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No One Sees the Boss: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.NoOneSeesTheBoss 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.NoOneSeesTheBoss, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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{{quote|"No one sees Gold, but Gold sees ''everything''." |''[[Revolver]]'' }}
Hello, Troper. I see you've come to learn more about the [[No One Sees the Boss]] trope. Don't worry, I can take care of that for you. While [[Blatant Lies|I'm not the trope you're asking about]], you can deal with me just as you would him. You see, [[Self
This trope [[Running Gag|(that is, the trope that is not me)]] is often used in conjunction with [[Mysterious Employer]], [[The Don]], The [[Big Bad]], The [[Bigger Bad]], The [[God of Evil]], and villains which are [[Made of Evil]], when the bad guy in question is [[The Unseen]]. Supposedly, the guy exists, and [[We Are Everywhere|almost every person you see acts as his eyes and ears]]. At the same time, [[Shadow Dictator|no one has any idea who he is or what he looks like]], or even if "he" is really a [[The Powers That Be|"they"]]. There are also the examples where [[The Masquerade|the Boss may want people to think he doesn't exist at all.]]
[[The Chessmaster|Almost every ordeal the characters suffer through was caused, known, or controlled by him]]. Often, it's as simple as it sounds: The Boss exists, but is simply reclusive. But sometimes, the person in charge only exists as a [[Legacy Character|title, rather than a name]] and [[Legacy Immortality|is simply replaced by a successor]] if they die, [[You Are in Command Now|step down]] or [[You Kill It You Bought It|are killed by said successor]]. Other times, the Boss spends most of his time as a faceless mook and is [[Hidden in Plain Sight]] the whole time. And lastly, there's the version where there actually IS no Boss, and it's actually been the [[Dragon
This can sometimes be used by the forces of good as well, but it's not very common. Some heroic cases where this may apply are [[Mission Control]], [[The Chosen One]], [[The Messiah]], The [[Big Good]] or The [[Fake Ultimate Hero]].
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== Literature ==
* It's strongly implied in ''[[Nineteen Eighty
* The Creator in ''[[The Sword of Truth]]''. While the earlier books almost flat out show that he exists, later books start to imply that he's a figurative entity that has no actual consciousness, but is the essence of all good and righteousness. The same is ''NOT'' true of his [[God of Evil|opposite]], [[Devil but No God|the Keeper of the Underworld.]]
* In ''[[The Man Who Was Thursday]]'', the [[Big Good]] who hired all the policemen to infiltrate the anarchists has never actually been seen, allowing each policeman only one brief conversation in a darkened room. Meanwhile, no one seems to have met the [[Big Bad]] Sunday at all. {{spoiler|They're the same person.}}
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* [[NCIS]]: In one episode, {{spoiler|the errand boy}} is actually the boss, but nobody realises because the real boss was around, but is now {{spoiler|in a coma}}.
* Robin Masters from [[Magnum PI]], with Higgins as his front man. The last episode seemed to clear it up, but then...
* In the first half or so season of ''[[Soap]]'', the head of the Mafia was like this. (He later appeared, negating his [[Buffy
{{quote| "Nobody sees Mr. Lefkowitz. Not even ''Mrs.'' Lefkowitz." }}
* Number One in ''[[The Prisoner]]''.
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