says "Mone" or parts thereof. (It is unknown whether or not "Mone" is her real name; it was (unsurprisingly) the only thing she said when asked what her name was.)
* Blade Knight in the English dub of ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' speaks with such a thick accent, it's very hard to tell what he is saying. However, key names and points of interests are said much more clearly.
* Ryo-Ohki, the WeaselMascot in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' can only say "Miyaa," but is clearly an intelligent being capable of communicating complex ideas to the people around her. This is mainly due to the fact she is still very young. In ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'' however, she is fully capable of speaking clearly. (Also TheVoiceless)

* Penelope from ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' can only say the words ookyoo or ookwee; her "older sister" Pashmina is always on hand to explain what the youngest member of the group says.

* Keyop in ''Anime/BattleOfThePlanets''. He had lines in ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''. One fan rumor had it that he used too much profanity for the US networks. Probably not true though.
** Jinpei, the original character, spoke and acted like the smart-ass 10-year-old that he was. Not something the moral guardians wanted to see in an Americanized cartoon. (Joe was the one with the blunt way of speaking.)

* ''Anime/ZombielandSaga'': The Legendary Tae Yamada, being a zombie, can only "speak" through groans, grunts, shrieks, and occasionally garbled imitations of others. And also chicken noises.
* ''Anime/LastPeriod'' has Iwazaru. In keeping with her "speak no evil" theme, everything she says comes out as an unintelligible mumble. Kikazaru translates for her.
* ''Manga/BlackClover'' has Gordon Agrippa. It's one of the reasons people find him creepy as he's always mumbling. It makes him look like he is always casting curses, which makes him seem even more intimidating. Over time he speaks louder, allowing his squadmates to actually understand him.

* Daikichi Komusubi from ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' communicates mainly through grunts and short sentences. It's said he speaks in ''pawa-go'' ("Powerspeak"), which only strong men, like his "sensei" Kurita, can understand (though oddly enough, Mamori seems able to understand him as well).

* Young I-Pin from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn''. She's supposed to be speaking Chinese, but no one else among the group can understand her. Aged-up I-Pin is somewhat easier to understand, having "taught herself" to speak the language (still not perfectly, but she's getting there).

* [[GentleGiant Sweden]] from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' often becomes this in FanWorks, after an [[AccentAdaptation attempt at localizing]] his TohokuRegionalAccent[[note]]Which, in Japanese, is perfectly understandable, if a bit unusual[[/note]] in [[{{Scanlation}} scanlations]] gave him truncated words and occasionally missing vowels. And after {{Flanderization}}, Sweden's often shown sp'k'ng l'k' th's. Strangely enough, most of the Nordics speak in similar dialects (Tsugaru for Norway and Iceland, and Ibaraki for Denmark), but none of them get the same treatment in scanlations or in fanon.

* [[GentleGiant Sweden]] from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' often becomes this in FanWorks, after an [[AccentAdaptation attempt at localizing]] his TohokuRegionalAccent[[note]]Which, in Japanese, is perfectly understandable, if a bit unusual[[/note]] in [[{{Scanlation}} scanlations]] gave him truncated words and occasionally missing vowels. And after {{Flanderization}}, Sweden's often shown sp'k'ng l'k' th's. Strangely enough, most of the Nordics speak in similar dialects (Tsugaru for Norway and Iceland, and Ibaraki for Denmark), but none of them get the same treatment in scanlations or in fanon.