Basic Trope: A character's name is not given.
- Straight: A character spends the entire duration of the work without being named.
- Exaggerated:
- The character becomes extremely famous, while still not revealing her name.
- Nameless Narrative
- Downplayed:
- He doesn't have a name, but he has a title, such as The Doctor.
- His name is mentioned in the credits.
- A line of men are identified as Alan, Bob, Charlie, David, Edward, and Frank, but who is who is never established.
- Alice Smith's brother is implied to share her surname, as she isn't married.
- Justified:
- The story features nefarious spells that can be cast on people by just knowing their names. By concealing his/her name, the character is immune to this kind of magic.
- The story is a government report or something similar, and the name is redacted to protect the hero's identity.
- or the character is a suspect who may be hatless. The police welcomes any information you may have.
- Alternatively, Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep".
- The character's parents never gave him/her an actual name, nor did s/he get a name later on.
- The character does have a name but doesn't want to reveal it.
- The character doesn't remember his name, or anything at all.
- Inverted:
- I Have Many Names.
- Joe is the only person with a name.
- Within a Nameless Narrative, Joseph is the only character to have a name, period. Everyone else is nameless.
- Subverted: Another character remarks how mysterious it is that the character has No Name Given ... "My name? Oh, sorry! It's Bob."
- Double Subverted: He quickly admits he was lying.
- Parodied:
- "My name is Not Given." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Given."
- His name is (implied to be) said or shown, but is always bleeped out, censored, or cut off by liberal use of Sound Effect Bleeps, Hard Cuts, and Killed Mid-Sentence.
- Zig-Zagged: As many times as the name might have been revealed, it's also revealed as a lie each of those times. Maybe...
- Averted: The character introduces themselves with their name.
- Enforced:
- The character's name is bleeped out every time it's spoken.
- The writers couldn't be bothered to come up with a name for the character.
- Lampshaded: "Some mysterious, shady, no-name guy."
- Invoked: A character refuses to tell anyone his name, not in a serious effort to protect his identity, but simply because being the Man with No Name is so very enigmatic and badass.
- Exploited: The nameless character is the ideal person to run not-so-quotidian errands.
- Defied: The main character wears a shirt with her name on it.
- Discussed: "What's the big idea not telling anybody your name? It's not like people don't recognize you anyway."
- Conversed: "It would be cool to be one of those movie characters who doesn't tell anyone their name. But I bet it's hard to get a bank account."
- Deconstructed:
- The character has to live completely off the grid to maintain their anonymity, and the authorities are extremely suspicious of their lack of any identification. They're generally mistrusted by other people as well, and can't form any close relationships unless it's with a single loyal Secret-Keeper.
- Because the person is nameless or doesn't have their names disclosed, they suffer through a tremendously difficult life. Most other people call out the person for being rude and hypocritical, as they give out their names, but the character doesn't.
- Reconstructed: Their anonymous existence allows them to stay off the radar of a totalitarian government, and the few people they trust enough to reveal their name to know they're part of a highly exclusive circle of friends.
- Implied: This character is the only one we don't see introduced when multiple Five Man Bands meet and decide to co-operate.
- Played for Laughs:
- The character gives what everyone else presumes is an alias but may be a Real Joke Name.
- The character's name being unknown and/or The Un-Reveals involved are Running Gags for the series.
- Played for Drama: The character's name not being known makes her feel like she has less of an identity than other people do.
- Played for Horror: The character is The Dreaded, and other people don't even have a name to attach to their fears, which is even scarier than a mere Speak of the Devil scenario.
- Intended Audience Reaction: The character is being used to satirise people in that and similar situations as just like cogs in a machine.
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