History Main / NoOneSeesTheBoss

* Dr Vulcan in the 1949 Republic FilmSerial ''Film/{{King of the Rocket Men}}'', seen only as a voice and a shadow on the wall. He's later exposed as one of the scientists our hero is working with.

* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' has a rare heroic example in Master Radiant, head of the Black Leopard School. None of the students see him personally, save for the most senior student and his assistant, First Brother. This is because [[spoiler:Master Smiling Hawk drained Master Radiant's energy, killing Radiant and resulting in him becoming a ghost.]] Depending on how you complete the quest, Radiant will either [[spoiler:die at your hands or leave First Brother in charge o the school.]]

** The World Government runs on this trope. Few have ever seen the Five Elder Stars and interacted with them, and [[spoiler:only they know Imu, their only superior, exists at all.]] The former is outright enforced by law: Marines that aren't at ''least'' a Rear Admiral are strictly forbidden from laying eyes on the Elder Stars, and there's no indication what happens to civilians who do the same (but considering how fond the World Nobles the Elders lead are of having people MadeASlave, it's likely not good). [[spoiler:In the Egghead arc, Saint Jay Garcia Saturn arrives on Egghead, and is seen by a low-ranking Marine - the Elder in question blows off his head with a glance for his insolence]].

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Wilson Fisk likes to keep everything about his syndicate hidden and buried, and that extends to having the majority of his henchmen get their orders from an intermediary rather than from Fisk directly. In the first season, this is handled by James Wesley. In the third season, Fisk is under "house arrest", so the only ones who take direct orders from him are the corrupt FBI agents ostensibly "guarding" him. Everyone else gets their orders from Felix Manning.

* In ''Series/TheWire'', an international crime [[TheSyndicate syndicate]] is headed by a mysterious man known as "The Greek" who nobody outside the organization ever sees, regardless of how important their connection to the syndicate is. Instead, outsiders meet with The Greek's NumberTwo, a man called Spiros, usually at a run down little Greek diner with just a couple of booths and a little bar area. Everyone wonders who The Greek is, and no one suspects that he's [[HiddenInPlainSight the little old man with a kindly appearance who sips coffee and reads the newspaper at the bar]], sitting just close enough to listen to Spiros and the people he talks with.

** The World Government runs on this trope. Few have ever seen the Five Elder Stars and interacted with them, and [[spoiler:only they know Imu, their only superior, exists at all.]] The former is outright enforced by law: Marines that aren't at ''least'' a Rear Admiral are strictly forbidden from laying eyes on the Elder Stars, and there's no indication what happens to civilians who do the same (it's likely not good, though). [[spoiler:In the Egghead arc, Saint Jay Garcia Saturn arrives on Egghead, and is seen by a low-ranking Marine - the Elder in question blows off his head with a glance for his insolence]].

** The World Government runs on this trope. Few have ever seen the Five Elder Stars and interacted with them, and [[spoiler:only they know Imu, their only superior, exists at all.]] The former is outright enforced by law: Marines are strictly forbidden from laying eyes on the Elder Stars, and [[spoiler:the moment one does in the Finale arcs the Elder Star in question blows off his head with a glance for his insolence]].

* Played with in ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances''. When Hyacinth travels on the [=QE2=] cruise ship, she is desperate the meet the captain, and to dine at his table. When all her efforts to meet him fail, she then wonders if the crew have lost the captain.