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A specific type of All There in the Manual wherein the name of a character, perhaps an important one, is never actually mentioned in the production proper, appearing only in the credits, script, or related materials. Sometimes intentional, but often the result of Expospeak cut for time. When a production is operating off scripts with the character's name in front of all their dialogue, it's possible the writers neglect to have it used aloud.
This can also occur because of changes made between the initial pitch meeting and the final script treatment. Sometimes, an actor will be unavailable due to other commitments (another film, unexpected illness or injury, etc), so their appearances will be edited out of the shooting script.
Compare No Name Given.
Anime and Manga[]
- L from Death Note goes unnamed for the whole series, and his real name only appears in the supplementary How To Read 13, as well as a few other characters' real names. Actually, since L may be his real name, only his last name is secret. It's Lawliet. .
- C.C.'s name has never been revealed in any of Code Geass' copious amounts of side materials, but it was in the script for episode 11, and Jun Fukuyama actually said it as Lelouch, only for it to be blocked out in-series by a Sound Effect Bleep. Argh.
- In Kiddy Grade, Pfeilspitze is never referred to as such in the show. In fact, characters and credits continue to use the pseudonym she used before she dropped her disguise (i.e., Mercredi).
- In several of the Pokémon movies, there are characters who go unnamed outside of the script. For example in Mewtwo Strikes Back, the other trainers who made it to Mewtwo's Island (Corey, Neesha, and Fergus) are never named at all within the film itself, same goes for the trainers (Kai, Maury, and Allegra) at the start of the tenth movie, The Rise of Darkrai. Or heck, the MAIN VILLAIN of the second film, The Power of One, is never named in the film itself. (Supplemental materials call him "Lawrence III", but the DVD's closed captioning calls him "Gelardan", a romanisation of his Japanese name.)
- And the Gardevoir's owner from the episode "Mutiny in the Bounty" (Hunter J's introductory episode). According to Bulbapedia, her name is Melodi.
- Also, Ash's mom received this treatment for quite some time (In the Japanese version of Episode 2, they even had her refer to herself as "Satoshi's (Ash's) mom"). It wasn't until the release of Movie 2 that she actually got a name.
Comic Books[]
- In the crossover between Sonic the Hedgehog and the Image Comics super heroes, the bad guy of the issue is never named in the story proper. The only way you'd know that is name was Dr. Ian Droid was by looking at the boring copyright material on the first page!
Films — Animated[]
- The Thief and the Cobbler: The names of Zigzag's minions are Tickle, Slap, Gopher, and Goblet. Some of the brigands are also called Hoof and Hook.
- Sarafina, Nala's mother from The Lion King, is not named in the movie. Her name is in the credits.
- The villain of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is not given a proper name in the film itself and signs her autographs as just "The Queen" at the Disney Theme Parks, but according to old publicity material, her actual name is Queen Grimhilde. Similarly, the Huntsman is not named in the film, but has been named Humbert in some publicity material as well.
- Fantasia has very little spoken dialogue, almost none of which explains the characters. Though there are a few easily identifiable ones such as Mickey Mouse and Bacchus, there are also other named characters in promotional materials, such as the sorcerer Yen Sid.
- Gurgle (the purple and yellow fish) from Finding Nemo.
- The Beast's real name is actually Adam.
- According to Disc 2 of the 2-disc DVD edition of Disney's Atlantis the Lost Empire, the King of Atlantis' real name is actually Kashekim Nedakh.
- Disc 2 of Atlantis also revealed Cookie's last name Farnsworth, Mrs. Packard's first name Wilhelmina, and Commander Rourke's middle name Tiberius.
- Some of the background characters from Cars are actually all revealed to have names according to the tie-in diecast toy line.
- Many of the characters in Rango are not named in the dialogue. However, the Closed Captioning on the DVD fills in some of the names.
- Several characters throughout Heavy Metal are never named during their appearances. Specifically, Zeke, Edsel and Gloria (So Beautiful, So Dangerous) and Grimaldi (Grimaldi bridge sequences). Others, like the robot in So Beautiful, So Dangerous, have no names.
Films — Live-Action[]
- Major Arnold Toht in Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- The monster Godzilla fights in Godzilla 2000 is named Orga and the alien race in the film is the Millennian. Of course, you wouldn't know just from watching the film alone since he's never mentioned by name. Luckily, promotional material and action figures cleared that up for us.
- Likewise, the final monster Godzilla fights in Godzilla: Final Wars is named Monster X AKA Keizer Ghidorah.
- Averted in the first X-Men 1 movie. In his commentary Bryan Singer specifically mentions that he remembered that he had to namedrop Toad and Mystique, lest they just be the "nameless minions of Magneto."
- Shame they never namedrop "Lady Deathstrike" in the second one. Although she is called Yuriko.
- She's still called Deathstrike in the promotional material.
- The Ewoks are never referred to as such in Return of the Jedi, nor by any of their individual names. Also, from the same film, the fact that the Emperor's name being Palpatine is a mix between this and All There in the Manual, as while the official scripts list the character as such, the name is never dropped in the original trilogy (though the novelizations and Ewok-starring films use it.)
- Practically all minor characters from the other Star Wars films are given a name, although almost never mentioned. For example, the Mos Eisley Cantina bartender's name is Wuher.
- Then there's the bounty hunters that are seen aboard the Executor in The Empire Strikes Back when Vader briefs them all on their mission to find Han Solo and the other rebels. Sure you recognize Boba Fett at first glance from either supplementary materials or...errr, other means but did you know that the two robotic looking bounty hunters are called Zuckuss and 4-LOM? Or the cylinder-esque headed robot is called IG-88? Or the lizard looking guy is called Bossk? Or the human, called Dengar?
- Even Boba Fett is a case of this. His not mentioned when introduced in The Empire Strikes Back, nor when retconned into A New Hope. Only a few seconds before his (apparent) death in Return of the Jedi is his name mentioned, and it's not easy to make out. His name is mentioned when he appears as a child in Attack of the Clones, but there's little in the films themselves to link the boy from Clones with the bounty hunter from the original trilogy.
- That's not getting into the various Imperials, Rebels, and other characters, military or otherwise, seen throughout the series. For example, one of Queen Amidala's advisors in The Phantom Menace is called Sio Bibble. Yes, BIBBLE. Furthermore, the imperial that Vader frightens with the prospect of the Emperor coming to inspect the 2nd Death Star is called Moff Jerjerrod.
- In the Back to The Future trilogy, the names of of the goons from Biff and Griff's gangs - as well as that of Lorraine's two friends - are only mentioned in the credits. Interestingly, the newspaper prop of the gang's arrest in Part II also mention the real names of Griff's goons.
- Doc's initials are revealed in the third film to be E.L.B. Only in the script and in sources external to the film is his middle name revealed to be Lathrop.
- An early script revealed Lathrop to be his mother's maiden name. And apparently named her son after her doll "Emma".
- Even the cops who pick up Jennifer in Back to the Future II have names - Reese and Foley, the same names Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale give to all pairs of cops who appear in their films.
- Doc's initials are revealed in the third film to be E.L.B. Only in the script and in sources external to the film is his middle name revealed to be Lathrop.
- Fight Club: There is much confusion naturally surrounding the actual name of the film's Narrator (as opposed to his twist identity). Many believe it is Jack due to his repeated use of the phrase "I am Jack's...", but is arguable that he only uses the moniker Jack because that was the one he saw in "Annotated Reader". In the press packages released for the movie, which came in the form of an Ikea-esque catalog, the character is referred to as Jack, as he is on the back of the DVD, and in the booklet accompanying the DVD, where the Chapter list is referred to as "Jack's Chapters". Also, the original screenplay by Jim Uhls refers to him as Jack. On the other hand, in the closed captions for the film, he is referred to as Rupert, one of the names the character uses at a support group meeting. Infuriatingly, in his commentary track Ed Norton mentions all this confusion, then says the character had a real name, which he knew - and he doesn't reveal it.
- Scrappy-Rex (the One-Winged Angel form of the one and only Scrappy Doo) only has his name given in the credits of the first Scooby Doo movie.
- In Quantum of Solace, a character known only as Ms. Fields in the film is revealed to have the first name Strawberry in the credits.
- An obvious Mythology Gag. A Bond girl with a silly name so embarrassed of it, she refused to tell James Bond what it was when they met.
- In Reservoir Dogs, Mr. White's real name, "Larry Dimmick", is only revealed in the script and in deleted scenes.
- Most of the humans in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes.
- Marwood from Withnail and I is never called by name in the film, and as such is often referred to as "I" by fans.
- An early script for The Warriors reveals that Fox's real name was going to be Francis Conroy. None of the other members of the Warriors have their real names revealed, although Snow's nickname is actually short for "Snowball".
- Peter Kay and Simon Pegg have cameos in The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse as peasants whose job is to stick their arms through a wall and hold torches. The characters are not named on screen, but the credits say Peter Kay played Simon Pig, and Simon Pegg played Peter Cow.
- Several orcs in The Lord of the Rings, notably Gothmog, the orc commander at the Battle of the Pelennor in The Return of the King.
- Sawyer, in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, never gets his first name mentioned. When he first appears, he introduces himself as "Special Agent Sawyer of the American Secret Service," and for the remainder of the movie, all the other characters address him as Sawyer. His first name is used once in a deleted scene, which can be viewed on the DVD; Special Agent Sawyer is Mark Twain's lovable scamp Tom Sawyer, all grown up, but unless you're Genre Savvy enough to work that out on your own, you'd never know it.
- With the slight problem that by the time the movie is set, Tom Sawyer would be older than Alan Quatermain.
- Also from the movie is Dante, the guy who overdoses on the Hyde potion.
- President Harris in Scary Movie 3 is only mentioned by name in DVD subtitles.
- The clown mooks in the first scene of The Dark Knight Saga. They are, in fact, named after the Seven Dwarves, but that's only seen in the script.
- In The Wizard of Oz, Pat Walshe is identified in the credits as playing "Nikko," but that name is never mentioned in the dialogue. Because Walshe was not a well-known actor, it took some research to figure out which character was Nikko (it turned out to be the head flying monkey).
- The character is addressed by name in the stage version of the musical (the iteration of it I saw at least)
- Several of the pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean aren't called by name. Ragetti and Pintel (the pirate with the wooden eye and his friend) don't get addressed by name until the third film.
- In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Bad is referred by other characters as "Angel Eyes", but his real name is Sentenza (which is used instead of Angel Eyes in the Italian dub).
- A particularly annoying example (because the name is significant): In Cradle Will Fall, playwright Marc Blitzstein meets a man with an accent on a bench in Central Park who gives him some very important advice about Blitxstein's musical. The man is supposed to be the famous playwright Bertolt Brecht, but there's nothing on screen to let the viewer know that.
- The Nerdlucks/Monstars names are never mentioned in Space Jam, but are mentioned in the ending credits, according to the script and promotional material they are Pound (the orange one), Bang (the green one), Blanko (the purple one), Bupkis (the blue one), and Nawt (the red one).
- The Toon Patrol weasels in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? are never referred to by name anywhere in the movie. They all have Meaningful Names (Psycho, Wheezy, Smart Ass, Stupid, and Greasy), so it's easy to tell which is which.
- Originally there were seven, the other two are Sleazy and Slimy.
- In Independence Day, Russell Casse and sons Miguel and Troy have their names used several times, but never daughter Alicia.
- None of the Gremlins introduced in Gremlins 2: The New Batch are named in the movie itself, but through the end credits, the DVD's audio commentary, the novelization and other merchandise, you learn the name of Mohawk (the black mogwai who eventually becomes the Spider-Gremlin), Daffy (the wacky googly-eyed mogwai who Kate mistakes for Gizmo, and later on in Gremlin form can be seen dressed as an evaluator operator and towards the of the film, a dentist), George (who is modeled after James Cagney), Lenny (who has buck-teeth) and the genetically-enhanced Brain Gremlin (also known as "Mr. Glasses" in the novelization). The female Gremlin, according to different sources, is either named Greta or simply "Girl Gremlin".
- In Cool World, Holli Would's Goons aren't referred to by name, except for Slash (who resembles a mutant baby wearing a diaper and sporting Freddy Krueger-esque gloves). You'd have to check the credits to figure out that the others are Bob (a Creepy Crossdresser), Bash (a purple gorilla) and Mash (a blue guy voiced by Maurice LaMarche).
- The Dark Crystal is a surprisingly egregious example. None of the names of the individual Skeksis and Mystics are revealed in the film, they were only mentioned in the companion book. The book is also the only place that revealed the species names urRu (the proper name for the Mystics) and urSkek ( The name of the species that was divided into the Skeksis and the Mystics/urRu. ).
- Almost everybody knows how infamous the characters Skids and Mudflap from Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen have become, and if not calling them "the Twins" or referring to them via derogatory terms, people tend to remember their names. Surprisingly, Skids never got named on-screen in the movie. He does have his name printed onto his license plate, but how many non-fans would have caught that? Arcee's component robots don't get named either (the blue one is Chromia, the purple one is called Elita-1), nor do many one-shot robot characters, such as Reedman and the Kitchen Crew.
- Michael Myers is never called "The Shape" in the Halloween movies, despite the script, credits and certain DVD covers referring to him as this. Supposedly, the reason behind this nickname was because John Carpenter wanted to distinguish between the human side of the man (Michael Myers), and the pure evil, force of nature that takes the shape of a man (The Shape). But considering nobody in-film ever refers to him as "The Shape", the effect is lost.
Literature[]
- The Ax Crazy villain of Night Watch is actually named Carcer Dun, but you wouldn't know it if you didn't read the preview in the back of Thief of Time... or the article about him on The Other Wiki.
Live-Action TV[]
- Several characters and demon species in both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are only named in the shooting scripts.
- The name of the man who shot Dr. House in the episode "No Reason" is never stated in the episode itself. However, closed captioning and promotional materials list him as "Jack Moriarty".
- Ms. Hawking on Lost was never referred to as such onscreen until season 5, but the character name appeared in print sources and commentaries. On that same note, Ajira 316ians Caesar and Ilana were not named in their initial appearances but were named in the credits.
- A more straightforward example of this trope is the infamous "Man in Black," whose name is never revealed. According to sources, his name was "Samuel," the name used in the original casting call. Apparently, the choice was made at some point to simply never reveal his name, and therefore it's unclear if this name is canon.
- Aabel, the alien invader from The Outer Limits episode "The Children of Spider County", is never named in the dialogue or the credits. However, his name was in the script as well as TV Guide listings.
- Star Trek has a few examples; for instance, the planet from "A Private Little War" is unnamed in the broadcast episode, but is named in the script as Neural.
- The name of Jimmy Olsen's friend with the dogs, the camera and the boyfriend is revealed to be Colin through the sides. They can ring that bell together in the great beyond now...
- Mrs. Doyle from Father Ted was given a first name in an early script, but it never showed up in dialogue. Then the writers realized that keeping it secret could be a running gag. Word of God has it that Joan is no longer considered to be her real first name.
- On Fringe, alternate-universe Olivia is known in the captions (likely because of the script) as "Bolivia" while AU!Walter (aka "Walternate", as per Walter's nickname for him) is indeed known as "Walternate".
- On a related note, Arvin Clone, thanks to the capable agents of the CIA.
- An interesting case with Doctor Who involving a character originally known as "Stan the newspaper man" in Voyage of the Damned where following the death of Howard Attfield (Donna's father in The Runaway Bride), was renamed "Wilfred Mott" and retconned into being Donna's grandfather. Since the character was never mentioned by name in Voyage of the Damned, it was simply a matter of changing the name in the credits before it aired.
- Practically every character who appeared in Monty Python's Flying Circus had a name, as indicated by published scripts. Very few of them were actually mentioned onscreen.
- Plenty of Bit Characters from Merlin: Ragnor, Enmyria, Nollar, Tindr, Geraint, and so on.
Radio[]
- The two excessively violent cops in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy are named Shooty and Bang Bang in the radio script. They are unnamed in the book.
Theater[]
- Claudius from Hamlet is called "King" for his dialogue tags and is never named by any other character. The name only appears in the cast list (though the second quarto occasionally has his dialogue tagged as "Claud").
- While we're on William Shakespeare, Viola from Twelfth Night is nearly an example, as her name is only mentioned in the play's final scene.
- A more straight example is Orsino's servant Valentine.
- In The Tempest, in a variant, Ariel's gender is only mentioned in the stage directions. Keep in mind that, in Shakespeare's original staging, Ariel would likely have been played by a boy either way...
- Producers of Shakespeare haven't exactly been sticklers for keeping the genders canonical. Julie Taymor, for example...
- Several characters in Romeo and Juliet, most notably Prince Escalus. The play opens with a pair of Straight Man and Wise Guy servants of Capulet; the wise guy repeatedly calls the straight man "Gregory", but we wouldn't know that the wise guy's name is "Sampson" if it weren't for the script. The two Montague servants who "quarrel" with them consist of one guy who gets named in later dialogue (Balthasar) and one who's only named in the script (Abraham).
- Salarino and Solanio in The Merchant of Venice.
- While we're on William Shakespeare, Viola from Twelfth Night is nearly an example, as her name is only mentioned in the play's final scene.
- Narrowly averted: In the musical of Les Misérables, only one easily misunderstood line name-drops Enjolras.
- But played straight with nearly every other revolutionary. They're important enough to have their names in the program, but their names never appear in the lyrics at all.
- Many Gilbert and Sullivan characters are given names for no apparent reason, which appear only in the dramatis personae. They aren't even in the script half the time, because they have more intuitive titles. For instance, HMS Pinafore has Bill Bobstay and Bob Becket, one of whom is the Boatswain's Mate and the other is the Carpenter's Mate (which is which varies depending on which libretto you read) and appear in the script as "Boatswain" and "Carpenter" respectively. The fact that the Carpenter's Mate is the Carpenter's Mate at all also qualifies as an example, as to the audience he's just a part in a trio.
Videogames[]
- The second Patriot AI is never named in Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty. In fact, the game leaves it vague whether it's a second AI or a recovered GW. The Document of Metal Gear Solid 2 identifies it as "JFK", while Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots identifies it as JD.
- The civil war that Raiden and Solidus participated during "the eighties" is left unnamed in the game. The script identifies it as the "Liberian Civil War", which Metal Gear Solid 4 later confirms.
- In Kingdom Hearts, Luxord, Xigbar, and Demyx are never called by name (save for a Final Mix+ scene, in which someone says Demyx's), but you see their names in Jiminy's Journal.
- Likewise with the Heartless bosses. Darkside, Guard Armor, Trickmaster, Stealth Sneak... They can all be found in the journal, but other than that...
- Mical the Disciple in Knights of the Old Republic II. Throughout the game he's only ever called "the Disciple" and the interface only ever refers to him as "Disciple". His name only appears if the PC is male; since male PCs don't get to recruit him he runs off and uses his name in a report to Carth/the Republic Admiral before vanishing forever.
- Legacy of Kain: The Elder God is never referred to by name in the dialogue itself, but he is called that in the manuals and websites.
- The alien planet in Lucas Arts' The Dig is never named in the game proper, but the back of the box proudly declares that the planet is named Cocytus. In the Novelization, the planet is named such by Brink, who chose to name it after the lowest circle of Hell from The Divine Comedy.
- Portal: Chell's name is only known from the credits; GLaDOS refers to her as "Subject Name Here". For that matter, GLaDOS is never introduced as such except on plating in its room at the very end of the game.
- In Corpse Party, the names of the various victims you find scattered around Tenjin Elementary can be learned by examining their bodies, filling out a name tag gallery. The manga adaptation mimics this with special, all-black pages after certain chapters, detailing how they died.
Webcomics[]
- In Henchman No. 9, the titular character's real name is never given. In the script, it's just "Hn9" as the author has never given him a name. Possibly to avoid using that name in the actual comic.
Web Originals[]
- Several supervillains seen at the end of Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog are revealed to have punny names in the ending credits.
Western Animation[]
- Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron - Spirit's mother, Esperanza, is never named in the movie; she's possibly named in the credits and definitely in at least one tie-in novel and videogame.
- Gargoyles: Coldstone is a cyborg gargoyle made from the parts (and souls) of three gargoyles. The three gargoyles are never named in the episodes in which they appear, but in the credits, they are referred to as Iago, Othello, and Desdemona.
- It should be noted that the Scottish Gargoyle Clan did not use personal names until the present, so those were effectively nameless characters in-story. (Also, they are an obvious Othello reference.)
- They DID, however, eventually get names..."Othello" was eventually uniquely Coldstone, while Desdemona and Iago got their own robotic bodies and became Coldfire and Coldsteel respectively.
- It should be noted that the Scottish Gargoyle Clan did not use personal names until the present, so those were effectively nameless characters in-story. (Also, they are an obvious Othello reference.)
- "That Guy" from Futurama is actually named Steve Castle. In the script, and mentioned in the audio commentary, otherwise we would never know.
- In "Bender's Big Score", the two other nudist aliens' names are only given in the script and commentary.
- The Almighty Tallests in Invader Zim (Red and Purple) are never named on the show. These two are only the most notable examples, however; virtually every minor background character had a name, from random schoolchildren to each Irken Invader, but the vast majority of these are only known from scripts and DVD commentary.
- This storyboard for Histeria! reveals that the Crooked Mouth Boy who frequently appears in the background or in songs is in fact named Chipper.
- Swampy Marsh, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, has confirmed that the Fireside Girls' names are Gretchen (the one with the glasses), Holly (the African-American one), Katie (the blonde one), Adyson Sweetwater (the one with the sleeveless uniform), Milly (the curly-haired one), and Ginger (the Asian one). Their names, or at least some of them, were said in "Isabella and the Temple of Sap", in which they were prominently featured.
- "Unfair Science Fair" has Candace battling another girl, voiced by Brenda Song, who is known only as Wendy in the closing credits.
- Kelly/Junko in Transformers Robots in Disguise: she is never named in the cartoon, and her name is only known from a casting sheet released online at the time of the show's premiere.
- Swoop in Transformers Animated is never actually named in-series or even in the credits because he didn't speak, though his name is fairly obvious given the resemblance, toys, and press releases. The only proof that this was his name in-universe was The AllSpark Almanac which said Blackarachnia gave him that name.
- Several of the villains appearing in Freakazoid are never named onscreen. Specifically, the zombie cowboy seen in the opening credits and in villain team-ups is named Kid Carrion, and the Lobe's henchmen are named Medulla and Oblangata.
- It isn't actually mentioned in any of the scripts, but according to one of The Fairly Odd Parents computer games, Vicky and Tootie's mom is named Nicky.
- In the live-action movie, Timmy's classmates are named Howie, Katie, Ravi, and Mouse. Only Mouse is actually addressed by name onscreen.
- Subverted humorously in the Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy movie when we finally meet Eddy's brother. You think you can find his name in the scripts or credits? Nope, it actually says 'Eddy's Brother'.
- The villainness played by Tress MacNeille in The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury is never named in dialogue. The credits list her as Chillingsworth, but you have to watch the bonus features to learn that her first name is Antonia.
- My Little Pony:
- According to a writers' guide for My Little Pony the Movie (posted on this thread in the MLP Arena forums), Megan from My Little Pony and Friends is thirteen years old and has the last name Williams.
- Several characters in My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic are named in the toy line but not in the show. Naturally, these characters had already been nicknamed by the fans by the time they were officially named, but some of these Fan Nicknames ended up being similar to and/or the same as parts of the characters' official names, whether Ascended Fanon (like Lyra Heartstrings) or just I Knew It! (like Cherry Berry).