History Main / YouArenumberSix

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has a man coming from a city of metal whose only possessions were his name and his number. When he offered to share his number with a suffering woman, she stole both. Depending on how you resolve the situation, you may actually claim the number for yourself; it takes the form of a tattoo and offers protection ([[IncrediblyLamePun because there's safety in numbers]]).

** This may actually be justified; the Gems themselves use serial numbers instead of names, seeing as how (while they all have differing personalities), very few Gems are physically unique. For example, Peridot's full name is Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG. It would make sense that they would do something similar to the humans.

* ''Fanfic/TheGreatRedPandaRescue'': Mei, after being KidnappedForExperimentation, is referred to by the scientists who captured her as RP1. This not only dehumanizes her, but implies that they intend to find the other members of her family that can become red pandas, with Mei only being the first of their involuntary test subjects.

** Averted in the game's spiritual predecessor, ''VideoGame/PlanetZoo'' where animals have names common in [[NationalAnimalStereotypes countries and regions in which they occur]].

* In the [[GenderSwapped Borderverse]] the original 18 psychics are given the name "Psychic" and then the number they are in sequence. All of them have since adopted more common names (but only first names, no sir names) and only use their original title as a codename, for instance Michael is Psychic 13 and Gabriel is Psychic 7. The last of the originals, Psychic 19, has no new name, and is only called by the name "19". Except for Michael, who continues to call her different names until he finds one she likes.

* The main characters of ''WebComic/RomanticallyApocalyptic'' are known by their job--Captain, Sniper, Pilot, and Engineer. As the series goes on, the characters' real names have been revealed...except for the enigmatic Captain, who has only been identified as "Test Subject Seven" in a research project trying to find the luckiest person in the world.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* All of the patients in ''Roleplay/RubyQuest'' have Subject Numbers, which are used to refer to them in most notes (usually they're called by their actual names in person). A list:
** [[BearsAreBadNews Stitches]] is Subject #1.
** [[TheGhost Maddie]] is Subject #2.
** [[TheGhost Lucy]] is Subject #3.
** [[AstralProjection Jay]] is Subject #4.
** [[{{Deuteragonist}} Tom]] is Subject #5 [[spoiler: or at least, that's what the players thought for most of the quest. He's really Subject #6, and the person they ''thought'' was Subject #6 was really Subject #5]].
** [[LovecraftianSuperpower Tom Nook]] is Subject #6, and is often referred to by his number [[spoiler: even though it's wrong]] due to problems with the OneSteveLimit.
** [[TheProtagonist Ruby]] is Subject #7.
** [[BodyHorror Daisy]] is Subject #8.

* On anonymous {{Imageboards}} like Website/FourChan and 8chan, users typically address each other by the numbers automatically assigned to the posts they make, such as >>189342. On some boards each user is also assigned an eight-symbol alphanumeric indicator (for example, 45a7ef1d), which stays unique within a single thread and can be used to indentify their posts. There is an option to use names and password-protected tripcodes, but this is generally frowned upon unless absolutely necessary. Don't get used to it, namefag.

* The seven adopted children who form ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'' respond to their respective numbers up until they receive real names and proper superhero codenames, respectively. As adults they generally use names more than numbers when talking to or about each other. The exception is Number Five, who accidentally get stuck in the future before being given a name, and thus is referred to by number.

* In ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'', Sir Reginald Hargreeves named the seven children he adopted to make the Umbrella Academy after numbers. It wasn't until a few years after they were born that their robot mother Grace give them actual names. Number One being Luther, Two being Diego, Three being Allison, Four being Klaus, Six being Ben, and Seven being Viktor (né Vanya). Number Five disappeared through TimeTravel before they were named, and after his return he still only goes by his number. In Season 3 when Reginald adopts a different group of seven children to form The Sparrow Academy, they receive numbers and names, One is Marcus, Two is an alternate universe counterpart of Ben, Three is Fei, Four is Alphonso, Five is Sloane, Six is Jayme and Seven is Christopher.

* Similarly to the books it's based off of, in ''WesternAnimation/{{LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole}}'' owlets captured by The Pures Ones and enslaved by at St. Aegolius' Academy for Orphaned Owls are stripped of their names and assigned numbers for easier tracking of them.

* The entire KND in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' subscribes to this. Its operatives refer to one another by their given "[[FunetikAksent numbuhs]]" in all except the most dire situations. Rather unusually for this trope, the numbers are self-assigned. This has led to Numbuh 65.3, Numbuh 74.239, Numbuhs 44a and 44b (a set of twins), and [[GeniusBonus Numbuh T]], amongst others. As for the main characters in Sector V, their real names either include their respective numbers or at least reference them: Nigel ''Uno'' (Spanish and Italian for "one"), Hoagie P. Gilligan, ''Jr.'' (second in his family to have that name), Kuki ''Sanban'' (Japanese for "third"), Wallabee ''[[Music/TheBeatles Beatles]]'' (as in the Fab ''Four''), and Abigail ''Lincoln'' (UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln appears on the American ''five''-dollar bill).

* In ''Film/{{Pride}}'', this trope is subverted, as it isn't an identifier -- when Johnathan Blake describes his diagnosis with HIV in the early days of its discovery, doctors assigned names to diagnosed patients, before they stopped when the numbers got too large. "I'm Number 2".

** Iron Tager, a HollywoodCyborg whose code number was TR-00009. Guess that's where they come up with the name 'Tager'.

* ''VideoGame/DeadOrAlive'' has Alpha-152, because she's just one of many subjects from a cloning\gene manipulation project. Also, Nicole-458, because she's one of the ''Halo'' Spartans (see below).

** ''VideoGame/TIEFighter'' typically calls you Alpha 1, (if you're another Alpha, Alpha 1 will have a cargo of "Doom On You" presumably because he knows you're going to take his slot) but if flying an Assault Gunboat you are often Tau 1. As a missile boat pilot, you are Mu 1.

* The eponymous protagonist of ''VideoGame/ThreeInThree''. She literally is the number 3, so it's as much a job description as a name.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' (the [[SpiritualSuccessor Spiritual Precursor]] to the titles listed below), Seibzehn and Achtzehn are the German words for "seventeen[[labelnote:*]]albeit spelled incorrectly in this case[[/labelnote]]" and "eighteen," respectively. In Gear shops, equipment for Seibzehn is even prefixed with "#17."

* ''Series/TheStrain'': [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Eichhorst]] rarely addresses Holocaust-survivor Setrakian by name, preferring to call him by his tattooed number, "A230385".

** [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 Xion]] is a double example. She shares Organization XIII's number theme [[spoiler: but even her "real" name is a number. Designating her serial number in the [[CloningBlues replica project]] No. i aka the imaginary number]]. Saïx outright tells Roxas that's why they never bothered to rename themselves Organization XIV.

* On ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', Jake falls down a hole and meets a bear who was stranded there on a floating raft. He claims his name is 7718, and had been stranded so long he had to carve his name on the floor in order to not forget it. [[SixIsNine However, the carving actually reads "BILL", and he had just read it upside down.]]

* Similarly to the books it's based off of, in''WesternAnimation/{{LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole}} owlets captured by The Pures Ones and enslaved by at St. Aegolius' Academy for Orphaned Owls are stripped of their names and assigned numbers for easier tracking of them.

* In the ''Literature/MayaTheBee'' movie, the antagonist, Buzzlina, continually calls Maya by her number rather than her name. At the end of the movie, after Buzzlina has gotten her comeuppance, her former henchman shows how far she's fallen by referring to her by number.

** The standard identification format on the [[TheEmpire Gem Homeworld]] is [[HiveCasteSystem gem type]], then [[AirstripOne facet of origin]], then finally their specific cut — unless they're a gemstone that's not faceted, [[ShownTheirWork then they're numbered by]] [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabochon cabochon]]. Their reactions to this vary. Peridot is visibly upset when ordered to introduce herself as "Peridot, Facet 2F5L, Cut 5XG" [[IndividualityIsIllegal because it reminds her that she's not important]]. Eyeball casually reports herself as "Ruby, [Facet] 1F4, Cut 4ND" [[BlindObedience because she's fiercely loyal to her Homeworld]]. Our Amethyst is actually ''exhilarated'' to finds out she's "Facet 5, Cut 8XM" because it makes her feel less like a misfit, especially since [[spoiler:the other Amethysts remembered her well enough to tell her]].

** Navies also assign named ships a hull number, often with letters that identify the type of ship. This is particularly useful because navies like to reuse the names of famous ships, so mentions of that ship are often followed by number. For instance, USS ''Enterprise'' would be followed by [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo CV-6]], [[UsefulNotes/ColdWar CVN-65]], or [[Series/StarTrek NCC-1701]].

* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' has a woman who has had her number stolen and is very distressed by this. There are various ways of solving her dilemma.

* ''WebOriginal/HomestarRunner'':
** "New Boots" exaggerates the trope; [[TheGhost an unseen character]] who took Homestar Runner's shoe is referred to as 1,000,000.
** In Strong Bad E-Mail #122, Strong Bad imagines himself being contacted by "128 Hot Katies". He points out [[RhymingNames Katie 80]] as someone it's "especially ]...[ good to hear from".