# Well-known characters without actual names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286 "2008-11-24T18:02:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [November 24, 2008, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/61 "2008-11-24T23:16:18Z")
From **Calvin & Hobbes** : His parents. Instantly recognizable as “Calvin’s Mom” and “Calvin’s Dad,” otherwise, no names. We don’t even know Calvin’s last name. Nor do we know **Dilbert** ’s last name, or the real name of his Pointy-Haired Boss. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/62 "2008-11-24T23:42:12Z")
Naked Fat Guy in _Friends_ ---
**Author:** ![timbicile59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@timbicile59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timbicile59)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/63 "2008-11-24T23:59:27Z")
I’m a huge Terminator 2 fan so, ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/64 "2008-11-25T00:07:29Z")
On _Arrested Development_, I don’t believe Gob’s wife (the one that he married as part of a series of escalating dares) is ever named. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/65 "2008-11-25T00:10:49Z")
How many people would recognize the name Dwayne Johnson? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/66 "2008-11-25T00:22:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How many people would recognize the name Dwayne Johnson? Isn’t that The Rock? Or is there a character with that name? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/67 "2008-11-25T00:24:59Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Isn’t that The Rock? Or is there a character with that name? Well, you could technically say that Dwayne Johnson is playing a character without an actual name (I don’t know if “The Rock” would count as a name or not). ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/68 "2008-11-25T00:28:06Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Well, you could technically say that Dwayne Johnson is playing a character without an actual name (I don’t know if “The Rock” would count as a name or not). There is always that. That would go for any number of wrestlers though, since few wrestle under their given name. The Undertaker, Kane, HHH, Lita, etc. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/69 "2008-11-25T00:29:45Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > There is always that. That would go for any number of wrestlers though, since few wrestle under their given name. The Undertaker, Kane, HHH, Lita, etc. Yes, but Kane and Lita and similar are actually names. They’re just not common names. Things like “The Rock” or “The Undertaker” or “Junkyard Dog” (yes, I’m showing my age there) aren’t really names. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/70 "2008-11-25T00:30:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > How many people would recognize the name Dwayne Johnson? More than would recognize Virgil Runnels or Sylvester Ritter. Less than would recognize Terry Bollea. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/71 "2008-11-25T00:35:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yes, but Kane and Lita and similar are actually names. They’re just not common names. Things like “The Rock” or “The Undertaker” or “Junkyard Dog” (yes, I’m showing my age there) aren’t really names. Yea, I know who Junkyard Dog is. Now quit reminding me how much wrestling trivia I’ve absorbed from my SO! ARGH! ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/72 "2008-11-25T00:35:31Z")
Agent 99 from Get Smart. ---
**Author:** ![audit1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@audit1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audit1)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/73 "2008-11-25T00:36:09Z")
The Deaf Man from Ed Mcbain’s 87th Precinct novels ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/74 "2008-11-25T00:54:23Z")
Can anyone name without Googling the name of the Skipper or the Professor from Gilligan’s Island? I don’t ever recall them being named while on the show, but that was a hell of a long time ago. Upon Googling, I see that their names were mentioned twice. From Wikipedia: The first episode actually broadcast, “Two on a Raft”, is sometimes wrongly referred to as the series pilot. This episode begins with the same scene of Gilligan and the Skipper awakening on the boat (cut slightly differently to eliminate most shots of the departed actors), and continues with the characters on the boat, listening to a radio news report about their disappearance. This is the scene that reveals the names of the Skipper (Jonas Grumby) and the Professor (Roy Hinkley), which appear nowhere else in the series except for an episode in which the Maritime Board of Review blames the Skipper for the loss of the ship. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/75 "2008-11-25T00:58:38Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > There is always that. That would go for any number of wrestlers though, since few wrestle under their given name. The Undertaker, Kane, HHH, Lita, etc. True, but he actually crossed over into movies while still using the wrestling name. According to IMDb, he was credited as “The Rock” in _The Scorpion King_, _Walking Tall_, _Doom_, and a few others. If The Rock is a character, does that mean Dwayne Johnson was acting as The Rock during the filming of _The Scorpion King_? ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/76 "2008-11-25T00:59:23Z")
Do Macbeth and his wife have first names? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/77 "2008-11-25T01:47:06Z")
> [@PoorYorick](#): > > Good one! I loved that movie and didn’t notice that they were never referred to by name. You took the words right out of my mouth. Did we ever learn Short Round’s real name in Indiana Jones: TOD? ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/78 "2008-11-25T02:10:07Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > Naked Fat Guy in _Friends_ I believe he was always referred to as “Ugly Naked Guy.” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/79 "2008-11-25T02:23:03Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > I believe he was always referred to as “Ugly Naked Guy.” [nitpick] Not always. In at least one flashback scene, he was “Cute Naked Guy,” but it was noted that he had put on some weight. [/nitpick] At least that’s what the voices tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286/80 "2008-11-25T02:28:27Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Number Six (_The Prisoner_). Although not officially named in the series, it’s virtually canon that he was John Drake, the agent McGoohan previously played in **Danger Man** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-known-characters-without-actual-names/474286.md?page=5)