History Main / AnonymousRinger

* Literature/JackRyan:
** In Creator/TomClancy's early novels, ostensibly set during the Reagan years, the president is referred to only as "The President". His background (a lawyer) is different to that of Reagan though. Later novels introduce a string of fictional presidents, including one who appears to be a [[StrawmanPolitical strawman liberal]] interpretation of Bill Clinton. Saddam Hussein and Indira Gandhi are likewise referred to only as "The president of Iraq" and "The prime minister of India".
** Taken to its extreme in ''Patriot Games'', wherein Prince Charles appears as a major character and even assists Jack Ryan in a gunfight against the IRA; throughout the novel, he is referred to only as "the Prince of Wales".

** The Literature/Timeline191 books are pretty bad when it comes to this trope thanks to Turtledove's de-emphasis on geopolitics. Except for a few mentions of Churchill, leaders of countries other than the USA and CSA are only referred to by title ("the Kaiser", "the Czar", etc.).

** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'': The Chairman who's present during the meeting of Soviet generals could plausibly be UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev. The real article died a few months before the film's release.

* At the end of ''[[Film/{{Taxi}} Taxi 2]]'', the eponymous souped-up taxi ends up taking part to a military parade the [[UsefulNotes/ThePresidentsOfFrance French president]] organized in honor of the Japanese Minister of Defense who's on an official visit. The French president is never named, but his silhouette leaves little doubt that it's Jacques Chirac (who was president at the time). Plus, there's Didier Gustin's Chirac impersonation voice (from ''Series/LesGuignolsDeLInfo'').

* ''Film/TopGunMaverick'': Like the first movie, this one never clarifies who the bad guys are. In contrast to the first movie, there are more obvious clues this time -- the enemy nation's use of Sukhoi jets (and F-14 Tomcats), the unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant that the heroes are targeting, the red star on the enemy jets -- that imply the bad guys are Iranians or North Koreans, but nothing specific is said.

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', the Middle Eastern country where Khaled al-Assad stages a violent coup is never named. The geography tends to be "all over the place" with pinpointed areas including land in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait. But Al-Assad refers to a "monarchy" that was replaced by al-Fulani during in a revolution. Saudi Arabia is the only monarchy in the region, neither Iraq nor Iran nor Yemen having monarchies. Kuwait could qualify, being an Emirate but unlikely (not to mention, Kuwait is too small for the campaign to take place in).
** It seems to be a blend of Saudi Arabia and Syria. The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Assad_family name of its ruler]], its close relationship with Russia, its military being armed with Soviet-made military equipment (from [=AKMs=] to T-72s to Hinds), and the relatively secular nationalist movement that takes over are all cribbed directly from Syria rather than Saudi Arabia, which has no notable generals or politicians by the name of "Assad", has been anti-Russian since the Cold War, uses almost entirely American-made weapons, and has no notable nationalist movements, with the main opposition to the government being ''more'' extreme Salafists.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]], a US "President-Elect" (which Russell Davies thought was just the longer official title of the president) would actually be shown on screen. While the president in this case is a fictional character, he has some similarities to George W. Bush. And is killed by [[MagnificentBastard the Master]] (he even stays dead when the ResetButton gets pushed at the end of the series, his death being the last event before it takes effect).

* ''Film/{{Transformers|2007}}'': While the President's face was never shown, nor his name ever given, during the scenes on Air Force One in the first film, his accent is clearly meant to be that of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. The trope is averted in the sequel, in which President UsefulNotes/BarackObama is mentioned by name and his staff is villainized.

* ''Film/{{Transformers}}'': While the President's face was never shown, nor his name ever given, during the scenes on Air Force One in the first film, his accent is clearly meant to be that of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. The trope is averted in the sequel, in which President UsefulNotes/BarackObama is mentioned by name and his staff is villainized.

* ''Film/TopGun'': The movie never clarifies which country the enemy planes belong to. Said planes are a fictional [=MiG=] variant, so they ''probably'' belong to a Warsaw Pact country or an allied country that would buy [=MiGs=], but that's as specific as things get.
* ''Film/TopGunMaverick'': Like the first movie, this one never clarifies who the bad guys are. In contrast to the first movie, there are more obvious clues this time -- the enemy nation's use of Sukhoi jets (and stolen F-14 Tomcats), the unsanctioned uranium enrichment plant that the heroes are targeting, the red star on the enemy jets -- that imply the bad guys are North Koreans, but nothing specific is said.

** There was a ComicBook/CaptainAmerica comic where Reagan was [[InvoluntaryTransformation transformed into a lizard-man]] that attacked Cap. He got changed back by [[ArtisticLicenseBiology sweating out the poison]] during the fight. No...'''really.'''

* Downplayed in ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace''. While [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen Elizabeth II]] actually makes full-blown appearances in this film, as being the hostess of the garden party attended by both children and literature characters, she is only ever referred to with both "The Queen" and "Her Majesty".

* ''Literature/TheBFG'' has "The Queen". Although she's only referred by that title, the illustrations depict her as [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]].

* In ''Series/{{Pennyworth}}'', which is set in an {{alternate|History}} [[TheSixties 60s]] version of England ([[BalkanizeMe the UK is apparently not more]]), the Queen is never named and apparently not married, so it's left ambiguous if she's [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Elizabeth II]] or not.

Enter the Anonymous Ringer — a character or place transparently meant to be a recognizable real-world figure, but never explicitly mentioned by name. This device allows an author to write about England being invaded by "a country to the north", the US being driven to war by "the president", or a riot at a concert of "a popular rock-and-roll band", without having to worry about Scots, whoever the real president is, or the Rolling Stones firing off a cease-and-desist letter.

Enter the Anonymous Ringer — a character or place transparently meant to be a recognizable real-world figure, but never explicitly mentioned by name. This device allows an author to write about England being invaded by "a country to the north", the US being driven to war by "the president", or a riot at a concert of "a popular rock-and-roll band", without having to worry about Scots, Joe Biden, or the Rolling Stones firing off a cease-and-desist letter.

* ''Literature/{{Mephisto}}'' by German author Klaus Mann did this to the extreme. The protagonist and theatre attendant Hendrik Höfgen is a copy of the real-world Gustav Gründgens among others. Other Weimar entertainment figures receive similar treatment, including a MarleneDietrich {{Expy}} who leaves Germany to pursue a film career. Also the important figures of the Nazi regime are only referred to as "the dictator", "the pilot-general", the propaganda-minister" and so forth. This strategy however didn't stop West-German court from prohibiting publication of the book until much later.

* Several Creator/SalmanRushdie novels feature characters based on prominent politicians - ''Literature/MidnightsChildren'' mentions a female prime minister with Cruella [=DeVil=] hair - a reference to Indira Gandhi's distinctive hairstyle. One chapter of ''Literature/TheSatanicVerses'' centers on "the Iman", a Persian extremist expatriate obsessed with water and cleanliness, obviously based on Ayatollah Khomeini's exile in France. ''The Golden House'''s Gary Gwynplaine is an expy of Donald Trump, in the years before his election.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' is set in the last years of Japan's [[UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod Sengoku period]], but the faction menacing Ashina is only identified as the "Interior Ministry" and "Central Forces". However, anyone familiar with Japanese history can guess that the Ministry is the Tokugawa clan since they had already conquered most of the country by the early 1600s. In fact, the Interior Ministry soldiers who appear in [[spoiler:the final assault on Ashina Castle]] wear [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/shadowsdietwice/images/8/81/Central_Force_Swordsman.png/revision/latest?cb=20190514203038 emblems]] with floral designs suspiciously similar to those on the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Tokugawa_family_crest.svg Tokugawa family crest]].

* Japanese Live-action: The president of the US (only seen from the back, with Asian skin tone, a blond dye job, and {{Engrish}}) is comically a fan of maid cafés in ''Maid in Akihabara''.