Aliens Speaking English: Difference between revisions
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** 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. |
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* ''[[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]]. |
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**[[Justified Trope|Justified]] in any event. B5 is a diplomatic station, and the aliens, if they are major characters, tend to be diplomats and their retainers or important visitors. |
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* ''[[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. |
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* In the miniseries (and series) ''[[V (TV 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 (TV 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. |
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* Every Orkan alien from ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' seems to speak English. |
* Every Orkan alien from ''[[Mork and Mindy]]'' seems to speak English. |
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* Parodied in ''[[Hyperdrive]]'', in which the aliens speak their own language that, by pure coincidence, is exactly the same as English. |
* Parodied in ''[[Hyperdrive]]'', in which the aliens speak their own language that, by pure coincidence, is exactly the same as English. |
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== Other == |
== Other == |
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