History Main / ForgettableCharacter

* The crime comedy ''Pretty Hard Cases'' makes the two main characters this. A RunningGag is how often main Guns & Gangs cops Sam and Kelly will run into homicide detectives Swallows and Chase. ''Every time,'' Swallows will introduce themselves with Sam and Kelly pointing out they've met before. Sometimes, this happens two or three times ''in the same episode.'' Every time, Swallows just gives a reaction of "nope, doesn't sound familiar," walks off and the next time, once more treats the two women like total strangers.

* The title character of ''Literature/TheSchwaWasHere'' goes unnoticed by the vast majority of people[[note]]"Schwa" is a term from phonology: it's the "uhh" sound you make with your mouth and tongue at rest, as in the final vowel in "animal". It's short, unobtrusive, doesn't have it's own letter of the alphabet, and it shows up all over the place in speech[[/note]]. The main character, who is also the narrator, details some experiments they did with this, including trying to get him past airport security. It doesn't extend that far apparently.

* Fluttershy of the ''WebVideo/MentallyAdvancedSeries''. She's so often forgotten and overlooked that most characters can't even bother to remember her name. In the entirely-flashback season 1 finale, she's left completely out except for one line, where she looks completely different- because nobody can recall what she even looks like.

* It's a running gag on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' that Scruffy has to keep reintroducing himself to people. "I'm Scruffy, The Janitor" has become his CatchPhrase. Also, apparently the other characters are just as forgettable to him, since he rarely remembers any of them.

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-055 SCP-055.]] It is ''utterly impossible'' to remember any data about what it is or what it has done, and any writing on its characteristics won't survive; it's Keter precisely because of that, the SCP could have well killed thousands and they would never know. The most the Foundation has managed to learn is that the effect doesn't apply to remembering what it ''isn't'', and that it isn't a sphere. That's about it.

* ''LightNovel/HowToRaiseABoringGirlfriend'': Indicated right in the title, which [[AlternateCharacterReading is variously translated as]] ''How to Raise a Boring Heroine'' or ''How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend''. The title character, Katou Megumi, is a teenage girl who is completely average in terms of appearance and noncommittal in terms of personality, leading her classmates and even her friends to often ignore her. The overall plot of the series is her {{Otaku}} classmate, Aki Tomoya, trying to figure out how to make a VisualNovel with a [[WriteWhoYouKnow main character based on her]].

* The Ramurans from the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Unforgettable" have this trait as part of their BizarreAlienBiology. This becomes a bit of a problem when one of them falls in love with Chakotay, and he doesn't even remember her.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://scp-wiki.net/scp-055 SCP-055.]] It is ''utterly impossible'' to remember any data about what it is or what it has done, and any writing on its characteristics won't survive; it's Keter precisely because of that, the SCP could have well killed thousands and they would never know. The most the Foundation has managed to learn is that the effect doesn't apply to remembering what it ''isn't'', and that it isn't a sphere. That's about it.

* In Jennifer Lynn Barnes' YA novel ''Nobody'', this is the "[[BlessedWithSuck power]]" of Nobodies. They are ''so'' forgettable that when they go rogue the group that controls them has to set a timer to periodically remind them who they're looking for.
* The title character of ''The Schwa Was Here'' goes unnoticed by the vast majority of people[[note]]"Schwa" is a term from phonology: it's the "uhh" sound you make with your mouth and tongue at rest, as in the final vowel in "animal". It's short, unobtrusive, doesn't have it's own letter of the alphabet, and it shows up all over the place in speech[[/note]]. The main character, who is also the narrator, details some experiments they did with this, including trying to get him past airport security. It doesn't extend that far apparently.
* The main character of ''The Sudden Appearance of Hope'', by [[Creator/CatherineWebb Claire North]].

** Homer is often forgetting about Maggie. Sometimes he just refers to her as "the baby", sometimes he forgets about her completely. The other characters aren't immune either, [[NotSoAboveItAll even Marge]]; one episode, in which the entire family sans Bart goes to South America, ends with them returning home only to realize that they left Maggie in Machu Picchu, where the ending gag shows that she's currently being worshipped as a god.

** Homer is often forgetting about Maggie. Sometimes he just refers to her as "the baby", sometimes he forgets about her completely.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has Doc, who once accidentally transported to another dimension, is only found two seasons later, with the rest of the cast (aside from Lopez, who only speaks Spanish and thus no one understands) having forgotten he vanished.

'''Wallflower Blush:''' Wallfower. I've known you since third grade.\\

* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Only the main characters remember speaking with Fuuko Ibuki, and even they start forgetting her later in the series. [[spoiler: Justified as she is a spiritual projection of a girl in a coma.]]

* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': Some of [[ShrinkingViolet Canada's]] interactions with other characters often involve them forgetting who he is or that he exists and/or mistaking him for his more outgoing brother America. At least until one of the ''Hetaween'' specials, where he's the main host and the nations not only recognize him, but tell him how good of a job he does.

* In [[WhamEpisode Chapter 23]] of ''Franchise/TouhouProject''/''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' crossover ''Satori in Kalos'', [[spoiler:it is revealed that Satori's little sister Koishi had actually joined Satori's group the first time they were in [[HubCity Lumiose City]] during Chapter 2 and travelled with them for most of the story. The only reason she hasn't been mentioned up until now is that when she left the group in Anistar City in Chapter 16, Satori and everyone else immediately forgot she was ever there. Oh, and she's also the one who [[DeathOfPersonality destroyed]] [[EmptyShell the minds]] of Lysandre and Flandre.]]

* The Captain in ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'', to the point where the protagonist treats it as a big reveal later on that the Captain was actually in command of the ship (it isn't a secret, but the Captain is an AI, while the protagonist is a professional [[SherlockScan Sherlock scanner]] who more or less forgets it exists because it doesn't have any cues to read).
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': In ''Literature/TheTruth'', William De Worde [[InvokedTrope went out of his way to become one of these]] as a child, considering it safer than [[TallPoppySyndrome standing out as smart]] in a rather grim boarding school.

* Ari the main character in ''VideoGame/OkageShadowKing'' blends into the background with his family, friends, enemies and everyone around him forgetting about him the second he's out of sight. Practically the only memorable thing about him is that he is currently host to a talking shadow. [[spoiler: This turns out to be because Ari lacks a classification and as such everyone in the world is programmed to ignore him. He comes dangerously close to being erased completely after losing Stan in Chapter 5, but is saved by asserting his existence with help from a whole town of forgotten people]]. Funnily enough, there are no combat encounters during this part, implying even ''the monsters themselves'' forgot about him.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Manga/YuruYuri'': A RunningGag with Akari is that she has so few distinguishing characteristics compared to the rest of the cast that she has no presence as a character, to the point that she'll sometimes quite literally fade into the background.

* Not surprising that this would eventually happen in ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'' given that it is a LongRunner with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters. Old foe Assaracus reappears and the cast literally spends ''two pages'' trying to remember who he was.

* ''WebVideo/VinesauceTomodachiLife'' has several islanders that Vinny tends to overlook (not surprising, since the series has LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters). Most notable are [[VideoGame/PunchOut Little Mac]] (who suffers from being a regular-looking human on an island populated primarily by "creeps and weirdos") and [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Lolly]] (who gets close to ''no'' attention until her birthday rolls around [[spoiler:and then gets assimilated immediately afterwards]]).

* In ''[[Literature/TheLaundryFiles The Annihilation Score]]'', "Mo" O'Brien isn't happy when The Laundry sends her on an assignment because she's a "woman of a certain age" and so no-one will pay attention to her. She then starts to worry that [[YourMindMakesItReal this is happening for real]], having to forcibly draw people's attention to her at various points.

* Ari the main character in ''VideoGame/OkageShadowKing'' blends into the background with his family, friends, enemies and everyone around him forgetting about him the second he's out of sight. Practically the only memorable thing about him is that he is currently host to a talking shadow. [[spoiler: This turns out to be because Ari lacks a classification and as such everyone in the world is programmed to ignore him. He comes dangerously close to being erased completely after losing Stan in Chapter 5, but is saved by asserting his existence with help from a whole town of forgotten people]]. Funnily enough, there are no combat encounters during this part, implying even ''the monsters themselves'' forgot about him

** In the Season One episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E11OutOfMindOutOfSight Out of Mind, Out of Sight]]" the villain of the week is a girl named Marcie Ross who literally turned invisible (with the help of the Hellmouth) due to people not noticing or remembering her.