Cute Mute: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
The '''Cute Mute''' has an appearance that's innocent to a fault. Whatever situation that causes their inability to speak probably also gives them that clueless, childlike demeanor. Unlikely to know or grasp social conventions, they will often be found innocently doing incredibly awkward things that will wind up spelling trouble for the other characters.
Lack of speaking alone does not qualify a character for this trope. Someone who can't speak but otherwise doesn't fit the trope is [[The Speechless]]. Someone who can speak but is never shown to do so onscreen is [[The Voiceless]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Chii from ''[[Chobits]]''. She learns to speak soon enough, but is still an exemplar of the trope (her first word aside from "Chii?" is "Panties").
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* Mizuna Kuraki from ''[[Moonlight Lady]]'' apparently cannot speak, although she tries mouthing her name.
* Kisa Sohma from ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' is mute for a bit when she first appears in the story, as a side effect of school bullying. Soon, she recovers from this with the help of Tohru and Yuki.
* [[Moe Moe|Moeka]] from ''[[Steins;Gate]]''. She is very uncomfortable speaking to people directly, and prefers to use her cell phone to communicate. {{spoiler|Turns out she's [[The Mole]], and is later killed for it.}}
* Len from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' speaks a grand total of twice (one of those a single ''word'') in the 2 games she's been in.
* ''[[Pokémon Heroes]]'': Latias in human form fits this trope much better than any other Pokemon. She's very pretty, acts strange and childlike, and doesn't speak at all (not even Pokemon Speech), Though she does make crooning and trilling noises and occasionally says "la" in Pokemon form.
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* Flandre of ''[[Princess Resurrection]]'' only says "Huga", but Hime seems to understand what she is saying. Likewise with the rest of Flandre's "siblings". Played straight wither a "Mermaid" character (No name given, she simply called that) who lost her voice and got stuck on a ship until she turned into a [[Emergency Transformation|Blood Warrior]] after saving one of the characters (she could only use her voice once and would've dies afterward).
* Subverted in ''[[Cyborg 009]]''. 0013 is a chubby but still kinda cute-looking boy with [[Hidden Eyes]] who speaks through telepathy and acts [[Gentle Giant|cheerful and innocent]]... [[Tragic Monster|until he has to fight 009]] and reveals himself as a [[Kid with the Leash]] of a HUGE robot. {{spoiler|He still reminds kind (saves an [[Innocent Bystander]], punishes a bunch of assassins, releases the [[Dude in Distress]] professor) and ultimately commits suicide.}}
* Chane Laforet from ''[[Baccano!]]!''. Her fiance, {{spoiler|Claire Stanfield}}, even lists her muteness as one of her [[Charm Point
* Lily Strosek of ''[[
* Tama from ''[[Omamori Himari]]''. However, she ''brutally'' subverts this trope. {{spoiler|She's eating fellow ayakashi soley to increase her power to what it was before she became [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]. And they're not dead when she starts eating, either.}}
* Lin from ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'' begins the series as this, having witnessed her parents being murdered by bandits right before her eyes. Kenshiro restores her speech by using a Hokuto Shinken healing technique.
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* {{spoiler|Tomoyo Daidouji}} temporarily becomes one in the [[Cardcaptor Sakura]] anime, {{spoiler|under the magic of a Clow Card. Shaoran and Sakura have to team-work to seal the card and dispel its effects.}}.
* Ren from ''[[DearS]]'' is on the same approximate wavelength as Chi from ''Chobits'', above.
* Celty from ''[[Durarara!!]]'' is an interesting take on this one. Because she [[Headless Horseman|doesn't have a head,]] she of course can't speak or communicate using facial expressions, but she ''can'' communicate well enough by [[Talking with Signs|typing things out on a cellphone or computer]]. (Her roommate {{spoiler|and later fiancé}} Shinra can tell what she's thinking or trying to say just from her body language, though – as Celty puts it, he "can read the expressions on the face I don't have.") Celty also thoroughly averts the "clueless or childlike" stereotype; she's very intelligent and fully understands what's going on around her, and her twenty-odd years spent in Japan have given her a pretty thorough understanding of Japanese social norms. She is very cute, though, just not in the innocent, childish way you would normally expect.
* Lycoris from the .hack novel ''[[.hack//AI buster|AI Buster]]'' is mute when she first appears.
* [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing|Anna Mouri]] from ''[[Devil and Her Love Song]]''. Slightly a subversion, because, as commented by the main character, [[Manipulative Bitch|she's bold enough to use her inability to speak as a weapon]].
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* Natsume's mother from ''[[Master of Martial Hearts]]''. Your average MILF, [[Stepford Smiler|caring and lovely]]. Mute due to an unspecified accident in the past, she communicates by [[Hand Signs|sign language]], using her kids as a proxy. Subverted as {{spoiler|her unspecified accident gets [[The Reveal|revealed]]. She's actually a former [[Action Girl]], who after losing a [[Street Fighter]] expy tournament got [[Disproportionate Retribution|her voice box torn out, her personality mindraped into total obedience, AND was sold into sexual slavery]]. Since then, her whole life had been an attempt to regain a semblance of normality and hatch a complicate [[Revenge by Proxy]] involving her offsprings and the daughter of her captors}}.
* [[Played for Drama]] in [[Bleach]], when {{spoiler|[[Creepy Child|Yukio]] was [http://www.mangareader.net/bleach/471/3 rejected by his parents] because he couldn't speak.}} As years pass {{spoiler|he}} begins to talk normally, but the psychological consequences have completely screwed {{spoiler|him}} up... {{spoiler|enough to accept Ginjou's offer and become a Fullbringer.}}
* The title character of ''[[Komi Can't Communicate]]'' embodies this Trope. A [[Shrinking Violet]] with [[No Social Skills]], she's [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]], in that she's too distant and withdrawn to ever let any of her admirers (as in, every boy in the school) get close. She ''can'' talk if she has to, but throughout the whole series, has only done so a handful of times.
== Comic Books ==
* [[Batman|Batgirl]] Cassandra Cain.
* Also DC-related is Jericho from the [[Teen Titans (Comic Book)|Teen Titans]]. Though male and fluent in American sign language, he is quite adorable. His role on the team is much bigger in the comic than the [[Teen Titans (animation)|cartoon]], where he only joins the [[Final Battle]] with the other classic Titans. But in the comic, he is the son of Deathstroke (Slade, who actually loved his son like a normal father), and had a relationship with Raven. Sadly, his cuteness eroded after he underwent a [[Face Heel Turn]], driven insane by his mutant power of possession.
* [[Dark Action Girl]] Miho in ''[[Sin City]]'', a coldly beautiful assassin who never speaks.
== Film - Animated ==
* The title character of ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'' is one of these (magically-induced) for much of the story and film. In Andersen's original story, the loss of her voice is permanent.
* [[Tastes Like Diabetes|Boo]] in Disney and Pixar's [[Monsters, Inc.]] Through the movie, she learns Mike Wazowski's name.
* ''[[Dumbo]]'', the eponymous character from the Disney movie, is a mute ''protagonist''. It works surprisingly well, since he's particularly expressive and he has talkative friends. It also helps that the little guy is essentially an infant/toddler for the whole movie so it makes a bit more sense for him to be [[The Voiceless]].
* Dopey, the cutest of the (Disney) [[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Seven Dwarfs]]. It's noted that they aren't sure whether he's actually mute.
{{quote|'''Snow White:''' You mean he can't talk?
'''Happy:''' We don't know -- he's never tried! }}
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* Tack and the Thief from [[The Thief and the Cobbler]] was this, at least in the original story. When the film was purchased by another company before the original creator could finish it, it was turned into a musical and Tack along with the Thief were given voices. Most fans of the original tend to think that's one of the worst edits the new company made.
* In Disney's ''[[Peter Pan]],'' Tinkerbell doesn't speak, but only jingles like, well, bells.
** It is later revealed in her own movies, Tinkerbell does speak, but to humans it sounds like the jingling of bells It's actually quite clever if you think about it - we actually don't know her language, that and there are is a lot of comedic potential for her miming as well. It's a [[Running Gag]] in Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson's adaptations.
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* Adorable little Max from ''[[Orphan]]'', [[Justified Trope|justified by the fact that she is born stone deaf.]]
* Calvin from the movie ''[[Scrooged]]'' fits. He hasn't spoken since he saw his father killed. But at the end of the movie he reminds the [[Heel Face Turn|reformed Frank Cross]] to say "God bless us, every one."
* Bumblebee from the ''[[Transformers Film Series]]''. Also, the hilarious(-ly nasty) Frenzy, though he did get subtitles when speaking Cybertronian.
* Zetha from ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' fodder movie ''[[The Phantom Planet]]'' fits this one to a "T." At a young age, Zetha's family was murdered in front of her eyes by an evil alien. Rather than become [[Batman]], though, Zetha simply became mute for at least a decade until the main character of the movie bumbled into her life... oh, and that same alien tried to kill her again. Because that helps, apparently.
* Madeline/Frigga of ''[[Thriller - A Cruel Picture]]'', AKA "They Call Her One-Eye".
* Fon, [[Nicolas Cage]]'s love interest in the 2008 version of ''Bangkok Dangerous''.
* ''[[The Guns of Navarone]]''. Anna, the Resistance fighter who's also {{spoiler|[[The Mole]]}}.
* Burt Lancaster had a childhood friend, Nick Cravat, who appeared in several of Lancaster's movies. Cravat was never able to get rid of his thick Brooklyn accent, so he communicated by mime when in a movie where the accent would be inappropriate. He often seemed on the verge of stealing the
* Harpo Marx, pictured, most notably in [[Duck Soup]]. He can't talk at all, and instead talks in horns, which leads to probably the most clever scene he's ever done where he is able to carry on a phone conversation by honking horns in such a way that it sounds like replies.
* Edward in ''[[Veronika Decides To Die]]
* Helen, the protagonist of ''The Spiral Staircase''. Which really is a problem, because there's a [[Serial Killer]] on the loose who targets disabled women.
* Nova from [[Planet of the Apes]].
* The Ice Cream Lady in [[Kung Fu Hustle]], who
* Rocky from [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]] has no spoken dialogue, though he can sing. The stage version sometimes has him speak, at one point telling Frank to "Piss off".
* ''[[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum]]'' has Gymnasia, a beautiful and quick-witted slave from the Island of Silent Women. (She's pretty handy with weapons, too.) Pseudolus knows her sign language because his childhood nanny was a Silent Woman.
* Used in ''Love Potion no. 9''. When the female lead, Diane, gets a sample of the Love Potion no. 8, she receives the power of a [[Compelling Voice]], of a sexual nature and working only with the opposite sex. Upon entrancing a rich mook, to avoid [[Blessed with Suck|the potential hassles of being chased, harassed or desired by every single man at her speaking distance]], she cleverly puts the mook under the assumption she just
* In the little-known [[Jackie Gleason]] film ''Gigot,'' the title character is a fine example.
* Dolly, the bespectacled young woman whom Jaws falls in love with in ''[[Moonraker]]''. She doesn't seem to speak any more than he does.
== Literature ==
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== Live Action TV ==
* Marina, the amphibious humanoid girl from ''[[Stingray (1985 TV series)|Stingray]]'', is mute but highly resourceful. (In an official original cast audio episode, originally issued on vinyl and available on the DVD release, it is revealed that {{spoiler|Marina and her people are not actually mute but have taken a vow of silence after [[Big Bad]] King Triton cursed them so that if any of them should speak another would die. They're not sure if it's true but they're not taking any chances}}.)
* The eponymous humanoid alien woman in ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'', "The Empath."
* Raj from ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' isn't actually mute, but he can't talk to women unless he's drunk. Women seem to think this is endearing.
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== Video Games ==
* 'Lady' from ''[[Shadow Hearts]]: From The New World'' is about as direct a subversion as you're gonna get. She never speaks, is an [[Emotionless Girl]], can inspire love in the heart of a sociopathic psycho named 'Killer', and was not so much [[Raised by Wolves]], as [[Wild Child|not raised at all]]. She can also kill you with a flick of her wrist, and probably will, just because you happen to be there. {{spoiler|She's like this because she was originally the sister of the protagonist and during a ritual to bring them back from the dead, she gave up her "will" (life force) to save her brother, which turned her into a "pure mass of malice" -- a being with no memories or humanity.}}
* Yone from ''[[Suikoden Tactics]]'' plays it fairly straight, being both cute and otherworldly.
** In ''[[Suikoden II]]'', Pilika is rendered mute when Luca Blight cruelly slaughters her entire town.
*** Not true. Pilika was shut away at the time and didn't witness the slaughter - only the aftermath, which left her rather traumatized. ...Then Luca came back, cut Poll in two from chest to neck in front of her, and then seemed to be seriously considering doing the same to her before the fort exploded around them and the main characters pulled her out. ''That'' little experience, on top of her still pretty fragile state, rendered her mute right up until almost the end of the story. Did I mention Pilika's what? Eight? And then Shu distracts a squad of crossbowmen by lobbing her across their line of sight, just as they're about to fire on the main characters....
*** Pilika is actually five.
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* Garnet/Dagger from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' becomes mute for a time after {{spoiler|Kuja kills her mother, Queen Brahne, then destroys Alexandria on the day Garnet is to become queen.}} However, while she doesn't speak during this part of the game, the player is still treated to her <s>endless</s> internal monologues.
** It should be noted that this even affects her ''gameplay''. As one of the game's two [[White Magician Girl|White Mage/Summoners]], her inner turmoil sometimes prevents her from concentrating and makes her skip a turn. At least it wasn't treated like the [[Standard Status Effects|'Silence' ailment.]]
* Midori from ''[[Xenogears]]'', who is Citan's adorable little daughter, is not technically mute, but she is extremely sparse with words. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110520091803/http://bobbincranbud.com/parlor/midoriandchuchu.htm One theory] is that she carries out most of her communication telepathically.
** Primera, Billy Black's little sister is also mute {{spoiler|ever since witnessing her mother's death by Wels attacking their home while their father Jessiah was away.}}
* Keria from ''[[Harvest Moon]] DS (and DS [[Distaff Counterpart|Cute]])'' is mute. She communicates by writing messages on a sign (in the English version, she writes in [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]). However, one event between her and the [[Cute Witch|Witch Princess]] lets her speak briefly; in his [[Internal Monologue]], the hero remarks, "It's nice to know Keira talks like that."
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* ''Claudia'', from ''[[Castlevania: Lords of Shadow]]''. Cute and innocent as the trope allows. She can't speak, but she can use telepathy to express herself. And she does. A lot.
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'' has Anastacia of Astora, one of the world's important firekeepers. For unknown but likely horrible reasons, her tongue was cut out. There is a way to restore her ability to speak, but even then she considers it sinful.
* Zigzagged with Sona from ''[[League of Legends]]''. Clearly very beautiful, she seems unable to speak in-game, never conversing with other characters. The player can hear her inner monologues however (as in, her thoughts) and her voice, like her music and Sona herself, is lovely. Also quite a [[Silent Snarker]].
== Visual Novels ==
* Shizune from [[Katawa Shoujo]] is an aversion, while she is cute and mute. She has a ''very'' forceful personality and is even the [[Ms. Fanservice]] of her game.
** Evidence seems contradictory on whether or not Shizune is actually, physically mute (as the developers claim) or merely would rather avoid speaking since it'd probably make her sound bad (being deaf), as some scenes seem to hint at her being able to vocalize after all.
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* Emm from ''[[The Wisdom Of Moo]]''. The title "character" is the cow hand puppet she uses to do all her talking.
* [[Little Dee]] from the eponymous comic. She's young, but not ''that'' young.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130513231934/http://www.amyachronicles.com/archives/223 Faye Eolande] from [[Amya|Amya Chronicles]] is so much this that she must carry paper and pen with her, and apparently loves visiting the odd stationary shop to get more.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110822185949/http://www.desperateangels.com/?page_id=266 Glory] from [https://web.archive.org/web/20111017123844/http://www.desperateangels.com/?p=6 Desparate Angels].
* Violet from [[Voices]] only communicates by projecting text with her [[Psychic Powers|ability.]]
* ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]'', Amaya never talks for us. [[Subverted|Apparently, she can talk, though]]. Still cute.
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* [[Gadgeteer Genius]] (and [[Genius Cripple]], actually) Bernardo from ''[[Zorro: Generation Z]]'', named for a character by the same name in old-school [[Zorro]], like [[Generation Xerox|many characters]]. He communicates via ''actual'' sign language, though he rarely uses it with Diego - they know each other so well it's not needed, and it actually takes a couple of episodes to realize that Bernardo ''can't'' talk, as opposed to there simply being a [[Running Gag]] of Diego answering his own questions and not letting Bernardo get a word in.
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' had Meap who was the cutest thing ever, was an alien, and could only say Meap. But at the end of the episode, he gains a mustache that allows him to speak English or any other language in the universe. Somehow, saying Meap over and over is an actual language somewhere in space.
** Clearly you've never seen [[The Tick (animation)]], or else you'd know that the Heys and the Whats have equally efficient languages.
* In ''[[Transformers Prime]],'' Bumblebee takes after his movieverse counterpart. However, while movie Bumblebee speaks in canned sound clips from TV, radio, etc., Prime Bumblebee speaks in electronic sounds in a manner similar to [[Star Wars|R2-D2]] (or perhaps [[Transformers Armada|a Mini-con]].) The [[The Smart Guy|genius 12-year-old]] can understand him.
* [[Weasel Mascot|Horace the ferret]] from [[My Gym Partner's a Monkey]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Rule of Cute]]
[[Category:Stock Characters]]
[[Category:Silence Tropes]]
[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]
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