History Main / WhoIsThisGuyAgain

* "Future Guy", the recurring one-man OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness from ''StarTrekEnterprise''.
** They never did give him a name, or even come up with one.

** It also doesn't help that lots of characters have multiple names. So Elwë, which in Sindar is Elu, not to be confused with Eol, is aka Thingol, which in Quenya is Singollo, not to be confused with Sulimo, who is Manwë.

* Happened with Tycho and Gabe early on in ''PennyArcade'''s history before they were [[SureWhyNot mistaken for]] [[AuthorAvatar author avatars]].

* In ''{{Shortpacked}}'' there's Ken, who rarely showed up and had no importance for a long time. This was lampshaded when one of the characters asked who he was despite him working at the titular store for 6 months at that point. The next strip featured Ken actually doing something.

* Also frequent in GilbertAndSullivan; many of their operettas have a character whose name is given in the script and program, but never mentioned (or barely mentioned) onstage: Pish-Tush in ''TheMikado'' and Cousin Hebe in ''[[Theater/HMSPinafore H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' are examples.

* Also frequent in GilbertAndSullivan; many of their operettas have a character whose name is given in the script and program, but never mentioned (or barely mentioned) onstage: Pish-Tush in ''TheMikado'' and Cousin Hebe in ''HMSPinafore'' are examples.

* While most of these are the result of not seeing names ''enough'', the ''HonorHarrington'' series sometimes strays into this via an overabundance of names. Each character will generally be introduced with full name, rank, and title the first time they appear. In later appearances, they'll be referred to interchangeably with any one of the four (First name, Last name, rank, or title, or some combination thereof), which can make it seem like four different characters are being addressed, when it's all the same person. Combine this with having to keep track of several ships and their whole crews (on both sides), and it's easy to forget who's who.

* The Ewok Princess Leia first meets in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' is called "Wicket", but you only find that out in the end titles, as the Ewoks can't talk. In fact, because of their lack of speech, the word "Ewok" as referring to the little furry creatures is never mentioned in the actual film either. Makes you wonder how Han Solo ever found out Chewbacca's name...

* The Ewok Princess Leia first meets in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' is called "Wicket", but you only find that out in the end titles, as the Ewoks can't talk. In fact, because of their lack of speech, the word "Ewok" as referring to the little furry creatures is never mentioned in the actual film either. Makes you wonder how Han Solo ever found out Chewbacca's real name...

[[quoteright:328:[[AxisPowersHetalia http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Canadasan_2540.png]]]] [[caption-width-right:328:Oh, it's Canad- [[RunningGag wait, who?]]]]

* One of the things [[http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/howlingcommandos.htm The X-Axis]] criticised ''Nick Fury's Howling Commandos'' for:

[[folder:{{WesternAnimation}}]]
* {{Futurama}} had a RunningGag in which every episode featuring [[MemeticMutation Scruffy. The janitor.]] Would be treated as the introduction of [[MemeticMutation Scruffy. The janitor.]]
* That one girl... uh... Mitsuki, from ''KappaMikey''... has a name no one in the show remembers. Probably because she's the level-headed straight woman in a show full of loonies.
-->''Mitsuki:'' "Mitsuki. I've been on the show for five years."
-->''Ozu:'' "Yes. This stranger has a point."
* In ''TheSimpsons'', no matter how many disasters or near-meltdowns Homer causes, Mr. Burns never remembers his name. It gets to the point where it becomes a BerserkButton in the two-parter ''Who Shot Mr. Burns?''
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* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': [[spoiler:Noah Bennett, Claire 'The Cheerleader' Bennett's adoptive father]], though he became a major character well into the series, was originally a menacing "government conspiracy" type figure. Fans nicknamed him HRG, or "Horn Rimmed Glasses," for his defining physical trait. (Even though his glasses are browline, not horn-rimmed)
** The name "HRG" was coined by Tim Kring and used in the original pilot script, so as not to give away the reveal that he's Claire's father.
** The series has a habit of being reticent with the names of the morally ambiguous Company operatives. Neither [[spoiler:Eden [=McCain=]]] nor [[spoiler:Bob Bishop]] is named in their first appearances, HRG didn't get a first name till the very end of season one, and they held off until ''season four'' on giving out the Haitian's name as Rene.

** Minato has a romantic subplot that is an important part of the 2nd ½ of the series, at least. Before that, there's [[MostCommonSuperPower Two]] [[MsFanservice Big]] [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean Reasons]] that make her memorable...

* This happens to Luigi constantly in the ''MarioAndLuigi'' games, especially in ''[[MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Superstar Saga]]''.

-->--[[LetsPlay Let's Fail]] [[NewSuperMarioBrosWii New Super Mario Bros. Wii]], long after misidentifying Roy Koopa as Morton Koopa Jr. earlier in their playthrough

*** JustifiedTrope, since she's always in her house.

* In {{Shortpacked}} there's Ken, who rarely showed up and had no importance for a long time. This was lampshaded when one of the characters asked who he was despite him working at the titular store for 6 months at that point. The next strip featured Ken actually doing something.

* In TheSimpsons, no matter how many disasters or near-meltdowns Homer causes, Mr. Burns never remembers his name. It gets to the point where it becomes a BerserkButton in the two-parter ''Who Shot Mr. Burns?''

* Xykon treats protagonists like this in general, particular Roy and the {{Order of the Stick}}. During their showdown at the battle of Azure City, he eventually recalls Roy from the dungeon with the first gate as "that guy! Who was angry about… something…"