History Main / TheTropeWithoutATitle

* The Text Adventure version of ''VideoGame/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' involves a recurring item called [[BuffySpeak "The Thing Which Your Aunt Gave You Which You Don't Know What It Is"]].

* More seriously, there's "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia": the name is a BerserkButton to Greeks, and [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment we'll leave the reasons why it's called that]] on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_naming_dispute the Other Wiki]].

The name is inspired from Clint Eastwood's "[[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly The Man With No Name]]". Compare EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep, NoNameGiven, SpellMyNameWithAThe, CapitalLettersAreMagic, MyNameIsQuestionMarks, TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX, and NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom. And yes, we know this page actually having a title is a minor LogicBomb in and of itself.

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/townwithnoname.png]]]]

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' strip [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0226.html #226]] is a cornucopia of {{Deconstruction}}s of these, wrapped in a pastiche of [[WhosOnFirst "Who's on First?"]]

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7319926d_9165_4aeb_b798_b41b721cf015.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Do they welcome name suggestions?"]]

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[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/TheTownWithNoName https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a96ec59d_3e01_4fbc_ab03_c6f412df7781.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:Do they welcome name suggestions?]]

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[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a96ec59d_3e01_4fbc_ab03_c6f412df7781.jpeg]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/notnamed.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick The comic that must not be read...]]]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive: Shadow minions think it is super-cool that the Shadows' name is a thousand pages long and cannot be pronounced by puny mortals. Then they get shirty because puny mortals continue to call the Shadows "the Shadows".

%While we know there's a third walker, we don't know its name and haven't seen it yet.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' finalé, [[Recap/GravityFallsS2E18Weirdmageddon "Weirdmageddon"]], in which [[EldritchAbomination Bill Cipher]] initiates TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and introduces some of the interdimensional criminals and nightmares he likes to call his friends, such as The Being Whose Name Must Never Be Said.
-->'''Bill:''' Haha, what the heck. It's Zanthar.

* The TVSpecial ''Happily Ever After'', about a girl dealing with the divorce of her parents, had a character referred to as "Whats-His-Name with the Glasses."
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had a villain known simply as [[BigBad "Him"]]--probably not mentioned by name because he was supposed to represent the devil.
** His name is actually [[FunWithAcronyms His Imperial Majesty.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CowAndChicken'', had a character called "The Red Guy"--at least in the credits; in the episodes he had various names that all seemed to refer to the fact that he wasn't wearing any pants. Once, during a brief, standalone scene where he [[BreakingTheFourthWall addresses the audience directly]], he actually refers to himself as "The Red Guy".

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', many characters lived without names and were referred to in the scripts as "The comic book guy", "The squeaky-voiced teen", etc.
** Occasionally they would receive names later when they became more important; Comic Book Guy became Jeff Albertson, for instance.
** Whether or not these names stick is another story. Everyone calls Captain [=McAllister=] "the sea captain," even though he was named in his first appearance!

* ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster''. Marion and Cassie are captured by a BountyHunter in the form of a talking horse [[Film/AFistfulOfDollars wearing a distinctive poncho]] who sounds like Creator/ClintEastwood.
-->'''Marion:''' It's the Mule with No Manners.\\
'''Bounty Hunter:''' The Horse With No Name.\\
'''Cassie:''' But if you're called "The Horse With No Name", surely that ''is'' your name.\\
'''Bounty Hunter:''' Shuddup!\\
'''Marion:''' She's got a point, you know.
* Many background characters in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' have NoNameGiven, but special mention needs to be made of a gray/blond pagasus mare noticed by fans in the series premiere. Her fan nickname was used in-dialog in one episode, but it proved to be so controversial that it was [[OrwellianRetcon removed from subsequent broadcasts]], along with a change in the voice acting. Her fan nickname became TheScottishTrope among Hasbro and DHX Media staff on social media; while they don't discourage fans from using it in Twitter feeds, the creators always speak of her in periphrasis. Official toys of her have always used drawings of [[TrademarkFavoriteFood muffins]] in place of a name, and she would eventually be named "Muffins" in one episode's end credits.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* One of the lesser {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s found in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' is a villain who is only referred to as "He Who Rules All". Most of the heroes find that title a bit presumptuous.
[[/folder]]

* ''MagicTheGathering'' had an entire block, "Champions of Kamigawa" based around Japanese mythology and the ThemeParkVersion of Shinto. The plot revolved around a human nobleman gaining immortality by stealing something from the godlike Kami, essentially igniting a war between humanity and the spirit world. In the second set, "Betrayers of Kamigawa," exactly what was taken was revealed as the Legendary Artifact..."[[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=74644 That Which Was Taken]]."

'''Nodwick:''' Dare I ask where 'she who' went?\\

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

[[folder:Film]]

--->'''Ben Rumson'''(the other partner): What the hell is your name, anyway?
--->'''Pardner''': It's Sylvester Newel. Yeah, just one 'l.'
* In the interviews at the start of ''Film/TheIncredibles'', Frozone says that he doesn't care about his girlfriend's secret identity. For the rest of the movie, she's only referred to as "Honey".

[[folder:Magazines]]
* ''Magazine/TheOnion'' parodied this trope, by applying it to a ''[[http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nameless_hurricane_that_much_more hurricane]]''.
[[/folder]]

* In ''{{Mafia}}'', there is a cutscene in which the main character refers to his wife and daughter as "Sarah and the kid", despite the fact that the daughter is a couple of years old and thus should have a name, and that the character he talks to should know the name of the daughter already and thus understand who is being referred to when the name is mentioned.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* One of the lesser {{Diabolical Mastermind}}s found in the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'' is a villain who is only referred to as "He Who Rules All". Most of the heroes find that title a bit presumptuous.

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' likes this one a lot, with such memorable (but apparently nameless) characters as [[TheNondescript The Man In The Tan Jacket]], [[TheMenInBlack The Man Who Is Not Tall]], [[TheMenInBlack The Man Who Is Not Short]], and [[TheBlank The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home]].

-->'''Marion:''' It's the Mule with No Manners.
-->'''Bounty Hunter:''' The Horse With No Name.
-->'''Cassie:''' But if you're called "The Horse With No Name", surely that ''is'' your name.
-->'''Bounty Hunter:''' Shuddup!
-->'''Marion:''' She's got a point you know.

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' has "The Lord of Nightmares", also known as "Mother of all Monsters". No name is ever given to this being, despite all it's children having both names and titles "Gaav, the Demon Dragon King" for example.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'', no one in The Village is referred to by name, only by the numbers they are assigned when they get there. Not to mention... well, the very fact that it's referred to as The Village. Not to mention that when Number Six finally gets a map of the place, the surrounding terrain is marked as "The Sea," "The Beach" and "The Mountains." And with the exception of Number Six, it's not clear that anyone else in The Village is assigned the same number consistently. Number Two is the most obvious example.
* Anyone on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' who doesn't know Mr. Bennet's name calls him The Man in the Horn-Rimmed Glasses, despite the fact that his glasses aren't actually horn-rimmed. And his first name, Noah, was never spoken by any character, even his own family, until the end of the first-season finale.
** The Haitian, as well. Though he too was eventually given a name, Rene, in the fourth season.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' gives us "The Doctor," "The Master," "The Rani," "[[Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures The (other) Rani]]," "The Corsair," "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Chief]]", "[[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse The Other]]".... Seems to be a popular theme with Time Lords who've left Gallifrey for whatever reason.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' had The Cigarette-Smoking Man, and his allies in the Conspiracy, The Well-Manicured Man and The First Elder.
** The Cigarette-Smoking Man is eventually given a name, though everyone (both in and out of universe) still seems to prefer calling him by his soubriquet.
* In one episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Ted (as the {{Narrator}}) cannot remember the name of the girl he was dating, so for the entire episode she is referred to as Blah Blah.
* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has The Man In Black (or [[spoiler:[[MeaningfulName Esau]] / Un-Locke / Smokey / [[IncrediblyLamePun The Lockeness Monster]] / [[IHaveManyNames Whatever]]]]), [[NoNameGiven who may not actually have a name]].
* The Doctor from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' is only ever referred to as such. Justified as he was originally created to be an emergency-only medical program, and he just kept that as his name as he became an actual person.
* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', the blurry 28th-century humanoid who gave the Suliban Cabal their marching orders was never identified. In the scripts, he was simply "Humanoid Figure." Fandom knows him as "Future Guy."
** The ExpandedUniverse gives his name as [[spoiler: Jamran Harnoth.]]

* The BigBad in the seventh season of ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' was known only as "The First", as in "the first evil".

-->'''High Priest''': ''(choking)'' Keeper!
-->'''Angel:''' ''(lets the priest go)'' [[ComicallyMissingThePoint That's it? Caper?]]
-->'''High Priest''': The true name is known only by the Keeper of the Name.
-->'''Angel''': Right. ''(grabs the priest's neck again)'' That's you!
-->'''High Priest''': No, I am the Guardian of the Word!
-->'''Angel''': You said the word is the name.
-->'''High Priest''': Yes, and I guard the Keeper of it.
-->'''Angel''': So you're the Keeper's keeper?
* Series/BabylonFive: Shadow minions think it is super-cool that the Shadows' name is a thousand pages long and cannot be pronounced by puny mortals. Then they get shirty because puny mortals continue to call the Shadows "the Shadows".

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Eve, for a time, was referred to as the "Mother of All Monsters", or "All-mother."

* More seriously, there's "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia": the name is a BerserkButton to Greeks, and [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment we'll leave the reasons why it's called that]] on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonia_naming_dispute the Other Wiki]].

The name is inspired from Clint Eastwood's "[[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly The Man With No Name]]". Compare EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep, NoNameGiven, SpellMyNameWithAThe, CapitalLettersAreMagic, MyNameIsQuestionMarks, and TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX. And yes, we know this page actually having a title is a minor LogicBomb in and of itself.

** The two villains that lord over Olaf are referred to as the nonspecific "Man with a beard and no hair" and the other as the even ''less'' specific "Woman with hair and no beard".

* In ''Series/ThePrisoner'', no one in The Village is referred to by name, only by the numbers they are assigned when they get there. Not to mention... well, the very fact that it's referred to as The Village.
** Not to mention that when Number Six finally gets a map of the place, the surrounding terrain is marked as "The Sea," "The Beach" and "The Mountains."
** And with the exception of Number Six, it's not clear that anyone else in The Village is assigned the same number consistently. Number Two is the most obvious example.

* The ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' fanfic ''Fanfic/GameTheoryFanFic'' has a girl in a wheelchair whose name is never given until the very end, but it's pretty clear that she's Hayate.