View source for Man with No Name

{{short description|Film character}}
{{Other uses}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox character
| name = Man with No Name
| series = [[Dollars Trilogy]]
| image = Clint Eastwood - 1960s.JPG
| image_size = 
| caption = Clint Eastwood as the Man with No Name in a publicity photo for ''A Fistful of Dollars''
| first = ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' (1964)
| last = ''[[The Good, the Bad and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Ugly]]''&nbsp;(1966)
| creator = [[Sergio Leone]]
| portrayer = [[Clint Eastwood]]
| aliases = {{ubl|The Stranger|The Hunter|The Bounty Killer|The Good|Americano|Mister Sudden Death|''Señor Ninguno''|Nameless|No Name|Blondie|Manco|Joe}}
| occupation = [[Bounty hunter]]
| nationality = American
}}
{{Clint Eastwood series}}
The '''Man with No Name''' ({{langx|it|Uomo senza nome}}) is the [[antihero]] character portrayed by [[Clint Eastwood]] in [[Sergio Leone]]'s "''[[Dollars Trilogy]]''" of Italian [[Spaghetti Western]] films: ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' (1964), ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' (1965), and ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' (1966). He is recognizable by his [[sarape]], brown hat, tan [[cowboy boots]], fondness for [[cigarillo]]s, and the fact that he rarely speaks.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsarama.com/793-christos-gage-on-the-man-with-no-name.html|title=Christos Gage on The Man With No Name|date=8 September 2023 }}</ref>

The "Man with No Name" concept was invented by the American distributor [[United Artists]]. Eastwood's character does have a name, or nickname, which is different in each film: "Joe", "Manco" and "Blondie", respectively.<ref name=RetFan10>{{cite journal |last=Farino  |first=Ernest |date=August 2020 |title=A Fistful of Pasta: The Italian Westerns of Sergio Leone |journal=RetroFan |publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]] |location=United States|issue=10 |pages=61–67}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Curti |first1=Roberto |title=Tonino Valerii: The Films |date=2 August 2016 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476626185 |page=208 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dXIDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208 |access-date=27 June 2020}}</ref>

When Clint Eastwood was honored with the [[American Film Institute]]'s [[Lifetime Achievement Award]] in 1996, [[Jim Carrey]] gave the introductory speech and said: {{"'}}The Man with No Name' had no name, so we could fill in our own."<ref>{{cite web | first=Elaine | last=Ditka | title=In the Line of Clint's Praises at AFI Salute | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-02-ca-42027-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | date=2 March 1996 | access-date=8 March 2017}}</ref> In 2008, ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' chose the Man with No Name as the 43rd greatest movie character of all time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100-greatest-movie-characters/|title=The 100 Greatest Movie Characters|date=5 December 2006|work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630105200/http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=43|archive-date=30 June 2015}}</ref>

==Appearances==
* ''[[A Fistful of Dollars]]'' (1964)
* ''[[For a Few Dollars More]]'' (1965)
* ''[[The Good, the Bad and the Ugly]]'' (1966)

==Concept and creation==
''A Fistful of Dollars'' was directly adapted from [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo]]'' (1961). It was the subject of a lawsuit by ''Yojimbo''{{'}}s producers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://sidebmagazine.com/2011/04/14/1535/ |title=A Fistful of Dollars and Yojimbo |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=14 April 2011 |website=Side B Magazine |access-date=2 February 2014 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107122137/http://sidebmagazine.com/2011/04/14/1535/ |archive-date=7 January 2014}}</ref> ''Yojimbo''{{'}}s protagonist, an unconventional [[rōnin]] (a samurai with no master) played by [[Toshiro Mifune]], bears a striking resemblance to Eastwood's character: both are quiet, gruff, eccentric strangers with a strong but unorthodox sense of justice and extraordinary proficiency with a particular weapon (in Mifune's case, a [[katana]]; in Eastwood's, a [[revolver]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cumbow |first=Robert C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DltlnjJ2VREC&q=%22yojimbo%22 |title=The Films of Sergio Leone |date=2008 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-8108-6041-4 |pages=12–19 |language=en}}</ref>

Mifune plays a [[Samurai cinema#The Ronin with No Name|rōnin with no name]]. When pressed, he gives the [[pseudonym]] ''Sanjuro Kuwabatake'' (meaning "30-year-old mulberry field"), a reference to his age and something he sees through a window. The convention of hiding the character's arms from view is shared as well, with Mifune's character typically wearing his arms inside his kimono, leaving the sleeves empty.<ref name="Ebert">{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-yojimbo-1961 |title=Yojimbo |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=10 April 2005 |website=RogerEbert.com}}</ref> Prior to signing on to ''Fistful'', Eastwood had seen Kurosawa's film and was impressed by the character.<ref>From an interview conducted for a DVD documentary on Kurosawa</ref> During filming, he did not emulate Mifune's performance beyond what was already in the script. He also insisted on removing some of the dialogue in the original script, making the character more silent and thus adding to his mystery.<ref name=RetFan10/> As the trilogy progressed, the character became even more silent and stoic.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

The "Man with No Name" [[sobriquet]] was actually applied after the films were made, and was a marketing device used by distributor [[United Artists]] to promote the three films together in the United States film market.<ref name=RetFan10/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Prickette |first1=James |title=Actors of the Spaghetti Westerns |date=2012 |isbn=9781469144290 |page=287 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Q1SAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA287}}</ref> The prints of the film were physically trimmed to remove all mention of his names.<ref name=RetFan10/>

===Actual names or monikers===
In ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), he is called "Joe" by the [[funeral director|undertaker]], Piripero, and Eastwood's role is credited as "Joe".<ref>{{Cite book |last=McGilligan |first=Patrick |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w6i25jxBIwcC&q=%22Man+with+no+name%22+%22Joe%22 |title=Clint: The Life and Legend |date=2002-08-19 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-312-29032-0 |pages=131 |language=en}}</ref>

In ''For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), he is called "Manco" (Spanish for "one-armed"; in fact, in the original Italian-language version, he is called "il Monco", a dialectal expression meaning "the One-armed one"), because he does everything left-handed, except for shooting.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=Howard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdOLDwAAQBAJ&q=monco |title=Once Upon A Time in the Italian West: The Filmgoers' Guide to Spaghetti Westerns |date=2006-03-31 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-0-85773-045-9 |language=en}}</ref>

In ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'' (1966), Tuco calls him "Blondie" ("il Biondo", meaning "the Blond one", in Italian) for his light hair. He is also "the Good" ("il Buono"), from which the film receives its name.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wong |first=Aliza S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUNvDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Man+with+no+name%22+%22Blondie%22&pg=PA64 |title=Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide |date=2018-12-15 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-6904-0 |pages=64 |language=en}}</ref>

In the ''Dollars'' book series, he is also known as "The Hunter", "The Bounty Killer", "Mister Sudden Death", "Nameless", "No Name" and "''Señor Ninguno''", or its literal translation "Mr. None".{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==Literature==
{{cleanup rewrite|section=yes|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Clint Eastwood and Marianne Koch in "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964).jpg|thumb|Clint Eastwood and [[Marianne Koch]] in ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964)]]
The popularity of the characters brought about a series of spin-off books, dubbed the "Dollars" series due to the common theme in their titles:

* ''A Fistful of Dollars'', film novelization by [[Terry Harknett|Frank Chandler]]
* ''For a Few Dollars More'', film novelization by Joe Millard
* ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', film novelization by Joe Millard
* ''A Coffin Full of Dollars'' by Joe Millard
* ''A Dollar to Die For'' by Brian Fox (a pseudonym for [[Todhunter Ballard]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carty |first=T. J. |title=A Dictionary of Literary Pseudonyms in the English Language |publisher=[[Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers|Fitzroy Dearborn]] |year=2000 |isbn=1579582095 |edition=2nd |location=Chicago, Ill., USA |pages=272}}</ref>)
* ''The Devil's Dollar Sign'' by Joe Millard
* ''The Million-Dollar Bloodhunt'' by Joe Millard
* ''Blood For a Dirty Dollar'' by Joe Millard

''A Coffin Full of Dollars'' provides some background history; when he was young, The Man with No Name was a ranch hand who was continually persecuted by an older hand named Carvell. The trouble eventually led to a shootout between the two with Carvell being outdrawn and killed; however, an examination of Carvell's body revealed a scar which identified him as Monk Carver, a wanted man with a $1,000 bounty. After comparing the received bounty with his $10-a-month ranch pay, the young cowhand chose to change his life and become a bounty hunter.

In July 2007, American comic book company [[Dynamite Entertainment]] announced that they were going to begin publishing a comic book featuring the character, titled ''[[The Man with No Name (comic)|The Man with No Name]]''. Set after the events of ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'', the comic is written by [[Christos Gage]]. Dynamite refers to him as "Blondie", the nickname Tuco uses for him in ''The Good, the Bad and the Ugly''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/793-christos-gage-on-the-man-with-no-name.html |title=Christos Gage on The Man With No Name |last=Brady |first=Matt |date=15 August 2008 |website=[[Newsarama]] |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> The first issue was released in March 2008, entitled, ''The Man with No Name: The Good, The Bad, and The Uglier''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/2767-first-look-dynamite-s-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-1.html |title=First Look: Dynamite's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly #1 |last=Brady |first=Matt |date=28 April 2009 |website=[[Newsarama]] |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> Luke Lieberman and Matt Wolpert took over the writing for issues #7–11.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/820-the-man-with-no-name-s-new-team-lieberman-wolpert.html |title=The Man With No Name's New Team: Lieberman & Wolpert |last=Brady |first=Matt |date=19 August 2008 |website=[[Newsarama]] |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18549 |title=New Writers on The Man With No Name |last=Phegley |first=Kiel |date=23 October 2008 |website=[[Comic Book Resources]] |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> Initially, [[Chuck Dixon]] was scheduled to take over the writing chores with issue #12, but Dynamite ended the series and opted to use Dixon's storyline for a new series titled ''The Good, The Bad and The Ugly''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsarama.com/826-chuck-dixon-to-write-the-man-with-no-name.html |title=Chuck Dixon to Write The Man With No Name |last=Brady |first=Matt |date=20 August 2008 |website=[[Newsarama]] |access-date=2 February 2014}}</ref> The new series is not an adaptation of the movie, despite its title. After releasing eight issues, Dynamite abandoned the series.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

==References and homages in other works==
{{cleanup rewrite|section=yes|date=September 2017}}
[[File:Salas de los Infantes 20.jpg|thumb|Silhouette of the Man with No Name in Burgos]] 
===Animation===
* Flint Shrubwood, the bounty hunter hired by Duke Igthorn in an episode of ''[[Adventures of the Gummi Bears]]'', called "For a Few Sovereigns More", is a parody of both The Man with No Name and Clint Eastwood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dvdizzy.com/gummibears-volume1b.html|title=Disney's Adventures of The Gummi Bears: Volume 1 DVD Review|website=DVDizzy.com|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thefandomentals.com/disney-gummi-bears/ |title=A Retrospective on Disney's Gummi Bears |last=Michal |date=14 August 2017 |website=The Fandomentals |access-date=18 October 2022}}</ref>
* An episode of ''[[Time Squad]]'' called "Billy The Baby" features The Man with No Name as a ruthless sheriff chasing the Time Squad, who is teaching [[Billy the Kid]] to be a proper bandit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/time-squad-talkback-billy-the-baby-father-figure-of-our-country-spoilers-here.3306141/|title=Time Squad Talkback: "Billy The Baby/Father Figure of Our Country" (Spoilers Here!)|website=Anime Superhero|date=28 March 2003 |access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>

===Anime and manga===
* [[Jotaro Kujo]], protagonist of Part three of the [[manga]] series ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'', "[[Stardust Crusaders]]", was inspired by The Man with No Name. Author [[Hirohiko Araki]] met Eastwood in 2012 as part of the series' 25th anniversary celebration and presented him with an original framed Jotaro Kujo illustration; in return, Eastwood recreated one of the character's signature poses of pointing at the viewer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2012-10-14/jojo-bizarre-adventure-creator-meets-clint-eastwood |title=Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Creator Meets Clint Eastwood |last=Sherman |first=Jennifer |date=14 October 2012 |website=[[AnimeNewsNetwork]] |access-date=23 April 2015}}</ref> The pose was directly inspired by Eastwood's character pointing his gun at the camera.

===Film===
* [[Mad Max]], in [[Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome]] 1985 is introduced into the fighting ring as the man with no name
* [[Boba Fett]], an antagonist from [[George Lucas]]' ''[[Star Wars]]'' film series, was based on the Man with No Name, according to [[Jeremy Bulloch]], the actor who portrayed him, from his mannerisms to his green-on-white armor that has the same colour scheme as the Man's poncho.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Young|first1=Bryan|title=THE CINEMA BEHIND STAR WARS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY|url=https://www.starwars.com/news/the-cinema-behind-star-wars-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly|website=StarWars.com|date=18 December 2012|access-date=18 May 2016}}</ref>
* [[Vincent Canby]] described [[Fred Williamson]]'s character in the [[blaxploitation]] film ''[[Boss Nigger]]'' as "an immensely self-assured parody" of the Man with No Name character.<ref name="canby19750227">{{Cite news |url=http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9C05E7DA143CE034BC4F51DFB466838E669EDE |title='Boss Nigger,' Black Western, Proves a Surprise |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=27 February 1975 |work=The New York Times |access-date=26 January 2018 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210073757/http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?res=9C05E7DA143CE034BC4F51DFB466838E669EDE |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* The 2011 animated Western film ''[[Rango (2011 film)|Rango]]'' mentions multiple times a character named "the Spirit of the West", a mythical figure among the inhabitants of the town of Dirt, who conducts an "alabaster carriage", protected by "golden guardians". Near the end of the film, the titular character meets the Spirit (voiced by [[Timothy Olyphant]]) who appears to him as what is implied to be an elderly version of either Eastwood or the Man with No Name (although that is not explicitly stated, except for Rango mentioning that was once the Spirit's appearance's moniker), with the carriage being a [[golf cart]] and the guardians being [[Academy Awards]]-like statuettes.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2011/03/06/the-top-six-rango-riffs-on-classic-movies/ |title=Johnny Depp's 'Rango': Its top six riffs on classic movies |last=Breznican |first=Anthony |date=6 March 2011 |magazine= Entertainment Weekly |access-date=6 November 2018}}</ref>
* The movie ''[[Willy's Wonderland]]'' features the Man with No Name as a drifter, played by [[Nicolas Cage]], who is coerced into a dangerous situation requiring heroic and violent action.
* The movie ''[[Back to the Future Part II]]'' portrays a scene where the character Biff is watching a scene from ''A Fistful of Dollars''. Michael J. Fox's character, Marty McFly, would later emulate that same scene Biff was watching in ''[[Back to the Future Part III]]''.

===Literature===
* [[Roland Deschain]], the primary protagonist of [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Dark Tower (series)|The Dark Tower]]'' book series, is heavily inspired by the Man with No Name. In ''[[The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah]]'', King, who appears as a character in the book, makes the comparison when he calls Roland a "fantasy version of Clint Eastwood."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Song of Susannah|last=King|first=Stephen|date=2004|publisher=Donald M. Grant, Publisher|others=Anderson, Darrel.|isbn=9781416521495|edition=1st trade |location=Hampton Falls, N.H.|oclc=55492007}}</ref>

===Television===
* The [[The Mandalorian (character)|title character]] of the [[Space Western]] series ''[[The Mandalorian]]'' is partly inspired by Eastwood's character, both being stoic bounty hunters.<ref>{{cite video |people=[[Pedro Pascal|Pascal, Pedro]] |title=''The Mandalorian'' recap: Mando makes a terrible mistake |work=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=November 22, 2019 |url=https://ew.com/recap/the-mandalorian-season-1-episode-3/ |access-date=January 26, 2020 |time=3:19–4:17 |quote=The Mandalorian is a character I would say built on these icons of film history that we find in some Akira Kurosawa samurai movies, Sergio Leone cowboy westerns, spaghetti westerns, the lonely guy who won't tell you his name, in this case won't show you his face, and a lot of moral ambiguity, and I would say expressed more so in this series and with all of our characters, you know, I think the moral universe of ''Star Wars'' can be very specific and kind of black and white, there's good and there's evil, and in this one we start to play with the boundaries of that more, and that is dealt with very interestingly with this character. He's not your typical hero. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211031145/https://ew.com/recap/the-mandalorian-season-1-episode-3/ |archive-date=December 11, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* In the television series ''[[Fallout (2024 TV series)|Fallout]]'', the character known as "[[Ghoul (TV character)|The Ghoul]]" is a gunslinger wandering a post-apocalyptic [[Los Angeles]] and is partially inspired by the Man with No Name. In preparation for the role, actor [[Walton Goggins]] watched Eastwood's ''Dollars Trilogy''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://collider.com/fallout-walton-goggins-the-ghoul-inspiration/ |title='Fallout's Walton Goggins Reveals Which Classic Westerns Inspired The Ghoul |date=2023-12-02 |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |last=O'Rourke |first=Ryan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205030428/https://collider.com/fallout-walton-goggins-the-ghoul-inspiration/ |archive-date=2023-12-05 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Video games===
* In the 1992 video game ''[[The Town with No Name]]'', the player character is referred to as "the Man with No Name". However, his appearance and personality are different from those of the film character, with his voice resembling that of [[John Wayne]]. An unnamed man with a cigarette who resembles the original Man with No Name appears as a [[non-player character]].
* [[Solid Snake]], the protagonist of [[Hideo Kojima]]'s video game ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', was visually based on the Man with No Name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/mgs2/art/fourth.html|title=Yoji Shinkawa Interview: Segment 4| access-date = 2 March 2012|publisher=Konami}}</ref>
* A cosmetic item by the name Hat with No Name is available for the Soldier, Demoman, Engineer, and Sniper in ''[[Team Fortress 2]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Hat_With_No_Name|title=Hat With No Name - Team Fortress 2 Wiki|author=Valve|access-date=August 16, 2024}}</ref>

===Other===
* An [[Audio-Animatronics|Audio-Animatronic]] version of the character appeared in [[The Great Movie Ride]] at [[Disney's Hollywood Studios]] from 1989 to 2017.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Jim |date=8 February 2020 |title=Why Clint Eastwood was a last minute addition to Disney-MGM's "Great Movie Ride" |url=http://jimhillmedia.com/editor_in_chief1/b/jim_hill/archive/2012/02/08/why-clint-eastwood-was-a-last-minute-addition-to-disney-mgm-s-quot-great-movie-ride-quot.aspx |access-date=31 July 2020 |website=jimhillmedia.com}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dollars trilogy}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man With No Name}}
[[Category:Dollars Trilogy|No Name]]
[[Category:Dynamite Entertainment titles|No Name]]
[[Category:Fictional gunfighters in films]]
[[Category:Fictional nomads]]
[[Category:Film characters introduced in 1964|No Name]]
[[Category:Male characters in film|No Name]]
[[Category:Western (genre) bounty hunters|No Name]]
[[Category:Western (genre) comics|No Name]]
[[Category:Western (genre) gunfighters|No Name]]
[[Category:Western (genre) heroes and heroines|No Name]]