Unexplained Accent: Difference between revisions

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When a character has an accent that cannot be explained by the setting. It's often wildly dissonant with other accents. Similar to [[Not Even Bothering with the Accent]], except that the actor doesn't have the accent, either—there's simply no good reason for it. It ''can'' be explained as being for humor, because [[Real Life Writes the Plot]], or to take advantage of a cultural stereotype for characterisation, but sometimes it happens for no good reason at all.

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== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In general, dubs give the characters bizarre accents for no reason.

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** Jin was given an Irish accent in the English dub in an attempt to mirror his hard to understand dialect in the Japanese version.

** Chuu, on the other hand, was probably a reference to ''[[Mad Max]]'' - he looks like he wandered in from either there or ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', after all.

* Molly in [[Sailor Moon]]'s English dub has an utterly inexplicable and quite thick Bronx accent. The original character, Naru, has no accent at all relative to the rest of the characters.

* Molly in ''[[Sailor Moon]]'''s English dub has an utterly inexplicable and quite thick Bronx accent. The original character, Naru, has no accent at all relative to the rest of the characters.

** Actually, Naru's case [[Accent Adaptation]] for the [[Kansai Regional Accent]] (the last name "Osaka" was meant to lampshade this). But at least one [[One-Shot Character]] actually got an accent out of nowhere— although neither of the characters from the Sailor V animation episode had an accent in the original, one of them was made to sound like a Southern belle in the English dub.

** Actually, Naru's case is [[Accent Adaptation]] for the [[Kansai Regional Accent]] (the last name "Osaka" was meant to lampshade this). But at least one [[One-Shot Character]] actually got an accent out of nowhere— although neither of the characters from the ''Sailor V'' animation episode had an accent in the original, one of them was made to sound like a Southern belle in the English dub.

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* Used intentionally, to chilling effect, in ''[[No Country for Old Men]]''.

* Dutch actor [[Rutger Hauer]] inexplicably adopts an American accent for his role in ''[[Ladyhawke]]'' and everyone else sounds British, despite the setting being [[The Middle Ages|Medieval France]].

* [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]] is pretty bad for this. Frank and O'Brien both speak with very different British accents, Magenta speaks with a terrible Transylvanian accent and Dr. Scott speaks with a German accent right from the get-go, when his nationality is supposed to be a secret.

* ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'' is pretty bad for this. Frank and O'Brien both speak with very different British accents, Magenta speaks with a terrible Transylvanian accent and Dr. Scott speaks with a German accent right from the get-go, when his nationality is supposed to be a secret.

* In ''[[Harry Potter]] and the Deathly Hallows Part I'', Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour speaks with a Welsh accent. While it's not necessarily unreasonable for a British politician to have a Welsh accent, Bill Nighy, the actor playing him, is English, and Scrimgeour isn't stated to be Welsh in any of the books.

* ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]'': Parvi Largo speaks with some sort of Italian accent, despite having the same upbringing as his (American-accented) siblings. His father Rotti has a light Italian accent, in contrast to the thick, forced accent Parvi has.

* Ben Jabituya in ''[[Short Circuit]]'' has a very thick Hindu-type accent, which [[In-Universe]] is inexplicable -- his friend and co-worker Newton Crosby finally yields to curiosity and asks him where he comes from -- and if we read between the lines of Ben's answers, his family seem to have been living in the United States for at least one generation and maybe two.

* Borderline example: Cho Chang as portrayed by Katie Leung in the [[Harry Potter (film)|''Harry Potter'' movies]] has a very pronounced ''Scottish'' accent. While UK audiences may not even notice it, for American audiences it is so unexpected from an Asian girl that it verges on [[Vocal Dissonance]].

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Redwall]] tends to use [[Planet of Hats|species-specific]] [[Funetik Aksent]]s, but occasionally gives one character an accent that doesn't fit. Most of the vermin speak either "generic thug" or [[Talk Like a Pirate]], with the smarter ones and each book's [[Big Bad]] often speaking Standard English, but for some reason Dingeye and Thura in ''Salamandastron'' were recognisably [[The Midlands|Brummie]], and Wraith speaks with [[Trrrilling Rrrs]]. Most of the hares come under the heading of [[Upper Class Twit]], but Rockjaw Grang had a very broad [[Oop North]] accent; justified in his case as he originally came from [[Grim Up North|the Northlands]], which are usually depicted as a Scotland analogue but likely have a nearby Yorkshire analogue.

* ''[[Redwall]]'' tends to use [[Planet of Hats|species-specific]] [[Funetik Aksent]]s, but occasionally gives one character an accent that doesn't fit. Most of the vermin speak either "generic thug" or [[Talk Like a Pirate]], with the smarter ones and each book's [[Big Bad]] often speaking Standard English, but for some reason Dingeye and Thura in ''Salamandastron'' were recognisably [[The Midlands|Brummie]], and Wraith speaks with [[Trrrilling Rrrs]]. Most of the hares come under the heading of [[Upper Class Twit]], but Rockjaw Grang had a very broad [[Oop North]] accent; justified in his case as he originally came from [[Grim Up North|the Northlands]], which are usually depicted as a Scotland analogue but likely have a nearby Yorkshire analogue.

* Different species of [[Talking Animal]] in the ''[[Spellsinger]]'' novels also have different accents, and they're often [[Played for Laughs]] (e.g. Brooklynese tough-talk from a robin).

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* Troi in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.

** This is more a case of the other Betazoids ''lacking'' an accent, though. Since the accent is one that Marina Sirtis invented on her own for the role.

*** In one episode, it's stated that she picked it up from her human father, so we can't even blame the Betazoids. That doesn't explain why it changes from British to Mid-Atlantic to some weird pan-Slavic thing from episode to episode, though.

*** In one episode, it's stated that she picked it up from her human father, so we can't even blame the Betazoids. That doesn't explain why it changes from British to [[Mid-Atlantic Accent|Mid-Atlantic]] to some weird pan-Slavic thing from episode to episode, though.

** Also, Captain Picard. He's supposed to be from France, but Patrick Stewart played him with his British accent.

*** Not only that, but when he visits his home village in France his entire family affects a British accent. This would indicate that the family and perhaps the entire village or region are British transplants, perhaps refugees from some conflict before the 24th century.

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** Chris Barrie uses a fairly ambiguous accent to play Ace Rimmer as opposed to the (more similar to Barrie's real accent) normal Rimmer accent.

*** He speaks with a blend of English RP (which suits his status as stiff upper lip officer) and Trans-Atlantic, which is generally used to sound "cool", but has the side-effect of sounding slightly bogus, cheesy and affected. It's essentially perfect for the character of Ace.

* Both Delenn and Londo of [[Babylon 5]] have vaguely central/eastern European accents, which stand out all the more because their respective underlings ''don't'', and it's a crapshoot as to whether any other individuals of their races will display an accent either.

* Both Delenn and Londo of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' have vaguely central/eastern European accents, which stand out all the more because their respective underlings ''don't'', and it's a crapshoot as to whether any other individuals of their races will display an accent either.

** Which isn't really any different to them being from Liverpool and all their underlings from New York, or Sydney; why would all members of a given race have the same accent?

** Delenn's accent is forgivable: Mira Furlan is Croatian. Londo (Peter Jurasik) did so on purpose and several other actors portraying members of Centauri high-society emulated the accent, like Carmen Argenziano (Urza Jaddo) and William Forward (Lord Refa).

* Barry Kripke on [[The Big Bang Theory]] has a completely inexplicable accent best described as sounding like Elmer Fudd's speech impediment. Raj at one point comments on Kripke's accent, asking, "What part of America ''that'' accent from?"

* Barry Kripke on ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' has a completely inexplicable accent best described as sounding like Elmer Fudd's speech impediment. Raj at one point comments on Kripke's accent, asking, "What part of America ''that'' accent from?"

* In an episode of [[How I Met Your Mother]], [[Alyson Hannigan|Lily]] is the subject of an "intervention" by her friends (who are pretty much addicted to doing interventions) for constantly affecting a Cockney accent over the course of several weeks.

* In an episode of ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]'', [[Alyson Hannigan|Lily]] is the subject of an "intervention" by her friends (who are pretty much addicted to doing interventions) for constantly affecting a Cockney accent over the course of several weeks.

* On [[Coupling]], Londoner Jeff has a Welsh accent. Notable for not being scripted that way, the actor just felt like doing one. Many in the cast didn't even know he wasn't Welsh until a few episodes in.

* On ''[[Coupling]]'', Londoner Jeff has a Welsh accent. Notable for not being scripted that way, the actor just felt like doing one. Many in the cast didn't even know he wasn't Welsh until a few episodes in.

* Latka ([[Andy Kaufman]]) from ''[[Taxi]]'' has a vaguely Eastern European-sounding accent that doesn't actually correspond to anything real.

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

* The crocs from ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]''.

* The crocs from ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]''.{{context}}

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== [[Video Games]] ==

* Claudia in ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' is an American character voiced by an Australian voice actress. For whatever reason, she has a [[British Accents|British accent]].

* [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario and Luigi]] have strong pseudo-Italian accents, despite ([[Multiple Choice Past|maybe]]) growing up in the Mushroom Kingdom, though, there's nothing that says there isn't an Italy Expy there.

* [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario and Luigi]] have strong pseudo-Italian accents, despite ([[Multiple Choice Past|maybe]]) growing up in the Mushroom Kingdom, though, there's nothing that says there isn't an [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Italy Expy]] there.

** Also, at the end of the final level of ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', when [[Overlord, Jr.|Bowser Jr.]] shows Mario/Luigi the captive Peach being tied to the mast of his spaceship just right before the final boss battle against [[Big Bad|Bowser,]] Peach for some reason, has a Japanese accent.

** Peach has a Japanese accent again at the end of ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]'', this time after Mario sees Bowser tie her to a flagpole.

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* [[The Smurfs]] have a variety of accents, despite them all having grown up at the same time in the same village. Most notable is Painter's outrageous French accent, but there are several others, such as Clumsy's Southern drawl and Sweeper's extremely fake-sounding Cockney accent.

** In [[The Smurfs (film)|the 2011 movie,]] new character Gutsy follows tradition by being a [[Brave Scot]].

* In [[Popples]], four out of the six Sports Popples speak in different accents. Big Kick speaks with a British accent, Cuester talks with a Brooklyn accent, Dunker talks with a stereotypical African American accent, and Pitcher talks with a Southern accent.

* In ''[[Popples]]'', four out of the six Sports Popples speak in different accents. Big Kick speaks with a British accent, Cuester talks with a Brooklyn accent, Dunker talks with a stereotypical African American accent, and Pitcher talks with a Southern accent.