| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1452266899092104700 |
| 2 | %% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/origins_keyser_soze_the_unknown_foreigner_397373.png]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ->'''Mayor:''' What do we got?\ |
| 7 | '''Jim Gordon:''' Nothing. No matches on prints, DNA, dental. Clothing is custom, no labels. Nothing in his pockets but knives and lint. No name... no other alias. |
| 8 | -->-- ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', regarding [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker the Joker]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | NothingIsScarier than someone you know nothing about. He has nothing to identify him, nothing that even states that he is real. If this person simply disappears, you are terrified because you don't know if he is watching. Sometimes he is established as a myth, a ghost story to scare people. This person lacks not only a past, but also a present and a future. He just is, and you don't know why. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | The Spook is someone whose identity is a paradox; they exist but don't exist at the same time. No one can prove that he is there except by showing someone the warm body, if you even have it. If a name is given it is likely to be ShroudedInMyth; you can't be certain of anything you hear about them, but you don't want to underestimate them all the same. Or they may use an obvious pseudonym like MrSmith. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | In some cases, this may overlap with a LegacyCharacter: the myth is more important than the person. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | AllThereInTheManual may have extra information that is confirmed by WordOfGod, but that doesn't count: this is about how this character is perceived by others. What matters is how the [[InUniverse characters in the story]] behave in regard to the stranger. If the people in the story know all about the character, then it does not qualify as The Spook even if the audience knows nothing. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | This kind of character is often seen as either an EnigmaticMinion, or the guy the villains (or even the heroes) bring in to do the job right... even if they don't know what they're dealing with. Also frequently TheNondescript. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | The reason The Spook is such a mysterious character is that the story treats the lack of information of the guy as a mystery, i.e attention is drawn to it and in universe characters point them out and become curious. If this doesn't happen, he's probably just a BitCharacter that isn't intended to be memorable. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Compare TheFaceless, but The Faceless is only important based around the eventual reveal (whether or not they actually have a face). The Spook will usually remain an enigma even if caught and defeated. Also compare TheMenInBlack, who are often {{mooks}} with this characteristic, and TheCowl, when a hero tries to be this to the villains. TheChessmaster can sometimes be a Spook and combined with this trope makes them all the scarier. MysteriousPast is a related trope. Finally, compare/contrast UnPerson, where someone else does this to a person as a form of punishment. See also OutsideContextProblem, which appears out of nowhere, and DiabolusExNihilo, a villain without any backstory. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Not to be confused with ''Radio/TheShadow'', TheGhost, SillySpook, or especially TheSpock. Nor to be confused with the Spook from ''ComicStrip/TheWizardOfId''. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | Not to be confused with the word's use as a slur towards black people, nor its philosophical sense (mainly in association with certain branches of anarchism and nihilism) referring to abstract social constructs. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ---- |
| 29 | !!Examples: |
| 30 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 31 | |
| 32 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 33 | * ''Advertising/NeverSayNoToPanda'': The Panda itself. It instantaneously appears out of the blue. We know nothing of its origins or if it's supernatural or anything else. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 37 | * All members of ACROSS in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' must maintain this secrecy to ignorant citizens, which is why they can only get temp jobs. |
| 38 | ** Much of the manga is a comical {{Deconstruction}} of the trope, noting how difficult it is actually to live without any kind of identifications, steady job or social security. The protagonists end up getting mistaken for illegal immigrants several times over. |
| 39 | * Dabi from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. To the heroes and the villains alike, Dabi just shows up out of nowhere with a powerful Quirk and a relentless desire to burn down hero society. Nobody actually knows what his Quirk is called, what his vision of a "brighter future" is, or even where he comes from. Hawks even tried to look into him specifically and came up with nothing. [[spoiler:In actuality, he is Toya Todoroki, Endeavor's presumed dead son, and his dyed hair and burn scars prevented people from finding out his identity until he went public about being Endeavor's son in order to ruin Endeavor's reputation.]] |
| 40 | * L, Mello and Near from ''Manga/DeathNote''. Justified, as the titular notebook can kill anyone whose name is written in it. Thus, the only people who could challenge the Death Note's user would be those with entirely unknown names. |
| 41 | ** [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] initially becomes a spook when he gets his Death Note from Ryuk--a mysterious killer with the ability to kill off anyone in the world, location be damned, so long as he knows the real name of his victim. He exacts the power of the Death Note enough that the world notices the sequential killings and dubs the culprit "Kira." That would've been the end of it, had Light not fallen for a trap set out by L by writing down the name "Lind L. Taylor," a man being used as a decoy proxy for the real L. Taking the bait allows L to start hunting him down relentlessly (and narrows down Kira's location from "anywhere on Earth" to "somewhere in Japan", since L played a hunch that Kira was in the same nation as his first known victim and had "Lind L. Taylor" broadcast his ultimatum to Kira in Japan only while falsely claiming it was a worldwide broadcast), opening the biggest can of worms he'll ever know. |
| 42 | * Johan tries to become one in ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' by destroying all traces of his past. Even without him doing that, he essentially is one already due to the circumstances of his birth and upbringing. Finding out how he became the way he is is one of the plot's driving forces. |
| 43 | * Hazama is this in ''Anime/BlazBlueAlterMemory''. Between attempts to help Noel, Makoto (Hazama's own subordinate, by the by) has been trying to gather information that could link him to the Imperator, and found absolutely jack about him in the NOL database. Whatever justification exists cements to Makoto that Hazama is not to be trusted, and she arranges for a pickup with Sector Seven to get Noel out of Kagutsuchi. It's not a spoiler to say this doesn't work out. |
| 44 | * The Boss of Passione in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'' is a shadowy figure in Italy's criminal underworld who goes to great lengths to ensure his identity remains hidden. These include giving orders to his underlings through a proxy [[spoiler:who happens to be his SplitPersonality]], and [[spoiler:trying to have the one person who might know his identity killed]]. |
| 45 | * ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': |
| 46 | ** [[AscendedExtra Hirofumi Yoshida]] seemed to be relatively simple when he first appeared in Part One, but after Part Two starts it becomes increasingly clear that there's far more to him than it seems, such as being a TeenSuperspy, strangely [[AmbiguouslyEvil malicious and bloodthirsty tendencies]] going back to his first appearances, and even knowledge of [[spoiler:the Chainsaw Devil's true power]], one of the setting's biggest secrets. Every time he appears, the reader is left with more questions, but the protagonist Denji doesn't notice or care enough to investigate. |
| 47 | ** Part Two also introduced "The Copycat", an EvilDoppelganger of Chainsaw Man [[AmbiguouslyEvil with inscrutable motives]]. He appears to be working with [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse the Famine Devil]] but assisted Denji in the fight against the [[PrimalFear Falling Devil]] before shamelessly stealing his identity, and every time he appears in his human form he's in a formal school uniform with a CommissarCap [[TheFaceless that almost completely obscures his face]]. |
| 48 | * [[Characters/SpyXFamilyAnyaForger Anya]] in ''Manga/SPYxFamily'' is effectively one. Her past as a [[TestedOnHumans lab experiment]] who then bounced through multiple orphanages left her with little to no documentation; the {{orphanage|OfFear}} Loid finds her in didn't file any paperwork for her adoption, while a skilled InformationBroker got ''zero'' information on her beyond her time in the orphanages. Naturally, [[ExploitedTrope that's what Loid was looking for]]: a child with no legal existence to contradict the cover story of being his biological offspring. |
| 49 | * The [[OlympusMons legendary]] Ho-Oh in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' acted as this for the entirety of Ash's adventure. It started Ash's trend of being TheChosenOne, appearing before him at the start of his adventure and multiple times after, but its personality and motives remained inscrutable as it was the sole legendary he could never get close enough to interact with in any meaningful way. It wasn't until his adventures in Hoenn that anyone [[NotSoImaginaryFriend even believed he saw it to begin with]]. |
| 50 | [[/folder]] |
| 51 | |
| 52 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 53 | * [[DiabolicalMastermind The Octopus]] in ''ComicBook/TheSpirit''. In the entire run of the series, neither the heroes, the villains, nor anyone else ever saw his face or learned who he was. In his first appearance, he ''ran through fire'' to avoid revealing his identity. |
| 54 | * Mr. Nobody in ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl''. Even when he's apprehended by the police, it's found that he literally has no fingerprints and that what was thought to be a full facial mask is apparently his actual face. |
| 55 | * ''Comicbook/TheBoys'': The unnamed Vought-American exec is this. The Homelander, a Kryptonian-class superhuman, is more than a little scared of this apparently ordinary human; even half-jokingly theorizing that the executive might be some sort of quintessential corporate lifeform. |
| 56 | * Cobra Commander in IDW's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeIDW G.I. Joe]]'' comics. We never learn his name, facial appearance, or backstory only receiving vague suggestions. It's implied that [[spoiler: he may actually be "Chimera", a villain the Joes encountered years ago, having survived his battle with them and taken a new identity]] but even this is conjecture. And later it's revealed [[spoiler: he's not even a singular person, just the most recent holder of the title. There's been ''hundreds'' of Cobra Commanders throughout human history, each more inscrutable than the last. After the Commander we started with is shot dead, he's replaced by a nameless man called "Krake" in under a month.]] |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' villain Façade, a professional thief/merc who wields a powerful suit of biomechanical armor. He's most well-known for [[KilledOffForReal killing off Lance Bannon]], one of Spider-Man's longtime allies and to this day we've never learned his identity or backstory (the evidence given narrowed it to about two possible suspects but we're never told which is correct). It's become [[RiddleForTheAges an enduring mystery]] that's haunted Spidey ever since they first fought. In-Universe, the only people who know are Façade himself and Norman Osborn, who probably isn't interested in telling. |
| 58 | ** This one is rather notable in that he initially wasn't planned to be the Spook, but became one after the writer's plans were derailed by ''The Clone Saga''. |
| 59 | * ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' portrays Spidey himself as this, from the perspective of the CListFodder that fill out his rogues gallery. The way they see it, he's a complete unknown who swings in out of nowhere, effortlessly foils their plans and beats the crap out of them, and then [[IShallTauntYou mocks them about it]]. Not helping matters is the fact that the series took place during ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan''. |
| 60 | * In ''ComicBook/VForVendetta'', Finch discusses this trope with Susan. V had killed all Larkhill personnel that tortured him. The interesting part is that the only proof the government has of that story is the documents V had left for them to find. What if this is just a smokescreen? What if this was done not as a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, but to erase all proof of V's past? What if this is only the beginning of something greater? How can they hope to stop him? |
| 61 | * ComicBook/{{Diabolik}} started out as this before some of his past started being discovered. In the AlternateContinuity DK, his counterpart, known as the Shadow of the Night, is this, to the point that he doesn't even have a name (Shadow of the Night is how some people call the ''urban legend'' based on him). |
| 62 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': The Joker has [[MultipleChoicePast a revolving door of backstories]], which makes it unknown who he is, where he came from, and what made him the way he is.[[note]]Indeed, not knowing who he originally was is [[https://www.polygon.com/2017/8/24/16191932/joker-origin-story-movie arguably crucial]] to his character.[[/note]] Most depictions hold that due to his insanity, the Joker himself doesn't even know which of his backstories is real. And prefers it that way. Because of this, some writers depict him as a literal and/or figurative avatar of madness and chaos. |
| 63 | * Count Dracula in ''ComicBook/AmericanVampire'' is portrayed this way. Rather than being identified as Vlad the Impaler (the real-life inspiration for the character), his origins are unknown and he is theorized to have been a pig-farmer rather than the infamous nobleman. Having said that, he is generally agreed to have been Romanian due to being the [[MonsterProgenitor creator]] of the [[VampireVarietyPack Carpathian bloodline]], which became the most numerous of all vampire strains in the world. |
| 64 | * Both subverted and played straight in ''ComicBook/{{Spook}}'' which is filled with spies and ghosts who come out of the shadows and become fully fleshed out, but also permanently mysterious characters like Mr. Nobody and the ghost he controls. |
| 65 | * Big Beaver in ''ComicBook/SuperAgentJonLeBon''. All that's known about him is that he started to cause chaos [[EnfantTerrible when he was still a baby]], only getting better at it since then. The Agency, which has been around since ancient times, doesn't know how he came to be. Not even the spin-off book featuring him explained it, as he doesn't remember anything (and would much prefer to [[MultipleChoicePast come up with his own backstories anyway]]). The most that the reader ever gets to learn is from his claim that [[spoiler:he's [[TimeAbyss millions of years old]], when he talks to Ultra-Jon in the Season 2 finale]]. |
| 66 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity:'' The Blue Knight. He ''might'' be a cop using some fancy tech. He might be a dead cop who came back from the dead. No answers are given, and what few hints there are just raise further, terrifying questions. |
| 67 | [[/folder]] |
| 68 | |
| 69 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 70 | * As ''Fanfic/{{The Games We Play|TheGamerRWBY}}'' progresses, Jaune begins to realize that he knows terrifyingly, worryingly little about who Ozpin really is. Even gaining a TrueSight ability doesn't help. |
| 71 | * ''Fanfic/AKnightsTaleAsInquisitor'' provides a very justified, main protagonist example. Due to the fact that she comes from a [[AnotherDimension completely different world]], there is absolutely ''no'' knowledge or information on Arturia prior to the explosion at the Conclave where she is the SoleSurvivor of the cataclysmic event that killed ''everyone else'' present, meaning that there is absolutely NO way to get any information anywhere on her in Thedas other than anything she does in present time. This is something that greatly [[WhoAreYou worries]] and [[WhatTheHellAreYou disturbs]] BOTH her [[OrderReborn allies]] and [[CultOfPersonality enemies]]. |
| 72 | * The first BigBad of the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' Loneliness is this. Even several seasons after her demise, no one, not even Trixie (whose mind she was dwelling in) knows what she really was or where she came from, or even if she was ''real''. Even her name and gender are just conjecture, as Twilight names her Loneliness and as she's a shapeshifter, the only evidence of a gender at all is her ShapeshifterDefaultForm is female and it's not clear if ''any'' of the forms she assumes are her real one, if she even has one. |
| 73 | * In ''Fanfic/ValesUnderground'', Cinder Fall is changed into this because [[AdaptationNameChange "Cinder" is an alias in this version]]. No one actually knows her real name and she took many precautions to make sure this trope was in effect for her. Salem is even more mysterious and all we know is that she has a past with Cinder. [[spoiler: Subverted in Chapter 14 for the readers when we learn a lot more about them. However, no one else (currently) knows it.]] |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 77 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', we actually see what the Joker was like before he fell in the vat of chemicals: a nameless, voiceless, perpetually smirking mob hitman who might just be ''creepier'' than the MonsterClown he turned into. [[spoiler:He sparks a good chunk of the plot by killing Andrea Beaumont's father.]] |
| 78 | * The Wolf from ''WesternAnimation/PussInBootsTheLastWish'' is one for most of the film; he keeps appearing to scare Puss and doesn't appear to anybody else, with Puss not having any knowledge of who he's supposed to be. [[spoiler:It's revealed later on that he's Death itself, which he makes ''very'' clear isn't hyperbole, and has resorted to attempting to kill Puss himself to teach him a lesson about not wasting his lives frivolously.]] |
| 79 | [[/folder]] |
| 80 | |
| 81 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 82 | * The Joker is portrayed this way in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. He has no {{backstory}}, and is only "The Joker", nothing more elaborate but nothing to diminish the personality. The premise of the movie is that the heroes have to deal with someone they have no damn clue about. They cannot anticipate what he's going to do, and that's why he's so effective. In ''Film/BatmanBegins'', the League of Shadows nearly incites a riot in Gotham because of poisonous gas, [[TheDreaded while the Joker nearly does the same thing just from the legend he establishes for himself]]. Incidentally, this is also what makes Batman so scary to the bad guys -- he's essentially the Joker, but [[SecretIdentity wearing a mask]] and acting against the villains. The difference, which Sal Maroni makes clear, is that Batman is TheFettered. Once they figure out his "[[ThouShaltNotKill one rule]]", Batman's status as this is diminished, while the Joker [[TheUnfettered has absolutely no rules]]. |
| 83 | * Keyser Söze of ''Film/TheUsualSuspects'' was something similar to this. The nature of the movie made his shadow-ness even more obscure and vague. But even with the things confirmed by the police interrogators, Söze was someone who has never had a confirmed sighting, regarded as a myth, has [[MultipleChoicePast multiple versions of his backstory]] and you don't know what is fact or fiction about him. Even the famous reveal doesn't ''necessarily'' answer the question, although it's natural to assume that it has. |
| 84 | * This is what is often overlooked in the ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' movies because of the TimeTravel and evil robot sci-fi, but [[Film/TheTerminator the original movie]] was primarily a person being hunted by someone she knew nothing about, even the reason why she was being hunted. |
| 85 | * When you join the ''Film/MenInBlack'', you become one of these people. |
| 86 | -->''"From now on you'll have no identifying marks of any kind. You'll not stand out in any way. [[TheNondescript Your entire image is crafted to leave no lasting memory with anyone you encounter]]."'' |
| 87 | * ''Film/TheBourneSeries'': All the field members of [[GovernmentConspiracy Treadstone]] are made to become this, an example of the "made anonymous by support from powerful intelligence agency" variety. Jason Bourne [[LaserGuidedAmnesia losing his memory]] shows what happens when one of these people does a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 88 | * Chauncey Gardiner from ''Film/BeingThere'' grew up as a gardener for a rich old man who had secluded himself and Chance from the outside world. After his master dies, and he has to go out in the world, he becomes a mysterious figure without a past. |
| 89 | * The SerialKiller from ''Film/{{Se7en}}'' has removed all traces of his identity and goes by the alias [[MrSmith John Doe]], because he believes that the message he's trying to send through his killings is important, not himself. |
| 90 | * In ''Film/RemoWilliamsTheAdventureBegins'', the bad guys refer to Remo as "The Faceless Wonder" because they can find absolutely no information on him at all other than a picture and the fact that he's interfering with their nefarious scheme. |
| 91 | * The whoever-it-is who keeps showing up and giving cryptic advice to Creator/BruceWillis' character in ''Film/TwelveMonkeys''. |
| 92 | * Cobb from ''Film/{{Following}}''. The police have no record of his existence, and he tricks his fall guy into dressing and looking just like him. The final shot of the film is Cobb stepping into a bustling street and completely disappearing. |
| 93 | * [[Creator/GeorgeClooney Harry]] thinks [[Creator/BradPitt Chad]] is this in ''Film/BurnAfterReading''. |
| 94 | * Ernst Stavro Blofeld is this is the Film/JamesBond movies. He is one of the few Bond villains to be given no backstory whatsoever, either from his own lips or from a government dossier. This is not the case in the novels the films were based on, however. |
| 95 | * The villain of ''Film/TheHitcher'' is called a ghost because there is nothing that identifies him. |
| 96 | * The Operative from ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' |
| 97 | -->'''Dr Mathias''': I see no listing of name or rank. |
| 98 | -->'''The Operative''': I have neither. Like this facility, I don't exist. |
| 99 | * ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' portrays [[spoiler: Section 31]] as this. [[spoiler: All of their doings are very hush-hush and under the table, while some of its operatives, like John Harrison/Khan, are given false identities to hide their true nature.]] |
| 100 | * In ''Film/NoCountryForOldMen'', practically nothing is known about the relentless assassin, Anton Chigurh. The only thing we know is his name, maybe. |
| 101 | -->'''Accountant:''' Are you going to shoot me? |
| 102 | -->'''Anton:''' That depends. [[IWasNeverHere Do you see me?]] |
| 103 | * None of the other characters know anything about Harry Roat, the villain of ''Film/WaitUntilDark'', other than the fact that he is a sociopath who feigns pleasantries with his victims. Harry Roat, incidentally, is an alias. |
| 104 | * ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' has the titular antagonist. Natasha literally calls him a "ghost," and notes that most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. Nobody knew anything about him or who really he was [[spoiler:until Steve saw his face and realized that he was Bucky, who didn't recognize him. From there, he was able to deduce how Bucky ended up as the Winter Soldier.]] |
| 105 | * Josef in ''[[Film/{{Creep 2014}} Creep]]''. The PoliceAreUseless to Aaron because he can't give any concrete information on Josef's name, age, location, or any other identifying details. |
| 106 | * [[NoNameGiven The Caller]] in ''Film/PhoneBooth'' is a complete mystery. He doesn't identify himself or reveal anything about his past (beyond how no, his parents didn't abuse him, he had a "very" happy childhood, and no he wasn't in Vietnam, he's younger than that), and even his face isn't seen [[spoiler: until the end.]] |
| 107 | [[/folder]] |
| 108 | |
| 109 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 110 | !!!'''Authors:''' |
| 111 | * Creator/StephenKing has given us many examples over the years, because he finds that unnatural horrors work best when they remain unexplained. [[Literature/NightmaresAndDreamscapes Why's there a sentient finger growing out of this guy's bathroom sink?]] [[Literature/NightShift Why is an industrial laundry machine eating people?]] [[Literature/SkeletonCrew What is this carnivorous black blob floating in the water, and how is it intelligent enough to psychologically torture its prey?]] Whenever King's characters have these sorts of questions, his response tends to be "Doesn't matter. [[OutsideContextProblem Your problem now.]]" |
| 112 | !!!'''Works:''' |
| 113 | * Captain Nemo from ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' (his chosen alias literally means "no one" in Latin). |
| 114 | * ''Literature/AmericanGods'' features an amorphous collective of Spooks in the form of the Spookshow, created by people's [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve belief]] in TheMenInBlack. Because they're {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of conspiracy theories and not agents of any particular conspiracy, they have a vague idea at best of what their purpose is, which ends up making them all the more dangerous. There's also the nameless man in the charcoal suit, whose true identity is never revealed because everyone forgets who he is. |
| 115 | * ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': The BigBad in ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' (the fourth book published, and the sixth in terms of InUniverse chronology) is a DiabolusExNihilo with no backstory. All we really know is that she used her VoluntaryShapeshifting and MindManipulation abilities to seize power BeneathTheEarth and now seeks to expand into Narnia, and that she could be ''somehow'' connected to the White Witch from ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe''. |
| 116 | * This is what makes the title character from ''Literature/TheDayOfTheJackal'' a perfect assassin as he's not listed in the extensive files of the French security service, and a major part of the novel involves getting a lead on who he ''might'' be, so they can start to track him down. At one point the British authorities think they've nailed him down [[spoiler:as a man called Charles Calthrop, but he's revealed to be a completely unrelated businessman whose identity was likely stolen by the Jackal for one of his assignments.]] Even his country of origin is never confirmed -- while referred to as an Englishman, the Jackal successfully impersonates several other nationalities. |
| 117 | * ''Literature/TheDemonHeadmaster'' is the unassuming head of a [[TheGoodOldBritishComp small comprehensive school]] who just happens to have mind-control powers and an obsession with bringing the world into perfect, emotionless order. We know absolutely nothing about how he got these abilities, where he comes from, or what his real name is - everyone just calls him "the Headmaster". Even in "Takes Over", [[spoiler: when his amnesiac clone's main goal is simply to learn what his name is, we still don't learn it ourselves.]] |
| 118 | %%* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': Mister Teatime is this way in ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}''. |
| 119 | %%* Vying with Nemo for the earliest use of the trope is Professor Sunday, from ''Literature/TheManWhoWasThursday'', as described in the page quote. |
| 120 | * In the ''Literature/KovacAndLiska'' series, Frank "Fitz" Fitzgerald, the killer known as "Doc Holiday" has multiple aliases, and his true identity is never revealed. Little of his background is revealed, either. |
| 121 | * In Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/MyNameIsLegion'', no records exist anywhere of the protagonist's original identity. |
| 122 | * The titular character from ''Literature/TheMysteriousMrQuin'' is a man who frequently appear out of nowhere the midst of a mystery or drama and somehow influences the other characters to somehow resolve the issue, before disappearing again. He has an enigmatic presence, and often seem like he's wearing a mask and/or multi-coloured clothes due to convenient shadow and lighting, and it is hinted that some people can't actually see him. |
| 123 | %%* ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' has the AmbiguouslyHuman assassins Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. |
| 124 | * ''Literature/PointHorror'': Julian from ''The Boy Next Door''. He simply appears in the seemingly abandoned house next door to Randy and she knows very little about him. |
| 125 | * ''Literature/{{Rollerskater}}'' features a man known only as The Captain. He is nameless, having had his birth records and entire life history expunged. He is [[TheStoic stoic to a fault]], and nobody knows of his life before joining the British armed forces. Multiple characters on all sides of the story's conflict mention that he gives them the creeps. |
| 126 | * In ''Literature/{{Renegades}}'', Phobia is a complete mystery, even to his Anarchist teammates. He never told anyone his name, no-one knows how he acquired his ability or where he came from, and even what he looks like is uncertain, as he's a {{Voluntary Shapeshift|ing}}er who sticks to the shadows. |
| 127 | * ''Literature/SpySchool'': Leo Shang, the BigBad of book four is described as having just appeared on China's business scene with millions of dollars five years ago, and no one has been able to find out a thing about his past. |
| 128 | * In ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'', the BigBad is a genteel, polite person known only as "the man in the yellow suit". He does provide some backstory for his quest -- as a child, his parents sheltered a family that told tales of the mother's former husband and his own kin, who never aged a day -- and has clear goals in selling the magical spring water that generates said immortality (apparently choosing to ignore the horrific implications of what will happen when the secret gets out), but other than that, he's a blank: no name, no past, no relatives, no presence...nothing. Author Natalie Babbitt encouraged this characterization in an interview, and even explained that she deliberately avoided giving him a red or black suit for fear of people [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory interpreting]] the man as LouisCypher or TheGrimReaper; she elaborated that she put him in yellow to create a natural cadence for the repeated phrase "the man in the yellow suit". |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 132 | * ''Series/BurnNotice'' invokes this several times. One of Michael's plans was based around infiltrating a family of gun dealers by playing off of one of the brothers. By skillfully stealing their supplies, he then simply dropped off the face of the Earth. He explained that nothing scares you more than a spook, someone you know nothing about. He could have been FBI, a rival group, the Mafia; the point was they didn't know who he was and if he was going to return. The group was so spooked, they left the city. |
| 133 | %%** [[Creator/BruceCampbell Chuck Finley]] is everyone, and no one. He's simply Chuck Finley. |
| 134 | %%* Razer from ''Series/TheCape'' is this. |
| 135 | %%** Chess is also this, but only InUniverse, and for the first episode. |
| 136 | * The titular Lieutenant Series/{{Columbo}} is designed to "come from nothing and return to nothing" before and after he's called in to solve the case of the week. While the audience knows he has a wife (and later a dog), he has no backstory, no definite home, and no real connections. |
| 137 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 138 | ** The Doctor was this for much of the original series' run, as very little about his origins or his true identity were ever dwelt upon. On several occasions he's taken steps to remove himself from the historic record. The "Cartmel Masterplan" was supposed to restore this aspect by gradually {{Retcon}}ning what was already revealed about the Doctor to be a lie and that he was actually a more powerful figure than he appears, but it was derailed by the show's cancellation. |
| 139 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E10Midnight Midnight]]": The Midnight Creature. No one, not even the Doctor, knows what it is, only that it is able to survive on a planet with a super-deadly atmosphere, possess a human being, and mimic others to the point of stealing their voices. Ever since the episode's airing, there have been theories about this entity. |
| 140 | ** The Silence. Once you look away from them, you forget that they even exist. They often use this ability to plant commands in people's subconscious. |
| 141 | * ''Series/{{Fargo}}'': Lorne Malvo of [[Series/FargoSeasonOne season 1]]. We're given essentially zero information about him. "Lorne Malvo" probably isn't even his real name. The most we ever learn is that he claims to have been in Alaska at one point. That's it. |
| 142 | * ''Series/TheGoodDoctor'': Nathalie Beauchemin (portrayed by Canadian actress Meghan Heffern), a OneShotCharacter that only appeared in the Season 3, Episode 18, "Heartbreak" appears with no backstory and the most we ever learn is that she is loyal to her boyfriend, has a dwarf cheating boyfriend [[DepravedDwarf who has no remorse for cheating on her]]. Other than that, her past, backstory is unknown. {{Fanon}} speculates on what her real origins are. |
| 143 | %%* Papa Lazarou on ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen''. He's implied not to even be human. |
| 144 | * ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Other than being a group of women originating from the lands of Rhun, nothing is known about Sauron's cultist trio. They never reveal anything about them, what could motivate them to worship Sauron, not even their names. They could be humans or not humans at all as they take a wraith form after fighting an Istar and have vast magical powers of unknown origins. |
| 145 | * Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: |
| 146 | ** ''Series/Daredevil2015'': |
| 147 | *** Matt's initial conflict with Wilson Fisk is complicated by the fact that Fisk is a spook, due to having carefully covered up every trace of his past. |
| 148 | *** We don't know anything about James Wesley's past outside of his being Fisk's best friend and right hand. |
| 149 | ** ''Series/ThePunisher2017'': |
| 150 | *** Frank Castle considers Micro to be a complete spook at first, and it isn't until he gets Karen Page to dig up some information that he starts to warm up to working with the man. |
| 151 | *** Lampshaded in "Kandahar", where Billy Russo comments about how the [[DirtyCoward fearless leader]] he and Frank work for never even gave his name, although apparently others call him "Agent Orange". [[spoiler:Of course, Billy is working with Agent Orange a.k.a. William "Bill" Rawlins III.]] |
| 152 | * ''Film/PanicInTheCity'', MadeForTVMovie: Little is known about the enigmatic August Best other than the fact that he is a rogue Soviet operative; not his true name, date of birth, or true origins. |
| 153 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' |
| 154 | ** The VillainOfTheWeek in the episode "Last Call", who calls a 911 dispatcher and forces her to erase their records [[AndYourLittleDogToo under the threat of harming a child]] he's kidnapped, all while projecting a persona of amiable professionalism. Fans dubbed him "The Voice" because we never see him (though we do when he returns in the final season). |
| 155 | ** Harold Finch is this InUniverse, due to the elaborate steps he's taken to protect his identity or even his existence (even though he's a major character, we never discover his true name). On finally meeting face-to-face with Special Counsel, the latter describes Finch as being like a black hole, exerting an unseen and powerful influence. |
| 156 | * ''Series/ThePurge'': Ryan carries around fake [=ID=]s and devotes a lot of energy to avoiding encountering the authorities or being recorded on surveillance cameras. |
| 157 | %%* This is how Moriarty is treated in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', [[spoiler:though he gets to meet our heroes face-to-face in the last episode. Twice.]] |
| 158 | * ''Series/{{Spooks}}'', aptly enough. Although ''we'', the audience, know quite a bit about the MI-5 officers, the regular people they interact with are regularly fed fake identities, fake credentials, and fake beliefs. |
| 159 | * The Greek of ''Series/TheWire''. By the end of the series, we only know one thing about him: [[spoiler:he's not really Greek.]] |
| 160 | * Pick pretty much any member of the shadow government on ''Series/TheXFiles'' (particularly Deep Throat and X). The Cigarette Smoking Man is the only one that we ever learn anything about and what we know is vague and occasionally contradictory. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Professional Wrestling]] |
| 164 | * LLF had spent half a decade carving out a niche in Monterrey by introducing new foreign talent to Mexico, then one night in 2005 a woman whom no one knew anything about appeared with the goal of destroying them. It was only later that more information would surface on Tsunami. |
| 165 | * Midsummer 2010, PGWA was visited by a masked woman calling herself Hecate who claimed to be from Mexico. An inquiry was sent to LLF at the start of 2011, as by that point it had booked talent from all over Mexico but none of them had heard of her either. |
| 166 | * Los Abusadores Internacional in Valkyrie Women's Pro. No one knows who they are or where they came from, just that they're devoted to [[Wrestling/BlackRose La Rosa Negra]] and even though there aren't very many of them, [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections they have connections to people]]] whom only slightly more is known about. Subverted though in that they can call on intimidating individuals but are not themselves.[[/folder]] |
| 167 | |
| 168 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 169 | * Of all people, Radio/TheShadow was, in his original continuity, one of these. His secret identity was ''so'' secret that even the ''audience'' didn't know who he was, leading to much WildMassGuessing. |
| 170 | [[/folder]] |
| 171 | |
| 172 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 173 | * The Codex Cunabula (a collection of extended lore for ''Cradle of Gods'') gives us [[SorcerousOverlord Hekat Lysias]], the ruler of the Elysian city-state Thespea. The Codex gives his name...and that's all, with everything else about him completely in the air. While he's not necessarily important to the roleplay proper, [[HiddenAgendaVillain it's implied he has]] ''[[HiddenAgendaVillain some]]'' [[HiddenAgendaVillain goal]]. |
| 174 | [[/folder]] |
| 175 | |
| 176 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 177 | * ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' 3rd Edition ''Monster Manual V'' has rules for "god-blooded creatures," mortals given divine power appropriate to various deities. God-blooded followers of Vecna, an evil demigod of secrets and forbidden knowledge, lose all of their distinguishing features, becoming borderline [[TheBlank blank-faced]], and furthermore have all knowledge of them fade from the world, from their original name to their personal history. Only the creature and Vecna himself retain the knowledge of this champion's identity. They're so secretive that they have the power to cause other creatures to [[PerceptionFilter potentially forget the Vecna-blooded creature is there, even if it's right in front of them.]] |
| 178 | * Thanks to the Arcane Fate, the Sidereals of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}''. Not only are they completely unknown to the vast majority of Creation's inhabitants, but within a week or two of meeting them, you will forget them. And any records of their existence will be lost, accidentally destroyed, vanish mysteriously, or otherwise be rendered useless. A Sidereal could murder your parents right in front of you, and in a month you wouldn't be able to pick them out of a lineup or even remember the incident clearly--were they even murdered at all, or was it a freak accident of some kind? |
| 179 | * The ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' Advantage "Zeroed", created for ''GURPS Cyberpunk'' and popular in conspiracy games, makes a PC the Spook. |
| 180 | * The Occultation ability in ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' opposes any attempt to uncover a mage's identity: magical inquiries are resisted and mundane records mysteriously vanish. The Blank Badges [[PrestigeClass Legacy]] refine this into the ability to use their Occultation score as Status, so people see them as authoritative and respectable but have no idea why or who they are. |
| 181 | * In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', the Dark Angels Space Marines are served by the indigenous population of The Rock, the Watchers In The Dark. They are covered head to toe in robes, and have never let anyone see what's underneath. Ever. Games Workshop's official models for them don't have heads, just hollow hoods. Librarians can't probe them because they resist all psychic powers and forms of Warp contact. Are they aliens? Undead spirits of the Fallen forced to serve penance? The latter is unlikely, considering that people of Caliban have encounters with them before the Fallen are even conceived of, but otherwise... they're the only ones with answers, and they literally ain't talking. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 185 | * Albatross and Steven Heck in ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol''. The dossiers you build on them are about 90% conjecture. |
| 186 | ** Albatross is the head of an entire organisation of [[TheSpook spooks]]: G22 oppose Halbech and have dirt on nearly everyone, but anything beyond that is pure guesswork. Unless the player gives them away, the BigBad (and thus [[spoiler:Alpha Protocol itself]]) doesn't know they even exist. The man himself is ''believed'' to have been [[FromNobodyToNightmare a very low-level CIA bureaucrat]] before he burned his fingerprints off, had MagicPlasticSurgery, faked his death and just disappeared off the Earth, but even this remains in doubt. |
| 187 | ** Steven Heck, on the other hand, is on a class of his own due to not really being tied to any organization at ''all''; he claims he's a CIA agent, but further investigation shows no proper agenda or ties with them. In fact, he'll be loyal to you and do as you ask so long as you don't piss him off because he doesn't have any plans or orders you could screw up. [[spoiler:Some theorize he is simply a complete lunatic who started playing WannabeSecretAgent one day and became scarily good at it]]. |
| 188 | * The Joker in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins''. He comes completely out of nowhere and after finding his DNA at the site of a particularly brutal murder, Batman puts it through the National Criminal Database to find out who he is, and comes up completely blank. No name, [[MultipleChoicePast no true origin]] outside of [[UnreliableNarrator a flashback that may or may not be accurate]], and [[ForTheEvulz no real motives]]. Batman and Alfred are both completely taken aback by this. |
| 189 | * [=Zer0=] from ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}''. What's his real name? What is he doing on Pandora? What does he look like? [[AmbiguouslyHuman Is he even human]], or is he an alien or a robot? Nobody really knows. ''Not even'' [[HypercompetentSidekick Jack's subordinates]] really know. And if the devs have any say in it, nobody ever will. |
| 190 | ** ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' has "The Watcher", an extremely enigmatic alien who resembles but is distinct from the Guardians encountered throughout the series. |
| 191 | * ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' has the AmbiguouslyEvil MegaCorp known as Night Corp, an infrastructure company who devotes all its efforts to making Night City less of a WretchedHive. Nobody really knows how much the corporation is worth, what its main source of revenue is, nor how many people it employs, yet they seem to have plenty of OffscreenVillainDarkMatter to fund their construction projects (and mind control experiments). |
| 192 | * ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'': In a way, [[HumanoidAbomination the Collector]] qualifies. Every other beast, abomination and opponent you find in the Estate has an explanation of some sort, either being the Ancestor's fault in one way or the other, or just having arrived in the middle of the misery and Eldritch happenings, wanting a piece of either that or the supposedly defenseless Hamlet. Even the Shambler, tentacular horror from beyond, is documented well enough that its summoning rituals are well known. Not the Collector, however. The Hamlet? They haven't heard of it at all. The missions given by the Caretaker? None bring it up. The Ancestor? He has ''nothing'' on it. The man who meticulously documented every travesty going on and had plenty to write and comment on [[PosthumousCharacter from beyond the grave]] has nothing to say but an unnerved description whenever this head-seeking horror shows up. Its modus operandi, its attacks and all the rest don't link it to any other group in the game either. All you know is that it came from ''somewhere'' to seek heads to add to its endless collection, and that those of your heroes will do just fine. Other than collecting the fallen, the Collector has no apparent stake in the Darkest Estate's fate or events in the least, and it's unknown if there even is a connection between That Which Came from the Portal and itself. |
| 193 | * Flemeth from ''Franchise/DragonAge''. With the revelations (or lack thereof) in ''Witch Hunt'' and ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', we really know nothing definitive about her at all. She goes mostly by Flemeth but [[IHaveManyNames she also has many names]], she looks human but this is cast into great doubt by Morrigan, Fenris, and Anders. Her past is ShroudedInMyth, with no clear way to know if it's true. And on top of all of this, her powers and precognition are at a level that isn't seen anywhere else in the series. Her motivations are also completely unknown, but hints are dropped that it is on a scale outside of any other in the franchise. Her identity is revealed in ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'': [[spoiler:She's a human vessel for the Elven TopGod Mythal]]. |
| 194 | * Alvaro Vasquez in ''VideoGame/{{Driver}} 2'' is stated to have no known information, not even a driver's license. The captain giving orders to Tanner and Jones claims "Maybe he don't even exist. Maybe he's just a name." |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'': Legate Lanius is a walking mystery. Throughout the game, you hear [[MultipleChoicePast multiple accounts of his past, none of which match up with each other,]] and you never learn if any of them are true. Many characters will note that they have no idea who he is, including [[DefectorFromDecadence Joshua Graham]] (who was not only co-founder of the Legion but only left relatively recently). Hints are dropped that he’s not even a singular person; nobody has ever seen his face or figured out his true origins, so he may simply be a LegacyCharacter made up by Caesar to act as figurehead. In an interesting {{Deconstruction}}, it’s noted that his Spook status is both his strength and his weakness; his [[ShroudedInMyth near-mythic image]] has been carefully crafted over the years and is pretty much all that holds his army together. To defeat him, you need only convince him that he has a high chance of failing a task, at which point [[SlaveToPR he’ll bow out to save face rather risk his Spook reputation]]. |
| 196 | * ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' companion and [[UndergroundRailroad Railroad]] operative Deacon is this, even to his own organization. If he's the same person as the "John D." mentioned in some terminal entries, Deacon has been with the group for as far back as its current records go - at least a decade longer than its current leadership - and is largely responsible for its current cell structure. But his nominal boss Desdemona is exasperated that Deacon is still keeping secrets from her, and disappears for extended periods pursuing his own missions. He's a MasterOfDisguise who will change his outfit based on what faction controls his current surroundings, and even regularly undergoes MagicPlasticSurgery to change his face and reduce the odds that he's recognized. It doesn't help that Deacon constantly and unapologetically lies, from exaggerating the size of the opposition after a mission, to claiming that Dez is a DecoyLeader and he's really in charge, or that he's an escaped [[ArtificialHuman Synth]]. He acts as a TricksterMentor to the PlayerCharacter, testing your gullibility, but if you reach max affinity with him he'll drop the bullshit and give what ''might'' be a true account of his past. |
| 197 | * ''Videogame/FatalFrame'' as a series has extremely detailed backstories regarding the ghosts that the player encounters over the course of the games. Then there's the Tall Woman in ''Maiden of Black Water.'' Unlike the other ghosts she is clearly inhuman, being absurdly tall with incredibly long limbs and with a perpetual, unsettling grin on her face. Her entry has no details of why she's on the mountain, where she came from, or what she is. What makes it even more disturbing is while the other ghosts are based on onryou which are malevolent, but in more of a local phenomenon sense, the Tall Woman is clearly actively hunting the player characters. |
| 198 | * The SerialKiller seen and mentioned throughout the backstory of the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' series - it's not known why he killed kids, why he used Freddy Fazbear's Pizza in particular, or why he [[spoiler:decided to return to the shutdown pizzeria to dismantle the animatronics]]. He's never even seen in person outside of a purple Atari-esque sprite in various minigames [[spoiler:(until [[Videogame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 the third game]], but by then he's a mummified corpse with few identifiable features left)]]. Most of this mystery was lost with later games (which gave him a name and some backstory), but much of his motives remain unclear with the closest we get to a definitive answer being [[ForTheEvulz he just liked it]]. |
| 199 | * Mike Toreno in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. Even his name is suspect, since he was [[spoiler:working undercover]] when CJ was introduced to him. |
| 200 | ** The U.L. Paper Contact from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' is an even better example: not only does he never give out his name (though ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' reveals his real name is apparently [[spoiler:Bernard]]) but when Niko asks if he's worried that Niko will get caught and lead the authorities to him, the Contact calmly explains that they're inside a building with hundreds of people matching his description and that by the time Niko rats him out to the cops, they will find an empty office "leased to a man who died in the final years of Vietnam" and a non existent phone number. |
| 201 | * The G-Man from the ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' series. All that ''is'' known about "him" is that he's working for some unknown "employers", handles Gordon's (and presumably others') "contracts" with said employers, has ties to the Black Mesa incident and the Resonance Cascade, is opposed by the Vortigaunts, and is clearly not human. |
| 202 | * In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', operatives from the Office of Naval Intelligence get this trope name as a nickname for the exact reasons mentioned here. Reflecting this, TheMenInBlack-esque organization itself is more commonly referred to as [[FunWithAcronyms ONI]], a wordplay on a certain {{Youkai}} type. Additionally, for the majority of the Human-Covenant War, the Master Chief himself and his fellow [[SuperSoldier Spartans]] were this to most people on both sides. |
| 203 | * ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': |
| 204 | ** Subject X, an enigmatic individual referred to in both dialogue in ''III'' and in the Secret Reports. The only thing that's known about her is she's a female [[spoiler:and Lea and Isa had befriended her at one point and attempted to free her, but of course that plan failed.]] |
| 205 | ** Luxu is the only one of the Foretellers to have never revealed his true face and very little is known of him. [[spoiler:Masquerading as Xigbar for over a decade muddies the waters even further, as his appearance may or may not be his own and even if it IS his true face it doesn't explain anything.]] |
| 206 | ** The Master of Masters ''embodies'' this trope. He's a LongLived Keyblade Master (whose power we've yet to see the full force of) and has the power to see the future. Aside from that, we know '''NOTHING''' about him, not even if his motivations are true, [[AmbiguouslyEvil or if he's playing]] ''the whole KH Universe'' [[ManipulativeBastard for fools.]] He's an unpredictable and [[LargeHam over-the-top]] individual who is ShroudedInMyth and [[{{Troll}} constantly plays the field even with the Foretellers,]] never once letting on his true intentions. [[spoiler:He is at least revealed as a WellIntentionedExtremist who wants to rid the world of the Thirteen Darknesses.]] |
| 207 | * Zero from ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'' is given no foreshadowing, no motive, no origin, and no clear goal, but his fight and death sequence paints him as quite possibly the most terrifying boss in the entire ''Kirby'' franchise. |
| 208 | ** Zero is succeeded by 0[[superscript:2]] in ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards''; a creature who looks like an angelic version of Zero and has the same (lack of) information. [[spoiler: ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'' potentially gives them a MindScrewdriver in the form of [[GreaterScopeVillain Void Termina]], but the way it's conveyed is a MindScrew in itself.]] |
| 209 | * ''VideoGame/{{Klonoa}}'': Most villains in the series have a backstory or some sort of details about their origin. But despite being the most recurring villain, Joka's origin is completely unknown. Nobody knows what exactly he is, where he came from, or how or why he came to work for Ghadius (and later other villains.) It's not even clear just how powerful he is on his own. |
| 210 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 211 | ** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', all of the bosses have backgrounds boiling down to "[[BigBad Ganon did it]]" except for [[BossSubtitles Phantom Shadow Beast:]] [[EldritchAbomination Bongo Bongo]]. It was a SealedEvilInACan defeated by Impa at some point before being released by Ganondorf, but nobody knows where it came from to begin with. Theories range from it WasOnceAMan to it being connected to the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twili]]. |
| 212 | ** The eponymous mask from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' is an odd variation. You know the gist of its background (standard SealedEvilInACan stuff) but the sheer amount of MindScrew going on around it makes it unknowable. The Happy Mask Salesman, while apparently a good guy, is a straighter example. All you really learn about him is that he's on your side and he would ''really'' want his mask back. Other than that, it's only implications that never lead to anything concrete. |
| 213 | ** Nothing is revealed about the Ghost Ship from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. It's a ship that always shows up by certain islands based on the phase of the moon, and can only be entered when holding a certain chart (not having the chart will just cause it to vanish as Link approaches). The ship itself contains a number of undead enemies in its interior, and once it is completed, it is never seen again. |
| 214 | * ''VideoGame/LethalCompany'' has three examples: |
| 215 | ** The Masked and the Ghost Girl can not be scanned at all, making their appearances rather mysterious. While the Masked can be chalked up to being an intelligent parasitic entity in the shape of a mask, there is no explaination for why the ghost of a little girl appears on hostile alien planets. |
| 216 | ** The Jester is an enemy that ''can'' be scanned, but [[ApocalypseLog Sigurd]] is [[TheDreaded too afraid to be near it]], merely suggesting whoever is reading to run when it starts cranking and just says his group nicknames it the Jester. |
| 217 | * ''Franchise/MassEffect:'' |
| 218 | ** The Illusive Man, at least in the games proper. There's a little mention about the origins of his name (he published a manifesto shortly after first contact, and took his name from criticism of it as "survivalist rhetoric written by an illusive man"). He keeps himself to himself, and never reveals personal details to anyone, even his most trusted minions. Expanded universe materials fill in a lot of the details. |
| 219 | ** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' has the untitled "Sponsor" who [[spoiler:secretly bankrolled the entire Andromeda Initiative. They are able to fund and provide the resources for six bleeding edge ships to move to another galaxy, including some that is the product of highly classified military intelligence. But neither Ryder or the player learns a damn thing else about them, not even a title or euphemism, or even what they're actually after, beyond getting people out of the Milky Way before the Reapers come back, or what's become of them since.]] |
| 220 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': |
| 221 | ** Sylux from ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters''. While the other 5 hunters in the game are given a little backstory and reasons to hunt the Ultimate Power, all we know about [[AmbiguousGender it]] is that it hates the Galactic Federation, and Samus by proxy. |
| 222 | ** Gandrayda, the {{Shapeshifting}} BountyHunter from ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''. According to her scan, her backstory, including her homeworld and exact age, are unknown to the Galactic Federation. They don't even know anything definite about her species aside from its similarities to the inhabitants of Jovia XII. |
| 223 | * In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyDualDestinies'', [[spoiler: the villain of the final case turns out to be a MasterOfDisguise known only as the phantom, able to perfectly impersonate anyone... to the point where all traces of their original identity are completely gone. We never learn their real name or see their real face: they're always shown wearing a mask of someone else. They feel no emotions except fear of being caught. Their VillainousBreakdown has them [[FreakOut freaking out]] about their "real face" not even existing as they pull off masks of nearly every other character in the game. They collapse into the shadows after removing the final one, so no-one ever finds out what they really look like.]] |
| 224 | ** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'': [[spoiler:Calisto Yew/Shih-na]]; we never find out her real name or backstory, and the two identities we see her in over the course of the game are fake. |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': |
| 226 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'': The Smoky Progg, an OptionalBoss. If you reach one of the last areas before Day 15, there will be a giant egg hidden away that, if you damage it without destroying it, will hatch into a WalkingWasteland monster that can somehow uproot planted Pikmin by roaring at them and kills Pikmin instantly with its black fog. The manual indicates that its egg would have hatched into a Mamuta if it had been left alone, but considering the fact that the adult Mamuta seen in the first two games are practically harmless compared to the Progg, and the fact that the Mamuta themselves are kind of odd creatures in their own right, this only raises more questions. |
| 227 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'': In a game where most of the enemies are animal-based and go for a "natural" angle, the Waterwraith stands out as something unusual. It is oddly humanoid, ghost-like, the only boss in the entire game that actively chases the player characters long before reaching its arena, and it is somehow completely invincible unless Purple Pikmin are tossed on it. And Purple Pikmin have not demonstrated any especially odd quirks aside from being heavier and stronger than the other Pikmin types. Nothing is revealed about it and Olimar suspects that the entire experience might have been some kind of hallucination. |
| 228 | ** ''VideoGame/Pikmin3'': The Plasm Wraith shares many traits of the Waterwraith, in addition to having a bizarre obsession with capturing Olimar. It's a large humanoid of some sort of gold plasm that can generate fire, crystal, electricity, and even water. And the "other enemies" in its area are made of the same material as it, hinting that it's some powerful shape-shifter that can effectively act as many different beings at once. |
| 229 | * ''Videogame/PizzaTower:'' The fourth boss, [[spoiler:Fake Peppino]], counts even for a game with as little plot as this one. Every other boss has a given history, be it during the game's open development, the comics or simple background implications, with even the surprise FinalBoss [[spoiler:Pizzahead]] having {{Foreshadowing}} if you look deeply or closely enough. But [[spoiler:Fake Peppino]] comes from nowhere with no history, has nothing explaining where the hell he came from, has little in the way of a modus operandi, has no apparent relation with the tower or its owner, and reveals nothing even upon defeat. Even certain details like [[spoiler:his seemingly cheeseslime-colored insides becoming flesh-colored when the game was released]] and developer [=McPig=] going out of his way to avoid giving him away as the fourth boss deliberately obscure just what the hell he ([[AmbiguouslyHuman or even]] ''[[AmbiguouslyHuman it]]'') is. |
| 230 | * Killer from ''VideoGame/ShadowHeartsFromTheNewWorld''. The one thing we know about him is that he's... Well, a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin killer]] infamous enough to be on wanted lists all over the country when he was gunned down by cops and left for dead. He was then rescued by [[BigBad Lady]], becoming her partner-in-crime. |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'': Q is a mysterious figure wearing a [[CoatHatMask trenchcoat, fedora and iron mask]]. His true name, origin, and motivation for fighting are all unknown. It's not even clear if he's a [[AmbiguouslyHuman human being]], since he tends to move in a very robotic manner. All that is known about him is that the CIA is after him, and that he appears in photos from around the world, and at similar times, implying that Q might just be [[CollectiveIdentity one of many]]. |
| 232 | ** G from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'' is a similarly mysterious figure who [[AmbiguousSituation may or may not be the same entity as Q]]. G is a loud, boisterous LargeHam who prattles on about how he's the President of the World and how he wants to bring everyone on Earth together as one. Although he contrasts Q by showing his face, speaking freely and seeking as much attention as he can, G never actually goes into any detail at all on what exactly his plans to unite everyone are, and his origins are just as much a mystery as Q's. |
| 233 | * ''Videogame/TeamFortress2'': |
| 234 | ** [[TheFaceless The Pyro]] has no [[MysteriousPast backstory]], [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep name]], [[FeaturelessProtagonist face]], or [[AmbiguousGender set gender]]. The fact that they just ''love'' [[PyroManiac burning things]] is all we know for sure. Even after learning in "Meet the Pyro" that [[spoiler:The Pyro thinks that everything they do is give candy and happiness to other people (which they imagine as cupids and other such cute creatures)]], we still don't know anything about their BackStory. Or anything else. The only reason they're on the team in the first place is because they're insane enough to do what they're asked (that is, mercilessly kill the other team); Pyro's ''own teammates'' are scared of them. |
| 235 | --->'''The Heavy''': I fear no man...but that ''thing''...it scares me.\ |
| 236 | '''The Scout''': I ain't talkin' about that freak, all right? He's not here, is she? How do I get this ''(microphone-thump)''ing thing off?!\ |
| 237 | '''The Spy''': One shudders to imagine what inhuman thoughts lie behind that mask...what dreams of chronic and sustained cruelty? |
| 238 | ** The Spy is a downplayed example - we know he's from somewhere in France, and we know that he's a ManOfWealthAndTaste with an immature streak, but we don't know his name or backstory, and his [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent accent]] is pretty obscure too. Pretty much the only concrete thing we know about his backstory is that [[IBangedYourMom he's been sleeping with Scout's mom]]. [[spoiler:For a really long time, too, given that [[LukeIAmYourFather he's also Scout's father]].]] |
| 239 | * The Devil Z from ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'' is an unknown rival that only appears when the player beats every last racer in the game. Everything about them is shrouded in mystery to the point where their beginning cutscene heavily implies that they might be a demon or a ghost. The rivals index only labels them as ''????'' and gives a description about their 280 Z's performance tune-up. Info on the driver? Absolutely none. |
| 240 | * ''VideoGame/YumeNikki'': There's no explanation for anything whatsoever, no BackStory, no dialogue, ''nothing''. Madotsuki, the main (and only) character is a {{Hikikomori}} in a flat. She keeps a very trippy [[TitleDrop dream diary]]. The building she lives in is apparently only as wide as her flat. [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Who is she? What is she? How did she come to be there?]] Where does she get those ideas and dreams from? Is one of Madotsuki's dream characters based on a piano teacher? Is another based on a friend? Is said friend dead? Is another based on a horribly mutilated and/or bullied girl? Is the highly sexual Kyuukyuu-kun based on rape or something? She's basically [[VideoGame/MicroMachines Mesme]] without the PsychicPowers. It is safe to say that this singular character has spawned [[EpilepticTrees Epileptic]] ''[[EpilepticTrees Forests]]'' on her own. The ending of the game itself leaves all questions unanswered, leaving things open to interpretation: [[spoiler:Madotsuki commits suicide by jumping off her balcony by using stairs that were never there]]. Your guess is as good as ours. |
| 241 | ** Even the [[ReclusiveArtist creator of the game, KIKIYAMA]], is this. Do the ideas for ''Yume Nikki'' come from alcohol, drugs, a very twisted imagination or a completely normal person who just wanted to make a scary game? There are a few emails that indicate she is female, however. |
| 242 | [[/folder]] |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 245 | * ''WebAnimation/MinecraftEndventures'': The series' version of Herobrine. He had a minion trick a human into becoming the Endermaster, and that's all that is known about him. He never speaks, his motives are unknown, and he is never even called by name. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
| 247 | |
| 248 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 249 | * We may know a great deal about the [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] and what he does, but even then there is no way to know his true nature/origin without being taken or worse, especially as he is said to change depending on the mind encountering him. He is everywhere and nowhere. By believing in him you open the door. Attempts to capture or study him almost always go hideously wrong. ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' gives a ''possible'' origin story for him but it's left highly ambiguous if it's true or not. [[note]]One character relates a story about how a certain place would tie convicted criminals to trees, stretching them out and letting them die of dehydration before burning the tree with the body attached.[[/note]] His eyes are closed, his mouth is open, and his arms are outstretched. |
| 250 | * ''Website/SCPFoundation'': |
| 251 | ** Even those who directly observe [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-055 SCP-055]] can't remember anything significant or noteworthy about it, and the Foundation has given it a Keter designation just because they don't know ''what'' it is. |
| 252 | ** [[MultipleChoicePast In one of his possible origins]], SCP-106 wasn't always a horribly-decayed old man, but [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/the-young-man his origins]] don't explain nearly as much as some would wish. It's known he was a soldier in one of WWI's bloodier fronts, but no one knew where he came from, why he got transferred to that particular front, and he left no paper trail of any kind that could link him to anything. No one saw him send, or receive any letters from anyone, either. Some of the soldiers thought [[WasOnceAMan Corporal Lawrence]] was less of a man, and more of a curse on their unit, even if he seemed entirely human, only slightly off about it. It's unknown if he was simply another nameless body in the trenches that [[FromNobodyToNightmare found his fate in a dark, gore-encrusted tar pit]] or if there was always something abnormal to him, but there are no records of him before those days, and only one picture of him at all, and it was from the trenches themselves. |
| 253 | ** [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-2521 ●●|●●●●●|●●|●]] is a HumanoidAbomination that steals anything with word-based information about itself and anyone that talks about it and cannot be contained as it can pass through walls. Because of this behavior, almost nothing is known about the creature. Fortunately, it can't understand pictures, meaning that the Foundation was able to draft an article for it out of pictograms, and its SCP number is written in dots and lines. |
| 254 | [[/folder]] |
| 255 | |
| 256 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 257 | * Combustion Man from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. The heroes don't know his name, never heard him speak (the only noises he makes are grunts which aren't even credited by a voice actor), and know nothing about his past. In their first encounter with him, they only escaped by the skin of their teeth. Zuko apparently knows more about him (name, past, etc.) but his portrayal is that of a [[ImplacableMan relentless shadow]]. |
| 258 | * The White Shadow from ''WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks''. He's an unnamed government agent who is only ever seen by Huey Freeman (a paranoid conspiracy theorist), who gave him the nickname of "White Shadow" in the first place. The White Shadow talks to Huey, but as he's supposed to be a secret agent after all, we know nothing about his background. Huey even wonders whether the Shadow is actually a real person, or just a paranoid delusion. |
| 259 | * ''WesternAnimation/BradysBeasts'': Brady's monster. It has no known name or species and is only known to the audience as "Brady's (missing) monster". Its full appearance is also unknown as [[TheFaceless it wears a face-concealing hood]], and only some bits of information about it are revealed throughout the series. As the [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100121181724/http://bradysbeasts.com/content_en/characters4.html official website]] says: |
| 260 | -->''The identity and appearance of this creature is kept a mouth-watering mystery... but we do get tantalizing, comedic bits of insight as to what this thing might look like through Brady's attempts to describe it to potential witnesses. And the perpetually unseen picture he passes around gets consistently alarmed responses. It’s a running gag which is perhaps best paid off in the imagination of our viewers.'' |
| 261 | * The ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE48WhatIsReality What Is Reality]]" involves the Riddler trying to {{invoke|dTrope}} this on himself by [[Main/UnPerson deleting all records]] of his civillian identity. |
| 262 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': In this version, it's Black Mask who's portrayed as this. He just ''appears'' one day in Gotham with a criminal organization under his command and no explanation of who he is, where he came from, or why he wants to destroy or conquer Gotham. Every hint about him just makes him more mysterious, and when he's briefly taken into GCPD custody, the heroes are disturbed to discover that his DNA isn't turning up matches in any database and the skull "mask" he seemed to be wearing is inexplicably impossible to remove and [[BodyHorror might well be his actual face]]. Even his real name from the comics is absent; he's not Roman Sionis, just Black Mask, and any of his canonical backstory is shorn away. |
| 263 | * MrSmith from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold''. A reclusive resident at the boarding house, he has never come out of his room, only communicates through notes and has a security camera watching the door to his apartment. In one episode where Arnold is trying to give him a package they manage to track down what ''seems'' to be his place of employment, only to learn that it's full of people calling themselves variants of "John Smith". |
| 264 | * ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' is plagued by a shadowy samurai on horseback (aka "the Omen") throughout Season 5. There's no explanation as to who or what it is, only that it shows up whenever Jack draws near the DespairEventHorizon, and Jack can only flee in terror at the sight. |
| 265 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': |
| 266 | ** Unlike his comics incarnation, we never learn [[Characters/TeenTitans2003Slade Slade's]] backstory or see his face under the mask. Instead of a hitman, he's an aloof mastermind figure whose only clear goals seem to be finding an apprentice and crushing the Titans' hopes. |
| 267 | ** Originally, the Red-X persona was used by Robin to go undercover in a (failed) bid to find out Slade's real identity, but the high-tech, highly weaponized suit was later stolen from Titan's Tower by an unknown thief who uses it to commit high-end burglaries. Throughout the show, the team encounters him all of ''twice'' and they never find out who he is, or how he was able to steal the suit. WordOfGod is mum on subject (the most they will say is that Red-X is not any character previously featured on the show), but the most common theory (though by [[EpilepticTrees no-means the only]]) is that he is really Jason Todd. |
| 268 | --->'''Raven:''' Face it. Red-X could be anyone. Anyone smart enough to find the suit, and dumb enough to take it for a joy ride. |
| 269 | * Scare Bear in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is an AmbiguouslyEvil mute supervillain in a bloodied bear costume who basically just stands around menacingly, before rescuing an injured Hank in the season 7 finale. We never learn anything about him or what he's like under the mask. |
| 270 | [[/folder]] |
| 271 | |
| 272 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 273 | * The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taman_Shud_Case Somerton Man]]. His corpse was found in 1948 on Somerton beach in Adelaide, Australia. More than 70 years later, his identity or the circumstances that led to his death are still unknown. [[https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/26/australia/australia-somerton-man-mystery-solved-claim-intl-hnk-dst/index.html However, a recent breakthrough may have finally identified him, though it's yet to be confirmed.]] |
| 274 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._B._Cooper Dan "D. B." Cooper]] is the only known name of an unidentified man who hijacked a Boeing 727 between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in 1971. After he received his ransom money, he parachuted from the rear stairs and no trace of him has been seen since. |
| 275 | * If ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'' is to be believed, nobody actually knows where the hell Creator/TommyWiseau came from, where he got that accent, and why he had enough money to fund ''Film/TheRoom2003'' on his own, not to mention squander it in reckless decisions; [[VagueAge even his age remains a mystery]] to all but Tommy himself. Greg Sestero, who wrote the book, co-starred with Tommy in ''The Room'', and is personal friends with him, offered detailed claims into Tommy's origins that allegedly come from both Tommy's immigration papers and statements he made to Sestero, but these have never been verified following the book's publication. ''WebComic/{{xkcd}}'' meanwhile jokingly [[https://xkcd.com/1400/ proposed]] that he's actually the aforementioned D. B. Cooper. Not helping is the fact that Tommy is rigidly elusive about his past both in public and in private, with the only real clue from the horse's mouth being a statement in 2017-- fourteen years after ''The Room'' premiered-- that he "grew up in Europe a long time ago." Recently this aspect of him has been downplayed following a lawsuit which ended with his full name, age and birthplace being revealed, but even then, how he got the money or what his full story is remains ever elusive. |
| 276 | * Whoever pulled off the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_intrusion Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion]] probably counts, given that to this day the people responsible have yet to be identified, leaving only their sudden anonymous appearance on television and equally abrupt disappearance to ponder over. |
| 277 | * The legendary BadassBystander known only as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_Man Tank Man]]. While several theories have been put forth as to his identity, he is almost certainly dead or imprisoned given the ironfisted authoritarianism of the Chinese government, and he may never be conclusively identified. |
| 278 | * Plenty of unidentified {{serial killer}}s, most infamously UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer Zodiac Killer]]. Website/TheOtherWiki has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unidentified_serial_killers more information than you require]]. |
| 279 | * Creator/{{Banksy}} ''used'' to be an example of this trope, but [[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/banksy-geographic-profiling-proves-artist-really-is-robin-gunningham-according-to-scientists-a6909896.html he may have]] [[http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14498596.2016.1138246?journalCode=tjss20& been identified]]... |
| 280 | * Several musical artists have cultivated this image. Music/CaptainMurphy revealed himself as an alter ego of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Lotus Steven "Flying Lotus" Ellison]], but Music/DoctorSteel, Music/RuckaRuckaAli, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Redbone Leon Redbone]] remain mysterious (although regarding the latter, at least we know his birth name was Dickran Gobalian). |
| 281 | * The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_the_Iron_Mask Man in the Iron Mask]]. |
| 282 | * [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Throat_(Watergate) "Deep Throat"]] was the name given to the informant who provided information to ''Washington Post'' reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein during the Watergate scandal. His identity was a secret known only to them that they swore they would not reveal until his death, and for years, news agencies and other organizations could only propose theories as to his identity and motivation-- some outright refused to believe he existed, given how suspiciously convenient of a figure he was. It wasn't until 2005 that Deep Throat was revealed to be FBI Associate Director Mark Felt, who came forward on his own. He was always the administration's main suspect, given the nature of the information he was doling out, so it's less of a revelation than it looks on the surface. |
| 283 | * [[TheFundamentalist Mullah Mohammed Omar]] was the infamous terrorist leader of the Taliban, responsible for [[MonumentalDamage blowing up]] the "idolatrous" giant UsefulNotes/{{Buddh|ism}}as in UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} and for granting asylum to UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden after 9/11. But unlike bin Laden, very little information about Omar is available to the public. He was very secretive in his lifetime, to the point where only one official photo of him existed for a time. His death from natural causes was only publicly known two years after the fact. |
| 284 | * "The Phantom of Heilbronn" AKA "The Woman Without a Face" was the name given to a female criminal whose DNA was found in dozens of crime scenes scattered across France, Austria and Germany between 1993 and 2009. The Phantom was apparently involved in everything from murders to burglaries either acting alone or with accomplices. She was never captured on any CCTV camera and accomplices to her crimes would either deny her existence or insist she looked like a man. The German police put out a reward of €300,000 for her capture without success. In 2009 she was finally found [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope to not actually exist]]. The "Phantom's" DNA belonged to [[ShaggyDogStory a worker at the factory used to manufacture the cotton swabs used in DNA tests]].]] |
| 285 | * A rather innocent and tragic example would be [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe_No._24 John Doe No. 24]], a deaf-mute black man who was scooped off the streets by the police when he was a teenager and spent the rest of his life bouncing from mental institution to mental institution due to his inability to communicate with anyone. The most that's known about his past is that his name might have been "Lewis", due to him writing that name down for the police when they picked him up, but aside from that nobody seems to know anything about him, and no family came forward to claim him. |
| 286 | * A slightly [[InvertedTrope inverted]] case: the real-life person behind the Blog/{{Dril}} Twitter account ''has'' actually been discovered and named, but most fans prefer either not to look into it or not to pass on the knowledge, in order to preserve the anonymity which helps make the dril character [[RuleOfFunny so funny]] in the first place. |
| 287 | * Juan Jose Esparragoza Moreno, also known as El Azul. A founder member of the Sinaloa Cartel, who originally was a member of the Direccion Federal de Investigacion (DFI). Allegedly he died in 2014 of a heart attack, but nobody knows for sure if that the case. There are rumors that he's still alive. Another good example would be Ismael Mario Zambada García, another founded member of the Sinaloa Cartel. To this day, nobody knows exactly his whereabout, or if he's still alive or dead. It is also said that he's actually a CIA asset, that is given protection by the CIA and allow to send his products to the USA, in exchange for information on other cartels. |
| 288 | [[/folder]] |
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