Not Named in Opening Credits: Difference between revisions

* In the anime series ''[[Baccano!]]'', {{spoiler|the Young Conductor}} is left nameless in the opening sequence. Oh, and {{spoiler|[[Red Shirt|he]] [[Sacrificial Lamb|dies]] in Episode 2}}, which means he's totally ''insignificant'' and ''unimportant'', right? '''WRONG.''' As it turns out, {{spoiler|not only does the Young Conductor live, but he's actually the Claire Stanfield / Vino / Rail Tracer -- an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Psycho for Hire]] [[Torture Technician]] who snapped and has basically been responsible for ''doubling'' the dead body count on the train. And, if you're wondering, that body we ''thought'' was his in Episode 3? It was his ''victim's''.}}

* The seventh season [[Premiere]] of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' did this with the surprise cameos of the former [[Big Bad|Big Bads]]s at the end (actually the First Evil). Additionally, Buffy subverted this by adding the name of a character that would be killed off in the same episode to the opening credits for a single episode.

** Averted in spectacular fashion for "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 S30/E13 Journeys End|Journey's End]]" twice! The [[Radio Times]] ([[The BBC]]'s own Listings Magazine!) published a cast list with [[David Tennant]] playing the lead for the episode, four days before the episode was set to broadcast. This could have been easily [[Hand Wave|handwaved]] by saying that the regeneration cliffhanger of the previous week's episode was so secret the [[Radio Times]] didn't know until it was broadcast and then there was no time to alter the listing before publication. Yet the listing acknowledges the regeneration and still prints Tennant's name under the lead role. Then when the episode airs they recap the last episode, complete with cliffhanger, then show the title sequence, still with Tennant's name in it, then resolve the cliffhanger.

*** Tom Baker doesn't get credited for his (archived) pre-regeneration appearance in [[Peter Davison|his successor]]'s [[Doctor Who/Recap/S19 E1/E01 Castrovalva|first episode]].

** Famously averted to the point of inversion. William Hartnell's contract stipulated that he would be credited in every episode yet no mention was made of him having to appear in every episode. So, in "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S3 E2/E02 Missiontothe Unknown|Mission to the Unknown]]", when all the regular actors had the week off and the episode was entirely populated by guest roles played by guest actors, Hartnell got the lead credit despite having no screen time in the episode. The actors playing the companions had no such stipulations in their contracts.

** [[Billie Piper]]'s return in the fourth series through a series of tantalizing semi-appearances (fizzing into the air, breaking through a televised transmission, always unseen) was kept under painstaking lock and key by the BBC: the screening of the first episode "[[Doctor Who/NS/Recap/S4 E1S30/E01 Partners in Crime|Partners in Crime]]" cut out her scene until the air date, and didn't include her name in the credits at all. The last five minutes subsequently set whogasms [[Squee|squeeingsquee]]ing and conspiracies rearing.

* In "Crossroads, Part 2", the season three finale of ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', {{spoiler|the name of actress Katee Sackhoff, who plays Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, was put onto the end credits, instead of the opening credits or also-starring credits, so as to not spoil her "HOLY SHIT", back-from-the-dead reveal at the end of the episode}}.

** Much earlier, its [[Stargate SG-1|parent show]] omitted Peter Williams' name in the opening credits of the episode where Apophis comes [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]] in the last few minutes.

** ''Stargate Atlantis'' did it again during "The Kindred, Part I". When {{spoiler|Carson Beckett appeared at the cliffhanger}}, the guest credit for {{spoiler|1=Paul McGillion}} was placed in the ending credits to maintain the surprise.

* This was broadly inverted in the first few episodes of the final series of ''[[Monty Python]]'s Flying Circus''. John Cleese had decided against continuing with the television version of the show, and did not appear, but was nonetheless credited for some sketches that had been reworked from earlier Python projects. Of note, the second episode was based on an early draft of ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail]]''.

* Not necessarily a case of a surprise character but a series regular: William Devane was left out of the credits of the [[Too Good to Last|short-lived]] 1993-94 ABC sitcom ''Phenom'' at his request, after he campaigned to get starring credit in response to his [[Star-Making Role]] in ''Knots Landing'' (trying to get either top billing or second billing in the cast, between co-stars Judith Light and Angela Goethals) but was rebuffed by [[Executive Meddling|show producers and ABC]], because they felt that emphasizing Light as its star (although both Light and Geothals' characters were the primary focus of the show) and giving her top billing would draw in female viewers and fans of Light's previous series, ''[[WhosWho's theThe Boss?]]''; Devane eventually told the producers that if he didn't get a billing change, he'd rather not be credited for being on the show at all.

* In the play ''The Woman in Black'', the actress who plays the titular character isn't credited in the program, which makes it out to be a two-man show. Therefore when a third actor comes on as the ghost...

** Somewhat subvertedDownplayed in that {{spoiler|his voice actor, Richard Doyle, was listed in the opening credits, {{spoiler|although it did not say who he was playing Big Boss.}}

[[Category:Live -Action TV Tropes]]

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