Starfish Language: Difference between revisions

[[File:117_6604117 6604.png|link=Grim Tales Fromfrom Down Below (Fanfic)|rightframe| D'awwwww!]]

'''Emma:''' ... could I be tied to a different chair?|''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]] and the Curse of Fatal Death''}}

Much as [[Starfish Aliens]] is the polar opposite of [[Human Aliens]], [['''Starfish Language]]''' is the diametric of [[Aliens Speaking English]]. Whether the [[Translator Microbes]] are on the fritz or the aliens in question are communicating with [[Minovsky Physics|Minovsky Particles]], it's unintelligible to the humans, especially to the viewers (unless there are subtitles, often only present when the trope is played for comedic effect). If it's a video game, expect there to be a few branches on the [[Tech Tree]] devoted to understanding the language and eventually the aliens' culture and intent, whether it be peace, [[Aliens Steal Cable|cable]], [[Aliens Steal Cattle|cattle]], [[Mars Needs Women|the opposite sex]], or just to put a cosmic smear where your [[Insignificant Little Blue Planet]] used to be.

Contrast with [[Strange Syntax Speaker]], where the words are understood but the language rules are not. For when the language's grammar is very similar to Indo-European languages, see [[Indo -European Alien Language]], or, if the language has basically a one-on-one correspondence with a real world language, [[Re LexRelex]].

*** Their interface gets better at talking in the novel 10 teaser though. The reason they were unable to talk very well with humans initially is explained mostly due to the fact that they're [[Starfish Aliens]] to the Overmind itself. The interfaces of the two meeting briefly {{spoiler|Whenwhen the CannopyCanopy Domain tries to (kill?) Kyon.}} and talking for a few minutes is considered an amazing leap forward.

* In ''[[Pokémon Destiny Deoxys (Anime)|Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys]]'', the titular [[Starfish Aliens|Deoxys]] spoke to each other through aurorae, which one of the characters could translate with her [[Magical Computer|laptop]]. They also made strange airplane engine-esque noises as well.

** The Pokémon themselves would count as well, since they're somehow able to communicate fluently with each other despite their dialogue consisting only of the names of their given species. In one episode where Ash became separated from theirhis Pokémon, the Pokémon spoke to each other without any trouble (complete with English subtitles).

** Also in ''[[Pokémon: 2000The (Anime)Movie 2000|Pokémon 2000]]'', Pikachu was able to communicate with the legendary lightning bird, Zapdos, through electric shocks. Strangely enough, Meowth was able to decipher what they were saying.

* Angelic language in ''[[ToA AruCertain Majutsu no Index (Anime)|To Aru Majutsu noMagical Index]]''. Since angels carry some concepts which can't be expressed in human language, angels and angel-like beings such as Aiwass, [[Archangel Gabriel]], and {{spoiler|Accelerator}} express these concepts through this language, which is seen as a bunch of gibberish letters surrounding the kanji of the word closest to what the being means (like this: ihq'''DIE'''vbt).

* ''[[Puella Magi Kazumi Magica (Manga)|Puella Magi Kazumi Magica]]'' has {{spoiler|the witch-magical girl hybrid form of Airi}} ''speaking in [[Cypher Language|runic letters]]'' in Chapter 6.

* Hepzibah of the [[Marvel Universe]]'s: Hepzibah of the ''[[Starjammers]]'' comes from a race thatof communicatesskunk-like humanoids who communicate using pheromones. The kicker? Humans can't detect them. However, her species does have vocal chords and can learn to speak human language, and she currently{{when}} speaks in [[You No Take Candle|pidgin English]].

{{quote| "In loudest din or hush profound<br />

My ears catch evil's slightest sound.<br />

Let those who toll out evil's knell<br />

* ''[[All -Star Superman]]'' briefly features a species of tungsten gas-based life forms with glass exoskeletons that communicate with light-emitting gestures. Some sentences in their language can cause instant blindness in humans.

* The [[Ultimate Marvel]] version of the Vision (who goes by "she" in this continuity) was built to warn alien cultures of <s>Galactus</s> Gah Lak Tus. In a case of [[Crazy Prepared]], she (yeah, [[She's a Man In Japan|Vision's a "she" in this continuity]]) can communicate withvia chemical enzymes, gravitational flux, microwaves, spacetime tears, and so on. All- all of which comes in handy when she fights one of Gah Lak Tus' components:

{{quote| "I'm going to '''[[Talking the Monster Toto Death|'''talk]]''' [[Talking the Monster To Death|Gah Lak Tus to death]]."}}

** So did the alien invaders from ''[[Camelot 3000]]''.

* German artist [[Walter Moers (Creator)|Walter Moers]] had some friends who suggested him to write a story about some aliens landing near the house of Franz Josef Strauß (very conservative Bavarian politician, meanwhile dead) but can only communicate by belching and [[Dirty Commies|waving red flags]].

* [[Guardians of the Galaxy]] member Groot, a giant walking tree, can only say one thing: "I AM GROOT!" However, similar to the Pokémon example, it turns out that he's actually [[Genius Bruiser|brilliant]] and is often providing solutions in [[Techno Babble]] with that one phrase.

* In ''[[Men in Black]] II'', J communicates with an alien; Theirtheir conversation sounds like beatboxing.

* The Drej (energy beings) and the Gowl (bat people) from ''[[Titan AEA.E.]]''.

* An adaptation depicts the language of the [[Transformers (Filmfilm)|Transformers]] as sounding like a cross between a howling velociraptor and a burst of computer noise. This is reasonable, given that they're robots.

** One of the myriad [[All There in the Manual|manuals]] explains that spoken Cybertronian is extremely efficient - a few sounds can contain lots of information - and the prequel comics show that they are also capable of "texting" each other soundlessly (this is how Bumblebee communicated with the other Autobots after having his throat destroyed), but this is highly impersonal and typically only used for battlefield orders and such like.

* The native language of the Tenctonese in the first ''[[Alien Nation (Filmfilm)|Alien Nation]]'' movie resembles the popping of bubble wrap run through a synthesizer; technically, they're all sounds humans can make, but few human languages use them.

* And of course, the virtually indescribable language spoken by Thermians among themselves in ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]''. It's... sort of screechy. The DVD, in typical ''[[Galaxy Quest (Film)|Galaxy Quest]]'' fashion, offers the option of watching the movie dubbed into Thermian. ''Someone'' at Dreamworks was having a lot of fun.

* One thing ''[[Star Wars]]'' got right (at least in episodes IV-VI) is that most aliens are incapable of speaking human languages, and vice versa. Rather than using implausible [[Translator Microbes]], the characters are all either fluent in a variety of languages, [[Bilingual Dialogue|so they can understand alien languages even if they can't speak them]], or else they rely on sentient translator robots -- "Protocol Droids" -- like—like C3PO to interpret for them.

** In the Extended Universe, the Twi'lek, along with the ability to learn any language that humans can, also have a completely seperateseparate gestural language expressed by use of their ''lekku'' head tentacle thingies. Some sources describe as being subtle enough that most races can't even recognize, let alone interpret it, allowing it to function as a [[Secret Language]].

* In ''[[Star Trek IV: the Voyage Home (Film)|Star Trek IV theThe Voyage Home]]'' Kirk and the gang must travel back in time to acquire live humpback whales (suposedlysupposedly extinct by the 23rd century) which are the only beings capable of communicating with an alien ship that is accidentally devastating the Earth.

* In the second installment of Garth Nix's ''[[Keys to Thethe Kingdom]]--('', ''[[Day of the Week Name|Grim Tuesday]])--'', [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner:The Rime of the Ancient Mariner|the Mariner]], Captain Tom Shelvocke, refers to the starship ''Helios'' as having probably been copied from "๑๑๑๑๑๑๑๑ or ÆΩ∂∞ƒ‡." The human {{spoiler|(for now)}} hero, Arthur, is unsure whether these are the names of worlds, countries, or beings.

* Several from the ''[[Star Trek Novel Verse]].'': The Vahni Vahltupali communicate visually, flashing patterns across their skin. They can even "sing". The Citoac, meanwhile, communicate by using sounds of a pitch that stimulates the brain of another being, directly influencing their neurology. Efrosian language is music-based, and they can describe complex equations, schematics and diagrams by humming. The languages of several aquatic races such as the Alonis are also musical.

* Kilgore Trout ([[Author Avatar|a.kak.a. Kurt Vonnegut]]) loved using these to reinforce [[An Aesop]] about miscommunication. Among the more egregious examples is an alien who communicates through farts and tap dance, killed while attempting to warn of a house fire.

** Similarly, in ''[[The HitchhikersHitchhiker's Guide to Thethe Galaxy]]'', dolphins' warnings of the earth's impending destruction were mistaken for their trying to perform tricks.

* Unicorns, in the ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series, understand human speech just fine, and can speak it when in human form (Thosethose that bother to learn, anyway). In their natural state, they use "hornspeak", communicating through musical notes blown through their horns. (In Phaze, unicorn horns are hollow and produce sounds similar to musical instruments.)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100824162041/http://www.xibalba.demon.co.uk/jbr/lingo.html This article] includes some interesting notes on very foreign languages and an index of science fiction stories that have tackled the idea of alien languages.

* The language of the Knnn race in ''[[Chanur Novels|The Chanur Saga]]'', which consists of whale song-like vocalizations. Their language is so alien as to be completely incomprehensible to oxygen breathers, and even the methane-breathing T'ca and Chi have trouble with it. The T'ca and Chi are ''themselves'' only half comprehensible in turn- the T'ca, most comprehensible and friendly of them and unnoficialunofficial go-betweens for Oxy and Methane, speak in "matrix sentences" of words arranged two-dimesionallydimensionally with no particular reading order or discernablediscernible grammar.

* The Octospiders from the [[Sequel|sequelssequel]]s to ''[[Rendezvous With Rama]]''. Not only are they actual starfish (well, starfish-like) but they speak with colors, colors that come out of their 'heads' in a little fountain, and working out a way to translate said colors into people speak is a major plot point (and turns out to be both very difficult and remarkably ineffective) due to the fact that they use a number of colors that people cannot see, and have a number of terminologies that simply do not translate, at all.

* The languages of Tlon described by [[Jorge Luis Borges]] in "[[Tlon Uqbar Orbis Tertius (Literature)|TlonTlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius]]" have no nouns but only verbs or adjectives, reflecting the philosophy of its speakers (they see the world not as a set of objects with continuity in time, but a succession of events and transitory qualities). To speakers of these languages, a story about one man losing some coins and another finding them becomes a paradoxical [[Mind Screw]].

* [[HPH.P. Lovecraft]]'s aliens tend to have modes of communication radically different from that of humans. For example the Elder Things communicate by making piping sounds with their multiple breathing tubes, and the Great Race of Yith click their claws together to produce their equivalent of speech. The Mi-Go use a buzzing sound emitted from their wings as well as rapid color changes of their ciliate heads.

** Don't forget that the entire reason for the war with the Buggers was (1) our radically different conceptions of individual personhood and (2) our inability to communicate that prevented the Buggers from apologizing and trying to make peace once they realized the mistake they had made -- amade—a rather dark take on this trope.

* In the ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'', we find that Twi'leks - the humanlike aliens with twin [[Bizarre Alien Biology|braintails]] on their heads in place of hair - use their braintails in conversation much the same way humans use our hands, though they have a vocal language and can speak Basic (English) quite well. In "[[X Wing Series|X-Wing: The Krytos Trap]]" Wedge is taught to use his hands to make specific gestures while trying to bargain with a [[Proud Warrior Race|Proud Warrior Race Twi'lek]]. There is actually a language of braintail signals which apparently makes a running commentary, which comes up rarely. Oola was surprised to find that C-3PO understood it, and during the Clone Wars Aayla Secura tried to conceal her attraction to Kit Fisto by claiming it was just that he was one of the few peoplenon-Twi'leks who botheredcould tonot learnjust braintailunderstand but "speak" it.

* H.G. Wells' lunar-dwelling, insectoid Selenites communicate through piping whistles and cricket-like chirps in ''[[The First Men in Thethe Moon]]'', along with hints of telepathy. Their language is impossible for their human prisoner Cavor to understand or even mimic, but the Selenites themselves quickly decipher English and devote two specialized members to speaking to and understanding Cavor, respectively.

* The Mother Thing from [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Have Space Suit WillSuit—Will Travel]]'' sings when she speaks, and only the person she is speaking to can understand what she's saying.

* [[Bruce Coville (Creator)|Bruce Coville]]'s ''[[My Teacher Is an Alien]]'' series has fun with this -- manythis—many could speak audibly, but some communicated in weird ways like reflecting light off of their bodies. In addition the stories point out that even vocal languages use gestures, which their [[Universal Translator]] was also able to work with.

* The Yilané in [[Harry Harrison]]'s [[West of Eden|''Eden'' trilogy]] have such a complex language, incorporating sounds, body language, and ''color'', that even many Yilané never manage to learn it. Mastery of the language is a factor in social status.

* The undead inhabitants of High Cromlech in [[China MievilleMiéville]]'s ''[[The Scar (Literature)|The Scar]]'' "speak" a language called Quiesy. As many of the residents lack vocal equipment due to the mechanisms of their reanimation, or simply had their lips sewn together as part of a mummification process the language makes use of carefully timed periods of silence, eye rolling and presumably other facial body language, though at least one form does include spoken elements that sound like coughing something up from the back of your throat.

** In China Miéville's other novel, ''[[Perdido Street Station]]'', the khepri (humanoid people with giant scarab beetles for heads) communicate with each other by emitting scents. To communicate with humans, they have to use sign language.

** A major plot point in [[China Mieville|China Miéville's]] ''[[Embassytown]]''. The resident [[Starfish Aliens|Ariekei]] have two mouths, and speak different streams of language out of both at once--everyonce—every word consists of two sounds overlapping. On top of this, if the words do not have a conscious intent behind them, the Ariekei perceive them as meaningless noise, so they are unable to understand computer-generated speech or recordings. The only way humans can successfully communicate with them is via pairs of psychically linked clones, each speaking one of the two layers of dialogue at the same time.

* In ''[[Pandoras Star (Literature)|PandorasPandora's Star]]'' and ''[[Judas Unchained (Literature)|Judas Unchained]]'', Ozzie meets a [[Starfish Alien]] that is thought to be mute by all the people caring for it. {{spoiler|He discovers that it actually communicates by projecting UV shapes that form a pictographic language.}}

** Also, the Primes, being a hive-mind, are linked directly brain-to-brain. To the humans, their radio signals appeared to be just unintelligible garbage.

* The Graycaps in Jeff VanderMeer's ''[[Ambergris]]''-books speak mostly in rapid clicks and whistles that sounds vaguely insectoid to human listeners, who have mostly concluded that their language must be too dengeneratedegenerate to properly deserve the title - as it turns out, it's in fact far more complex than any human language and utterly impossible to translate accurately. They understand human speech perfectly, but only begin to use themselves it in the third book, ''Finch''. They are also implied to communicate by breathing spores of their symbiotic fungi on each other.

* In ''[[Stranger in Aa Strange Land]]'' by [[Robert A. Heinlein]], Martians speak in a "throat-scratching" language with many concepts that can only be expressed within it. A phonetic script devised for it has over eighty characters. Humans can, in fact, speak and learn it; it's the key to enlightenment.

* In ''[[Jonathan Strange and& Mr. Norrell]]'', two dead soldiers who are reanimated can communicate only in hideous screams, which are identified by their animator as ''the language of Hell''.

* Inverted in ''[[Terry Pratchett|The Bromeliad Trilogy]]'', in which the tiny nomes can't understand humans because our speech is too slow and deep for these fast-living creatures' miniscule inner ears to make out. They refer to the sounds made by humans as "mooing".

* In [[John Scalzi|John Scalzi's]]'s ''The Android's Dream'', the race of aliens who have [[Sarcasm Mode|benignly]] colonized Earth ''can'' speak English but their primary form of communication is through pheremonal mixtures far too subtle for humans to pick up. [[Played With Trope|In an interesting take on this,]] at the start of the novel, a politician who has been gravely insulted by the primary alien diplomat figures out how to speak this language himself so he can insult the alien in an important meeting without being detected. [[Rule of Funny|He does this with a device that alters the chemical composition of his farts.]]

{{quote| ''Dirk Moeller didn't know if he could fart his way into a major diplomatic incident. But he was ready to find out.'' }}

* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' setting contains several examples. The Outsiders communicate with colored light, and the Pierson's Puppeteers have a highly complex musical language.<ref>note that musical does not necessarily mean pleasant to listen to, as it has been described as sounding like "an exploding steam calliope" or "a church choir being burnt alive"</ref>.

* [[Harry Potter]]'s Parseltongue, which apparently can only be spoken (through magic) by those who were born with the specific ability to speak it. Interestingly, Hermione at one point does manage to simulate the sounds Harry made when speaking Parseltongue, despite herself not being a Parselmouth - apparently it is ''comprehending'' the language that can only be accomplished with in-born magic. [[Did Not Do the Research|Noam Chomsky would have a few kind words about that.]]

** Also in the HP universe, [[Our Mermaids Are Different|Mermish]] might qualify as a starfish language. As domight Troll, which sounds like random grunting, but apparently qualifies as a language despite the low intelligence of [[All Trolls Are Different|HP trolls]].

* Most of the saurians in ''[[Dinotopia]]'' have languages of various grunts, growls, squeaks, clicks, ect. Prosauropods have a form of musical language as well, often accompanied by a human partner on an instrument. Humans can learn them, and the translator protoceraptops can speak many of them, but sometimes larger species' tongues are tough-carnivores, for example, have deep, gruff vocalizations that don't mix well with human throats. (Note that this didn't come up as much in the digest novels, probably to make it easier for young readers to comprehend.)

* In ''Lovely Assistant'' (by Geoph Essex), Jenny experiences {{spoiler|non-linguistic sensory signals that help her "appointments" (she's a newly minted [[Grim Reaper]]) decide which path to take [[Afterlife Antechamber|through the afterlife]].}} This comes in handy later, when it turns out {{spoiler|the [[Our Monsters Are Different|not-actually-Cthulhu creature]] goaded into destroying the world communicates using the same language of mental concepts.}}

* Played with in "Aftermath", a short story from ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' told from Murphy's POV. In it, Murphy repeatedly points out her fluency in Martian ... which is merely the "language" of grunts, mumbles, snorts, postures, and facial expressions used by human males to communicate unspoken, manly messages to one another. Without even realizing they're using a [[Starfish Language]] while doing so.

* [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript:Voynich manuscript|The Voynich Manuscript]], a 15th-century book discovered in 1912. Though the illustrations are similar to most medieval European drawings of the time, the language it is written in is unlike any other written language found anywhere else. It's structured similar to old English, but the words and alphabet are completely incomprehensible. Scholars, cryptographers and code-breakers the world over have tried and failed to decipher it. Some believe it to be some kind of secret code, a case of [http[wikipedia://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia |Glossolalia]] (speaking in tongues), or just an elaborate hoax.

** ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' had "Darmok," which involved a race whose language translated incompletely: they appeared to speak entirely in metaphors, literary references, and [[Shout-Out]]s whose significance was unknown to Starfleet. The automatic translator could translate the phrases literally, but without the historical or mythological context the meaning was lost. (Yes, yes, an entire race of [[All Thethe Tropes Will Ruin Your Vocabulary|tropers]].)

*** Another had a race of highly advanced [[Starfish Aliens]] that had a completely untranslatable language. Fortunately they were able to learn a number of alien languages and just spoke to the crew in English.

** ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' had an episode where Hoshi Sato and friends tried to translate a tough alien language. She never succeeded. The Enterprise was about to just give up when it turned out that the spacefaring aliens had been spending that time learning English.

** Besides the Ambassadors and their aides, who have a reason to speak English--sinceEnglish—since Babylon 5 was built by humans which made English the trade language of choice--mostchoice—most aliens do not/cannot speak englishEnglish and use translators, much like those little computers you see tourists use, except theirtheirs look like glowing spheres. Once, an ombudsman called for a translator to be brought in for a recalcitrant defendant.

** Another example, the crew of the White Star did not know English. Ship operation required one member of the command staff fluent in both English Minbari--in''and'' Minbari—in fact probably the Minbari Religious Language since it was a religious-caste crew and Delenn mentions each caste has its own language. Lennier or Marcus would usually take that role, the latter to Ivanova's dismay. Ivanova makes a conscious effort to learn Minbari. It's not easy.

* ''Crystal Balls'', a one-off programme where Griff Rhys Jones riffed on old examples of science fiction prediction, included a short piece from [[The Fifties]] in which a scientist explained this possibility and suggested communication with such aliens based on creating the shapes of recognisable constellations using magnets or onions (if they 'saw' in terms of magnetism or smell, that is). [[Fridge Logic|Of course, why then would they recognise the shape of a constellation? For that matter, why expect aliens to recognize ''any'' constellations? They are, after all, specific products of our position in the galaxy!]]

* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' uses the old [[Translator Microbes]], so for the most part everyone speaks English. While sometimes [[Played for Laughs]] with unfamiliar concepts (a comment about Ice Cream prompts the outburst "What in blazes is ''izes green''?") there're three notable exceptions. Moya (the [[Living Ship]]) and her kind are too huge and complex for the microbes to properly work, and can only communicate through strange, [[Space Whale|whale-like calls]] or their Pilots. The Pilot race and the Diagnosians have languages so complex that the microbes just give the hell up. In order to be understood by others, they have to speak "incredibly slow and simply, like speaking to a particularly ignorant child," though Grunchlk was fluent enough in Diagnosan to translate, and finally, Sikozu's species can't tolerate the translator microbes and must learn a language from scratch every time (although that may apply only to her and not the entire species because {{spoiler|she's an android}}.)

* Just about every system with [[Eldritch Abomination|Eldritch Abominations]]s, often overlapping with [[Black Speech]].

* The Vespids from ''[[Warhammer 4000040,000]]'' apparently use a language like this. When the Tau first made contact with them, all attempts at communication between the two species failed. The Tau were able to solve the problem by developing translation devices, though.

** Although the Eldar speak a vocal language that can ostensibly be learned by humans and others, it's described as incredibly complex and difficult; since every single word and phrase and can embody multiple complex concepts, which are context-dependent on several levels -- notlevels—not only on the specific context of a statement, but the usage and positional context as well. The same word can have dramatically different meanings in colloquial speech, formal speech, political speech, trade banter, mytho-historical ballads, psychic spell-casting, etc.; as well as a particular word or phrase's position relative to others in the overall body of discourse. Turned [[Up to Eleven]] with their writing system.

** Additionally, the Imperial Guardsmen use so much military terminology (kloms, [[APCs]], NCO, [[New Meat|FNGs]], and other [[TL As]]TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms)) that at least one Inquisitor wonders if it should be declared its own sublanguage.

** Back in the day, ''[[Dungeonsthe andoriginal Dragons]]''game actually had alignment languages "wherein people of the same alignment could communicate through insinuations and intimations that only really make sense between those of like-minded affiliation with an aspect of a universal standard of ethic and morality". Meaning a lawful person could speak Lawful, a chaotic person could speak Chaotic, and so on. And if your alignment changed you forgot how to speak it, but could now speak the language of your new alignment. [[Flat What|What]].

** Would the Dabus from the ''[[Planescape]]'' setting count, too? A language requiring vision to understand because they speak in rhebus puzzles (presumably a visual representation of Common) that appear over their heads seems like it would qualify.

{{quote| '''The All-Knowing Vortigaunt''': "What seems to you a sacrifice is merely, to us, an oscillation. We do not fear the interval of darkness".}}

* The Markers from the ''[[Dead Space (Franchiseseries)|Dead Space]]'' series communicate with humans by showing them visions of their departed loved ones. It is implied that whatever lifeform designed them was [[Starfish Aliens|radically different]], and that this is the best [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|they can come up with]] to bridge the language gap. It doesn't help that humans almost invariably go [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation|insane]] in their presence.

** ''[[Dead Space 2 (Video Game)|Dead Space 2]]'' reveals that it's more a matter of intelligence and education. Stupid people go insane from the signal, while smart ones see diagrams and symbol patterns, and are consumed by an irrepressible urge to {{spoiler|1=recreate the Marker for "Convergence" or otherwise do the artifact's bidding. It's speculated that the whole EarthGov project dedicated to the Markers is actually under this influence}}.

* All aliens speak their language in ''[[Marathon (Video Game)Trilogy|Marathon]]''.

* The [[Little Green Men|Martians]] in ''[[UFO: After Blank|UFO: Afterlight]]'', being [[Plant Aliens]], "speak" by finely modulating their individual electromagnetic fields. It takes quite a long time until you figure this out and begin to communicate with them.

* The ''[[Sid MeiersMeier's Alpha Centauri]]'' [[Expansion Pack]] ''Alien Crossfire'' gives us Progenitors, who communicate primarily through the modification of electromagnetic fields and must research human psychology (or the other way around) before diplomatic relations can be opened.

** Though in Halo 1 the Elites were really just speaking [[Subliminal Seduction|back-masked]] grunty English.

* The character Geno from ''[[Super Mario RPG (Video Game)|Super Mario RPG]]'' is a star being possessing a doll called Geno. He uses the name Geno because his real name, ♥♪!?, is "hard to pronounce".

* In ''[[Wing Commander (Videovideo Gamegame)|Wing Commander]] Prophecy]]'', the invading Insectoid Race initially communicates with unintelligible buzzing sounds until around the third mission, when ''their'' [[Translator Microbes]] kick in and they begin to speak English. (A wingman's response: "I think I liked it better when I couldn't understand them.")

** On another track, the elcor are perfectly capable of speaking English with the aid of [[Translator Microbes]]. However, the ''intent'' of what they say to one another is expressed through minisculeminuscule body language and pheromones, which the translator apparently can't interpret. As a result, elcor sound like they speak in a mumbling monotone and [[That Makes Me Feel Angry|have to state the emotion that precedes a statement whenever they speak to someone who's not elcor]]. Such as, "Nostalgic delight: Ah, good to see you, old friend.". Naturally, an insane/genius human producer decides to make a production of ''[[Hamlet]]'' using an all-elcor cast. [[Hilarity Ensues]]. "Insincere endorsement: You have not seen Hamlet until you have seen it performed by Elcor." Another elcor hacks its translator so it can control the intent of what it says, which normal translators display automatically.

* The Shroobs in ''[[Mario and Luigi Partners In Time (Video Game)|Mario & Luigi: Partners inIn Time]]''.

** It is actually just a Japanese cipher. Some of the newer games use an English cipher instead.

** And then there's ''[[Twilight Princess]]'', which has Sky Writing -- theWriting—the language of the ancient race called the Oocca. Only ''one guy in the entire country'' understands it. The player never sees more of the writing than a few isolated characters, but you do get to hear Shad [[Speaking Simlish|say part of it out loud]].

* In ''[[Rayman|Rayman 2]]'', the player may select one of several langageslanguages for the characters to speak during dialogue events... including their world's [[Fictionary|native language]], termed "[[Shaped Like Itself|Raymanian]]". Mortal characters of course speak RamanianRaymanian with actual voices, but [[Pals Withwith Jesus|Ly the Great Fairy]] instead uses mystical sounds. See [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYGqMiCfswA this vid] at 5:48 for an example.

* In the second episode of ''[[Strong Bads Cool Game for Attractive People (Video Game)|Strong BadsBad's Cool Game for Attractive People]]'', the insane non- sequiturs of Homsar ("Pucker up, Dice Man! I'm as upholstered as I wanna be!") are implied to be a form of this.

* This in ''[[Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire]]'':

{{quote| ...the vast majority of sentients cannot directly communicate with each other. Some species operate on different time lines, or are out of phase with the four dimensions we can perceive, are too small or too large or, if they had to acknowledge us, they would have to kill us. So even when an atomic matrix life form that feeds off the microwave hum left over from the Big Bang and excretes time lines is in the same solar system with your typical silicon-based life form that eats rocks and excretes hydrogen, communication between the two may be close to impossible. Luckily it's not really a problem, because they usually don't have anything to talk about. Or so it appears, right up until said atomic matrix life form begins a simple operation to make the local sun go nova in order to harvest neutrinos and, to their surprise, are vigorously opposed by those gritty little creatures clinging to the orbiting rocks who have had to start throwing anti-matter around to get their attention. Things usually deteriorate from there. }}

* The Anthelerix Polygmeon in ''[[Starslip]]'', whose spoken language [httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20101128225443/http://starslip.com/comics/slip20090630_anthelerix.png looks like this.]

* Prospero in ''[[PS 238PS238]]''. One of the other students is able to communicate with him; it's unclear whether she actually understands his language or just is a kindred spirit.

{{quote| ''You think you will try to keep conversations with {{spoiler|Becsprite}} to a minimum from now on.''}}

* The page pictureimage comes from ''[[Grim Tales From Down Below (Fanfic)|Grim Tales Fromfrom Down Below]]''. The language used seems to be that of the demonic Nergal symbiotes that both Junior and Minnie possess.

* ''[[Pay Me, Bug (Literature)|Pay Me Bug!]]'': "Bugtalk" is "a binary language that starts with the total sum of all knowledge and drills down through it until it isolates the specific thought or concept the bug is trying to say." This is emphasized in the story by the fact that Ktk, the titular [[Starfish Alien|bug]], is never quoted directly.

* On ''[[Gilligans Island|Gilligan's Planet,Island]]'', the Professor successfully invents a [[Translator Microbes|Universal Translator]]. At the end of the episode, after the conflict is solved, he attempts to use it on the speech of the [[Small Annoying Creature]] Gilligan has befriended. [[Reset Button|It breaks instantly.]]

* ''[[Re BootReBoot]]'': The Web Riders speak in dial-up "noise."

* In aan anime parody segment in ''[[Futurama]]'', there's a race of hostile aliens who can only comunicatecommunicate by dancing. And when the humans try to convey a peace message by dancing their way, it all gets worse.

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