Black Speech: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|''"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,

''Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"''

The language of [[Mordor]], spoken only by [[The Scottish Trope|The One Whose Name Must Never Be Uttered]] and his [[Religion of Evil|evil]] [[Cult]]. An [[Speaking Simlish|indecipherable language]] that is [[Brown Note|cruel to the ears]], full of hard consonants, guttural sounds, and always spoken loudly and harshly. Every word sounds like a [[Religious Horror|blasphemy]] against All That Is Good, and the people speaking it often [[Exclusively Evil|are as evil as they sound.]] If there is magic in the setting, expect [[Be Careful What You Say|speaking this language]] to be necessary to use [[Black Magic]]. In some cases, it is so alien and [[Evil Sounds Deep|gravelly]] that it seems that a normal human throat should be [[Starfish Language|incapable of speaking it]]...and sometimes, they ''[[Eldritch Abomination|can't]]'' speak it, only those with the [[Voice of the Legion]] can.

 

 

On a more [[Meta Concepts|meta level]], this is a direct emotional appeal to the viewer, invoking the "otherness" felt when hearing a foreign language crossed with the [[Scare Chord]] to make the good guys seem like downright ''saints'' compared to the bad guys. The effect is sometimes doubled by having <s>[[Aliens Speaking English|Aliens]]</s> [[Aliens Speaking English|Natives Speaking English]].

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', King Piccolo would speak to his minions and mind slaves in some strange tongue. Retconned in ''DBZ'', where he's explicitly an alien and it was just his native tongue.

* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'': if Meru's cellphone is moved out of reception range/broken [[The Voiceless|(she ONLY communicates by text messages)]], she'll snap and start speaking like this, taking <s>an exorcism</s> a huge crucifix to the head to stop her.

* The titular character of ''[[Ah! My Goddess]]'', while benevolent, uses a language like this for some of her spells. (It's part of [[A Form You Are Comfortable With|a larger issue of understanding]] between her and the male lead.)

 

* The wicked rat creatures in ''[[Bone]]'' have a secret language called Nessen that [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|sounds mysteriously like broken German]].

** Mind you, Nessen is closer to a military cypher than actual black speech: Ratmen speak in human language normally and only switch to it when they're discussing sensitive subjects and are afraid to be overheard. Several humans listen in to it without any worse effects than "cannot understand any of it", and some of the characters like [[Retired Badass|Lucius]] can also understand it.

* ''[[The Invisibles]]'' has a section where Miss Dwyer, a servant of the Conspiracy who's pretty much out of options, is about to let loose a string of hyperdimensional language [[Brown Note|that can give those it's directed at cancer]]. As the narration describes it, "Miss Dwyer is saying her prayers."

 

* ''[[10,000 BC]]'' has the slavers speaking an incomprehensible, guttural language, and certain characters have their voices digitally distorted to make them sound inhumanly guttural.

* All but one of the vampires in ''[[30 Days of Night]]'' speak like they tore out their own windpipes. (In fact, the filmmakers took the sound of an Amazonian language and mixed in animal noises.) This is not true of the comic in which they spoke English, albeit in [[Painting the Medium|colored]] [[Speech Bubbles]].

* Used humorously in the film version of [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]] when the Vogon commander switches effortlessly from a charming Received Pronunciation accent to one of these in under a second. (In the book, Vogon speech is: "like a man trying to gargle whilst fighting off a pack of wolves".)

* ''[[Constantine]]'' briefly gives us an example of "Hell-speak".

 

* Named for the language of Mordor in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' (books and movies). "The Black Speech" is an unpleasant-sounding language full of guttural throat-growls and spits and snarls; unpleasant and alien to the more pleasant languages. Black Speech acquired some sort of a fandom because of the inscriptions on the ring, much to the dismay of its creator, [[Misaimed Fandom|who had put everything he hated into this language]]. In fact, a fan once gave Tolkien a goblet with the inscription from the ring in Black Speech as a gift, but Tolkien found the language so ugly (and the words so ominous) that he couldn't bring himself to drink out of it. He wound up using it as an ashtray.

** Both book and extended film versions of the story include a scene where Gandalf uttering the Black Speech verse from the Ring causes the sky to grow dark and the Earth to tremble; the film version even gives Gandalf a [[Voice of the Legion]] effect for good measure, with what seems to be Sauron's voice speaking along with his own. The Elves are not amused.

** While the Black Speech was invented by Sauron, some of its vocabulary seems to have been based on Valarin, the language of the angelic Valar. Interestingly, Valarin is described by one elven scholar as sounding "harsh" to species other than the Valar, while others, again, have different opinions.

*** The Black Speech being based on Valarin is possibly justified by the fact that Sauron is a Maia, who are the same race as the Valar, just on a lower power level.

* In ''[[Ella Enchanted]]'', the Prince's reaction to Ella's simple farewell in troll language is, "It sounds evil." Ella replies that it is.

* ''[[The Call of Cthulhu]]'' by [[H.P. Lovecraft]] has several languages spoken by cultists which sound and look disturbing.

** In ''[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]'', the mutant inhabitants of the eponymous town have guttural, slopping, croaking voices that are frightening to hear. The narrator indicates that they have their own blasphemous language to go along with it.

*** Slightly unrelated, but I think I've discovered what language Cthulhu would speak if he was real, dubstep. It's a sound that is inherently disturbing to the human ear and totally incomprehensible. Isn't that what Cthulhu's voice was described as?

** {{small-caps|Death is said to have a voice like "the slamming crypt lids, in the worm-haunted fastnesses under the most ancient mountains." It is represented as Caps and Small Caps.}} When he gets an actual voice (in the computer games, for example), he tends not to be particularly sepulchral, but merely exaggeratedly deep and slightly echoey.

** War has a voice compared to clanging chunks of lead, and Pestilence to a drop sliding inside a coffin.

* [[Charles Stross]]' ''[[The Laundry Series]]'', based partly on the Cthulhu mythos, has the old Enochian languages, mainly used for writing magical "computer code" in order to, say, command zombies. It is described as a "dead tongue, for which to command dead things", completely unsuitable for the human larynx. Don't even think about making an experienced magician ''swear'' in that language.

 

* The language of the [[Exclusively Evil|Goa'uld]] of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' isn't ''technically'' an evil language, considering townspeople and Jaffa speak it, and it's supposed to be based on Ancient Egyptian... but when spoken by a Goa'uld with their flanged voices and glowy eyes? Running seems a good option.

** Considering how often O'Neill pointed out mistakes in their grammar, maybe they just felt safer that way. Also, [[Voice of the Legion|English as spoken by snakeheads is pretty damn Black, too]].

** Ironically, the magic words Owen repeats in that demonic voice are taken from Stephen Donaldson's ''The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant'', in which they are the "Seven Words", a blessing.

* ''[[Star Trek]]'': If you're going to speak Klingon, have a glass of water handy. Your throat will thank you.

** The Breen in ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' speak an electronic-sounding, guttural tongue.

* The ''[[Kamen Rider]]'' series has a few examples, such as the languages of the [[Kamen Rider Kuuga|Grongi]] and [[Kamen Rider Blade|Undead]]. Additionally, we see the [[Kamen Rider Den-O|Imagin]] language written but not voiced, and the [[Kamen Rider Kiva|Fangire]] tongue is long-forgotten and only spoken by Sagarc, Kamen Rider Saga's high-voiced, living [[Transformation Trinket]], which makes it sound less than imposing.

* Enochian in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. Partly subverted in that it's used in just about equal measure by both good guys and bad guys (chiefly for spells and exorcisms).

 

* [[Death Metal]] and [[Black Metal]] vocals often sound like Orcs' Black Speech. Although most bands sing in English and other natural languages, it is usually distorted to the point of being unintelligible.

** Many viking/folk metal bands from Scandinavia use their native languages, unintelligible to most of their audience (if they build up a fanbase abroad, that is), for authenticity. An exception is Finntroll, who sing in Swedish, instead of their native Finnish.

** Similarly parodied in [[Eben Brooks]]' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxScTbIUvoA "Hey There Cthulhu"], where the above quote from "The Call of Cthulhu" is ''sung'' to the tune of "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White Ts.

** "Cthulhu fhtagn" has also been filked to the tune of "Hakuna Matata".

* Finnish experimental metal band Aarni doesn't make [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpkvY_Y4jno ancient Egyptian] sound nice.

 

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has a few examples:

*** The line above about "...shatter glass and eardrums..."? The Warlock in 3.5 has the invocation Baleful Utterance, which duplicates the spell Shatter and can potentially deafen opponents. And yes, he does it with Dark Speech. More specifically, he does it by uttering a ''random syllable''—the 'invocation' itself is basically a safety device that keeps the Warlock's brain from realizing what the mouth just said.

** Infernal and Abyssal are the native tongues of devils and demons, respectively. They have no special properties, but probably include an impressive array of curse words. Specifically the Abyssal is said to suffer from an unfortunate yet inevitable side effect of being the language of Chaotic and particularly uncooperative creatures - it's not as much a language as a broad language group, since each community of the fiends using it ends up developing its own dialect, which eventually drifts more and more from the one used a few layers away. Being regularly misunderstood presumably contributes to their bad attitude.

** In the first edition of the game, [[Lawful Evil]], [[Neutral Evil]], and [[Chaotic Evil]] alignments had their own languages understandable only to people of the same alignment. When played at all, they tended to get played like Black Speech.

** There's also Draconic, the language of dragons and magic.

** This is parodied in the (chronological) first of the Drizzt Do'Urden books—a mage who seems to be casting a spell in one of these languages collapses with a poisoned dart in his back.

* In ''Midnight'' setting "Black Tongue" is pidgin [[Common Tongue]] of the creatures serving Izrador.

* Parodied in ''[[Exalted]]''. The Abyssals, who, when enacting their darkest rituals, ritually atoning for misbehavior, or otherwise communing with their Neverborn masters, will often speak in a disturbing, nigh-unpronouncably ominous tongue that seems to have all the traits of the Black Speech...until the Abyssals [[splat]]book reveals that it's complete gibberish that doesn't actually mean anything.

 

* Eredun (often referred to as simply "Demonic"), and its written form, Eredic, in ''[[Warcraft]]'' games. Lots of Xs and Zs here too. As an added bonus, reading demonic scriptures places your sanity at risk. Presumably, the language of the Draenei, which is based on the uncorrupted version of Eredic and sound quite similar, doesn't have that effect.

** Additionally, it seems that speaking demonic has a negative effect one one's ability to cast spells for non-demons. Evidenced by the fact that Warlocks can curse an opponent into being able to speak nothing else, which slows the speed at which they can cast spells.

** Probably because it'd make you either go crazy or huddle up into a ball, whimpering to yourself.

** It's almost certainly ancient Sith. The Exile's translator module doesn't have a setting for that.

* The cultists of ''[[Blood]]'' speak a language which is a mixture of Latin and Sanskrit words and grammar. By ''Blood II'', only Zealots and, occasionally, Ishmael still speak it, though [[Mythology Gag|some of the Fallen]] in ''[[Shogo: Mobile Armor Division]]'' also use it.

* Arguably, one could make the case for the Geth's light-speed digital communication in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' as being this, at least in Mass Effect 1 {{spoiler|and as far as the Heretic Geth are concerned in Mass Effect 2.}} They speak in a language impossible to understand or recreate by 99.99999% of humanity.

 

* ''[[Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures]]'': the [http://www.missmab.com/Demo/HG10.php Insectis] race. Apparently, they're bad enough when they're actually speaking English, and then you get to their actual language...

** According to the author, it's not evil sounding, but it is painful to listen to, like trying to form vowels with the sounds of an angle grinder.

* Minnie and Grim Jr. of "[[Grim Tales from Down Below]]" can communicate this way.

 

* The prayers to [[Cosmic Horror|The Kellith]], daughter of [[Eldritch Abomination|Gothmog]], in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]''.

* Zalgo, a [[Memetic Mutation|memetic]] [[Eldritch Abomination]] whose influence can cause v̉ͤ̈͆e͇͉͛ͮ͐͑͗̌ř̋̂̄̍͋҉ȳ͇̬̲̼̀ ̨̙͉̣̘̤͕̂̾̎͑d͔̤̳̟͆͠i͖̩ͯ̿̈̿s̭̟̠͂́͞t͖̱͚̜͖̠̯ͩ̓o͇̱ͬͤ̔r̎͌t̺̳̙̼̙ͨ͒͛ͥͮ̇ͅe̸̱̋d̞͙͕̘̫̣̔̊̊͋͘ ̶̰̗̫̆̾̓t̫̼͊̈́͡e͌ͬ̔̄̾̋x̼ͬ̐̃̀͡ṫ̯͇̬̮̳̈́̍̀ͦͤ͆ ̡̄̓ͦ̇ĭ͊҉̬̬̭̙͇͔n̼͍̯̲̝̂̍̉ ̼̖̤͉͒͂̑̆ͨͫw̝͛ͭ̋ͅe̸͗̆ḇ̯͙̜̆̈̓͒ͦ ̖͉̝̪͆ͪ͒b͖͉͖̫̻͌̑ͪ͒̽ͬ̿͟r̫̬͎̮̹ͮ̑ͦͩ͂̊o̠̫̞̺̓̾͡w̺̪̯̲͂̇͒͊̐̚s̲͔̮̪̗̮̠̓͑̂ͦ̂͒͡e̫̞͔̿͆͆r̖͗s̞̾̉ͥͧ͗̒.̥̰̰̗̟̓ͫ

* ''[[The Veil of Madness]]'' had this [[Played for Laughs]]: the [[First Contact]] happened long after humans gave up hope of finding anyone, so the ship in question had no fancy communication gear at all. Jury-rigging existing hardware in an attempt to imitate compatible protocol and demonstrate at least willingness to talk with aliens ''did'' succeed... but the sound was garbled so horribly it only freaked out the other side (even more than they already were, that is). When humans decided to play the role on, voice synthesizers with similar distortions were installed in "scary" armor worn while among the aliens.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Language Tropes]]

[[Category:No Real Life Examples, Please]]