History TheGhost / Film

* ''Film/{{Downfall}}'': In the final days of Adolf Hitler, many historic characters are mentioned but never seen due to being outside of Berlin, which is under siege by the Soviet Union. The most prominent are the generals tasked to launch a counterattack against the Red Army and relieve Berlin: Felix Steiner and Walther Wenck. Hitler hopes that their intervention would turn the tide of the war, only to suffer a VillainousBreakdown when he's informed by his staff that Steiner had refused to intervene because he had no army left.

* In ''Film/SaveYourselves'', Su's mother is heard through voicemails, but is never seen in person.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has a brief voice cameo by ComicBook/BoosterGold, where he reveals that Black Condor, Bloodwynd, and Triumph do exist in the DCAU. Another conversation between Batman and Sarge Steel confirmed Lady Shiva exists in this universe, too. Nightwing's visit to the Superbabes restaurant suggests that ComicBook/{{Starfire}} and ComicBook/PowerGirl (despite Galatea being an AdaptationalVillainy {{expy}} of her already existing) are also in the DCAU.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has a brief voice cameo by ComicBook/BoosterGold, where he reveals that Black Condor, Bloodwynd, and Triumph do exist in the DCAU. Another conversation between Batman and Sarge Steel confirmed Lady Shiva exists in this universe, too. Nightwing's visit to the Superbabes restaurant suggests that ComicBook/{{Starfire}} and ComicBook/PowerGirl (despite Galatea being an AdaptationalVillany {{expy}} of her already existing) are also in the DCAU.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has a brief voice cameo by ComicBook/BoosterGold, where he reveals that Black Condor, Bloodwynd, and Triumph do exist in the DCAU. Another conversation between Batman and Sarge Steel confirmed Lady Shiva exists in this universe, too.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has a brief voice cameo by ComicBook/BoosterGold, where he reveals that Black Condor, Bloodwynd, and Triumph do exist in the DCAU.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanAndHarleyQuinn'' has a brief voice cameo by Creator/BoosterGold, where he reveals that Black Condor, Bloodwynd, and Triumph do exist in the DCAU.

* Prince John is mentioned frequently in ''Film/UpTheChastityBelt'', but never actually appears; despite him taking over the country in Richard's absence

''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Sandy Plankton is considered among his classmates to be the purveyor of great knowledge. His fun facts are ''almost'' right. He and the information he shares are only mentioned as he is never shown, probably considering he is "plankton" and it might require a microscope to see him.

* The infamous ''Man'' in WesternAnimation/Bambi is only represented by ominous music, but his actions lead to the on of the most traumatic deaths in cinema history.

The infamous ''Man'' in WesternAnimation/Bambi is only represented by ominous music, but his actions lead to the on of the most traumatic deaths in cinema history.
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* ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'': Sandy Plankton is considered among his classmates to be the purveyor of great knowledge. His fun facts are ''almost'' right. He and the information he shares are only mentioned as he is never shown, probably considering he is "plankton" and it might require a microscope to see him.

* Sandy Plankton in ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' is considered among his classmates to be the purveyor of great knowledge. His fun facts are ''almost'' right. He and the information he shares are only mentioned as he is never shown, probably considering he is "plankton" and it might require a microscope to see him.
* ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'': The [[BigBrotherBully brothers]] of Prince Hans are only mentioned, but never appear in person due to him visiting Arendelle alone. They technically "appear" in ''Literature/AFrozenHeart'' where four of them are named and both their mother and [[GreaterScopeVillain their father]] are introduced, but the book has no illustrations. Their only official appearance is artwork for a video for ''Frozen - Live at the Hyperion'' that reuses concept art that's been tweaked for each brother, though it's unknown if this would be their official appearance or just placeholders. To date, the main characters have not met them.

%%* Dagmar Geech in ''Film/ArtHouse''.

* The title character in ''Salvatore Giuliano'' only appears onscreen as a corpse. The film nonetheless covers Giuliano's life and exploits in considerable detail.

%%* General Kemidov and Floyd Thursby in ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''.

* This was the general idea for the Mandarin in ''Film/IronMan''. He's alluded to as the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist cell, and through them has a hand in the plots of the first two movies before appearing in the third. [[spoiler:Except that ''that'' Mandarin is just an actor hired by Aldrich Killian, who claims to be the real Mandarin. However, according to the One-Shot ''All Hail the King'', the real Mandarin is still out there, so this trope is still in effect.]]

* ''Film/SinceYouWentAway'' is a film about life on the American home front during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, with Anne Hilton and her two daughters getting along after Anne's husband Tim goes away to the army. Tim Hilton is a presence throughout the film, via his pictures, messages from him, and constant talking about him, but he never appears onscreen.
* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'' had two Ghosts: the Emperor and Jabba the Hutt. Jabba was originally supposed to appear in the film, but his scene was cut, and his character was reimagined as a giant, slug-like alien. His scene was restored in the [[ReCut Special Edition]] with a CGI version of Jabba inserted over the original actor and his dialogue dubbed over with Huttese. Though Emperor Palpatine briefly appeared in [[Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack the following film]], it wasn't until ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' that Jabba finally appeared onscreen. A variant for Palpatine is that Darth Sidious only appears to the Trade Federation he's commanding in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' as a {{hologram}} - a [[VirtualGhost Phantom]] [[AntagonistTitle Menace]].
** In one scene in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', Palpatine mentions Darth Plagueis the Wise, a Sith Lord of legend who discovered a way to cheat death with the Force. The implication in the film is that Plagueis wasn't an ancient Sith, but instead Palpatine's late master, and that Palpatine is framing the story as an ancient legend in order to manipulate Anakin. This was confirmed in the Expanded Universe, but the new canon has yet to address the story.
* In the ''Film/JamesBond'' movies, most of the other 00 agents qualify, with [[Film/{{Goldeneye}} one notable exception]]. Not counting ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', where they're all seen in the background, at best they're only seen when dead or three seconds from dying. 008 in particular is never seen onscreen, though M always threatens to replace Bond with him if he keeps disobeying orders.
* In ''Film/WaitingForGuffman'', the characters spend the entire movie preparing for the arrival of Broadway talent scout Guffman. During their performance, [[spoiler:a distinguished man arrives late and takes Guffman's seat, but we later find out that he's just a random guy. Guffman never appears]].
* Dagmar Geech in ''Art House''.
* General Kemidov and Floyd Thursby in ''Film/TheMalteseFalcon''.
* The title character of ''Theatre/{{Oscar}}'' appears only for a moment in the very last scene.
* The title character in ''Edward, My Son'' is never seen or even pictured.
* In the George Cukor classic ''Film/DinnerAtEight'', many threads of the plot are driven by the anticipated presence at the title event of English aristocrats Lord and Lady Ferncliffe, whom main characters Oliver and Millicent Jordan befriended while visiting England the previous year. However, the Ferncliffes never appear, cancelling their stay in New York in favour of going to Florida instead.

* Al Capone in ''Film/RoadToPerdition'' is referred to a number of times, but he never appears. A scene was shot with him, but it was cut out to make his presence more abstract and ominous.
* In ''Film/TheBadSleepWell'', Iwabuchi has a superior at the Unexploited Land Development Corporation with whom he talks on the phone sometimes. The superior is never seen.
* ''Film/{{Patton}}'' does this with General [[UsefulNotes/DwightDEisenhower Eisenhower]], both on purpose and by accident. They couldn't find an actor that looked enough like Eisenhower, so they decided to have Eisenhower be an unseen, ominous figure.
* ''Film/MyDinnerWithAndre'' is full of them. The cast literally consists of two guys, a waiter, and a few extras. Throughout the film, Wallace talks about his girlfriend Debbie, and Andre talks about quite a few people. The closest we ever get to seeing any of them is a single black and white photograph of a Polish woman Andre worked with one time.

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'':
** Norman Osborn gets this treatment in [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan the first film]]. We never get a clear look at him and all we hear about is that he founded Oscorp, [[spoiler: he's dying from an unknown disease, and he is linked to Peter's parents somehow. TheStinger suggests that he may know more about Spider-Man and everything else going on than he lets on...]] We finally see him in [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 the sequel]], shortly before [[spoiler:his death from the disease.]]
** J. Jonah Jameson is this as well, in both films. In the first, it's at least implied that Peter works for ''The Daily Bugle'', which Jameson is presumably [[DaEditor the editor]] of; in the sequel, he actually talks to Peter by way of email.

* Despite having the film named after him, Mohammad never appears in ''Film/MohammadMessengerOfGod'', for very [[AgainstMyReligion obvious]] [[UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} reasons]]. While the film does show his point of view a few times, the closest the viewer ever gets to seeing him is getting glimpses of his sword, staff, and camel, respectively.
* ''Yield to the Night'', a British crime drama, was about Mary Hilton (played by Diana Dors), a woman sentenced to die for murdering her boyfriend's other lover. The victim shows up in the opening scene, when the murder is shown, and a few other times in flashback, but her face is never completely visible to the camera. (The movie was loosely based on the case of Ruth Ellis, and in an odd coincidence Ellis had actually been in another Diana Dors movie, ''Lady Godiva Rides Again'', as a beauty pageant contestant.)
* We never see (or even hear) Dwight Eisenhower in ''Film/IntoTheStorm2009'', despite him having some bearing in the plot. The same also goes for Adolf Hitler and Mussolini, neither of which ever appears in the movie, but bear heavily in the plot.

* ''Film/ZeroDarkThirty'''s UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden. He's never seen, as well as his TheDragon, Abu Ahmed. At the end, both are shot and killed in a raid

* This was the general idea for the Mandarin in ''Film/IronMan''. He's alluded to as the leader of the Ten Rings terrorist cell, and through them has a hand in the plots of the first two movies before appearing in the third. [[spoiler: Except that ''that'' Mandarin is just an actor hired by Aldrich Killian, who claims to be the real Mandarin. However, according to the One-Shot ''All Hail the King'', the real Mandarin is still out there, so this trope is still in effect.]]

* ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'': Agent Kujan repeatedly threatens Verbal with the wrath of Ruby Deemer, a local loan shark who has some sort of grudge against him. Ruby never appears or factors into the narrative.