Aliens Speaking English: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted
VisualWikitext
m (update links)
m (clean up)
Line 3: Line 3:
'''Paul''': ''Actually, I'm speaking English, [[Precision F-Strike|you fucking idiot!]]''|''[[Paul]]''}}
'''Paul''': ''Actually, I'm speaking English, [[Precision F-Strike|you fucking idiot!]]''|''[[Paul]]''}}


As unlikely as it may seem, most alien species [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|can speak English]] -- or [[Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe|Japanese]], or French, or whatever the language of the show's producers and intended demographic is. This has the added advantage that the characters can sometimes lapse into their native tongue when the [[Pardon My Klingon|script demands]].
As unlikely as it may seem, most alien species [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|can speak English]]—or [[Tokyo Is the Center of the Universe|Japanese]], or French, or whatever the language of the show's producers and intended demographic is. This has the added advantage that the characters can sometimes lapse into their native tongue when the [[Pardon My Klingon|script demands]].


Sometimes this is a case of [[Translator Microbes]] or the [[Translation Convention]], where the aliens are logically assumed to be speaking their own language and the words are getting translated en route (and [[Fridge Logic|any questions]] of why their lip movements should synch with their ''translated'' dialogue instead of [[Hong Kong Dub|syncing with their original tongue]] can [[Bellisario's Maxim|be simply ignored]]). On the other hand, sometimes the aliens really ''did'' learn to speak English -- hey, if they've been [[Aliens Steal Cable|watching our television shows all this time]], they could have easily figured it out by now.
Sometimes this is a case of [[Translator Microbes]] or the [[Translation Convention]], where the aliens are logically assumed to be speaking their own language and the words are getting translated en route (and [[Fridge Logic|any questions]] of why their lip movements should synch with their ''translated'' dialogue instead of [[Hong Kong Dub|syncing with their original tongue]] can [[Bellisario's Maxim|be simply ignored]]). On the other hand, sometimes the aliens really ''did'' learn to speak English—hey, if they've been [[Aliens Steal Cable|watching our television shows all this time]], they could have easily figured it out by now.


If you want to keep things lively, using a [[Bilingual Dialogue]] with ''alienese'' as the foreign language is always cool. If you want your aliens to be scary, have them instead speak in the [[Black Speech]].
If you want to keep things lively, using a [[Bilingual Dialogue]] with ''alienese'' as the foreign language is always cool. If you want your aliens to be scary, have them instead speak in the [[Black Speech]].
Line 112: Line 112:
* The ''[[Starcraft]]'' novel ''Queen of Blades'' (by Aaron Rosenberg) seems to have a bad case of this, with Jim Raynor encountering Zerg Cerebrates and Overlords that speak aloud in English, conveniently letting him eavesdrop. {{spoiler|Subverted in that it turns out he was actually unconsciously hearing their telepathic voices.}}
* The ''[[Starcraft]]'' novel ''Queen of Blades'' (by Aaron Rosenberg) seems to have a bad case of this, with Jim Raynor encountering Zerg Cerebrates and Overlords that speak aloud in English, conveniently letting him eavesdrop. {{spoiler|Subverted in that it turns out he was actually unconsciously hearing their telepathic voices.}}
* [[Justified Trope]] in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' by the Babelfish, a very small organism that went into your ear and read brainwaves to act as a universal translator.
* [[Justified Trope]] in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' by the Babelfish, a very small organism that went into your ear and read brainwaves to act as a universal translator.
** The explanation was particularly elegant in that the Babel Fish is said to survive by "eating" unconscious thoughts and emotions from thinking beings around it, and the means by which it "processes" these thoughts leaves only the most superficial surface thoughts -- i.e. the thoughts behind intentional, verbal communication -- "undigested" and excreted into the host's mind. In other words, it's an explanation for why it's a perfect translator ''and only a translator''. Whereas other times, when the Universal Translator works by some kind of telepathy, it leaves open the question of why you can't use it to tell you what the guy is thinking all the time rather than only when he's talking to you.
** The explanation was particularly elegant in that the Babel Fish is said to survive by "eating" unconscious thoughts and emotions from thinking beings around it, and the means by which it "processes" these thoughts leaves only the most superficial surface thoughts—i.e. the thoughts behind intentional, verbal communication -- "undigested" and excreted into the host's mind. In other words, it's an explanation for why it's a perfect translator ''and only a translator''. Whereas other times, when the Universal Translator works by some kind of telepathy, it leaves open the question of why you can't use it to tell you what the guy is thinking all the time rather than only when he's talking to you.
** Additionally within ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' series, some words and phrases have almost universal phonetic equivalents in every other language, even though the meanings often vary considerably. There is, in any society advanced enough to make mixed drinks, a drink that sounds like 'gin and tonic', for instance, and throughout the known universe, our planet is the only one which uses 'Belgium' to mean something other than the most extreme profanity.
** Additionally within ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' series, some words and phrases have almost universal phonetic equivalents in every other language, even though the meanings often vary considerably. There is, in any society advanced enough to make mixed drinks, a drink that sounds like 'gin and tonic', for instance, and throughout the known universe, our planet is the only one which uses 'Belgium' to mean something other than the most extreme profanity.
*** We're also shunned for using the word 'cricket' to refer to a ball game, as the rest of the galaxy still remembers the Krikkit Wars. The equipment used to play cricket on Earth strongly resembles the [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]-scale weaponry used in said wars, which is considered by other races to be extremely tactless of us.
*** We're also shunned for using the word 'cricket' to refer to a ball game, as the rest of the galaxy still remembers the Krikkit Wars. The equipment used to play cricket on Earth strongly resembles the [[Earthshattering Kaboom]]-scale weaponry used in said wars, which is considered by other races to be extremely tactless of us.
Line 127: Line 127:
** And it's mentioned that they need surgical help in order to even produce the sounds necessary for human speech. They communicate with each other by telepathy, as well as bioluminescent colour shifts.
** And it's mentioned that they need surgical help in order to even produce the sounds necessary for human speech. They communicate with each other by telepathy, as well as bioluminescent colour shifts.
** And even then, they speak by buzzing, which sounds creepy and abnormal even though they can technically get the English sounds just right.
** And even then, they speak by buzzing, which sounds creepy and abnormal even though they can technically get the English sounds just right.
* S.P. Meek apparently thought this was too absurd a trope to use in his story ''Awlo of Ulm''. Instead, his miniature [[Serkis Folk]] spoke Hawaiian. For no apparent reason and without so much as being [[Lampshade|lampshaded]]. And if you think that's bad, but keep reading anyways, you're in for one hell of a time...
* S.P. Meek apparently thought this was too absurd a trope to use in his story ''Awlo of Ulm''. Instead, his miniature [[Serkis Folk]] spoke Hawaiian. For no apparent reason and without so much as being [[lampshade]]d. And if you think that's bad, but keep reading anyways, you're in for one hell of a time...
* Played painfully straight in ''[[Power Rangers]]''. Except for one alien in ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'', everything speaks English, from the [[Human Aliens]] to the twenty foot long mafia scorpion.
* Played painfully straight in ''[[Power Rangers]]''. Except for one alien in ''[[Power Rangers SPD]]'', everything speaks English, from the [[Human Aliens]] to the twenty foot long mafia scorpion.
** Add in the fact that some of the creatures have been locked away for thousands of years, yet they always come out of the bottle speaking perfect English.
** Add in the fact that some of the creatures have been locked away for thousands of years, yet they always come out of the bottle speaking perfect English.
Line 166: Line 166:
** At one point in the original series, it's stated that the translation is supposed to be unnoticeable. The fact that Sarah Jane Smith stops to wonder why she can understand Italian is evidence to the Doctor that something is wrong.
** At one point in the original series, it's stated that the translation is supposed to be unnoticeable. The fact that Sarah Jane Smith stops to wonder why she can understand Italian is evidence to the Doctor that something is wrong.
<!-- %% As pointed out on the main Doctor Who page, the The Fires of Pompeii example doesn't really fit this trope. -->
<!-- %% As pointed out on the main Doctor Who page, the The Fires of Pompeii example doesn't really fit this trope. -->
* The 456 in ''[[Torchwood]]: Children of Earth'' speak actual English. The characters make note of it and it has a certain significance. {{spoiler|Along with the hour at which they choose to speak, it indicates that the 456 are addressing Great Britain, with which they've already had secret dealings.}}<br /><br />One of the first theories they come up with is that English is the language spoken by the majority of humans; Ianto points out that this would actually be Mandarin Chinese.
* The 456 in ''[[Torchwood]]: Children of Earth'' speak actual English. The characters make note of it and it has a certain significance. {{spoiler|Along with the hour at which they choose to speak, it indicates that the 456 are addressing Great Britain, with which they've already had secret dealings.}}

One of the first theories they come up with is that English is the language spoken by the majority of humans; Ianto points out that this would actually be Mandarin Chinese.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' has aliens, diaspora humans, and even beings from other galaxies speak English. The issue of learning the local language served as something of a [[Padding]] in the movie on which the series is based, so this might actually be a case of [[Translation Convention]], since the team members can be reasonably expected to be familiar with the common galactic languages (especially as most of them are dialects of Coptic or Latin). It was [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the novelization of the pilot episode "Children of the Gods", but that was more of [[One Shot Revisionism]].
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' has aliens, diaspora humans, and even beings from other galaxies speak English. The issue of learning the local language served as something of a [[Padding]] in the movie on which the series is based, so this might actually be a case of [[Translation Convention]], since the team members can be reasonably expected to be familiar with the common galactic languages (especially as most of them are dialects of Coptic or Latin). It was [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the novelization of the pilot episode "Children of the Gods", but that was more of [[One Shot Revisionism]].
** Now try explaining that when the Goa'uld haven't been a major power on Earth since ~3,000 BC.
** Now try explaining that when the Goa'uld haven't been a major power on Earth since ~3,000 BC.
Line 172: Line 174:
** [http://www.nelsonguirado.com/index.php/comiendo/2006/12/14/sci_fi_apologist_stargate_english_joke_s According to leading linguistic experts], a population isolated from any other human group will eventually develop a language similar to English and speak it with a Canadian accent.
** [http://www.nelsonguirado.com/index.php/comiendo/2006/12/14/sci_fi_apologist_stargate_english_joke_s According to leading linguistic experts], a population isolated from any other human group will eventually develop a language similar to English and speak it with a Canadian accent.
** Worse yet, tau'ri are practically the only humans in the universe exhibiting multiple languages - it's harder to understand the Russians than the humans from another galaxy who didn't even have ancestors on Earth!
** Worse yet, tau'ri are practically the only humans in the universe exhibiting multiple languages - it's harder to understand the Russians than the humans from another galaxy who didn't even have ancestors on Earth!
** Mostly averted thus far in ''[[Stargate Universe]]''. The entire ship, control panels and all, is nothing but Ancient writing, and the one alien species they've come across thus far is apparently incapable of speaking English. Said species can still write English, but that's justified since they [[Mind Probe|Mind Probed]] Rush beforehand and probably got the basics.
** Mostly averted thus far in ''[[Stargate Universe]]''. The entire ship, control panels and all, is nothing but Ancient writing, and the one alien species they've come across thus far is apparently incapable of speaking English. Said species can still write English, but that's justified since they [[Mind Probe]]d Rush beforehand and probably got the basics.
*** And it doesn't take much linguistic finesse to demand a surrender.
*** And it doesn't take much linguistic finesse to demand a surrender.
** The movie that started it all, ''Stargate'', included the process of establishing communication with the locals, with all the slow laboriousness such as would not have worked as a regular feature of any TV show. (So did the SG-1 Season 4 episode "The First Ones," with an aboriginal alien, portrayed as Other enough not to know English.)
** The movie that started it all, ''Stargate'', included the process of establishing communication with the locals, with all the slow laboriousness such as would not have worked as a regular feature of any TV show. (So did the SG-1 Season 4 episode "The First Ones," with an aboriginal alien, portrayed as Other enough not to know English.)
** Openly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the "Wormhole X-Treme!" episode. Two of the crew get into an argument over whether they should have the off-world food be alien in appearance. When one demands whether the viewers will willingly suspend their disbelief in seeing a normal apple on an alien world, the other retorts it's not half-as-bad as all of the aliens speaking English.
** Openly [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the "Wormhole X-Treme!" episode. Two of the crew get into an argument over whether they should have the off-world food be alien in appearance. When one demands whether the viewers will willingly suspend their disbelief in seeing a normal apple on an alien world, the other retorts it's not half-as-bad as all of the aliens speaking English.
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has a longstanding aversion of this trope -- the aliens all speak their own languages, and often have noticeable accents when they speak in English, if they speak in English at all. The ultimate example in this show would be Kosh, whose language is so strange it must be mechanically translated, and even then it is rarely comprehensible. Also of note is that mechanical translators are nothing near [[Translator Microbes]] : They must be tailor-made for a certain language, are of clearly visible size, have a stiff, monotonous sound, and are looked down upon by most species. [[Translation Convention]] applies when two aliens of the same species are conversing in private, per [[Word of God]].
* ''[[Babylon 5]]'' has a longstanding aversion of this trope—the aliens all speak their own languages, and often have noticeable accents when they speak in English, if they speak in English at all. The ultimate example in this show would be Kosh, whose language is so strange it must be mechanically translated, and even then it is rarely comprehensible. Also of note is that mechanical translators are nothing near [[Translator Microbes]] : They must be tailor-made for a certain language, are of clearly visible size, have a stiff, monotonous sound, and are looked down upon by most species. [[Translation Convention]] applies when two aliens of the same species are conversing in private, per [[Word of God]].
* ''[[Crusade]]'', the [[Too Good to Last|short-lived]] sequel series to ''[[Babylon 5]]'', played with this trope in its [[Homage]] episode to ''[[The X-Files]]'', "Visitors From Down The Street". After rescuing a pair of aliens of a previously-unknown race who unexpectedly speak English, the Excalibur is hailed by an alien ship -- again in English. Captain Gideon comments sarcastically that either they're the same race as the others, or there's one hell of a busy English teacher running around that part of the galaxy.
* ''[[Crusade]]'', the [[Too Good to Last|short-lived]] sequel series to ''[[Babylon 5]]'', played with this trope in its [[Homage]] episode to ''[[The X-Files]]'', "Visitors From Down The Street". After rescuing a pair of aliens of a previously-unknown race who unexpectedly speak English, the Excalibur is hailed by an alien ship—again in English. Captain Gideon comments sarcastically that either they're the same race as the others, or there's one hell of a busy English teacher running around that part of the galaxy.
* In the miniseries (and series) ''[[V]]'', this is [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that, since the aliens are trying to indoctrinate themselves into human culture, they must speak the local language at all times. Including poor Willie, who was meant to go to the Middle East and thus had learned Arabic, but ended up in the U.S. due to a bureaucratic bungle and was forced to stumble through English on short notice.
* In the miniseries (and series) ''[[V]]'', this is [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that, since the aliens are trying to indoctrinate themselves into human culture, they must speak the local language at all times. Including poor Willie, who was meant to go to the Middle East and thus had learned Arabic, but ended up in the U.S. due to a bureaucratic bungle and was forced to stumble through English on short notice.
* The various screen adaptations of ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'' all feature the Mongonians speaking flawless English, with no explanation as to why. The [[Flash Gordon (TV series)|2007 series]] [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it, but still doesn't explain.
* The various screen adaptations of ''[[Flash Gordon (comic strip)|Flash Gordon]]'' all feature the Mongonians speaking flawless English, with no explanation as to why. The [[Flash Gordon (TV series)|2007 series]] [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] it, but still doesn't explain.
Line 217: Line 219:
== Tabletop Games ==
== Tabletop Games ==
* Possibly justified in 4E ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', by the shardminds. The reason they can speak any language is most likely that they access the creatures memories, copy the language, and speak with it. Frankly, it makes sense.
* Possibly justified in 4E ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', by the shardminds. The reason they can speak any language is most likely that they access the creatures memories, copy the language, and speak with it. Frankly, it makes sense.
* ''[[Feng Shui]]'''s GM section notes that just like in Hong Kong movies, everyone in the setting speaks perfect contemporary Cantonese, from Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs to the Prime Minister of Belgium to the bio-engineered abominations of the future -- and in your games, everything's being translated into English, including the puns. To heck with realism.
* ''[[Feng Shui]]'''s GM section notes that just like in Hong Kong movies, everyone in the setting speaks perfect contemporary Cantonese, from Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs to the Prime Minister of Belgium to the bio-engineered abominations of the future—and in your games, everything's being translated into English, including the puns. To heck with realism.
* Inverted in the ''Warhammer40k'' universe. No-one speaks English, not even the humans of the setting. Xenos races speak [[Indo-European Alien Language|their]] [[Starfish Language|own]] languages ([[The Voiceless|if they bother to speak at all]]), and humans of the Imperium speak [[Altum Videtur|High or Low Gothic]].
* Inverted in the ''Warhammer40k'' universe. No-one speaks English, not even the humans of the setting. Xenos races speak [[Indo-European Alien Language|their]] [[Starfish Language|own]] languages ([[The Voiceless|if they bother to speak at all]]), and humans of the Imperium speak [[Altum Videtur|High or Low Gothic]].


Line 274: Line 276:
* According to [[Dragon Tails|Norman]], aliens would probably speak with a slight French inflection. "We come in le peace!"
* According to [[Dragon Tails|Norman]], aliens would probably speak with a slight French inflection. "We come in le peace!"
* There are multiple galactic languages in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', but English still makes the short list. At one point ''[[Talking Is a Free Action|mid battle]]'' a gatekeeper stops to correct a mercenary's English, and complains if humans are going to force this godawful trade language on other races they should at least be good at it. He gets [[Killed Mid-Sentence]].
* There are multiple galactic languages in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'', but English still makes the short list. At one point ''[[Talking Is a Free Action|mid battle]]'' a gatekeeper stops to correct a mercenary's English, and complains if humans are going to force this godawful trade language on other races they should at least be good at it. He gets [[Killed Mid-Sentence]].
** It's not technically English--it's Galstandard West, which is basically the common galactic language corrupted by English. However, most English puns [[Contrived Coincidence|conveniently]] work in Galstandard West as well. This, of course, is shamelessly lampshaded both by the narrator and the author in his occasional [[The Rant|rants]].
** It's not technically English—it's Galstandard West, which is basically the common galactic language corrupted by English. However, most English puns [[Contrived Coincidence|conveniently]] work in Galstandard West as well. This, of course, is shamelessly lampshaded both by the narrator and the author in his occasional [[The Rant|rants]].
* In ''[[Freefall]]'', Sam Starfall speaks English just fine, possibly learning it from the human scientists that discovered he had stowed away on their ship.
* In ''[[Freefall]]'', Sam Starfall speaks English just fine, possibly learning it from the human scientists that discovered he had stowed away on their ship.
* Inverted in ''[[Alien Dice]]'', English is actually a dialect of Galactic Standard introduced by a bunch of [[Human Aliens|Rishaan]] who were dumped on Earth.
* Inverted in ''[[Alien Dice]]'', English is actually a dialect of Galactic Standard introduced by a bunch of [[Human Aliens|Rishaan]] who were dumped on Earth.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Aliens_Speaking_English"