History Main / Unperson

* Happens twice in ''Film/TheTenCommandments''. First Seti chooses Moses as his heir and states his name will be on all buildings in the empire while Ramses' will be nowhere. When Moses is revealed as Hebrew, Seti reverses the situation and orders Moses' name wiped from everything and makes it illegal to speak his name.

See also IHaveNoSon (where a child is disavowed by their family), ExpendableClone (where clones aren't given person status, or it's revoked upon [[TomatoInTheMirror discovery they're a clone]]), IWasNeverHere (when this trope is requested on one's own behalf) and NameAmnesia (when characters accidentally or intentionally un-person themselves). Compare RetGone, where the affected person is ''literally'' erased from existence, and ItsAWonderfulPlot, where they are not, but it's shown what the world would be like if they were. Contrast InventedIndividual (who never existed but is made to appear that they do), DeathOfPersonality (when someone ceases to exist from their perspective), the {{Outlaw}} (whose existence isn't covered up but no longer exists ''legally'') and TheSpook (who actively works to keep themselves unpersoned). If the unpersoning is executed poorly, it may lead to the StreisandEffect (see Herostratus under Real Life — History). When this happens because of meta reasons, for example, if there are copyrights or other laws involved and someone cannot use a certain character anymore, or because the writers have just opted to write them out with no explanation, see ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. When GodsNeedPrayerBadly, this is a good way to [[KillTheGod kill them]]. When there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, this is often the best punishment. Not to be confused with a [[UsefulNotes/UnitedNations UN person]]. See PersonaNonGrata when someone is told in no uncertain terms never to return.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}},'' Miguel's great-grandfather left the family to become a musician and never returned; as such, the family refuses to say anything about him, and his face was removed from the photo on their [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofrenda ofrenda]]. Miguel doesn't even know his name, but finds evidence that he may have been his idol, the famous musician Ernesto de la Cruz. [[spoiler:It was actually Héctor, Ernesto's friend and partner, who never returned because Ernesto murdered him]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}:'' In Mirabel's opening song, where she explains each member of the family and their magical power, mentioning her estranged uncle Bruno earns a quick "We don't talk about Bruno!" from the nearby crowd. All Mirabel knows is that he could see the future and left about ten years ago. Later his un-personing gets [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvWRMAU6V-c a song of its own]]!

-->-- ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''

See also IHaveNoSon (where a child is disavowed by his/her family), ExpendableClone (where clones aren't given person status, or it's revoked upon [[TomatoInTheMirror discovery they're a clone]]), IWasNeverHere (when this trope is requested on one's own behalf) and NameAmnesia (when characters accidentally or intentionally un-person themselves). Compare RetGone, where the affected person is ''literally'' erased from existence, and ItsAWonderfulPlot, where they are not, but it's shown what the world would be like if they were. Contrast InventedIndividual (who never existed but is made to appear that they do), DeathOfPersonality (when someone ceases to exist from their perspective), the {{Outlaw}} (whose existence isn't covered up but no longer exists ''legally'') and TheSpook (who actively works to keep themselves unpersoned). If the unpersoning is executed poorly, it may lead to the StreisandEffect (see Herostratus under Real Life — History). When this happens because of meta reasons, for example, if there are copyrights or other laws involved and someone cannot use a certain character anymore, or because the writers have just opted to write them out with no explanation, see ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. When GodsNeedPrayerBadly, this is a good way to [[KillTheGod kill them]]. When there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, this is often the best punishment. Not to be confused with a [[UsefulNotes/UnitedNations UN person]]. See PersonaNonGrata when someone is told in no uncertain terms never to return.

** Alfon Blutenstein staged a battle with his father, the Boss Alpha of their pack, and is believed to have suffered a grave injury. After Doc Rat and Doc Wolf leave with Alfon in an ambulance, the ruse ends as they begin to simulate a code. Officially, Alfon is presumed dead from here. This permitted the Boss Alpha to declare that his pack would no longer hunt civilized animals, and the meat packing interests under his control would begin serving "ethical" (read: non-sapient) animal meat. It also permitted Simon Jaegermond (rechristened Quarrydog Schlag) to not have to do the traditional ritual first hunt for his right of passage.
** Toby Allanson, a former partner of Shirley Dryandra and biological father of Jarrad Dryandra, was long presumed "taken"--or hunted down and eaten. As it turns out, he was living in the shadows with the pen name "Doctor Krymp", writing children's books for a living. Dr. Benjamin Rat got them back together. Eventually, Toby staged his death so Jarrad could inherit his wealth to that point, and emigrated to America, where he would continue writing Doctor Krymp books as a ghost writer.

* In ''[[Webcomic/WalkyVerse It's Walky]]'', it is revealed midway through the story that the GovernmentConspiracy that employs the main characters is frequently infiltrated by an even shadowier conspiracy who edit their records and memories and then vanish again. If anyone has to be killed: "Well, they never existed."
* The Eastern Gods and the First World of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' were completely destroyed by the Snarl. The surviving gods don't tell anyone about them lest they get the bright idea to try and harness its power. Similarly, the Paladins of Azure City traveled the world to purge all mention of the Rifts. Given Girard's bitter comment to Soon regarding Kraagor, there is a hint that the memory of their dead friend would be part of this purge. This was later confirmed as the non-vandalized inscription on Kraagor's tomb says "Sacrifice Forgotten". It's likely to say that history by and large doesn't remember him.

* The hyenas of ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' use this as their ultimate punishment, even worse than 'mere' death. One's name is eaten and one is cast from the tribe and forgotten...in theory.
* In the backstory of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', on planet Alternia, a troll known only as The Signless or The Sufferer led a revolution much more subversive than any the war-torn planet had seen. When the Sufferer was killed, all record of him was stricken from history, and it was made illegal to speak or write of him, even in private journals. However, his movement went underground and secretly kept his memory alive.
* Downplayed in ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors''. Mori is revealed to have genetic engineering in her backstory chapter, and as a child she was exiled from her home country and her family name was obliterated magically so that nobody, not even she herself, can remember it. "Genetically engineered people have no family" was Thoria's rule.
* In Silver's time in ''Webcomic/SonicTheComicOnline'' this happens to [[spoiler:Sonic]] who is replaced in the history books by [[spoiler:Tails]].
* In ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'', Rosemaster has the ability to tamper with certain people's memories, and her method of choice for dealing with anyone who's not affected by her powers is to remove them from the scene and [[LaserGuidedAmnesia make everyone else forget that they were even there]] (and [[InterfaceScrew erase them from the website's cast page and banner]], for good measure). She first targets [[spoiler:Nautilus]] and [[spoiler:Commander Caboodle]]; she's willing to leave [[spoiler:Peridot]] alone, but ends up un-personing her as well [[spoiler:to prevent her from revealing Rosemaster's MacGuffinDeliveryService]].

* ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'': The term is actually used for people whose social credit score is so low that they can no longer buy food. One of the main characters is implied to become one after she does something that definitely tanked her score into the high negatives, as she is promptly mistaken for a squatter in her own appartment, her phone resets to a state in which it acts as if it has no owner and the phone belonging to someone checking on her claims she doesn't exist.

* ''Film/{{Anon}}'' takes place in a world of total surveillance where EverythingIsOnline. The plot revolves around a MysteriousWoman who doesn't appear on the system--anyone looking at her sees an UNKNOWN: ERROR message instead of the usual social media data. She hasn't even created a fake identity for herself as she'd rather be totally anonymous. The authorities are more concerned about people slipping through the system than they are about the killing spree she appears to be on.

* ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' has an attempt to do a lesser version of this - make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man,because the reveal is damaging the lives of both Peter and those next to him. Peter mucks Doctor Strange's spell, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero and terrible things happen]]. [[spoiler:It's ultimately fixed by making everyone forget about Peter Parker (though not Spider-Man), rendering the poor kid a complete stranger when not in his mask.]]

* ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' has an attempt to do a lesser version of this - make people forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man,because the reveal is damaging the lives of both Peter and those next to him. Peter mucks Doctor Strange's spell, [[NiceJobBreakingJobHero and terrible things happen]]. [[spoiler:It's ultimately fixed by making everyone forget about Peter Parker (though not Spider-Man), rendering the poor kid a complete stranger when not in his mask.]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Earth is part of the Nemesite Empire but is a nature preserve, and the Nemesites regard humans as "wildlife". Jean takes offense at this, and Voluptua points out that, considering what citizenship in the Empire would entail, their [=unpersonhood=] [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100323.html is actually a blessing.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King1994}}'', Mufasa becomes this under Scar's regime. He so hated being in his brother's shadow all the time, he made a law against saying his name.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', Mufasa becomes this under Scar's regime. He so hated being in his brother's shadow all the time, he made a law against saying his name.

* In the Creator/AllySheedy comedy ''Film/MaidToOrder'', she plays the daughter of a wealthy philanthropist (played by Tom Skerritt) who has been magically unpersoned from her father's life when her carefree hard-partying lifestyle wears thin on his patience with her, and thus she has to seek employment as a maid in order to regain any respect.

[[quoteright:201:[[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfTheUSSR https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yezhov_9576.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:201:The consequences of [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness falling out of favor]] with [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin the Father of Nations]].]]

* The Eastern Gods and the First World of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' were completely destroyed by the Snarl. The surviving gods don't tell anyone about them lest they get the bright idea to try and harness its power. Similarly, the Paladins of Azure City traveled the world to purge all mention of the Rifts. Given Girard's bitter comment to Soon regarding Kraagor, there is a hint that the memory of their dead friend would be part of this purge.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue: Reconstruction'':
** The Red Team "deletes" the Blue Team from the Command database, allowing them to achieve "victory". While this doesn't directly affect most of the Blues, it prevents Church from proving his identity when it comes into question.
--->'''Church:''' Alright, great, that's fantastic. Now I can't prove him wrong, ''and'' I don't get a paycheck.
** This also [[spoiler:prevented the Epsilon unit from being detected by the UNSC, as Caboose was the last one to have it, and because the Red Team "deleted" the blues, the UNSC had no knowledge of them.]]

* ''Webcomic/LovelyPeople'': The term is actually used for people whose social credit score is so low that they can no longer buy food. One of the main characters is implied to become one after she does something that definitely tanked her score into the high negatives, as she is promptly mistaken for a squatter in her own appartment and her phone resets to a state in which it acts as if it has no owner.

* In ''Film/TheHeat'' Mullins' family effectively treats her like this after she [[spoiler:arrested her brother Jason]] to the point that the family photo in their house is folded down to obscure her face. The only one who doesn't seem to feel like this is [[spoiler:said brother, and at the end of the movie she and the rest of the family reconcile]].
* In the ''Film/{{Apocalypse}}'' film series movie ''Tribulation'', Tom Canboro's brother Calvin doesn't remember their sister Eileen (a Christian who was CaughtUpInTheRapture) and has her image removed from all family pictures that were taken. Also a fellow police officer who was a Christian was removed from any records of him prior to the Rapture.

* ''Film/{{Replicas}}'': William erases [[spoiler:his family's memories of Zoe and throws everything belonging to her in the trash, since he was unable to clone her and he didn't want them to live with that knowledge.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': If Smileyland is destroyed and someone is given the task of creating it again, anyone who they don't think of/don't want to be in it will be erased from existence. In Episode 105, this happens to [[TheUnseen Ursula]] when Quack Quack tries doing it (since he doesn't know her), and [[spoiler:almost happens to Kaeloo, Quack Quack and Mr. Cat when Stumpy decides to do it since he's sick of their constant mockery of him.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': "Total Eclipsa the Moon" reveals that [[spoiler:historical documents have been significantly altered to cover up the existence of Eclipsa's half-monster daughter Meteora, and replaced by Festivia Butterfly]].
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Since Tam joined the First Order at the end of Season 1 after finding out Kaz was a spy for the Resistance and Yeager kept it a secret from her, Kaz attempted to apologize, but that only caused more trouble for the main cast leading them into an ambush by the First Order. After that incident, Kaz, Neeku and the rest avoid any mention of her ever having been a friend to them.

** In the end of the ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' episode "The Elite Guard", [[spoiler:Powell takes control of Sumdac Systems from Sari under the assumption that he found no evidence that Isaac had any offspring.]]

** An episode of ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'' has Megatron destroying statues of Cybertronian historical figures and wiping the archives, turning all of the planet's history up to that point into "nothing more than a rumor". The reason this isn't listed as a PropagandaMachine is because there was no one left to be told anything at that point.

* The 1950 film ''So Long at the Fair'', which is based on the legend of "The Vanishing Hotel Room". Jean Simmons plays the woman whose mother disappears and Dirk Bogarde plays the obligatory male hero who helps her solve the mystery.
* In the Ally Sheedy comedy ''Maid To Order'', she plays the daughter of a wealthy philanthropist (played by Tom Skerritt) who has been magically unpersoned from her father's life when her carefree hard-partying lifestyle wears thin on his patience with her, and thus she has to seek employment as a maid in order to regain any respect.

* ''Film/BlackHawkDown'': John Grimes (Ewan McGregor's character) is based on a soldier who took part in the Battle of Mogadishu in real life, John Stebbins. The name change was made [[BackedByThePentagon at the request of the US Army]], as Stebbins was court-martialed for raping his infant daughter in 1999.

* Brazilian film ''Bacurau'' has the inhabitants of the eponymous location discovering their city has apparently become an Unplace in the maps. That's part of a scheme of foreigners [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame intent on hunting the locals]].

* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' series "What is Reality?" has the Riddler erasing all of the records of his existence as Edward Nygma, including birth certificates, drivers licenses, employment records and so on.

See also IHaveNoSon, where a child is disavowed by his/her family; ExpendableClone, where clones aren't given person status (or it's revoked upon [[TomatoInTheMirror discovery they're a clone]]); IWasNeverHere, which is requested on one's own behalf; and NameAmnesia, for characters who accidentally or intentionally un-person themselves. Compare RetGone, where the affected person is ''literally'' erased from existence, and ItsAWonderfulPlot, where they are not, but it's shown what the world would be like if they were. Contrast InventedIndividual (who never existed but is made to appear that they do), DeathOfPersonality (when someone ceases to exist from their perspective), the {{Outlaw}} (whose existence isn't covered up but no longer exists ''legally'') and TheSpook (who actively works to keep themselves unpersoned). If the unpersoning is executed poorly, it may lead to the StreisandEffect (see Herostratus under Real Life — History). When this happens because of meta reasons, for example, if there are copyrights or other laws involved and someone cannot use a certain character anymore, or because the writers have just opted to write them out with no explanation, see ChuckCunninghamSyndrome. When GodsNeedPrayerBadly, this is a good way to [[KillTheGod kill them]]. When there is NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity, this is often the best punishment. Not to be confused with a [[UsefulNotes/UnitedNations UN person]]. See PersonaNonGrata when someone is told in no uncertain terms never to return.

* A meta-example happens with ''WesternAnimation/TheCasagrandes'' , a spin-off of ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' . Although the latter show is created Creator/ChrisSavino , he's not credited for the former due to being fired. Instead, it says "developed for television by Michael Rubiner", the current showrunner of The Loud House.