History Main / AnonymousRinger

* In ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which is set in an {{alternate|History}} [[TheSixties 60s]] version of England ([[BalkanizeMe the UK is apparently not more]]), the Queen is never named and apparently not married, so it's left ambiguous if she's [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]] or not.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': While the President's face was never shown, nor his name ever given, during the scenes on Air Force One in the first film, his accent is clearly meant to be that of George W. Bush. The trope is averted in the sequel, in which President Obama is mentioned by name and his staff is villainized.

* Several Creator/SalmanRushdie novels feature characters based on prominent politicians - ''Literature/MidnightsChildren'' mentions a female prime minister with Cruella [=DeVil=] hair - a reference to Indira Gandhi's distinctive hairstyle. One chapter of ''Literature/TheSatanicVerses'' centers on "the Iman", a persian extremist expatriate obsessed with water and cleanliness, obviously based on Ayatollah Khomeini's exile in France. ''The Golden House'''s Gary Gwynplaine is an expy of Donald Trump, in the years before his election.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' is set in the last years of Japan's [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod Sengoku period]], but the faction menacing Ashina is only identified as the "Interior Ministry" and "Central Forces". However, anyone familiar with Japanese history can guess that the Ministry is the Tokugawa Shogunate, since they had already conquered most of the country by the early 1600s. In fact, the Interior Ministry soldiers who appear in [[spoiler:the final assault on Ashina Castle]] wear [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/shadowsdietwice/images/8/81/Central_Force_Swordsman.png/revision/latest?cb=20190514203038 emblems]] with floral designs suspiciously similar to those on the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Tokugawa_family_crest.svg Tokugawa family crest]].

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' is set in the late years of Japan's [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod Sengoku period]]. The main antagonists are only identified as the "Interior Ministry" and "Central Forces" with no traits that could identify them with a specific clan. However, anyone familiar with Japanese history can guess that the Ministry is the Tokugawa Shogunate since they had already conquered most of the country by the early 1600s.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', the Middle-Eastern country where Khaled al-Assad stages a violent coup is never named. The geography tends to be "all over the place" with pinpointed areas including land in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait. But Al-Assad refers to a "monarchy" that was replaced by al-Fulani during in a revolution. Saudi Arabia is the only monarchy in the region, neither Iraq nor Iran nor Yemen having monarchies. Kuwait could qualify, being an Emirate but unlikely (not to mention, Kuwait is too small for the campaign to take place in).
** It seems to be a blend of Saudi Arabia and Syria. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Assad_family name of its ruler]], its close relationship with Russia, its military being armed with Soviet-made military equipment (from [=AKMs=] to T-72s to Hinds), and the relatively secular nationalist movement that takes over are all cribbed directly from Syria rather than Saudi Arabia, which has no notable generals or politicians by the name of "Assad", has been anti-Russian since the Cold War, uses almost entirely American-made weapons, and has no notable nationalist movements, with the main opposition to the government being ''more'' extreme Salafists.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' takes place "in a rural part of Europe", though a character mentions he used to be a cop in Madrid and the currency collected is in pesetas. In yet another case of RE's infamous voice-acting quality, [[{{Spexico}} the characters speak in Mexican dialects instead of Spanish ones]]. One might argue this was to make the game's setting harder to pinpoint, but then the ''Separate Ways'' side-story starts off with Wesker viewing a satellite image of the location in question... and it's smack-dab in the middle of Spain.

Enter the Anonymous Ringer — a character or place transparently meant to be a recognizable real-world figure, but never explicitly mentioned by name. This device allows an author to write about England being invaded by "a country to the north", the US being driven to war by "the president", or a riot at a concert of "a popular rock-and-roll band", without having to worry about Scots, Donald Trump, or the Rolling Stones firing off a cease-and-desist letter.

* In both the book and film versions of Roger L. Simon's ''The Big Fix'', the hero meets Sixties-revolutionary-on-the-run Howard Eppis, author of ''Rip It Off'' -- an obvious one for Sixties-revolutionary-then-on-the-run Abbie Hoffman, author of ''Steal This Book''.
* Played straight in Creator/FrederickForsyth's ''The Devil's Alternative'', where the female Prime Minister in power in 1979 is 'Joan Carpenter'. Averted in his next novel, ''The Fourth Protocol'', where Margaret Thatcher was referred to by name. The novel also used Ken Livingstone as a key player in a Soviet plot.

** In ''24: Redemption'', the fictional African nation of Sangala is apparently a stand-in for Sudan.
** And the IRK is an obvious stand-in for the Islamic Republic of Iran, right down to the controversial nuclear program.

* The ''Series/{{House}}'' episode "The Tyrant" guest-starred James Earl Jones as the dictator of a fictional African country. He's clearly a stand-in for Idi Amin.

** In Clancy's early novels, ostensibly set during the Reagan years, the president is referred to only as "The President". His background (a lawyer) is different to that of Reagan though. Later novels introduce a string of fictional presidents, including one who appears to be a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman liberal]] interpretation of Bill Clinton. Saddam Hussein and Indira Gandhi are likewise referred to only as "The president of Iraq" and "The prime minister of India".

* A sort of anonymous ringer appears in Harry Turtledove's ''In the Presence of My Enemies'', an AlternateHistory set in 2009 Nazi Germany - the Fuhrer, "Kurt Haldweim", is a blatant stand-in for real-world Austrian president, and UN Secretary General, Kurt Waldheim, who in real life would die in 2007.

** Furthermore, both countries are small, and very explicitly have no real-world analogues. (Wallachia is real location, but it hasn't been a separate country since the mid-19th century: it's the main province of UsefulNotes/{{Romania}}, and was the bit that [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] ruled back in the day.[[note]]In the series, it is mentioned that the 'Wallachia' which Lord Paramount carved out for himself during the [[UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag fall of the Ceaușescu government]] only overlaps with the historical Wallachia in a small part of its southernmost territory.[[/note]])

* For the most part, this is averted in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', as real world people and places were used when needed. Certain other public figures (like the current US Secretary of Defense, Dr. Andrea Coudriet, and the current in-universe Pope, Alexander IX) are purely fictional substitutes for real people.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', the Middle-Eastern country where Khaled al-Asad stages a violent coup is never named, but since the game has explicit map views, it's obviously Saudi Arabia.
** The geography tends to be "all over the place" with pinpointed areas including land in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait.
** Al-Asad refers to a "monarchy" that was replaced by al-Fulani during in a revolution. Saudi Arabia is the only monarchy in the region, neither Iraq nor Iran nor Yemen having monarchies. Kuwait could qualify, being an Emirate but unlikely.

Enter the Anonymous Ringer - a character or place transparently meant to be a recognizable real-world figure, but never explicitly mentioned by name. This device allows an author to write about England being invaded by "a country to the north", the US being driven to war by "the president", or a riot at a concert of "a popular rock-and-roll band", without having to worry about Scots, Donald Trump, or the Rolling Stones firing off a cease-and-desist letter.

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** In "The Christmas Invasion", Harriet Jones, Prime Minister ([[PhraseCatcher Yes, we know who you are]]) refers to "the President" and then makes an Iraq War comment:
--> "Use these exact words - 'He is not my boss and he is certainly not turning this into a war'."
** Which becomes somewhat ironic when her course of action in the end is to wait until the aliens have surrendered to the Doctor and then kill them all as they leave. [[ExactWords Well, a war it wasn't, anyway.]]
** She also mentions jokingly that she is "not one of the 'babes'", referring to the so-called "Blair's Babes", a term used to refer to the high-profile women that Tony Blair gave favour to at the beginning of his administration.
** Later in the series, a US "President-Elect" (which Russell Davies thought was just the longer official title of the president) would actually be shown on screen. While the president in this case is a fictional character, he has some similarities to George W. Bush. And is killed by [[MagnificentBastard The Master]] (he even stays dead when the ResetButton gets pushed at the end of the series, his death being the last event before it takes effect).
** In season 10, the US President briefly appears in an episode, but he is a brown-haired male [[spoiler:although this was actually happening in a simulated reality with minute differences from the original.]] The next episode has companion Bill Potts refer to the President as being "orange".
* In "Dead and Buried", an episode of ''Series/TheBill'' (a show that usually names countries), the plot involves a diplomat from an unnamed Eastern European country. It also has a character mislocate Prague as Western Europe ("Central Europe" is the more accurate term).
* Japanese Live-action: The president of the US (only seen from the back, with Asian skin tone, a blond dye job, and {{Engrish}}) is comically a fan of maid cafes in ''Maid in Akihabara''.
* ''Series/StargateSG1'' had two sitting Presidents over its ten year run. The first was never shown or mentioned by name, but a BrainwashedAndCrazy Martouf/Lantash tries to kill a decoy that looked like then-President Bill Clinton. The second was the entirely fictional Henry Hayes, with equally fictional antagonist Robert Kinsey as Vice President. Kinsey is forced to resign at the end of the seventh season, but his replacement is never mentioned or shown. Mitchell does make a quip about a "Vice Presidential duck hunt" in the tenth season, suggesting Kinsey was replaced by then-Vice President Dick Cheney.

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* Interestingly, two separate techno-thrillers (''Firefox'' and Clancy's ''Red Rabbit'') feature the real-life (at the time) KGB head Yuri Andropov. Like Vladimir Putin, Andropov would later lead his country.

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* ''Webcomic/{{Academia}}'' is never explicit about its setting, but the buildings are all modeled after University of Toronto and its surrounding neighbourhood.

* Stross' Literature/TheMerchantPrinces takes place during the second Bush administration, and the descriptions of the president and vice president's past and personality clearly indicate that they are G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney respectively, but they are only ever referred to (or addressed) as BOY WONDER and WARBUCKS, their supposed CIA code names. [[spoiler:This may be due to the fact that BOY WONDER dies in a nuclear attack on D.C. partially orchestrated by WARBUCKS]]

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' "The Christmas Invasion", Harriet Jones, Prime Minister ([[PhraseCatcher Yes, we know who you are]]) refers to "the President" and then makes an Iraq War comment:

** Furthermore, both countries are small, and very explicitly have no real-world analogues. (Wallachia is real location, but it hasn't been a separate country since the mid-19th century: it's the main province of [[UsefulNotes/Romania Romania]], and was the bit that [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] ruled back in the day.[[note]]In the series, it is mentioned that the 'Wallachia' which Lord Paramount carved out for himself during the [[UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag fall of the Ceaușescu government]] only overlaps with the historical Wallachia in a small part of its southernmost territory.[[/note]])

** Furthermore, both countries are small, and very explicitly have no real-world analogues. (Wallachia is real location, but it hasn't been a separate country since the mid-19th century: it's the main province of [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/Romania Romania]], and was the bit that [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] ruled back in the day.[[note]]In the series, it is mentioned that the 'Wallachia' which Lord Paramount carved out for himself during the [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/HoleInFlag fall of the Ceaușescu government]] only overlaps with the historical Wallachia in a small part of its southernmost territory.[[/note]])

** Furthermore, both countries are small, and very explicitly have no real-world analogues. (Wallachia is real location, but it hasn't been a separate country since the mid-19th century: it's the main province of Romania, and was the bit that [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] ruled back in the day.[[note]]In the series, it is mentioned that the Wallachia which Lord Paramount carved out for himself during the fall of the Ceausescu government only overlaps with the historical Wallachia in a small part of it's southernmost territory.[[/note]])

** Wallachia is actually real, but it hasn't been a country since the mid-19th century: it's the main province of Romania, and was the bit that [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]] ruled back in the day.
** Furthermore, both countries are small, and very explicitly have no real-world analogues.

** Oddly enough, the ''next'' time the Master turns up and conquers Earth gives the audience a few face-obscured shots of the US President, presumably the successor of the dead Arthur Coleman Winters (the fictional Bush-{{Expy}} mentioned above). The new President's name is never given, but he's about the right height and build to be Barack Obama, and he's black.
*** He was specifically said to be Obama.
** In season 10, the US President briefly appears in an episode, but he is a brown-haired male [[spoiler:although this was actually happening in a simulated reality with minute differences from the original]]. The next episode has companion Bill Potts refer to the President as being "orange".

** The Literature/{{Timeline 191}} books are pretty bad when it comes to this trope thanks to Turtledove's de-emphasis on geopolitics. Except for a few mentions of Churchill, leaders of countries other than the USA and CSA are only referred to by title ("the Kaiser", "the Czar", etc.).

* In season 2 of ''Series/TwentyFour'', "three Middle Eastern countries" are accused of complicity in an attempted nuclear attack on the US. The ''VideoGame/SilentHunterSeries'' guesses that one of them is Saudi Arabia. Given that the "smoking gun" for their complicity is a recording from a meeting in Cyprus, Turkey is probably one of the three as well.

** In Season 6, Fayed's home country. (Obviously Lebanon, based on maps shown on-screen.). It is painfully referred to dozens of times as "his country", "the country" etc

* In both the book and film versions of Roger L. Simon's ''The Big Fix'', the hero meets Sixties-revolutionary-on-the-run Howard Eppis, author of ''Rip It Off'' -- an obvious AnonymousRinger for Sixties-revolutionary-then-on-the-run Abbie Hoffman, author of ''Steal This Book''.

* Stross' Literature/TheMerchantPrinces takes place during the second Bush administration, and the descriptions of the president and vice president's past and personality clearly indicate that they are G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney respectively, but they are only ever referred to (or addressed) as BOY WONDER and WARBUCKS, their supposed CIA code names. [[spoiler: This may be due to the fact that BOY WONDER dies in a nuclear attack on D.C. partially orchestrated by WARBUCKS]]

* In season 2 of ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'', "three Middle Eastern countries" are accused of complicity in an attempted nuclear attack on the US. SilentHunter guesses that one of them is Saudi Arabia. Given that the "smoking gun" for their complicity is a recording from a meeting in Cyprus, Turkey is probably one of the three as well.

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* ''Literature/{{Mephisto}}'' by German author Klaus Mann did this to the extreme. The protagonist and theatre attendant Hendrik Höfgen is a copy of the real-world Gustav Gründgens among others. Other Weimar entertainment figures receive similar treatment, including a MarleneDietrich {{Expy}} who leaves Germany to pursue a film career. Also the important figures of the Nazi regime are only referred to as "the dictator", "the pilot-general", the propaganda-minister" and so forth. This strategy however didn't stop West-German court from prohibiting publication of the book until much later.

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