History Main / TheNondescript

** The Emperor of Mankind seems to have some sort of glamour on him that allows him to appear to be the idealogized version of a man to whoever gazes upon him. Psyker blanks, like the Sisters of Silence, see past this and thus know he is a very nondescript, dark haired man. This isn't surprising given that he is so powerful that he can hide behind illusions or even transform into anything he desires.

** The Emperor of Mankind seems to have some sort of glamour on him that allows him to appear to be the idealogized version of a man to whoever gazes upon him. Any blanks like the Sisters of Silence see past this and thus know he is a very nondescript, dark haired man. This isn't surprising given that he is so powerful that he can hide behind illusions or even transform into anything he desires.

* One ''Literature/HarryPotter'' ForWantOfANail and AlternateUniverse fanfic titled ''The Art of Hidden Personas'' has the main character, Hadrian Walker, basically Harry born and grown under different circumstances, assumes such a disguise. It is made possible via copious use of advanced glamours and also unremarkable behavior. When attention is brought upon him most of the Hogwarts staff have trouble putting a face to his name and even ''{{Chessmaster}}'' Dumbledore is affected.

* ''Series/WouldILieToYou'': In the first episode of series 7, Creator/DavidMitchell claims [[spoiler:truthfully]] that it is his ambition to be TheNondescript:

* BBC journalist Nigel Wrench, who managed to score an intervew with Banksy about his first exhibition, before the "Who is Banksy?" mystery became part of the art, has said that when people ask him what Banksy looks like all he can say is "He was a young bloke in a hoodie", and he thinks this is how he's able to maintain his anonymity.

Certain characters take this to superpower levels: they aren't merely average looking, they are so nondescript that even the narrator seems unable to pin down any of their features - or, in fact, to tell us anything about them. One gets the impression that these characters are deliberately [[{{Glamour}} doing]] [[WeirdnessCensor something]] to make themselves invisible in plain sight.

** The young Vetinari manages this without magic in ''Literature/{{Night Watch|Discworld}}'', training himself to stand perfectly still and eschewing the usual Assassin jet-black[[note]]There's actually a reason for this- Assassins are ''supposed'' to be somewhat noticeable to give the victims a chance[[note]] for more drab colours.

* In the Creator/TimDorsey novel ''Orange Crush'', there's a minor character named Joe Blow, who is totally average in both appearance and habits. So average that he is the perfect barometer to predict who the population as a whole will vote for, resulting in him getting stalked by the media every election cycle.

However, beneath that yawn-worthy exterior lurks something very interesting indeed. The Nondescript is often a spy, or ConMan, or criminal, whose looks make it easy for him to get away with what he's doing because people either can't remember what he looks like or [[SuspectIsHatless can't describe him well when they do]]. Other times, The Nondescript is just a PlayedForLaughs attribute of a character.

* ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'' is a ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fanfic with multiple types of psychics, including one known as "Inducers." Inducers can manipulate emotions in others, including apathy and interest, and one uses this to remain completely unnoticable. She can go as far as walking [[spoiler: herself and a mind-controlled River]] right past the rest of the crew while they're distracted [[spoiler: by an injured Mal]] without anyone noticing.

* Mademoiselle Blanche in ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons'' is so nondescript that [[spoiler:she passes off as her deceased sister without even changing the passport photograph]].

* Dimitrios, the arch villain of ''Literature/ACoffinForDimitrios'' manages to escape capture despite all of his crimes and betrayals, because he's quite ordinary looking apart from his [[UhOhEyes terrifying eyes]]. The descriptions of him from a co-worker, an ex-lover, and a former employer are so general that they could fit thousands of people. At one point an older, well-dressed Dimitrios is described as looking like a diplomat at a state dinner, but a fairly unimportant guest who no one would pay attention to and would fade into the background.

** And also Susan Rodriquez's associate Martin, the epitome of this trope, shows up in ''Death Masks''. He deliberately cultivates this in every aspect, as a way of suppressing his [[VampireRefugee infection]]. This is also very handy in the battlefield, as the enemy fighters, wizards, and snipers do not consider him a threat ''at all''.

** At least one Herald of Valdemar has been picked out for "special training" specifically because he was so nondescript.

* In a two-part story in ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' #542-543, Batman hunts a SerialKiller known as 'Faceless'. Faceless turns out to be mailman, and all of his victims were people on his route: all of whom saw him every day, and none of whom noticed him or could remember a thing about him.

* In a two-part story in ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' #542-543, batman hunts a SerialKiller known as 'Faceless'. Faceless turns out to be mailman, and all of his victims were people on his route: all of whom saw him every day, and none of whom noticed him or could remember a thing about him.

* A shapeshifting alien in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is trying to pass himself off as human. When the main characters see his morph, it is described as, "the kind of guy who would disappear instandly in a crowd. The kind of guy who would blend. The kind of guy [[TheLeader Jake]] might have become if Fate hadn't chosen a spectacularly odd path for him."

* Shiraori of ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' uses a camoflage magic which interferes with people's ability to perceive her features. Unless they spend enough time around her or already know what she looks like, they will only perceive her as being "white".

** In the Literature/CiaphasCain books, Cain mentions the Lord General's personal psyker is, unusually, very powerful while still being sane with the only issue being that he has a dull and boring personality. On top of that, he is incredibly non-descript and even after several meetings, Cain can't even remember the faintest details about him. Again, like the Emperor, this makes sense. Powerful in control psykers aren't likely to develop mutations or heed the whisperings of the warp. They can very neatly sidestep the dangers of their powers and be incredibly well adjusted. This is what makes these psykers so dangerous. [[ParanoiaFuel You could be standing next to the most powerful psyker in the universe and not know it.]] The Emperor made it a point once he came out of hiding that everyone who gazed at him would know EXACTLY how powerful he was.

* This is a power you can inflict on others in ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters''.
* Having a nondescript appearance is a perk in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' that causes people to just naturally assume you're not involved in things.

* A magic item described in a base Franchise/TheWorldOfDarkness splatbook called ''Reliquary'' also does this

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'': An InformedAbility of Agent 47, who is said to be deliberately engineered to be multiracial so he could fit in anywhere without drawing attention. He doesn't actually look multiracial, and he's also got a barcode tattooed to the back of his shaved head, which is quite distinctive. And it's topped off by a $3,000 suit and custom handguns. In spite of it all, he seems to have no trouble passing himself off as just about anyone.

** In fact, his face is so generic that it have become something of a sport to find his lookalikes in quite unusual times and circumstances, like in UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar,[[note]]Who ''does'' look eerily similar in ''some'' portraits, but not much so in others[[/note]] or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnolfini_Portrait Renaissance Italian merchant Giovanni Arnolfini.]]