Completely Unnecessary Translator: Difference between revisions
Completely Unnecessary Translator (view source)
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{{trope}}
The heroes are talking to someone, like a [[Ruthless Foreign Gangsters|Ruthless Foreign Gangster]] or the head of a foreign [[Mega Corp]], and they have to go through a translator to do so. After a few back and forths the foreigner will answer the heroes directly in the language of the work fluently, meaning they like to keep around a
Common with characters who [[Majored in Western Hypocrisy]]. [[Subverted Trope|Subverts]] [[Tactful Translation]], as it turns out at least one person in the conversation knew exactly what the other really said the entire time.
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** Harry should have seen it coming (though of course it wouldn't have helped him even if he had). Earlier in the series, Queen Mab speaks through one of her servants, and Harry wonders to himself if she's doing this so she can pull a "I never said that," trick on him later on. Eventually, he learns {{spoiler|she's using the "translator" because she's '''''really''''' pissed at Harry, and if she spoke with her own voice, it would kill him, such was her rage.}}
* 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
* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[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.
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** As mentioned in ''[[The West Wing]]'' example above, this is also done for the benefit of political sovereignty; while the representatives of two nations with different official languages might speak each other's language perfectly well, it can seem like an act of subservience for one party to use the other party's native tongue, so sticking to their official languages keeps things neutral.
* Like the diplomatic examples, translators are often used by people appearing in judicial courts or other official settings. They may be fluent enough to get by day-to-day usage in their non-native language, but worry that it's not enough for legal or other specialised usage.
* This trope hit [[Sergio Aragones]] at least once. Aragones had been booked for a convention in Texas, but the con staff took the running gags of Aragones' inability to speak English from his comics (especially ''[[Groo the Wanderer]]'') as the truth.
{{reflist}}
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