title: Is there a database that accepts special characters by default (without converting them)?
body: <p>I am currently starting from scratch choosing a database to store data collected from a suite of web forms. Humans will be filling out these forms, and as they're susceptible to using international characters, especially those humans named José and François and أسامة and 布鲁斯, I wanted to start with a modern database platform that accepts all types (so to speak), without conversion.</p>
  
  <p>Q: Does a databases exist, from the start, that accepts a wide diversity of the characters found in modern typefaces? If so, what are the drawbacks to a database that doesn't need to convert as much data in order to store that data?</p>
  
  <p>// <strong>Anticipating two answers that I'm not looking for:</strong></p>
  
  <p>I found many answers to how someone could CONVERT (or encode) a special character, like é or a copyright symbol © into database-legal character set like <code>&amp;#169;</code> (for ©) so that a database can then accept it. This requires a conversion/translation layer to shuttle data into and out of the database. I know that has to happen on a level like the letter z is reducible to 1's and 0's, but I'm really talking about finding a human-readable database, one that doesn't need to translate.</p>
  
  <p>I also see suggestions that people change the character encoding of their current database to one that accepts a wider range of characters. This is a good solution for someone who is carrying over a legacy system and wants to make it relevant to the wider range of characters that early computers, and the early web, didn't anticipate. I'm not starting with a legacy system. I'm looking for some modern database options.</p>