History Main / WhoIsThisGuyAgain

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

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** [[BigBad Palpatine's]] name is never given in the original trilogy; he is only ever refered to as The Emperor (or variants like "Your Highness", "My master" etc.), but he is called Senator Palpatine in his first scene in ''ThePhantomMenace'', which is an EasterEgg for those fans who learnt is name [[AllThereInTheManual from other sources]] and he becomes a DevilInPlainSight for them (and those who looked at the cast credits / knew the actor, of course).

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* 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 ''[[Theatre/HMSPinafore H.M.S. Pinafore]]'' are examples.

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* Xykon treats protagonists like this in general, particular Roy and the ''OrderOfTheStick.'' 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…"

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* "Future Guy", the recurring one-man OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness from ''StarTrekEnterprise''. They never did give him a name, or even come up with one. Eventually, the StarTrekNovelVerse offered answers; see StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations.

Contrast with IntroDump. The inversion is RememberTheNewGuy, where a new character is introduced that has never appeared or been mentioned before, but the cast are long familiar with to the point where the audience should have already met them.

* The ''French'' {{macekre}} of ''DragonBall'' went through this phase on the Saiyan and Namek arcs, as villains, even Vegeta and Freeza, ''respective {{Big Bad}}s of each arc'', would be called almost always the rather generic term "the enemy", confusing the hell out of viewers. Some villains, such as [[EnsembleDarkhorse Zarbon]], were lucky to have their name said on dialogue once or twice, but never on recaps. At one random episode, they started giving people names again.

* Helmeppo from ''{{One Piece}}'' is the butt of this several times. Despite being one of the series' first villains, neither Luffy nor Zoro remember him or his name when he and Coby see them again in Water 7, much to his comedic chagrin.

** In an attempt to make this easier on the viewers, when next to each other, such as on the mat or in post-leg interviews, teams sit or stand in the same order as their names will appear on the screen. Meaning the racer whose name is first is always on the viewer's left.

** This is largely subverted in the later seasons, though, as he gained [[EnsembleDarkhorse enough popularity]] to be directly addressed by his name even several times in a single episode.

* WilliamShakespeare was often stingy with character names. In ''{{Hamlet}}'', Claudius is never actually named except in the stage directions; the other characters all just refer to him as "the King". In ''TwelfthNight'', Viola doesn't reveal her real name to the audience until the very last scene (though she has the excuse that she spends most of the play in disguise).

* One of the major problems EA's RPG, ''{{Lord of the Rings The Third Age}}'', is that the people in your "fellowship" rarely ever say each other's names. In the first with Idrial and Berethor, they're introduced properly, but in all the other cutscenes, playable characters are called by their race: [[TheHero Gondorian]], [[OurElvesAreBetter she-elf]], [[TheArcher ranger]], [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]], [[MsFanservice human]]. You can find out their names if you open up the menu, but it's easier to think of them as [[{{Expy}} Not-Aragorn, Not-Gimli...]]

* 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…"
** Although sometimes he can remember Roy's last name, [[TheyCallHimSword Greenhilt]], well enough to make a passing comment about "Bluepommel."

* Any time Penny appears in DomainTnemrot, at least one commenter will ask who she is.

* The terrible lighting and sound quality of ''AxEm'' makes it impossible to figure out who ''anyone'' is, which isn't helped by the fact that some major characters die offscreen and others seem to die onscreen [[BeyondTheImpossible multiple times.]]

* The Ewok that 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" is never mentioned in the actual film either.

* Kissy Suzuki's name doesn't appear ''anywhere'' in ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'', despite her being the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girl]] who Bond shacks up with at the end of the movie. They even get married in her very first scene, for Pete's sake!

* The main character in ''FightClub'' is never named through the entire movie and in the credits is only called "narrator."

* In ''FiftyTwo'', Bea plays a very important (If minor) role within the series. She consoles [[ElongatedMan Ralph Dibny]], [[WhatTheHellHero confronts]] BoosterGold, and serves as the heart of the hero community, all while only speaking on the phone and later appearing "on-panel" for two small scenes. Unfortunately, she is only ''ever'' addressed as "Bea," and is never called by her superhero name, last name, or shown in her costume. The series does not make it easy to identify which character she is in the DCUniverse.

* In ''[[Film/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons and Dragons]]'' the dwarf’s name (Elwood) is only ever mentioned in a deleted scene.

** An UrbanLegend is that Boba Fett's name is never given in the original trilogy, except in the credits; it is, but it is only given briefly and you need to ''really'' pay attention- Han Solo shouts "Boba Fett! Boba Fett! Where is he?" in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'' immediately before he [[spoiler: accidently kills him]]. Since this is an action scene and his name is never given on-screen, its unsurprising that many people didn't hear it.

* Kissy Suzuki's name doesn't appear ''anywhere'' in ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'', despite her being the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girl]] who Bond shacks up with at the end of the movie. They even get married in her very first scene, for petes sake!

* Marceline's Dad in AdventureTime. For his first episode, after being summoned from ''The Nightosphere'' where he rules, he's referred to as either "Marceline's Dad" or "The Lord of Evil" while he's roaming the earth and sucking out people's souls. [[spoiler: We later find out his name, Hunson Abadeer, when Finn and Jake go to the ''The Nightosphere'' in season 4.]]

* Colonel Mertz von Quirnheim in ''{{Valkyrie}}'', despite being a fairly important character, you only learn his name [[spoiler:via screen caption while he's being executed.]]

Contrast with IntroDump.

* The Ewok 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" is never mentioned in the actual film either.

* Kissy Suzuki's name doesn't appear ''anywhere'' in ''YouOnlyLiveTwice'', despite her being the [[GirlOfTheWeek Bond Girl]] who Bond shacks up with at the end of the movie.

** This was actually a meta joke about how Andrew was the only member of the trio who had never appeared on the show before, so fans would likely be calling him that anyway. Originally Tucker himself was going to be in the group, but his actor wasn't available so they had to create someone new.

* 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" is never mentioned in the actual film either.
** In ThePhantomMenace Darth Maul speaks very few words and has very few words spoken to him. Not a single one of those is his name.
*** Only true StarWars nerds can name the aliens with the droid army in the prequels.

* The main character in ''Fight Club'' is never named through the enitre movie and in the credits is only called "narrator."

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

* In ''{{Portal 2}}'', despite him being one of the VERY few characters, you only "officially" learn Wheatley's name around a third of the way through the game. Granted, this only happens if you play with subtitles off and have ignored pretty much every prior coverage of the game, but still.

->'''Tristan:''' Hey look, it's some random stranger we've never met before!
->'''Joey:''' 'Scuse me pal, but have you seen any minor characters from season 1 around here?
->'''Bakura:''' Actually, guys, I was a minor character from season 1! Remember?
->'''Joey:''' Sorry pal, doesn't ring a bell.

* In ''Yu-Gi-OhTheAbridgedSeries'', Bakura is this, many of the characters not recognizing him recognizing him, even though he goes to school with the protagonists and plays a significant role in the entire series.

* One of the major problems EA's RPG, ''{{Lord of the Rings The Third Age}}'', is that the people in your "fellowship" rarely ever say each other's names. In the first with Idrial and Berethor, they're introduced properly, but in all the other cutscenes, playable characters are called by their race: [[TheHero Gondorian]], [[OurElvesAreBetter she-elf]], ranger, [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarf]], [[MsFanservice human]]. You can find out their names if you open up the menu, but it's easier to think of them as [[{{Expy}} Not-Aragorn, Not-Gimli...]]

* While most of these are the result of not seeing names ''enough'', the ''Literature/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 ''French'' {{macekre}} of ''DragonBall'' went through this phase on the Saiyan and Namek arcs, as villains (except Vegeta and Freeza, respective {{Big Bad}}s of each arc) would be called almost always the rather generic term "the enemy", confusing the hell out of viewers. Some villains, such as [[EnsembleDarkhorse Zarbon]], were lucky to have their name said on dialogue once or twice, but never on recaps. Later arcs started giving people names again.

*** A funny example of this trope, seeing as the past 3 years were spent hearing everyone call the Haitian... 'The Haitain.' As soon as the series names him, every character in the series starts using his real name in all references to him. More than likely, the writers just couldn't think of a name until season four.
* Tom on ''{{Lost}}'' first appeared in the season 1 finale but was not named besides being credited as "Mr. Friendly"; his repeated appearances in season 2 also left him without a real name. When his name was finally revealed as Tom in the season 2 finale, some fans continued calling him Mr. Friendly, to the point that up until [[spoiler:his death]] the press releases continued to call the character "Tom/Mr. Friendly" to avoid confusion. As [[NoNameGiven his last name has never been revealed]], some speculate his full name is "Tom Friendly," a name that was made pseudo-canon in the captions of an enhanced episode.

* A running gag in season 6 of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was that no one could remember Andrew's name. He was always "that other guy." His biggest claim to fame was being "Tucker's brother."

* The rebooted ''BattlestarGalactica'' had this problem with the Cylon clones, especially the Sixes, which frequently had, but didn't use distinct names. It was important to know which you were watching (as they were distinct characters), but there was frequently very little way to tell. Of course, the fact they all impersonate each other anyway all the time didn't help. Avoided for the most part with the Eights when [[spoiler: Sharon Agathon took the callsign "Athena"]], and names didn't matter as much with the other models as they had less differentiation. And they never even named the hallucinations, which got the FanNicknames Head!Six and Head!Baltar.

* 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" is never mentioned in the actual film either. Makes you wonder how Han Solo ever found out Chewbacca's name...