Nominal Importance: Difference between revisions

 

 

'''[[Plucky Comic Relief|Guy:]]''' [[Genre Savvy|I'm not? Then what's my last name?]] ... Nobody knows! Do you know why? [[Wrong Genre Savvy|Because my character isn't important enough for a last name!]] [[Red Shirt|Because I'm gonna die five minutes in!]]|''[[Galaxy Quest]]''}}

 

** Random Grunts for the local villainous team are typically left unnamed however. (With the exception of the Gamecube Games). The ''Diamond and Pearl Adventures'' Manga makes fun of this by having a recurring mook refer to himself solely by his assigned number: "K-2". (K-2 is pronounced similarly to "''ketsu''", or "''butt''". You can guess what his major identifying feature is...)

** Justified, as even criminals that stupid are smart enough not to tell you their names during criminal activities. This is lampshaded by an [[Elite Mook]] in ''Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia'':

*** Many other characters in the series are usually left nameless as well, but [[Fan Nickname|fan nicknames]] do exist, such as "Jim Gai" for the random person who gives you advice in gyms, or Nurse Joy for [[You All Look Familiar|every main nurse in the game]].

** For a meta example, those who play a Pokémon game under [[Nuzlocke Comics|Nuzlocke]] [[Self-Imposed Challenge|rules]] find that naming your catches creates a much more memorable, intimate connection with the Pokémon, and thus makes it hurt all the more if you allow them to [[Final Death|faint]]. Of course, the victories and the near misses become much more dramatic and thrilling, too.

* Subverted in ''[[That Thing You Do]]'': the bass player in the Wonders is a plot-important character who remained unnamed through the movie, eventually listed in the [[Where Are They Now? Epilogue]] as [[Meaningful Name|"T. B. Player"]].

* Played for laughs in ''[[Austin Powers]] in Goldmember'':

(The henchman falls down.) }}

 

** We ''do'' eventually learn that 21's name is Gary. {{spoiler|24 however dies without us ever learning his, although his reappearance as a ghost means there is still hope}}

** #21 and #24 even lampshade the fact that the series does not ascribe to this trope:

'''Henchman 24:''' You just made your inevitable death ''more pathetic.'' }}

* In ''[[Frisky Dingo]]'' the Xtacles were all [[Faceless Mooks]] that always wore their helmets, although a couple were named. In the first episode the [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Xtacles]]'' a bunch of said soldiers take off their helmets and are given independent names. {{spoiler|It's then partially subverted when a bunch of them die anyway}}.

* The original [[Scooby Doo]] series was famous for this to the point that the real person behind the [[Monster of the Week]] could easily be identified through the ''Scooby-Doo Rule:'' The first new character of the week to be introduced by full name was the guy in the rubber suit at the end. Later series are aware of this and try to muddle the rule's usefulness either by introducing too many characters at once to be able to pinpoint one in particular or by going [[Murder on the Orient Express|Agatha Christie]] on the viewer and having ''everyone'' be in on the plot.

* The Scallions from various episodes of ''[[Veggie Tales]]'' lack names, other than their collective title of, well, "the Scallions". [[Lampshaded Trope]] in one of the Silly Songs with Larry:

'''Larry''': ''♪ Now what d'ya think o' that? ♫'' }}