No Name Given: Difference between revisions

[[File:ScampNames-sm 4216.jpg|link=Scamp|frame|Can you say [[Parental Favoritism]]?]]

 

 

A major character is never referred to by their actual or full name, instead being addressed by a [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|title]], [[Only Known by Their Nickname|nickname]], or [[Only One Name]]. Reasons for this vary, but it often serves the function of making a character seem more mysterious or eccentric.

 

{{examples}}

* "Scar" in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. When Yoki asks Scar's name, Scar responds that to Ishvalans, a person's name is the most important thing; the name is regarded as a gift from God. So Yoki asks again, and Scar's response is "I threw it away. I threw away my own ''name''." Yoki doesn't dare ask him again. At the end of the series, {{spoiler|he ''still'' refuses to give his name and says you can just call him whatever you want to.}}

** A 4-koma theater joked that his real name is [[Overly Long Name|Jugemu-jugemu Gokōnosurikire Kaijarisuigyo-no Suigyōmatsu Unraimatsu Fūraimatsu Kūnerutokoroni-sumutokoro Yaburakōjino-burakōji Paipopaipo-paiponoshūringan Shūringanno-gūrindai Gūrindaino-ponpokopīno-ponpokonāno Chōkyūmeino-chōsuke]]

** And has been recently un-cancelled.

* ''[[Haruhi Suzumiya]]'': Kyon, the Computer Club President, and Kyon's sister - Kyon bemoans his stupid nickname but never says his real name (his school introduction is cut off). Even his sister's image song had to be titled as "Kyon no Imouto-san" or "Kyon's Little Sister". When Emiri Kimidori is about to say the president's name, it is covered up by a sudden cut-off to a random cat meowing.

* L in ''[[Death Note]]'' orders the police officers aiding him to call him Ryuzaki, but his real name is never shown. In a book of extras entitled "How to Read", his name is revealed to be {{spoiler|L Lawliet, though it is unclear if L is his first initial or actually his name.}}

** It's his actual name. {{spoiler|If you watch the live action movie ''[[L: Change the World]]'' you see his name written in the death note. Also, you can just barely catch that his first name is just "L" in the second movie}}

** Later in the franchise, in ''[[Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'', Karen's butler is known exclusively as Jiiya (a term for an older butler) or Sakamoto-san, with his given name unrevealed. Nozomi's father similarly has no name to call his own.

* ''[[Azumanga Daioh]]'' does this with Sakaki and Kagura (and, to a lesser-character extent, Kaori and Chihiro). The manga (only) one-ups this: while she was in most of the first volume (American version), Mizuhara Koyomi goes entirely unnamed until Azuma spends a whole strip on it: three classmates call her 'Yomi', and the teacher gives out the full name. Partway through volume 2.

* While not a major character by any stretch of the imagination, Tomoki's older brother in ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'' was never named in the Japanese version; both Tomoki and their parents simply call him "oniichan," or "big brother," which isn't uncommon in Japanese families. However, it would have sounded strange to the American target audience, so, in a fit of [[Woolseyism]], the dub writers named him Yutaka. "Yutaka" is an anagram of "Takuya," [[The Hero]], and he and Tomoki have sort of adopted each other as replacements for their actual brothers.

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'': Johan Liebert, his real name is never given.

** Not likely. Upon waking up and meeting their partners for the first time, they seem confused to be addressed as "Squirtle" and "Piplup".

* Trowa Barton from ''[[Gundam Wing]]'' was separated from his family as a baby and raised by a band of mercenaries, who never named him. He remains nameless his entire life until the eve of [[Colony Drop|Operation Meteor]], when he lifts the moniker of the man originally trained to pilot the Heavyarms Gundam. After [[The Movie|Endless Waltz]], he considers himself nameless once more, until [[Ho Yay|Quatre tells him that he likes the name Trowa]] and there's no reason he cannot keep it.

* In ''[[Gregory Horror Show]]'', we never find out what either of the guests' names are. ''Ever.'' Neither of them give it out, and the only other character who ''might'' know it (since they'd have to sign into the hotel anyway) only addresses them by a [[Terms of Endangerment|Term of Endangerment]]. All official material only refers to them as "Guest" and "Second Guest."

* Interestingly used in ''[[Samurai X]]: Trust and Betrayal'' where Kenshin explains to Tomoe that he doesn't hesitate to kill his enemies because he does not know them, and if he knew their names it would be harder for him to kill them, sometime later we see at least a pair of mooks yelling their names before confronting him, to which Kenshin answers "shut up and die anonymously"

* In ''[[Ranma ½]]'', Principal Kuno's first name is never given, and eventually he's referred to only as "[[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Principal]]." Likewise the Jusenkyo Guide (whose daughter IS named,) the Gambling King, and the Dojo Destroyer.

* None of the sisters in ''[[Sister Princess]]'' have family names and until the anime Wataru was only ever refered to by a form of 'brother'. This makes knowing whether they're half sisters or full sisters to each other impossible to tell.

** Revealed to be the case with the bijuu. Each bears a name given to them by {{spoiler|the Sage of Six Ways}} but because of the general belief that they're little more than mindless energy, few humans bother to learn a name beyond their title.

** {{spoiler|As of Chapter 568, the names of the Four Tails and the Nine Tails have been revealed: [[Shout-Out|Son Goku and Kurama]] respectively.}} Whether or not Shukaku is the correct name for the One Tail is uncertain.

*** The names of all the Bijuu are now introduced and {{spoiler|it supposedly has some plot significance. It is worth noting that Shukaku is the real name of the One Tail so it is the only Bijuu actually referred by real name before this event.}}

* An interesting case in ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' where the Invincible Old Master (Muten Roshi) and his elder sister, the Fortunetelling Crone (Uranai Baba), where despite never being given a real name, have the English dub [[Too Long; Didn't Dub|treat their titles as if they were their name]]. Amusingly, this means that "Master Roshi" effectively means "[[Department of Redundancy Department|Master Old Master]]"

* [[Ax Crazy|Legato]] [[The Dragon|Bluesummers]] of [[Trigun]] takes pains to introduce himself dramatically the first time he meets the protagonist. In the manga, this is revealed to be because he apparently chose that name himself, after Knives saved him from [[Sex Slave|being raped to death]] at the age of...somewhere between eight and thirteen, spared him, and asked his name. So far as he knew, he'd never been given one.

* ''[[The Idolmaster (anime)|THE iDOLM@STER]]'' - The Producer.

 

* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' comics have several examples:

** [[Wolverine]] was known only as Logan (and he was around for several years before even that much was revealed). He had amnesia, and no one knew what his real name was. Recently, in his origin series, Wolverine's name was revealed to be James Howlett, having stolen the name 'Logan' from his family's groundskeeper, who turned out to Wolverine's biological father. This information is not used in most adaptations, although in ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]] Origins: Wolverine'' Sabretooth refers to him as 'Jimmy', and his full name is the same as it is in the comics.

* In ''[[The Metabarons]]'', the last Metabaron actually doesn't have a name at all.

* Ghost of the [[Thunderbolts]] erased all record of his original identity after he became Ghost. When he recounts his origin, every mention of his original name is blacked out.

 

 

* In [[Martin Scorsese]]'s feature debut ''Who's That Knocking At My Door'', the love interest of Harvey Keitel is simply named "The Girl".

* The film ''Blindness'' does not name any characters, main or otherwise.

* [[The Captain]] in ''[[Meet Dave]]'' is only ever known by his rank and is never given any other name. However, in the track listing for the movie's soundtrack, he is referred to as "Mini Dave" due to his appearance being near-identical to his humanoid [[Cool Ship|starship's]].

* In ''[[That Thing You Do]],'' the name of the [[Fake Band]]'s bassist (played by Ethan Embry) is never spoken on screen; the end credits refer to him as "T.B. Player" and "the Bass Player."

** This is a reference to Akira Kurosawa's ''Yojimbo'', which ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' is a remake of. In ''Yojimbo'', the main character is asked for his name and responds with what he sees out of the nearest window and his age: "Mulberry Field Thirtysomething"

** A note - "The Man With No Name" is technically a [[Fan Nickname]], since it was the marketing tagline attached to him by United Artists in America (who wanted to market him as a competitor to the increasingly popular [[James Bond]]) rather than anything from the character's native Italy. Leone referred to the character by whatever nickname he was being identified by in each movie (Joe in ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'', Manco (Spanish for 'one hand') in ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' and Blondie in ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]''). This obviously contributes to the argument that they are different characters, especially when combined with the differences in character between them (Joe is more cruelly manipulative and also the best liar; Manco has a quirk in that he only uses his left hand except to shoot, and is also the most open about his thoughts and feelings; Blondie shows the most compassion, innocence and character development and doesn't get his poncho until almost the end of the movie).

*** Likewise, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" could be construed as a prequel, not a sequel, on the basis of his acquiring the same poncho he wears in the two Dollars films at the end of the (chronologically) third film.

*** However, this does raise the question of what on earth Blondie did with the lost gold after [[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]], if he was back to bounty hunting by [[For a Few Dollars More]].

** In another Clint Eastwood movie, ''[[High Plains Drifter]]'', you also don't know his name. Sometimes referred to as the Stranger, you do figure out who it is at the end.

** Also, in Sergio Leone's ''[[Once Upon a Time in the West]],'' Charles Bronson's character is only referred to as "The Man with the Harmonica" (or just simply "Harmonica" in the end credits).

** As they ''are'' programs rather than people, those probably are actually their names.

*** The names that all of the human protagonists had while plugged in the Matrix aren't fully revealed. Only their hacker nickname/unplugged name (Morpheus, Trinity, etc...). Neo used to be Thomas A. Anderson, Cypher's surname is Reagan. Even the "freeborn" humans of Zion only go by their first (nick?) names (Tank, Dozer, and Zee). That's because those ''are'' their real names. The names they have in the Matrix could be considered to be no more real to them then anything else in the Matrix.

** In the credits, he appears right after "Withnail...", listed as "...And I"

* The Mayor of the City of Frank in ''[[Osmosis Jones]]'' is only ever referred to as 'Mayor Phleghmming'; a first name is never given.

* In [[The Film of the Book]] ''[[Rebecca]]'': the main character is never called anything but "Mrs. DeWinter" on screen.

** Likewise in the book it's based on: that character is the narrator, and is never named. She mentions that her name is unusual, and people rarely spell it correctly, but doesn't tell what it is.

*** There's also a theory in the James Bond [[Wild Mass Guessing]] that as of ''[[Casino Royale]]'' M stands for {{spoiler|Moneypenny}}.

** Also 007-related, the main [[Bond Girl]] in ''[[You Only Live Twice]]'' (if you define "Main Bond Girl" as the one he's having sex with at the end of the movie and not the one who's more significant to the plot) is not even given a name during the film's duration. It's not until the credits that's she's listed as Kissy Suzuki.

* In ''Sullivan's Travels'', the heroine is never given a name and appears in the credits as "the girl".

* In ''[[The Seven Year Itch]]'', the name of [[Marilyn Monroe]]'s character is never revealed. In the credits, she is called The Girl.

* The Mysterious Woman in ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' (2004). Although {{spoiler|Since she's a robot, she may not even have a name}}

* In ''[[Almost Famous]]'', the female lead goes by the name of "Penny Lane". At the end of the movie, she reveals that her name is {{spoiler|Lady Goodman}}

* For most of the film, the main character of ''[[Desperado]]'' is referred to as "the Mariachi," and in every movie of the Mariachi trilogy, he's referred to as "El Mariachi." It isn't until the end of ''Desperado'', when he faces off against Bucho, that we learn his real name: {{spoiler|Manito}}.

* In [[Osama]]—the first film to come out of post-Talib Afghanistan—no character in the movie is named, except the main character's male friend, who is probably-not-coincidentally the one who gives "Osama" her famous alias.

* None of the characters in D. W. Griffith's 1916 epic ''[[Intolerance]]'' are given names, making the use of this trope in film [[Older Than Television]].

* Everyone in ''[[Following]]''. "Cobb" is probably an alias, considering the police have no record of his existence. The main character alternately gives his name as Bill or Daniel; there's no indication which (if either) of these is his real name, and the credits just call him "the young man".

* In ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', Toht is named in the ending credits, but his name is never mentioned within the actual film.

* In ''[[Forrest Gump]]'', the first name of Forrest's mother is never mentioned. She's identified as "Mrs. Gump" in the credits. Her first name is not mentioned in the original novel either.

 

* The 1995 novel ''Blindness'', by José Saramago, does not reveal the names of any characters, main or otherwise. Instead they each receive a distinctive appellation: "The doctor's wife", "The Girl with Dark Glasses", etc.

* The protagonists of ''[[Animorphs]]'' never revealed their last names, ostensibly for security reasons; they occasionally said in narration that they might not even be using their real first names. {{spoiler|In book 53, a full name was finally given: Jake Berenson. He even revealed his age (16) and how long it had been since the series started (3 years). This underscored the recent events in which the Yeerks had finally discovered exactly who the Animorphs were, making the protection of that information a moot point.}}

** Butler's little sister Juliet is a bodyguard-in-training for the first three books; at one point when she and Butler are discussing her future, Butler says, "Of course, it's completely against protocol for you to have Artemis as your Principal. He already knows your first name, and truth be told I think he's a little fond of you."

*** In fact, telling one's principal your first name is such a big deal that Artemis' knowledge of Butler's first name is all it takes to {{spoiler|convince him that all the LEP business really happened after their memories are wiped.}}

** The author also said she wanted the Raven King to be nameless, but over the course of the book he acquired about [[I Have Many Names|seventeen different names and titles]].

** Also, a major plot point develops around the fact that no one knows Stephen Black's true name, not even him. ("Stephen Black" is a slave name.) It's safe to say Susanna Clarke likes this trope.

* [[Dashiell Hammett]]'s Continental Op goes mostly by his job description and occasional fake name or two.

* [[H. G. Wells]] was terrible about this. Many of his characters are [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|named after what they do]], such as "the Time Traveller", or are [[The All-Concealing "I"|referred to only in the first person]], such as "I" or "Me".

** Curley's wife is the most obvious, but really none of the other characters apart from George & Lenny have actual names either: Boss, Slim, Curley, Crooks, etc.

* A number of [[Len Deighton]]'s spy novels have a protagonist who is an English spy with No Name Given. His real name is never mentioned, although he is often referred to by his various cover names. He became "[[Harry Palmer]]" in the films.

* None of the Pirates in Gideon Defoe's ''Pirates! in an Adventure with?'' books is ever referred by name. They're referred to as "the pirate with a red scarf" or "the pirate with a wooden leg". Never the same description twice (except for the captain) so there's no way of knowing how many pirates there are.

** Actually, he's remarkably consistent with the pirate descriptions and characterization. The pirate with the scarf is the second in command, the pirate in red is grumpy and often backtalks. The albino pirate only shows up in the beginning of each book. At the end of the first book they do get one named member of their pirate crew, {{spoiler|Jennifer}}

** {{spoiler|Which is relevant, because the man trying to magically torture him attempts to use his name as a key, and is brutally surprised when it doesn't work.}}

** Locke does have a real name, and knows what it is. However, it has yet to be revealed, and the only other character who knows it is Jean, because he talked Locke into telling him what it was. After hearing it, Jean remarks that he would have gone with Locke instead of that, too.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' books, the [[Magical Database|repository of all human knowledge]] is called The Archive—who, when Harry first meets her in ''Death Masks'', is a little girl of seven. Harry, who sees her as a very smart little girl rather than as her function, nicknames her Ivy.

** Harry also names the Air Spirit trapped in a skull 'Bob' and a xerox copy of a Fallen Angel inside his head 'Lash'. This habit of his is significant as names have power in the Dresdenverse.

* In ''[[Lord of the Flies]]'' Piggy's real name is never revealed.

* [[Rudyard Kipling]] seems quite fond of this one, particularly in ''[[The Jungle Book (novel)|The Jungle Books]]''.

* In another Remarque novel, ''Spark of Life'', the main character is called 509, his serial number in the concentration camp, where the story sets (though he casually mentions his real name once).

* In ''[[Invisible Man (novel)|Invisible Man]]'' by Ralph Ellison, if a complex character is introduced before their personality is fully explained, they're often not given a full name until we learn their true nature. Some characters go without a name throughout, most notably the narrator, who doesn't quite understand himself; even the assumed name the Brotherhood gives him is deliberately withheld. This is also used with such characters as the Founder to show that [[No Celebrities Were Harmed]].

* The King, in James Clavell's ''[[Asian Saga|King Rat]]''. (At the end of the book, he gives "King" as his surname.)

* In Amy Hempel's story "In the Cemetary Where Al Jolson is Buried," the main characters are referred to as "I" and "she."

* The first person narrator of [[Tanith Lee]]'s ''[[Biting the Sun]]'' duology, ''Don't Bite the Sun'' and ''Drinking Sapphire Wine''.

* The title character of Gaston Leroux's ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' gives his first name as "Erik," although he later claims he got the name "by accident" so it's entirely possible that's another alias.

* Paul Theroux wrote two novels starring Spencer Savage—called that on the back covers, but in the text, he is unnamed until the second-to-last page of the second book, ''The London Embassy.'' His name is revealed when he is asked, {{spoiler|"Do you, Spencer Michael Savage, take this woman to be your lawful wedded wife?}}

* The protagonist of Anita Amirrezvani's novel ''The Blood of Flowers'' has no name. [[Word of God]] says that it was a tribute to the nameless artisans of Iran, where the story takes place.

* In Geoffrey Storey's ''[[The Colonial Boy]]'', the main character is known only as "The Boy" {{spoiler|and becomes The Youth, The Student, and finally The Commando as the story progresses.}}

** In the same series, Garrett's Loghyr partner is known only as "the Dead Man". It's yet to be established if members of the Loghyr race have names at all, or if the Dead Man simply prefers to remain anonymous.

* None of the characters in ''Surfacing'' by Margaret Atwood have full names. The narrator is never named, and her three companions are only known by their first names. The narrator refers to people in her past only as "my father", "my mother", "my brother", etc.

** Similarly, in ''The Handmaid's Tale'' we only learn the narrator's real name by implication (the women being trained as handmaids whisper their names to each other: there are five, and by the book's end we hear later news of all but one). Similarly, we never learn the Commander's surname, and only know his first name because the narrator is called Offred.

* The rulers of the foremost riding in Armada, from ''The Scar'', are known only as the Lovers.

* The main character of the Montmorency novels is known only by "Montmorency" in his upper-class persona (the brand of satchel he was carrying when arrested), or "Scarper" in his lower-class one (the last word his accomplice had yelled to him before his capture). His childhood name is eventually revealed in the fourth book, but even this is just the one he'd been assigned at the orphanage.

* [[Dracula]]'s first name is never given in the novel, although the film ''[[Bram Stoker's Dracula|Bram Stokers Dracula]]'' makes him the vampirized corpse of the historical figure Vlad the Impaler in its [[Backstory]] prologue.

* The only name given to the main character in [[H. G. Wells]]' ''[[The Time Machine]]'' is "The Time Traveler".

* No name is given to the narrator in Andrew M. Greeley's "God Game". One third of the way into the book, Greeley interjects an author's note where he denies that the narrator is either himself or Bishop "Blackie" Ryan, the lead character in a detective series that Greeley writes.

* The Commissaris in Janwillem van de Wetering's Grijpstra and de Gier mysteries, even though he's a fairly prominent character.

* In ''[[Inheritance Cycle|Eragon]]'', it is stated that the names of the dragons of the Forsworn have been erased so that no one can remember them.

* The Narrator in [[The Gargoyle]] never tells us his name, not even when another character {{spoiler|carves it into her chest with a chisel.}}

* Peter David's ''Tigerheart'', arguably the best of many published ''Peter Pan'' fan fiction novels, changes the names of everything and everyone involved—consistent with Barrie's statement that everyone experiences the Neverland differently. The one person who is never named is Peter himself. He's "The Boy".

* A minor character in ''To Kill A Mockingbird'' is Mr. X Billups. Jem explains to Dill that X really is his name, not an initial.

* Although Holly refers to the narrator as Fred for the first half of [[Breakfast at Tiffany's]], he is never properly introduced.

* Used twice in Hodgson's ''[[The House on the Borderland]]'', in which neither the fisherman from the [[Framing Device]] nor the writer of the journal are named. A footnote refers to the latter only as "The Recluse".

* In ''The Nanny Diaries'', hardly any of the main characters get a real name: the titular nanny's name [[His Name Really Is "Barkeep"|is Nanny]], the last name of the family for whom she works is X, and her love interest who lives in the building is merely nicknamed "Harvard Hottie" or "H.H.," even once they enter a relationship. (This changes in the sequel, ''Nanny Returns.'')

* In ''[[Dreams of Joy]]'', Joy's mother-in-law is referred to by her mother as "Joy's Mother-in-Law", because she had no name outside of her husband's surname. She went by Fu-shee when she got married. This was [[Truth in Television]] for poor Chinese women, who often weren't given names or given names like "hope for a son".

* [[Gene Stratton Porter]] was strange about names. Her self-insert in a couple of her books is called, in both narrative and dialogue, "the Bird Woman". In ''Freckles'' the title character gives his name as only that, claiming that as an orphan and (he believes) a bastard he has no right to any other. By the last chapter he and we learn his real name, but we never do learn names for his love-interest, the Swamp Angel, or her father, the Man of Affairs.

* In ''[[Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close]],'' Oskar's mother and grandmother are never named, and he refers to them only in those terms.

** Her parents aren't given first names, either.

* The exploits of one of the protagonists in the ''Dance of the Gods'' series is narrated in a first-person "noir" style instead of the regular third-person style of the other protagonists, and he is never addressed by name. At the [[Brick Joke|end of the book]] it turns out that he's {{spoiler|under a "spell of namelessness"}}.

* The protagonist from ''Countdown to Kindergarten'' and ''Mrs. Watson Wants Your Teeth,'' a worrywart little girl.

* "Miss Girdle Fitz-Snugglie", from [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Podkayne of Mars]]'', is a name the title character initially uses for a famous socialite she meets on a spaceliner, as a bit of private snark. (The book is presented as Poddy's [[Diary]].) However, when "Girdie" turns into the [[Cool Big Sis]] and Poddy learns that her life is far from glamour and happiness, Poddy explicitly chooses to keep using the pseudonym in order to protect "Girdie"'s privacy.

 

* Oz on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', whose full name was revealed after he had left Sunnydale.

** Also, "The Host of Caritas" was not given an official name (even to the other characters) until late into the second season of ''[[Angel]]''. His full name is "Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan". As noted before, he's not fond of it:

''(They are still blank)''

'''Angel''': Okay, now I feel old. }}

* ''[[Get Smart]]'' has, er, a ''number'' of examples:

** Agent 99. Her lack of a name becomes a running gag. The day she gets married to Max someone sneezes when her name is said. A popular misconception is that she revealed her name in one episode as "Susan Hilton," but that was just an alias.

* Fez, ''[[That '70s Show]]''. Fez is short for Foreign Exchange Student. At one point, someone asks his real name and he is drowned out by a school-bell while seen saying an incredibly long name. (In that scene, actor Wilmer Valderrama was actually saying the first names of all the cast members.) His friends call him Fez because his real name is too long to easily remember or pronounce.

* Number Six and many other residents of The Village in ''[[The Prisoner]]''. (It is officially denied that Six is John Drake, a spy previously played by the same actor.)

* This trope turns up in mainstream shows too: British nostalgic hospital drama ''[[The Royal]]'' has a major character known only as Matron.

* Mac Taylor on [[CSI: NY]]. Mac *can* be a full name, but we've never found out for sure. Gary Sinise has said his name is McCanna (after Gary's son), but they've never said it onscreen.

* On ''[[Dark Angel]]'', Max's friends went mostly by nicknames—Sketchy (Calvin Simon Theodore), Herbal Thought, and Original Cindy (say it out loud) (Cynthia McEachin). Her boss was referred to as Normal for the entire series, though a couple of jokes were made about his real name, eventually revealed to be Reagan Ronald.

* On ''[[Firefly]]'', Shepherd Book's real name was never revealed, not even in [[Serenity|the movie]] or the comic-book adaptation. Derrial Book {{spoiler|Was the name he took from [[Kill and Replace|a man he killed]]}}. The Operative from ''[[Serenity]]'' claims that he has no name, in the credits he is listed simply as "The Operative."

** Dr. B.J. Hunnicutt insists that his name was given to him by his mother, ''Bea'' Hunnicutt, and his father, ''Jay'' Hunnicutt, and his official Army files list only his initials.

** Sparky's real name is never revealed.

* In ''[[The X-Files]]'', Deep Throat's real name is not given until the fourth season, despite the character's prominence in the first season. The second season premier implies that Mulder knows it, but he never speaks it onscreen. In the fourth season flashback episode, he and the [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Cigarette Smoking Man]] are the main characters, and the Cigarette Smoking Man calls him {{spoiler|Ronald}}.

** The Cigarette Smoking Man is later referred to by the name {{spoiler|C.G.B. Spender}}, though Scully believes it's just an alias and not his real name.

* One of the main characters in ''[[Scrubs]]'' is simply known as 'The Janitor'. His name tag and uniform also just say 'Janitor', and he even calls himself "Dr. Jan Itor" when pretending to be a doctor. It was said (jokingly) that when the Janitor's name is revealed, the series will be over. One episode features JD discovering that the Janitor had a role in the film "The Fugitive", suggesting that the Janitor is actually supposed to be the actor portraying him (Neil Flynn), fallen on hard times.

** More janitor name silliness: in one episode he fools J.D. by signing his name as "Dr. Rotinaj," and when J.D. points out that this is "janitor" backwards, an Asian doctor walks by:

{{quote|'''Janitor:''' Hello, Dr. Rotinaj.

'''Dr. Rotinaj:''' Hello, Mister Clean-Up-Man. }}

* ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' has a number of examples:

** Noah Bennet is first credited as "Horn-Rimmed Glasses," referring to his eyewear. In the third episode of the series he is revealed to be Claire's father, and so became referred to by various characters as "Mr. Bennet," but his first name remains a mystery. A lampshade is hung on this in one episode, in which his wife says, "It's so strange that you all refer to him as 'Mr. Bennet'. I've always just known him as--" [[The Un-Reveal|before she is distracted by her dog]]. He finally reveals his first name, Noah, in the first season finale.

* On ''[[Chuck]]'', Sarah's real full name is unknown as of yet. Her other known childhood aliases are Jenny Burton, Rebecca Franco, and Katie O'Connell. As Bryce Larkin's partner, she was known as Mrs. Anderson on some missions. She introduces her father as Jack Burton; it's likely that was just the first name she thought of, since Chuck knew the Burton alias but not that it was an alias, and Jack was willing to play along. She does tell Chuck her middle name is Lisa, and from context it's likely that much is true.

** In "Chuck Versus the Fake Name", Sarah's real name is found out: {{spoiler|Sam}}

* In ''[[Leverage]]'', the characters of Parker and Sophie Devereaux are both within this trope. Parker is [[Only One Name]] and as a foster child may have no other name, nor a need for one as she has no life outside being a thief. "Sophie Devereaux" is just Sophie's favorite of many aliases, and her real is yet to be revealed.

* GOB's wife on ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' is never given a name, to reflect the fact that GOB doesn't know it. She's listed as "Bride of GOB" in the credits and "Wife of GOB" in other material. GOB makes several guesses to it, including "Krindy", "Amy" (Amy Poehler, Will Arnett's wife, plays the role), and "Saul" (actually her divorce lawyer). Michael knows what it is, but the opportunity never arises for him to use it.

*** Fanon claims Miss Parker's first name is {{spoiler|Angel, her father's nickname for her}}, but that's never been confirmed. It's also kind of silly.

** Only William Raines, Debbie Broots, and Catherine Parker (née Jamieson) get full names.

* The BBC show ''[[Bugs]]'' manages this with the three stars, Nick Beckett, Ros Henderson and 'Ed', who has no specified surname.

* In ''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'', the leading agent of the team, Callen, has no first name. Not even ''he'' knows his first name. All we know is that it starts with "G". The others refer to him as "Callen", "Agent Callen", "G. Callen", "G", or "Mr. Callen". Even during the most recent season finale where {{spoiler|Hetty leaves her position at NCIS to get a Romanian crime family off Callen's back by faking G's death certificate (complete with video evidence of G's death), we never know his first name.}} To maintain the mystique surrounding G's name {{spoiler|they probably had the first name on the form illegible except for the G, [[Genre Savvy|knowing that someone with a DVR could just pause at that exact moment to see it]].}}

* ''[[Glee]]'': Puck's little sister. Granted, she's only shown up once so far, and that was in a flashback, but it still poses a problem for fanfic writers who want to include her. [[Fanon|Suprisingly many of them]] call her Sarah.

* Maw Broon, Paw Broon, Grandpaw Broon, the Twins and the Bairn in ''[[The Broons]]''.

** Parodied in a ''[[Naked Video]]'' sketch, where the Twins and the Bairn were taken into care, to be looked after by someone who'd give them care and attention...and names.

* On TV and in the radio, ''[[The Lone Ranger]]'' was this trope. We know his last name was Reed, like his brother and great grand-nephew ''[[The Green Hornet]]'', but we never learn his first name.

 

* The main character of ''[[The Black Parade]]'' is never named in the album itself, and elsewhere is known only as "the Patient".

* Very few of the characters in the [[Ayreon]] albums have names; most go by descriptions like "Best Friend" or "the Knight."

* An animal variant is ''[[A Horse With No Name]]'' by the band America.

 

* 'The Dog' in ''[[Footrot Flats]]'' has such an [[Embarrassing First Name]] that he never allows it to be said or revealed in any way in the comic, and holds a grudge against Aunt Dolly for giving him the name.

* ''[[Peanuts]]'' examples:

** In one episode of the ''Dilbert'' TV show, the Boss signs a delivery form. The delivery man looks at the clipboard incredulously, and says "that's your name?" Ee never see it.

** The hyper-intelligent Garbage-Man: In an early strip, Dilbert tels another character his Garbage-Man's name is "Gus Simpson", but this may have been before the character of the Garbage-Man was fully developed, and could refer to someone else.

* In ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', the parents names are never revealed nor is the family last name. The full names of Rosalyn, Moe and Miss Wormwood are never told either. Susie Derkins is the only character whose full name is revealed.

** This is part of the reason why Watterson scrapped the Uncle Max character after his first appearance—it was altogether too awkward that Max couldn't refer to his brother by name.

* ''[[The Broons]]''. Only the older kids have names. Their parents are Maw and Paw Broon (and Paw's father is Grandpaw Broon), and their younger siblings are The Twins and The Bairn.

 

** The misunderstanding was explained more fully in the movie by showing Ford walking out into the middle of a street and attempting to greet a car, [[Mistook the Dominant Lifeform|thinking it was the dominant species on Earth.]] This was a joke that some fans understood without needing the explanation, as Ford Prefects are a kind of car sold in the U.K., Australia, Argentina and Canada. American fans tended not to get the joke, since Ford Prefects were never sold in the U.S.

** Another character attempts to use this trope. When Arthur asks his name, he says "My name is not important." After some cajoling, he gives Arthur his name.

{{quote|'''Arthur:''' Slartibartfast?

'''Slartibartfast:''' I told you it wasn't important. }}

 

* Many characters in [[Plautus]]'s work, including the ''protagonist'' of ''Casina'', whose name is only found in other documents, not in the script.

* Most of the characters in ''[[Into the Woods]]''. With the exception of Cinderella's stepsisters, the only characters who have proper names are the ones who get them in their original fairy tales.

* In the ''[[Reefer Madness]]'' musical, the man who provides the [[Framing Device]] for the story is never reffered to by name; most just call him "The Lecturer".

* Generally if there's a Narrator in a stage show they won't be given a name [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|beyond their function]], although they can have other names besides 'Narrator', such as the Stage Manager in ''Our Town'' or the Leading Player in ''Pippin''.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* The [[Heroic Mime]] protagonist of ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' has no name given. He is only directly referred to as "You," "Rogue Conditioned Slave Unit," and "Our friend here," which makes it seem like Bungie had just went on the same road as DOOM and other games of the era and decided not to develop their main character. However, the first game has a few references to who he is, and the third game is all about him going insane trying to find out who he is and why he can't choose his own destiny.

* "The [[Space Marine]]" is the only name given the hero of the ''[[Doom]]'' series. Among fans, he's acquired the affectionate nickname of "Doomguy". On his guest appearance in ''[[Quake III Arena]]'', he's known simply as "Doom".

*** Or by reading a game magazine which [[Trailers Always Spoil|spells it out to you as though it's not that big a deal.]]

* The titular characters of ''[[Prince of Persia]]''.

* The real name of the Red Woman {{spoiler|AKA The Founder}} is never revealed in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer''.

** Though since Arraman uses his real name, she may well have been originally named {{spoiler|Nefris}}.

* In ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'', we never get to know the main character real name, nor the name of the final boss. That's assuming that The Kid and The Guy aren't their real names. "The Guy" is a title.

* Rookie One from ''[[Star Wars Rebel Assault]]''. In the first game, [[The Faceless|his face is never shown]] either.

* In ''[[Yume Nikki]]'', there is no given name or identity for the protagonist. There is debate of the protagonist's gender, for an example of the ambiguity. Later on via checking out the coding, the protagonist's name is Madotsuki. Every other character in the game all have fan-names that are not official - officially, they are nameless characters. The fact there is no dialogue, narration, or footnotes of any kind in this game only enhances the effect.

** He eventually reveals to you his name, which is Tim. Trent and Tim are technically [[Identical Grandson|grandson and grandfather]]. Most of the Harvest Goddesses plus the first Witch Princess and her niece are nameless.

* Inverted in ''[[Tom Clancy]]'s H.A.W.X.''; the player character has a callsign, "Shade", which is brought up maybe two times across the campaign. Every other time a character refers to him, [[Full-Name Basis|they refer to him by his full name, David Crenshaw.]]

* All we know about the Knight from ''[[Trigger Knight]]'' is that they're... well, a Knight.

** There are also lesser No Name Given characters, like the Forecaster, most generic townsfolk ("Freeside Resident," "Goodsprings Settler, etc.") and most human mooks ("Fiend," "Legionary Assassin," etc.).

* In ''[[Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy]]'' only a handful of characters are known by name. All others are instead referred to by [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|their profession]] or their relationship to other characters. Examples include the mayor, the sculptor, the fisherman, Jak's uncle, the bird lady, the gambler and the various sages.

* The main character of ''[[Hatred]]'' opens the trailer to his game by saying "My name is not important... What is important is what I'm going to do". Fans joke that his name actually is "Not Important", and an [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] that his rampage is caused by an [[Embarrassing First Name]].

 

** He's been around for 5 games and counting, and no-one knows his honor's name. Or his brother's, who is also a judge.

** There's a hypochondriac who likes to impersonate doctors. He's gone by Dr. Hotti and Dr. Hickfield, but we don't know his real name.

* In the [[Murder Mystery]] [[Visual Novel]] ''[[Jisei]]'', the protagonist's name is never mentioned, even though you are able to see his face and body. He is also the only character in the game who is not voiced.

 

* The Boy from ''[[Scary Go Round]]''.

** The Boy has a name, revealed in a letter addressed to him in the July 18, 2007 strip: {{spoiler|Eustace Boyce}}, which could stand alone as an explanation for his nickname. However, a second explanation was developed in the March 19, 2008 strip with the introduction of Elodie. It still doesn't explain why early on in the strip both The Boy's parents referred to each other as The Father and The Mother.

** L33TDude is also consistently referred to by that name and no other. Ed and Dom might also be examples.

*** [[Unfortunate Implications|In other words, all the Americans]].

* In ''No Pink Ponies'', none of the male characters have names, [http://nopinkponies.com/d/20060911.html which] [http://nopinkponies.com/d/20060215.html is] [http://nopinkponies.com/d/20060414.html lampshaded] [http://nopinkponies.com/d/20060419.html repeatedly.]

* Many people in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]''. Among them, Miss Jones, who [[Only One Name|insists]] on just being called "Jones". According to [[Word of God]], the [[The Fair Folk|Suicide Fairies]] from Gillitie Wood have no names at all prior to becoming human.

* The ''Monster in the Darkness'' from ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' is never referred to by name, or even by species. ([[The Reveal]] was thwarted in the first plot arc and presumably the MitD's true identity will come out later for full dramatic effect.)

* Subverted in ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]'' - "The Nameless Ones" is indeed a name.

 

* Kate in ''[[Kate Modern]]'' revealed in the fourth episode that her name wasn't really Kate. Her real first name, Genevieve, wasn't revealed until episode 88, "Birthday Surprise", while her surname, Strathcarron, wasn't revealed until episode 163, "Prime Suspect". Several other major characters' surnames have not been revealed, including Charlie, Lauren, Sophie and Terrence, but it is not implied that there is any mystery behind those names.

** There's also the Watcher and the Shadow, whose lack of names befit their status as anonymous Order agents.

* Sarge in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' is only ever called... Sarge. We have no idea what his actual name may be.

** In Episode 17 of Revelation, it's revealed that his name is actually Sarge.

* {{spoiler|The little girl who became the gun}} of ''[[Atop the Fourth Wall]]'' has lost her name.

* The title character of ''[[Pittsburgh Dad]]'' hasn't been given a name, though his wife (Deb) and next-door neighbor (Tom) have.

 

* On ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]'', Eddy's Brother is never given a name, not even in the movie since all the character's refer to him as "Eddy's Brother". In fact, during the movie the credits even state him as "Eddy's Brother". However, some fans debate that his real name is "Big Jim".

** On top of that, the only two characters with confirmed surnames are the Kanker sisters and Nazz (yes, her last name is given in the movie).

** Gets a bit of a [[Lampshade Hanging]] in the episode "Odd Jobs." Timmy's father addresses Timmy's class for a career day, and introduces himself by saying "my name is Timmy's Dad!"

** Also gets an [[The Un-Reveal|unreveal]] in another episode. Timmy goes back in time, meets his parents as children, and a car goes by just as each name is going to be revealed.

** When Jade's parents are introduced they too call him Uncle, leaving Jade puzzled as to exactly how he's related to be everyone's Uncle.

* The title character of ''[[Samurai Jack]]''. His real name is never mentioned and the reason he calls himself Jack is because the first people he meets when he arrives in the future kept saying 'Jack' as they talked to him.

* Bunny Scout Leader in ''[[Max and Ruby]]'' is only referred to as such.

* On ''[[The Mighty Ducks (animation)|The Mighty Ducks]]: The Animated Series'', four of the protagonists (five if you count [[Heroic Sacrifice|Canard]]) are known only by their first names. Then again, judging from the [[Species Surname]]s their two colleagues are given, that's probably a good thing.

** The creators of the series deliberately did not give him a last name, because they couldn't come up with anything that seemed to be funny. They were considering Stretchbrain...

** However, [[Word of God|Joe Murray's original description of Rocko]], shown in the book ''Not Just Cartoons: Nicktoons!'', reveals that his surname was in fact {{spoiler|Rama}}.

** In one episode, Sam gives her full name as "Samantha Simpson." However, as she is speaking to a suspected villain, and using a cover as a journalist, it is unknown if that is in fact her real last name or part of her cover. Nonetheless, [[Fanfic]] authors have more or less accepted "Simpson" as her last name.

** Some of the more popular last names for the other characters include:

** A series bible written by the series creators is rumored to exist in some form.

* One 1980's [[Strawberry Shortcake]] special uses this deliberately: ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]] and the Baby Without a Name''. No one has been able to think of a name for her, and no one does by the end of the special. When this is pointed out, Strawberry reassures her "I'm sure that someone, somewhere has just the right name for you," giving a quick glance to the audience ([[Merchandise-Driven|since there was a doll made of this character]]).

** The skunk in ''Pets on Parade'' doesn't have a name either; he ''thinks'' it's Yowee A. Skunk because that's what people say when they see him. At the end, when he helps save the day and is adopted by Angel Cake to win the pet show, Strawberry asks him his name and when he can't reply, Angel suggests "Souffle", a name he happily accepts.

* In the show MTV's Downtown Goat and Fruity never revealed their actual names, when Alex asked what is their names, they immediately rejected.

* While Shaggy from ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' does have a first name (Norville), you could easily watch a hundred episodes of the franchise's various incarnations without hearing it.

* In ''[[Atomic Betty]]'', Betty's last name is never mentioned; the most we know is it begins with a 'B', though the fandom likes to refer to her as Betty Barrett.

** In one episode, Little Dog has to fill out a form. He leaves "name" blank, and laments, "I don't know my name!"

** Though one episode had the big dog say his name was "Jonathan".

** Some of the main characters from ''[[Animaniacs]]'' (Mindy's mom) and ''[[Histeria!]]!'' (Froggo and Toast).

** Wallace meets the owner of a store he's cleaning the windows of:

{{quote|'''Wendolene''': Ramsbottom. Wendolene Ramsbottom.

* On ''[[Gargoyles]],'' the titular species traditionally doesn't use names. Humans find this sort of awkward, so every ''important'' gargoyle gets one at some point. The three Coldstone personalities don't get names until their last appearance on the show, though; before that fans [[All There in the Script|and the script]] called them [[Shout-Out|Othello, Desdemona and Iago]].

* Nanny from ''[[Muppet Babies]]''.

* In ''[[The Small One (Disney)|The Small One]]'' the eponymous donkey is the only character named.

* ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' has an unnamed [[Mad Scientist]] who exists whenever Heloise is unable to furfill that role. He is credited as "Scientist". The [[Fan Nickname]] for him is Dr. Hootenstien, due to his owl-like appearance.

** His name apparently is shortened from "His Infernal Majesty".

* While it's possible, given his parents' demonstrated parenting skills, that Butt-head, of ''Beavis and Butt-head'' is actually named Butt-head, more likely it's a nickname. He is never given any other name, though.

* In ''[[The Care Bears Movie]]'', the evil book has no apparent name.

 

* The category 1 hurricane that resulted from the 1991 [[wikipedia:1991 Perfect Storm|"perfect storm"]] <ref>The storm itself was created by the absorption of a another hurricane (named Grace) into a nor'easter.</ref> was never given a proper name. This was done on purpose so there wouldn't be confusion among the media and the public, as most of the damage and attention was from and on the initial nor'easter, while the hurricane's damage was limited to power outages and slick roads (the single death the hurricane cause was due to a traffic accident). The name it likely would have been assigned was Henri.

* ''[[The Onion]]'' applies this to [http://www.theonion.com/articles/nameless-hurricane-that-much-more-terrifying,2273/ a natural disaster].

* Likewise [[Johnny Cash]], born J. R. Cash. He apparently assumed "Johnny" because the USAF wouldn't accept initials as a valid name.

* The writer Abe Lemons claims to have been born A. E. Lemons, and when it was told he needed a first name, he just put a "B" between the A and the E. Supposedly he later regretted not renaming himself "Ace".

** This also made his initials U.S. Grant. Quite useful when leading the Union army and later running for President.

* None of the members of synthrock band [[The Birthday Massacre]] use their real names. For example, there's Chibi on vocals, Rainbow and Falcore on guitar, O. E. on bass, O-en on keyboard, and Rhim on drums.

** In the band [[Lordi]] only Mr. Lordi's real name is known to the public, and he won't reveal his real face. The rest of the band is entirely anonymous in their civilian identities, and the media has agreed to keep it that way.

* The members of [[The Residents]] have always remained completely anonymous and have always worn masks (most famously the eyeball mask, top hat, and tuxedo outfit) in performance and other media.

* [[Image Board|Anonymous]], eventually subverted by Project Chanology.

* The Man in the Iron Mask (not that historians haven't tried to figure it out).

** At least that one is probably based on the death of Kenji Urada, the first man ever killed by a robot.

* [[Prince]] the Artist Formerly Known as [[The Unpronounceable]] Symbol formerly known as Prince.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Naming Conventions]]