# Nameless Characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906 "2009-11-01T02:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/1 "2009-11-01T02:09:27Z")
From books, probably–I can’t think of any characters from films with no names. I don’t mean like someone who’s Extra #2 or whatever–I mean main characters. I guess it only works in the first person. The protagonist of Rebecca is nameless, as is the protagonist of Dahl’s the Witches. Was the Rebecca main character nameless in the movie as well? I didn’t see it. Anyon else? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/2 "2009-11-01T02:10:15Z")
Perhaps characters like “The Butler” or the “The General”? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/3 "2009-11-01T02:13:44Z")
[Really, you couldn’t think of a nameless character in film?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/4 "2009-11-01T02:16:34Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > [Really, you couldn’t think of a nameless character in film?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name) Never saw it. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/5 "2009-11-01T02:19:53Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Never saw it. Well, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is something you have to see if you’ve got any interest in movies. And you don’t have to like westerns to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/6 "2009-11-01T02:27:06Z")
oops. wrong thread. stupid multi-tab browser. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/7 "2009-11-01T02:27:11Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Well, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is something you have to see if you’ve got any interest in movies. And you don’t have to like westerns to enjoy it. I’ll find the Youtube Poop version of it, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/8 "2009-11-01T02:30:27Z")
I don’t recall that any of the names of John Brunner’s [Traveller in Black](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Compleat_Traveller_in_Black)were ever actually mentioned. He has “many names but only one nature”, and tends to be referred to like that ( “a certain personage who has many names and but one nature” ), or as “who was that fellow?”. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/9 "2009-11-01T02:50:18Z")
Bill Pronzini has a zillion books in his Nameless Detective series. There’s a kind of awkwardness when Nameless has to be introduced to someone, but otherwise the books are very entertaining in a B-movie kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/10 "2009-11-01T03:05:35Z")
The narrator of Samuel Delany’s _Hogg_ has no name, though he is frequently referred to as “cocksucker.” He also only has one line of dialog in the entire book. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/11 "2009-11-01T03:16:34Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > The narrator of Samuel Delany’s _Hogg_ has no name, though he is frequently referred to as “cocksucker.” He also only has one line of dialog in the entire book. How did I know there’d be a Hogg post as soon as I saw that you were the last person to post in this thread? ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/12 "2009-11-01T03:17:36Z")
Maybe because you read _Hogg_ and remembered that the narrator has no name? Anyway, like it or not, it falls under the OP’s category (and I spared you any graphic descriptions.) ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/13 "2009-11-01T03:21:26Z")
It seems to be more common in England for some reason. The name of the main character in Layer Cake is never revealed, and also there’s the Doctor and #6 from those old TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/14 "2009-11-01T03:27:20Z")
Kevin Costner’s character in _The Postman_ had no name. Ironically, he had one in the book (“Gordon”) but not in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/15 "2009-11-01T03:41:53Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Kevin Costner’s character in _The Postman_ had no name. Ironically, he had one in the book (“Gordon”) but not in the movie. Neither did Costner’s character in **Waterworld**. He was just credited as “The Mariner”. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/16 "2009-11-01T03:50:43Z")
In my favorite car movie, Two Lane Blacktop, none of the characters have names or are even refered to by name. In the closing credits even the cars get billing. See the cast list here: > **[Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) ⭐ 7.2 | Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067893/)** > > 1h 42m | R Just a great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/17 "2009-11-01T03:53:12Z")
The novel _The Historian_ has a nameless narrator. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/18 "2009-11-01T04:03:51Z")
The main character in Rebeca is named Mrs De Winter. The Man With No Name is called Joe. The Doctor’s name is The Doctor. No 6 was named Peter Smith. Some really nameless characters include Monroe’s character in _The Seven Year Itch_, the main character in _Fight Club_, the American in _Hell In The Pacific_ and most of Charlie Chaplin’s characters. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/19 "2009-11-01T04:15:00Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The main character in Rebeca is named Mrs De Winter. Yeah, but she has no first name. Before she marries Maxim, she’s not anything. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/20 "2009-11-01T04:29:45Z")
Let’s not forget about the other the Doctor, **Star Trek: Voyager** ’s _the Doctor_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906.md?page=2)