Many of science fiction's most efficient and ruthless killers hardly ever speak a word. In honor of Snake Eyes, our favorite G.I. Joe, we list the killer characters you'll never hear coming.
Snake Eyes (GI Joe)
Silent? Yep. When rescuing his beloved Scarlett from a burning helicopter, one of the windows exploded, damaging his vocal cords. In the comics, though, he does manage to speak her name once after many years.
Deadly? Indeed.
Black Bolt
Silent? Usually, by necessity.
Deadly? Bolt's voice is his greatest weapon. With a word, he can destroy an entire city. It's a good thing he doesn't talk in his sleep.
Kevin (Sin City)
Silent? Supposedly, Kevin has a voice like an angel, but he never utters a sound, even when his limbs are being sawed off. It's pretty freaky.
Deadly? Not only is Kevin a cannibalistic serial killer, he's nearly a match for the brutish Marv in a fight.
Jaws (The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker)
Silent? At the end of Moonraker, it's revealed he can speak, but mostly, these jaws ain't made for talking...
Deadly? ...they're made for biting people in the neck.
Duma (Sandman)
Silent? He is the fallen Angel of Silence. He can speak when he deems it absolutely necessary, however.
Deadly? His function is mainly to oversee the punishment of souls, but it's best not to mess with the rulers of Hell.
Taarna (Heavy Metal)
Silent? Yes. She might be mute, or she might simply be preoccupied with the business of killing.
Deadly? Don't let the outfit fool you. Killing is pretty much her sole function.
Karl Ruprecht Kroenen (Hellboy)
Silent? Only in the film, after cutting off his own lips, as well as other bits of himself.
Deadly? He's a Nazi with a penchant for black magic and clockwork automata. That's not a recipe for raising kittens.
Darth Maul (The Phantom Menace)
Silent? Not completely. You can't be a Sith unless you can utter a decent "Yes, Master."
Deadly? He's a master assassin, even taking down Qui-Gon Jinn, though he's ultimately no match for Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Aeon Flux (Aeon Flux)
Silent? Only in the original shorts. In the half-hour series, she gets her share of opaque dialogue.
Deadly? More so in the half-hour episodes. In the shorts, she just keeps dying.
Kazuo Kiriyama (Battle Royale)
Silent? Mostly in the book and completely in the film.
Deadly? He volunteered for the Battle Royale Program "for fun." So yes.
The Dementors (Harry Potter)
Silent? The Dementors don't precisely have mouths, just gaping holes for sucking out happy memories.
Deadly? The Dementors don't actually kill, but they do have a nasty habit of sucking out people's souls.
Oddjob (Goldfinger)
Silent? Completely. He's mute.
Deadly? He's the only man who could turn a bowler hat into a deadly weapon.
Star (Terminator Salvation)
Silent? Like a stone.
Deadly? Not so much on her own, but she helps out in the way preternaturally clever action movie kids do.
The Kabuki Twins (The Batman)
Silent? Yes, which is ironic given that they're named after a type of opera.
Deadly? I suspect the blades on their hands aren't for show.
The Feral Kid (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior)
Silent? Not really. He speaks in grunts and groans, but doesn't have a verbal language.
Deadly? Let no one tell you that boomerangs aren't dangerous.
Awesome Andy (Marvel)
Silent? His creator, the Mad Thinker, built him as a combat drone, and didn't bother to give him the power of speech.
Deadly? He was built as a combat droid, but finds prefers office work.
Hans (You Only Live Twice)
Silent? He never speaks, although it's unclear if he can.
Deadly? He cares for Ernst Starvo Blofeld's deadly, deadly piranhas, although it's a role that backfires.
The Conundrum (The X-Files "Humbug")
Silent? Until the end of the episode.
Deadly? The Conundrum can and will eat anything, even a live person.
Jericho (Teen Titans)
Silent? As a child, his vocal cords were cut, but he can control another person's body and speak through them — and he eventually gets the power to heal himself.
Deadly? It's a powerful talent, which becomes especially clear when Jericho is possessed by demonic forces, compelling him to hijack the bodies of his fellow superheroes.
God (Dogma)
Silent? Not in heaven, but on Earth She has Alan Rickman speak on Her behalf.
Deadly? The sound of her voice will cause any mortal's head to explode.
The Gentlemen (Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Hush")
Silent? They are not only silent, they bring silence with them, unable to tolerate the sound of a human voice.
Deadly? They're big on cutting out people's hearts.
Florence (Harsh Realm)
Silent? Florence once belonged to an order of mute healers.
Deadly? Now she carries a Colt Commando.
Grawl (Bikini Planet by David S. Garnett)
Silent? Like all good fictional bodyguards, he's mute.
Deadly? He tries to kill his love interest and steal her organs.
Saturn Girl (Legion of Super-Heroes)
Silent? After the most recent reboot, Titanians (of whom Saturn Girl is one) cannot express themselves verbally, although the can communicate with others telepathically.
Deadly? With her mental powers, she can create deadly bolts of psionic energy, and, in a pinch, destroy a foe's mind.
Erich Zann ("The Music of Erich Zann" by H.P. Lovecraft)
Silent? Yes. Zann is a mute viola virtuoso.
Deadly? Because this is a Lovecraft story, naturally Zann's music summons monstrous creatures from another dimension.
Cassandra Cain (Batgirl)
Silent? Cain's brain was not trained to process language, and instead she was taught to use her language centers to read people's movements and body language.
Deadly? She started killing at the ripe old age of eight, though she eventually abandoned her assassin ways to become Batgirl.
The Captain (Hellsing)
Silent? Another silent bodyguard, the Captain never speaks.
Deadly? He's a Nazi werewolf, and possesses superhuman strength and endurance even in his human form.
Mini-Me (Austin Powers)
Silent? In the tradition of silent Bond henchmen, something in the cloning process rendered him mute.
Deadly? As much as anyone in the Austin Power's universe is. And he fights dirty.
Non (Superman)
Silent? Not completely. Thanks to a lobotomy, Non lacks the capacity for language, but he can still whimper and moan.
Deadly? Non has all of Superman's abilities with none of his impulse control, and thanks to his damaged brain can only express himself through destruction.