# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/21 "2009-11-01T06:31:24Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > 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. In the film version of _Rebecca_ the main character is also nameless. This is probably even easier to do in a film than in a book, because you can see who’s in the scene and who’s talking to whom so there’s less need to give everyone a name. However, it’s my recollection that the film version of _The Witches_ gave the boy the name “Luke”. (Just checked the IMDb and this is correct.) Sometimes a character who isn’t the first-person narrator will be known by a title or nickname rather than a proper name. In the Discworld series The Librarian is almost always called just The Librarian. He does have a real name, a fact which becomes a minor plot point in _The Last Continent_, but he’s keeping it a secret. This name is revealed in some of the supplementary books, but IIRC is never mentioned in the Discworld novels. Death is also just Death, although for him that may count as a name as well as a title. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/22 "2009-11-01T07:06:48Z")
The main character in **Fight Club** is only listed as “The Narrator.” I just saw Lars Von Trier’s new film **Anti-Christ,** and neither of the two characters have names. > [@Peter Morris](#): > > The Doctor’s name is The Doctor. Well, he does have a proper name, it’s just never been revealed, so everyone just calls him The Doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/23 "2009-11-01T07:17:52Z")
He’s named in the screenplay but Paul McGann’s character in _Withnail & I_ has no name mentioned onscreen. Even in the end credits, his character is listed as ‘…& I’. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/24 "2009-11-01T08:26:29Z")
[Far Out Man](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099546/) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/25 "2009-11-01T08:59:07Z")
Curley’s wife in _Of Mice and Men_ was never referred to by name - she was just “Curley’s wife.” The protagonist of _The Virginian_ was another unnamed character in the original novel, the TV series and the several movies based on the book. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/26 "2009-11-01T09:50:32Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > 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?”. As I recall, though, he does name himself at some points. “I have many names but one nature. You may call me Mazda, or whatever you wish” Which I take to be a reference to [Ahura Mazda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahura_Mazda) ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/27 "2009-11-01T09:51:17Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > The Man With No Name is called Joe. > Number 6 is called Peter Smith Joe is not his name, it is just as much a nickname as “Manco” or “Blondie” Peter Smith is probably an alias ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/28 "2009-11-01T09:55:42Z")
Cormac McCarthy often leaves his characters nameless, referring to them only as “the kid,” “the judge,” “the boy,” etc. Their descriptions are repeated consistently enough that the description seems to become the character’s name in the reader’s mind (in mine at least), but they’re still just descriptors. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/29 "2009-11-01T10:08:43Z")
Not a book or film, but there is that unnamed horse. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/30 "2009-11-01T11:36:29Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > [Really, you couldn’t think of a nameless character in film?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_with_No_Name) Fistful of dollars is based on the Kurosawa film [Yojimbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yojimbo_(film)). The lead calls himself Kuwabatake Sanjuro (meaning “Mulberry Field thirty-year-old”) which he comes up with as he looks at a Mulberry Field. No one believes it is his real name. ---
**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, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/31 "2009-11-01T11:49:20Z")
The Witch King in _Lord of the Rings_ isn’t ever given an actual name; just titles like that or “Lord of the Nazgûl”. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/32 "2009-11-01T12:54:01Z")
None of the characters from **Zombieland** (except for poor, dead BM) have names. They all refer to themselves as the cities they’re from. ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/33 "2009-11-01T14:15:21Z")
The narrator/main character of The Handmaid’s Tale (and I’m referring to the novel, not the movie which I will NEVER see) is temporarily called Offred, and although she makes reference to having a real name, she never specifies what it is. However, she possibly manages to slip it in at one point, and I remember being so excited to make that discovery, especially since I was one of the few undergrads in that course. Of course, when I proudly made my announcement in class, it turned out that all the grad students already knew but hadn’t said anything in case any of we undergrads figured it out. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/34 "2009-11-01T14:23:30Z")
“I don’t have a name. You may call me ‘V’.” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/35 "2009-11-01T14:30:47Z")
The Continental Op in Dashiell Hammett’s books (_Red Harvest_ and a collection of shorts also named _The Continental Op_, _The Dain Curse_), is never named. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/36 "2009-11-01T14:33:51Z")
_The Road_ is coming out pretty soon. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/37 "2009-11-01T14:59:39Z")
The narrator of **Moby Dick**. He does say, “Call me Ishmael,” but he is never referred to as such in the book and the sentence seems to imply you can call him that, but it’s not necessarily his name. The narrator of “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” and “The Man Who Lost the Sea,” though it’s probably easier to pull this off in a short story. H.G. Wells’s **The Time Machine**. The main character is referred to as “The Time Traveler.” The 1960 movie gave him a name of “H. George Wells,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/38 "2009-11-01T15:18:35Z")
> [@sweetie pea](#): > > The narrator/main character of The Handmaid’s Tale (and I’m referring to the novel, not the movie which I will NEVER see) is temporarily called Offred, and although she makes reference to having a real name, she never specifies what it is. For anyone who hasn’t read the book, she is called Offred because her master is named Fred. All handmaids were referred to in this way – other handmaids the narrator knows are called Ofwarren and Ofglen. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/39 "2009-11-01T15:27:40Z")
The videogame **Planescape: Torment** refers to the main character as “The Nameless One,” for plot-related reasons. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906/40 "2009-11-01T15:48:00Z")
The hero of John Carpenter’s **They Live** , played by ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, has no name, although in the credits he’s listed as Nada. Hmm, for some reason wikipedia IDs the character as George Nada. Upon further research, according to the IMDB trivia page (for what that’s worth): “Roddy Piper’s character never gives his name nor is he referred to by name throughout the entire movie. He is simply referred to as “Nada” in the credits, which means “nothing” in Spanish. The name is most likely a reference to George Nada, the main character of Ray Nelson’s short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning,” which was the basis for ‘They Live’.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nameless-characters/515906.md?page=3)