Unseen character
Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters who are never seen or heard by the audience, but only described by other characters. Radio shows and plays also feature characters who never speak, and books feature characters who are merely referred to.
Unseen Characters in Television
Hidden characters appear in all varieties of fiction, but their prevalence is in televised programs. There, a show can run for much longer than a movie or play (which are usually only a couple of hours), and unseen characters can take on special qualities. There are several levels of 'unseenness'. Most characters are never fully seen, as they are wearing clothes. However, the unseeness of a character can be in many forms. The most complete is never seen, only mentioned. This means that any qualities of the character are only in the form of descriptions given by the other characters. The second most complete is heard but not seen. This allows the character to speak for him or herself, but allows the viewers to construct their own image of what the character looks like. After that are partially seen characters, such as The Claw in Inspector Gadget, the only part of whom ever shown was his mechanical right arm. Other parts of characters can be shown, like many adult supporting characters in cartoons, who are only ever shown from the waist down to bring the perspective on the child-size stars: the typical example is the Cook in Tom and Jerry. (The Cow and Chicken show makes a parody of that by showing Mom and Dad only from the waist down and making it evident, from the shadows they cast, that it's because their bodies actually end at the the waist.)
Beyond that television show creators can become quite creative. An interesting tactic along the 'unseen character' line is that of the character who never talks, such as Teller of Penn and Teller, or Claribell the Clown in Howdy Doody. Included in this group would be Morn from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, who, while never shown speaking on screen is refered to by other characters as an incessant chatterbox and the program sometimes cuts away just as he is drawing breath to speak.
Often the last level of unseenness in a character are parts of the face. In anime, it is quite common to have an unseen character whose eyes are not shown, as they are hidden by the shadow from the character's hair. Another anime character whose eyes are never (fully) shown is Mitsune Konno from Love Hina, who is almost always squinting. She never fully opens both her eyes at any time, and is nick-named Kitsune ("Fox") for the resulting expression. Eyes can also be hidden by conventional means, such as Andy Capp's hat. Going the other way, the lower half of the face can be hidden, such as Wilson Wilson in Home Improvement.
A totally different (and somewhat more rare) kind of hidden character is a hidden object, which may be the focus of a plot line but (may) never actually be seen. Hidden objects include the mystical 'fourth flavor of ice cream' in Codename: Kids Next Door, the contents of Rabo Karabekian's potato shed in Bluebeard, and the inside of the suitcase in Pulp Fiction.
Television shows: examples
Heard but not seen
- Andy Capp's Mother-in-Law
- Carlton, the doorman on Rhoda (although he was seen in a cartoon spinoff of the show)
- Robin Masters, the novelist, on Magnum P.I.
- Peg's mother in Married... With Children. Knowing Al's criticism of her, we know she is THAT fat. Twice viewers have heard her shake herself dry (creating an impromptu earthquake) & nearly crumbled the foundation of the house for trying to turn(pieces of the ceiling fell for clues) .
- Captain Mainwaring's wife Elizabeth, in Dad's Army (only her footsteps were heard. A pronounced, downward 'bulge' is seen in the mattress above Cpt. Mainwaring, in a sleeping compartment on a train, suggesting she is a 'heavy' woman.)
- All adults on Charlie Brown cartoons (they speak unintelligibly, their voices emulated by a muted trumpet). In some of the earliest drawn cartoons, however, they could be heard speaking intelligibly, although they were never seen.
- John Beresford Tipton in The Millionaire
- White Fang and Black Tooth in The Soupy Sales Show
- The regular PA announcer in M*A*S*H
- The Village PA announcer in The Prisoner (voiced by Fenella Fielding)
- The radio announcer on Gilligan's Island
- Management on Carnivàle
- Magic Voice on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (presumably a computer)
- The Master (or 'him upstairs') on Trapdoor
- Orson, Mork's boss who he reported to at the end of every episode in Mork and Mindy.
- Curtis's cousins in the comic strip Curtis. (We hear of his vague details of them, though, during Thanksgiving week.)
- Dilbert's father in the comic strip Dilbert (However, in the TV series, we do see a part of him in one episode)
- Al, the cook at "Al's Wait & Eat" in ReBoot.
- Radio Announcer from The Adventures of Tintin.
Neither seen nor heard
(may be partially seen on rare occasions)
- Abigail in Abigail's Party (originally a stage play)
- Godot in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (originally a stage play)
- Vera, Norm Peterson's wife on Cheers (seen once with her face obscured by a thrown cake)
- Maris Crane, ex-wife of Niles Crane, on Frasier
- Bob Sacamano, Kramer's friend from Seinfeld.
- Karen's husband Stan and her children on Will & Grace
- 'Er Indoors, Arthur Daley's wife in Minder
- Mrs Axelby, Mrs Slocombe's friend in Are You Being Served?
- Diane, Agent Cooper's secretary, on Twin Peaks
- Sheridan, Mrs. Bucket's son in Keeping Up Appearances
- Mrs. Columbo, wife of Inspector Columbo in Columbo (a spin-off series entitled Mrs. Columbo was disowned by the makers of the original)
- Marion and Geoff in Marion and Geoff (In the series, the only character who appears is Keith, the pathetically optimistic ex-husband of Marion, and still best friend of Geoff who is now Marion's husband. However, an extended prequel, A Small Summer Party, was later made in which Marion and Geoff do both appear.)
- Admiral Nagumo in Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Naota Nandaba's older brother on FLCL
- Phantom Dennis on Angel (does appear on-screen, but is invisible and inaudible)
- Alex, the suicidal common friend of The Big Chill
- Consuela, Suzanne Sugarbaker's housekeeper on Designing Women
- Kitty Chumley, Sir Bernard Chumley's sister on Little Britain
- Father Bigley, who had many physical abnormalities described in passing over the course of several episodes of Father Ted
- Beverley Macca, the ex-girlfriend of Dave in The Royle Family.
- Carol, Alan's wife in I'm Alan Partridge.
- Also in I'm Alan Partridge, Fernando and Denise, Alan's children.
- Colonel Sherman Potter's wife Mildred on M*A*S*H.
- Headless Horseman, from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
- Won Ton, the hospital chief in Garth Marenghi's Darkplace.
- The ship's chef in Star Trek: Enterprise.
- Samantha the score-keeper in I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue, a long-running Radio Four comedy series.
- Serge Monsoon, Edina Monsoon's son on Absolutely Fabulous
- Al's Mother in Home Improvement
- Mrs Alf Ventress in Heartbeat.
- Tibor, Homer's scapegoat at the powerplant in The Simpsons.
- Joan Mavis Trotter, Del Boy's beloved mother in Only Fools and Horses. Del often recalls his Mum giving 'advice' to his brother Rodney, although this is usually to bribe Rodney into doing something dodgy. We hear an overvoice of Del's mum in the episode "Time on our Hands".
Heard but never completely seen
- Charlie Townsend, the head of the detective agency on Charlie's Angels (In fact, Charlie is frequently seen from behind, except in the series finale where he appears in Surgeons mask and outfit.)
- Mom and Dad in Cow and Chicken. They are only ever seen from the waist down. In fact, Cow and Chicken makes a big joke of the idea of the Unseen Character, as it repeatedly implies that Mom and Dad genuinely have no upper body (in an episode after Cow woke up from nightmare that had Weasel & Babboon in I Am Weasel as well as the common generic character Red Heiny) .
- J. P. Pembrook in Fox Trot (only hands visible resting on desk)
- Big Al in Police Squad and The Naked Gun (he is so tall his face is always cut off by the top of the screen)
- "Nanny" in Muppet Babies (like Big Al, her face is always cut off by the top of the screen, since the series is presented from a child's-eye view)
- Miss Sara Bellum in The Powerpuff Girls (her face is either above the screen like Big Al's or otherwise obscured)
- Dr. Claw in the Inspector Gadget cartoon series, who is always seated in a high-backed chair, facing away from the camera; only his fore arms and hands are ever seen. This is a deliberate spoof of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the villain in the early James Bond films, whose face was not seen until the fifth movie in that series, You Only Live Twice.
- Victor Lewis-Smith in Inside Victor Lewis-Smith (possibly the only series whose star is never seen clearly; he or a body double appears wreathed in bandages after a car crash in the opening scene; he is also seen in highly distorted close-ups while making crank phone calls)
- "Troy", the extra-terrestrial father in Out of This World. Voiced by Burt Reynolds.
- Alistair Crane on the NBC soap Passions
- David Tatsyrup on The League of Gentlemen (while he is seen as a normal human character at the end of the first series, he has become some kind of unseen beast in the attic of the local shop come series two)
- George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, speaks to his employee George Costanza on Seinfeld, but only the back of his unmoving head is ever seen. Voiced by Larry David.
- Amber Klein, Marsha's daughter in Spaced
- Mammy Two-Shoes in Tom and Jerry cartoons.
- Roy Mallard, played by Chris Langham: presenter of the spoof documentary People Like Us. A slight send-up of the "unseen character" concept, as some part of him (often one hand) gets in shot in every episode. In one episode, his full-length reflection is seen in a mirrored window.
- R.L., Kell's boss in Kevin and Kell. Only his drooling muzzle is ever seen.
- Wilson, the wise neighbor in Home Improvement, who is always seen with half of his face obscured, usually by a fence. Except in the series finale episode where his less than perfectly photogenic face was fully exposed.
- Sham-Fu the Magician, from Looney Tunes.
Unseen characters who were spoken of for a long time and then eventually seen
- Mary Jane Watson in the Spider Man comic book series
- Frasier's mother, on Frasier (she appeared in Cheers anyway)
- Number One on The Prisoner (debated)
- Fran's father, Morty on The Nanny who was unseen or heard from until the final season, when he suddenly appeared during the final season of the show, played by Steve Lawrence. Previously, all you saw was the toupee on the back of his head.
- Emily, the "other sister" on Empty Nest, who was often spoken of, but never seen or heard during all the early years the show was on the air. Then several seasons later, Kristy McNicholl's character left the show, and Emily suddenly appeared and became a regular on the show.
- The Big Giant Head on 3rd Rock from the Sun was unseen for several seasons but finally appeared, played by William Shatner.
- "Daddy" from Keeping Up Appearances . He is almost perpetually asleep, however, thus maintaining a certain air of 'unseenness'.
- Clive from Men Behaving Badly. An old friend of Gary's, he was mentioned several times, and finally appeared at Gary and Dorothy's wedding, albeit behind a camcorder.
- Sir Royston Merchant from Drop the Dead Donkey. As the tycoon owner of Globelink, he was mentioned in practically every episode, but never seen. Phone conversations with him sometimes took place, but could only be heard from the side of one of the characters. He was finally seen in the very last episode of the series, when Gus Hedges broke into his house to confront him. He was played by Roger Hammond.
- Field Marshal Haig, being a prominent figure of the First World War, was mentioned several times in the series Blackadder Goes Forth, and was actually seen in the final episode, played by Geoffrey Palmer.
- Wilson, the Taylors' neighbor, in Home Improvement. His face is seen only in the last episode, having previously been always obscured (from the nose down) by picket fence or various other props. Played by Earl Hindman.
- The Ugly Naked Guy, a fat and ugly nudist living opposite Monica and Rachel's apartment in Friends. The gang always commented on what they saw him do through the apartment's window. He was finally seen when he moved out and Ross visited him to persuade him into giving him his apartment. Even then, we only saw his (naked) back and he did not speak.
- Mr Bell on The Drew Carey Show (Seen only in his final appearance)
- Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald, on the soap opera Passions. She was seen after five years of references.
- Jenny Piccalo on Happy Days was only talked about before she became a series regular.
- Naraku, from Inuyasha. The early episodes show him wearing the skin of some sort of animal, thus hiding him from view.
- Gary, the owner of the shoe store that Al Bundy from Married with Children was seen once in the first season in the 12th episode. It's not until the ninth season, that Gary is seen again. However, this Gary is a woman.
Stage plays: examples
Movies
- The hunter in Bambi
- Charlie in Charlie's Angels
- Oscar -- The entire movie revolves around the title character, a chauffeur. But he makes his appearance only in the last scene.
- Bill in Kill Bill vol. 1 -- only his arms or legs are shown. He is later seen full-bodied in Kill Bill vol. 2.
Comic Strips and Graphic Novels
