The Silent Bob: Difference between revisions
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== [[Advertising]] ==
* 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."
* In [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4QNXnNftWk this old commercial] for McDonald's from the 1980s, Grimace is able to impress [[Donald Trump]] without saying a word.
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
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* Beef Supreme in ''[[Idiocracy]].''
* Yolanda and Greg in ''Hamlet 2''.
* ''[[Star Wars]]'':
*
** Same deal with Chewbacca. Only Han Solo and C3PO can understand Wookie language, but it is nonetheless easy for both the cast and viewers to understand what he's saying.
* 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.
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* 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.}}
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* [[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.
* Tinkerbell. In the original ''[[Peter Pan]]'' she rarely talks, and in the [[Peter Pan (Disney film)|Disney adaptation]] she doesn't speak at all, at least not in a way the viewers can understand. Still, she often seems to have more personality than many members of the cast.
** This of course changed in the live-action ''[[Hook]]'' where she talks a lot; doubtful [[Julia Roberts]] would have taken a role with no lines.
== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
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* Silent Keith from the 2010 season of "Canada's Worst Handyman" was one of these.
* Death's skeletons in ''[[Horrible Histories]]''.
* Thing in ''[[The Addams Family]]'' and every adaptation where he appears. Being a living disembodied hand, he has no mouth, and thus cannot speak vocally, but whether it's sign language, Morse code, or simply snapping and pointing, he sometimes seems to have more dialogue than whoever he is conversing with. The [[Netflix]] series ''[[Wednesday]]'' (with its darker nature and TV-14 rating) also gives him an [[Flip the Bird|appropriate way to respond to anyone who insults him...]]
* A common trait of [[Game Show]] models. ''[[MAD]]'' magazine once joked that [[Wheel of Fortune|Pat Sajak]] was likely the only man in show business to constantly be upstaged by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanna_White a woman who never says anything.] In , Witch Bandora's
* In the original ''[[Super Sentai|Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger]]'', Griffozar - [[The Dragon]] to [[Big Bad|Witch Queen Bandora]] - rarely spoke, preferring to let his sword do the talking for him. This often comes as a big surprise to American viewers, seeing as his dub counterpart (fans of ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' know him better as [[Breakout Character| Goldar]]) is the type who ''never'' shuts up.
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* Subverted in ''[[FoxTrot]]'' where Peter is working the refreshment counter at the movie theater, and finds the [https://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2023/05/28 "Ariel with Legs"] cosplayers to be the worst.
== [[Music]] ==
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** 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.
** She's also [[Informed Ability|supposed to have an angelic singing voice]], but she gets cut off just as she's preparing to
** 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}}.''"
*** Don't forget when the kids were fostered by the Flanders and nearly baptized...on the way to the river, Maggie spins her head around
*** "Sequel?"
** Maggie can [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t08RbPA90w Silent Bob with the best of them,] canon be damned.
** "Treehouse of Horror XXXIV" has adult Maggie as {{spoiler| a prison guard and Lisa's accomplice in her revenge against Sideshow Bob. Her sly smile while twirling the keys outside Bob's cell as Lisa brutally stabs him to death is all she needs to "say".}}
* 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.
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'''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.)''}}
* Ernie the Giant Chicken, Peter's [[Arch Enemy]] on ''[[Family Guy]]''; at least one episode shows he can talk, but he rarely does. Of course, the epic fights between him and Peter don't have much dialogue for Peter either.
* In ''[[Samurai Jack]]'', the title character rarely has much dialogue, and many episodes show him going through long scenes without talking at all. More often than not, his actions speak far louder. This is very much in contrast with his [[Arch Enemy]] Aku, who ''[[Evil Is Hammy|never shuts up]]''.
* True for most characters in ''[[Star Wars: Clone Wars]]''. Many of the shorts have little or no dialogue from the cast whatsoever. Not coincidentally, this series was, like the aforementioned ''Samurai Jack'', a creation of [[Genndy Tartakovsky]].
== [[Real Life]] ==
* The ironically-named Teller of illusionist duo [[Penn & Teller]]. Teller is small, silent, subtle and extremely polite, while Penn is a [[Large Ham| big, loud, flashy, long-winded and obnoxious]] type who [[Motor Mouth| never shuts up]]. Penn behaves like this in every public appearance and never breaks character, giving them a unique advantage as magicians: everyone's so used to Penn's distracting behavior, it never occurs to them it's deliberate misdirection.
** 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.
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