History YouNoTakeCandle / VideoGames

* ''{{Thief}}'':

** In ''Ultima Underworld'', The Stygian Abyss, the goblins are a perfect example for this (especially the Green Goblins except for their king). Try to trade with one of them and make an offer he rejects. The answer: "No, I no like!"

** In Ultima Underworld, The Stygian Abyss, the goblins are a perfect example for this (especially the Green Goblins except for their king). Try to trade with one of them and make an offer he rejects. The answer: "No, I no like!"

** Has a bartender who randomly adds unnecessary plurals to his speech ("You seek informations?" etc), leading to the [[MemeticMutation infamous quip]] "[[NeverTrustATrope Never trust]] a bartender with bad grammar." Amusingly this can't be a species thing because he's a Chiss, the same as the [[WickedCultured supremely cultured]] [[MagnificentBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]].

* ''{{Warcraft}}'':
** In this video game series, the "primitive" language is actually named "Low Common" in Warcraft [=DnD=] - implicitly there's a "low" form of many other languages, as well. ''WorldOfWarcraft'' actually subverts this at one point:
-->'''Draz'Zilb:''' Why the puzzled stare, <name>? Expecting me to speak like an uncouth ruffian merely because I am an ogre?
** Most of the time though, ogres are more like this:
-->'''Ogre:''' What ecology mean? Me smash you!
** One of the classic battle cries of kobolds is [[TropeNamer "You no take candle!"]]. Incidentally, kobolds are one of very few races depicted as almost universally stupid. Later lampshaded/parodied by the mushroom-stealing ogres of Zangarmarsh, who sometimes shout "You no take mushroom!" Oddly, the phrase isn't echoed by the snobolds of Northrend.
*** This has become such a recognized line among the fanbase that the novel ''Stormrage'' has kobolds shouting this in a dream sequence, with another character responding "I-don't-want-your-damn-CANDLE!"
*** Also parodied in a later quest where you have to catch Kobolds with a net. One of the possible responses from the Kolbolds is "You no take... me!"
*** For those who don't know, kobolds put ''burning'' candles on their heads presumably to function as a miner's light even when ''they aren't in a mine''.
*** However, if you spend time around one of their above-ground lairs in Loch Modan, you can overhear a kobold practicing archery--and remarking on his accuracy in crystal-clear Common.
** Further subverted in a Northrend questline where the player learns the tongue of the local murlocs. Murlocs are always portrayed as not terribly bright and their gorloc cousins speak in pretty broken English, but in their own language, [[EloquentInMyNativeTongue the murlocs are actually surprisingly erudite]]. (And there's even a gorloc who's learned better Common and speaks both perfectly and intelligently.)
*** "Before you say anything, do not assume me as foolish as most of the Gorlocs you've met. I've been into the world a bit, I've learned your language, and I'm not easily duped." The implication isn't that ''he'' thinks the other Gorlocs are foolish, but that ''you'' might think them foolish because of their not good speaking and funny acting. Their leader in particular can say quite philosophical things and catch and eat shiny bugs at same time.
** A {{Justified|Trope}} example is the wolvar (wolverine-people) of Northrend, who point out once or twice that there is no real reason for them to know Common/Orcish or how to write. For instance, on a "Wanted" notice board in Zul'Drak:
--->Chief Rageclaw sorry for bad writing. First time use one of these things; plus, Chief Rageclaw is wolvar, not person.
*** That said, they're also consistently portrayed as not very intelligent creatures, all told. One of the Frenzyheart hunters who accompany you on quests in Schalozar Basin thinks he has to tell you that you aren't a wolvar. Their speech also delves into HulkSpeak territory; they know of gorlocs, but only refer to them as "big-tongues." Of course, the gorlocs call them "puppy-men."
** Furbolgs (humanoid bears) are another interesting case as most of them are encountered as enemies apparently incapable of speech, but the few of them that are willing to talk to you all speak in a rather sophisticated manner.
*** Starting off as a Draenei gives you a possibility to take a quest line where you actually learn to read/understand Furbolg, for the duration of the quest. And then, in the same way dropping a proficiency makes you weaker, you forget you ever knew Furbolgish, and they only roar at you from then on.
*** In the case of the Furbolgs it's justified in that the ones you talk intelligently to are how all Furbolgs used to be, and the brutish, animalistic ones are those that had been driven mad by the invasion of the Burning Legion during Warcraft III
*** Many of the uncorrupted Furbolgs are allies to the Night Elves, who can speak coherently. Unfortunately, almost all of these specific Furbolgs ''are'' corrupted.
*** You later encounter the Timbermaw Furbolgs, whose slightly broken Common/Orcish (depending on which side you play) sounds rather more like lack of language fluency than lack of sophistication.
** From ''Warcraft III'' itself, you have the trolls, at least in the French translation. With the notable exception of witch doctors, who talk sophisticated instead.
** In ''Mists of Pandaria'' we meet the Virmen, rabbit-like creatures who are obsessed with vegetables in general and carrots in particular. "You no take carrot! You take turnip instead!"
** There are also Hozen, Monkey-men who pepper in common with words they seem to have made up themselves, they're only unintelligable until you figure out what means what ("wikkets" means outsider, for example). Justified by them only having a life expectancy of 15 years, well-learned Hozen are extremely rare, even if they're an elder. A few speak in more complete sentences, such as Tak-tak, a kite-glider pilot for the Horde, who transports Horde players to various locations for the Dominance Offensive quests and will comment on the questline's events during flight.
* ''NeverwinterNights'': The kobolds in this series. Actually, being ''DungeonsAndDragons'' Kobolds, they're as intelligent as a human, and have a developed, if exceptionally violent, culture. Their poor language stems from their typical genocidal hatred of anything except dragons and other kobolds; they consider Common beneath them and don't bother to learn to speak it properly. A sample line from ''NeverwinterNights2'' (where orcs also speak a form of You No Take Candle):
--> '''Deekin:''' Yes, Deekin very kobold, last Deekin look in mirror. Deekin not do that much; mirrors usually too high for Deekin.
** The first game also has an Ogre Mage who has a sarcastic retort to a player character who observes that he's very well spoken for an ogre.
* ''{{Ultima}}'':
** Gargoyles in this series aren't excessive users of this trope, but have one very notable trait: they use "to be" for ''all forms'' of "to be".
** To be thinking that an example to be needed to explain. To be of the mind that the effect to be lost by your description. To know that all sentences to be of a personal nature. To explain that at first only winged gargoyles to speak, but later all gargoyles to speak. To not know why this to be.
** In other words, gargoyles have no subject phrases--only predicates--and they do not conjugate verbs. Also, every sentence is implied to be spoken of oneself.
** Also, the passive voice is spoken in by Emps in ''UltimaVII''.

* ''CityOfHeroes'': The Trolls are a gang whose members take a drug that gives super-strength but mutates them into giving them their distinctive troll-like appearance; it also apparently causes their brains to degrade to the point they start speaking like this. Ironically, this is the ''only'' effect (well, that and rage issues) Superadine has on the brain. Trolls are still as intelligent as anyone else; it's just the language centers that are affected.
* ''{{Runescape}}'': The Ogres speak a vaguely Jamaican accent, which is commented on multiple times. Some Ogres that have lived with humans speak grammatically correct, albeit short, sentences. They still use lots of slang, making some sentences almost unreadable. The goblins, though speak in a 'stupid' way with incorrect grammar. In an inversion of this trope, they are revealed to be very smart, but most tribes of goblins care more about warfare and physical strength than science, art, and intellectuality.
* ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'':
** planetmind speaks variously broken English, but is a vast planetary intelligence into which humanity may eventually merge.
** This is a bit of an oversimplification; it turns out the AlienKudzu is actually a vast neural network that self-organizes into a god-like mind, but in doing so destroys its necessary supporting organisms and dies back down, only to repeat the cycle in a series of tragedies. Humanity is able to break the cycle. So initially, Planet Mind is not very bright, but it just keeps growing...
* ''JustForFun/PokemonVietnameseCrystal'': This very poorly translated bootleg version of ''Pokemon Crystal'', is practically made of this trope. Everyone in the game has appalling grammar.
* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}: Cataclysm'': The [[HiveQueen Beast]] starts by speaking in broken English, and has an...idiosyncratic method of speech when controlled by the player. However, as the campaign goes on and the Beast adapts and learns, it finally speaks to the captain as an equal.

* ''{{Thief}}'':
** The Pagan faction speak like this:
-->'''Pagan:''' I hearsy, I hearsy, and you should be afearsy ''(When you provoke them into searching for you.)''
-->'''Pagan 2:''' I be leaving a letter for that thiever, Garrett.
-->'''Pagan 3:''' I be want to be deading him, not leavings him letters.
-->'''Pagan 2:''' Me too. But Dyan saying hims might be beings useful to us.
-->'''Pagan 3:''' Thinks you hes be reading it?
** It is suggested that some of them are perfectly capable of speaking proper English, but choose to speak in that mangled way deliberately. It's certainly true of their god, The Trickster, who generally speaks the same way, but [[spoiler:is perfectly erudite in his speech when posing as the nobleman Constantine.]]

** In Mass Effect 3 however, Shepard does meet some Vorcha who actually speak in complete sentences.
* ''DarkForcesSaga'' (''Jedi Knight 2''):
** Has a bartender who randomly adds unnecessary plurals to his speech ("You seek informations?" etc), leading to the [[MemeticMutation infamous quip]] "[[NeverTrustATrope Never trust]] a bartender with bad grammar." Amusingly this can't be a species thing because he's a Chiss, the same as the [[WickedCultured supremely cultured]] [[MagnificentBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]].
** Not necessarily. With any foreign ethnic group you can find plenty of people with thick accents or grammar quirks and plenty of people without. Thrawn could simply have a better command of Basic than the the bartender, being much more highly educated and erudite, as well as a definite {{Omniglot}}.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'': Kongol speaks this way, never using pronouns if he can avoid it. What makes the whole thing so strange is that Kongol was raised by humans, but his brother who only lived with others of his species speaks with a perfectly normal syntax.
* ''VideoGame/VandalHearts 2'': Your hero will - after a TimeSkip - pick up two faithful allies. One of them is a guy known as 'Vlad the Ox' who speaks like this, when not devolving all the way down to HulkSpeak. Naturally, everyone - including your other ally - assumes that he's simply DumbMuscle... which he finds really annoying since, as he soon reveals, he is simply a forreigner who did not start learning the local language until a few years ago. In truth, he's both quite wise and clever. Mostly noteable due to this trope being directly adressed by him.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'': "We strong! We kill all with big magic!" The poor little demon had obtained a ''tavern sign'' depicting a sun and naturally expected it to be magical.
* ''BanjoKazooie'': Both Mumbo Jumbo and Humba Wumba, in addition to a few side characters, in this series. Rather jarring in Wumba's case, being a heavily stereotypical Native American in a game released in ''2000''.
* ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'': The natives on the island (known as Oho Oasis) where Mario and Luigi learn their hand powers speak simple sentences like "This fire temple. Thunder temple that way."
* ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'': Kobolds, Orcs, and other monstrous races vary in their eloquence. Sometimes this can be written off as different tribes having different levels of understanding of Common, but other times it's jarring when two members of the same group or even the same individual switches depending on which stock quote they use.
* ''VideoGame/SunsetRiders'': The third boss, Dark Horse, who rides a [[MeaningfulName dark horse]] covered in plate armor, introduces himself with, "You in big heap trouble!" When you defeat him, it turns into, "Me in big heap trouble!" The sixth boss, [[KnifeNut Chief Scalpem]], talks like this, too; he shouts, "Me ready for powwow!" when you meet him, and "Me powwowed out!" when you take him out.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey III: The Drowned City'': The barmaid speaks this way. It's surprisingly cute.
* ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'': The Mafia of Cooks talk this way, as part of being [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign generally foreign]].

* The ''{{Warcraft}}'' video game series. The "primitive" language is actually named "Low Common" in Warcraft [=DnD=] - implicitly there's a "low" form of many other languages, as well. ''WorldOfWarcraft'' actually subverts this at one point:

* The kobolds in the ''NeverwinterNights'' series. Actually, being ''DungeonsAndDragons'' Kobolds, they're as intelligent as a human, and have a developed, if exceptionally violent, culture. Their poor language stems from their typical genocidal hatred of anything except dragons and other kobolds; they consider Common beneath them and don't bother to learn to speak it properly. A sample line from ''NeverwinterNights2'' (where orcs also speak a form of You No Take Candle):

* Gargoyles in the ''{{Ultima}}'' series aren't excessive users of this trope, but have one very notable trait: they use "to be" for ''all forms'' of "to be".

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has the Super Mutants. Player characters with low Intelligence also talk this way.
* The ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' add-on ''Dead Money'' has Dog/God a Super Mutant with a split personality. The more bestial personality (Dog) speaks like this. The more cerebral personality (God) talks like a super villain.

* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has the majority of the beastmen use simpler forms of the FiveRaces language, if at all. Goblins and Lamia are actually more fluent in the player's language, although for Goblins, being good at language is [[HonestJohnsDealership good for business.]] It's also subverted in that there's a very well-spoken Orc in ''Wings of The Goddess'', as said Orc is actually a cursed Elvaan. [[spoiler:Why is this text spoiler'd and not the earlier part? Because it's actually an aversion; the Orc is really a well-learned GenreSavvy MagnificentBastard ''real'' Orc who puts this trope and the expectations of it to work in order to trick you into freeing him, and it's only until you meet him again in TheLostWoods that it's revealed you've been had.]]
* The Trolls in ''CityOfHeroes'' are a gang whose members take a drug that gives super-strength but mutates them into giving them their distinctive troll-like appearance; it also apparently causes their brains to degrade to the point they start speaking like this. Ironically, this is the ''only'' effect (well, that and rage issues) Superadine has on the brain. Trolls are still as intelligent as anyone else; it's just the language centers that are affected.
* In ''{{Runescape}}'', the Ogres speak a vaguely Jamaican accent, which is commented on multiple times. Some Ogres that have lived with humans speak grammatically correct, albeit short, sentences. They still use lots of slang, making some sentences almost unreadable. The goblins, though speak in a 'stupid' way with incorrect grammar. In an inversion of this trope, they are revealed to be very smart, but most tribes of goblins care more about warfare and physical strength than science, art, and intellectuality.
* In ''SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': planetmind speaks variously broken English, but is a vast planetary intelligence into which humanity may eventually merge.

* ''JustForFun/PokemonVietnameseCrystal'', a very poorly translated bootleg version of ''Pokemon Crystal'', is practically made of this trope. Everyone in the game has appalling grammar.
* The [[HiveQueen Beast]] in ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}: Cataclysm'' starts by speaking in broken english, and has an... idiosyncratic method of speech when controlled by the player. However, as the campaign goes on and the Beast adapts and learns, it finally speaks to the captain as an equal.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' series by Spiderweb Software features a race of creations called Serviles, which are designed to be human-like enough to serve as a general slave race (menial workers, assistants in offices, blacksmiths, etc.) but are kept dumb enough to prevent independent thought and ultimately rebellion. One effect of this is that they speak in very simple English.

* In ''KingdomOfLoathing'', while proper English is almost always much-lauded, one well-known player character named Bashy often talks like this, which is then lampshaded in various in-game items. Still, his vocabulary is far superior to what it seems at first glance; as for his excuse for speaking like that, he claims it to be an artifact of his Prussian upbringing.

* In ''{{Thief}}'' the Pagan faction speak like this.

* Yeta from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' speaks like this, as does her husband Yeto. For instance, when she gets possessed and yells '''[[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/NOTTAKEMIRROR.bmp "NOT TAKE MIRROR!"]]'''.

* The Vorcha of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' speak this way. They're the only species met so far to do so.

* ''[[DarkForcesSaga Jedi Knight 2]]'' has a bartender who randomly adds unnecessary plurals to his speech ("You seek informations?" etc), leading to the [[MemeticMutation infamous quip]] "[[NeverTrustATrope Never trust]] a bartender with bad grammar." Amusingly this can't be a species thing because he's a Chiss, the same as the [[WickedCultured supremely cultured]] [[MagnificentBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]].

* Kongol in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' speaks this way, never using pronouns if he can avoid it. What makes the whole thing so strange is that Kongol was raised by humans, but his brother who only lived with others of his species speaks with a perfectly normal syntax.
* In ''VideoGame/VandalHearts 2'', your hero will - after a TimeSkip - pick up two faithful allies. One of them is a guy known as 'Vlad the Ox' who speaks like this, when not devolving all the way down to HulkSpeak. Naturally, everyone - including your other ally - assumes that he's simply DumbMuscle... which he finds really annoying since, as he soon reveals, he is simply a forreigner who did not start learning the local language until a few years ago. In truth, he's both quite wise and clever. Mostly noteable due to this trope being directly adressed by him.
* Parodied in ''RedDeadRedemption''. When Professor [=MacDougal=] (a KnowNothingKnowItAll ''par excellence'') introduces [[TheHero John Marston]] to his Native American assistant Nastas, he speaks YouNoTakeCandle to the latter. Nastas, with an air of NeverHeardThatOneBefore, calmly points out that they taught English on the reservation and he's fluent. This doesn't stop [=MacDougal=] from treating him like a stupid child [[spoiler:up to the point where Nastas is killed]], and makes it really satisfying in ''[[RedDeadRedemptionUndeadNightmare Undead Nightmare]]'' when Zombie Nastas eats him.
* [[VideoGame/{{Diablo}} "We strong! We kill all with big magic!"]] The poor little demon had obtained a ''tavern sign'' depicting a sun and naturally expected it to be magical.
* Both Mumbo Jumbo and Humba Wumba, in addition to a few side characters, in the ''BanjoKazooie'' games. Rather jarring in Wumba's case, being a heavily stereotypical Native American in a game released in ''2000''.
* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'', the natives on the island (known as Oho Oasis) where Mario and Luigi learn their hand powers speak simple sentences like "This fire temple. Thunder temple that way."
* Kobolds, Orcs, and other monstrous races in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' vary in their eloquence. Sometimes this can be written off as different tribes having different levels of understanding of Common, but other times it's jarring when two members of the same group or even the same individual switches depending on which stock quote they use.
* In ''VideoGame/SunsetRiders'', the third boss, Dark Horse, who rides a [[MeaningfulName dark horse]] covered in plate armor, introduces himself with, "You in big heap trouble!" When you defeat him, it turns into, "Me in big heap trouble!" The sixth boss, [[KnifeNut Chief Scalpem]], talks like this, too; he shouts, "Me ready for powwow!" when you meet him, and "Me powwowed out!" when you take him out.
* In the English language version of ''RumbleRoses'', Aigle, the Mongolian girl, speaks like this.
* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', the entire [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Nopon]] race speaks like this. They are fond of this way of speaking, and say that the Nopon that try to speak correctly like the other races are just trying too hard to be cool.
* The barmaid in ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey III: The Drowned City'' speaks this way. It's surprisingly cute.
* The Mafia of Cooks from ''VideoGame/AHatInTime'' talk this way, as part of being [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign generally foreign]].

* Kongol in LegendOfDragoon speaks this way, never using pronouns if he can avoid it. What makes the whole thing so strange is that Kongol was raised by humans, but his brother who only lived with others of his species speaks with a perfectly normal syntax.

* The barmaid in ''[[EtrianOdyssey Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City]]'' speaks this way. It's surprisingly cute.

* The Vorcha of ''MassEffect2'' speak this way. They're the only species met so far to do so.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has the Super Mutants.

** The natives in ''Honest Hearts'' also speak broken English like this.

** There are also Hozen, Monkey-men who pepper in common with words they seem to have made up themselves, they're only unintelligable until you figure out what means what ("wikkets" means outsider, for example). Justified by them only having a life expectancy of 15 years, well-learned Hozen are extremely rare, even if they're an elder. A few speak in more complete sentences, such as Tak-tak, a kite-glider pilot for the Horde, who transports Horde players to various locations and will comment on the questline's events during flight.

** There are also Hozen, Monkey-men who pepper in common with words they seem to have made up themselves, they're only unintelligable until you figure out what means what ("wikkets" means outsider, for example). Justified by them only having a life expectancy of 15 years, well-learned Hozen are extremely rare, even if they're an elder.

* JustForFun/PokemonVietnameseCrystal, a very poorly translated bootleg version of ''Pokemon Crystal'', is practically made of this trope. Everyone in the game has appalling grammar.

* The ''{{Geneforge}}'' series by Spiderweb Software features a race of creations called Serviles, which are designed to be human-like enough to serve as a general slave race (menial workers, assistants in offices, blacksmiths, etc.) but are kept dumb enough to prevent independent thought and ultimately rebellion. One effect of this is that they speak in very simple English.

* ''FinalFantasy''

** ''FinalFantasyIX'' features the Qu, large gluttonous humanoids indigenous to swamplands around the globe.
** In ''FinalFantasyX'', the Hypello are depicted as being incredibly lazy (they [[BrilliantButLazy won't play blitzball despite being incredibly good swimmers]] because they can't be bothered) and speak like Jar Jar Binks with a mouth full of water.

** ''FinalFantasyXI'' has the majority of the beastmen use simpler forms of the FiveRaces language, if at all. Goblins and Lamia are actually more fluent in the player's language, although for Goblins, being good at language is [[HonestJohnsDealership good for business.]] It's also subverted in that there's a very well-spoken Orc in ''Wings of The Goddess'', as said Orc is actually a cursed Elvaan. [[spoiler:Why is this text spoiler'd and not the earlier part? Because it's actually an aversion; the Orc is really a well-learned GenreSavvy MagnificentBastard ''real'' Orc who puts this trope and the expectations of it to work in order to trick you into freeing him, and it's only until you meet him again in TheLostWoods that it's revealed you've been had.]]

* In ''VandalHearts 2'', your hero will - after a TimeSkip - pick up two faithful allies. One of them is a guy known as 'Vlad the Ox' who speaks like this, when not devolving all the way down to HulkSpeak. Naturally, everyone - including your other ally - assumes that he's simply DumbMuscle... which he finds really annoying since, as he soon reveals, he is simply a forreigner who did not start learning the local language until a few years ago. In truth, he's both quite wise and clever. Mostly noteable due to this trope being directly adressed by him.

* [[{{Diablo}} "We strong! We kill all with big magic!"]] The poor little demon had obtained a ''tavern sign'' depicting a sun and naturally expected it to be magical.

** There are also Hozen, Monkey-men who pepper in common with words they seem to have made up themselves, they're only unintelligable until you figure out what means what ("wikkets" means outsider, for example) Justified by them only have a life expectancy of 15 years, well-learned Hozen are extremely rare, even if they're an elder.

** Further subverted in a Northrend questline where the player learns the tongue of the local murlocs. Murlocs are always portrayed as not terribly bright and their gorloc cousins speak in pretty broken English, but in their own language, the murlocs are actually surprisingly erudite. (And there's even a gorloc who's learned better Common and speaks both perfectly and intelligently.)