39,327
edits
Unperson: Difference between revisions
m
+Category:Extraversion Tropes
m (revise quote template spacing) |
|||
Line 4:
{{quote|"''Nothing will remain of you: not a name in a register, not a memory in a living brain. You will be annihilated in the past as well as in the future. [[Time Travel Tense Trouble|You will never have existed]].''"|''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', George Orwell}}
When some group systematically removes evidence of a character's existence, either through mundane conspiracy, or a little bit of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] (such as [[Brainwashed|brainwashing]]). The purposes for doing so vary. This is more commonly done in enclosed or isolated areas, where it's easier to track evidence. This can lead to characters [[Pull the Thread|tracking the shreds of evidence]] the hiders left behind. Often any shred of evidence they find will [[It Was Here, I Swear|disappear]] when they [[Have You Told Anyone Else?|show someone]].
In [[Real Life]], this practice is called ''Damnatio Memoriae'', which is [[Altum Videtur|Latin]] for "damning someone's memory''. It often relies on the fact that History is [[Written by the Winners]], and of course, the winners would always like to remove evidence of opposition against their otherwise tyrannical rule as a warning for others and and to perpetuate their power. It is also done for other purposes, such as literally condemning questionable acts done by the person in his lifetime to deter possible future offenders.
Compare [[Ret-Gone]], where the affected person is ''literally'' erased from existence. See also [[Expendable Clone]], where clones aren't given person status (or it's revoked upon [[Tomato in the Mirror|discovery they're a clone]]). See also [[I Was Never Here]]. Not to be confused with a [[United Nations|UN person]]. Contrast [[Invented Individual]]
Line 74:
* In ''[[His Dark Materials|Northern Lights]]'' [[The Evil Prince|Iofur Raknison]] vows to do this to [[Badass Abnormal|Iorek Byrnison]] by making speaking his name a capital offense and writing him, [[Fisher King|and his idea of what a Panserbjorne should be]], out of history... Just as soon as he [[Leave Him to Me|defeats Iorek]] [[Contractual Genre Blindness|in their ritual one-on-one combat that Iorek cannot possibly win...]]
* The hero and narrator of ''[[Roger Zelazny|My Name is Legion]]'' did this to ''himself''. As one of the few people with a trapdoor into the global identification database, he could at will input specifics for a new identity and then erase it when he no longer needed it. The people in his 'Verse were awfully ''trusting'' about information they got from their computers...
* Cleverly handled by [[Brian Stableford]] in [[Rhapsody In Black]]. The subterranean theocracy of God's Nine Splinters has no place to actually banish offenders... so they are simply declared nonexistent. Both loyal and criminals live in the same dismal environment, but nobody will acknowledge that the criminals are there.
** This is circumvented on occasion when guards decide to do target practice by shooting at the space which "just happened to be occupied by us nonexistent people", and when Grainger tells a captive he can pass the time by talking to his "imaginary" guard.
* In a few ''[[Choose Your Own Adventure]]'' books, this was the worst, and most disturbing, fate.
Line 102:
** [[Expanded Universe]] gives us [[Faction Paradox]], an especially vicious [[Cult]] where Step One in your initiation ceremony is to hop into a timeship and go kill Grandpa. [[Temporal Paradox|Before Daddy was ever born.]] This has the effect of erasing your existence in its entirety, making you a [[Humanoid Abomination|living paradox]] and making you ''extremely'' hard to destroy.
** Companion of the eleventh doctor {{spoiler|Rory Williams fell into a crack in the universe and was eradicated from all time and space.}}
** The [[Big Finish Doctor Who|Big Finish]] audio "Neverland" introduces us to a world of Neverpeople, Gallifreyans who were thrown into the Oubliette of Eternity for crimes of "treason" ([[He Knows Too Much|they knew too much]]) and erased from Time.
* ''[[Nowhere Man]]'': Tom Veil's identity is scrubbed from all records by the conspiracy, and his family, relatives and friends no longer recognise him. Over the series, he meets a number of other people who have suffered this too - even a whole town of them.
** Subverted when {{spoiler|it's revealed in the final episode that Tom Veil never existed in the first place; it was simply a false memory given to the protagonist and presumably the other unpersons he'd encountered in the series.}}
Line 114:
* The Syndicate in ''[[The X-Files]]'' is fond of this to cover its tracks with people who give Mulder too much information or people who are no longer of use.
* Played for laughs in an episode of ''[[The IT Crowd]]'', where Roy removes his ex-girlfriend from photos of the two of them together. Moss says it's "like breaking up with Stalin".
* Even TV shows can be unpersons: Mystery Science Theater is this in the eyes of Comedy Central; this was most blatantly on display during a 13th Anniversary special the network had. Not only was the show utterly ignored, but what was the network's first major hit was ignored in favor of "Politically Incorrect" (the network's second major hit), which was declared the network's first big hit.
== Music ==
* [[Machinae Supremacy]]'s ''The Wired'' is entirely about this, due to [[Word of God|being inspired by the ending of]] {{spoiler|[[Serial Experiments Lain]]}}.
* This is commonplace in bands and music ensembles when members who were with the band before they hit it big, leave or are kicked out prior to the group becoming famous.
** [[Iron Maiden]] has gone so far as to in many a [[Greatest Hits Album]] have singer [[Bruce Dickinson]] on all tracks, even in songs originally performed by his predecessor Paul Di'Anno (helps that [[I Am the Band|band]] [[Lead Bassist|leader]] Steve Harris developed some [[Creator Backlash]] with Di'Anno's albums) and [[Replacement Scrappy|his not-very-popular replacement]] Blaze Bayley (though Dickinson has denounced fans who like to pretend Bayley's era of the band never happened and has made several of the songs of his era songs regulars in the band's set list).
* One particularly infamous example is the 2002 "remasters" of [[Ozzy Osbourne]]'s first two albums. In an effort to avoid paying royalties to Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake (the original bassist and drummer), the rhythm tracks were rerecorded by Ozzy's current bassist and drummer, Daisley and Kerslake's names were removed from the songwriting credits, and they were completely removed from the photos in the liner notes, all without any indication that the albums were anything but straight reissues. The move caused massive backlash, and the subsequent ''Bark at the Moon'' reissue contained Daisley's original bass track (Kerslake had left the band by that point).
Line 135:
* This happens from time to time with people the Inquisition of ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' sweeps under the rug, depending on how dangerous they were and how much harm could come of other people learning of them. It doesn't always work, however. In some stories, a certain Warmaster is routinely referenced as a bogeyman ("Horus take the hindmost") while in others, his name and very existence are forbidden lore. This may be either because [[Doylist|GW has relatively low standards on]] [[Canon]] [[Watsonian|or because the Imperium of Mankind is a pretty large place with information often being non-digitalized, but written down and stored in huge datacrypts]]. Finding and eliminating every trace of a man that has affected multiple planets with a few trillion inhabitants isn't exactly easy.
** GW's actions regarding the Squats are eerily similar to this trope. The official stance is that the Squats ''never existed'' and to reinforce this the publishers have removed all mentions of the Squats from publications and even ceased distributing any works where the Squats played a significant role.
*** While it was still active, the mentioning of Squats on the GW forums would get your account banned and the thread shut down and subsequently deleted. Asking questions about Squats at GW-sanctioned events would have security remove you from the event. GW really, really did not like the Squats.
** The two most significant Unpersons in the Imperium are the "Lost Legions"; the 2nd and Eleventh Legions of Space Marines and their Primarches. Whilst the [[Horus Heresy]] novels drop hints as to some great tragedy or accident (or even that they were the very first Space Marines to ever be corrupted by Chaos), absolutely nothing is known about them.
*** Chapters from the Cursed 21st Founding have been given this treatment as well, due to the bad luck and horrific mutations that plague them -- the Black Dragons have blades of razor-sharp bones growing from their bodies, the Flame Falcons are covered in living flame, the Sons of Antaeus have metal bones.
* The "Zeroed" advantage in ''[[GURPS]]'', available to secret government operatives, [[The Men in Black]] and the like.
* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'': Back during the days of Rome, it turned out an entire clan was suspected of working with [[Owl Be Damned|the strix]]. The clan was wiped out down to a man, and all references to their name stricken -- they are only known as the Traditores (or "traitors").
* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' gives us Revoke Existence, which does this to artifacts (machinery) and enchantments (long-lasting effects). Even the flavor text fits this.
** Let's not forget the card Door to Nothingness; "All memory of your existence will be wiped from reality. You will die, and no one will mourn."
Line 159:
* In ''[[Fallout: New Vegas]]'', you can get yourself declared "in damnatio memoraie" by Caesar's Legion, like the Real Life instance of the trope below. Not that you'd care what they'd think of you if you got to that point...
** This also applies to Joshua Graham, who is just the Burned Man to the Legion, due to leading the Legion to their first major military defeat at the First Battle of Hoover Dam.
* This happened in the backstory of ''[[Dark Souls]]'' to Gwyn's firstborn, the God of War after his foolishness allowed the destruction of annals of ancient history, with his deity stripped from him, his name stricken from history, and his altars destroyed.
* This was actually one of the devices used by the Five Gods in ''[[Guild Wars]]'' to imprison their fallen brother, Abaddon. His followers and any literature, art, or structure associated with Abaddon was banished into the Realm of Torment. Even long after his defeat, souls touched by Abaddon's power were taken to the Realm to be cleansed. Unfortunately, enough escaped their efforts to guide new followers in bringing about Nightfall.
** In the case of Abaddon, it was actually very important this happen. He was the God of Secrets, so a mortal simply possessing knowledge of his existence was enough to give him a connection to Tyria.
Line 242:
[[Category:The Index Is Watching You]]
[[Category:Unperson]]
[[Category:Identity Index]]
| |||