The Silent Bob: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* The Bartles & James wine cooler campaign with Frank Bartles and Ed James (or rather, actors playing them as folksy old men.) They sat on a porch while Frank explained all about their new product, while Ed quietly tinkers with something, admires his handiwork, or sips a wine cooler. Frank monologues constantly put words in Ed's mouth ("Ed says...") -- and Ed may or may not even acknowledge the camera—and ends with "..and thank you for your support."

 

* Enryu, a bodyguard/shinigami from a ''[[Bleach]]'' [[Filler Arc]]. One wonders how a [[Silent Bob]] would release his zanpakuto...

** He eventually does, and his voice is approximately four octaves above a seven year old girl's.

* Freddy from ''[[Cromartie High School]]'' never utters a word (which is why Kamiyama had to give him his name) He seems to communicate mainly through stares. Even when he "sings", he just basically stands there with a mic posing with his mouth open.

* ''[[Gungrave]]'' leaves the impression that this is a result of being dead. But Brandon/Grave was a man of few words his whole life. His videogame incarnation [[Heroic Mime|never speaks]] with only one exception.

* ''[[Legend of Galactic Heroes]]'': Admiral Eisenach somehow manages to command a space fleet through subtle hand gestures. When he does speak, his fellow officers are shocked, sometimes claiming they thought he was mute. The narrator even records the exact date he spoke, just as he does for other galaxy-shaking historical events.

 

* The voice of Black Bolt of the Inhumans is immensely destructive and so he must never make even the tiniest sound if he's not trying to blow something up real good. However, he's mastered body language so well that he can communicate perfectly - many people are surprised by how well they understand him.

* In ''[[The Sandman]]'' and ''[[Lucifer (comics)|Lucifer]]'', Duma, the Angel of Silence, communicates this way with others. It's implied he might be using a form of [[Telepathy]], or it might just be his angelic/deific companions are experts at reading him.

* [[Milestone Comics]] has DMZ in the [[Blood Syndicate]]. He only ever says one word, and it's during the [[Crisis Crossover]]. "Damn."

 

 

* [[The View Askewniverse|Silent Bob]], [[Trope Namer|of]] [[Captain Obvious|course]]! Since he's played by Kevin Smith (the writer and director of the Askewniverse films), he has the fewest lines to memorize and some of the best dialogue, whether it's getting in a good joke, making with the wisdom, or saving the day. But the majority of the time, he just won't speak, which tends to frustrate Jay, as Bob is taciturn ''and'' the smart one. It never seems to occur to Jay that Bob is usually silent because [[Motor Mouth|Jay never shuts up]] and Bob can't get a word in edgewise.

** Jay, possibly as a result of spending so much time around Bob, doesn't quite believe in the notion that what Bob says is profound just because he's sparing with his words; he finds Bob's speech in ''[[Chasing Amy]]'' (describing an experience of his own that mirrors Ben Affleck's situation and cautioning him against making the same mistake) largely pretentious, and [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshades]] the profundity aspect of this trope.

* Beef Supreme in ''[[Idiocracy]].''

* Yolanda and Greg in ''Hamlet 2''.

* Sphinx in the 1990s ''[[Gone in Sixty Seconds]]'' film.

** And yes, this involves both a phone call and the odd eloquence at the end of the movie.

* [[Villain Protagonist]] Damien from ''[[The Omen]]'' doesn't get all-too much dialogue in the movie. Doesn't need it to be creepy or menacing.

 

* ''[[The Gone-Away World]]'' by Nick Harkaway features an entire troupe of literal [[Heroic Mime]]s, only one of whom ever speaks as he's the designated communicator.

* Mac, the proprietor [[Truce Zone|MacAnally's]] in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' is a one-syllable sort of guy. It gets to the point that when Mac says a full sentence, Harry is stunned.

{{quote|''"He... used grammar."''}}

* Every member of [[Foundation|the Second Foundation]] is this to each other, although [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|Asimov translates all of their "dialogue" for us]].

* In ''[[Black Company]]'' there's [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Silent]]. He has some kind of vow of silence, which he breaks but once {{spoiler|[[True Name|naming]] the lady and thus sealing her magic power.}}

* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|The Auditors]] of the [[Discworld]] are a variation of this. Since speaking is a sign of individuality, which they abhor because it is so disorderly, instead they change reality to make it as if they had already spoken. Except they haven't. Trying to figure this out starts to cause noticeable mental strain for any living being they deal with.

* In most adaptations of ''[[A Christmas Carol]]'', the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is either mute, responding to Scrooge's inquiries with nods and gestures, or only speaks a few lines.

 

* Morn from ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]].'' Subversion: he is never shown talking, but other characters frequently comment on how gregarious, funny, charming, etc. he is.

** One early episode actually shows Morn ''screaming'', as part of a violent mob—but he has no audible lines; it's just crowd noise.

** [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Mr. Homn, Lwaxana Troi's valet.]] He speaks exactly one time: "Thank you for the drinks."

** The Silent Bob is actually a [[Planet of Hats|Hat]] for one of the races in in [[Star Trek]]; exemplified by Grand Negus Zek's personal valet Maihar'du who has taken a vow of silence to anyone other than his lord. This is seen as quite common for the Hupyrian species.

* Silent Keith from the 2010 season of "Canada's Worst Handyman" was one of these.

* Death's skeletons in ''[[Horrible Histories]]''.

 

 

* [[The White Stripes|Meg White]] is the [[Silent Bob]] of that pair. Of course, when she ''does'' speak, it's pure sex in audio form.

 

* Ron Simmons of the [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]], leading up to his singular and simple catchphrase: "Damn!"

 

* In the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' setting, zodar are mysterious golem-like beings with godlike strength who seem to be made of the same material as [[Wall Around the World|the Crystal Spheres]]. They almost never speak; no zodar has been known to talk more than three times in their millennia-long lifespans, and when it does speak, its words are as sparse and concise as possible. Certainly, when it chooses to speak, what it says is ''very'' important.

 

* Lucky in ''Waiting for Godot'' is silent through most of the play, until he is asked to 'think', when he issues forth a three page speech of fractured philosophical gibberish.

* In the musical ''[[Once Upon a Mattress]]'', the King has been cursed with muteness. As a result, all his "lines" are delivered by miming. He even features in two '''songs'''!

* Sheriff Earl in ''[[All Shook Up]]''.

 

* Ward, after becoming permanently mute in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]''.

* Kimahri of ''[[Final Fantasy X]]'' remains silent most of the time, and doesn't say a word for a long time after his initial appearance, so when his mouth opens, you listen.

{{quote|That's Matthew. He doesn't talk much.}}

 

* Balabalalde in the "Improfanfic" series ''[http://www.improfanfic.com/dhh/ Dark Heart High]'' has so many bandage shaped [[Power Limiter|PowerLimiters]] over his entire body and face, he communicates exclusively by blinking his right eye and moving his head. This is played straight and funny throughout the series.

* Literally every single character on ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]''.

 

* Jack from ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'' talks when he needs to, but hardly ever needs to.

** Michelle however is most certainly [http://www.pennyandaggie.com/index.php?p=1013 NOT Silent Bob.]

* Punch, one of the Heterodyne Boys' creations and assistants, in ''[[Girl Genius]]'', was unable to speak. Heterodyne shows often characterized him as [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20050914 "big, slow, and stupid," but in truth he was smart, strong, loyal, kind, and dignified,] and he and his counterpart Judy had no trouble communicating—or being [[Badass]].

* Mr. Stinky, one of two characters in ''[http://www.flyingmanandfriends.com/ Flying Man and Friends]'', does not speak, nor does he use thought bubbles. But Flying Man somehow still manages to carry on conversations with him.

 

* A minor character from the ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' series, called Longshot. He's an [[The Archer|expert archer]] who is part of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Jet's]] group. At first he's just a background character, but when Jet reappears in Season 2, intent on reforming himself and making a new life, Longshot is one of only two characters from the group with him, and although he never speaks the others frequently react to his looks as though he is. (Often with replies like "That's deep", or "Good point", and so on). Probably a bit of a Silent Bob homage. (Like Bob, he does break his silence, but only at the very end, {{spoiler|when Jet is dying and he tells the main character's group to go ahead of them and catch the [[Evil Chancellor]] responsible}}).

** This trope was specifically mentioned in the ''[[Avatar: The Abridged Series|Avatar the Abridged Series]]'' and called "Silent Bob Syndrome". Because he couldn't object, Jet called him by whatever insulting name he could think up.

** Perry is an even better example, given that he can't speak, only purr. And, though Doofenhmirtz has shown to be able to understand what he "says", Perry is mostly just understood by facial expressions and some small actions (like greeting with his hat, pointing or even facepalming).

* In ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Lisa's Wedding", teenage Maggie is described as being a chatterbox - but then she merely rolls her eyes at her father in silence.

** Lampshaded in "Three Gays of the Condo" where Homer says that his only worthwhile creation was Lisa. When Maggie takes offense, Homer replies with "Prove me wrong, Silent Bob."

*** Notably, Maggie has said exactly two words in actually canonical episodes: her first word, "{{spoiler|Daddy}}" and later, "''{{spoiler|Ja}}.''"

*** "Sequel?"

** Maggie can [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t08RbPA90w Silent Bob with the best of them,] canon be damned.

* Mr. Funny in ''[[The Mr. Men Show]]''. He only honks during Season 2 of the show run.

* Boomhauer in ''[[King of the Hill]]'' isn't ''silent'', exactly, but his complete and utter unintelligibility goes unnoticed by most characters, especially Hank, who according to Bobby often quotes Boomhauer's wisdom.

* In ''[[Theodore Tugboat]]'', some of the docks are characters who only ever say a certain phrase - like "Uh-huh," or "Nope," which often leads to the character facing a moral dilemma in the story extracting [[Hidden Depths|profound wisdom]].

* Ms. Mimi in one episode of ''[[Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps]]'' communicates with the titular character and her friends through writing notes, head shakes, and music - all because she has laryngitis. Early in the episode, a yogurt-selling mouse greets Angelina and Vici by using a bell in his cart and waving his hand on them.

{{quote|'''Patron:''' Uh hi, this is kind of awkward. I guess your used to it by now, huh?

'''Patron''' ''(nervous)'': Oh, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m from out of town on vacation! I work at a zoo and… all the animals escaped so… they gave us time off…

'''Artist''' ''(Says nothing)''

'''Artist''' ''(Still says nothing)''

'''Patron''' ''(flustered)'': Oh, you’re right! I did it because I’m in love with that monkey and I should leave my husband! ''(Gets up and walks off.)''}}

 

** Teller does, however, speak freely when he is not "in character", i.e. after shows to fans, in a few film roles, and in print and radio interviews (though in the latter he often jokes that he can't be the real Teller - because, of course, Teller never talks). In stage and television appearances he is always silent, though on some rare occasions he has been shown speaking in documentaries with his face obscured. 

** Additionally, Penn Jillette has said that in their magic shows, Teller talks at least once during every show - but it has to be a gimmick. Things like being inaudible because a loud woodchipper is drowning out his voice, or speaking audibly but while pretending to be an animatronic puppet of himself, or simply arguing with Penn off-mic. Similarly, in their appearance on ''[[Babylon 5]]'' as comedy duo Rebo and Zooty, Teller's character used a device that spoke for him in a synthesized voice.

** To show just how powerful the [[Silent Bob]] effect is: Once, while hosting at a magic convention, they [[Personality Swap|switched roles]]. They were introduced as "Teller & Penn", and Teller spoke while Penn stayed silent. It brought the house down.

{{quote|'''Teller:''' "My name is Teller, and this is my partner Penn Jillette- we are Teller & Penn."

* American president [[Calvin Coolidge]] (nicknamed "Silent Cal"), who famously was told by a woman at a dinner party that a friend of hers had [[Side Bet|bet her]] she couldn't get Coolidge to say more than two words to her all evening. Coolidge's response? {{spoiler|"You lose."}}

** Or, in Dave Barry's retelling of it: {{spoiler|"Fuck you."}}

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]