Omniglot: Difference between revisions
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** A ring Harry acquires by summoning jewelry from the pools of Jusenkyo turns out to be a magical [[Universal Translator]]. Once he finds that out, he's almost never without it. (He does eventually become reasonably fluent in Japanese without it.)
** One of the side effects of the magical accident that killed her mother gives Luna Lovegood the ability to speak any language after being exposed to only a few sentences in it.
* "Lyra" Black from the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13001792/1/All-According-to-Plan All According to Plan]'' by LysandraLeigh. She's a thirteen-year-old [[Alternate Universe|cross-dimensional]] [[Time Travel]]ing version of Bellatrix Lestrange who finds herself plopped into Wizarding Britain just before the beginning of ''[[
* In the ''[[Ranma ½]]'' fanfic ''[[Desperately Seeking Ranma]]'', the so-called "Sisterhood of Doom" (and a few associates) are given use of a "universal translator" spell by a civilization/corporation for whom they performed a massive service/favor. Once applied, it allows them to understand, speak and eventually write all known languages not only from earth but from uncounted alien/"demon" races across dozens (or more) realities.
* In the [[Mega Crossover]] ''[[My Apartment Manager is not an Isekai Character]]'', [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Hyoga]] [[A Certain Magical Index|Kazakiri]] becomes an omniglot during a story that is more metaphysical than is usual for this series. The ability is implied to be telepathic, in that she doesn't understand languages that nobody else alive speaks.
== [[Film]] ==
* C-3PO of ''[[Star Wars]]'' is a protocol droid fluent in over 6,000,000 forms of communication, and thus acts as an interpreter. This was at first treated as a throwaway character trait just to get Luke's uncle Owen to buy him and thus become a part of Luke's life (not to mention relay what [[The Unintelligible|R2-D2]] says to others), but Threepio's linguistic abilities eventually become important in ''Episode VI: [[Return of the Jedi]]'', when the Ewoks see him as a god and he gets their support in defeating the Galactic Empire. He also occasionally proves useful in being able to identify some codes. Despite his abilities, C-3PO is an absolutely horrible interpreter, incapable of understanding any allusion or context of the conversation.<ref>When the prequel trilogy was released, it was revealed that he had been built from scrap parts by a very bright pre-teen. Which probably goes a long way toward explaining his limitations.</ref>
** The protocol droid turned bounty hunter (really!), 4LOM (seen briefly alongside the other bounty hunters in ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'') is a newer model, fluent in over ''7'',000,000 forms of communication.
* ''[[Indiana Jones]]'':
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{{quote|"Rincewind could scream for mercy in nineteen languages, and just scream in another forty-four."}}
** Carrot, as [[The Chosen One]], learns languages unnaturally fast, but [[Painting the Fourth Wall|not perfectly]].
** Amber from ''[[I Shall Wear Midnight]]'' picks up almost any language unbelievably fast.
* Every single male protagonist of a book written by [[Dan Brown]]. Most notably the guy in ''[[Digital Fortress]]'' (his being able to speak Spanish was the reason he was sent to Spain {{spoiler|that and [[Murder the Hypotenuse|so his fiance's boss could get him killed]]}}).
** This part being, as is usual in the author, [[Dan Browned]]. The character is supposed to speak Spanish so well that he can fake a Burgos accent. But that's like saying someone can speak English so well as to fake a perfect "neutral accent" such as [[Useful Notes/British Accents|the RP]] or [[American Accents|Midwestern]].<ref>Being in the heart of old Castile, Burgos has the same standard Castilian accent spoken over most of central Spain and the one in which virtually every film and TV in Spain is produced, so far that Spaniards sometimes joke that "The Burgos accent is the not-accent".</ref>
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* The latest depiction of [[The Thrawn Trilogy|Thrawn]], in ''Outbound Flight'', has him learning Basic very, ''very'' quickly by taking lessons from a human who shares a trade language with him. The human is slightly alarmed by his progress. He tries to teach the human the Chiss language at the same time, but this works less well due to its complexity. "[[My Hovercraft Is Full of Eels|You are a fishing boat]]?"
** The fishing boat example isn't due to the complexity of the language, but the fact that most speakers of Basic don't know how to make that soft "p" sound. Presumably Basic, like English, usually has a puff of air accompany the "p" sound. This isn't part of the language but simply how it's spoken. The Chiss language, however, uses both as different phonemes. Car'das was so used to Basic that, try as he might, he couldn't make that soft "p" when the language called for it. Spanish speakers, from what I've been told, do the opposite; they don't make the puff of air that English-speakers do.
* In ''[[Harry Potter]]'', Barty Crouch, Sr. allegedly speaks over 200 languages, including Gobbledegook and Troll (though Troll is an incredibly easy language to learn).
** Granted, Harry learns this from Barty's extremely admiring assistant, Percy Weasley. It's possible Percy is exaggerating - Barty may be able to say "Hello," "How are you," and "Goodbye" in 200 languages.
** Dumbledore may not speak 200, but he does at least speak Mermish.
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* Elizabeth Bathory in ''[[Count and Countess]]''.
* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', Crowley and Aziraphale have universal fluency. Justified, of course, in that they're a demon and an angel, respectively. It would be rather silly (and interfere with their work) for them not to have this ability.
* [[The Rime of the Ancient Mariner|The Ancient Mariner]] has a "strange power of speech" that allows him to tell his story to anyone who needs to hear it, whatever their language.
* The protagonist in [[Larry Niven]]'s "The Fourth profession" is given an [[Ingesting Knowledge|instant-learning pill]] by a drunk alien so that he can converse in the alien's language. It turns out the alien wasn't carrying any normal language pills, so it gave him one that allows him to speak any language (among other things).
* Captain Nemo from ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea]]''. In addition to his native tongue (which is unknown to the protagonists) he is fluent in French, English, German, Latin, and probably far more languages.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
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* [[Richard Burton (author)|Sir Richard Francis Burton]], [[Genius Bruiser]] that he was, spoke 29 European, African and Asian languages.
* Polish-Russian linguist Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay (AKA Ivan Nikolaevich Baudouin de Courtenay) knew [[Beyond the Impossible|92 languages with reasonable fluency]] and reportedly had some understanding of several dozens more. There's a rumor that he once said that learning a language is only difficult if you're doing it second or third time, once you know five, learning one more is a breeze.
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