Line #9 Main/NoNeedForNames


1	->''"'What's your name,' Coraline asked the cat. 'Look, I'm Coraline. Okay?'\
2	'Cats don't have names,' it said.\
3	'No?' said Coraline.\
4	'No,' said the cat. 'Now you people have names. That's because you don't know who you are. We know who we are, so we don't need names."''
5	-->-- ''Literature/{{Coraline}}''
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7	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.
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9	This is when a character or group of characters have no names, and don't see the point in having them. This is not merely [[NoNameGiven when their name is never revealed]], but when they actually have never been referred to by a name or assigned a name. Such characters are prone to having a FanNickname assigned to them, since it's kind of hard to discuss characters without a way to refer to them. If the characters in the show feel compelled to call them something, you may run into OnlyKnownByTheirNickname, EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep, or they might even be referred to by others only by the name of their nation, tribe, or species. But the character themself will not adopt this as a name.
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11	Sometimes the fact that a character has no name is a sign that they are a cardboard-thin {{stock character}}. The author only needs these minor characters to play a simple role, so they may be referred to by their role: "The Innkeeper" or "The Farmer's Wife".
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13	Compare NamelessNarrative, NoNameGiven, OnlyKnownByTheirNickname and EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep. Contrast with PlanetOfSteves, where all the characters have the same exact names.
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15	----
16	!!Examples:
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18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
21	* In ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', Shigure Kosaka's father raised her in isolation and was so obsessed with training her to be a warrior that he never bothered to give her a name. Eventually, her friend Akisame named her.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Comic Books]]
25	* In ''Comicbook/GreenLantern'', the [[Characters/GLIndigoTribe Indigo Tribe]] members do not usually have names, though most take on names to interact with others more easily.
26	* [[Comicbook/InvasionDCComics The Dominators]] staunchly refuse to take individual names. ComicBook/WonderWoman ally Sakritt's decision to take one is just one of the many ways she rebels against the culture.
27	* By the 31st century Durlans do not traditionally take names and to adopt one like Reep Daggle[=/=]Chameleon of the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes is to functionally exile oneself from the Durlan community with the potential repercussion of execution should they decide to return. This was not always the case, originally those that forswore names were a fringe group of individuals whose genetics were so scrambled in the fallout from the Six-Minute War they lost a stable [[ShapeshifterDefaultForm default form]].
28	* Another race of shapeshifters, from Marvel comics, the Poppupians are described by their most familiar representative Impossible Man as a hive mind who already know who they are and as such none of them have names.
29	* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', the leaders of the Organization don't have any names. When Paperinik snarks about it, the large leader claims that it's because names are only to distinguish between things. They are unique, and have no need for names.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
33	* In the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' fanfic, ''FanFic/{{Aloha}}'', there is an InsectoidAlien race called the Swarm who believes this due to the fact they value the group as a whole rather than the individual. Lilo disagrees and instantly starts naming them.
34	* ''Fanfic/WormGrandOrder'': The Old Man is a god from a long forgotten people and religion. He says that his people did not use names since everyone knew each other.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
38	* ''Film/AceVentura: When Nature Calls'': Apparently, at the monastery, no one wears "labels". However, once you start inquiring about "the man who talks with his ass" [[IdiotHero they know who you're talking about right away]].
39	* All of the sea creatures in ''Film/TheIncredibleMrLimpet'' seem unaccustomed to the concept of names. After becoming a fish, Limpet names a hermit crab "Crusty" and a female fish "Ladyfish".
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Literature]]
43	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
44	** In ''Literature/MovingPicturesDiscworld'', Victor is on the beach talking to the animals that have been given sentience and language by Holy Wood. They don't have have names, and Victor inadvertently insults them when he says the mouse should be named Squeakers and the bunny, Thumper.
45	** In ''Literature/MenAtArms'', Angua is very explicit about the fact that wolves (unlike either dogs or werewolves) don't have names. Gaspode has trouble wrapping his mind around the concept.
46	** ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'': Gaspode explains the same thing to Carrot when they "interrogate" a wolf for information on Angua's ''[[{{Pun}} were]]''[[{{Pun}} abouts]]. The book also features a wolf with a name, Gavin, who is an old friend of Angua. It's not so much his name as the name of somebody he ate, but it will do for human interactions.
47	** The Auditors of Reality do not have names, because that suggests individuality, which is lethal to them.
48	* With the GrimUpNorth conditions beyond the wall in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the mortality of children is so high that naming one that hasn't yet grown enough to walk is considered TemptingFate.
49	* The cat in ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' does not have a name, as cats don't use or need them.
50	* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/FarnhamsFreehold'', a female slave is assigned to Hugh Farnham, and she doesn't have a name. He ends up calling her 'kitten' after the cute way she curled up in bed when she was tired.
51	* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel, ''[[http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/The_Three-Minute_Universe The Three Minute Universe]]'', the allegedly AlwaysChaoticEvil "Sackers" have no names. When a human calls them a name, they consider it a compliment and use it as a name, and HilarityEnsues.
52	* ''Literature/SuperPowereds'': Mary Smith is a powerful telepath who, for the first eighteen years of her life, couldn't turn it off. Not only did she spend eight years alone in the woods without anyone to call her by her name, even before that, the fact that she could always sense when someone's thoughts were directed at her meant she didn't need to pay attention to her name, and it never sunk in. When she first meets the other kids, she has to think a few minutes before remembering her name, and it still takes her a minute to react when she's called by it.
53	* In ''Literature/Stray1987''. Pufftail tells his grandson Kitchener that cats do not have names. Unlike humans, cats do not name things. Pufftail considers himself nameless, though everyone still calls him "Pufftail" nevertheless. This view is not universal amongst cats because his daughter Tabitha, who lives as a pet, considers it a point of pride and independence that her father refuses a name.
54	-->''But Old Father Pufftail was a proud and independent cat who called no man or woman or child his owner. He even resented being called a name, though everyone called him Pufftail; and he was, in fact, a much-loved local "character".''
55	* In ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'', the title character started out with no name and said she didn't see the point in having one when Yuji asked for her name, though some call her [[RedBaron Flame-Haired Blazing-Eyed Hunter]]. Yuji refused to accept this and started calling her Shana after her sword, Nietono no Shana. Shana eventually accepted it.
56	* A rival time-traveler from the future appears in the ninth ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'' novel who actively shows disdain for even the existence of names, and prefers to not have one at all. But for the sake of reference, he suggests that the others call him Fujiwara. [[FirstPersonSmartass Kyon]] prefers to just call him The Sneering Bastard.
57	* ''Literature/BeesongChronicles'': The giant bees had no names since they were non-sapient, and then they evolve into the [[BeePeople apis demihuman race]]. When Cora encounters an apis worker, it takes a moment for her to even consider the idea that she might ''want'' a name; she just shrugs and says they can call her whatever they want. They go with Joy.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV ]]
61	* In ''Series/RedDwarf'', the Cat is just called "The Cat", because Cats don't use names. They tell each other apart by their individual scent.
62	** According to the novel, the Cat is also so self-absorbed that the idea someone doesn't ''know'' who he is is incomprehensible.
63	* The Wraith of ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' communicate among each other almost entirely by telepathy, and thus don't seem to need names. A few recurring Wraith are "named" by [[TheNicknamer Colonel Sheppard]] for the sake of convenience. The ExpandedUniverse novels subvert this, revealing that Wraith (aside from the nameless drones) actually ''do'' have names, based on a combination of their role in the hive and what their mind "feels" like to other Wraith. They just don't normally reveal them to non-Wraith. Some chapters with a Wraith POV character show that they assume human names work on the same premise, with them coming up with amusing "translations" of human names to match up with what they know (or think they know) about those characters' roles in the Atlantis expedition.
64	* On ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine,'' the only [[ShapeShifting Changelings]] who have names are the 100 who were sent out to live among the other races of the universe; the rest reside in the Great Link where their bodies and minds become one. [[spoiler:Interestingly in the series finale, the Female Changeling signs (on a piece of paper) the treaty to end the Dominion War. Despite claiming to have no name, she must have written ''something'', unless it was simply "the Dominion".]]
65	-->'''[[TokenHeroicOrc Odo]]:''' You haven't told me your name.\
66	'''[[BigBad Female Changeling]]:''' What use would I have for a name?\
67	'''Odo:''' To differentiate yourself from the others.\
68	'''Female Changeling:''' I don't.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Toys]]
72	* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', most Warrior-class Skrall are nameless, and are only allowed to have names if they are awarded one by their leader.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
76	* DependingOnTheWriter, this is sometimes true for the evil illithids in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' who are psionic, and thus have no spoken language and no names, recognizing other beings via psionic imprints. Some sources where multiple illithids are present assign them names for the sake of identification.
77	** In 5e, it's stated that the Firbolg race adheres by this trope as well, instead being identified by simple appearance descriptors. (Although outside of their own societies they do use names.)
78	[[/folder]]
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80
81	[[folder:Video Games ]]
82	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
83	** Sovereign seems to have no need for names in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' (it never states that it is a name, and the word is [[MindHive also a title appropriate to its nature]]), and dismisses being referred to as "Reaper". ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' reveals that Sovereign ''did'' have a name ([[spoiler:Nazara]]), but apparently it didn't feel any need to reveal it to organics. The only other Reaper individually referred to is Harbinger, and that is also pretty clearly just a title, not its real name.
84	--->'''Sovereign''': '''In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply ''are.'''''
85	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': [[RobotBuddy Legion]] (to Shepard's frustration) didn't have a name until EDI gave him one on the ''Normandy'', due to the fact that Legion isn't 1 person, [[MindHive he's 1183 people inside 1 body]]. Even so, he rarely refers to himself as Legion, and only adopted the name to help organic creatures identify with him.
86	* The VideoGame/SoulSeries gives us the Edge Master, who refuses to name his weapons[[labelnote:*]]Such as Xianghua's weapon from [=SC2=] onward[[/labelnote]] as he believes that only a strong soul makes a strong warrior, not a weapon, so he regards weapons as only tools, their own power and abilities be damned.
87	* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', Flemeth is dismissive of the numerous titles she's built up over the years.
88	-->'''Flemeth:''' Names are pretty, but useless. The Chasind folk call me Flemeth. I suppose it'll do.
89	* TheEmpire in the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' series is only ever referred to in the generic. The official explanation is "there's only one name when there's only one game" -- a proper name for their nation would imply that there's any need to distinguish them from another.
90	* The same applies to the alien empire in ''VideoGame/{{Xenonauts}}''.
91	* A variation occurs in the [[TutorialMission "The Swing King" mission]] of ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', when 47 arrives at the abandoned amusement park, we get this bit of dialogue:
92	-->'''47:''' I'm here to see Joseph Clarence.
93	-->'''[[GangBanger Thug:]]''' Never heard of him.
94	-->'''47:''' The Swing King.
95	-->'''[[GangBanger Thug:]]''' Oh yeah, that sorry ass dick-head. What the fuck they call you?
96	-->'''47:''' Names are for friends. So I don't need one.
97	--> ''Reaches through the gates steel bars, grabs the thug and knocks him out cold.''
98	* The Gorajo in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' refer to each other only by their FantasticCasteSystem roles, and [[HumansThroughAlienEyes wonder if humans aren't confused]] having to remember so many individual names. The Exile in Player-Owned Ports takes a given name at the end of her individual story, as part of her adjustment to non-Gorajian society.
99	* In ''VideoGame/TheWitchsHouse'', the [[spoiler:demon BigBad who raised Ellen]] is only ever called [[spoiler:'Black Cat' and 'Demon']]. He tells [[spoiler:Ellen]] in the prequel novel and manga that, as a demon, he does not really have or need a name.
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
103	* ''VisualNovel/HeartOfTheWoods'': None of the fairies have names, which they claim are "for humans." Maddie mentally assigns the main three she speaks to with the names of Hae, Anan, and Frio. [[spoiler:This is also likely the real reason why The Moonsick One, in the body of Evelyn Fischer, [[HeyYou never refers to people by name]].]]
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Webcomics]]
107	* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', the Regional Fairies have no names prior to becoming human, and make quite a big deal of receiving their names -- even if it happens by accident. Normally they refer to each other by insults.
108	* ''Estranged,'' later published as a graphic novel, is a ChangelingTale focusing on both characters who got switched. The human-raised-by-fairies is only known as "the (Human) Childe," because he was basically a pet and there weren't any other humans around to confuse him with. It's something of a RunningGag that his servant Whick, a {{Golem}} made out of wax, was deemed name-worthy while he wasn't.
109	* Imps in ''Webcomic/{{Imp}}'' are not given names by the witches that create them. The main character refers to himself as "Celina's imp" and doesn't want a name. When he does meet an imp that has been given a name, his response is, "He's got a name? Why? That's such a human thing!"
110	* In ''WebComic/WildeLife,'' [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent animal people]] [[http://www.wildelifecomic.com/comic/531 apparently]] don't bother with them.
111	-->'''Clifford:''' So what's your name?\
112	'''Raven:''' Pfft. I'm a raven, silly.\
113	'''Clifford:''' No shit. And I'm a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent wolf]]. But ''my name'' is Cliff.\
114	'''Raven:''' Okay, then just call me [[ADogNamedDog Raven]]. We'll be like humans and have names!
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116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Web Original]]
119	* In ''{{Literature/Moonflowers}},'' Maidin the river-spirit notes that TheFairFolk ''like'' names, but they don't ''need'' them like humans do. He explains to Lucy and Ned that the Horned Hunter, being a [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Force of Nature,]] would have had to [[LossOfIdentity give up his name]] upon claiming the deer-skull mask. Maidin himself mentions having had an assortment of titles in the past, like [[AnthropomorphicPersonification "the river," "He Lives in the River,"]] and [[MakingASplash "the man who's always wet."]] It seems he's only called "Maidin" in the story because [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep he lives in the River Maidin.]]
120	* in [[Website/SCPFoundation SCP-001]][[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/tanhony-s-proposal-ii (“The Black Moon”)]] when the [[Really700YearsOld The Administrator]] was a child he was known as The Boy, because there wasn’t enough people around for him to be confused with anyone. Later on he goes by [[ShapedLikeItself The Man]], [[TheManBehindTheMan The Administrator]], [[BigGood The Counterbalance]] and [[BarrierMaiden SCP-001-CAGE]] but doesn’t get a proper name.
121	[[/folder]]
122
123	[[folder:Western Animation ]]
124	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', the gargoyles traditionally use no names among themselves; Goliath is only called this by the humans. When they arrive in New York the others finally decide to adopt names based on local landmarks and start using them amongst themselves. Most other clans in the world seem to pick up this habit over time as well, presumably because of close contact with humans (and convenience, according to WordOfGod). The eldest of the New York clan is rather exasperated by the idea he needs a name, demanding to know if the sky or the river need them; when Elisa informs him the specific river he pointed at is called the Hudson, he gives up and starts calling himself "Hudson" as well.
125	-->'''Tom:''' I'm Tom. What's your name?\
126	'''Short green gargoyle[[labelnote:*]]Lexington[[/labelnote]]:''' Except for Goliath, we don't have names.\
127	'''Tom:''' How do you tell each other apart?\
128	'''Short green gargoyle:''' [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation We look different.]]\
129	'''Tom:''' But what do you call each other?\
130	'''Red beaked gargoyle[[labelnote:*]]Brooklyn[[/labelnote]]:''' "Friend."
131	* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': "Mortynight Run" features a gaseous lifeform who claims that his species has no use for names, as they communicate through telepathy. It eventually takes on the name [[UnfortunateName "Fart"]] after Rick calls it that, apparently not realizing that it was being mocked.
132	** According to a Season 5 episode, Birdperson's people don't use names, explaining why he goes by "Birdperson" in the presence of aliens (which, since Earthlings count, is all the time).
133	[[/folder]]

Context Main / NoNeedForNames