It’s pretty awesome how we never know the real names of some of cinema’s most iconic characters! I hope to, one day, achieve a level of badassery that people will only know me by some dope ass alias. The mystique of a nameless character instantly makes them more appealing and goes a long way for the director when adding in some symbolism … and also saves the writer a lot of effort thinking up a name! These’re my top ten nameless characters in films:
10. He & She (Antichrist, 2009) – There’s only about three characters in this film to begin with and we spend a crazy amount of time with He and She. So much so that we’re almost like a third distant wheel on this seriously fucked up marriage despite never knowing their names!
9. Nada (They Live, 1988) – So no, Nada isn’t his name but it doesn’t matter if we know it or not! All we need to know is that this bad S.O.B has “come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass… and [he’s] all out of bubblegum.”
8. Pyramid Head (Silent Hill series, 2006-2012) – This guy is shit-the-bed scary! About 7 foot and muscly enough to make Dwayne Jonhson look like Michael Cera, you’d expect him to have a name like ‘Lord Death Killer’! But no, he doesn’t have a name so he’s been nicknamed Pyramid Head … cos … well … he has a pyramid … on his head.
7. The Black Knight (Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1975) – You think you’re tough? You’re not ‘get all your limbs cut off and still want a fight’ tough though are you? “It’s just a flesh wound.”
6. M (James Bond series, 1962-Present) – M is the codename of whoever’s the Head of the MI6, this means that there’ve been a few to don the ‘M’ mantle over the years. They’ve all been pretty cool but Judi Dench was by far the best!
5. V (V for Vendetta, 2005) – It’s fair to say that we’ve all thought about blowing up the people in parliament recently. But let’s be real, few of us could do it with as much style and charm as V.
4. Mr Pink (Reservoir Dogs, 1992) – Even though he doesn’t actually like this name, Mr Pink would rather die before you found out his real name.
3. The Narrator (Fight Club, 1999) – The Narrator is the modern-day everyman. Designed for the viewer to insert themselves into the place of the character. So, don’t worry, that pulsing urge to smash everyone’s face in is totally normal, isn’t it?
2. The Man with No Name (Dollars Trilogy, 1964-1966) – Despite getting different nicknames in each film, Clint Eastwood’s gunslinging legend of the west is just that, a legend.
Honourable mentions:
- Driver (Drive, 2011)
- Brick Top (Snatch, 2000)
- Tallahassee (Zombieland series, 2009-2019)
- XXXX (Layer Cake, 2004)
- The Bride (Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003) – Yes, I know we find out her real name, but in this film it was simply ‘The Bride’!
And finally …
- Joker (The Dark Knight, 2008) – Here he is, at the top of ANOTHER of my top ten lists! The mystery and clouded origin of Ledger’s Joker goes a long way to form the character’s allure. You can’t be worrying about this guy’s real name when he’s about to explode literal boatloads of people. With a mystery that even the world’s greatest detective, Batman, can’t solve, Joker has to be the best nameless character ever!
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