# 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:** 15\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/121 "2021-12-23T04:31:20Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The Trojan horse never put in an appearance in the _Iliad._ We didn’t see the horse until the _Odyssey_ presumably because the sequel had a bigger budget for special effects. Any production needs to balance the budget. “Illliad” had a big cast of big names. “Odyssey” didn’t so Homer had drachmas enough for effects. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/122 "2021-12-26T14:40:43Z")
Novella, I think, rather than novel. I’m pretty sure I read it in a collection rather than its own volume. It’s told in the first person by an American woman at a rustic hotel in … North Carolina, maybe? East Coast, certainly. Bad guys show up and do bad things to her. Bond shows up and takes them out, then takes her to bed. When she wakes up in the morning, he’s gone. A short synopsis for a fairly long work. But the story is definitely about the narrator, with tons of background and stuff, while Bond is a … well, not minor character, as he saves her life, but not a huge presence in the story. I’m pretty sure the bad guys were just thugs, not international espionage assassins, so I don’t think Bond was actually chasing them. Maybe he was just in the right place at the right time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/123 "2021-12-27T07:34:51Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Never read it, but I learned from watching Jeopardy that in the novel _The Spy Who Loved Me_ by Ian Fleming, James Bond doesn’t appear until two-thirds of the way through. Sounds like John Galt. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/124 "2021-12-27T14:11:02Z")
Fleming later regretted the story, and forbade republication, in paperback. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/125 "2021-12-27T22:47:58Z")
My father gave me the copy he had as a boy. I’ve still got it. I enjoyed it, but only the parts about how he brought things off the ship and established himself in a homestead–not the adventurous parts. ---
**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:** [December 29, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/126 "2021-12-29T20:01:19Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > Fleming later regretted the story, and forbade republication, in paperback. Not sure what you mean here. My copy IS a paperback. But it’s definitely the rarest of Fleming’s Bond paperbacks. Do you mean that he forbade a second paperback publication? According to the Wikipedia page he did block a UK paperback version, but that apparently didn’t stop publication of the US paperback. I suspect it’s a rare book because it certainly doesn’t fit into the usual James Bond mold. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/127 "2021-12-30T03:34:31Z")
I don’t think this has been suggested, but the search may not be perfect. The **Wizard of Oz**. (pay no attention to that man behind the curtain) ---
**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:** [December 30, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/128 "2021-12-30T16:48:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > I don’t think this has been suggested I don’t blame you for missing it, but I did back around Post #46 or so. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/129 "2021-12-30T17:22:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t blame you for missing it, but I did back around Post #46 or so. I did a search, but the way Discourse pages work screws up the search function of the browser. ---
**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:** [December 30, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/130 "2021-12-30T17:32:23Z")
Browser-based searches don’t really work on Discourse, as only part of the thread will be displayed on the current “page” for the browser to search. But Discourse has its own native search function (the looking glass next the three lines next to your icon in the upper right), which IME works well, at least for anything posted since the changeover. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/131 "2021-12-30T17:59:55Z")
I actually tried searching two ways, and yes, I’m aware of how Discourse screws up the browser search function. I tried getting around that by going to the top of the thread and scrolling through what I thought was most of it. And then tried the browser search function. And I also used the Discourse search function and didn’t see this thread. It’s possible it was there and I just missed it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/132 "2021-12-30T18:26:59Z")
The Corinthians never wrote back. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2021, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/133 "2021-12-30T18:33:58Z")
Not sure if this counts but there is a mobile game called Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. It contains zero Harry Potter as the events take place the 7 years prior to his attending Hogwarts. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/134 "2021-12-31T06:32:37Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > But Discourse has its own native search function (the looking glass next the three lines next to your icon in the upper right), which IME works well, at least for anything posted since the changeover. I’ve used the Discourse search to find years-old posts, so that seems to work too. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2021, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806/135 "2021-12-31T07:41:51Z")
Coco is barely in **Coco**. And **Henry and June** has plenty of Henry and very little June; should have been called **Henry and Anais**. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/characters-who-are-almost-absent-from-a-work-named-after-them/954806.md?page=6)