# Movies With Nameless Lead Characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612 "2004-09-01T18:49:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/1 "2004-09-01T18:49:42Z")
What are some movies in which the lead character [ul] [li]Does not have a name/their name is never mentioned?[/li][li]Does not know his/her name and it’s never mentioned?[/li][li]Has a name, but it’s so irrelevant or secret that it’s never mentioned (or not mentioned until the end of the movie)?[/li][/ul] I can only think of two: [ul] [li]Kevin Costner’s character in _Waterworld_ is known simply as “The Mariner.”[/li][li]Uma Thurman’s character in the _Kill Bill_ movies is known simply as “The Bride.”[/li][/ul] Surely there are others. Any help? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/2 "2004-09-01T19:02:41Z")
Well, Clint Eastwood plays a character call The Man with no name in… Now I forget which one exactly. Also in E.T. Peter Coyote plays ‘Keys’. Named so because of his jingling keys that hung off his belt but although he is in charge of the government operation to capture the alien, nobody uses his name. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/3 "2004-09-01T19:03:29Z")
How bout that Clint Eastwood movie where he has the town painted red? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/4 "2004-09-01T19:05:08Z")
High Plains Drifter. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/5 "2004-09-01T19:06:23Z")
What about _My Dinner With Andre_? Does the other guy have a name? ---
**Author:** ![gooti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gooti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gooti)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/6 "2004-09-01T19:06:38Z")
I think in one/some of Clint Eastwood’s “spaghetti westerns” his character was nameless, but I’m not a big fan so I don’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/7 "2004-09-01T19:07:45Z")
Also, Terminator 2, The Lone Ranger and E.T. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/8 "2004-09-01T19:12:15Z")
Fight Club ---
**Author:** ![ParadoxMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@ParadoxMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParadoxMan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/9 "2004-09-01T19:13:46Z")
> [@Max Carnage](#): > > Fight Club Hero ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/10 "2004-09-01T19:18:12Z")
_Oh God!_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/11 "2004-09-01T19:20:39Z")
Actually, The Bride’s name is eventually mentioned in Kill Bill Vol. 2. Beatrix Kiddo ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/12 "2004-09-01T19:24:50Z")
_Charles Bronson’s_ character in **Once Upon A Time In The West**. I think he was referred to as “Harmonica” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/13 "2004-09-01T19:25:12Z")
Hulk. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/14 "2004-09-01T19:28:59Z")
In the play “12 Angry Men” the main character is just “Juror #6” [sic]. In the last scene of the play (Crow T. Robot: That scene brought to you by the Superfluous Foundation.) he’s given the name Sam [sic], but I prefer the play. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/15 "2004-09-01T19:33:28Z")
Eastwood is the Man With No Name in an entire trilogy, actually: _A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More,_ and _The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly_. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/16 "2004-09-01T19:33:57Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Well, Clint Eastwood plays a character call The Man with no name in… > > Now I forget which one exactly. You’re thinking of the “Spaghetti Westerns”. Namely\* A Fistful of Dollars\*, _For a few dollars more_ and \*The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. \* ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/17 "2004-09-01T19:39:17Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > How bout that Clint Eastwood movie where he has the town painted red? Technically he does have a name in _Hang 'Em High_ - he’s the ghost of the Sherriff who was tortured and killed by the men that ride into town. It’s revealed on the tombstone as he rides out of town. Clint was billed as “the man with no name” in both _A Fistful of Dollars_ and _For a Few Dollars More_, but he only had no name in the former. They refer to him by name in the latter - “Monco.” Blurring this line even further is the IMDb’s inexplicable crediting of “Joe” to his roles in AFOD and _The Good, The Bad and The Ugly_. Strange, since he’s called Blondie about a billion times in TGTB&TU. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/18 "2004-09-01T19:44:13Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Technically he does have a name in **Hang 'Em High** - he’s the ghost of the Sherriff who was tortured and killed by the men that ride into town. It’s revealed on the tombstone as he rides out of town. _AHEM._ > [@Ethilrist](#): > > High Plains Drifter. Still counts, 'cause the OP asked about movies where we don’t learn the name until the very end. Then there’s Robert Culp’s character in Demon with the Glass Hand. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/19 "2004-09-01T19:46:38Z")
Edward Norton is credited as _Narrator_ in Fight Club. Of course, both incarnations of **The Jackal** , Bruce Willis and Edward Fox, don’t have a name. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612/20 "2004-09-01T19:50:09Z")
The bass player of the Wonders in “That Thing You Do!” is never mentioned by name and, in fact, is listed in the credits as T.B. Player. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-nameless-lead-characters/262612.md?page=2)