History Main / TooImportantToRememberYou

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Porous Pockets," [=SpongeBob=] becomes a billionaire after discovering a giant pearl. His wealth goes to his head, and he forgets that Patrick is his friend.

* The first book of Gordon Korman's ''Literature/{{Island|2000}}'' Trilogy has Mr. Radford, first mate aboard the ''Phoenix'', who doesn't bother to learn the names of the children he's looking after, referring to them as either [[Franchise/ArchieComics Archie or Veronica.]] Made all the more amusing when he introduces two of the boys to each other by simply saying "Archie, meet Archie."

A subtrope of PrivilegeMakesYouEvil and the inverse of NiceToTheWaiter. If it's an event that's too unimportant to the character to remember, see ButForMeItWasTuesday.

* ''Literature/DoomValleyPrepSchool: Princess Blood Wing can't remember Petra's name. So she usually calls her "Princess Ella's friend".

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]] for [[BlackComedy very dark laughs]] in the episode "Let's Find Out," in which Creator/DanielRadcliffe plays an [[AdamWesting exaggerated version of himself.]] Bojack and Daniel play against each other on a game show for charity, and when Bojack sees him, he recalls meeting Radcliffe when he was just starting out in Hollywood. Bojack gave him a pep talk and genuinely good advice, which in turn gave Daniel the confidence to become a famous actor. Unfortunately, Daniel has no recollection of that meeting and repeatedly calls Bojack by increasingly-ridiculous names like "Creator/BJNovak" and "Jockjam Doorslam." It seems like this trope is in play...until it's revealed that Radcliffe remembers the names and life details of everyone he's ever worked with ''except'' Bojack, infuriating the horse. At the end of the game show, Bojack turns the tables when the final question -- which would give millions of dollars to charity -- is "Who starred in the ''Harry Potter'' films?" After a bit of hemming and hawing, Bojack answers "Creator/ElijahWood"; the BlackComedy then kicks in, as all of the charity winnings are promptly ''burned to ashes onscreen.''

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': Referenced in "Lights! Camera! Danger!", when Jimmy wins a screenwriting contest and Carl worries if this will happen.
-->'''Carl:''' Now that you're a big Hollywood screenwriter, you gonna remember us little people?\\
'''Jimmy:''' And your name is, uh...?\\
'''Carl:''' ''[incoherent sobbing]''\\
'''Jimmy:''' Ah, I'm just kidding! ''[beat]'' It's [[Creator/RobPaulsen Rob]], right?
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Part of “Phineas and Ferb’s Quantum Boogaloo” is set in a BadFuture where Doofenshmertz has taken over the world. One of the laws he has passed forced everyone to change their name to Joe so he doesn’t have to be bothered remembering anyone’s name.

It's most often done by OldMoney or [[BlueBlood Blue Bloods]] who feel entitled to act like [[SpoiledBrat Spoiled Brats]] toward servants and commoners, especially in period pieces or fantasy settings. In a ruler, it could be a sign of a [[AGodAmI superiority complex]], a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, or the foreboding intersection of the two, TheCaligula. In modern settings, it's far more likely to be PlayedForLaughs with a character who gets FifteenMinutesOfFame or becomes NouveauRiche, causing them to suffer from AcquiredSituationalNarcissism.

In a corporate setting, forgetting employees' names is a telltale sign of a BadBoss or CorruptCorporateExecutive, or at the very least a MeanBoss. Doing this to (ex-)spouses is usually a sign of a RoyalHarem or a SerialSpouse; doing it to one's children often indicates ParentalNeglect, and possibly [[MassiveNumberedSiblings there being a large number of them]].

There is some degree of TruthInTelevision: this trope is a function of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number Dunbar's Number]], the suggested cognitive limit on the number of social relationships an individual can maintain -- for most people, this is somewhere around 150. People of high social, political, or military rank tend to have a number of people under their authority far in excess of this. As a result, they form little to no personal bond with the majority of the people working for them.

They say that money and power can alienate you from your fellow person, but this person takes it to a whole new level. Beyond simply being dismissive of "the little people," they can't even be bothered to remember the ''name'' of anyone they feel isn't important enough to be worth remembering. [[UndyingLoyalty Longtime loyal servants]], [[OldFriend past friends]], children, spouses, lovers, there may be nobody who's deemed sufficiently relevant -- [[ProfessionalButtKisser unless that person is also significantly powerful]]. Usually, they have [[CloudcuckoolandersMinder a servant]] who [[HypercompetentSidekick does all the remembering for them]], often whispering the name of whoever they're talking to into their ear as a reminder.

To some degree, this trope is a function of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number Dunbar's Number]], the suggested cognitive limit on the number of social relationships an individual can maintain -- somewhere around 150 for most people. People of high social or military rank tend to have a number of people under their authority far in excess of this. As a result, they do not form much of any bond with the majority of the people working for them.

* In the song "What Comes Next?" from ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'', King George III has to rack his brain to remember who incoming American President John Adams is, despite having already met him at least once.

* The first book of Gordon Korman's ''Literature/{{Island|2000}}'' Trilogy has Mr. Radford, first mate aboard the S.S. Phoenix, who doesn't bother to learn the names of the children he's looking after, referring to them as either [[Franchise/ArchieComics Archie or Veronica.]] Made all the more amusing when he introduces two of the boys to each other by simply saying "Archie, meet Archie."

To some degree this trope is a function of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number Dunbar's Number]], the suggested cognitive limit on the number of social relationships an individual can maintain -- somewhere around 150 for most people. People of high social or military rank tend to have a number of people under their authority far in excess of this. As a result they do not form much of any bond to the majority of the people working for them.

* Weaponized by Malcolm Tucker (and some other characters) in ''Film/InTheLoop''. Toby's name is not "Foetus Boy", "Ron Weasley", "Twatboy Slim" or "The Baby From Eraserhead", but Malcolm doesn't care. He extends this selective amnesia to practically everyone he encounters, including Baldemort, General Flintstone, Little Bo Cock Jockey, The Leaky fuckin' Minge Box and J Edgar fuckin' Hoover. General Flintstone -- sorry, General ''Miller'' -- drops a "Go fuck yourself, Frodo" on Toby at one point. More directly, ProfessionalButtKisser Chad fawns over Linton Barwick through the entire movie, clearly desperate for the man to notice him and put him on staff, but Linton hasn't got the faintest clue who he is.

** Daenerys herself later becomes distraught when she can no longer recall the name of a young shepherd girl who was killed by by dragon Drogon while grazing.

** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2014CSLastChristmas Last Christmas]]". The Doctor believes that the threat is over and prepares to leave the scene. Within a minute he realizes that the monsters are still out there and rushes back in. However, in that time he had completely deleted the people he has helping to from his memory. The Doctor even has to ask whether they are the same people as before, to their utter confusion.

* In ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody'', hotel magnate and SerialSpouse Mr. Tipton doesn't remember which of his children London is until she clarifies she's the daughter of ex-wife number three. Similarly, the one detail he remembers about Mr. Moseby isn't that he's the former manager of Tipton's flagship hotel in Boston, or the current manager of his cruise liner, but that he was the best man at Mr. Tipton's fifth wedding.

* ''Series/{{The Walking Dead|2010}}'': The original leader of the Hilltop community, Gregory, is so self-absorbed and narcissistic that he can't be bothered to remember anyone's names. For example, he constantly gets Maggie and Rick's names wrong, calling them names like "Margret" or "Reg". He doesn't even bother to remember who lives at his own community, since when he first meets Sasha he talks to her as if she is already a member of Hilltop when it was her first time there.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', [[LonelyRichKid Remy Buxaplenty]]'s parents are so consumed by their love of earning money that they only spend two minutes a day with him. They not only don't remember his name (calling him "Liam" at one point), but struggle to even remember that he's their son.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': In "The Tycoon", Fred switches places with J. L. Gotrocks, a rich businessman [[PrinceAndPauper who looks just like him]]. During their misadventures, Barney [[OneDialogueTwoConversations mistakenly thinks this trope is at play]] when he confronts "Fred" over his apparent frivolous spending and mistreating his wife.

* ''Series/{{The Walking Dead |2010}}'': The original leader of the Hilltop community, Gregory, is so self-absorbed and narcissistic that he can't be bothered to remember anyone's names. For example, he constantly gets Maggie and Rick's names wrong, calling them names like "Margret" or "Reg". He doesn't even bother to remember who lives at his own community, since when he first meets Sasha he talks to her as if she is already a member of Hilltop when it was her first time there.

* ''Literature/AscendanceOfABookworm'' has an event that plays with this in various ways. The protagonist, Rozemyne, was basically AdoptedIntoRoyalty a few months after becoming head of the local temple's orphanage. A few years later, CannonFodder under the orders of hostile nobles kidnaps a handful of gray-robed priests, who are usually commoner orphans all grown up, expecting Rozemyne and her noble retainers to come to their rescue. Once the gray-robed priests are found, an inverted DisguisedHostageGambit gets discovered because Rozemyne's noble guard knight Damuel, who is a regular visitor of the temple, remembers the face of every single commoner orphan and notices that the people wearing gray robes are complete strangers. It's later assumed that the hostile nobles thought the plan would work because they didn't expect anyone who would be involved in the rescue to be able to tell their disguised suboridnates apart from the people who were kidnapped, who incidentally aren't even named characters; by this point of the story, the number of gray-robe priests with a name is easily in the low double digits.