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* In ''[[Bananas]]'', the dictator of San Marcos had a (heavily accented) translator when he met with the President of the U. S. -- even though the dictator was American Fielding Mellish ([[Woody Allen]]).
* A variation occurs in ''[[Inglourious Basterds]]''; [[Magnificent Bastard|Hans Landa]] asks a French farmer he is interrogating if they can switch to English during their conversation [[Blatant Lies|because his French is so bad]] and he knows the farmer is also conversant in English. {{spoiler|He does this so that he can openly converse about the fact that he knows the man is hiding Jews in the house, supposing (correctly) that they won't understand what is being said.}}
* Done in ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' with Kim Jong-Il and a terrorist wearing a fuzzy pink top hat.
* In ''[[Harold and Kumar]]'' Harold's parents speak perfect English, but the translator assumes everything they say in English is Korean gibberish.
* In ''[[The Sum of All Fears]]'', Jack Ryan is brought to Russia and asked to work as a translator. The Russian in question asks Ryan if he's read his dossier. Ryan says he has, and starts listing biographical information about the man. Including the fact that in college, he got his highest grades in English. The Russian drops the act immediately after that.
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== Literature ==
* Joseph, of ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]'': While there were probably many people for whom the translator proved indispensable, he had one case where he wasn't technically needed was when Joseph's own brothers showed up. He used the service anyway, as a means of hiding his identity.
* One scene in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire (Literature)|A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' has Dany speaking with a slaver via a little girl slave, who provides a [[Tactful Translation]] of the slaver's comments. Dany, who speaks the language being translated, alternates between amusement at the slave and disgust at the slaver.
* ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire|Harry Potter]]'': One of the foreign leaders does this to Fudge at the World Cup. His only reason is that watching Fudge mime everything "vos very funny."
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' book ''Changes'', {{spoiler|The Red King, through his translator, arranges a duel with Dresden. Once Dresden wins, the Red King goes back on his agreement, stating, IN PERFECT ENGLISH "We never even spoke to each other."}}
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* In ''[[The Blue Sword]]'' by [[Robin McKinley]], this is done by Corlath, the Damarian king, to the Homelanders, as a way to buy a bit more time for thought during negotiations.
* This is a major plot point of Eloise McGraw's ''Mara, Daughter of the Nile''. Mara is a double agent posing as the princess's interpreter -- to a king who speaks her language. She initially convinces him that her role is to preserve his rank, but when he catches her changing his words, she is forced to reveal the truth (or part of it anyway).
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[The Marvelous Land of Oz (Literature)|The Marvelous Land of Oz]]'', when [[The Ditz|Jack Pumpkinhead]] and the Scarecrow decide since they are from different countries in Oz, they must require a translator, who proceeds to wreak havoc on the conversation until they realize that they are speaking the same language.
* Used in ''[[The Tamuli]]'' by at least two rulers, since the time for translation gives them a chance to think about what they're going to say.
* [[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]: A variation occurs when [[The Professor]] Aronnax, [[Battle Butler]] Conseil and [[Idiot Hero]] Ned Land cannot understand the language used by their captors, every one of them try to talk to them in their respective native languages (French, German and English, respectively). When their captors didn’t react, Aronnax spoke Latin without success. In a second interview, the man that will present himself later as Captain Nemo told them:
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== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* ''[[Lost (TV)|Lost]]'' - The leader of the people at the temple speaks English, he just doesn't like doing it, necessitating a translator.
* This was done in ''[[The West Wing]]'' they had to find someone who spoke an obscure language so they found a Cook who spoke it and Portuguese and had some translate the Portuguese, only to find out the guy spoke perfect English.
** Also occurred in a US-China summit. The Chinese Premier spoke perfect English but all official meeting was conducted with a translator as per the usual diplomatic protocol. Switching language for anything more than pleasantries could be interpreted an act of subservience, and would lead to a loss of diplomatic face.
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== Video Games ==
* Taken to ridiculous extremes in ''[[The Adventures of Sam and& Max: Freelance Police (Video Game)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]: Abe Lincoln Must Die!'' The [[Our Presidents Are Different|buffonish president]] at the beginning of the game confuses Sam and Max for translators, and needs them for some diplomacy. The diplomat in question is Whizzer, who ''can't speak any language '''except''' English!'' But the president insists that he can't understand a word Whizzer says, forcing Sam to help (or, as it's ''Sam and Max'' we're talking about here, deliberately mistranslate entirely to achieve his own goals.)
* ''[[Strong BadsBad's Cool Game for Attractive People (Video Game)|Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People]]'' includes a bizarre version of this. Strong Bad speaks English. Strong Mad, though hardly articulate, speaks English. Yet Strong Bad insists on using The Cheat, ''[[The Unintelligible|who doesn't speak English at all]]'', to translate between them in ''Strong Badia the Free''.
 
 
== Visual Novels ==
* ''[[Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Apollo Justice Ace Attorney]]'': Lamirior pretends to need an interpreter even though she speaks English, as part of her "exotic singer" stage persona. She really does need his help for other languages, however.
** Later, {{spoiler|Machi Tobaye}} plays with the trope. {{spoiler|He ''does'' know English, much to the surprise of several characters (including Lamorir), but [[Eloquent in My Native Tongue|not all that well]].}}
* Early in Shizune's route of [[Katawa Shoujo]], Hisao learns sign language, but is hesitant to tell Shizune or use it to talk to her until he is able to use it well. He has [[Translator Buddy|Misha]] translate, despite her being fully aware that he is learning sign language. Unbeknownst to him, Misha has already told Shizune that Hisao is learning sign language.
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== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja (Webcomic)|The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'' the narrator performs this service for the readers, translating Spanish words that don't need translation e.g. "senor", or in one panel translating "policia" as police... and providing a separate footnote for each of the four times he says it that page.
 
 
== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Kim Possible (Animation)|Kim Possible]]'': the Japanese toy designer Nakasumi always communicates with Kim and Ron via his assistant, Miss Kyoko. It is eventually revealed that he speaks perfect English but just likes whispering into a pretty woman's ear.
* In ''[[Frisky Dingo]]'', ancient Chinese sweatshop worker Old Spice is eventually revealed to speak English after entire episodes of only communicating in Chinese and having Xander Crews (who knew he spoke English) translate for him. This only came to light after Killface insulted Old Spice's "car" (Crews misheard Old Spice, who was actually talking about his wife) and Crews berated him. "What does it matter what I say about his bloody car?" "Well, he speaks English!" "...You speak English?" "Yes!"
 
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