Not Named in Opening Credits: Difference between revisions

See also [[Sir Not Appearing in This Trailer]] and [[Character As Himself]].

* ''[[GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class]]'' is a rare anime example. A character was introduced in episode 6, but he was [[Early Bird Cameo|given an one-line speaking role]] in episode 5. In that episode, he was only listed as "Grade 11 Student -- [[Miyuki Sawashiro|M.S.]]"

* ''[[Twenty Four (TV)|Twenty Four]]'' has done this three times, twice for recurring villains.

** The unexpected reappearance of {{spoiler|Giles}} in the penultimate episode of season six was kept from the opening credits, and even {{spoiler|the narrator of the [[Previously On]]}} was changed, giving the impression the character was gone for good.

* ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' frequently used pseudonyms to disguise appearances of The Master, or (in at least one instance) Davros.

** Averted in spectacular fashion for "[[Doctor Who (TV)/NS/Recap/S4 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 (TV)/Recap/S19 E1 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 (TV)/Recap/S3 E2 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 (TV)/NS/Recap/S4 E1 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|squeeing]] and conspiracies rearing.

* [[J Michael Straczynski]] had intended to do this in a third season episode of ''[[Babylon 5]]'' wherein Capt. Sheridan's [[Only Mostly Dead]] wife (played by Melissa Gilbert, wife of Bruce Boxleitner who played Sheridan) reappears on the station in the final seconds of an episode. Gilbert's contract, however, required him to list her as a guest star. However, the credit referred to the character in question without her family name, so the [[Wham Episode|wham effect]] was maintained for those who didn't make the logical leap.

* In "Crossroads, Part 2", the season three finale of ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (TV)|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}}.

[[Category:Trope]]