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Oct 15th 2025 at 1:35:23 PM

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* In the futuristic society of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', the melding of societies has caused languages to become intermingled. Most prominent besides English is a "Mandarin" dialect consisting mostly of {{foreign cuss word}}s. The first episode shows signs that the writers truly intended for the characters to have a basic command of Mandarin, with one or two attempts at BilingualDialogue, but the actors were apparently so terrible at it that Chinese-speaking viewers had to be told what language they were supposed to be hearing. The rest of the show just uses Chinese for [[ForeignCussWord cussing]]. -- '''Is there a reason for Chinese usage?'''
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* In the futuristic society of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', the melding of societies societies, including one between the US and China, has caused languages to become intermingled. Most prominent besides English is a "Mandarin" dialect consisting mostly of {{foreign cuss word}}s. The first episode shows signs that the writers truly intended for the characters to have a basic command of Mandarin, with one or two attempts at BilingualDialogue, but the actors were apparently so terrible at it that Chinese-speaking viewers had to be told what language they were supposed to be hearing. The rest of the show just uses Chinese for [[ForeignCussWord cussing]]. -- '''Is there a reason for Chinese usage?'''

Oct 15th 2025 at 11:27:38 AM

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Oct 15th 2025 at 11:26:42 AM

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-->'''Qin Shi Huang:''' ''Zhèxiē báirén zhēnshì de.''[[note]]"These white people are so…"[[/note]] Such nonsense that children in China are bombarded with Western legends andhistory, while children in the West are taught nothing beyond the typical Europeans, the occasional Egyptian, and maybe Genghis Khan.
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-->'''Qin Shi Huang:''' ''Zhèxiē báirén zhēnshì de.''[[note]]"These white people are so…"[[/note]] Such nonsense that children in China are bombarded with Western legends andand history, while children in the West are taught nothing beyond the typical Europeans, the occasional Egyptian, and maybe Genghis Khan.

Oct 15th 2025 at 11:25:51 AM

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%%* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences. -- '''From Hell China?'''%%* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s. -- '''Characters are Sinophone'''%%* Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me"). -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''%%* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''%%* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner. -- '''Native Chinese speaker'''
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%%* *% ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences. -- '''From Hell China?'''%%* *% ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s. -- '''Characters are Sinophone'''%%* *% Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me"). -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''%%* *% In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''%%* *% ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner. -- '''Native Chinese speaker'''

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%%[[folder:同人小说/同人小說 (Fan Works)]]%%* Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''%%* In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation. -- '''Character is Japanese-Chinese'''%%-->'''Shard:''' And exactly how long did you have the cat before you mutated her?%%-->'''Michelangelo:''' Uhh... About thirty seconds?%%-->'''Shard:''' ''Aiyah.''%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder:同人小说/同人小說 [[folder:同人小说/同人小說 (Fan Works)]]%%* *% Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''%%* *% In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation. -- '''Character is Japanese-Chinese'''%%-->'''Shard:''' -->'''Shard:''' And exactly how long did you have the cat before you mutated her?%%-->'''Michelangelo:''' Uhh... -->'''Michelangelo:''' Uhh… About thirty seconds?%%-->'''Shard:''' -->'''Shard:''' ''Aiyah.''%%[[/folder]][[/folder]]

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%%* ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccent -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''
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%%* *% ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccent -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''

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%%* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese'''
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%%* *% In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese'''

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%%[[folder:文学/文學 (Literature)]]%%* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker. -- '''FantasyCounterpartCulture to Imperial China'''%%** ''Literature/BlackVeinProphecy'', the first book to feature the Isles, contains Mandarin Chinese verbs in your selection of magic spells...%%*** ''Shangsuo'' (上锁/上鎖) – Put on a Lock (Locking Spell)%%*** ''Baopo'' (爆破) – Blow up (Blast Spell)%%*** ''Tiaohe'' (调和/調和) – Keeping Balance (Harmonization Spell)%%*** ''Biantai'' (變態) – Changes/Perversion in Physical Being (Mutation Spell)%%*** There's also the supporting character, the Boy-King Poo-ta who's seven years of age, whose name literally translates as "not big" (不大; ''Búdà'' in pinyin).%%** In ''Literature/TheCrimsonTide'', the sequel is set nine years later with a different protagonist:%%*** Your quest involves travelling to the capital city, or ''Shoudu'' (首都) -- '''CAPITAL CITY'''.%%*** The giant fish monster is called a ''Yuemo'' (鱼魔/魚魔; ''Yúmō''), or '''FISH DEMON'''.%%*** You can fight a dream monster, called a ''Mengmo'' (梦魔/夢魔) or '''DREAM DEMON'''.%%*** The Mercenary Leader's name is ''Zhanshi'' (战士/戰士) or '''WARRIOR'''.%%*** The adviser's name is Adviser ''Pantu'' -- ''Pantu'' ([[spoiler:叛徒]]) literally means [[spoiler:'''Traitor''']] in Mandarin. No point guessing if he'd [[spoiler:turn out to be a bad guy]] later on...%%*** Your quest for revenge can have you honing your skills at ''Baochu'' (報仇; ''Bàochóu'') Monastery -- or '''Revenge''' Monastery.%%*** You seek refuge in the home of your Uncle ''Zhonggao'' (忠告) and Aunt ''Yubei'' (预备/預備) -- which respectively mean '''ADVICE''' and '''PREPARATION'''.%%*** Similarly, the guide of your dream is called ''Meng Zhidao'' (梦?导/夢?導) -- '''Dream Guide'''.%%*** You risk getting attacked by a ''Cangui'' (蚕?/蠶?) larva -- which is a silkworm species native to China.%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder:文学/文學 [[folder:文学/文學 (Literature)]]%%* *% ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker. -- '''FantasyCounterpartCulture to Imperial China'''%%** **% ''Literature/BlackVeinProphecy'', the first book to feature the Isles, contains Mandarin Chinese verbs in your selection of magic spells...%%*** spells…***% ''Shangsuo'' (上锁/上鎖) – Put on a Lock (Locking Spell)%%*** ***% ''Baopo'' (爆破) – Blow up (Blast Spell)%%*** ***% ''Tiaohe'' (调和/調和) – Keeping Balance (Harmonization Spell)%%*** ***% ''Biantai'' (變態) – Changes/Perversion in Physical Being (Mutation Spell)%%*** ***% There's also the supporting character, the Boy-King Poo-ta who's seven years of age, whose name literally translates as "not big" (不大; ''Búdà'' in pinyin).%%** **% In ''Literature/TheCrimsonTide'', the sequel is set nine years later with a different protagonist:%%*** ***% Your quest involves travelling to the capital city, or ''Shoudu'' (首都) -- '''CAPITAL CITY'''.%%*** ***% The giant fish monster is called a ''Yuemo'' (鱼魔/魚魔; ''Yúmō''), or '''FISH DEMON'''.%%*** ***% You can fight a dream monster, called a ''Mengmo'' (梦魔/夢魔) or '''DREAM DEMON'''.%%*** %%***% The Mercenary Leader's name is ''Zhanshi'' (战士/戰士) or '''WARRIOR'''.%%*** ***% The adviser's name is Adviser ''Pantu'' -- ''Pantu'' ([[spoiler:叛徒]]) literally means [[spoiler:'''Traitor''']] in Mandarin. No point guessing if he'd [[spoiler:turn out to be a bad guy]] later on...%%*** on…***% Your quest for revenge can have you honing your skills at ''Baochu'' (報仇; ''Bàochóu'') Monastery -- or '''Revenge''' Monastery.%%*** ***% You seek refuge in the home of your Uncle ''Zhonggao'' (忠告) and Aunt ''Yubei'' (预备/預備) -- which respectively mean '''ADVICE''' and '''PREPARATION'''.%%*** ***% Similarly, the guide of your dream is called ''Meng Zhidao'' (梦?导/夢?導) -- '''Dream Guide'''.%%*** ***% You risk getting attacked by a ''Cangui'' (蚕?/蠶?) larva -- which is a silkworm species native to China.%%[[/folder]]* ''Literature/ZacharyYingAndTheDragonEmperor'': While he ''is'' fluent in English thanks to Chinese people who know of his legend understanding English, Qin Shi Huang occasionally lapses into Mandarin [[EmotionalLanguageShift when he's frustrated]], such as when he learns that Zack, his intended host, knows his Western mahjong buddies (Alexander the Great, Ramses the Second, and Genghis Khan) but not him.-->'''Qin Shi Huang:''' ''Zhèxiē báirén zhēnshì de.''[[note]]"These white people are so…"[[/note]] Such nonsense that children in China are bombarded with Western legends andhistory, while children in the West are taught nothing beyond the typical Europeans, the occasional Egyptian, and maybe Genghis Khan.[[/folder]]

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%%* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':%%** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable. -- '''Seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese?'''%%** A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''
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%%* *% ''Series/{{Bones}}'':%%** **% One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable. -- '''Seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese?'''%%** **% A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

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%%* There is a ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode that has a one-sided conversation in Mandarin (on the phone) and a plot point in Chinese characters. -- '''ZCE'''* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil The Mind of Evil]]", the Doctor speaks fluent-ish Hokkien (a Chinese topolect) during a peace conference attended by the People's Republic of China. Hokkien was chosen as that was the native tongue of Pik-Sen Lim, who played a major Chinese character in the episode, and it was the one that she was most comfortable teaching Creator/JonPertwee for the episode. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''
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%%* *% There is a ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode that has a one-sided conversation in Mandarin (on the phone) and a plot point in Chinese characters. -- '''ZCE'''* '''Zero-Context Example'''*% ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil The Mind of Evil]]", the Doctor speaks fluent-ish Hokkien (a Chinese topolect) during a peace conference attended by the People's Republic of China. Hokkien was chosen as that was the native tongue of Pik-Sen Lim, who played a major Chinese character in the episode, and it was the one that she was most comfortable teaching Creator/JonPertwee for the episode. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

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%%* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* Po from ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' is Chinese and peppers her speech with Cantonese such as "''fa-ti''" and "''mun''".%%* A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''
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%%* *% One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* * Po from ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' is Chinese and peppers her speech with Cantonese such as "''fa-ti''" and "''mun''".%%* *% A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''Chinese; values judgement?'''

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%%[[folder:戏剧/戲劇 (Theatre)]]%%* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%[[/folder]]
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%%[[folder:戏剧/戲劇 [[folder:戏剧/戲劇 (Theatre)]]%%* *% The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%[[/folder]][[/folder]]

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%%* The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]] -- '''A Chinese setting? seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do. -- '''Game's setting is based on Chinese history and/or ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'''''%%* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population speaks Chinese though?'''
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%%* *% The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]] -- '''A Chinese setting? seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* *% ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do. -- '''Game's setting is based on Chinese history and/or ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'''''%%* *% In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population speaks Chinese though?'''

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%%* In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''%%* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心). -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''
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%%* *% In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''%%* *% ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心). -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''

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%%* A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司). -- '''Being set in China seems to be a good reason to use Chinese'''
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%%* *% A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司). -- '''Being set in China seems to be a good reason to use Chinese'''

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%%* The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... even ''before'' they spotted you. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese. -- '''Takes place in Hong Kong'''%%*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!"). -- '''Character is Chinese-inspired'''
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%%* *% The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... going?")… even ''before'' they spotted you. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* *% ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese. -- '''Takes place in Hong Kong'''%%*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': *% ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!"). -- '''Character is Chinese-inspired'''

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%%*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)... -- '''Stage is set in China, which seems like a good reason to use Chinese'''
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%%*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' *% ''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)... (芝麻球)… -- '''Stage is set in China, which seems like a good reason to use Chinese'''

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%%* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. -- '''Is this it or BilingualBonus? The setting has some Chinese inspiration at minimum'''%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to lapse into Cantonese when angry. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death". -- '''An ethnic Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion. -- '''A Hongkongese character (typically Sinophone) seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin. -- '''For an educational context?'''%%* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you". -- '''Series is set in China; a Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''
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%%* *% ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. -- '''Is this it or BilingualBonus? The setting has some Chinese inspiration at minimum'''%%* *% ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to [[EmotionalLanguageShift lapse into Cantonese when angry.angry]]. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death". -- '''An ethnic Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* *% While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion. -- '''A Hongkongese character (typically Sinophone) seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''%%* *% ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin. -- '''For an educational context?'''%%* *% ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you". -- '''Series is set in China; a Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

Jun 1st 2024 at 4:32:43 AM

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[[folder:文学/文學 (Literature)]]
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[[folder:文学/文學 %%[[folder:文学/文學 (Literature)]]

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[[/folder]]
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[[/folder]]%%[[/folder]]

Jun 1st 2024 at 4:32:15 AM

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* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences. -- '''From Hell China?'''* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s. -- '''Characters are Sinophone'''* Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me"). -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner. -- '''Native Chinese speaker'''
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* %%* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences. -- '''From Hell China?'''* %%* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s. -- '''Characters are Sinophone'''* %%* Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me"). -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''* %%* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* %%* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner. -- '''Native Chinese speaker'''

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[[folder:同人小说/同人小說 (Fan Works)]]* Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation. -- '''Character is Japanese-Chinese'''-->'''Shard:''' And exactly how long did you have the cat before you mutated her?-->'''Michelangelo:''' Uhh... About thirty seconds?-->'''Shard:''' ''Aiyah.''[[/folder]]
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[[folder:同人小说/同人小說 %%[[folder:同人小说/同人小說 (Fan Works)]]* %%* Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* %%* In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation. -- '''Character is Japanese-Chinese'''-->'''Shard:''' %%-->'''Shard:''' And exactly how long did you have the cat before you mutated her?-->'''Michelangelo:''' %%-->'''Michelangelo:''' Uhh... About thirty seconds?-->'''Shard:''' %%-->'''Shard:''' ''Aiyah.''[[/folder]]%%[[/folder]]

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* ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccent -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''
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* %%* ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccent -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''

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* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese'''
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* %%* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese'''

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* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker. -- '''FantasyCounterpartCulture to Imperial China'''** ''Literature/BlackVeinProphecy'', the first book to feature the Isles, contains Mandarin Chinese verbs in your selection of magic spells...*** ''Shangsuo'' (上锁/上鎖) – Put on a Lock (Locking Spell)*** ''Baopo'' (爆破) – Blow up (Blast Spell)*** ''Tiaohe'' (调和/調和) – Keeping Balance (Harmonization Spell)*** ''Biantai'' (變態) – Changes/Perversion in Physical Being (Mutation Spell)*** There's also the supporting character, the Boy-King Poo-ta who's seven years of age, whose name literally translates as "not big" (不大; ''Búdà'' in pinyin).** In ''Literature/TheCrimsonTide'', the sequel is set nine years later with a different protagonist:*** Your quest involves travelling to the capital city, or ''Shoudu'' (首都) -- '''CAPITAL CITY'''.*** The giant fish monster is called a ''Yuemo'' (鱼魔/魚魔; ''Yúmō''), or '''FISH DEMON'''.*** You can fight a dream monster, called a ''Mengmo'' (梦魔/夢魔) or '''DREAM DEMON'''.*** The Mercenary Leader's name is ''Zhanshi'' (战士/戰士) or '''WARRIOR'''.*** The adviser's name is Adviser ''Pantu'' -- ''Pantu'' ([[spoiler:叛徒]]) literally means [[spoiler:'''Traitor''']] in Mandarin. No point guessing if he'd [[spoiler:turn out to be a bad guy]] later on...*** Your quest for revenge can have you honing your skills at ''Baochu'' (報仇; ''Bàochóu'') Monastery -- or '''Revenge''' Monastery.*** You seek refuge in the home of your Uncle ''Zhonggao'' (忠告) and Aunt ''Yubei'' (预备/預備) -- which respectively mean '''ADVICE''' and '''PREPARATION'''.
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* %%* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker. -- '''FantasyCounterpartCulture to Imperial China'''** %%** ''Literature/BlackVeinProphecy'', the first book to feature the Isles, contains Mandarin Chinese verbs in your selection of magic spells...*** %%*** ''Shangsuo'' (上锁/上鎖) – Put on a Lock (Locking Spell)*** %%*** ''Baopo'' (爆破) – Blow up (Blast Spell)*** %%*** ''Tiaohe'' (调和/調和) – Keeping Balance (Harmonization Spell)*** %%*** ''Biantai'' (變態) – Changes/Perversion in Physical Being (Mutation Spell)*** %%*** There's also the supporting character, the Boy-King Poo-ta who's seven years of age, whose name literally translates as "not big" (不大; ''Búdà'' in pinyin).** %%** In ''Literature/TheCrimsonTide'', the sequel is set nine years later with a different protagonist:*** %%*** Your quest involves travelling to the capital city, or ''Shoudu'' (首都) -- '''CAPITAL CITY'''.*** %%*** The giant fish monster is called a ''Yuemo'' (鱼魔/魚魔; ''Yúmō''), or '''FISH DEMON'''.*** %%*** You can fight a dream monster, called a ''Mengmo'' (梦魔/夢魔) or '''DREAM DEMON'''.*** %%*** The Mercenary Leader's name is ''Zhanshi'' (战士/戰士) or '''WARRIOR'''.*** %%*** The adviser's name is Adviser ''Pantu'' -- ''Pantu'' ([[spoiler:叛徒]]) literally means [[spoiler:'''Traitor''']] in Mandarin. No point guessing if he'd [[spoiler:turn out to be a bad guy]] later on...*** %%*** Your quest for revenge can have you honing your skills at ''Baochu'' (報仇; ''Bàochóu'') Monastery -- or '''Revenge''' Monastery.*** %%*** You seek refuge in the home of your Uncle ''Zhonggao'' (忠告) and Aunt ''Yubei'' (预备/預備) -- which respectively mean '''ADVICE''' and '''PREPARATION'''.

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* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable. -- '''Seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese?'''** A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''
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* %%* ''Series/{{Bones}}'':** %%** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable. -- '''Seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese?'''** %%** A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

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%%* There is a ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode that has a one-sided conversation in Mandarin (on the phone) and a plot point in Chinese characters.
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%%* There is a ''Series/{{CSI}}'' episode that has a one-sided conversation in Mandarin (on the phone) and a plot point in Chinese characters. -- '''ZCE'''

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* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''
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* %%* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

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* A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''
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* %%* A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

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[[folder:戏剧/戲劇 (Theatre)]]* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''[[/folder]]
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[[folder:戏剧/戲劇 %%[[folder:戏剧/戲劇 (Theatre)]]* %%* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''[[/folder]]%%[[/folder]]

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* The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]] -- '''A Chinese setting? seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do. -- '''Game's setting is based on Chinese history and/or ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'''''* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population speaks Chinese though?'''
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* %%* The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]] -- '''A Chinese setting? seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* %%* ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do. -- '''Game's setting is based on Chinese history and/or ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'''''* %%* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population speaks Chinese though?'''

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* In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心). -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''
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* %%* In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''* %%* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心). -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''

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* A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司). -- '''Being set in China seems to be a good reason to use Chinese'''
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* %%* A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司). -- '''Being set in China seems to be a good reason to use Chinese'''

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* The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... even ''before'' they spotted you. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese. -- '''Takes place in Hong Kong'''*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!"). -- '''Character is Chinese-inspired'''
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* %%* The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... even ''before'' they spotted you. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* %%* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese. -- '''Takes place in Hong Kong'''*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': %%*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!"). -- '''Character is Chinese-inspired'''

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*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)... -- '''Stage is set in China, which seems like a good reason to use Chinese'''
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*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' %%*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)... -- '''Stage is set in China, which seems like a good reason to use Chinese'''

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* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. -- '''Is this it or BilingualBonus? The setting has some Chinese inspiration at minimum'''* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to lapse into Cantonese when angry. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death". -- '''An ethnic Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion. -- '''A Hongkongese character (typically Sinophone) seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin. -- '''For an educational context?'''* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you". -- '''Series is set in China; a Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''
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* %%* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. -- '''Is this it or BilingualBonus? The setting has some Chinese inspiration at minimum'''* %%* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to lapse into Cantonese when angry. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death". -- '''An ethnic Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* %%* While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion. -- '''A Hongkongese character (typically Sinophone) seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* %%* ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin. -- '''For an educational context?'''* %%* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you". -- '''Series is set in China; a Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

May 10th 2024 at 12:59:03 PM

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* In ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'', Feirin and Airin pepper their dialogue with Chinese words with fairly accurate pronunciation. Their sister Rinrin, however, doesn't do this.
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* In ''VideoGame/AnarchyReigns'', Feirin and Airin pepper their dialogue with Chinese words with fairly accurate pronunciation. Their sister Rinrin, however, doesn't do this. -- '''Are the characters ethnic Chinese?'''

May 10th 2024 at 12:56:59 PM

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%%* Done much better in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution''.* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has several messages, recordings, and holograms in awful Chinese. Since Creator/{{Bethesda}} likes to use a small pool of voice actors for [[ManOfAThousandVoices large casts of NPCs]], they probably weren't willing to splurge on a guy who can actually pronounce the language.
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%%* Done much better in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution''.* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has several messages, recordings, and holograms in awful Chinese. Since Creator/{{Bethesda}} likes to use a small pool of voice actors for [[ManOfAThousandVoices large casts of NPCs]], they probably weren't willing to splurge on a guy who can actually pronounce the language. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

May 10th 2024 at 12:55:13 PM

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* Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me").
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* Chapter 167 of ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'' shows a brief scene of Kenjaku meeting with Chinese government officials. They tell him to "坐下" (sit down) and Kenjaku says, "谢谢你邀请我/謝謝你邀請我" ("thank you for inviting me"). -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''

May 9th 2024 at 11:04:29 PM

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode, "The DVD", after hijinks in accidentally destroying the DVD that Gumball and Darwin had rented, and trying to find ways to pay it, Darwin suggest on getting a job. When Gumball asks the part if they could speak Chinese, Darwin says: -- '''Is this part for humour? Is there a reason for this?'''
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* In PlayedForLaughs in the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode, episode "The DVD", after hijinks in accidentally destroying the DVD that Gumball and Darwin had rented, and trying to find ways to pay it, Darwin suggest on getting a job. When Gumball asks the part if they could speak Chinese, Darwin says: -- '''Is this part for humour? Is there a reason for this?'''says:

May 9th 2024 at 12:56:15 PM

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(adopted by Tropers/{{AquaEclipse}})
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(adopted by Tropers/{{AquaEclipse}})Tropers/{{AquaEclipse}}, '''under construction to define scope in fear of misuse''')

May 9th 2024 at 11:55:06 AM

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* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan'''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''
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* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan'''" "''nyan''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''

May 9th 2024 at 11:54:33 AM

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* In ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', Terriermon's catchphrase is "''mou man tai''" (冇问题/冇問題), Cantonese for "no problem".* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences.* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s.
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* In ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', Terriermon's catchphrase is "''mou man tai''" (冇问题/冇問題), Cantonese for "no problem".problem". -- '''Creature is partnered with a half-Chinese character'''* ''Manga/DropkickOnMyDevil'': Kyon-Kyon and Ran-Ran, two sisters from Hell China, sprinkle in a bit of Chinese in some of their sentences.sentences. -- '''From Hell China?'''* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Being a series centred around NationsAsPeople, Sinophone personifications like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are prone to interspersing their speech with bits of Chinese -- especially China and Hong Kong in their {{Image Song}}s. -- '''Characters are Sinophone'''

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* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan'''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay".* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner.
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* In ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', Ranka Lee sings "''nǐ hǎo nyan''" during one of her concerts. The writers were ''probably'' aiming for "''nǐhǎo''" (你好) meaning "hello" in Mandarin, and "''nyan'''" being the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat meowing (used like a VerbalTic). The problem is that placing an adjective after "''nǐ hǎo''" (你好) in Mandarin also means "you're very [adjective]" -- and "nyan" sounds like Mandarin for "sissy" or "gay"."gay". -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Early on, Shampoo would utter phrases in her native Chinese, such as "''Nǐhǎo, Àirén''" (你好,爱人/你好,愛人, "Hello, Lover") or "''Wǒ ài nǐ''" (我爱你/我愛你, "I love you"). Later, she takes to speaking a very stilted form of Japanese, which the English localization chooses to portray as her speaking in a YouNoTakeCandle manner. -- '''Native Chinese speaker'''

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* Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic.* In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation.
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* Enlai from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has used Chinese a few times throughout the fic.fic. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese?'''* In ''Fanfic/ShardsOfAMemory'', Master Shard would sometimes say "Aiyah" (哎呀; a common expression approximately translating to "I don't believe it") in exasperation. -- '''Character is Japanese-Chinese'''

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* ''Animation/BoBoiBoyTheMovie'': Most of the film is in Malay, but one scene is interspersed with some Chinese.
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* ''Animation/BoBoiBoyTheMovie'': Most of the film is in Malay, but one scene is interspersed with some Chinese. -- '''Malay-Chinese are a significant minority in Malaysia? May be related?'''

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* ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccent* In TheRemake of ''Film/{{The Day the Earth Stood Still|2008}}'', Klaatu meets with another of his species who had been living on Earth for a long time in the guise of a Chinese man, and two proceed to converse in Mandarin. While Creator/KeanuReeves tries pretty hard, he doesn't get it quite right.* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power.
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* ''Film/{{Arrival}}'': In the climax of the movie, American historian Louise Banks calls [[spoiler:Chinese General Shang]] and uses her [[spoiler:newfound ability to see through the timeline]] to repeat his wife's LastWords to him in Chinese and convince him to call off the impending war. However, Creator/AmyAdams does not speak Mandarin and had to learn the lines phonetically, leading to a serious case of WhatTheHellIsThatAccentWhatTheHellIsThatAccent -- '''Has a reason to speak Chinese'''* In TheRemake of ''Film/{{The Day the Earth Stood Still|2008}}'', Klaatu meets with another of his species who had been living on Earth for a long time in the guise of a Chinese man, and two proceed to converse in Mandarin. While Creator/KeanuReeves tries pretty hard, he doesn't get it quite right.right. -- '''Is it necessary to speak in Chinese?'''* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Herbie's suicidal rampage included some damage to a business in Chinatown. The business owner, Tang Wu, intends to confiscate Herbie to repay the damages. Tennessee can understand Chinese but speaks it very poorly. He tries to negotiate with Tang Wu in his pidgin Chinese, but it turns out Tang Wu could speak English the whole time. Even so, he talked in Chinese to Tennessee for as long as he could to maintain a position of power. -- '''Judging by name, character may be Chinese'''

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* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker.
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* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': One of the many fantastic locations in Titan is the Isles of Dawn, a FantasyCounterpartCulture to Ming Dynasty China. As such, adventures featuring the Isles will throw in random use of Mandarin (despite being written in English), usually in the form of ''pinyin'' (or Wade-Giles for personal names). They're untranslated, but doubles as a BilingualBonus if you're a Mandarin speaker. -- '''FantasyCounterpartCulture to Imperial China'''

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* In ''Series/{{Awkward}}'', the AlphaBitch leader of the so-called "Asian Mafia", Becca, often taunts Ming in Chinese.
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* In ''Series/{{Awkward}}'', the AlphaBitch leader of the so-called "Asian Mafia", Becca, often taunts Ming in Chinese. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

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** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable.** A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused.* ''Series/Castle2009'': In one episode, they're tracking a Chinese spy who murdered an astronomer who had caught wind of her boss working with the spy to intercept transmissions from intel satellites. They track him down to a basement in a Chinatown meat packing plant. Beckett asks two of the workers if they've seen the spy, showing them his photo. They look at her, puzzled. Castle then says in Mandarin, "My partner is crazy and may start shooting at any moment." The two workers nod in one direction, and Beckett tells them to go, which they ''gladly'' do. Beckett asks Castle if he learned Mandarin for book research. He says that [[ActorAllusion it was actually]] for [[Series/{{Firefly}} a TV show he liked]].
to:
** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable.understandable. -- '''Seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese?'''** A Season 4 episode had some rich kids trying to sass Booth in (horrible) Chinese. Booth wasn't amused.amused. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''* ''Series/Castle2009'': In one episode, they're tracking a Chinese spy who murdered an astronomer who had caught wind of her boss working with the spy to intercept transmissions from intel satellites. They track him down to a basement in a Chinatown meat packing plant. Beckett asks two of the workers if they've seen the spy, showing them his photo. They look at her, puzzled. Castle then says in Mandarin, "My partner is crazy and may start shooting at any moment." The two workers nod in one direction, and Beckett tells them to go, which they ''gladly'' do. Beckett asks Castle if he learned Mandarin for book research. He says that [[ActorAllusion it was actually]] for [[Series/{{Firefly}} a TV show he liked]]. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''

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* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil The Mind of Evil]]", The Doctor speaks fluent-ish Hokkien (a Chinese topolect) during a peace conference attended by the People's Republic of China. Hokkien was chosen as that was the native tongue of Pik-Sen Lim, who played a major Chinese character in the episode, and it was the one that she was most comfortable teaching Creator/JonPertwee for the episode.* In the futuristic society of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', the melding of societies has caused languages to become intermingled. Most prominent besides English is a "Mandarin" dialect consisting mostly of {{foreign curse word}}s. The first episode shows signs that the writers truly intended for the characters to have a basic command of Mandarin, with one or two attempts at BilingualDialogue, but the actors were apparently so terrible at it that Chinese-speaking viewers had to be told what language they were supposed to be hearing. The rest of the show just uses Chinese for cussing.* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese.
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* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E2TheMindOfEvil The Mind of Evil]]", The the Doctor speaks fluent-ish Hokkien (a Chinese topolect) during a peace conference attended by the People's Republic of China. Hokkien was chosen as that was the native tongue of Pik-Sen Lim, who played a major Chinese character in the episode, and it was the one that she was most comfortable teaching Creator/JonPertwee for the episode.episode. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''* In the futuristic society of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', the melding of societies has caused languages to become intermingled. Most prominent besides English is a "Mandarin" dialect consisting mostly of {{foreign curse cuss word}}s. The first episode shows signs that the writers truly intended for the characters to have a basic command of Mandarin, with one or two attempts at BilingualDialogue, but the actors were apparently so terrible at it that Chinese-speaking viewers had to be told what language they were supposed to be hearing. The rest of the show just uses Chinese for cussing.[[ForeignCussWord cussing]]. -- '''Is there a reason for Chinese usage?'''* One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' features a Chinese girl and her mom, who can speak English almost as well as Creator/HughLaurie can speak Chinese. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

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* A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious.
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* A ''Series/TouchedByAnAngel'' two-part episode focused on the persecution of Chinese Christians, but since most of the actors -- despite being Chinese -- were born or raised in the U.S., their accents were atrocious. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

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* The title of Music/YellowMagicOrchestra's "Tong Poo" is an English-phonetic rendering of the pronunciation of 东风/東風 ("eastern wind") when it was borrowed into Japanese.
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* The title of Music/YellowMagicOrchestra's "Tong Poo" is an English-phonetic rendering of the pronunciation of 东风/東風 ("eastern wind") [[GratuitousJapanese when it was borrowed into Japanese.Japanese]].

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* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition.
to:
* The ScreenToStageAdaptation of ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'' has a version of "Mammy" sung in Mandarin Chinese. Oddly enough, the spoken language of the {{Chinese Launderer}}s is Cantonese. Or at least, it's supposed to be, but more often than not, the actors mangle the words and pronunciation beyond recognition. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

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* The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]]* ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do.* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly.
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* The opening stage of ''VideoGame/ColdWinter'' is set in a Chinese prison, and the soldiers speaks an odd mixture of Mandarin and Cantonese. Special mention to the enemy torturer who shouts, "''Qǐngnǐ bùzhǔn xiànhài wǒ!''" (请你不准陷害我!/請你不准陷害我!) [[note]]"Please, you are not allowed to injure me!"[[/note]]me!"[[/note]] -- '''A Chinese setting? seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/DestinyOfAnEmperor'' has skills written in romanized Chinese. Unless you have a guide, good luck finding out what they do.do. -- '''Game's setting is based on Chinese history and/or ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'''''* In ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', you can visit UsefulNotes/HongKong. Most people you meet there speak English, though there is a monk who speaks Cantonese with [[BilingualBonus no translation given]].[[note]]He's saying, "Please give way" and "[[LampshadeHanging Can you speak Cantonese?]]"[[/note]] There's also some Chinese text, but most of it is complete nonsense copy-and-pasted repeatedly. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population speaks Chinese though?'''

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* In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are.* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心).* The Dragon Driftway and Palace courses in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' have Latiku's name in simplified Chinese printed in some areas.* A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司).* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'': The fishmonger at Othermart speaks predominantly in Chinese, though she knows enough English to communicate with Sunny, such as to hire him to swat flies for her. At one point, she also has a conversation with Joy's father in Chinese, which reveals that [[BilingualBonus she's his mother]].
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* In the first ''VideoGame/FearEffect'', Hannah infiltrates Mr. Lau's headquarters in Hong Kong, and walks ''under'' a gigantic neon sign all in Chinese, 林氏企業 (Lam's Industries). In fact, she needs to memorize all four Chinese characters in order to unlock an electronic safe, which might be difficult for players unfamiliar with the Chinese language but a piece of cake for those who are.are. -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/HongKongNinja'' is set in Hong Kong, and some of the neon signs at night tends to throw in random Chinese phrases. For instance, while fighting a bunch of mooks on an overhead bridge with the skyline in the background one the random building has a sign that says "It's Not Delicious if it isn't Spicy" (不辣不好吃). Meanwhile, in the final stage, you confront Scorpion in his office headquarters, marked by the words "Scorpion Finances Center" in Chinese (蝎子金融中心).(蝎子金融中心). -- '''Most of Hong Kong's population is ethnic Chinese'''* The Dragon Driftway and Palace courses in ''VideoGame/MarioKart8'' have Latiku's name in simplified Chinese printed in some areas.areas. -- '''Is there a reason for this?'''* A couple of entries in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series has stages set in China, notably the fourth stage of ''2/X'' being set in Hong Kong, and third stage of ''6'' set in Beijing. Notably, the signs on buildings and streets will contain random Chinese phrases that can be translated but doesn't have any in-game impact, like telling players, "Come on!" (走吧!), a shopping mall with a signboard inviting customers to "Buy stuff" (买东西/買東西), a sign on a flooded street warning players to be careful (小心呀) and a double-decker bus with BigBad Morden's name literally slapped on its side (毛伝). Meanwhile, most of Beijing was apparently hijacked by the rebels, since there's a hotel with a sign that says "Morden's Grand Hotel" (毛伝大酒楼) and a movie theater marked with the sign "Morden's Movie Company" (毛伝电影公司).(毛伝电影公司). -- '''Being set in China seems to be a good reason to use Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'': The fishmonger at Othermart speaks predominantly in Chinese, though she knows enough English to communicate with Sunny, such as to hire him to swat flies for her. At one point, she also has a conversation with Joy's father in Chinese, which reveals that [[BilingualBonus she's his mother]]. -- '''Is there a reason for the fishmongerer to speak Chinese?'''

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* The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... even ''before'' they spotted you.* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese.*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!").
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* The ''VideoGame/ProjectIGI'' sequel, ''Covert Strike'', sees you taking on a corrupt Chinese general and his soldiers. His mooks' dialogue consist of stock Mandarin with suspiciously westernized accents, and some of them doesn't even make sense, like asking "''Tā qù nǎ'r?''" (他去哪儿?/他去哪兒?; "Where are they going?")... even ''before'' they spotted you.you. -- '''A Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' has a bunch of "peppering Cantonese cuss words into English" and background [=NPCs=] who speak accurate but unsubtitled Cantonese, though Mrs. Chu is the only named plot-relevant character to ''only'' speak Cantonese.Cantonese. -- '''Takes place in Hong Kong'''*''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Min Min from ''VideoGame/{{ARMS}}'' says the word "Ramen!" in Mandarin ("拉面/拉麵!") for her side taunt, and if she falls victim to a [[ATwinkleInTheSky Star KO]], she says, "[[OhCrap Aiyah!]]" (哎呀!; translates to Chinese for "Oh no!" in this context). Min Min's victory poses also have this, with one having her say "[[TrademarkFavoriteFood 我爱拉面/我愛拉麵!]]" ("I love ramen!") and another using the line "谢谢/謝謝!" ("Thank you!"). -- '''Character is Chinese-inspired'''

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*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)...
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*''VideoGame/ZunzunkyouNoYabou'' is set across several countries, and the stage in China features various instances of Chinese in the background. For instance, the stage's boss is a ChefOfIron fought in a kitchen whose floor tiles are decorated with the names of various East Asian dishes: Crystal Peach Dumplings (水晶桃包), Dried Scallop and "Pearl Balls" (干贝珍珠球/乾貝珍珠球), "Cold Almond Tofu" (杏仁冻豆腐/杏仁凍豆腐)[[note]]a jelly-like dessert named for its silky, tofu-like texture and [[NonIndicativeName not because it actually contains tofu]][[/note]], Chinese-style ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jianbing jiānbǐng]]'' (中式煎饼/中式煎餅), Crab and Shark Fin Soup Dumplings (蟹肉鱼翅汤饺/蟹肉魚翅湯餃), Broccoli and Scallop Stir-fry (西兰花炒带子/西蘭花炒帶子), Sesame Balls (芝麻球)... -- '''Stage is set in China, which seems like a good reason to use Chinese'''

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* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode, "The DVD", after hijinks in accidentally destroying the DVD that Gumball and Darwin had rented, and trying to find ways to pay it, Darwin suggest on getting a job. When Gumball asks the part if they could speak Chinese, Darwin says:
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* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode, "The DVD", after hijinks in accidentally destroying the DVD that Gumball and Darwin had rented, and trying to find ways to pay it, Darwin suggest on getting a job. When Gumball asks the part if they could speak Chinese, Darwin says:says: -- '''Is this part for humour? Is there a reason for this?'''

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* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. * ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to lapse into Cantonese when angry. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death".* While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion.* ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin.* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you".
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* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' loves its little Chinese Easter eggs -- scrolls and signs in Chinese characters, even if only visible for [[FreezeFrameBonus a split second]], say exactly what you'd expect them to say. Most of them also get the grammar and [[ShownTheirWork even the calligraphy]] right. But there are a few mistakes, most glaringly the use of simplified characters in an era when everyone would be using traditional characters. \n -- '''Is this it or BilingualBonus? The setting has some Chinese inspiration at minimum'''* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Amy Wong (who is technically Martian, but of Chinese descent) is known to lapse into Cantonese when angry. For example, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]", while trying to fish the Planet Express ship's keys out of a crane game, she lets loose a Cantonese insult that roughly translates to "I'm going to beat you to death".death". -- '''An ethnic Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* While ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats'' are in Hong Kong, they decide to take rickshaws to their hotel. Of course, Josie and Alan sit together in one, which bothers Alexandra, who squeezes herself in. This badly unbalances the rickshaw, leaving the driver dangling in mid-air, who begins complaining in Chinese about these haywire tourists with no sense of discretion.discretion. -- '''A Hongkongese character (typically Sinophone) seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''* ''WesternAnimation/NiHaoKaiLan'' includes basic Mandarin Chinese phrases and vocabulary in an effort to teach its preschool-aged audience Mandarin.Mandarin. -- '''For an educational context?'''* ''WesternAnimation/SagwaTheChineseSiameseCat'' has a little of this, usually basic words and phrases. The pre- and post-show funding thanks end with Chinese for "thank you". -- '''Series is set in China; a Chinese character seems to be a plausible reason to speak Chinese'''

May 2nd 2024 at 8:35:22 AM

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** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. In contrast to Hugh Laurie, Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable.
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** One episode revolves around a Chinese family's burial ritual. In contrast to Hugh Laurie, Creator/EmilyDeschanel's Chinese is at least understandable.

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