Line #184 Main/TheNondescript


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4	[[quoteright:226:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nondescript_1.jpg]]
5	[[caption-width-right:226:I'd know ''that'' face anywhere.]]
6
7	->''"Don't use seven words when four will do. Don't shift your weight, look always at your mark but don't stare, be specific but not memorable, be funny but don't make him laugh. He's got to like you then forget you the moment you've left his side."''
8	-->-- '''Robert "Rusty" Ryan''', ''Film/OceansEleven''
9
10	Basically, this trope is when a character is described as being "[[RidiculouslyAverageGuy utterly unmemorable]]." They have a boring face, boring eyes, boring hair, they're not too tall or too short, they're not too fat or too thin, and their voice is often a monotone ([[CreepyMonotone but not so creepy that it's memorable]]). They might call themselves by a bland name like MrSmith. In short, the only reason they're interesting at all is because of how uninteresting they appear.
11
12	However, beneath that yawn-worthy exterior may lurk something very interesting indeed. The Nondescript is often a spy, or ConMan, or criminal, whose looks make it easy for him to get away with what he's doing because people either can't remember what he looks like or [[SuspectIsHatless can't describe him well when they do]]. Other times, The Nondescript is just a PlayedForLaughs attribute of a character.
13
14	Certain characters take this to superpower levels: they aren't merely average looking, they are so nondescript that even the narrator seems unable to pin down any of their features -- or, in fact, to tell us anything about them. One gets the impression that these characters are deliberately [[{{Glamour}} doing]] [[WeirdnessCensor something]] to make themselves invisible in plain sight.
15
16	Usually occurs only in literature, because unmemorable and nondescript actors are hard to find and not particularly rewarding to film. When it does appear in a visual medium, the nondescriptness will often be an InformedAbility for just that reason.
17
18	This can be used to help the reader/viewer/player to imagine the character as themselves, resulting in a FeaturelessProtagonist. When it's aided by magic or scientific {{Phlebotinum}} it usually involves a PerceptionFilter. Related to HeWhoMustNotBeSeen. Compare TheSpook, SuspectIsHatless, BeneathSuspicion and BeneathNotice. Occasionally TheMenInBlack achieve this. Extreme examples tend to become outright {{Forgettable Character}}s.
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
26	* Ishimaru from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' is frequently described as incredibly plain, often going unnoticed by teammates and even opposing players while on the field. The Devil Bats sometimes use this to their advantage by including him in crucial plays.
27	** This trope is played with such as by having Ishimaru run in the invisible man costume at the school athletics festival or by making his box in the manga incredibly small.
28	* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'':
29	** Gouda started out as one of these, a staid bureaucrat who was unnoticed by his co-workers, and when the protagonists look into his past, they find out that his colleagues only remember him for being totally unmemorable. This all changed one day when his face was badly disfigured in an accident, an event which he believes changed his "ghost" (his soul) and transformed him into a Machiavellian schemer. Despite the amount of prosthetics and advanced surgery available in this period, [[KeepingTheHandicap he decided to leave his face like that]] because it most certainly left more of an impression than his old one.
30	** Major Kusanagi herself has a cyberbody [[InformedAbility apparently]] designed to resemble a generic model of cyborg or android, though her hair and clothing tend to make her distinct regardless.
31	* Shinpachi from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is described as this: During a "how to draw Shinpachi" segment, Gin instructs viewers to imagine the most boring and uninteresting face they can, then draw it. Also, at one point, Shinpachi is training to be a HighlyVisibleNinja, and manages to completely escape the notice of everyone in a crowded bookstore because, apparently, he is just that plain and unnoticeable. Even though [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext he was wearing a cow costume at the time]].
32	* The main character of ''Manga/KurokosBasketball'' has this attribute and weaponizes it to relay passes while playing basketball.
33	** [[spoiler: Rakuzan High's Chihiro Mayuzumi]] has the same ability, and manages to stand out even less than Kuroko does. In his first appearance, we don't even learn his name, and his face is obstructed by his hair, giving him the appearance of just being a random stand-in who's only there because basketball teams need five players on the court.
34	* Natsumi in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', which naturally causes her a bit of an identity crisis when she realizes that while everyone else she knows is interesting and have made valuable contributions to the group, she's just "that one girl who's there".
35	* This trope is a trait carried by several of the Black Rose Duelists of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''; with Kozue, Wakaba, and Keiko being the most affected. Kozue was this when she was younger due to being overshadowed by her [[HalfIdenticalTwin twin brother]] Miki's genius piano skills, whereas she was both mediocre in skill and an anxious performer. Wakaba is a [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] case of IJustWantToBeSpecial - the only way she can feel good is by helping others because she feels that she doesn't stand out in any other way. And Keiko is part of a GirlPosse that serves [[RichBitch Nanami]]; when she breaks away from them briefly for a chance meeting with [[ThePornomancer local casanova]] and crush Touga (who is also Nanami's older brother), both Nanami and the two other girls ostracize her severely. [[spoiler:After her duel with Utena, it comes to a head when we find out that Utena doesn't know Keiko's name]].
36	** There's also Wakaba's childhood friend Tatsuya, a DoggedNiceGuy to such proportions that Wakaba doesn't even notice his feelings. To make matters worse, Tatsuya's nickname is [[EmbarrassingNickname onion prince]] (referring to something as an onion, in Japan, means that it's shoddy or third-rate), and [[spoiler:despite having his unrequited feelings and inferiority cause him emotional turmoil, Mikage deems him sound enough to be rejected from the Black Rose duels.]]
37	* Momoko from the Mahjong anime ''Manga/{{Saki}}'' takes this to supernatural level. When you're in a game where everyone is watching everyone else for a chance of quick victory, it's a tremendous advantage.
38	* Kagerou Usui of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is this dialed up to 11. He fades into the background to the point of being at risk of getting run over by cars on the street. His name even derives from a Japanese phrase for "overshadowed". He is very annoyed at his lack of presence, but it also has advantages for him since he's a CovertPervert.
39	* Blandon from ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' is a ninja-like yokai that can blend in anywhere. Humans he inspirits become incredibly plain and unnoticeable.
40	%%* What's-her-name-again[[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke Akaza Akari]][[/note]] from ''Manga/YuruYuri'', played for ComedicSociopathy-gold.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comedy]]
44	* Creator/JohnMulaney, before going into his past as a [[WhatDidIDoLastNight blackout drunk]] who got up to many feats of AlcoholInducedIdiocy, says that he won't blame the audience for thinking he's making it up, because "I don't look like the kind of guy who 'used to do' ''anything''." He describes himself as being so utterly average and boring in appearance that he looks like he's spent his entire life locked in a featureless room eating nothing but flavourless crackers before exiting directly out onto the stage a minute ago.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Comic Books]]
48	* Héliacin Glainglain in the ''ComicBook/AchilleTalon'' story "L'Appeau d'Ephèse"[[note]](literally "The Bird call from Ephesus", but it's also a pun on an [[LostInTranslation untranslatable]] french expression to say "expensive")[[/note]] is a kleptomaniac Undescript.
49	** In fact, the common-ness of the character allowed the artist to include him in crowd shots throughout the book, long before Talon actually meets the fellow. To the reader who notices this character who appears in several unrelated moments unlike the rest of the background characters who are all unique, this can count as {{Foreshadowing}}.
50	* In a two-part story in ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' #542-543, Batman hunts a SerialKiller known as 'Faceless'. Faceless turns out to be an ordinary mailman, and all of his victims were people on his route: all of whom saw him every day, and none of whom noticed him or could remember a thing about him.
51	* Franchise/TheDCU:
52	** There's John Doe, the Generic Man, who takes this to the logical extreme (that other extreme examples somehow manage to avoid) by being so generic and drab in appearance that he stands out spectacularly. He's literally featureless, except for a label on his chest that says "(person)". He can, by touching them, make other objects as undefined as he is.
53	** And then there's Agent ! from ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'', who dresses and acts with the intention to shock, but nobody notices him, and his power is, explicitly, the ability to go unnoticed. He's a subversion in the fact that he has many ''very'' distinguishing features; for one, his chest is a birdcage with a toy biplane inside of it. (If you guessed this character was created by Creator/GrantMorrison, give yourself a gold star.)
54	* {{Subverted}} with inspector Ginko from ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'': while he can be described as having a face similar to Diabolik but without everything that makes Diabolik's looks distinctive, [[ClothesMakeTheLegend his distinctive red and black striped tie]] makes him everything but... [[DoubleSubverted As long as he's wearing it]].
55	* One of Max Allan Collins's last storylines in ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'' before leaving the title in the 80's involved a criminal of this type. His face is never shown on-panel, and -- highly unusually for a ''Dick Tracy'' story -- he successfully escapes at the end, even though his evil plan was thwarted. When Tracy is asked for a description of the guy so the police can search, he has no choice but to shrug and admit he can't remember what he looked like.
56	* Zandar, Zartan's brother from the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' comics was this kind of guy. He is so unnoticeable that in one instance, Zandar was literally sat upon, as it was thought the chair was empty. Admittedly, he ''is'' a master of camouflage and can easily hide in plain sight. So, it's like sitting on a chameleon, it's not really your fault for not noticing him when he's ''trying not to be noticed''.
57	** Also Ghostrider, the pilot of the Phantom X-19. The RunningGag in his few comic appearances was that none of the other Joes could ever remember his name, he was just that good. (Of course, there were probably [[ComicBook/GhostRider other reasons]] why [[ExecutiveMeddling Marvel never wanted his name spoken]], too)
58	* Aljabra Gihom in ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'' has a variation of this. She's noticeable enough when she's awake, but she has a habit of falling asleep while sitting in odd places, and being so still and unobtrusive that people casually mistake her for furniture. She's quite used to having people set coffee cups on her head or start to sit down on her.
59	* The title character of the indie comic ''Mister Blank'', a totally ordinary office-worker turned BadassNormal fighting an AncientConspiracy. He's so normal-looking the artist just drew the minimal facial features of eyes and a mouth.
60	* During Creator/MarkMillar's ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' run, Vulture comes to this conclusion after seeing Peter Parker's face for the first time. He angrily throws the youth to his supposed death, exclaiming that all these years he had thought Spider-Man must be someone famous, only to find out he was just a "nobody" that might as well be working at a gas station.
61	* Aline Pagrovna from ''ComicBook/StrikeforceMorituri'' explains this was why she volunteered to sacrifice her life to become a superhero -- she was perpetually ignored as uninteresting by everyone else around her, and decided a year of attention was preferable to a lifetime of apathy.
62	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'' is, at least during UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age of comic\|books}}s. There were SO many people that ''just happened'' to look like him, from his father to a random thug, that he could often take a day off by having someone else replace him in either of his identities. Even in modern stories, while Superman is a well-known icon, Clark Kent is about average height, with a generic haircut and no real identifying marks, making him fairly nondescript--which helps a lot with ClarkKenting.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Fan Works]]
66	* One ''Literature/HarryPotter'' AlternateUniverse fanfic titled ''The Art of Hidden Personas'' has the main character, Hadrian Walker, basically Harry born and grown under different circumstances, assumes such a disguise. It is made possible via copious use of advanced glamours and also unremarkable behavior. When attention is brought upon him most of the Hogwarts staff have trouble putting a face to his name and even ''{{Chessmaster}}'' Dumbledore is affected.
67	* Juleka is made this by magic in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/13627575/chapters/31873266 The Downfall Akuma]]'', to facilitate her work as an assassin and bodyguard.
68	* ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'' is a ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fanfic with multiple types of psychics, including one known as "Inducers." Inducers can manipulate emotions in others, including apathy and interest, and one uses this to remain completely unnoticeable. She can go as far as walking [[spoiler: herself and a mind-controlled River]] right past the rest of the crew while they're distracted [[spoiler: by an injured Mal]] without anyone noticing.
69	* Kohaku [[spoiler: Namikaze]] nee Zoishin of ''FanFic/AGrowingAffection'' is this. She was passed over for promotion twice because while everyone remembered the fights she was in, no-one remembered that she was one of the participants. And her parents left her behind on family vacation because they did not realize she was not there.
70	* Yuki and Kuyou in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' have the ability to do this on a temporary basis. People are aware enough of them not to walk into them, but do not recognize them and are not aware of what they are doing.
71	* In ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'', this is Allirea's power.
72	* ''Fanfic/MakeAWish'': Harry's disguise "Mr. Black" is supposed to be completely unremarkable, but because he didn't bother to ReadTheFreakingManual, he's instead noteworthy because no one can remember any distinguishing features or describe him.
73	* The phantom interviewer in ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8972415/1/Oriana-The-Unauthorized-Accounts Oriana The Unauthorized Accounts]]'', a ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCatTheMovie'' fanfic, appears to have this ability.
74	* In ''Fanfic/TheStoryToEndAllStories'', Sherlock says they should be looking for someone who fits this description.
75	* The ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' fanfiction ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2456403/1/Training_for_the_Job Training for the Job]]'' introduces Munamoto Sousou, a rather shy and quiet ninja academy student. Ino, who is assigned to evaluate Sousou's espionage talents shortly before graduation, describes her as, "So unassuming that she makes people overlook her, making her ideal for civilian infiltration."
76	* Ardav, one of the Dalns gods in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', is magically nondescript to the point where no one can remember what the sexless god looks like; thinking of it brings up a blank humanoid mannequin.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
80	* Emmet of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'', who has the face of a generic LEGO minifig. He's so nondescript that the villain's forces have a hard time identifying him at first because he looks like everyone else — his face pulls false positives from every single other face in their database. Also deconstructed because this means that ''no-one'' that he interacts with on a daily basis even knows what's so special about him.
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
84	* In ''Film/CantHardlyWait'', when Amanda is trying to find out who Preston is (though she may have also asked the wrong person):
85	-->'''Stoner Guy:''' Preston? I dunno, his hair's kinda, I dunno, brown?\
86	'''Matt, Watermelon Guy:''' No, it's not really brown. Oh, he's tall.\
87	'''Stoner Guy:''' Yeah, he's kinda kinda tall. Sorta tall. And he's like always wearing like T-shirts.\
88	'''Amanda Becket:''' So, he's sort of tall?\
89	'''Stoner Guy:''' Kind of.\
90	'''Amanda Becket:''' With... hair?\
91	'''Stoner Guy:''' Yeah.\
92	'''Amanda Becket:''' And he wears t-shirts sometimes?\
93	'''Stoner Guy:''' Yeah.
94	* The assassin Vincent in ''Film/{{Collateral}}'' consciously invokes this trope, making himself nondescript by coupling his gray hair with clothing entirely of gray. Supposedly, as training, the director even had Creator/TomCruise deliver a package in a public place with nobody recognizing him.
95	* There's a creepy, possibly alien guy in the horror movie ''Film/TheForgotten'' with rather short brown hair, brown eyes, a blank, ordinary face... and he's ImmuneToBullets.
96	* ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'': How [[CloudCuckoolander Luna Lovegood]] describes [[TheHero Harry Potter]] after fixing his broken nose: "Exceptionally ordinary."
97	* Invoked in ''Film/MenInBlack'' and then some, though results vary. Their appearance is designed to have no distinguishing mark, to leave no lasting impression, to be easily dismissed. Then they [[{{Unperson}} delete all of your personal records, history, everything]], until what's left is your first initial, and that will be your name from there on. And for good measure, they bring [[LaserGuidedAmnesia Neuralyzer]] on top of those.
98	* Jean-Baptiste Grenouille from ''Literature/{{Perfume}}'' possesses a superhuman sense of smell and eventually becomes a mass murderer. However, he has no scent of his own, causing people to instinctively treat him as a cipher beneath their notice. Even a watchdog ignores him. This is part of his motivation to create the perfect scent.
99	* Creator/ChristopherLloyd as a [[ManOfWealthAndTaste gentlemanly armed robber]] in ''Film/TwentyBucks'' states as a "life lesson" that "a [[SharpDressedMan well-dressed man]] is invisible", in that people will only remember the clothes, not the face.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Literature]]
103	* In the ''Literature/AlexRider'' series, John Crawley is described as having "the sort of face you forgot even while you were looking at it".
104	* The unnamed man in the dark suit in Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/AmericanGods'', who appears in several scenes and is so elusive and indistinct that even his lines in the dialogue are obscured: we are merely told that he "said something" or "nodded in reply and made a comment". Each time Shadow asks his employer (possibly the single character who remembers anything about the unnamed god, including his name) who the man in the dark suit is, he finds his mind momentarily wandering so that he misses hearing the response.
105	* A shapeshifting alien in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' is trying to pass himself off as human. When the main characters see his morph, it is described as, "the kind of guy who would disappear instantly in a crowd. The kind of guy who would blend. The kind of guy [[TheLeader Jake]] might have become if Fate hadn't chosen a spectacularly odd path for him."
106	* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'': Justus, Ferdinand's spy, is described as having features that are either extremely common or within the average, resulting in him being able to disappear in a crowd.
107	* [[spoiler:Mr. Hopkins]] in ''Literature/TheBartimaeusTrilogy'' who turns out to be TheManBehindTheMan (or possibly the man behind the man behind the man). [[spoiler: Fittingly, we never learn his actual motivations for helping the first two villains - by the time he acquires a personality, he's been possessed by Faquarl.]]
108	* In ''Literature/BestServedCold'' attributes this quality to [[PerkyFemaleMinion Day]], apprentice to the MasterPoisoner assassin Morveer. Morveer describes her looks as an asset to their work- she's attractive enough to put people at ease, but not so attractive as to be distracting/memorable.
109	* In the first book of the ''Literature/BlackBlade'' series, [[spoiler:Grant]] uses illusion magic to look utterly gorgeous when working for his patrons and his utterly unremarkable natural appearance when plotting against them.
110	* The book version of ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'' from the ''Literature/TheBourneSeries'' specifically notes that this is one of Jason's defining traits, an utterly average face that allows him to easily disguise himself.
111	* Mademoiselle Blanche in ''Literature/CatAmongThePigeons'' is so nondescript that [[spoiler:she can impersonate her deceased sister without even changing the passport photograph]].
112	* The assassin Magdalena Crouch is like this in J.V. Jones's ''A Cavern of Black Ice''. No two people who have seen her can agree on her real age, her hair or eye color, or any other feature of her appearance. Her only distinctive feature is her beautiful voice.
113	* Former Cuban spy Felix Cortez was able to enter and exit the US at will in ''Literature/ClearAndPresentDanger'' because while the FBI had his description, it was so generic (early middle aged Latino male, average height and build, no distinguishing features) that it was useless.
114	* Dimitrios, the archvillain of ''Literature/ACoffinForDimitrios'' manages to escape capture despite all of his crimes and betrayals, because he's quite ordinary looking apart from his [[UhOhEyes terrifying eyes]]. The descriptions of him from a co-worker, an ex-lover, and a former employer are so general that they could fit thousands of people. At one point an older, well-dressed Dimitrios is described as looking like a diplomat at a state dinner, but a fairly unimportant guest who no one would pay attention to and would fade into the background.
115	* Johnson in ''Literature/TheCreepingShadow''. He is described as having a curiously vague appearance such that even as Lucy looked at him, the details slipped away from her. He has nondescript brown hair and a bland, slightly shapeless face, and no distinguishing features that would pick him out in a crowd.
116	* ''Literature/DeadSouls'' has an unusual example where this backfires, because people are somewhat GenreSavvy (or at least WrongGenreSavvy). The protagonist Chichikov is fairly nondescript, having a blandly polite and charming personality and being neither handsome nor ugly. However, the oddity of his behavior- buying the records of dead peasants from landowners- is such that people start to think up odd theories about him, such as that he's the ghost of a mistreated war hero returned for revenge, or that he's Napoleon in disguise. It also doesn't help that because of the "buying souls" metaphor, he seems a lot like Satan in a TheDevilIsALoser depiction.
117	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
118	** Moist von Lipwig is said to look extremely unmemorable, which is perfect for a ConMan. He helps matters along by adding some identifying feature such as wearing fake nose or ear hair because that is invariably the only feature his victims will remember. In his persona as Postmaster, he wears a ridiculously flashy gold suit and winged hat, and is able to go incognito simply by ''not'' wearing this IconicOutfit.
119	** [[PsychoForHire Stratford]] from ''Literature/{{Snuff}}'' is pretty nondescript, that is until he gets mad. That's when he starts to really look like Stratford.
120	** Witches such as Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany Aching can magically generate a personal PerceptionFilter - they don't become invisible, just part of the scenery.
121	** The young Vetinari manages this without magic in ''Literature/{{Night Watch\|Discworld}}'', training himself to stand perfectly still and eschewing the usual Assassin jet-black[[note]]There's actually a reason for this- Assassins are ''supposed'' to be somewhat noticeable, to give the victims a chance.[[/note]] for more drab colours.
122	* ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'': Exploited by assassins.
123	** Kragar is so easily ignored that people never seem to notice when he enters a room, usually causing an inadvertent StealthHiBye. He was originally a member of the House of the Dragon, but because no one would pay attention to his orders, he had to become a mobster of the Jhereg.
124	** Mario Greymist, TheDreaded top assassin of the Jhereg, turns out to be a plain, pleasant-looking man.
125	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
126	** A ghoul assassin like this shows up in book 4.
127	** Martin, the epitome of this trope, shows up in ''Death Masks''. He deliberately cultivates this in every aspect, as a way of suppressing his [[VampireRefugee infection]]. This is also very handy in the battlefield, as the enemy fighters, wizards, and snipers do not consider him a threat ''at all''.
128	** In ''Fool Moon'', Dresden whips up a potion that can turn him into this, temporarily, and he uses it to fairly good effect to avoid being killed by a giant [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Loup Garou]].
129	** In ''Turn Coat'', Harry describes P.I. Vince Graver in this way:
130	---> The only exceptional thing about his appearance was that there was nothing exceptional about his appearance.
131	* [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep Alias]] from the ''Literature/EvilGeniusTrilogy'' is described as having a "strangely unmemorable voice" and says he can pull off so many disguises because he's "on the average side".
132	* In ''Literature/TheFountainhead'', when Gail Wynand is starting up his newspaper, the Banner, he brings a man who looks just like this into the newspaper offices and tells his journalistic team that this is their target audience.
133	* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'': Locke is frequently described as scrawnier than normal, but otherwise he's said to be very nondescript. The fact that he appears half Vadran and half Therin allows him to pass as either. His unexceptional appearance helps him be the MasterOfDisguise of the Bastards. Jean is very large, while the Sanza twins have large, hooked noses.
134	* ''Literature/GoodOmens:'' Pollution, whose ridiculously nondescript appearance allows him to take jobs in places that let him cause the most damage he can, but is so indescribable people will never remember he was there, or what he was doing when the disaster began.
135	* Also a Gaiman example, Nobody Owens (it's in the name) from ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook'' has this as an ability he learns from living among ghosts. He's so average-looking that nobody even remembers he's there unless he wants them to.
136	* The 80s [[ContinuityReboot restart]] called ''The Literature/HardyBoys Casefiles'' features a character called "The Gray Man" who is recruited as a secret agent because he is so nondescript.
137	* Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series:
138	** At least one Herald has been picked out for "special training" specifically because he was so nondescript.
139	** After Skif joins Bazie's gang in ''Take a Thief'', he thinks one of the other boys is incredibly fortunate to look this way because unless he's actually caught with his hand in someone's pouch, the victim won't be able to describe him to the city guard. [[spoiler:Eventually, that thief gets caught with his hand in a noble's pouch. Oops.]]
140	* In ''Literature/HereticsOfDune'' and ''Literature/ChapterhouseDune'' this is explicitly stated as the reason Dama, the leader of the Honored Matres, was able to come to power and stay in power. Before coming to power her utterly plain and unremarkable appearance kept people from taking her as a serious threat, and after coming to power prevented people from successfully plotting against her because no one could remember who she was or what she looked like. Those closest to her know better and are completely terrified of her.
141	* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'':
142	** This is the "magic" witches use to become invisible: since actual invisibility is impossible, they just make themselves very, ''very'' nondescript, causing everyone to simply ignore them.
143	** Will Parry also does a version of this; he is introduced as someone who, because of his mother's mental illness and the responsibilities it puts upon him, has learned to escape the notice of others in order to avoid being taken by social services. He later demonstrates this talent by shaking the attention he's gathered from a crowd by pretending to be dull and stupid.
144	* Creator/IanFleming originally designed Literature/JamesBond to be this sort of character, originally conceiving of him as a PinballProtagonist "to whom interesting things happened". His name was even chosen because it was boring, appropriated from the name of a moderately famous ornithologist. That said, he's generally agreed to be good-looking, and ''has'' a detailed physical description, especially when Russian intelligence is looking over the case of Bond.
145	** In ''Literature/{{Moonraker}}'', as news gets out of a sensational murder-suicide (declared to be) over a woman, interested parties go out of their way to come up with a picture for the press that... doesn't ''not'' look like her, but communicates little that could be used to actually pick her out.
146	* Granta Omega of ''Literature/JediQuest'' is a Force Blank. He has no connection to the Force whatsoever, and as such, is almost immediately forgotten by people after he leaves them, and is undetectable via the force.
147	* In ''Literature/JohnnyMaxwellTrilogy'''s ''Only You Can Save Mankind'', when Johnny contacts Kirsty in gamespace and says he was one of the boys at the computer shop earlier, she tries to work out which one by giving decent descriptions of all his friends, then says she didn't notice anyone else. Johnny's reply is "Yes, that was me."
148	* In ''Literature/KingDavidsSpaceship'', Malcolm Dougal, head of the Haven Secret Police, is described this way.
149	* Both main characters in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries'' are perfectly average looking. Michael does have a scar on his face, but this is only used to identify him if he's already made himself stand out. Otherwise, it's been stated that it's easier to find the two by asking if anyone has seen their horses.
150	* In the novel ''The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'', the MasterOfDisguise Saemon is described as having a face that is instantly forgettable. While as noted in the page description, this is a hard trope to do visually, it does seem likely that the manga/anime adaptation ''Manga/{{Basilisk}}'' aimed at depicting this, since while he has EyesAlwaysShut that hide rather shifty eyes, his features are otherwise pretty bland.
151	* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'': ''The Labyrinth Index'' mentions a type of spy called a Gray Man, who is so unremarkable and nondescript that they vanish from plain sight. This is described in relationship to Derek, who is not a Gray Man, but a rarer type of spy called the the Man of No Consequence, who is easily noticed but instantly dismissed -- fortunately for him, since he has no experience with spycraft. This lets him blend into a crowd of Korean tourists despite clearly being neither Korean nor a tourist, and infiltrate a government building because anyone who sees him assumes he's either harmlessly lost and/or someone else's problem.
152	* In ''Literature/LifeOfPi'', Pi's spiritual adviser Mr. Kumar (not [[PlanetOfSteves the atheist one]]) is described as being so average looking that at one point he worries about being unable to pick him out of a crowd when they're set to meet at his family's zoo.
153	* Carlotta Adams in ''Literature/LordEdgwareDies'' has an indistinct appearance that "could take on an alien character easily, but had recognisable character of its own".
154	* [[http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/pirkis/brooke/brooke.html Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective]].
155	-->She was not tall, she was not short; she was not dark, she was not fair; she was neither handsome nor ugly. Her features were altogether nondescript...
156	* Sheftu, the male lead of Eloise [=McGraw=]'s ''Literature/MaraDaughterOfTheNile'', exploits this in his role as double agent for the king. He's even complimented on it by two of the other characters. However, when he's in his day job, he's perfectly capable of appearing glitteringly resplendent, and women--including the title character--tend to find him very attractive, despite not being conventionally handsome.
157	* Inverted in ''Literature/TheMysteriousAffairAtStyles'', where part of the murderer's ploy was built on the fact that the victim's husband Alfred Inglethorp, was not only easy to remember, but also easy to disguise as.
158	* In the ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' books, Reynie Muldoon. Towards the beginning of the first book, he is described as being "...the least noticeable of boys. He was of average size, of an average pale complexion, his brown hair was of average length, and he wore average clothes." Later in the same book, he and Kate are spying on activities in the gym at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened when he is suddenly spotted by S.Q. Pedalian. However, he doesn't get caught because, as Kate explains...
159	-->They were questioning students when Constance and I came down the hill. Nobody saw you. Jackson asked us and we told the same story. He was yelling at S.Q.: "Is that really the best you can say? An average-looking boy? An awful lot of boys are average-looking, S.Q.!" And, poor S.Q., he just kept arguing that ''this'' boy was ''especially'' average-looking. Jackson seemed ready to strangle him.
160	* ''Literature/PracticalGuideToEvil'': Scribe's aspect of '''Fade''' enhances her already nondescript appearance as a plain-robed secretary, such that all anyone can remember about her appearance, even when trying to commit it to memory, is her ink-stained hands. This can go even further, letting her fade from the thoughts of others entirely - which is incredibly dangerous when she's the Black Knight's personal spymistress. Before she was recruited, she ran an assassination guild in Delos, allowing herself to be seen as a mere scribe to remain beneath notice.
161	* ''Literature/SergeStorms'': ''Orange Crush'', there's a minor character named Joe Blow, who is totally average in both appearance and habits. So average that he is the perfect barometer to predict who the population as a whole will vote for, resulting in him getting stalked by the media every election cycle.
162	* This is Inspector Jack Robinson's major physical trait in the ''Literature/PhryneFisher'' novels, and it makes him a very efficient policeman. Even people he has arrested cannot remember what he looks like.
163	* ''Literature/RepairmanJack'' is described as a generic "Pale Male", a natural image he also carefully cultivates to prevent himself from being [=IDed=].
164	* Wren Valere from Laura Gilman's ''Retrievers'' series often appears this way as a side affect of her magical talent. It helps her in her career as a professional thief/retriever, but also hinders her when she wants people to listen to her.
165	* The eponymous Reynard from ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'' is described as being extremely average looking when not in disguise. Basically, his face is a blank slate that can be molded into almost anything.
166	* [[OurDemonsAreDifferent The demon]] in ''Literature/RunningWithTheDemon'' is a bland looking man with smooth features, light blond hair, and pale blue eyes. He can sit down next to you, join your conversation, and everyone there will be convinced they know him; his name is just on the tip of their tongue, but they can't quite remember it. When he leaves, they forget all about him. Being a [[TheSoulless soulless]] BitchInSheepsClothing helps in this regard.
167	* The book ''The Schwa Was Here'' is about a character who's so nondescript that not only do people not remember him, nobody notices him in the first place.
168	* At one point in Creator/JohnLeCarre's ''The Secret Pilgrim'', Ned is waiting for TheSpymaster [[Literature/TheQuestForKarla George Smiley]] at a train station and at several points thinks he sees him walking towards him to realize that it's actually another elderly, slightly annoyed looking older man. He then muses to himself that this probably helped Smiley in his chosen profession a great deal.
169	* The guy from ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'' who delivers a report on events from Haruun Kal. He's so nondescript that Mace Windu immediately pegs him for a spy.
170	* Shiraori of ''Literature/SoImASpiderSoWhat'' uses a camouflage magic which interferes with people's ability to perceive her features. Unless they spend enough time around her or already know what she looks like, they will only perceive her as being "white".
171	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has few knocking about:
172	** The Tickler is a TortureTechnician in a company of particularly loathsome men-at-arms, but is in all other respects totally nondescript and ordinary.
173	** Mance Rayder, the "King Beyond the Wall" is described as rather unimpressive, looking like your average 40-something man. When Jon first sees Mance, he instantly dismisses him as a bard, since he's strumming a lute, and assumes that the more martial-looking Styr is the King Beyond the Wall.
174	** Davos Seaworth was a successful smuggler for years. And, for very many sound reasons: he is shrewd, is loyal to his own, is a fountain of common sense, gives workable advice and is a fairly nifty reader of people -- traits that helped him rise to becoming a Lord. However, he could also win prizes in the Mr Physiognomically Average Contest for the Westeros, Braavos and Andolos regional rounds (and, arguably a few more places besides). Which definitely ''won't'' have hurt his original job description, at all. [[spoiler: This comes into play when Wyman Manderly fakes Davos' execution as part of his revenge plans against the Freys, Boltons and Lannisters. Davos is eminently swappable with a few inmates you may have knocking about in prison. Whichever prison. And, with only minimal props added for effect (and just to make sure you sell the whole shtick).]]
175	** A historical version of one shows up in ''The Hedge Knight''. Prince Daeron "the Drunkard" Targaryen carried a disguise with him at all times: he was sandy-haired, not particularly striking to look at if not downright plain (so much so, even violet eyes didn't stand out), of medium height and build, not particularly noteworthy in upper-class behavioural ticks (besides the getting-drunk-a-lot thing) and, thus, so unlike your [[TheBeautifulElite standard]] PrettyBoy [[MysticalWhiteHair Targaryen]] [[UpperClassTwit high on airs and low on sense and/or manners]], you'd not have a clue who he was, unless you knew him personally. Which is why it took his own father going out to hunt for him to successfully find him when he decided to get himself lost in various taverns, once... Guardsmen alone hadn't a hope in hell of spotting this particular barfly within a swarm of others.
176	* Trevor Blake from the ''Literature/StarTrekVoyagerRelaunch'' novel ''The Farther Shore'' is described as physically nondescript, and his personality is rather quiet and boring. [[spoiler: Then it turns out he's part of the project to create a new Borg Queen.]]
177	* Tofu's go-to appearance in ''Literature/SuperMinion''. He purposefully chose the most generic set of features from the humans he observed, both to avoid standing out and so that if he needed to unexpectedly assume a more specific disguise he would probably be closer.
178	* Magdelena Crouch, aka the Crouching Maiden, a DarkActionGirl assassin from the ''Literature/SwordOfShadows'' series, is like this- she's so unremarkable that people tend to fill in details about what she looks like from their own imagination- though she's memorable owing to being a strong personality, two people who met her could describe her to each other and never know they were talking about the same person. The effect is implied to be mildly supernatural.
179	* In the shared anthology ''Literature/{{Temps}}'', about people with superhuman powers being called in to work for the British government, one story tells of a young Pakistani man who is constantly ignored, people don't listen to him, they talk over his head, etc. When called in to do his Temps duty in a hostage crisis the people in charge ignore him, but he goes in, more or less accidentally "talks down" the hostage taker (who thinks he was already in the building) and leaves unthanked and unnoticed. He never shows any signs of the power of a "Temp" until the last line in the story, where we learn his codename is... The Invisible Boy.
180	* The ancient Roman mystery ''Terra Incognita'' has an agent-with-special-powers, an aide to a senior military officer, named Metellus who is like this. He doesn't do any undercover work, but his lack of distinguishing features adds to his blandly amoral creepiness.
181	* ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'' has Man In Suit, who's described as just that; everything from his face to his clothing is so plain and blank it's impossible to describe.
182	* A minor character in a ''Literature/TomSwift''/''Literature/HardyBoys'' crossover book is like this. He is a thief who steals rare documents by simply walking out with them, confident no-one could remember enough about him to track him down.
183	* In ''Literature/TransformersExiles'', Makeshift's ShapeshifterDefaultForm is described as "so anonymous that it was practically impossible for anyone who saw him once to describe him accurately."
184	* Literature/TravisMcGee takes full advantage of his own generally unremarkable appearance in his investigations; his height -- 6'5" -- is literally the only thing most people remember about him. He occasionally puts lifts in his shoes to make it even harder for them to remember anything else.
185	* ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'' has "Librarian-chan", whose name is not remembered by any of her classmates. She deliberately invokes the {{Bookworm}} trope so people will remember her for ''something''; in truth, she only owns a few books.
186	-->"Hey, Librarian-chan, what’s that on your swimsuit’s nametag? Some kind of nickname?"\
187	"It’s my real name! Who would write 'Librarian' on here!?"
188	* In Robert Brockway's ''Literature/TheUnnoticeables'', the titular Unnoticeables are a crowd of HumanoidAbomination who are described as "looking human but not quite". They seem to have a psychic effect on people where those looking at them are compelled to not care about what they are or what they look like. Carey even has a moment where he is having difficulty even fighting one of them without feeling disinterested.
189	* Wheezer in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' novel ''Hammers of Ulric'' uses this ability to his advantage to pick pockets and live like an ArtfulDodger in the city of Middenheim.
190	** The Emperor of Mankind seems to have some sort of glamour on him that allows him to appear to be the idealogized version of a man to whoever gazes upon him. Psyker blanks, like the Sisters of Silence, see past this and thus know he is a very nondescript, dark haired man (Albeit one who's fourteen feet tall). This isn't surprising given that he is so powerful that he can hide behind illusions or even transform into anything he desires.
191	** In the Literature/CiaphasCain books, Cain mentions the Lord General's personal psyker is, unusually, very powerful while still being sane with the only issue being that he has a dull and boring personality. On top of that, he is incredibly non-descript and even after several meetings, Cain can't even remember the faintest detail about him. Again, like the Emperor, this makes sense. Powerful in control psykers aren't likely to develop mutations or heed the whisperings of the warp. They can very neatly sidestep the dangers of their powers and be incredibly well adjusted. This is what makes these psykers so dangerous. [[ParanoiaFuel You could be standing next to the most powerful psyker in the universe and not know it.]] The Emperor made it a point once he came out of hiding that everyone who gazed at him would know EXACTLY how powerful he was.
192	* In the novel ''Literature/WatershipDown'' and its animated adaptation, Hazel is a very nondescript ''rabbit'', compared to his co-stars' distinguishing features (Bigwig's head-tuft, Blackberry's tipped ears, Fiver's and Pipkin's small size). Rabbits meeting his band for the first time invariably assume somebody else is the leader until told otherwise.
193	* ''Literature/WhaleTalk:'' Swim team member Jackie Craig is described as a "chameleon" who looks and acts so averagely that if he robbed a bank, no one would be able to describe him.
194	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'':
195	** The Grey Men, assassins for the BigBad, have this going on at the level of a PerceptionFilter, and use their nondescriptness to slip through crowds and get up close to their target. It is said that a Grey Man coming at you with a knife is less noticeable than the leg of a chair. Whenever they attempt to assassinate someone, their actions are mentioned in the text a while before anyone notices them.
196	** A late book in the series introduces a non-supernatural version with a man named Hark, a pickpocket who in the course of his career has stolen thousands of wallets. They'd never have caught him if he hadn't kept them all as [[CreepySouvenir souvenirs]]. He's sent to track a minor villain who had previously killed every spy set to watch him.
197	* Nice Guy from ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', an [[HighTurnoverRate ex-ex-member]] of the [[HeroKiller Slaughterhouse Nine]], had this as a superpower. [[spoiler:When we finally [[SendInTheClones see him in action]], it's...not pleasant.]]
198	* The villain of Aaron Elkins's ''The Worst Thing'' went so far as to have surgery to make his ears and nose look more average. He's often stopped in the street and told that he looks just like some actor who had a bit part in a single episode of a TV show--but it's never the same actor.
199	* Grey Murphy in the ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series. His driver's license lists his hair as "hair-colored" and his eyes as "neutral".
200	[[/folder]]
201
202	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
203	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': Ann Veal, George Michael's girlfriend. She is bland in both personality and appearance, prompting George Michael's family to constantly forget she's around and screw up her name. They often wonder what George Michael sees in her ("Is she funny or something?"). Whenever George Michael says something complimentary about her, he's met with a dubious [[PhraseCatcher "Her?"]] However, this is downplayed later in the series when she becomes very religious.
204	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
205	** The Mayor is just an average smiling politician, right? ''[[AffablyEvil Wrong.]]''
206	** The episode "Out of Mind, Out of Sight" had a girl, Marcie Ross, who was so nondescript that no-one noticed her. She was never called on in class or spoken to by her peers. Eventually, a combination of [[ArtMajorPhysics quantum mechanics]] and the fact that [[CrapsackWorld the school is built over a Hellmouth]] turned her invisible. When her existence is revealed, she is implied to have been living in the school air vents for months without being reported missing. Willow and Xander don't know who she is, despite having had ''three'' classes with her the previous year. Marcie's goal is revenge on those who ignored her, through revenge and mutilation. At the end of the episode, she is taken away by TheMenInBlack to a classroom of likewise invisible people, to be trained in espionage and assassination.
207	--->'''Buffy:''' ''[showing a yearbook she found in the vents]'' Have a nice summer, have a nice summer... every signature.\
208	'''Giles:''' Once again, I stand on the edge of the generation gap--\
209	'''Buffy:''' "Have a nice summer" is what you write when you have absolutely nothing else to say.\
210	'''Willow:''' It's the social kiss of death.
211	* ''Series/BurnNotice'': An assassin sent to kill Michael Westen certainly qualifies. He's shortish, chubby, with thinning brown hair and glasses. He's just another bureaucrat sent to review Michael's file. Until he asks for a drink and whips out a garrote. Spies show contempt for bureaucrats, meaning they're the perfect cover.
212	* The unsub in one ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode started killing because he was one of these and was angry that no one noticed him.
213	* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': The title character's traditional killing outfit consists of a drab, long-sleeved Henley shirt and khaki cargo pants, which are nondescript enough to avoid standing out in most settings.
214	* On ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'', Lewis and Oswald once boasted to Drew that their greatest edge in trying to meet women was being completely forgettable, thus any woman who turns them down would always give them a second chance a few years later by means of having forgotten them already. They go on to try to pick up a pair of girls who turn them down immediately, but they merely smirk and say "See you in ten years!"
215	* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' has this with Lawrence Dobson who looks to be nothing special, and loses anything interesting about him ''whatsoever'' when you see Simon wearing the most villainous getup you can imagine.
216	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
217	** Bronn is grungy, unkempt, unshaven, and constantly wears the same black leather armour even when he can afford better clothes. That way, he stays blended into the background until it's too late for you to realise he's a lot more dangerous than you gave him credit for.
218	** The Tickler has a totally average, unremarkable appearance and carries out his horrible actions with casual nonchalance.
219	* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': In the expanded universe material, a story is told from Rachel Mills's point of view using a job interview as a framing device. She says that the interviewer is similar to most of the people she interviewed with since leaving the Marines, and that she could probably spend hours alone in a room with him and still not be able to describe him. He is interviewing her for a job in a new government agency that hunts down people with superpowers (which itself has the nondescript name "Building 26").
220	* Thomas from season 17 of ''Series/TheMole'' (Dutch version) came across as a quiet, generically good-looking guy who faded into the background compared to other contestants like [[SassyBlackWoman Imanuelle]], [[TheSmartGuy Diederik]], [[CoolOldLady Sanne]], and [[TheFool Jochem]]. [[spoiler:This made him an ideal Mole who remained undetected by all but one contestant for the entire season.]]
221	* In one episode of ''Series/ThePersuaders'', an assassin is set on the heroes' tail. He is just an aging, thin, unattractive man who is normally a repairman when he's not taking jobs like this. He attributes his success to the fact that he is always TheEveryman who no-one ever notices or suspects.
222	* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': {{Discussed\| Trope}} when Henry describes a woman he was set up with as nondescript and Shawn remarks that he's only heard someone say that when discussing a crime scene.
223	* Alex, Paul and Jess of ''Series/TheRealHustle'' don't usually use disguises except for fake names, but are never recognised by their marks. Then again, the magic of editing means it probably happens, but we just never see it ("Hey, aren't you that guy off TV?")
224	* ''Series/WouldILieToYou'': In the first episode of series 7, Creator/DavidMitchellActor claims [[spoiler:truthfully]] that it is his ambition to be TheNondescript:
225	-->'''David:''' One of the codes by which I live my life is that my appearance should be in no way noteworthy, but then again, not so unnoteworthy as to be in itself noteworthy.[[note]]A gray necktie would count as the latter, according to Mitchell.[[/note]]
226	[[/folder]]
227
228	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
229	* Believe it or not, UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}}. Literature/TheFourGospels heavily imply that he was very generic-looking, since the soldiers who came to arrest him couldn't pick him out, and even his own disciples had trouble recognizing him after his resurrection.
230	[[/folder]]
231
232	[[folder:Podcasts]]
233	* In the second episode of ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' the statement giver recounts his meeting with a [[HumanoidAbomination "man"]] calling itself John. The statement giver has trouble recalling any details about John beyond the color of its hair and its vaguely British accent; the harder he tries to recall details, the more hazy the memory gets. This even extended to John's clothes, as when John gave the statement giver some money he doesn't remember what article of clothing had the pocket that the money was withdrawn from. [[spoiler: A much later episode reveals that 'John' was a thing of [[UncannyValley the Stranger]], one of "shifting names and deja vu."]]
234	* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'':
235	** The Man In The Tan Jacket, who is is said to be completely unmemorable. Witnesses can't describe him outside of noting that [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin he wears a tan jacket]] and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick carries a briefcase full of flies.]]
236	** Our narrator Cecil (and his counter-part Kevin) who described each other as being neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, having various human features like a nose and a mouth, but with [[TheUnSmile odd smiles.]] The creators have gone on record as saying that Cecil will remain this way, so that he can look however fans want him to. Quite a number of fan artists have settled on the idea of a dark-skinned man with messy hair and a literal third eye.
237	[[/folder]]
238
239	[[folder:Radio]]
240	* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme:'' Exaggerated in one sketch where a woman in an office asks a co-worker to pass a message along to another co-worker, but is unable to sufficiently describe any sort of identifying feature, even height or hair colour. The punchline comes at the end of the sketch: [[spoiler:He's her husband.]]
241
242	[[/folder]]
243
244	[[folder:Roleplays]]
245	* [[spoiler:Ata]] from ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG''. Because of his status as TheGenericGuy, he was the perfect candidate to eventually be revealed as TheMole.
246	* Pirate Lady Corazon Rivadeneira from ''Roleplay/OpenBlue'' is so nondescript that even the paintings she modeled for can't agree on how she looks like. It's implied to be a supernatural power.
247	* Juliana from ''Solomon Academy'' isn't ''normally'' this, but she has the power to shed her identity and vanish. It's not exactly invisibility, but people cannot process any distinguishing information about her, so it might as well be.
248	[[/folder]]
249
250	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
251	* TabletopGame/TheBookOfUnremittingHorror has "The Man in The Bar", an Outer Dark Entity that confuses everyones senses, making sure that it has no discernable features to be identified by any witnesses. Which is perfect for hunting its prey at Bars.
252	* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' adventure "Red Doom", the character Disinformer has this quality, which is why he's one of the KGB's top spies.
253	* ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' has the talent "Unremarkable", usually taken as a starting ability. Mind you, in this game you can also take chemical castration, nanite blood, and replacing half your brain with a computer as talents.
254	** ''TabletopGame/BlackCrusade'' adds the "Illusion of Normalcy" mutation, which hides all mutations, blasphemous tattoos etc. in addition to giving "Unremarkable".
255	* Likewise, there is a magical ability called "Incognito" in ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' that does nothing to alter its user's appearance, but instead makes him or her really, really, ''supernaturally''... uninteresting. No surprise that it's under the purview of the Hucksters, arcane practitioners often described as "shifty".
256	* One of the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' splatbooks describe a nondescript box you can hide items in. It's not invisible, but anyone looking for it must pass a search check or they will ignore it. "It's just another plain box."
257	* The Sidereal ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' may be nondescript or attention-grabbing, as their individual natures dictate, but the Arcane Fate ensures that any non-Sidereal who meets them will find them very hard to remember...even more so when all traces of their existence, from footprints to pictures to bureaucratic records, get lost, are accidentally destroyed or defaced, or mysteriously vanish. Unfortunately for their social lives, [[BlessedWithSuck they can't turn it off.]]
258	* In ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters'', this is a power you can inflict on others.
259	* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', having a nondescript appearance is a perk that causes people to just naturally assume you're not involved in things.
260	* In the 1980s ''[[Franchise/JamesBond James Bond]] 007: Role-Playing In Her Majesty's Secret Service'' roleplaying game, a nondescript appearance costs more character points than an attractive one. This fits the setting (where agents tend to be good-looking) and requires the character to pay for the benefit of easily blending into the crowd (a useful thing for a spy).
261	* The advantage "Bland" makes you this in the ''TabletopGame/LegendOfTheFiveRings'' tabletop game 3rd edition. Too bad it also makes you less likely to be recognised when glory is to be had for great deeds.
262	* ''Mage'':
263	** This is the focus of both a Merit (Occultation) and a Legacy (The Blank Badges) in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening''.
264	** Likewise, "Arcane" in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''. The Ahl-i-Batin cranked it up to ten (not eleven--at eleven [[PuffOfLogic the universe forgets you exist]]). An entertaining variant because it can't be turned off, making it a two-edged sword.
265	** Mind sphere invisibility also works like this. If an observer doesn't overcome the power rating of the spell, they literally cannot find you noteworthy enough to record or remember. Higher-level mind mages can also do this after-the-fact by memory manipulation.
266	** The "Subtle Ones" Legacy from Awakening use this to their advantage. They can blend seamlessly into any group while influencing their thoughts and emotions. They're based on the Ahl-i-Batin, to boot.
267	** ''Mage'' really loves this one: fate magic and space magic can also be used to prevent others from forming any kind of social or mental connection with a character.
268	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'', this is one of the weaker powers of the Darkness purview.
269	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has nondescript as a positive background during character creation. It means that, in a world [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou where ambient cameras can keep track of you all the time]], your appearance is so bog-standard for your age, sex and metatype that even face-recognising A.Is have problems [[SuspectIsHatless distinguishing you from millions of other Jon/Jane Does]].
270	* ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' offers this as a skill.
271	* Similarly, the ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' (and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'') power of "Obfuscate".
272	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', Wizards that study the grey wind of magic, the Lore of Shadow, become more nondescript and forgettable as they grow in ability.
273	[[/folder]]
274
275	[[folder:Video Games]]
276	* Shūsei Tokuda in ''VideoGame/BungoToAlchemist'' is designed like a typical harem series hero with plain short black hair and black eyes. He complains about how even his teacher finds him boring.
277	* Kellam from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. Despite being one of the tallest characters in the game and wearing a gigantic suit of armor, he's virtually invisible to everyone, including his own teammates. It also doesn't help that his design is very plain compared to the other characters. Amusingly, recruiting him is entirely optional because of this.
278	* Your U.L. Paper contact in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV''. "To me? Who am I? There's a hundred guys in this building alone who fit my description. Middle aged men, paunchy, glasses... you bring them here? What's this? Empty office, leased to a man who died in the last days of Vietnam... Call me up. My number never existed." -- also goes for TheMenInBlack.
279	* ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'':
280	** An InformedAbility of Agent 47, who is said to be deliberately engineered to be multiracial so he could fit in anywhere without drawing attention. He doesn't actually look multiracial, and he's also got a barcode tattooed to the back of his shaved head, which is quite distinctive. And it's topped off by a $3,000 suit and custom handguns. In spite of it all, he seems to have no trouble passing himself off as just about anyone.
281	** ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' features a group called [[TheIlluminati Providence]], a top-secret conspiracy who have ambitions to TakeOverTheWorld and already exert a huge influence on world governments already. In a later mission, one of your targets is interrogating a low-rank courier for Providence for information on his commander. The poor scrub can't give him a description of his boss because he just [[TheyLookLikeEveryoneElse looks like an ordinary guy]]: an accountant who could sit next to you on the bus without you noticing. Apart from a nice suit and a bit of a raspy voice, he does look like a perfectly generic middle-aged guy.
282	* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', HK-47 gives a short lecture about assassination. He mentions how being a droid makes his job easy since most people tend to treat droids like furniture.
283	* The Stone Mask in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' has the ability to make the wearer appear as unnoticeable as a stone. This has a drawback: you get it by using the Lens of Truth to find a soldier who put it on, then suffered an injury. He laid there, hurt and forgotten, for days until you found him. However, particularly disciplined or trained people can see past it, such as the Gerudo Pirate {{Mini Boss}}es and their leader. They even [[DevelopersForesight have unique dialogue]] if they spot you wearing it, changing from saying "That's as far as you go" and "Everyone!!! A rat has snuck in!" to saying "You think you can trick us with that mask?" and "Everyone!!! A rat ''wearing a strange mask'' has snuck in!"
284	* Sims with "Pudding Face" in ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' have facial features which are completely and utterly average,[[note]]CharacterCustomization sliders are all set to 0 value, making them neither positive nor negative,[[/note]] but nothing's stopping them from having an Eccentric, Flirtatious, or even Insane or Evil personality trait (or, potentially, ''all'' of these). Since the game occasionally makes Pudding Faces when it's creating new sims for "needed" positions around town, you could potentially end up with many identical sims around town after playing through a few in-game generations. Good luck keeping them all straight.
285	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' has Koishi, who's a ''metaphysical'' version of this. By closing her mind off she's closed others' mind to her, meaning that she's hard to notice and harder to remember, despite being a strange girl with an eye/heart/thing hanging around her chest.
286	* In ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'', Arthur Hastings has to take advantage of how amazingly average and mediocre everything about his appearance is, as well as the townsfolk being coked out of their minds on Joy, to get past most threats. As long as he doesn't attract attention to himself and isn't seen doing anything wrong, nobody will remember him and will leave him alone. Even if his cover is blown all he has to do is escape their chase and wait a few minutes, and they'll have forgotten what he looked like.
287	[[/folder]]
288
289	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
290	* To [[spoiler: the BigBad]] in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors,'' ''everyone'' is like this due to his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia prosopagnosia.]] This allows Zero to trick him into [[spoiler: killing one of his former accomplices]].
291	[[/folder]]
292
293	[[folder:Web Comics]]
294	* Shigeo Kageyama from ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'' is so average it hurts: ordinary grades, no extracurriculars, completely average looks, absolutely nothing interesting about him. His InSeriesNickname "Mob" (which gets used far more often than his real name), comes from the fact that he looks like a generic character from a crowd scene. What's ''not'' nondescript about him are his insanely powerful [[PsychicPowers psychic abilities]]...
295	* Mr. Chalk from ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl''. A partial example, he has ''almost'' no defining features, save a jagged cut of a mouth.
296	[[/folder]]
297
298	[[folder:Web Original]]
299	* Jolie La Belle from ''Literature/StarHarborNights'' has "indescribable beauty" as a superpower, with an emphasis on the "indescribable" part.
300	* The main character of ''Literature/WorthTheCandle'' was once described by his best friend as what someone would look like if a player chose all of the "default" options on a character creator - blue eyes, brown hair, and average everything with no distinguishing features whatsoever. His tabletop gaming friends even nicknamed him "Default" until he [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore stopped pretending to find it funny.]]
301	[[/folder]]
302
303	[[folder:Web Videos]]
304	* Billy from ''WebVideo/DrHorriblesSingAlongBlog''. Even though he's played by Creator/NeilPatrickHarris, he does manage to pull off ClarkKenting remarkably well, and goes unnoticed following Captain Hammer and Penny around on their dates.
305	[[/folder]]
306
307	[[folder:Western Animation]]
308	* Rob from ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'' is this in "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS2E21ThePony The Pony]]", with his entire existence being treated as a NoodleIncident, with Gumball and Darwin remembering him as much as the audience does. In "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS3E12TheVoid The Void]]", this is {{deconstructed\|Trope}}, as [[spoiler:he is revealed to have been thought of as a mistake by the Void and sucked in, being left unnoticed, even after trying to get saved by visitors there]]. "[[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS3E36TheNobody The Nobody]]" also {{deconstruct\|edTrope}}s this, as [[spoiler:it is revealed he has escaped and is still alive, but just glitched up and trying to claim an identity that has not already been taken]].
309	* Samson the guinea pig of ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'', a case of AscendedExtra that isn't quite that. He once snuck into a guarded vault of candy just by waltzing in. When the owner of it found him, he actively stepped over Samson and blamed a fly for it.
310	* Brett from ''WesternAnimation/{{Inside Job\|2021}}'' was hired by Cognito, Inc. because his appearance is so generic he can't be detected by spy satellites.
311	* Wallflower Blush from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship'' is constantly ignored and forgotten about by everyone else at Canterlot High, even by people she's just talked to. [[spoiler: It's what drives her to use the Memory Stone to erase everyone's positive memories of Sunset Shimmer, forcing them to only remember her as she was before her HeelFaceTurn.]]
312	[[/folder]]
313
314	[[folder:Real Life]]
315	* The criminal popularly known as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper D.B. Cooper]]. It's possible that he didn't survive landing, but looking at [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/DBCooper.jpg his composite sketch,]] it seems just as likely that he was never caught because he could be just about any white guy between 25 and 50. One of the more plausible theories on why the authorities never managed to catch him is that Cooper simply went back to work on Monday as if nothing happened, considering no one was reported missing in the area in the week of the hijacking.
316	* The President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy (not, technically, the "President of Europe" as is often incorrectly assumed) approaches the ideal. The ''Telegraph'' newspaper wrote after his appointment to the position in 2009 that "those who have met him [...] and can still recall the experience describe him as 'modest', 'introverted' and 'self-effacing'". Nigel Farage accused him of having the "charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk". Mr. Van Rompuy also comes from Belgium, which is about as nondescript as countries get.
317	* One of the things that allowed SerialKiller Ted Bundy to go on killing for so long was the fact he was so ordinary looking. He was pretty much a natural master of disguise. He was also helped by the fact that he could look reasonably handsome (though not memorably so), which helped him to persuade his female victims to get into vulnerable situations.
318	* Ditto with Andrew Cunanan--5'10, 150 lbs., brown hair, brown eyes. How many guys look like that?
319	* Former Seattle Mariners catcher Dan Wilson fits this well enough that many people, after meeting him have stated that they would never recognize him if they saw him walking down the street. This includes someone who had looked up to him as a hero for most of her life!
320	* Most [=DJs=], no matter how much they produce SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, generally seem to be nondescript white guys dressed in generic clothing wearing sunglasses and hats. Music/DJShadow, James Lavelle, [[Music/MassiveAttack 3D]] and Music/RJD2 all look really quite similar. It's unlikely that any DJ out there gets recognized on the street. This is seemingly part of the reason artists like Music/DaftPunk are so noticeable.
321	* UsefulNotes/GeraldFord had very few distinguishing features, so few that political cartoonists of the time [[http://jjmccullough.com/Ford.html couldn't figure out how to caricature him properly.]]
322	* Similarly, Creator/AliLarter was described this way. While she was on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', a comic-book themed covers were commissioned for ''TV Guide.'' The artist for the cover she was on, Phil Jimenez, [[http://www.tvguide.com/news/heroes-comic-kring-40166.aspx described her as]] torturous for an artist, saying "she’s a really beautiful woman without a specific defining feature to grab on to," making it hard to make the drawing instantly recognizable as the actress.
323	* Early in UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin's career his appearance was critiqued as nondescript and unmemorable.
324	** In fact, his face is so generic that it have become something of a sport to find his lookalikes in quite unusual times and circumstances, like in UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar,[[note]]Who ''does'' look eerily similar in ''some'' portraits, but not much so in others[[/note]] or [[Art/TheArnolfiniPortrait Renaissance Italian merchant Giovanni Arnolfini]].
325	* During the time he was on the run, a common joke in Boston was that they would never find James "Whitey" Bulger even if he had stayed right in Boston because he looks just like every other elderly Irish-American guy in the city. When they [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:James_Bulger_retouched.jpg came up with an age advanced new photo of him]] in 2004 it was really apparent, and even his [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Whitey_Bulger_US_Marshals_Service_Mug1.jpg mugshot]] when finally caught is still pretty unremarkable. The most memorable thing about him was always said to be his [[IcyBlueEyes piercing eyes]] but only when he intended them to be that way, and while in hiding he was known to frequently wear sunglasses in public, which didn't raise any eyebrows since it was California. On at least one occasion he also visited a local bar frequented by Boston transplants, and while a few people claimed after he was caught that they did notice a resemblance, none of them [[RefugeInAudacity believed someone as wanted as Whitey Bulger would actually dare to come out in public like that.]]
326	* Sports writer Jack [=McCallum=], in his book on the Dream Team, pointed out that the only member of the 1992 U.S. UsefulNotes/{{Olympic\|Games}} Men’s Basketball team who could go outside in Barcelona without getting mobbed by the public was John Stockton, because he was a 6'1" white guy with dark hair (hardly uncommon in the city). The other two white guys on the team were blond and at least 6'8", and all the black men were at least 6'6". [[https://youtu.be/CEmacNvCj4A This clip]] proves his point.
327	* Comedian Nish Kumar has a bit where he says if he could be anyone, he'd be the drummer from Music/{{Coldplay}}, since nobody knows who he is, but he's famous enough that he got to cameo in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. He admits this applies equally to the other members of the band, but he picked the drummer because he gets to sit down all the time.
328	* BBC journalist Nigel Wrench, who managed to score an intervew with Creator/{{Banksy}} about his first exhibition, before the "Who is Banksy?" mystery became part of the art, has said that when people ask him what Banksy looks like all he can say is "He was a young bloke in a hoodie", and he thinks this is how he's able to maintain his anonymity.
329	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheNondescript