# Characters who are almost absent from a work named after them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [November 23, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806 "2021-11-23T13:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/41 "2021-11-23T18:20:19Z")
There’s a brief scene at the very end of the movie where he is seen walking across a terminal concourse, and a little clip in the end credits cast outake scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/42 "2021-11-23T18:27:11Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > **The Lord of the Rings** - Sauron never actually appears in the book series. He does, indirectly, when Pippin tells of his experience with the palantir, and recounts the dialogue with Sauron. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/43 "2021-11-23T18:27:41Z")
Evans in **Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?** ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/44 "2021-11-23T18:32:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > He does, indirectly, when Pippin tells of his experience with the palantir, and recounts the dialogue with Sauron. Not to mention Gollum’s account of him. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/45 "2021-11-23T18:33:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > She has a cameo appearance. Not to mention another appearance that is relevant to the title. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/46 "2021-11-23T18:35:38Z")
James Dean does not appear in _Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/47 "2021-11-23T18:49:16Z")
The Wizard has relatively little “screen time” in _The Wizard of Oz_ (either the book or the movie). ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/48 "2021-11-23T18:56:41Z")
The Blair Witch is really only hinted at in the scenes. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/49 "2021-11-23T18:57:02Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael** If memory serves, Roxy Carmichael only appears in the movie in photos. That was not a good movie. It was Winona Ryder’s first starring role, IIRC, and it’s too bad it was this limp noodle. The premise was supposed to be, Godot, er, Roxy, never shows up. But the story just wasn’t interesting enough to justify that. Also, I was waiting for the penny to drop on who Dinky’s (WR’s character) bio-mother really was. I was so sure it was the blonde woman, the poet, who was taking such a maternal interest in Dinky. Maybe we were supposed to infer that, but if so, that’s lame too. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/50 "2021-11-23T19:33:37Z")
I watched a UK film called **Rise of the Footsoldier** (which I thought in both premise and delivery was odious excrement) based on the unreliable autobiography of a pestilent football hooligan turned drug dealing gangster. My only amusement came from his character fading out at the half way point and from then on the film followed three other gangsters instead. The bloke so worthless he’s passed over in his own biopic! Anyway… Four more films were made in the Footsoldier series. The ex-hooligan does feature in the first of those. He does not appear at all in the next three. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/51 "2021-11-23T19:52:01Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > **Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael** If memory serves, Roxy Carmichael only appears in the movie in photos. And skinnydipping in a pool. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/52 "2021-11-23T20:01:58Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > That was not a good movie. It was Winona Ryder’s first starring role, No, she had several before that, depending on what you mean by “starring role”. _Lucas_? No. _1969_? No. _Great Balls of Fire_? No. But _Squaredance_ and _Heathers_ are _definitely_ starring roles, and I’d argue that _Beetlejuice_ would count, too. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/53 "2021-11-23T20:04:56Z")
You don’t see much of the titular shark in _Jaws_ until the end of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/54 "2021-11-23T20:05:06Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > _The Thin Man_, who doesn’t appear at all. > > In the first movie, “the thin man” is a missing person who it turns out had been murdered before the events depicted in the movie. No, he actually has a few scenes early in the movie. The part was played by Edward Ellis. The usual confusion about this movie title is when people think that the eponymous sobriquet refers to Nick Charles. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/55 "2021-11-23T20:10:39Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > James Dean does not appear in _Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean_. But they did serve Jimmy Dean sausage at the diner. ::d&r:: ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/56 "2021-11-23T20:38:21Z")
“Remember Alice? This song is about Alice.” Alice barely appears, and the titular restaurant doesn’t appear at all in the events of the narrative. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/57 "2021-11-23T21:18:10Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You don’t see much of the titular shark in _Jaws_ until the end of the movie. Ironically, that wasn’t intentional. Bruce (the mechanical shark) malfunctioned so much that they had to get creative, and the end result was much better for it. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/58 "2021-11-23T21:40:20Z")
It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I seem to recall that [The Thin Man](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025878/reference) doesn’t actually have a lot of screen time. The Maltese Falcon hardly appears–or doesn’t at all, depending on how you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/59 "2021-11-23T22:51:05Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I seem to recall that [The Thin Man](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0025878/reference) doesn’t actually have a lot of screen time. He’s certainly gotten a lot of screen time in this thread… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2021, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/60 "2021-11-23T23:00:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > But _Squaredance_ and _Heathers_ are _definitely_ starring roles, and I’d argue that _Beetlejuice_ would count, too. Oooooh, you’re right. I’d thought this was between Beetlejuice and Heathers. It was after both. Duly noted. The point is, though, it was meant to be a vehicle for her, kind of a goth Sixteen Candles, and it didn’t work out that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806.md?page=4)