History Main / WeDoNotKnowEachOther

* Unsurprisingly for a show about a gang of long-con operators, this happens all the time in ''Series/{{Hustle}}''.

* ''Series/MissionImpossible'', being a con game series, uses this nearly every episode.
* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Is At Your Service," Monk and Natalie have to play out this trope when Natalie shows up at her obsessive ex-boyfriend's house where Monk is undercover as a butler.

* ''Series/{{Fargo}}''. In " A Fox, a Rabbit and a Cabbage", Lester Nygaard recognises Lorne Malvo several years after their first meeting and barges into the elevator he's in despite Lorne claiming not to recognise him. Lorne responds by ''[[YouKnowTooMuch murdering everyone else in the elevator]]'', then complains to Lester that he ruined six months of undercover work for a planned assassination.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the season 1 episode "Speak of the Devil", Matt decides to chat up Wilson Fisk's girlfriend Vanessa Marianna at her art gallery. While Matt is talking to her, Fisk unexpectedly shows up. Fisk knows Matt as one of the lawyers at the law firm that got Karen off when he tried to have her framed for murder, and later used for Healy's defense, and who is now opposing counsel to him in the tenement case. So Matt has to be careful with his words so that Fisk won't realize he's talking to the same guy he had a conversation with over the police radio a few episodes earlier.

Compare FriendshipDenial.

* ''Film/{{Rounders}}'': Mike and Worm use this trope when they work together at the same poker table several times throughout the movie. [[spoiler:This backfires in a major way during their final game, where Worm gets caught cheating when dealing a winning full house to Mike, thereby pissing off a room full of New York state cops.]]
* ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' had a brief shot of someone on Tatooine who was nabbed by the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse and made into an [[AmnesiacDissonance ultra-conflicted]] Jedi named Quinlan Vos. He could have helped Qui-Gon and company, but he was infiltrating something or other and assumed the same of the other Jedi.
* Used in one of the western films in the ''Film/{{Trinity}}'' series, where the titular character Trinity and his brother Bambino pretend not to know each other so that they can cheat at cards. The scheme falls apart when a professional gambler accuses Trinity of cheating, which Trinity was doing by giving everyone at the table increasingly good cards, but his brother ended up with the best hand.
* Bowen and Draco pull this scam on villagers in ''Film/DragonHeart'', with Draco attacking a village and Bowen pretending to slay him.

* This is the fatal mistake Fredo makes in ''Film/TheGodfatherPartII''. He pretends not to know Johnny Ola when they meet in Cuba, but later on babbles excitedly about the various places in Havana that Ola took him to, while Michael can be seen covering his face in despair.

* ''Film/TheBellsOfDeath'': The protagonist, Wei-fu, is a swordsman who lose his family in a bandit raid five years ago, but unbeknownst to him his sister actually survived, and was forced into becoming a concubine for the bandit leader. Five years later Wei-fu has infiltrated the bandits' ranks, when the brother and sister meets each other for the first time... in front of a whole legion of villains. They are forced to pretend each other are strangers.
* ''Film/DonnieBrasco''. The undercover FBI agent who is the protagonist punches someone who is about to greet him as Special Agent Jo Pistone. He then pretends to his Mafia associates that the man made an obscene pass at him.

* In [[Creator/DanAbnett Dan Abnett's]] TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', after he worked with the Damocles squad of Space Marines on a mission on Ceres, the Inquisitor Mabuse meets up with them at a coronations. He draws off their leader to alert him that he is passing as a trader and not as an Inquisitor.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Members of the Order who work in the Ministry of Magic, such as Arthur Weasleys (head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office) and auror Kingsley Shacklebolt, pretend they don't know each other to avoid arousing suspicion, and act rather coldly to each other at work, though Arthur whispers what his wife's cooking for dinner at the Order's headquarters to him afterwards.
* In the ''Literature/CharlieParkerSeries'', Parker, Louis and Angel frequently travel separately to and from meeting points, particularly if there's a likelihood that somebody is going to die. They even go so far as to take separate rooms in the same hotel and spend their time there refusing to even look at each other.

* In the same vein as ''Mission Impossible'', ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' does this several times. The team will often pretend not to know each other as part of a con, or even to actively be at odds with each other (in one episode, Sophie, posing as a high-ranking member of the Irish mob, pretends to ''murder'' Nate, while at one point [[ItMakesSenseInContext Parker pretended to be a dead woman]] that Nate and Sophie pressured the mark over).

* In the ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk Is At Your Service," Monk and Natalie have to play out this trope when Natalie shows up at her obsessive ex-boyfriend's house where Monk is undercover as a butler.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the season 1 episode "Speak of the Devil", Matt decides to chat up Wilson Fisk's girlfriend Vanessa Marianna at her art gallery. While Matt is talking to her, Fisk unexpectedly shows up. Fisk knows Matt as one of the lawyers at the law firm that got Karen off when he tried to have her framed for murder, and later used for Healy's defense, and who is now opposing counsel to him in the tenement case. So Matt has to be careful with his words so that Fisk won't realize he's talking to the same guy he had a conversation with over the police radio a few episodes earlier.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episodes featuring [=MI6=] agent Michael Haggerty generally feature the slight variant of "We ''barely'' know each other", since Jessica's reaction to him showing up usually makes it quite clear to others that she recognises him from ''somewhere''.
* ''Series/{{Bosch}}'': In season 5, Harry Bosch is going undercover to find the leaders of a pill mill who just murdered a pharmacist that refused to continue selling oxycontin to them. To do so, he receives a set of fake ID with his pictures and the name "Dominic Reilly", to pass himself off as an opioid addict and gain access to the smugglers. He goes to the VA complaining of pain in his knee, and meets one Dr. Hansen, who signs him up with an opioid therapy group. On the way out of the hospital he sees one of the men in the group, Louis Degner, selling pills to another group member, Elizabeth Clayton. Bosch and Edgar follow Louis to his house and arrives just as Louis is frantically administering narcan to revive an overdosed Elizabeth. The police and paramedics are called, and to win Louis's trust, Bosch pretends not to know who Edgar is and helps Louis avoid arrest. Subsequently, Louis agrees to take Harry to the Garcia Pain Clinic.

* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Not quite a con, but the protagonists are being cautious, and not advertising that they know each other, when [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0781.html Belkar is in the arena]]. Leads to him and V being able to insult each other by way of "introduction". And causing [[TheDitz Elan]] to cluelessly ask "What's your name, Roy?" after being "introduced" to him. [[spoiler: Not that it matters; it eventually transpires that the GenreSavvy General Tarquin ''assumes'' that when a number of high-level characters enter the city at around the same time, they're an adventuring party.]]

* In the manga ''Manga/{{Sanctuary}}'', the two main characters spend much of the time pretending to be strangers to each other, all the while assisting each other in their plan to shake up all social stratas of '90s Japanese society.

* A tween-book titled ''Mom, You're Fired!'' involves the narrator, embarrassed by her mother singing opera in public and "dressing like a Gypsy," lying to a new friend and claiming her mother is her babysitter. When she has her friend over, she asks to call her mother by her first name, on the excuse that it sounds more grown up, to try and preserve the lie. She eventually realizes that her mother is not as embarassing as another friend's mother, (whom she previously wished was her own mother,) but the narrative ends before we see her new friend's reaction to being lied to.
* In the ''Literature/CharlieParkerSeries'', at Sam's baptism while Angel and Louis are acting as Sam's godfathers, Angel wears a suit so horrendous that fashion-conscious Louis spends the entire day pretending to have no idea who he is, even when Angel is standing next to him and talking to him.
* In the ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Literature/NewSeriesAdventures'' novel ''Plague City'', when the TARDIS crew arrive in 18th century Edinburgh, Nardole is wearing a kilt and tam o'shanter, claiming to be a member of "the Clan [=McNardole=]". The Doctor says "You'll get us all punched in the face" and starts shouting at the tenements "He's no with us! We're no with him! Honestly just met! Don't even like him much either!"
* In ''Texas Showdown'', Literature/AbleTeam are sent to infiltrate a mercenary army. To his horror, Carl Lyons recognizes their CO as someone he put in prison when he was an LAPD detective. He urges Gadgets and Blancanales to denounce him to save their own lives, but they refuse. So to try and distance himself from them, they stage a nasty fight in the barracks. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a moot point as the CO has also recognised Lyons, and is more interested in making a deal with the government than getting revenge.]]

* In ''Series/{{Huge}}'', [[spoiler: Chloe]] spends half the season pretending [[spoiler: Alistair]] is not her brother, since she resents him being at a camp she previously considered her sanctuary.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', JD and Turk pretend not to know each other for a few weeks due to an embarrassing memory that they unwittingly brought up. It was done as a gag though and they're seen talking to each other again a few scenes later.
* In an example that fits both types of the trope, when Dr Ethan Pierce first appeared on ''Series/ShortlandStreet'' he and Dr Brooke Freeman pretended not to know each other, even though they had been lovers for years. Brooke felt that Ethan was an embarrassing reminder of her past and was already dating another man, while Ethan decided to go along with the ruse so that he could also date other women as well as use Brooke as a spy to gain a professional advantage at the hospital that they both work at.

* The dramatic variety occurs in ''Series/{{Colditz}}'' - as the final days of UsefulNotes/WorldWarII approach, the prison camp's Nazi PoliticalOfficer calls his girlfriend to ask her to run away with him. Scared that the phone might be tapped, she tearfully denies knowing who he is, and says he must have a wrong number.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer:'' Dawn's reaction to learning that Buffy has gotten a job as a youth councillor in her school:
-->"You understand you cannot talk to me, look at me, or hang out with any of my friends, right?"
** Spike clearly has some kind of history with Anya's old friend the vengeance demon Halfrek (to the point that she knows him as "William"), but they both deny knowing each other, out of what seems to be mutual embarrassment. As they're played by the same actress, [[{{Fanon}} one fan theory]] is that she's Cecily, the girl he wrote [[OldShame "Effulgent"]] for.
* On ''Series/TheWire'', stick-up-man Omar steals money from the Barksdale crew, then gives Proposition Joe some of the cash in exchange for Avon Barksdale's pager number. Omar then uses the number in a failed attempt on Avon's life. When setting up a parlay between Omar and Stringer, Joe wisely pretends to have never met Omar in person.
--> "Don't believe we've met; Proposition Joe. You ever steal from me, I'll kill your whole family."
* In the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One With Ross's Sandwich", the C-plot involves Pheobe and Rachel taking an evening class together but Rachel not taking it seriously. They discuss this and decide Pheobe can take Monica instead, who takes it [[NerdsLoveToughSchoolwork way too seriously]]. The ending credits play over this:
-->'''Other student''': What is ''with'' that Monica girl?
-->'''Phoebe''': I don't know. I didn't come with her.
* The Meakins' CatchPhrase in ''Series/{{Rentaghost}}'' is, whenever the Pantomime Horse starts causing havoc, to look around and say, very unconvincingly, "What a funny horse! I wonder who he belongs to?"

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''
** In the Lian Yu flashbacks, Oliver Queen is captured only to find Sara Lance, whom he assumed drowned during the sinking of the Queen's Gambit the year before, is still alive and working for his captors. She invokes this trope, telling Oliver to not reveal his real name because they'll be killed if anyone realises they know each other. Subverted when it turns out Sara has already told them who he is and she's just playing along to get Oliver to reveal further information.
** Played for laughs when Sara Lance officially returns to Starling City, though she's secretly been there for months as a masked vigilante. Sin (who worked with her during that time) glomps Sara on sight to everyone's confusion. Sin quickly makes up a story about how she always does that when people come back from the dead due to having a zombie fetish, then [[CantBelieveISaidThat rolls her eyes.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', snotty Quinn is terrified that having Daria as a sister will endanger her social status -- so the two must pretend not to be sisters. In a late episode, Quinn finally softens and admits this to her friends. Her main rival tries to make a big stink over it, but the others, Stacy and Tiffani reply, "[[EverybodyKnewAlready Oh, we knew. We were just being polite.]]"

'''Zulius:''' No, I swear that we don't, but I got nothing to prove. I've never been to Cat Valley - heard it's nice in the summer.
-->-- '''I Don't Know Him''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}''

'''Zulius:''' No, I swear that we don't, but I got nothing to prove. I’ve never been to Cat Valley - heard it’s nice in the summer.
-->--'''I Don't Know Him''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}''

->'''Zulius:''' We don't know one another\\
'''Glitter Cats:''' But you act like you do\\
'''Zulius:''' No, I swear that we don't, but I got nothing to prove. I’ve never been to Cat Valley - heard it’s nice in the summer

** Played for laughs when Sara Lance officially returns to Starling City, when she's secretly been there for months as a masked vigilante. Sin (who worked with her during that time) glomps Sara on sight to everyone's confusion. Sin quickly makes up a story about how she always does that when people come back from the dead due to having a zombie fetish, then [[CantBelieveISaidThat rolls her eyes.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. Oliver Queen is captured only to find Sara Lance, whom he assumed drowned during the sinking of the Queen's Gambit the year before, is still alive and working for his captors. She invokes this trope, telling Oliver to not reveal his real name because they'll be killed if anyone realises they know each other. Subverted when it turns out Sara has already told them who he is and she's just playing along to get Oliver to reveal further information.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' presents an interesting variation: members of the Order working in the Ministry of Magic, such as Arthur Weasley and auror Kingsley Shacklebolt pretend they don't know each other to avoid arousing suspicion, and act rather coldly to each other at work, though Arthur whispers what his wife's cooking for dinner at the Order's headquarters to him afterwards.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In the season 1 episode "Speak of the Devil", Matt decides to chat up Wilson Fisk's girlfriend Vanessa Marianna at her art gallery. While Matt is talking to her, Fisk unexpectedly shows up, and Matt has to be careful with his words to avoid letting slip that he's the guy Fisk spoke with over the police radio a few episodes earlier.

-->You understand you cannot talk to me, look at me, or hang out with any of my friends, right?

1. A spy mission or con game is in progress, and two seemingly unrelated characters chatting like friends would give away the play. If this is the first time some of these characters have appeared on the show, the audience might not be told that the characters know each other either.

2. One character denies knowing another because they think the association would reflect badly on them. This might be [[PlayedForDrama a matter of life and death]], for example if the person being blanked is an official {{unperson}} and the one doing the blanking is scared of a visit from StateSecurity. In a TeenDrama or SoapOpera, however, it's more likely that one character is just embarrassed to be seen in public with the other, and demands that they pretend not to know each other.

* In ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012]]'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]] denies knowing [[ChildhoodFriends Tifa]] [[EasyAmnesia when she asks]] because they were summoned on opposing sides.
* In ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganRonpa2'', Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama, the heir to the [[{{Yakuza}} Kuzuryuu clan]] and his bodyguard, respectively, are the only two classmates who knew each other prior to coming to Hope's Peak Academy. Kuzuryuu insists that their prior relationship never existed, and as such, Pekoyama calls him by his last name instead of "Young Master," while Kuzuryuu, instead of [[FirstNameBasis calling Pekoyama by her first name]], tends to not refer to her by name. Ultimately, however, the truth behind Kuzuryuu and Peko's relationship comes out at the end of the second trial.

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'', when Miles the wolf becomes a substitute teacher his teenage son Rockstar is show insisting to his human friends that "Mr the Wolf" is no relation.

* In the same vein as ''Mission Impossible'', ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' does this several times.

* The ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' team will often pretend not to know each other as part of a con, or even to actively be at odds with each other (in one episode, Sophie, posing as a high-ranking member of the Irish mob, pretends to ''murder'' Nate).

* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'' episodes featuring MI6 agent Michael Haggerty generally feature the slight variant of "We ''barely'' know each other", since Jessica's reaction to him showing up usually makes it quite clear to others that she recognises him from ''somewhere''.

[[folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'', snotty Quinn is terrified that having Daria as a sister will endanger her social status -- so the two must pretend not to be sisters. In a late episode, Quinn finally softens and admits this to her friends. Her main rival tries to make a big stink over it, but the others, Stacy and Tiffani reply, "[[EverybodyKnewAlready Oh, we knew. We were just being polite.]]"