History Main / TheSpeechless

One popular use of this character is the SilentSnarker: While they never have any lines, they are highly facially expressive and used for many a ReactionShot, {{Facepalm}}, or visual ThisIsGonnaSuck.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', after Nezuko becomes a demon, she loses her ability to speak along with most of her memories of her life as a human. While she can make sounds, such as grunting and screaming and express her feelings through her actions, she cannot say any coherent words. [[spoiler:Later on, after being able to withstand the sun again, she slowly regains her ability to speak.]]

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', after Nezuko becomes a demon, she loses her ability to speak along with most of her memories of her life as a human. While she can make sounds and express her feelings through her actions, she cannot say any coherent words. [[spoiler:Later on, after being able to withstand the sun again, she slowly regains her ability to speak.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MetalHellsinger'', [[PlayerCharacter the Unknown]] had her voice stolen from the forces of Hell, becoming this trope and kicking starting the quest to take it back, one demon at the time.

* Rosaland of ''Manhua/CyberWeaponZ'' never speaks on-panel. Since she is [[CatGirl half-panther, half-human]], her muteness may come from this. But she is no CuteMute, she is not harmless enough for that.

* Shizune from ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''. Like the description she's smart, perceptive and wilful, though it's noted that the aggressive personality she has cultivated to compensate often ends up driving people away.

* The Monster in ''Comicbook/TheFrankensteinMonster'' starts out talkative like his book counterpart but loses his ability to speak for several issues when a vampire-bite tears his larynx.

* ''Videogame/BioShock2'':

* The protagonist of ''Videogame/CardShark'' is a mute who primarily communicates via facial expressions who goes from a wine boy at a countryside tavern to a hotshot gambler who has cheated his way into Parisian high society.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Kid Wykkyd appears to be mute, while Jericho certainly is. He can talk through those he owns, however. [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] when Jericho has Cinderblock and speaks through him... thus rousing instant suspicion, as Cinderblock never talks! (Interestingly, Jericho being able to speak through him means Cinderblock ''is'' physically capable of speech; until that moment in the ''next-to-last episode of the series,'' it had been assumed that a guy made of concrete probably just lacked vocal cords.)

** Gideon the cat from ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}'' is mute. He was originally meant to be voiced by Creator/MelBlanc, but in the end all his dialogue was cut, and Blanc's only contribution to a Disney movie was a hiccup.

%% Needs Context * ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'''s mute butler Ingmar. "[[CatchPhrase He's mute, ya know!]]"

** The aptly named episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E61TheSilence The Silence]]" invokes this trope. Jamie Tennyson, an incessant chatterbox in a gentleman's club, drives the wealthy Colonel Taylor crazy with his prattle. The colonel suggests a wager: if Tennyson can stay silent for an entire year (during which time he will be watched non-stop), he will win $500,000 (no slight change in the 2010s, but an even bigger sum in the 1960s). Tennyson takes the bet and stays silent throughout the year, despite other club members and even Colonel Taylor asking him to call it off. Finally, exactly twelve months have passed -- at which point Taylor confesses that he lost his fortune years ago, so he cannot pay; he never expected Tennyson to pull it off. Then comes the CruelTwistEnding: Tennyson did not expect himself to do it, either... so he ''cut his vocal cords'' to ensure that he would win. The episode concludes with Jamie dramatically removing his scarf, revealing a thick scar across his neck.
** Another aptly named episode, "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS4E107Mute Mute]]", centers around a girl unable to talk. Everybody initially believes it is because she is in shock after seeing her house burned down (with her parents) but later assume it is because she had never been taught how to speak. Really, she was trained to be psychic from birth, and held all her conversations with her parents (who were part of some strange cult) telepathically.

%% Needs Context * Pup of ''VideoGame/AdibooMagicalPlayland''. Justified, since he's a dog.

* Kid Buu in ''Manga/DragonBall'' only has one intelligible line in the manga, with the rest of his utterances being either gibberish or laughter. The Creator/{{Funimation}} dub averted this by giving him a few extra lines, all of them extremely childish in nature.

* Pup of ''VideoGame/AdibooMagicalPlayland''. Justified, since he's a dog.

* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt2'': Copen's sister, Mythl, was mute from an incredibly early age [[spoiler: as a result of a life-saving operation that separated the [[MagicMusic Lumen]] Septima out of her]] and only communicates via text. [[spoiler:After she re-merges with Lumen, she becomes able to speak.]]

* In most games of the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series, Link is a standard HeroicMime. He does talk to other characters; the player just doesn't get to hear it. Not so in ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', where it would seem that Link is actually mute: he's never shown to speak at all, and all of his "dialogue" is [[VoiceForTheVoiceless provided by]] his FairyCompanion [[MeaningfulName Proxi]].
** ''Breath of the Wild'' gives us Zelda's diary, which describes Link as someone she at first thinks is being deliberately cold towards her, but later she finds that he's more TheStoic due the burden of being TheHero. "When I finally got around to asking why he's so quiet all the time, I could tell it was difficult for him to say. But he did. With so much at stake, and so many eyes upon him, he feels it necessary to stay strong and to silently bear any burden." However, many fans -- enough for this to become an increasingly common fanfic portrayal -- latched onto the words "I could tell it was difficult for him to say" and believe (or at least add to their {{fanon}}) that Link is ''partially'' verbal, as a mental block he can overcome with those he is closest to (and then, with difficulty.)
* Chell from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' may be one. At the beginning of the second game, she responds to Wheatley's request to speak by jumping and [=GLaDOS=] refers to her as a mute. Also, while in the first game a non-fatal injury could result in Chell grunting in pain, Chell is completely silent in the second game. This may imply that while her silence in the first game was a result of her tenacity, her lack of speech in the second game may be a result of her extended stay in the [[HumanPopsicle Extended Relaxation Vault]]. Or, as hinted by her psych profile where she refused to answer any questions during her pre-testing interviews, she's in an extended sulk and refuses to dignify any of the [=AI=] with a response.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''Franchise/FateSeries'':
** This was originally suggested to be a trait common to all of TheBerserker-class Servants since their insanity has robbed them of their ability to speak. The Berserker of ''Literature/FateZero'' ([[spoiler:Sir Lancelot]]) also cannot speak and only vocalizes screams and growls. The one in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', [[spoiler: [[Myth/GreekMythology Herakles]]]], growls and roars a lot, but never talks. In fact, he's quite talkative after you [[spoiler: kill him]]. In ''VideoGame/FateExtra'', Lu Bu Fengxian likewise cannot speak. ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' did away with this convention, since a character who cannot speak is a very boring one to write for, and most of the Berserkers featured in it can speak, aside from those mentioned above.
** Avenger of Shinjuku does not speak at all which is justified as [[spoiler:it's the Headless Horseman who lacks a head to communicate verbally with and his partner is a wolf who has no means of speaking, magical or otherwise.]]
* Shizune from ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''. Like the description she's smart, perceptive and wilful, though it's noted that the aggressive personality she has cultivated to compensate often ends up driving people away.
--> "...!"
* Mio from ''VisualNovel/OneKagayakuKisetsuE'' is a mute who communicates through writing in a sketchbook.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* Yankee Doodle Pigeon from ''WesternAnimation/DastardlyAndMuttleyInTheirFlyingMachines''.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'''s mute butler Ingmar. "[[CatchPhrase He's mute, ya know!]]"

* Godzilla and Godzuki from ''WesternAnimation/TheGodzillaPowerHour''.

* Spot from ''WesternAnimation/HongKongPhooey''.
* Brain from ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget''.

* In the ''Splat the Cat'' series of children's picture books by Rob Scotton, the titular cat's mouse friend, Seymour, just nods in response.