History Main / Unperson

* 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]].

* ''Film/{{Anon}}'' takes place in a world of total surveillance where EverythingIsOnline. The plot revolves around a MysteriousStranger 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. When they find out about this, the authorities are more concerned about the idea of people slipping through the system than they are about the killing spree she appears to be on.

* A classic urban legend (occasionally couched as a lateral-thinking puzzle), usually referred to as "The Vanishing Lady" or "The Vanishing Hotel Room", relates the story of a mother and daughter, on holiday in Europe, who checked into a hotel late one night and booked separate rooms. The next morning, the daughter complained of not feeling well and told the mother to go out and enjoy her vacation. When she returned, the daughter's hotel room had a different occupant and the hotel owner and staff refused to acknowledge the existence of the daughter, telling the mother that she had checked in alone and bringing out the hotel registry (where guests signed in) to demonstrate that only one signature existed. The mother eventually discovered [[spoiler:that the daughter had come down with a fast-acting disease and had died, and the hotelier had covered up her stay because he feared that having an illness and death under his roof would cause travelers to stay elsewhere (whether the mother or anyone else got sick afterward is left to the reader's imagination).]] The story is frequently set during the 1889 Paris Exposition with the mother and daughter portrayed as British tourists.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'', God declares this punishment on three Israelite dynasties within the [[Literature/BooksOfKings 1st Book of Kings]], beginning with Jeroboam I and ending with Ahab, for turning the nation against Him and towards idolatry following their split from the House of David.

* 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.

[[caption-width-right:280:The consequences of [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness falling out of favor]] with [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin the Father of Nations]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' fan-comic ''Webcomic/Deal'': To relieve Pacifica's devastation after the death of their son, Dipper erases all evidence of the child's existence and does a mass brain-wipe, essentially retconning Dustin's existence away to anyone besides Dipper.

* In ''Film/ThreeHundred'', Xerxes threatens to do this to all of Sparta if Leonidas doesn't bow down to the King of Kings.

* In the ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' series, after it became known that Freddy Krueger grows more powerful based on how much he is feared and by how many people know of him, the town of Springwood prior to the events of ''Film/FreddyVsJason'' tried to erase all knowledge of his existence and his murder spree to spare their children. But anyone who already came in contact with Freddy was put in Westin Hills Asylum and kept on Hypnocil permanently. There's even a ward for those who were put in comas from overdoses of the medication. Summarized in the [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010 remake]]: "Freddy Krueger never existed."

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' episode "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS3E12TheVoid The Void]]", any memory or photograph of Molly had been erased because [[spoiler: she was sent to the void due to the world deeming her "a mistake"]].

* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', as far as everyone knows, when Jahad was first exploring the Tower before becoming its king, he had ten companions, who then became the heads fo the Ten Great Families. (They did have other people with them, but these ten were the leaders.) What almost nobody knows is that there were really twelve companions, two of whom rebelled against Jahad and were erased from history after they lost.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince:'' The elven archmage Aaravos is written about in multiple books, but when Viren tries to read them the words melt. It's unclear if this effect would be universal, or something Aaravos did to deny Viren information specifically.
** However the [[AllThereInTheManual supplementary]] book Callum's Spellbook, Callum mentions the same thing happened to him when he tried looking up the mage.

* The true name of ''Film/TheAccountant'' is never revealed, even though the authorities know he has a military background and prior conviction. Partly this is because his VoiceWithAnInternetConnection has hacked his records, but also because the military service of both him and his father are redacted, so they don't even know who he was originally.

* In the Creator/AllySheedy comedy ''Film/MaidToOrder1987'', 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/{{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. When they find out about this, the authorities are more concerned about the idea of people slipping through the system than they are about the killing spree she appears to be on.

* In ''Literature/TheBible'', God declares this punishment on three Israelite dynasties within the 1st Book of Kings, beginning with Jeroboam I and ending with Ahab, for turning the nation against him and towards idolatry following their split from the House of David.

* ''Machinima/CivilProtection'': The characters, two [[BigBrotherIsEmployingYou members of the Dystopian police force]], mention how their captain doesn't shout at people he doesn't like. He just stares at them and they disappear a few days later.
* ''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. [[spoiler:This also 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.]]

This trope is OlderThanFeudalism — traitors and other such undesirables in the Roman Empire were known to be given this treatment. Wiki/TheOtherWiki's article on it shows Roman murals that have had unwanted people's faces chiselled out of them.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DoubleDragon'' cartoon, the Shadow Master intends to destroy the Dragon Dojo (the Dragon Warriors have been banished to the Shadow Mural, and the Lees are in another dimension), saying that once it occurs, "it will be as though (the Double Dragons) never existed."

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). Enforcement of this trope may take the form of TheScottishTrope. 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, ScrewedByTheLawyers and ExiledFromContinuity. If a creator attempts to do this to a work of theirs, its BuryYourArt. 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.

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). Enforcement of this trope may take the form of TheScottishTrope. 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.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': The only thing Mirabel Madrigal knows about her uncle Bruno is that he could see the future and left about ten years ago. Any mention of him is bound to result in a quick "WE DON'T TALK ABOUT BRUNO!", and his un-personing even [[WarningSong gets a song of its own]]!

* 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 [[WarningSong gets a song of its own]]!

* 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''.

* ''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]]!

* In ''WebComic/DocRat'', a couple supporting characters had deaths staged so they could simplify the lives of others. In both cases, they assumed new identities in the United States:

* In ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'', as far as everyone knows, when Jahad was first exploring the Tower before becoming its king, he had ten companions, who then became the heads fo the Ten Great Families. (They did have other people with them, but these ten were the leaders.) What almost nobody knows is that there were really twelve companions, two of whom rebelled against Jahad and were erased from history after they lost.

* Meta-example with ''WesternAnimation/TheTwistedTalesOfFelixTheCat''. The ending credits give both Creator/OttoMessmer (the creator of the whole WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat franchise) and Creator/JoeOriolo (who [[WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat revived the character in the late 50's]] and kept the series alive from then on) credit as the creator of Felix the Cat, while Pat Sullivan, who owned the studio that made the original cartoons, but had virtually nothing to do with creating the character or drawing the cartoons, and falsely took credit for creating Felix in his lifetime, isn't mentioned at all.