History Main / VerbalWeakness

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', ''[[Recap/FamilyGuyS9E3WelcomeBackCarter Welcome Back Carter]]'' has Peter defeat Babs's ex-boyfriend Rodginald with a single word.

** Amesbury, a chef in Literature/MakingMoney, is [[PlotAllergy allergic]] to the word “garlic”. He makes very clear that he’s not allergic to garlic itself, just the word (if he hears it, he throws whatever’s in his hand, freezes, and swears in Quirmian) hence why he ended up cooking by himself for a dog, as restaurant kitchens inevitably have someone saying “garlic.”

* Lesser demons in ''Anime/BlueExorcist'' can be killed by Arias by having the Aria reciting a "Fatal Verse", a segment from the Bible and other holy scriptures. The segment varies from demon type to demon type.

'''Knight of Ni:''' I cannot tell you. Suffice to say is one of the words the Knights of Ni cannot hear!!\\

* Janemba from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' is a [[RealityWarper reality warping]] demon who breaks apart and ''shatters'' by having [[spoiler: insults shouted at him]] - while we can all agree that [[spoiler: shouting insults]] is not a nice thing, none of us break apart physically by it.

A character's WeaksauceWeakness turns out to be a specific spoken word or short phrase. Differs from WordsCanBreakMyBones by being a character specific weakness - the words being uttered have no inherent power and can be heard by anyone else with no ill (or severely reduced) effect.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'': The only way to get rid of the {{Reality Warp|er}}ing Mr. Mxyzptlk (for a while, at least) is to trick him into saying his name backwards. Hilariously this is actually something he set up himself: to him it's just a game and when Superman pointed out a game against someone with absolute StoryBreakerPower wasn't a "real" game, Mr. Mxyzptlk applied this weakness to himself to give the Man of Steel a "fair" chance.

* A ZanyScheme in an episode of the Scottish sitcom ''Series/MrDonAndMrGeorge'' involves the pair pretending that Don is allergic to the word "desk", causing him to faint, and that George is allergic to Don fainting, causing ''him'' to faint in turn.

SuperTrope to IKnowYourTrueName, and SubTrope of WeaksauceWeakness and AchillesHeel. If it is the volume of the spoken word that causes the damage, that's MakeMeWannaShout. Related to LogicBomb where computers and robots cannot grasp the concept of paradoxes.

* PlayedForLaughs In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The Knights Who Say Ni have a weakness to the word [[spoiler: 'it']], which makes them recoil in shock, [[spoiler: even if they say it themselves (which causes them to go into a FeedbackLoop)]].

* PlayedForLaughs In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The Knights Who Say Ni have a weakness to the word [[spoiler: 'it']], which makes them recoil in shock, [[spoiler: even if they say it themselves]].

-->-- ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' [[spoiler:The word in question is "it",[[note]]and the knight goes into a feedback loop immediately following this because he said "it" himself.[[/note]]]]

->Knight: ''"Don't say that word!"''\\
Arthur: ''"What word?"''\\
Knight: ''"I cannot tell you. Suffice to say is one of the words the Knights of Ni cannot hear!!"''\\
Arthur: ''"How can we not say the word, if you don't tell us what it is?"''\\
Knight (cringing): ''"You said it again!!!"''
->-- Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail [[spoiler:The word in question is "it",[[note]]and the knight goes into a feedback loop immediately following this because he said 'it' himself.[[/note]]]]

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Janemba from ''Anime/DragonballZ'' is a [[RealityWarper reality warping]] demon who breaks apart and ''shatters'' by having [[spoiler: insults shouted at him]] - while we can all agree that [[spoiler: shouting insults]] is not a nice thing, none of us break apart physically by it.

* ''Fanchise/{{Superman}}'': The only way to get rid of the {{Reality Warp|er}}ing Mr. Mxyzptlk (for a while, at least) is to trick him into saying his name backwards. Hilariously this is actually something he set up himself: to him it's just a game and when Superman pointed out a game against someone with absolute StoryBreakerPower wasn't a "real" game, Mr. Mxyzptlk applied this weakness to himself to give the Man of Steel a "fair" chance.

[[folder: Film ]]

* PlayedForLaughs In ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The Knights Who Say Ni have a weakness to the word [[spoiler: 'it']], which makes them recoil in shock, [[spoiler: even if they say it themselves]].

[[folder: Literature ]]

* On the Literature/{{Discworld}}, werewolves, being related to dogs, react distastefully to the words 'bath' and 'vet'.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* A ZanyScheme in an episode of the Scottish sitcom ''Series/MrDonAndMrGeorge'' involves the pair pretending that Don is allergic to the word "desk", causing him to faint, and that George is allergic to Don fainting, causing ''him'' to faint in turn.

[[folder: Mythology ]]

* Rakshasa, a type of demon from Myth/HinduMythology, will, according to some accounts, be banished if someone says the word "Uncle" in their presence.
* Empousae, female demons from Myth/GreekMythology that are known to seduce and eat men, can be physically be hurt and driven away by swearing and insults that are directed at them.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

-->'''Dragon:''' Well, now that you are here, I'm going to des'''[[Censored]]''' you!
-->'''Tempts Fate:''' Um, why was part of the word "Destroy" censored? ...Is your name "Troy"?
-->'''Dragon:''' [[BigNo NOOOO!]]
-->*Dragon is sucked into a black hole*

->Knight: ''"Don't say that word!"''
->Arthur: ''"What word?"''
->Knight: ''"I cannot tell you. Suffice to say is one of the words the Knights of Ni cannot hear!!"''
->Arthur: ''"How can we not say the word, if you don't tell us what it is?"''
->Knight (cringing): ''"You said it again!!!"''

* The only way to get rid of the {{Reality Warp|er}}ing [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Mr. Mxyzptlk]] (for a while, at least) is to trick him into saying his name backwards. Hilariously this is actually something he set up himself: to him it's just a game and when Superman pointed out a game against someone with absolute StoryBreakerPower wasn't a "real" game, Mr. Mxyzptlk applied this weakness to himself to give the Man of Steel a "fair" chance.

* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' Orcs are depicted as hating the name "Elbereth" to the extent that they are unable to utter it aloud and at least recoil momentarily in instinctive fear when someone else utters it. The name "Eärendil" is also used to repel creatures of the Shadow.

->-- Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail [[spoiler:The word in question is "it",[[note]]and the night goes into a feedback loop immediately following this because he said 'it' himself.[[/note]]]]

->-- Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail [[spoiler:The word in question is "it", and the night goes into a feedback loop immediately following this because he said 'it' himself.]]

->-- Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail [[spoiler:The word in question is "it".]]

->"''Nivahriin joorre! What have you done?! What twisted Words have you created?!''"
-->-- '''[[BigBad Alduin]]''', being brought low by words of transience made into a Thu'um, ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''

* Laharl from ''VideoGames/{{Disgaea}}'' is weakened by [[EvilCannotComprehendGood pure-sounding words of encouragement]]: such as "A beautiful heart!" and "Let's all be friends." By far the worst of them all is "Eternal Love!" which will completely cripple him (and by cripple, we mean [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration cut his stats in half]]).
* Dragons in ''VideoGames/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' are all stunned and weakened by [[spoiler:the Thu'um '''JOOR ZAH FRUL''', which is known as "Dragonrend"]]. Since Dragons [[spoiler: have no concept of transience (much like we have a difficult time truly grasping the concept of infinity)]], the [[spoiler: three words that make the shout (which, when translated, form 'Mortal', 'Finite' and 'Temporary' respectively)]] are like Kryptonite to them when used in [[spoiler: a Thu'um]]. Utterly confused by the words they hear, dragons promptly faceplant into the ground. This is the only [[spoiler: [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]]]] that fits this trope as any non-dragon race can hear the words just fine - the same cannot be said about all other [[spoiler: offensive-minded Thu'ums]] and dragons are not immune to those either. Note that the words themselves explicitly are ''not'' sufficient to cause anything to happen to dragons, [[spoiler:for about the same reason just saying 'Infinity' does not do anything to humans.]]

Why a character is weakened by the phrase is rarely explained outside a {{Handwave}}, but it is nevertheless found most often on antagonists as the search for a weakness makes for a compelling story and can take the protagonist around the world in search for the one place where a seemingly forgotten word was carved into rock or the like. Sometimes played for laughs when the word or phrase is really common and used every day by others.

* ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}''-spin-off ''Tempts Fate'' once featured a dragon who was unable to pronounce its own name, because it was a word taken from the Tongue of the Gods and anyone who heard it spoken would be sucked into a black hole, so it was censored by "the Powers That Be". Unfortunately, it couldn't pronounce words that contain its name as a syllable either:

SuperTrope to IKnowYourTrueName and TriggerPhrase, and SubTrope of WeaksauceWeakness and AchillesHeel. If it is the volume of the spoken word that causes the damage, that's MakeMeWannaShout. Related to LogicBomb where computers and robots cannot grasp the concept of paradoxes.

* If the words used have the same effect on a multitude of different beings, it's an example of WordsCanBreakMyBones. Examples include most [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Thu'ums]] and 'Ni' from Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail.
* If it's not a spoken word, but a sound like the [[Franchise/MassEffect Reaper Foghorn of Hell]], it's a BrownNote.

* Finally, ensure the words themselves are the inherent weakness - if they bring up memories of something the character fears they are not part of this trope. Examples include [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Homer Simpson]][[note]]being afraid of Sock Puppets to the point that the mere mention is enough to scare him[[/note]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents Cosmo]] [[note]]being scarred by a NoodleIncident enough that reminding him of it causes him to curl into a fetal position[[/note]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' has the Gentlemen, heart-stealing demons who can be defeated by a human scream. (Recordings don't work, though.) Because of this, they magically steal the voices of everyone in Sunnydale before attacking; the sudden "laryngitis epidemic" gets the town quarantined, so there's no outside help either.