Wikipedia:

unseen character

Television shows and stage plays sometimes include continuing characters — characters who are currently in frequent interaction with the other characters and who influence current story events — who are never seen or heard by the audience and only described by other characters. Often this starts as or evolves into a running gag or inside joke. Radio shows and plays also feature characters who never speak, and books feature characters who are merely referred to. Hidden characters appear in all varieties of fiction, but their prevalence is in televised programs. These can run for much longer than a movie or play (which usually last only a couple of hours), and unseen characters can take on special qualities.

Unseen characters in television history

Never seen, only mentioned

There are several levels of "unseenness." The most complete is never seen, only mentioned (sometimes pointed to, off screen), like Niles' wife Maris on Frasier. This means that any qualities of the character are only in the form of descriptions given by the other characters.

The earliest example of an unseen and unheard television character was Gladys Potter on the 1950s TV series December Bride; regular character Pete Potter, played by Harry Morgan, constantly complained about his wife Gladys, but she was never seen on that show. She was, however, featured in the later spin-off series Pete & Gladys.

Because these character exist only through the testimonies of the regular cast, writers often use this strange existence as a device for verbal irony. Unseen characters generally exhibit outlandish behavior, such as pursuing bizarre hobbies (ex. in Kenan & Kel, Kel's mother seems to have a fascination with shaving things) or doing things that are outright ridiculous and sometimes downright impossible (ex. in Mama's Family, Iola Boyland's immensely obese mother is able to chase down ice cream trucks when sufficiently hungry). Similarly, in Home Improvement, Al Borland's mother is often referred to as obese and having man-like qualities, but is never seen or heard on-screen.

The second most common phenomenon in this category is viewers to construct their own image of what the character looks like. The wife of Rocky King on the 1950-54 Dumont series Rocky King, Inside Detective is the earliest TV example of this. Rocky would often speak to his wife from one room, while she was busy in another. Her offscreen replies to Rocky were all the audience would ever experience of Mrs. King. (For a time, Rocky also had a son, Rocky, Jr., who was an offscreen voice as well).

The sitcom Friends often made mention of a former roommate, Kip, who was replaced by Joey. He is mentioned regularly on the show, but never appears in image or voice. The spinoff Suddenly Susan was created after Brooke Shields's character leaves her fiancé Kip at the alter. This Kip was shunned by his friends and roomies after moving out, a storyline very similar to the Friends' Kip. While never stated that they are one in the same, the two programs do exist in the same fictional universe.

In Hannah Montana, main character, Miley Stewart has many relatives who live in Tennessee; Such as Uncle Earl and Aunt Pearl. These people are often described as being total hillbillies; however, they are never seen.

In Degrassi: The Next Generation, Heather Sinclair is a student often talked about by the characters, but never actually seen. However, in the episode Neutron Dance, she is seen from a distance with her face blocked and there is a website featuring her voice.

Partially seen characters

After that are partially seen characters, such as Dr. Claw in Inspector Gadget, the only part of whom ever shown was his mechanical arms. 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 was Mammy Two-Shoes in Tom and Jerry. The Cow and Chicken show parodies this particular convention of unseen characters with the characters of Mom and Dad, whose bodies actually have no upper half.

Perhaps the earliest "partially seen character" was in the now TV police drama The Plainclothesman, a Dumont show which ran from 1949-1954. The show was filmed from the point of view of the lead character, known only as The Lieutenant (played by Ken Lynch). Aside from brief glimpses in mirrors, or shots of his hand picking up a "clue", The Lieutenant was not seen, and he was never seen in full until a flashback episode aired in 1952.

Another early example of a perhaps more traditional "partially seen" character was that of John Beresford Tipton, on the 1950s series The Millionaire. Tipton (voiced by Paul Frees) was heard at the beginning of every episode giving instructions to his assistant Michael Anthony. However, the audience only ever saw the back of Tipton's head as he was seated in a chair.

One of the more famous examples is the character Wilson from the '90s television comedy Home Improvement starring Tim Allen. Over time, we saw most of Wilson, especially from the nose up, but we never saw his mouth. The fact that Wilson's mouth was always obscured became something of a running gag in the series, and was even parodied in the show's opening credits.

In the powerpuff girls, the Mayor's assitant, Miss Bellum, is shown from the neck down, including most of her curly red hair, But her face is never shown.

Another one is Diana from the Hitman series of videogames. Her body may be shown, but her face never is.

Unseen characters in United Kingdom television

The best-known unseen character in British television was Elizabeth, the wife of Captain Mainwaring, the main character in Dad's Army; not showing her added a touch of whimsical fantasy to the programme. In The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, Reggie's mother-in-law is never seen, but Reggie keeps thinking of her as a hippopotamus. In Are You Being Served? the action almost never left the department store, so the odd mention of the characters' lives outside the store tended to include unseen characters. The scriptwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais included a large number of minor unseen characters in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge, in the form of people the leading characters had known earlier in their lives who were mentioned briefly. In hit sitcom Fawlty Towers, Sybil's best friend Audrey was only ever referred to, or in contact with Sybil Fawlty through telephone calls, but later appeared in the penultimate episode, played by Christine Shaw.

Television programs

Heard but never seen

  • Batman: the voice of Bonnie, the unseen (and even uncredited) receptionist of Gotham City Police Headquarters, is often heard through the intercom in Commissioner Gordon's office.
  • Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: the Mysterons.
  • Charlie's Angels: Charlie was heard but not seen.
  • The Cramp Twins: Dirty Joe.
  • Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines: "The General" (his arm can sometimes be seen reaching through Dastardly's telephone receiver to inflict discipline)
  • Deal or No Deal (UK): the Banker, who gives Noel Edmonds his bids for the contestant's box, is never seen and often unheard. On occasions, Noel has held the telephone up to his microphone and we have heard the Banker laughing. Many contestants have spoken directly to the Banker.
  • Degrassi Junior High: Mr. Lawrence, the school principal, is always heard on the P.A. announcements, and occasionally when speaking to students as they're leaving his office.
  • GI JOE: Cobra Commander had most of his face eventually revealed in the Marvel comic book series, and in the animated film. However, the face of Destro was only revealed in the comic book series.
  • .hack//Sign and .hack in general: Morganna is also known as "The Voice", which seems to come from nowhere. It is later hinted that she is actually The World's environment.
  • Home Improvement: Alma Borland, Al's mother.
  • How I Met Your Mother: Ted, Josh Radnor's character's older self in 2030, voiced by Bob Saget.
  • Kappa Mikey: Gonard's Mother lives in Gonard's apartment, but is never seen. Her voice is heard on two separate occasions.
  • Kerching!: Carlton, the restaurant owner, is heard in every episode speaking to his employees through speakers but is never shown on camera.
  • Laverne and Shirley: Mr. Shotz, the boss of Shotz Brewery. His voice is heard over the loudspeaker.
  • Little Britain: Margaret, wife of Roy the shopkeeper.
  • Magnum P.I.: Robin Masters (Orson Welles) the owner of Robin's Nest where Magnum lived, was never seen in the course of the show, although his voice was heard briefly on an answering machine. In the final episode, it is implied that Higgins is really Masters.
  • Married... with Children: Peg's mother (voice of Kathleen Freeman). According to Al's criticism of her, she is grotesquely obese. Twice viewers have heard her shake herself dry (creating an impromptu earthquake) and nearly crumbled the foundation of the house for trying to turn (pieces of the ceiling fell for clues) . Plus, at the end of one episode, the viewer sees a giant shadow coming at Al & his friends (with Al shaking his fist at her, irritated).
  • Matlock Police (an Australian police drama): all the regular characters communicated with radio operator Shirl. Her voice was regularly heard by viewers over the radio, yet she was never seen. In the show's final episode the radio signal broke up and the camera cut to a shot of her for the first time. However the actor shown, Margaret Cruikshank, had not actually provided Shirl's voice in earlier episodes.
  • Megas XLR: Coop's mother.
  • The Millionaire: John Beresford Tipton (voice of Paul Frees) — only the back of his head, seated in a chair, was ever shown.
  • Mission: Impossible: in the original TV series, the unidentified government official who gives Mr. Briggs (later Mr. Phelps) his assignment via self-destructing audio tapes and other devices.
  • Mork & Mindy: Orson, the superior to whom Mork reported at the end of every episode.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000: Magic Voice (presumably a computer).
  • Naruto: Sakura Haruno's mother.
  • Now and Again: Roger Bender's overbearing wife Ruth (voiced by an uncredited Christine Baranski).
  • Passions: Tabitha's cat Fluffy.
  • Peanuts comic strips and animated cartoons: all adults; they speak unintelligibly, their voices emulated by a muted trombone. In some of the earliest drawn cartoons, however, they could be seen speaking intelligibly, and occasionally appeared in partial or full figure.
  • The Prisoner: the Village announcer heard over the public address system, voiced by Fenella Fielding but uncredited.
  • Pulkkinen (Finnish TV series): the show's head character Pulkkinen accuses his friend Koponen of doing mistakes or various things Pulkkinen himself had done. Koponen is never seen by the audience.
  • ReBoot: Al, the cook at "Al's Wait & Eat". (However, in one episode he is shown tied up and completely covered in rope, and his form resembles that of a 1 binome)
  • Rhoda: Carlton the Doorman (voiced by Lorenzo Music). (However, in one episode his hand was visible on the knob of a partly opened door, but he withdrew instead of entering. Carlton was also once seen in animated form in the 1980 cartoon special Carlton Your Doorman. )
  • Salute Your Shorts: Dr. Kahn, the director of Camp Anawana, is heard over the PA system nearly every episode but is never seen. The characters, who also seem to have never seen him either, sometimes muse about what he might look like.
  • Seinfeld:The Bubble Boy- Only his arms (in plastic tubes) are shown. Also, The Ugly Baby is never seen, and George Steinbrenner is only seen from behind or in silhouette.
  • The Crust: Jack, the second delivery boy, is always heard through a radio. However, one episode shows him holding a giant stack of pizzas, but his face is covered over by both the bicycle helmet and the same stack of pizzas.
  • The Soupy Sales Show: White Fang and Black Tooth in (seen as hand gloves of a dog paw, worn by Clyde Adler, who also supplied their voices).
  • The Super Dave Osborne Show: The Super Dave Band are always heard playing the opening music, but when it comes time for them to appear on camera, they're always somehow doing a bar mitzvah, and send out a Jamaican steel drum band in their place, who only know how to play the Barry Manilow song "Copacabana".
  • Trailer Park Boys: Danny, a resident of Sunnyvale Trailer Park, who can be heard often yelling out the profane exclamation "What in the fuck!?" even during scenes where he can not possibly be present.
  • The Trap Door: The Thing Upstairs.
  • Von Drake cartoons: Ludwig Von Drake's mother.
  • The Waltons:
    • Adult John-Boy, who was voiced by the show's creator, Earl Hamner Jr., narrator of the story. John-Boy was modeled after Earl.
  • The Wayans Bros.: Shawn and Marlon's mother was never seen.
  • The Weekenders: Chloe Montez.
  • The Young And The Restless:
    • Back in the late 1990s, a mysterious lady invited Cole, Victoria, Ryan, and Nina to the collinade room. When they were all gathered, the lady spoke to them only from the speaker phone. It was never revealed who the lady was and why she gathered all 4 of them to a meeting.
  • Most babies in shows are rarely seen. They are usually only shown with a blanket over them, which is actually a baby-doll. When a baby is heard crying, it is from a sound-effects machine.

Never seen or heard

(may be partially seen on rare occasions)

  • Abigail's Party (play by Mike Leigh): Abigail.
  • Alias: Milo Rambaldi, a homo universalis of the Renaissance, artist, alchemist, engineer and mystic, served as chief architect to Pope Alexander VI. As he lived in the 15th century, he is reasonably unseen. However, being a central character of the story, one could assume he would appear in flashbacks or paintings. He did actually appear in episode 1x17, "Q & A", albeit briefly and obscurely.
  • ALF
    • Many of ALF's (Gordon Schumway) Family and Friends from Melmac.
    • Willie Tanner's Parents and Kate's late Father.
  • All in the Family:
    • Mabell Hefner, Barney's first wife. She was rarely mentioned from 1974 until late in 1976 when she left Barney. They divorced and Barney married again in 1977.
    • Cousin Oscar, who entered the Bunker household in desperate need and stayed over for three weeks until he died on Archie's bed, prompting Archie to give a funeral.
  • The Andy Griffith Show:
    • Barney Fife's occasional fling, Juanita. She is spoken to by Barney (but never heard) in telephone conversations, usually overheard by Andy or Opie to Barney's chagrin.
    • Sarah, the Mayberry telephone operator.
  • Animaniacs: Colin occasionally speaks to the audience and tells improbable stories about his friend Randy Beaman, who may or may not really exist.
  • Are You Being Served?: Mrs Slocombe's friend Mrs Axelby.
  • Arrested Development: Tracy, the late wife of Michael Bluth and mother of George Michael Bluth. She and Michael were married in 1989. Tracy died of ovarian cancer before the events of the show. She is alluded to often, but despite the show's frequent use of flashbacks, she has never been shown onscreen.
  • Beavis and Butt-head: both of the boys' mothers.
  • Becker: Lewis Wyborn, husband of head nurse Margaret.
  • Benson: Jeanine who's the ex-wife of Pete Downey after their separation.
  • The Bold And The Beautiful:
    • John Forrester, brother of Eric, Father of Jessica, former Husband of Maggie(Barbara Crampton).
  • Bottom: Ethel Cardew, Eddie's paramour.
  • The Brady Bunch:
    • The Ditmeyer family, neighbors to the Bradys, were frequently mentioned but never seen. Only Mr. Ditmeyer's face was shown briefly in one episode. In The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), all of the Ditmeyers were shown (they were the stereotypical dysfunctional American family). Mr. Ditmeyer was the film's villain.
  • The Brittas Empire: Carole's twins. While her older child Ben was seen on rare occasions, the twins never were.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Ira Rosenberg, Willow's father.
  • The Carol Burnett Show: Carl Harper, Thelma's husband in the Mama's Family sketches. He was always in the bathroom. He was deceased by the time Mama's Family premiered and was only mentioned.
  • Charlie and Lola: All parents are never seen in this children's series, though children say sentences like "Mom took us to the park."
  • Chucklevision: Dan The Van is never seen apart from once when you see his hand come out of a car window and when he is covered head to toe in bandages. When ever we hear him speak, it comes out as grunts.
  • Columbo: Lieutenant Columbo's wife. (A spin-off series titled Kate Columbo was not endorsed by the makers of the original; later plot divergences in the spinoff indicated that this Mrs. Columbo was not actually Lieutenant Columbo's spouse.)
  • The Cosby Show: Kenny's Brother
  • Count Duckula: Heinrich, Dr Von Goosewing's assistant
  • Dad's Army: Captain Mainwaring's wife Elizabeth. We did hear her footsteps on one occasion. Also a pronounced downward 'bulge' is seen in the mattress above Cpt. Mainwaring when they are sleeping in an air-raid shelter, presumably her large rear end.
  • Degrassi: The Next Generation: Heather Sinclair is frequently mentioned but has never actually been seen or heard, a fact that is one of the show's running jokes.
  • Designing Women: Consuela, Suzanne Sugarbaker's housekeeper.
  • Diff'rent Strokes: The Gooch, Arnold Jackson's long-time nemesis (although his growl was heard over the phone in the second season episode "Return of the Gooch").
  • Donkey Kong Country: Bluster Kong's mother.
  • Doug: Mr. Butsavich, Doug Funnie's principal.
  • Dragon Tales: Max and Emmy's parents can be heard from off screen, but never really appear to the viewers.
  • Drawn Together: Foxxy Love's son Timmy. Foxxy mentions Timmy many times, each time implying a different tragic fate he supposedly suffered. The child's true fate is unknown.
  • The Dukes of Hazzard: it is not clear whether Boss Hogg's nephews Hughey and Dewey are sons of Boss Hogg's twin brother Abraham Lincoln Hogg or of another unnamed brother.
  • Early Doors: Gyro Jim, a trickster and con-artist. His exploits are often mentioned by characters; for example, when he works at a cinema, he places the L and I of "Clint Eastwood" too close together on the marquee.
  • Eastenders: Mr Oupadoupoulos, the laundrette owner
  • ECW: Joey Numbers. Colour commentator, Tazz, frequently makes mention of his "friend from back in the neighborhood."
  • Ed, Edd n Eddy:
    • all adults.
    • Eddy's brother. Best known for achieving everything Eddy miserably fails at on a constant basis. Feared by many kids of the cul-de-sac. Other unseen characters include Rolf's parents and Nana, Ed's mother, their teacher and principal, Double D's parents, and Gerta.
  • Dame Edna Everage's husband Norm, daughter Valmai, and sons Bruce and Kenneth.
  • Empty Nest: Laverne's husband, who later divorces her.
  • Ernest P. Worrell's neighbor Vern, in the various "Ernest" productions. (The original Ernest commercials were shot from Vern's first-person viewpoint, with Ernest speaking directly to the camera while addressing Vern.)
  • Eureka Seven: Renton Thurston's mother was never seen or heard from, but she was in fact only mentioned once in the anime series.
  • The Facts of Life: Roger, Nancy Olsen's boyfriend, whom she often mentions and talks to on the phone.
  • Family Matters: Steve Urkel's parents, Herb and Diane Urkel. (His mother's voice is heard in one episode.) Carl Winslow's father and Estelle Winslow's husband, Sam Winslow, died before the show began, and is mentioned several times in the series but never shown.
  • Father Ted:
    • Mrs Doyle's husband.
    • Father Bigley, who had many physical abnormalities described in passing over the course of several episodes. He was deliberately created as a composite for the viewer.
  • The Flowerpot Men: The man who worked in the garden, whose absence in the house for dinner enabled Bill and Ben to come out and play with the Little Weed.
  • FLCL: Naota Nandaba's older brother Tasuku.
  • Fraggle Rock: Ned Shimmelfinny, Doc's neighbor.
  • Frasier: Maris Crane, wife (and later ex-wife) of Niles Crane. While the producers once planned to reveal her, the list of Maris's unusual attributes and characteristics became so long that — despite plotlines as far-reaching as a murder — Maris was ultimately kept off screen. She is reported to have changed from excessively thin to excessively obese.
  • Friends: Denise, Phoebe's roommate.
  • Full House:
    • Kimmy Gibbler's family. D.J. mentioned Kimmy's having three sisters on the pilot episode. Also mentioned was a brother named Garth, as well as her parents.
    • Danny's father was only mentioned over the years, but never seen on the show. It is never mentioned if he is living or dead.
    • Danny's brother, father of his nephew, Steve (played by Kirk Cameron).
  • Garth Marenghi's Darkplace: Won Ton, the hospital chief.
  • Giant Robo (anime): Chief Strategist Otsuka and six other members of the Big Nine. It is made clear that Taiso and Chief Chujo are members of the Big Nine and so is Chief Strategist Otsuka however we never see Otsuka and are told nothing of the other members of the group. This is in stark contrast to the fact that we meet all ten of the Big Nine's rival group The Magnificient Ten.
  • Gilmore Girls: Al, of Al's Pancake World.
  • The Golden Girls:
  • The Good Life: Miss Mountshaft, leader of a music society of which Margo Leadbetter is a member, and the corpulent Mrs Dooms-Pattison, both often joked about by Tom and Barbara.
  • Goodnight Sweetheart: PC Reg Dedman's wife Minnie in the early series; Yvonne Sparrow's business partner Clive in the later series.
  • Grange Hill: in the 29th Series, students Abel Benson and Patrick 'Togger' Johnson talked about their girlfriends, the Marsham twins. The twins never appeared but were referenced to in almost every episode.
  • Green Wing: Harriet Schulenburg's family in are mentioned in every episode. Her husband Ian is never seen. Her children sometimes appear for short moments. In one episode in series 2, seven-year-old Robbie comes into work with Harriet, and starts to mess up the office. Another character, Guyball player Markus Guisler, "The Big Austrian", is often mentioned by Guy Secretan, but never appears. For more see Recurring guest characters in Green Wing.
  • Hannah Montana: Uncle Earl, a Stewart family relative, who is often referenced in gross comparison jokes.
  • Happy Days:
    • Marion Cunningham's sister, who is the mother of Roger and Flip Phillips.
    • Richie's and Lori Beth's second child. Lori Beth is very pregnant when she and Ritchie return home during the last season. At the last episode, she is no longer pregnant, but the baby isn't seen. It isn't even mentioned in the show if she had a boy or girl.
    • the Hooper triplets, who often jointly dated Fonzie.
  • Harry Enfield's Television Programme: Maureen, the supposed wife of Leslie Norris, the absent-minded barman. Leslie is forgetful to the point that he is frequently reminded that he isn't married, often after he has hailed his good lady wife to assist him in the running of the normally empty bar.
  • Heartbeat: Mrs Alf Ventress.
  • Hi-De-Hi: Miss Cathcart, Peggy's boss.
  • Hill Street Blues: Mick Belker's mother. He spoke to her on the phone in almost every episode in the first seasons, but she was never seen.
  • Hogan's Heroes (set in a German stalag during World War Two) retroactively acquired an unseen unheard character when the series was dubbed into German for transmission on German television. The dialogue was rewritten to make frequent references to Kalinke, the sexy chambermaid who attends to the quarters of Colonel Klink, the stalag's commandant. Kalinke was never mentioned in the dialogue of the original series. Kalinke is not the same character as Fräulein Hilda, Colonel Klink's sexy secretary, who appeared onscreen in many episodes.
  • Jim Henson's Hoobs: Aunti Hatty Hoob.
  • House: Dr. Wilson's 3rd wife, often mentioned.
  • I'm Alan Partridge: Alan's wife Carol and children Fernando and Denise.
  • Judging Amy: Richard, Maxine's estranged brother and Kyle's father. He is alluded to in several episodes, and we learn that he is a respected and well-off doctor. He eventually dies during the show's last season, never having been seen or heard.
  • Keeping Up Appearances: Sheridan, Hyacinth Bucket's son, though his mother frequently had conversations with him by telephone and, on one occasion, a taxi bearing Sheridan was seen driving away from the Buckets' front drive to his mother's evident distress.
  • Kenan and Kel: Chris' mother.
  • Kingswood Country: Ted Bullpit kept two greyhounds, but although the dogs were referenced frequently, they were never seen.
  • Die Kommissarin (a German detective series): Jonathan, inspector Lea Sommer's boyfriend.
  • Last of the Summer Wine: Truly's and Clegg's ex-wives.
  • Laverne and Shirley: Shirley's new husband, Walter Meanie, whom she married at the beginning of the 8th and final season. He was only seen fully covered up like a mummy in the hospital where the wedding was held. Never spoke. Just blinked when it was his turn to say "I Do". And the actor who portrayed him was uncredited.
  • Law & Order: The ex-wives of Lennie Briscoe and probably Detective John Munch, often mentioned by them.
  • Leave It to Beaver: Larry Mondello's father and sister. His mother often mentions his father as being out of town on business; his sister is less often mentioned, but is also never seen.
  • Little Britain: Kitty Chumley, Sir Bernard Chumley's sister.
  • Little House On The Prairie:
    • Caroline's Aunt Tess, whom She spoke to on the telephone on the 2 hour finale "The Last Farewell". She took care of the Kids at Charles and Caroline's house while Charles and Caroline visited Walnut Grove.
  • Lois and Clark: Perry White's wife is constantly mentioned but never seen.
  • Mama's Family:
    • Iola Boyland's mother and father (referred to as "Mother" and "Daddy", respectively).
    • Vint's first wife Mitzi; Ellen's husband Bruce.
  • Marion and Geoff: the title characters. (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.)
  • The Mary Tyler Moore Show: Lars Lindstrom, husband of Phyllis. When Phyllis got her own spin-off show, the pilot episode revolved around the death of Lars.
  • M*A*S*H: Sparky, the army operator through whom Radar connects calls. (Could be a generic nickname shared by several such operators.)
  • Me and My Girl: Muriel Yates, wife of Derek Yates.
  • Minder: 'Er Indoors, Arthur Daley's wife.
  • Monty Python's Flying Circus: in episode 41, Chris Quinn (Eric Idle) wanders through a department store and is repeatedly mistaken for Michael Ellis, whose name is also mentioned on the loudspeaker. A store assistant (Terry Jones offers a choice of several endings to the episode, mentioning that "there is one that ties up the whole Michael Ellis thing, but . . . ."
  • Ein Mord für Quandt (a German detective show): Detective Quandt's superior.
  • My Hero: Mrs. Raven's triplets. She is sometimes seen arguing with them over the phone. She once showed a photograph of the Triplets to George to prove that they really are "that bad"; the audience get a very VERY brief glimpse of the photo (don't blink or you'll miss it.)
  • My Life as a Teenage Robot: Brad and Tuck Carbunkle's parents.
  • My So-Called Life: Tino, supplier of Chinese food to Rayanne and Rickie.
  • Naruto: Naruto Uzumaki's parents.
  • The O.C.:
    • Gloria, Summer's stepmother (or "stepmonster"). Eventually Gloria divorces Summer's father in season three.
    • Gus, an oddball resident of the trailer park where Julie Cooper and her daughters live during part of season three.
  • The Office : Anton, a height deficient workhouse employee, who is criticized in an on-going joke that he is not qualified to be driving a forklift truck. In a famous scene, another workhouse employee is outraged when he is fired instead of Anton.
  • One Foot in the Grave: the mother of Nick Swainey, neighbour to Victor Meldrew - a clear reference to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Mrs Warboys' husband Chris was another unseen character from this show.
  • Only Fools and Horses:
    • Joan Mavis Trotter, Del Boy's beloved mother. 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".
    • Monkey Harris and Paddy the Greek, both mentioned as contacts of Del. Also the Chinese kid who can apparently fix video recorders, aka "that stupid Chinese kid". Also various others.
  • Open All Hours: Nurse Gladys Emmanuel's mother.
  • Our House:
    • Joe Kaplan's wife Gladys.
    • Gus's late wife, Mary, who is only seen in pictures.
  • Perfect Strangers: Balki's uncle Stavros from Mypos is mentioned frequently but never seen.
  • Phil of the Future: Principal Tillywhack of H.G. Wells Jr./Sr. High School.
  • Quantum Leap: Nearly all the People Sam leaps into, only being seen as reflections in the mirror, since Sam was seen as the Person He leaps into. Some of the leapees are shown from the waiting room in the Future in Sam's body.
  • The Red Green Show has numerous unseen, but regularly mentioned characters, including Stinky Peterson, Junior Singleton, Moose Thompson, Buster Hadfield, Old Man Sedgwick, Flinty McLintock, Wally "Kickback" Kibbler (Red's rival in high school and the mayor of Possum Lake), and Red's wife Bernice.
  • Rent (musical and film adaptation): Alison (aka 'Muffy'), Benny Coffin III's wife.
  • The Royle Family:
    • Beverley Macker, the ex-girlfriend of Dave (her brother Tony is also unseen, is a friend of Dave's and is occasionally mentioned).
    • Duckers, a strange and dodgey character who lives in the neighbourhood.
    • Elsie, Nana's best friend (one episode in Series 3 is focussed on Nana's grieving when Elsie dies)
  • Samson en Gert: numerous characters: Bobientje, Marlèneke, Jean-Louis Michel, Fred Kroket, Alberto's mother, Marie, Boer Teun and Basil.
  • Sanford and Son; Fred Sanford's deceased wife, Elizabeth.
  • Scrubs:
    • Dr. Bob Kelso's wife Enid is never seen in full, although he constantly complains about her. She apparently is obese and unattractive. She is actually seen once in a flashback, as a foxy nurse in the hospital, presumably before her marriage to Dr. Kelso. The couple has a son, also a partially unseen character (shown in a photograph in one episode), who is flamoyantly gay.
    • Dr. Elliot Reid's brother Barry. We know little about Barry other than the fact that he is gay.
  • SeaChange: Bucket, a local fisherman. He possibly has several artificial limbs, and definitely has a body odor problem. He is also constantly involved in practical jokes and scams.
  • SeaQuest DSV: Captain Nathan Bridger's son, Robert Bridger, who had originally been believed to be dead in the pilot episode, is later revealed to have faked his death and goes on to have a son named Michael; who later is taken into the custody of Nathan.
  • Seinfeld:
    • Kramer's friends Bob Sacamano and Lomez.
    • Cousin Jeffrey, Jerry's cousin, whom Uncle Leo (Jeffrey's father) was always raving about. He worked for the NYC Parks Department. He once got Jerry tickets to a Paul Simon concert, and a glasses-less George once claimed to see Jeffrey kissing Jerry's girlfriend; it turned out to be a horse.
  • Sesame Street: Charlie, the proprietor of Charlie's Restaurant. In a long-running series of sketches, Grover works at Charlie's Restaurant as a waiter who always gives poor service to a blue Muppet known as "Fat Blue".
  • The Simpsons: Tibor, Homer's scapegoat at the powerplant.
  • The Smoking Room: Ranjit.
  • The Sopranos:
    • Dominic "The Old Man" DiMeo is mentioned in several episodes as being the former boss of the DiMeo Crime family (now Soprano family) prior to his indictiment. He was arrested in 1995 and sentenced to life in prison in 1997.
    • Little Pussy Malanga. It is mentioned in the first episode that there are two Pussies, and they are referred to as big and little to differentiate between the two of them. Uncle Junior intends to kill Little Pussy in the first episode. In season 6, Junior suffers from dementia and thinks that Pussy Malanga is stealing his money and breaking into his home, causing him to shoot Tony.
  • Star Trek: Deep Space Nine:
    • Captain Boday was talked about in many episodes, usually in conversations between Kira Nerys and Jadzia Dax. Dax went out on a date with him at least once, which Kira found repulsive due to Boday's transparent skull.
    • Ensign Vilix'pran was talked about in many episodes, usually because he was budding (having babies) and needed larger quarters. Vilix'pran was nonhumanoid, and the writers continued adding exotic features to his unidentified species each time he or his offspring were described (for instance, a mention that his babies had "little wings").
    • Felix, a holoprogrammer and good friend of Julian Bashir, who programmed Julian Bashir, Secret Agent and Vic Fontaine's Las Vegas lounge.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: the ship's chef (only his legs and hands were ever shown). (Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker posed as Chef in a holodeck simulation during the final episode of the series.)
  • The Suite Life of Zack and Cody:
    • the hotel owner Mr. Tipton is often talked about by London and Mr. Moesby, and London is seen talking to him on the phone, but has yet to appear on the show.
    • London has referenced her friend, Portia Tenanbaum, as being just as rich, spoiled, and dumb as she is on numerous occasions.
  • This Life: Warren's therapist.
  • Three's Company: Mrs. Roper's mother. She becomes a regular character in the spinoff The Ropers.
  • Trailer Park Boys: Tammy, Ricky's mother and Ray's ex-wife. (Might be dead)
  • Twin Peaks: Diane, Agent Cooper's secretary. (Until Fire Walk With Me was released, some people theorised that Diane was the name of his dictophone!)
  • Upstairs, Downstairs: Lady Marjorie Bellamy's father and brother Hugo, successive Earls of Southwold.
  • V: "The Leader" that the visitors are always talking about.
  • The Waltons: Ashley Longworth, whom the Baldwin Sisters were always talking about. Ashley's son, Ashley Jr., was later introduced in the series, played by Jonathan Frakes.
  • War of the Worlds: The Council in the first season, with whom their earthbound counterparts, the Advocacy, always made frequent contact (mainly to inform them of their positive progress).
  • The Wayans Bros.: Pop's wife, Marlon and Shawn's mom.
  • The Weekenders: Chloe Montez, often mentioned as getting herself into all sorts of trouble.
  • Welcome Back, Kotter: Principal John Lazarus.
  • Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?; Deirdre Birchwood, Bob's ex-girlfriend; references to her became a running gag in the first series.
  • Will & Grace:
    • Karen's husband Stanley. All we ever see of him are his feet when they are in the bath when Karen gets a call from Grace and his hands when Karen and Will are working on legal issues in the islands. He is obese and has worn a toupee since his teens. Over the course of the series, Stan has been jailed, taken a mistress (Lorraine Finster, played by Minnie Driver), died, and then revealed that he faked his death.
    • Crystal Leslie, wife of Beverley Leslie, the arch rival of Karen Walker. It is implied that Crystal is much older than Beverley and uses a wheelchair. Beverley, a closeted homosexual who has a relationship with a male "business associate", apparently married Crystal only for her money (she is extremely wealthy), and it is implied that he has tried to expedite her death (Crystal eventually dies during season 8).
  • Wings: Edna, the on-and-off girlfriend of Antonio. She supposedly has an unusually large face, which is always mentioned when she is referred to and earns her the moniker "the big-faced girl." The closest we ever come to seeing her is once when Antonio is talking to her and she remains silent, off-camera; other characters walk by and react to her strangely proportioned face.
  • The X-Files: Danny, a friend of Fox Mulder who provides information and runs various background checks.
  • Yes Minister: The Prime Minister, the head of the British government, eventually succeeded by James Hacker for Yes, Prime Minister.
  • The Young and the Restless:
    • Michael Baldwin's father, Lowell Baldwin. His step-father and Kevin's father, Tom Fisher, was introduced in 2005 after a year of references.
    • Emma Gibson, who was sent to the hospital after using Jabot's tainted moisturizing cream, and later died (March–April 2006).
    • The real Brad Carlton, only seen in a photo.
  • Zoids: Fuzors: RD's father, Harris, is often mentioned. He never appears on screen; in flashbacks or photographs, his face is always obscured. It is not even clear whether Harris is his first or last name.
  • Many named or unnamed teachers, principals, bosses, and other classmates and co-workers people talk about on various shows.

Heard but never completely seen

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Fire Lord Ozai, Zuko's father and the main antagonist and greatest threat to the world, though frequently mentioned, has only made three actual appearances, two in a flashback; in the first, his features are constantly hidden in shadow, and in the second, different parts of his face are shown in different shots except his eyes, so there is still no clear picture of what he looks like. In his first present-day, on-screen appearance in the Season 1 finale, only the back of his throne is seen as speaks two sentences. Until the season premiere of book three Ozai's face had not been seen. His face is seen in full when he welcomes his son, Zuko, back after he "killed" Aang.
  • Animaniacs: Mindy's mother; face never shown, back of her head usually seen. Her brown hair can be seen very briefly in Wakko's Wish.
  • BB3B:
    • Mr. Weinberger, a wealthy but elusive bald gentleman who is the love of Nana's life. Her feelings for him are never reciprocated, as he always quickly leaves the scene at the first sight or sound of her. He seldom speaks, and is seen either from behind or with his face obscured.
    • Tipper, one of Lucy and Louis's four friends occasionally recruited to foil what they think are invasion plans by their baby brother Billy Bob. He is so much bigger than the rest of the children that only the lower part of his face is seen, the top half being either out of shot or obscured by a conveniently placed foreground object (such as a lampshade, for example).
  • Battlestar Galactica (original series): The "Imperious Leader" of the Cylons (voiced by Patrick Macnee) is seen merely as a shadow.
  • Captain Nice: Harvey Nash, the Captain's father. Always seated in his easy chair, his face is always completely buried in that day's newspaper.
  • Charlie's Angels: Charlie Townsend, the head of the detective agency, is seen only from behind; in the series finale he appears in a surgeon's mask. He is also seen from a distance in the 2000 film version.
  • Cheers: Norm's wife Vera Peterson was only heard a few times, but was talked about a lot. (She twice appeared on screen. However, on the first occasion, was hit with a cream pie which covered her face entirely before her face could be seen; but viewers could see that she was a tall redhead. And on the second occasion, viewers could see only her legs, through the bar's front window, as she stood and sat on the steps that led down to the entrance to the bar.)
  • Code: Lyoko: Xana, the main antagonist, being a computer, has no physical form. However, he does possess the ability to inhabit the bodies of others and create clones of other show characters, and on some occasions he speaks through them.
  • Codename: Kids Next Door: most parents (one distinct exception was Numbuh One's dad, who was shown in two eps). However, on Curious Pictures' official website, the faces are completely shown except Numbuh 5's parents.
  • Cow and Chicken: Mom and Dad 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 & Baboon in I Am Weasel as well as the common generic character Red Guy). In the pilot episode, they are actually revealed as having no upper body. The upper half of Mom and Dad's bodies are seen in one episode, however not together with their legs, during which Cow is raiding a closet, and claims they are a science experiments. They are both stereotypical American Mom and Dad lookalikes, which doesn't reflect in their personalities.
  • Cybill: Doctor Dick, Mary-Ann's ex-husband.
  • Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines: The General's arm is occasionally seen.
  • Dragon Tales: The dragon parents (such as those of Ord or Cassie) make an appearance in some episodes. However, they are only shown from the neck down.
  • The Fairly OddParents:
    • Mr. and Mrs. Buxaplenty, Remy's parents, are seen only from the waist down, although their arms were shown.
    • Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Timmy's parents, were always shown with their faces obscured on the Oh Yeah! Cartoons series; in the later Fairly OddParents series, they were fully visible.
  • Family Matters: Steve Urkel's parents were spoken of in many instances, usually referring to how much they dislike him. Urkel referred to them many times, and Carl Winslow was heard talking to them on the phone a few times.
  • Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Mac and Terrence's mother is seen only from the waist down, although one can see her arms.
  • Fraggle Rock (animated version): "Doc", seen only from the neck down.
  • Friends: Ugly Naked Guy, parts of his body are only seen in two episodes: his stomach & arms in "The One with the Giant Poking Device", and his back in "The One where Everybody Finds Out"
  • Futurama: Professor Hubert Farnsworth never showed his eyes, but Mom said "[Farnsworth's] eyes always were the most beautiful shade of milky white."
  • Home Improvement: Wilson Wilson, the Taylors' wise neighbor, who is usually seen with the lower half of his face obscured by his picket fence or other prop. On rare occasions, this would be reversed, such as a Halloween episode where Wilson dressed as The Phantom of the Opera, complete with half-mask obscuring the upper part of his face. His face is fully seen only in the very final moments of the last episode, as the actors take their curtain call. Played by Earl Hindman, who once appeared on a talk show with a miniature fence to hide his face.
  • Inside Victor Lewis-Smith: Victor Lewis-Smith 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.
  • Inspector Gadget cartoon series: Dr. Claw is always seated in a high-backed chair, facing away from the camera; only his forearms and hands are ever seen. He was eventually seen in the action figure line and the theatrical movie; however, he remained absent for the entire cartoon. This is a deliberate spoof of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the villain in the early James Bond films, whose face was hidden throughout four movies before being revealed in You Only Live Twice.
  • The Invisible Man: Dr. Peter Brady, the title character.
  • The League of Gentlemen:
    • David Tatsyrup. 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.
    • Barbara the Transsexual's face is never seen.
    • Judee Levinson, unable to cope with the death of her husband Eddy, constantly speaks of him as if he were still with us; naturally he is never seen.
  • Muppet Babies: "Nanny" – generally only her striped socks are seen, since the series is presented from a child's-eye view.
  • Naruto: Kakashi Hatake's face is unseen (save for the eyes), which remains to the other characters' curiosity; the only people who have seen his face was ramen shop owner, Ichikaru and his daughter, Ayame. The Akatsuki Leader is shown in silhouette with white eyes or with his face blacked out; however, in recent developments, his face was finally revealed as "Pein" of the Hidden Village of Lightning.
  • One Piece: Sanji's left eye is never truly seen
  • Out of This World: "Troy", the extra-terrestrial father (voiced by Burt Reynolds).
  • People Like Us, a spoof documentary: the presenter Roy Mallard (played by Chris Langham). 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.
  • Pokémon Junior series of short films: the heads of all trainers (who otherwise look just the same as in the anime) are never shown.
  • Police Squad! and The Naked Gun: Big Al is so tall that his face is always cut off by the top of the screen.
  • The Powerpuff Girls: Miss Sara Bellum's face is either above the screen like Big Al's or otherwise obscured, most commonly by her enormous hairdo.
  • The Proud Family: Wizard Kelly is only seen from the nose down or from behind. Maybe Disney wants to give the impression to the viewer that he is so tall that his eyes are always off from view. There is one episode in the series that shows him sleeping in his bed, but then the camera is blurry with him putting his hand over his eyes. In the Proud Family Movie, one can see his face as he falls over during a peanut butter explosion, but even then it is partly obscured, and only lasts for a couple frames.
  • The Red Green Show: Dalton Humpries' wife Anne-Marie Humphries. After being spoken of on countless occasions, her voice is briefly heard confronting Dalton when he tries to sneak into their house after a long night out with Red.
  • Ren and Stimpy: Mr. and Mrs. Pipe are occasionally shown, but only from the waist down.
  • Rhoda: Carlton, the doorman. Parts of his body were sometimes seen, but never his face, which on one occasion was covered by a gorilla mask. A cartoon version of Carlton was seen in an animated television special in 1980.
  • Richard Diamond, Private Detective: Sam, the operator at the Hi-Fi Answering Service. Voiced by Mary Tyler Moore when introduced, she was usually shown only from the legs down as she exchanged innuendo on the phone with Diamond.
  • Saturday Night Live: Bill Brasky from a series of sketches in the 1996–1997 season. whose only description is from the outlandish exaggerations given by a group of drunken businessmen and a closing shot in the sketches with the back of Brasky's head at a high angle, giving the impression that the man is a giant.
  • Seinfeld: George Steinbrenner was always viewed from behind.
  • The Simpsons: God is shown from neck down while meeting with Homer in two episodes; however, in both episodes it is debatable whether or not Homer is actually meeting with God or simply dreaming. He wears a long white robe, sandals and has waist-length gray hair and a beard. Unlike any human in the world of The Simpsons, God has five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot.
  • Spaced: Amber Klein, Marsha's daughter.
  • Star Trek: Enterprise: The nameless Humanoid Figure (often referred to as "FutureGuy" by fans), a time-traveling villain responsible for manipulating events throughout the series, is seen only as a darkened and murky hologram giving orders to his henchmen.
  • Still Game: Navid's wife Meena is often seen, but her face is always obscured. She cannot speak English but is always subtitled.
  • The Suite Life of Zack and Cody: Maddy's parents. They are known to fight a lot.
  • Tiny Toon Adventures: The parents of characters are occasionally shown, but only from the waist down.
  • Tom and Jerry cartoons: the owner of the house, known to fans as Mammy Two-Shoes, is seen only below the neck.
  • The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Christopher Robin's mother; face never shown, back of her head usually seen.
  • "Wilson the Butler" (a supporting character during Children's BBC links from 1988-92) was never heard and only partially seen - usually white gloved hands and black sleeves, occasionally full body. But his face was never revealed.
  • Yugi Muto in the very first episode of 'Yu-Gi-Oh! GX - an older Yugi, who looks and sounds exactly like Dark Yugi, is seen given Jaden Yuki (Judai Yuki in the Japanese version) the Winged Kuriboh dueling card. The top half of his face is never seen.
  • In the second series anime of Yu-Gi-Oh (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters), Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford) eternally has the left side of his face covered by his hair. Only when he uses the Millennium Eye can his entire face be seen.

Unseen characters who were spoken of for a long time and then eventually seen

  • 2point4 Children: Mr. & Mrs. Grimes, Bill & Ben's next door neighbours. Initially, apart from their foreheads over the garden fence, they were never seen in the show, only their voices were heard. They eventually appeared in later series of the show.
  • 3rd Rock from the Sun: The Big Giant Head was unseen for several seasons but finally appeared, played by William Shatner.
  • Absolutely Fabulous: Serge Monsoon, Edina Monsoon's son, was frequently referred to, and he finally made an appearance in the Christmas episode 'Gay'.
  • All in the Family:
    • George Jefferson finally appeared two seasons after his wife Louise and son Lionel began as regulars. George was mentioned numerous times before his first on-screen appearance. (Later, the characters received their own spin-off series, The Jeffersons.)
    • "Stretch" Cunningham, Archie Bunker's friend and co-worker on the loading dock, was originally only spoken of, then was portrayed onscreen (by James Cromwell) in several episodes before reverting to offscreen status for an episode where the character dies and it is revealed, to Archie's consternation, that he was Jewish.
  • Are You Being Served?: Mr. Humphries' mother. Mr. Humphries could frequently be seen talking to his mother on the phone. Mrs. Humphries finally made three appearances: two in episodes of the show and a third on the PBS special, The Best of Are You Being Served?, each time being played by John Inman, the same actor who played Mr. Humphries.
  • A Bit of Fry and Laurie: In the recurring "John and Peter" sketches, the ex-wife/antagonist Marjorie is frequently discussed until finally making an appearance during the second series.
  • Blackadder Goes Forth: Field Marshal Haig, a prominent figure of the Great War, was mentioned several times and was actually seen in the final episode, played by Geoffrey Palmer.
  • Blossom: Maddie Russo, Blossom's mother, was introduced two years after the show premiered, played by Melissa Manchester. She had, however, previously been seen in some flashbacks, played by different actresses.
  • Blue Heelers: Nell Croyden, the wife of Tom Croyden, died in a car accident late in the first series, and was only seen years later in a dream sequence of Tom's.
  • The Brittas Empire: Horatio Brittas, the twin brother of Gordon Brittas, was referenced but not actually seen until Series 3.
  • Carnivàle: Management. It was revealed that he was a legless, one-armed Russian named Belyakov who fought in the first World War, who stayed behind a curtain until late in the second season, when he lured Ben & Scudder into his trailer & attempted to stab Scudder to lure Ben into killing him to pass on all his worldly knowledge as a "creature of light".
  • Cheers: Cliff's mother, Ester Clavin, was mentioned many times before finally appearing in season 5, played by Frances Sternhagen.
  • Coronation Street:
  • The Cosby Show: Mrs. Westlake, Theo's math teacher during the second season, was eventually seen a couple of times towards the end of that season.
  • Dad's Army: Private Godfrey's sister Dolly, who makes a brief appearance at the end of one episode.
  • Darkwing Duck: arch-nemesis Dr. Slug was often mentioned but never seen until the episode "Inside Binkie's Brain", where he made a small appearance at the start of the episode.
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show: Carl Reiner's character of Alan Brady was heard but not seen fully (once he appeared with his back towards the camera and a second time with shaving cream on his face) in the first two seasons. He eventually became a semi-regular. Reiner made a guest appearance as Alan Brady years later in Mad About You.
  • Doug: Skunky Beaumont, who was mentioned often, but only heard once saying "hi" to Doug as Doug passes the guidance counselor's office in the episode with the Yodeling Trophy. When the show moved from Nickelodeon to Disney, Skunky joined the other guest-characters and was fully seen thereafter.
  • The Drew Carey Show: Mr Bell. For the show's first season he existed only as a voice on Drew's speaker phone. He was fully revealed in the first episode of the second season, seen leaving his office after being fired from Winfred-Louder, thus marking it as his final "appearance." He was voiced and played by Kevin Pollak.
  • Drop the Dead Donkey: Sir Royston Merchant, as the tycoon owner of Globelink, 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.
  • Dynasty: Alexis Carrington was seen on the last episode of the first season, played only by a model whose face wasn't seen (since the role wasn't yet cast). She was seen in person at the beginning of the second season, played by Joan Collins.
  • Family Matters: Carl Winslow has four brothers (Frank, Calvin, Water, and Darryl) which were mentioned several times in the series. Frank is the only one who was seen, which happened in the episode The Brother who Came to Dinner in the eighth season.
  • Fawlty Towers: Audrey, Sybil Fawlty's lifelong best friend's presence was only ever felt through gossiping phone calls to add a certain angle on Sybil's character. Audrey was finally seen on-screen in the penultimate episode The Anniversary, played by Christine Shaw.
  • Friends: The Ugly Naked Guy, a fat and ugly nudist living opposite Monica and Rachel's apartment. 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.
  • The Fugitive: After mentioning him several times, The One-Armed Man is seen in a late first-season flashback episode, and in several episode