Line #11 Main/TooImportantToRememberYou


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3	%% The examples have been alphabetized. Please put any new example in its proper place in the folder rather than at the end.
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6	->'''Paimon:''' Ah, there is my little, erm... ''[aside]'' Which son is this one? There's so fucking many.\
7	'''Mister Butler:''' ''[aside]'' Stolas, Your Highness.\
8	'''Paimon:''' Stolas, yes! Right, right, that's the one.
9	-->-- ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'', "The Circus"
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11	They say that money and power can alienate you from your peers, but this person takes it to a whole new level. Beyond simply being dismissive of "the little people," they can't even be bothered to remember the ''name'' of anyone they feel isn't important enough to be worth remembering. [[UndyingLoyalty Longtime loyal servants]], [[OldFriend past friends]], children, spouses, lovers, there may be nobody who's deemed sufficiently relevant -- [[ProfessionalButtKisser unless it's someone who's also significantly powerful]]. Usually, they have [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder a servant]] who [[HypercompetentSidekick does all the remembering for them]], often whispering the name of whoever they're talking to into their ear as a reminder.
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13	Expect a character who does this to use liberal amounts of "HeyYou" and AccidentalMisnaming in their conversations with their perceived lessers. Both [[SelectiveObliviousness forgetting]] and [[MaliciousMisnaming misnaming]] can also be done intentionally, if the character is being snobby about their status or the other's lack of it.
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15	It's most often done by OldMoney or [[BlueBlood Blue Bloods]] who feel entitled to act like [[SpoiledBrat Spoiled Brats]] toward servants and commoners, especially in period pieces or fantasy settings. In a ruler, it could be a sign of a [[AGodAmI superiority complex]], a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, or the foreboding intersection of the two, TheCaligula. In modern settings, it's far more likely to be PlayedForLaughs when a character gets FifteenMinutesOfFame or becomes NouveauRiche, causing them to instantly develop AcquiredSituationalNarcissism.
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17	In a corporate setting, forgetting employees' names is a telltale sign of a BadBoss or CorruptCorporateExecutive, or at the very least a MeanBoss. Doing this to (ex-)spouses is usually a sign of a RoyalHarem or a SerialSpouse; doing it to one's children often indicates ParentalNeglect, or possibly [[MassiveNumberedSiblings having a large number of them]].
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19	There is some degree of TruthInTelevision: this trope is a function of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number Dunbar's Number]], the suggested cognitive limit on the number of social relationships an individual can maintain--for most people, this is somewhere around 150. People of high social, political, or military rank tend to have a number of people under their authority far in excess of this. As a result, they form little to no personal bond with the majority of the people working for them.
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21	A subtrope of PrivilegeMakesYouEvil and the inverse of NiceToTheWaiter. If it's an event that's too unimportant to the character to remember, see ButForMeItWasTuesday. Sometimes overlaps with AccidentalMisnaming.
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23	----
24	!!Examples:
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26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
29	* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': This was a recurring problem for Kaguya back during her IceQueen days, since -- despite having an excellent memory -- she never bothered to remember people if she didn't view them as being important. It led to her suffering from no less than three different cases of {{Forgotten First Meeting}}s. [[spoiler:This even gets PlayedForDrama with Shirogane, as the fact that she doesn't remember any of their earlier interactions left him convinced that she only loved the confident academic he built himself up as rather than his true self.]]
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': In ''Asterix and the Laurel Wreath'', part of what makes Impedimenta's wealthier sibling Homopathix [[ObnoxiousInLaws so obnoxious]] is that he barely makes any effort to recall her husband Vitalstatistix's name. This prompts Vitalstatistix to make TheBet that he can cook something that Homopathix has never tasted before: a stew flavored with Julius Caesar's laurel wreath.
34	* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'': In the Blurr Spotlight, it's shown that back in his glory days on pre-war Cybertron, as the most popular and famous racing sportsmech on the planet, Blurr couldn't be bothered to remember the names of his pit crew. He has a HeelRealization when his career is cut short thanks to the war putting an end to all sporting events, and he happens upon the corpse of one of his crew; to his horror, he realizes that although he can recognize the crew member, he never bothered to remember his name.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Fan Works]]
38	* ''Fanfic/ConfessionsAmphibia'': A few Newtopian nobles pretend to have completely forgotten Sasha's name as a way of getting under her skin.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
42	* In the 2007 ''WesternAnimation/{{TMNT}}'', when April introduces Casey to Winters, Winters promptly addresses him as "Kenny" while shaking his hand, showing how little the introduction mattered to him.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
46	* ''Film/AmericanPsycho'':
47	** A RunningGag throughout the film is how the cast of fabulously wealthy and fabulously petty Wall Street [[{{Yuppie}} yuppies]] constantly mix each other up, not helped by the cookie-cutter getups and lifestyles caused by their endless one-upmanship.
48	** Paul Allen confuses Patrick Bateman for Marcus Halbestram, something Bateman exploits to establish an alibi when he murders Allen.
49	** PlayedForDrama in the final scene when Bateman's lawyer Harold Carnes mistakes him for another employee named Davis and [[spoiler:thinks that Bateman's confession was a prank. Harold says it's impossible Paul Allen is dead because he met Paul Allen for lunch in London ten days prior. It's left ambiguous as to whether Bateman [[ThroughTheEyesOfMadness imagined the murder]] or Harold mistook another yuppie for Paul Allen.]]
50	* Subverted in ''Film/TheBucketList'':
51	** Healthcare industry billionaire Edward Cole has a habit of calling his subordinates whatever name he prefers. However, it's clearly shown that he ''does'' know their real names. It doesn't seem to be done out of expressly malicious intent, just apathy.
52	--->'''Ed:''' Do you know what a philistine is, Joe?\
53	'''Richard:''' Sir, it's Richard.\
54	'''Ed:''' That's right, Phil. Now, give 'em the spiel.
55	** Carter later learns that Ed's done the same thing to his personal valet, Tommy (though Tommy might just be [[ServileSnarker messing with Carter]]):
56	--->'''Carter:''' Can I ask: Is it Tommy, or Thomas?\
57	'''Tommy:''' Actually, it's Matthew, but he finds that too Biblical.
58	* ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'' Miranda Priestly doesn't even bother to remember the names of other important people, and she has her assistant tell her everyone's names at the events she's attending.
59	* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' has Nazi Colonel Hans Landa, who simply refers to any of his underlings by the name "Herman."
60	* Weaponized by Malcolm Tucker (and some other characters) in ''Film/InTheLoop''. Toby's name is not "Foetus Boy", "Ron Weasley", "Twatboy Slim" or "The Baby From Eraserhead", but Malcolm doesn't care. He extends this selective amnesia to practically everyone he encounters, including Baldemort, General Flintstone, Little Bo Cock Jockey, The Leaky fuckin' Minge Box, and J Edgar fuckin' Hoover. General Flintstone -- sorry, General ''Miller'' -- drops a "Go fuck yourself, Frodo" on Toby at one point. More directly, ProfessionalButtKisser Chad fawns over Linton Barwick through the entire movie, clearly desperate for the man to notice him and put him on staff, but Linton hasn't got the faintest clue who he is.
61	* ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation'': Mr. Shirley, CEO of the company where Clark Griswold works, does this in spades to Clark and his coworkers. When he first meets Clark (whom he calls "Mark"), he annoyedly glances at Clark's coworker Bill until Clark gets the hint and reminds him of Bill's name. Mr. Shirley promptly refers to Clark as "Bill." He also butchers Clark's surname as "Greaseball" and "Grisbald."
62	* In ''Film/SpiderMan3'', ''Daily Bugle'' head editor J. Jonah Jameson can't be bothered to learn the name of Eddie Brock, the photographer whom he just hired, calling him "Bruckner" and later "Bernstein." Eddie corrects him the first time but doesn't bother the second time around.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'' has an event that plays with this in various ways. The protagonist, Rozemyne, was basically AdoptedIntoRoyalty a few months after becoming head of the local temple's orphanage. A few years later, CannonFodder under the orders of hostile nobles kidnaps a handful of gray-robed priests, who are usually commoner orphans all grown up, expecting Rozemyne and her noble retainers to come to their rescue. Once the gray-robed priests are found, an inverted DisguisedHostageGambit gets discovered because Rozemyne's noble guard knight Damuel, who is a regular visitor of the temple, remembers the face of every single commoner orphan and notices that the people wearing gray robes are complete strangers. It's later assumed that the hostile nobles thought the plan would work because they didn't expect anyone who would be involved in the rescue to be able to tell their disguised subordinates apart from the people who were kidnapped, who incidentally aren't even named characters; by this point of the story, the number of gray-robe priests with a name is easily in the low double digits.
67	* ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'':
68	** The Great Master Grazdan is embroiled in a lawsuit with his former slave over whether he's entitled to a share of her proceeds, and asks Daenerys to arbitrate. He can't recall whether the slave who trained her was named Elza or Ella, confessing that he's owned so many slaves it's hard to remember. This factor causes Daenerys to decide in the former slave's favor.
69	** Daenerys herself later becomes distraught when she can no longer recall the name of a young shepherd girl who was killed by her dragon Drogon while grazing.
70	* ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool'': Princess Blood Wing can't remember Petra's name. So she usually calls her "Princess Ella's friend".
71	* Intentionally avoided in [[Creator/RobertAHeinlein Robert Heinlein's]] novel ''Literature/DoubleStar''. Part of what makes Bonfort so successful and popular a politician is the "Farleyfile" he and his staff maintain. It's a database of information about all the people Bonfort meets, such as names, birthdays, pets, children and what they like to drink. It's specifically described as a way for Bonfort to keep track of information he would know if he was a personal acquaintance of the individual in question. The Farleyfile is excellent for the purpose of keeping data on people ''less'' politically important then Bonfort, but it's not so helpful when his [[EmergencyImpersonation stand-in]], Smythe, has to meet someone ''more'' politically important: The Emperor.
72	* Inverted in the second ''Literature/GauntsGhosts'' novel ''Ghostmaker'': Gaunt goes down the lines and greets every trooper by name, mentally noting he'll be damned the day a trooper dies and he can't recall the dead man's face.
73	* The first book of Gordon Korman's ''Literature/{{Island\|2000}}'' Trilogy has Mr. Radford, first mate aboard the ''Phoenix'', who doesn't bother to learn the names of the children he's looking after, referring to them as either [[ComicBook/ArchieComics Archie or Veronica.]] Made all the more amusing when he introduces two of the boys to each other by simply saying "Archie, meet Archie."
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
77	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
78	** PlayedForDrama in the episodes "World War Three" and "Aliens of London". A young Parliament staffer is killed by the invading Slitheen, and Harriet Jones, [[RunningGag MP Flydale North]], frantically asks the other people in the room if any of them knew his name. Everyone -- Jones included -- realizes that they didn't bother to learn it, which puts them all in a somber mood. When Jones makes other appearances in the series, she's shown to go out of her way to learn the names of her employees, suggesting that she's deliberately trying to [[AvertedTrope avert]] this trope after the incident.
79	** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]". The Doctor believes that the threat is over and prepares to leave the scene. Within a minute he realizes that the monsters are still out there and rushes back in. However, in that time he had completely deleted the people he was helping from his memory. The Doctor even has to ask whether they are the same people as before, to their utter confusion.
80	* ''Series/{{Frasier}}:'' An early RunningGag in the series was Niles forgetting Roz's name, or even that she worked with Frasier, despite being introduced to her several times. At one point he even brushes off any awkwardness by saying he's "too successful to feel awkward".
81	* On the ''Series/ICarly'' episode "[[Recap/ICarlyS02Ep10IRockedTheVote iRocked the Vote]]," egocentric British pop star Wade Collins has Gibby act as his assistant and pronounces his name as "Jibbly." He ignores all attempts to correct him, but thankfully Gibby doesn't mind.
82	-->'''Gibby:''' He can call me Jibbly.
83	* On ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'', the Wellman Plastics factory (as well as other businesses in town) are owned by the extremely wealthy Wellman family. Mrs. Wellman constantly gets people's names wrong -- to the point where Roseanne deliberately introduces Dan as "Don," because she knows that Mrs. Wellman will only call him by the ''right'' name if she's given the wrong one first.
84	* In ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', hotel magnate and SerialSpouse Mr. Tipton doesn't remember which of his children London is until she clarifies she's the daughter of ex-wife number three. Similarly, the one detail he remembers about Mr. Moseby isn't that he's the former manager of Tipton's flagship hotel in Boston or the current manager of his cruise liner, but that he was the best man at Mr. Tipton's fifth wedding.
85	* In ''Series/{{Trust}}'', J. Paul Getty Sr. had a butler named Bullimore sometime in the distant past, and has taken to calling all of his subsequent butlers "Bullimore" because he doesn't want to be bothered to learn their actual names. While his current butler, Jahangir Khan, puts up with it for the sake of his job, it gradually starts to annoy him, especially when Getty's many hangers-on start calling him "Bullimore," too.
86	* ''Series/{{Veep}}'': Vice President Selina Meyer constantly has her bag man Gary whispering the names of people she's meeting with in her ear, and she's practically helpless at a social function without him. Somewhat {{justified}} in that her job requires her to interact with dozens or hundreds of new people on a regular basis, but she's also shown to sometimes forget the names of people she regularly meets with, or even some of her longtime staffers.
87	* ''Series/{{The Walking Dead\|2010}}'': The original leader of the Hilltop community, Gregory, is so self-absorbed and narcissistic that he can't be bothered to remember anyone's names. For example, he constantly gets Maggie and Rick's names wrong, calling them names like "Margret" or "Reg". He doesn't even bother to remember who lives in his own community since when he first meets Sasha he talks to her as if she is already a member of Hilltop when it was her first time there.
88	* ''Series/{{What We Do in the Shadows\|2019}}'': Even though Guillermo has faithfully served the vampires of Staten Island as a familiar and maintained their mansion for over a decade, vampires Laszlo and Nadja still refer to him as "Gizmo" in spite of his repeated objections.
89	[[/folder]]
90
91	[[folder:Music]]
92	* This kind of person is the subject of the song "Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner:
93	-->''And you never say hey, or remember my name\
94	And it's probably 'cause you think you're cooler than me''
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Theatre]]
98	* In the song "I Know Him" from ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', King George III has to rack his brain to remember who incoming American President John Adams is, despite having already met him at least once.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:Web Animation]]
102	* In ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss''[='s=] season 2 premiere, a young Prince Stolas is greeted by his father Paimon, who has to ask his imp butler which of his many sons this one is.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Western Animation]]
106	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Referenced in "Lights! Camera! Danger!", when Jimmy wins a screenwriting contest and Carl worries if this will happen.
107	-->'''Carl:''' Now that you're a big Hollywood screenwriter, you gonna remember us little people?\
108	'''Jimmy:''' And your name is, uh...?\
109	'''Carl:''' ''(incoherent sobbing)''\
110	'''Jimmy:''' Ah, I'm just kidding! ''(beat)'' It's [[Creator/RobPaulsen Rob]], right?
111	* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] for [[BlackComedy very dark laughs]] in the episode "Let's Find Out", in which Creator/DanielRadcliffe plays an [[AdamWesting exaggerated version of himself]]. Bojack and Daniel play against each other on a game show for charity, and when Bojack sees him, he recalls meeting Radcliffe when he was just starting out in Hollywood. Bojack gave him a pep talk and genuinely good advice, which in turn gave Daniel the confidence to become a famous actor. Unfortunately, Daniel has no recollection of that meeting and repeatedly calls Bojack by increasingly-ridiculous names like "Creator/BJNovak" and "Jockjam Doorslam." It seems like this trope is in play... until it's revealed that Radcliffe remembers the names and life details of everyone he's ever worked with ''except'' Bojack, infuriating the horse. At the end of the game show, Bojack turns the tables when the final question -- which would give millions of dollars to charity -- is "Who starred in the ''Harry Potter'' films?" After a bit of hemming and hawing, Bojack answers "Creator/ElijahWood"; the BlackComedy then kicks in, as all of the charity winnings are promptly ''burned to ashes onscreen''.
112	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', [[LonelyRichKid Remy Buxaplenty]]'s parents are so consumed by their love of earning money that they only spend two minutes a day with him. They not only don't remember his name (calling him "Liam" at one point) but struggle to even remember that he's their son.
113	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': In "The Tycoon", Fred switches places with J. L. Gotrocks, a rich businessman [[PrinceAndPauper who looks just like him]]. During their misadventures, Barney [[OneDialogueTwoConversations mistakenly thinks this trope is at play]] when he confronts "Fred" over his apparent frivolous spending and mistreatment of his wife.
114	-->'''Barney:''' But how about Wilma?\
115	'''Gotrocks:''' Who's Wilma? And for that matter, who are ''you?''\
116	'''Barney:''' Who am I? Why, I'm your best friend, Barney Rubble!\
117	'''Gotrocks:''' Never heard of you.\
118	'''Barney:''' Ho-ho, you're kiddin', Fred.\
119	'''Gotrocks:''' The name's not Fred! Now, why don't you just run along like a good guy?\
120	'''Barney:''' Nothing doing, Fred! You're coming home with me!
121	* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E18TheHonking The Honking]]", Bender goes to the will reading of his recently deceased rich uncle Vladimir. In the will, Vladimir names his butler as "[[HeyYou You There]]."
122	* ''WesternAnimation/MaoMaoHeroesOfPureHeart'': Mao Mao, being the runt of the Mao Clan, is so emotionally neglected that his father, Shin Mao, can't even get his ''name'' right. It's even implied that his name is an AssPull, as his first name is Mao Mao, making his full name ''Mao Mao Mao.''
123	* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': [[RichBitch Audrey Bourgeois]] simply can't be ''bothered'' to recall the names of those around her, even those of her ''own husband'' and ''daughter''.
124	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Part of "Phineas and Ferb's Quantum Boogaloo" is set in a BadFuture where Doofenshmertz has taken over the world. One of the laws he has passed forced everyone to change their name to Joe so he doesn't have to be bothered remembering anyone's name.
125	* It's a running gag in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', especially the earlier seasons, that [[Characters/TheSimpsonsCharlesMontgomeryBurns Mr. Burns]] constantly forgets the name of his employees, especially Homer, and has to be reminded by Smithers. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in the episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E17HomerTheSmithers Homer the Smithers]]":
126	-->'''Mr. Burns:''' I'm sure your replacement will be able to handle everything. Who is he, anyway?\
127	'''Smithers:''' Uh, Homer Simpson, sir. One of your organ banks from Sector 7G. All the recent events of your life have revolved around him in some way.
128	** Krusty the Clown is just as bad when it comes to Bart, and even after the boy had ''personally'' saved his show from cancellation and ''reunited him with his estranged father'', upon being greeted by the former he could only muster an impatient "What have you done for me ''lately?"''
129	* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Porous Pockets," [[Characters/SpongeBobSquarePantsTitularCharacter SpongeBob]] becomes a billionaire after discovering a giant pearl. His wealth goes to his head, and he forgets that Patrick is his friend.
130	* ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'': The High Marshal of Thembria is constantly abusive to his subordinate, Colonel Ivanod Spigot, frequently referring to him with other plumbing terms like "Nozzle". He attempts to correct the High Marshal once, but receives a DeathGlare, so he backpedals with "But I can change it to Nozzle." In his EstablishingCharacterMoment, the High Marshal can't even remember whether he's had Colonel Spigot shot or not.
131	* ''WesternAnimation/TheWeekenders'': In the episode "Celebrity", Tish becomes a celebrity after making an appearance on a teen SoapOpera (which had her lines dubbed over because she couldn't form words at the time). One thing she and her friends had intended to do was visit a museum exhibit dedicated to robots, which they tried to get into with Tish's celebrity status. However, by the time they get there, Tish's fame has [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism gone to her head]] (thanks to Carver's advice on how a celebrity should behave) and she doesn't show up, meaning they don't get in. They try to call her out on this, only for her to simply state she can't remember the little people. Once her fame dries out the next day, she makes some arrangements to get them their own private showing of the exhibit.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Real Life]]
135	* During the UsefulNotes/ChineseCivilWar, warlord [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Zongchang Zhang Zongchang]] was nicknamed the "Three Don't Knows," because he never knew the exact size of his army, his treasury, or his harem. He would give his concubines numbers because he couldn't be bothered to remember their names, and allegedly wrote this poem:
136	-->''Someone asks me how many women I have\
137	I really don't know either\
138	Yesterday a boy called me dad\
139	I don't know who his mother is''
140	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TooImportantToRememberYou