History Main / YouKnowTheOne

[[folder:Advertising]]
* In the 1960s and 70s there was a series of commercials for Schweppes Tonic featuring an M-style spymaster who would only ever refer to the product as "Sch... you know who". Later on it was revealed that the "Secret of Sch..." was "Weppes".
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* Both the ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' anime and ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' have characters who are officially ''named'' "That Man".
** ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' has (including That Man) a total of ''six'' characters named like this (That Man There, This Man, That Man Over There, That Man Over Here, and This Man Over Here).
* The second half of ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' had "that one". [[spoiler:"Him" would have worked, but throughout the actual run of the series, most people were convinced it was another character, one that was ''female''.]] The English version of the manga replaces it with "the Great One" so as to sound less stilted and still confer a scary aura of deference.
* In the first novel of the ''LightNovel/KinosJourney'' series, the main character is revealed as a girl in the fifth chapter. Up until that point, a studious avoidance of gender pronouns leaves her sex up to the reader's assumptions (though at this point, new readers probably know this in advance).
* The phrase "''That'' guy" (or "''That'' jutsu" or other possible variations) comes up a lot in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', especially during the Chunin Exams and Invasion arcs. Characters tend to use this phrase even in ''internal'' monologues.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' features the homunculi referring to "that person" in the beginning of the series, and later referring to "Father," although it is still some time after that before we meet that character and learn the reason behind his title.
* The BigBad of ''Manga/CodeBreaker'' was always called "The One Being Sought", "That One", "That Man" or "Him." Even after he showed up as an actual character and the protagonists fought with him and it was revealed that Rei had a history with him, they ''still'' didn't give him a name beyond those aforementioned examples.
** His title, in fact, is "The One Who Seeks" (''sagashi mono'' can mean both "the seeking one" and "the sought one", though it wasn't revealed which was it until he was called [[GratuitousEnglish Code:Seeker]]), and Ōgami referred to him as "Him" (''yatsu'', though when he's facing him he calls him ''koitsu'' "this person"). This got messed up in the scanlations though, with pretty much everybody calling him "Him".

* In ''Film/TheVillage'' the monsters are referred to as "Those we do not speak of".
** ... even though the villagers talk about them, like, ALL THE TIME.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]: The Enemy in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures''. Literally all we know about them is that they're at war with the Time Lords and they aren't Literature/FactionParadox or the Daleks. It's suggested that what we would now call [[TimeyWimeyBall timey-wimey stuff]] makes it ''impossible'' to define them more clearly than that.
* We are told early in [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first book]] that the villain of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' stories is Voldemort, yet right through the rest of the books he is widely called either "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who". In the last book, [[spoiler: when he gains power over the Ministry, he makes it a crime to say his name, and casts spells to locate anybody who does. Since his followers, more cowed enemies, and neutrals don't normally say the name anyway, he's hoping to catch those who have always had the nerve to say his name in a slip, as they must be his bravest enemies.]]
** Presumably, since he constantly refers to himself in the third-person, apparently made it so that the Death Eater's Dark Marks burn upon hearing his name, and the fact that the sixteen-year old version of him intended for the name to be feared, Voldemort probably forbade his name to be spoken during the first war, and ordered his minions to kill or maim any who used his name openly.
** The Death Eater's themselves are also an example of this. Prior to the reveal of their name in the fourth book, they were referred to only as You-Know-Who/Voldemort's followers, or "The Dark Side". After their name is revealed to the audience, however, they're called Death Eaters almost exclusively.
** Parodied in Creator/JohnMoore's ''Literature/HeroicsForBeginners''. Lord Voltmeter is known as He Who ''Must'' Be Named, because Lord Voltmeter dislikes when people use pronouns to refer to Lord Voltmeter.
** Also parodied in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''. When Torg enters the ''Harry Potter'' parody setting, people keep referring to "You-Probably-Don't-Know-Who". No-one will say who this actually is, but apparently the answer lies in "The-Story-We-Can't-Tell". (Later this is revealed to be because the Voldemort parody in question accidentally wiped himself from history and people's memories, but the parody works better with the original unexplained absurdity.)
** Another Potter example is in ''[[MarketBasedTitle Philosopher's/Sorcerer's]] Stone'' with the earliest appearance of the eponymous Stone. Hagrid refers to it as "the you-know-what in Vault Seven Hundred Thirteen" (or "Vault You-Know-Which" in the movie) and it's wrapped in a grubby little package so we don't know it's a unique rock. Though it does come with some {{Foreshadowing}} regarding its importance considering the vault's unique security measures.[[note]]It only opens if a Gringotts goblin strokes the door, anyone else is sucked through the door and trapped, and the staff only checks every ten years.[[/note]]
** Yet another Potter example is Dementors, which various characters just fearfully call "Azkaban guards" until after Harry encounters one in person. Their "upgrade" from what ''could'' just be some intimidating Ministry wizards to horrifying EmotionEater creatures is sort of the inverse of Voldemort's becoming more of a mere man by getting a name.
** A less serious example occurs in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire''. Percy Weasley smugly refers to the Triwizard Tournament in this manner to his father in front the younger characters, since he had become a Ministry of Magic employee after graduating from Hogwarts and was privvy to the information along with the eldest Weasley family members.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The Doctor and the Master always refer to each other by their chosen nicknames even if they're the only ones around, despite the fact that they're heavily implied and almost certain to know each others' real names. They both consider the names they ''chose'' to be their "true" selves, as does the rest of Time Lord society.
-->'''The Master:''' [[FoeRomanceSubtext I like it when you use my name.]]\\
'''The Doctor:''' You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day.
* An early episode of ''Series/{{JAG}}'' took place in Cuba (a US Navy [[CoolPlane Tomcat]] fighter jet was damaged in a storm and had to make an emergency landing there). A few times, they run into a number of locals who don't like Fidel Castro, but never refer to him by name (perhaps due to fear of being overheard). Instead, when they refer to him, they scratch their chins, as if they had beards.
** This painfully conspicuous attempt at inconspicuousness could result in a bit of FridgeLogic, but it's [[NarmCharm JAG]], so [[MST3KMantra just go with it]].

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/Pitch2016'', when the club manager needs to go to the dentist and doesn't have the time to put work on hold. He tells his assistant to have "Ross" come with him so they can work in the car, and when she asks him ''which'' Ross (They have two) he says that she knows the one he likes. Unfortunately, his assistant apparently switches them up, and instead of getting the experienced MIT-graduate, he gets the community college schmo who got his job because he is related to somebody else and who asks "too many stupid questions". However, there are subtle hints that his assistant did this deliberately, as this Ross manages to give surprisingly sound advice and at the end of the episode, the manager tells his assistant that ''this'' is the Ross he likes (The other Ross is shown hanging his head).

* In Music/WeirdAlYankovic's song "Albuquerque", he talks of growing up in "the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait Shop... you know the place."

** ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Ace Attorney Investgations]]'' does this with Phoenix himself. Whenever anyone refers to him, they do so in the vaguest way possible.

* Zunari, the semi-suspicious salesman from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', must be one of the most genuinely charismatic entrepreneurs around. After all, he manages to sell his last available item to Link for 80 rupees while utterly refusing to reveal what it is until he's already bought it. Odder still, it's a ship's sail, a useful product in a flooded world and one that Link was specifically visiting town to purchase in the first place. What reason did he have to constantly refer to it as "that"?
* At one point in the first ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' game, the hint button will give you this spectacularly useless response from [=MegaMan=]: "A former WWW agent... it must be that guy!"
* When you eavesdrop on [[spoiler:Grubba's monologue]] in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', he refers to his machine as "that". It sounds a bit... off.
** This could be because he ''has'' been caught before. Still comes across rather awkwardly, though.
** At the beginning of ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', a Toad tells the Mario Bros. that Princess Peach has been kidnapped. Luigi comes up with the first theory. "Bro, this must be the work of that guy! That bad guy!" True, [[NotMeThisTime Bowser]] has trouble remembering Luigi's name, but the other way around?
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', the Gazel Ministry speaks almost entirely in these. As do just about everyone else making exposition about anything else to a lesser degree.
-->'''Citan:''' [[WebOriginal/XenogearsARopeOfRobots Random Pronouns 201 was a required course back at the Academy, Jesiah.]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/GirlchanInParadise'''s deliberate stressing of "''thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat'' X" has caused some fans to use it to parody instances of this trope in other series, such as the repeated instance of "''thaaaaaaaaaat'' jutsu" in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''.
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* Parodied in one ''[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick Order of the Stick]]'' strip. "That must be the eleventh He Who Must Not Be Named!"
** "Not to mention the four who [[HeWhoMustNotBeSeen Must Not Be Looked At]], the two who Must Not Be Spoken To, and the one who Must Not Be Toilet-Trained."
** Discussed in #882, as Tarquin concludes that the Order knows about Malack's [[spoiler:vampirism]] since they're openly discussing it.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'':
** Onni's use of this trope is the reason for which the spirit world entity he and Lalli are wary of is only known as "it".
** One flashback to the year of the initial outbreak of ThePlague shows a conversation between two people who are aware of the "turning into a PlagueZombie" complication of the disease and don't have a name for the end result yet. They hence end up calling it "that". Said end result is commonly referred to as "[[NotUsingTheZWord troll]]" in the comic's main timeframe.
* Also parodied in [[http://community.livejournal.com/doctorwhy/2008/06/30/ this]] ''Webcomic/WorstOfTheTimeLords'' comic. Please specify ''which'' evil alien you are before trying to scare the crap out of him.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Him, an {{Expy}} of Satan from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', is called "Him" because his name strikes fear when it is mentioned.
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-->'''The Master:''' [[FoeYay/DoctorWho I like it when you use my name.]]\\

* Used in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' sometimes when Ash gets some of his old Pokémon from Oak's lab. "Professor, can you send me that Pokémon?"

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', we are privy to the child detective's thoughts, following his deductions to the last, where we are treated to a "Aha, so the culprit is ''that person''." Who "that person" is isn't revealed until after Conan sets up the proof and makes his accusation. Though this does sound much more natural in Japanese, where 'ano hito' is at ''least'' as common a way of expressing the equivalent ideas to 'him' and 'her' as the actual third-person pronouns of the language. This is often accompanied by a "that explains why that person made "that strange statement" just now" This usually causes readers to go back and reread everything to try and figure out who said something unusual. This gets a bit silly when Ran refers to her mother as "that person" in her head just because the author doesn't want the reader to know who she is meeting yet.

* In Literature/TheBible, the Literature/BookOfRevelation 13: The Beast requires people to have a mark of either his name, or the "number" of his name. Rather than write the Beast's name, the writer instead puts that "those who have wisdom" can calculate it from the number 666 (in Greek) or 616 (in Latin). The problem is, of course, that this applies to very many names.

** ''Ace Attorney Investigations'' does this with Phoenix himself. Whenever anyone refers to him, they do so in the vaguest way possible.

* In ''NorthByNorthwest'', the American spies have a meeting where they discuss "our agent" in the field, and do so without ever using a single gender-specific pronoun, in order to avoid tipping off the audience.

* Used in most episodes of ''Anime/HimeChenOtogiChikkuIdolLilpri'' when the girls transform using "that" card none of them question what "that" could be referring to and all agree to it being a great idea then going off to transform using the card of the day.

See also UnspokenPlanGuarantee, PronounTrouble, and TheScottishTrope. Contrast AsYouKnow, when the conversation is ''more'' expository than it would be in real life.

** Another Potter example is Dementors, which various characters just fearfully call "Azkaban guards" until after Harry encounters one in person. Their "upgrade" from what ''could'' just be some intimidating Ministry wizards to horrifying EmotionEater creatures is sort of the inverse of Voldemort's becoming more of a mere man by getting a name.

* At one point in the first ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' game, the hint button will give you this spectacularly useless response from [=MegaMan=]: "A former WWW agent... it must be that guy!"
* The BigBad of the ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' series is always referred to as "That Man." ''Guilty Gear 2: Overture'' lessens the effect, if only slightly, by occasionally referring to him as the "Gear Maker" instead.

* In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', whenever the enigmatic Phantom [[spoiler: who's heavily implied to be Nine of the Six Heroes, brainwashed]] appears, the characters will go "You!?" and afterwards might say something like "Was that...?" or "Could it be...?" Nobody ever finishes their sentences.
* Zunari, the semi-suspicious salesman from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', must be one of the most genuinely charismatic entrepreneurs around. After all, he manages to sell his last available item to Link for 80 rupees while utterly refusing to reveal what it is until he's already bought it. Odder still, it's a ship's sail, a useful product in a flooded world and one that Link was specifically visiting town to purchase in the first place. What reason did he have to constantly refer to it as "that"?

* Also parodied in [[http://community.livejournal.com/doctorwhy/2008/06/30/ this]] ''Webcomic/WorstOfTheTimeLords'' comic. Please specify ''which'' evil alien you are before trying to scare the crap out of him.

* Him, an {{Expy}} of Satan from ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' is called "Him" because his name strikes fear when it is mentioned.

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[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'', whenever the crew talk about humanity's First Contact with aliens they never actually mention what species the aliens are. TheReveal at the end of the movie is that they're [[spoiler:Vulcans. (Who else?)]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* In ''[[Literature/LordPeterWimsey The Five Red Herrings]]'', Creator/DorothyLSayers uses this trope purely for audience-taunting purposes. Lord Peter decides the artist Campbell couldn't have died accidentally, but must have been murdered, because a certain object is missing. According to Sayers, sufficiently intelligent readers will already know what the object is, so there's no point in ''telling'' you. We finally find out about two pages before the murderer is revealed.
* In Literature/TheBible, the Literature/BookOfRevelation 13: The Beast requires people to have a mark of either his name, or the "number" of his name. Rather than write the Beast's name, the writer instead puts that "those who have wisdom" can calculate it from the number 666 (in Greek) or 616 (in Latin). The problem is, of course, that this applies to very many names.

* In ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'', the three OAS members who hire the Jackal have his dossier but refer to him only as "The Englishman" even before his codename is agreed, but have good enough name and address information to send a representative to his flat at short notice. A look at the name (even if fake) and address in the dossier, would have removed a major subplot from the reader, of the English police trying to work out his identity.
* The Enemy in the Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures. Literally all we know about them is that they're at war with the Time Lords and they aren't Literature/FactionParadox or the Daleks. It's suggested that what we would now call [[TimeyWimeyBall timey-wimey stuff]] makes it ''impossible'' to define them more clearly than that.

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

* In ''Series/{{Lost}}'' the other inhabitants of the island are officially known as "The Others", and refer to a mysterious "Him"

* In ''Series/{{Doctor Who}}'', the Doctor and the Master always refer to each other by their chosen nicknames even if they're the only ones around, despite the fact that they're heavily implied and almost certain to know each others' real names. They both consider the names they ''chose'' to be their "true" selves, as does the rest of Time Lord society.
-->'''Master:''' [[FoeYay/DoctorWho I like it when you use my name.]]\\
'''Doctor:''' You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day.
* An early episode of ''Series/{{JAG}}'' took place in Cuba (a US Navy [[CoolPlane Tomcat]] fighter jet was damaged in a storm and had to make an emergency landing there). A few times, they run into a number of locals who don't like Fidel Castro, but never refer to him by name (perhaps due to fear of being overheard). Instead, when they refer to him, they scratch their chins, as if they had beards.
** This painfully conspicuous attempt at inconspicuousness could result in a bit of FridgeLogic, but it's [[NarmCharm JAG]], so [[MST3KMantra just go with it]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/Pitch2016'', when the club manager needs to go to the dentist and doesn't have the time to put work on hold. He tells his assistant to have "Ross" come with him so they can work in the car, and when she asks him ''which'' Ross (They have two) he says that she knows the one he likes. Unfortunately, his assistant apparently switches them up, and instead of getting the experienced MIT-graduate, he gets the community college schmo who got his job because he is related to somebody else and who asks "too many stupid questions". However, there are subtle hints that his assistant did this deliberately, as this Ross manages to give surprisingly sound advice and at the end of the episode, the manager tells his assistant that ''this'' is the Ross he likes (The other Ross is shown hanging his head).

[[folder: Music ]]

* In the Music/WeirdAlYankovic's song "Albuquerque", he talks of growing up in "the house half a block down the street from Jerry's Bait Shop... you know the place."

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[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

Not to be confused with [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/tlp_activity.php You Know The One Where]], which formally described this wiki's Trope Launch Pad.

* Used in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' to cover up the real name of Jack Harkness: during a flashback to his childhood, his parents refer to him only as "son", even while continually calling his brother, Gray, by his real name. Essentially ignored in the second series finale, where [[spoiler:said long-lost brother, upon reuniting with Jack after many years, also uses his fake name rather than the one he would technically have known "Jack" by.]]
** WordOfGod says that Captain John Hart told Gray about Jack's new name, but it still seems a bit ridiculous for Gray to use it.

* In ''Series/{{Doctor Who}}'', the Doctor and the Master always refer to each other by their chosen nicknames even if they're the only ones around, despite the fact that they're heavily implied and almost certain to know each others' real names.

** Another Potter example is Dementors, which various characters just fearfully call "Azkaban guards" until after Harry encounters one in person. Their "upgrade" from what ''could'' just be some intimidating Ministry wizards to horrifying EmotionBomb creatures is sort of the inverse of Voldemort's becoming more of a mere man by getting a name.

** What was missing was fairly obvious if the reader has any knowledge at all of oil painting.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', we are privy to the child detective's thoughts, following his deductions to the last, where we are treated to a "Aha, so the culprit is ''that person''." Who "that person" is isn't revealed until after Conan sets up the proof and makes his accusation.
** This is often accompanied by a "that explains why that person made "that strange statement" just now" This usually causes readers to go back and reread everything to try and figure out who said something unusual.
** This gets a bit silly when Ran refers to her mother as "that person" in her head just because the author doesn't want the reader to know who she is meeting yet. Though this does sound much more natural in Japanese, where 'ano hito' is at ''least'' as common a way of expressing the equivalent ideas to 'him' and 'her' as the actual third-person pronouns of the language.

* Also parodied in [[http://community.livejournal.com/doctorwhy/2008/06/30/ this]] ''WorstOfTheTimeLords'' comic. Please specify ''which'' evil alien you are before trying to scare the crap out of him.

->''(Here LordPeterWimsey told the Sergeant what he was to look for and why, but as the intelligent reader will readily supply these details for himself, they are omitted from this page.)''

* In ''[[LordPeterWimsey The Five Red Herrings]]'', Creator/DorothyLSayers uses this trope purely for audience-taunting purposes. Lord Peter decides the artist Campbell couldn't have died accidentally, but must have been murdered, because a certain object is missing. According to Sayers, sufficiently intelligent readers will already know what the object is, so there's no point in ''telling'' you. We finally find out about two pages before the murderer is revealed.

* For pragmatic and personal reasons, John Marsden never names the country that invaded Australia in TheTomorrowSeries. The books' characters always refer to them as 'the enemy' or 'them'.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]