In the early years, Hollywood was dominated by the ‘strong silent type’ male leads.
The times have changed enough since then and those characters may seem out of place nowadays but still there is a certain charm in saying almost nothing at all. From Snoopy to Jason Voorhees and from Edward Scissorhands to Hector “Tio” Salamanca from Breaking Bad, these characters intrigue us and make us love them and fear or respect them even more.
Let’s remember some of those ‘less is more’ characters:
1. WALL-E
Disney has a long history in silent characters from the restless little fairy Tinkerbelle to Pluto and the magic carpet from Aladdin. The best of all those could be no other that the little robot who managed to steal everyone’s attention in an outer space adventure of beauty and social critique. With the help of magnificent animation, like a silent movie role, his character is built through expressions and movements and the few times he speaks, no more than a word escapes his external speakers. Continuing the legacy of R2-D2 and making non-speaking robots proud all across time and space.
Most famous line: “Eve!”
2. Maggie Simpson
For 26 years Maggie Simpson remains stuck in the prepubescent age. She went through countless adventures along with her favorite pacifier without uttering a single world and when she spoke for the first time, she did it with the voice of Jodie Foster, because why not!
Most famous line: *suck suck*
3. Silent Bob
One of the most famous b-side characters and part of the Jay&Silent Bob duo. A silent observer, he is the exact opposite of his chatterbox partner. Silent bob rarely speaks but when he chooses to do so it is absolutely necessary and almost always a harbinger of epic things to come.
Most famous line: “Jesus Christ, Why don’t you shut up?”
4. The T-800
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic role. We may have seen many tough guys who choose to stay silent but the Terminator surpassed them all with only 3 words meant to stay in cinematography history. ”I’ll be back,” he said. And he sure did.
Most famous line: “I’ll be back.”
5. Hodor
The endearing character from Game of Thrones; simple-minded, unable to speak but able to understand.
Most famous (and only) line: “Hodor!”
6. Kenny McCormick
He may technically speak but his tight hoodie and muffled voice grant him a well deserved place on this list. The product of a heavily censored era, he is a means for Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park to get away with a little extra cursing on TV.
Most famous line: A wide variety of muffled screaming.
7. Chewbacca
Star Wars is filled with non-speaking characters. R2-D2, Boba Fett, and ewoks are only a few. But Chewbacca, or “Chewie” as his trusted friend Han Solo prefers to call him, is undoubtedly the most iconic. We may not understand his native language but that does not stop us from always knowing what he wanted to say through one of the most famous sounds of the big screen.
Most famous line: “Rrrrrrr-ghghghghgh!”
8. Mr. Bean
The king of non -peaking characters. He is not a ‘silent’ character because the emotion and energy he emits is louder than any words he could ever utter. Like a being from another planet, he wanders the streets of London trying to communicate with everyone around him using all kinds of indistinguishable sounds. As the character evolved into a much bigger and recognizable concept, he began speaking a little more each time we saw him. Perhaps he was getting to feel more comfortable around us.
Most famous line: “Teddy?”
9. Groot
He is the newest entry on the long list of non-speaking characters and with him come the three words that will forever mark Vin Diesels career. It is no little matter than in a movie full of special effects, space battles and so much action, the whole world lost its mind over the tree that merely introduced itself.
Most famous line: “I AM GROOT.”