In film and television, it is common to hide the face of a character from audiences. This is done for many different reasons. Sometimes, the character's face is kept hidden but then revealed later in the show or movie for dramatic purposes. Perhaps, the character is known to us or maybe they are disfigured. The grand reveal is one of the most popular reasons for hiding a character's face, but many shows and films, especially the shows on this list, never make that reveal. While some of these faceless characters are described to the audience, others are kept completely in the dark. Some of the showrunners here wanted to reveal the faceless character to the viewers at some point but could not because of the unbelievable ways they described the character earlier.

Now, certain faceless characters, even some of those on this list, have been revealed in small ways in the past. These were either accidentally revealed or done so outside of the show's canon. We will only include revealed characters if the reveal was done unintentionally, which happens more than you think. If we would have made this list last year, one of our favorite faceless characters, Diane from Twin Peaks would have been an entry. But, when the Twin Peaks revival came to television, we saw her for the first time. Because of that, we better hurry before any more end up being revealed. We wonder which, if any, of the included characters here, will be revealed in the future. Here are 20 TV Characters whose real face fans never got to see.

Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget

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Even though Dr. Claw's face is visible in various incarnations of the show, such as the live-action film, certain toys and some video games, his face in the cartoon is always a mystery. Therefore, his face being an unknown is canon. It is suggested that Dr. Claw is a mad scientist, but all we ever see of him are his arms and hands and, sometimes, a shadowy silhouette.

Though he seems infinitely more capable than Gadget, Dr. Claw is not the brightest bulb in the batch. We know this because he never quite figures out that Penny and Brain are his true nemeses, not the bumbling Inspector Gadget. Like most cartoonish supervillains, Dr. Claw's past is as hazy as his identity. The cartoon, nor the character's bio, gave fans much of a backstory to work from, but it is assumed that he lost his hand in an accident of some sort. The rest is a mystery.

Wilson from Home Improvement

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Other than a small mistake in "The Karate Kid Returns" episode, Tim Allen's neighbor in Home Improvement, Wilson W. Wilson Jr., never revealed his face. Of all the similar gags on television, the Wilson half-face gag is truly one of the best. Obscuring the face of Wilson, the all-knowing neighbor, gave fans a lot of laughs over the years. While the backyard fence played obstacle, for the most part, the showrunners found numerous other ways to cover at the bottom half of Wilson's face.

According to News.com, the inspiration for Wilson's character is a neighbor from Allen's childhood. Since the young Allen couldn't see over his backyard fence, he rarely saw his neighbor's face. This led him to do the same for his character, Tim Taylor. Home Improvement played with this mystery man a little more than usual, turning Wilson into a nearly omniscient, godlike character.

Mammy Two Shoes from Tom and Jerry

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Mammy Two Shoes was the old owner of Tom in the Tom and Jerry cartoons. She was famous for having only the lower part of her body visible, often seen chasing Tom around with a broom. There were a few occasions when her upper body was visible but never her face. That was until Saturday Evening Puss. In that episode, as she runs down the street, her face is visible if you pause the episode.

Now, since VCRs weren't around back then, this face reveal was not intentional, so we're including it. Part of the reason why Mrs. Two Shoes will never be revealed in the future is because, according to her Wikipedia page, this character has been taken out of all new and reanimated episodes. Besides, her racist archetypal portrayal makes her better left in the past.

George Steinbrenner from Seinfeld

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Seinfeld is a show that utilized faceless characters often. There are a few characters who the group talked about but never showed on screen, like Kramer's best friend, Bob Sacamano. The big one for our purposes is George Steinbrenner, the owner of the New York Yankees.

Now, in most episodes, Steinbrenner's character is either seen from behind or from the side and is voiced by the show's creator, Larry David. In season seven, the real Steinbrenner was all set to play himself but, after they filmed the episode, they edited him out. Though there is talk that Steinbrenner wanted out because the episode is the one that George's fiancé, Susan, died, Jerry Seinfeld, in an interview on Rich Eisen’s radio show, said it was because Steinbrenner wasn't funny. Though they planned to show his face in the episode, it never ended up taking place and can only be seen now in deleted scenes.

Wizard Kelly in The Proud Family

via the proud family wiki

Wizard Kelly is the nemesis of Oscar Proud, the patriarch of the Proud Family in The Proud Family. According to the Disney Wiki, Kelly is a play on Magic Johnson in cartoon form, a former basketball who is now a rich businessman. Kelly owns pretty much everything we see in the show, a world that could have been owned by Oscar had he not missed the big shot in a high school basketball game.

Kelly is typically shown from the neck down, which is a play on his great height, but it also makes him more mysterious, a stand-in for the man, if you will. Though his mouth and chin are in some shots, the only clear look fans ever got of Kelly's face is when he is swept up in peanut butter in "Sista Spice." Like with Mammy Two Shoes, getting a good look at Kelly's face required viewers to pause the episode at the precise time.

The Infamous Neighbor from Friends

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The Ugly Naked Guy from Friends is a source of many great jokes for fans of the show, one that played out over many seasons. The character was so mysterious that the actor who played him didn't get revealed until the Huffington Post tracked him down a couple of years ago. At first, the character isn't shown at all. The friends just comment on his actions that told the audience what they were seeing, but that changed gradually. Soon enough, viewers saw an arm or a belly or even his back and side when Ross knocked on his door.

Aside from that, we don't know much about the Ugly Naked Guy. When the gang first moved in, they said that he used to be "cute naked guy," but that all changed when he started eating heavily. If you're looking for a funny Friends episode to kill some time, "The One with the Giant Poking Device," when they think the Ugly Naked Guy died, is never a bad choice.

Sara Bellum from The Powerpuff Girls

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Ms. Sara Bellum is the brains of the operation at the Mayor's office on The Powerpuff Girls. Though she is said to be very beautiful, viewers never actually see her face. One of the long-running jokes on the show is that the camera typically focuses in on Sara Bellum's chest. Now, fans did get a look at some of Sara Bellum's face in the episode, "The Powerpuff Girls Rule!!!" but it was only one half of the face and only a quick glimpse.

Other than that, all we know about Sara Bellum's looks is that she has long curly red hair and a very curvaceous body. Despite us never seeing her face, we know that Sara Bellum's great intelligence and her incredible competence make her one of the town's most eligible bachelorettes.

Mrs. Wolowitz on The Big Bang Theory

via tbbt wiki

Howard's late mother on The Big Bang Theory, Mrs. Wolowitz, was long a loud off-screen voice on the show. Though she is now deceased on the show, Mrs. Wolowitz is best known for her obnoxious yelling and her New Jersey accent. The group often comments about how Bernadette is similar to Mrs. Wolowitz, typically yelling at Howard in her own abrasive voice.

Though there are pictures around the house of a younger Mrs. Wolowitz, viewers never see her face in person. She could be seen walking past an open door in one episode, but the showrunners kept the gag going well. When Howard and Bernadette get married, Mrs. Wolowitz can be seen overhead in a pink dress, but no clear shot of her face exists. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The actress who voiced the character, Carol Ann Susi, passed away in 2014.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown in Charlie Brown

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Even in the Peanuts comic strips, the adults were a mysterious group. For the cartoons and animated specials, they became even more mysterious. Their speech is nothing more than noise and their appearances are never revealed. Mr. and Mrs. Brown, Charlie's parents, in particular, are never shown on the cartoons.

We do know a little about his mom and dad though. Charlie's father is a barber, which is the same profession as that of creator Charles Schulz's father. Brown's mother is a housewife. According to Ladies of Mystery, the reason why the parents were portrayed in this way is that Schulz claimed that he didn't find parents interesting. He also seemed to struggle drawing them next to the kids, so he just canned them altogether. In the end, he felt that to best create a child-only world, he stripped parents of their voices and let the kids run the zoo.

Charlie Townsend from Charlie's Angels

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Forget the films, we're talking strictly about the television show, Charlie's Angels. We know quite a bit about Charlie Townsend, except for what he looks like. We know that he used to be a detective and that he protects himself by keeping his identity a secret. He communicates with his angels through a speakerphone. Charlie's history comes into play often in the show, as many of the villains are looking for revenge of some sort against the mystery man, so they take it out on the Angels to get to him.

The actor, John Forsythe, did the voice for Charlie but never needed to be on set because his physical presence wasn't required. There's actually a funny story about how Forsythe got the part of Charlie. According to Newsday, Gig Young got the part, at first, but was too drunk to record his lines, so they gave it to Forsythe because they needed the lines done in a hurry.

Maris Crane from Frasier

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Maris Crane is the ex-wife of Niles on Frasier. She is described in such an insane way that no actress could ever portray her on screen. Some say that she's as thin as a skeleton and as pale as a ghost. She doesn't eat and rarely goes out in the sun for fear of burning. She is said to look quite a lot like Niles' dog, Lady, which tells you all you really need to know.

Some other descriptions of her include that she's weak, her mouth has an underbite, she's mean, manipulative, clingy, and strange. Though we never see Maris, we do see her shadow in at least one episode. According to Yahoo TV, the showrunners wanted to show Maris eventually, they couldn't because no casting agent could find an actress who fit the description they laid out. The gag, it seems, got the best of them.

Vera Peterson from Cheers

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According to Yahoo TV, it's because of the faceless, Vera Peterson, Norm's wife on Cheers, that Maris Crane even existed on Frasier. The spin-off would use many of the same tactics Cheers used to create comedy from these unseen characters. Unlike Maris, however, Vera is said to be a nice person. Though Norm pokes fun at her and seems to neglect her mightily, he does love her and speaks kindly of her on a number of occasions.

Though we hear Vera's voice a few times, we never see her full face. The only time we come close, she gets a pie thrown in her face by Diane, which keeps the gag afloat. The other times she is on screen, viewers only get a glimpse of her feet. Apparently, Vera didn't mind Norm spending so much time at the bar, but we have our doubts about the quality of their relationship.

Enid Kelso from Scrubs

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Enid Kelso is the very unfortunate wife of Dr. Kelso on Scrubs. We never see Enid on screen, but we see Dr. Kelso talking to her on the phone and talking about her to others. Her health is terrible. Among other things, Enid is mentally ill, a paraplegic, obese, blind, and disabled in other ways as well. Kelso's relationship with his wife, before she left him and later died, is terrible, to say the least. He is extremely abusive to her in so many different ways. He often ridicules her and treats her like an animal, all in good fun and in support of the show's running gag, but still.

The most we ever see of Enid in her true form is a shot of the bottom of her wheelchair. We did see a flashback on the show, however, in which an apparently attractive nurse passes by Kelso and he smacks her bottom, calling her Enid. We assume this is how they met.

Cousin Itt from The Addams Family

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Technically, Cousin Itt from The Addams Family shows his face all the time because the hair is his face, but where's the fun in that? Besides, most people assume that underneath that hair is a real face of some sort. We did include a behind-the-scenes photo in which you can see the actor playing Cousin Itt's face— if that means anything to you.

According to an LA Times interview, in the original TV show, the costume Cousin Itt wears is made of real hair in the beginning. However, that is later changed because the rampant smoking that took place on the set made the actor a walking fire hazard. Cousin Itt is many things— an actor, a singer, and even a marriage counselor, but we don't know a whole lot else about the character other than what we hear relayed to us. This is because Itt speaks in gibberish and we only understand it through the interpretation of others.

Dumb Donald from Fat Albert

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Once again, we need to forget about the live-action movie here because Dumb Donald's face is stupidly revealed in that silly film. In the cartoon, we never see underneath Donald's purple toque. As the resident numbskull in the Junkyard Gang from Fat Albert, Dumb Donald is shown to be quite, well, dumb. However, Dumb Donald is quite competent when he really puts his mind to a task. He's also a sweet person, despite being loud and a bit ridiculous at times.

In the film, when the cartoon guys moved into the real world, Dumb Donald is able to take off his hat. This is sacrilegious. The creators should be stripped of their credentials for such a crime. We should never know what's under that hat, so let's just pretend it didn't happen.

Langdon Cobb from Futurama

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Langdon Cobb from Futurama is only ever seen with a paper bag over his head. At first, this is because he wants to be known for his abilities as an actor and not his great looks, but we learn that he is actually a Quantum lichen, which means he drains the life out of any being that looks at him, even if it's a photograph. For this reason, Cobb hides his face to protect others. Besides, he gets enough attention for his exemplary acting to keep him happy and full.

There is that one time, though, when Bender gets a photograph of Cobb and shows it to the group. This inflates Cobb's ego greatly, making it so large that the only way to restore the life force of the gang is to show Cobb a picture of himself. This move sets everything right in the universe.

Stuart Hughes from Veep

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In the first seasons of Veep, Stuart Hughes is the guy who becomes the President of the United States. As a gag and a jab at the actual position and work habits of the President, Hughes is never seen, which also means he is barely ever working. There is a scene that shows all the politicians in a room together, which some have used to narrow down and find the President, but it's all conjecture. Others point to a picture that appears to be Hughes in "The Vic Allen Dinner." It is this episode that gives Hughes the description of looking "jowly."

Not showing Hughes face, apart from it being a common gag used in many different shows, could be a play on the British political show, The Thick of It. The Prime Minister in that show, too, is never seen on camera.

Robin Masters from Magnum PI

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In Magnum PI, Robin Masters is the man who hires the protagonist, Mr. PI, and invites him to his amazing guest house. Mr. Masters, who is voiced by Orson Welles for the vast majority of his performance, is only ever heard, never seen. Masters is an author and has a history of sorts with Magnum, though we never truly discover the details of it. After Welles died, the showrunners introduced a new story that would allow Magnum PI to uncover the true identity of Masters.

This storyline fed into the rumors among fans that Masters is actually another character on the show, particularly, Jonathan Higgins, but these all proved false by the end, leaving Masters in the dark. This would have been a silly turn anyway, as Higgins is seen speaking to Masters over the phone on a couple of occasions.

Al from Police Squad

via imdb

For those who don't know or don't remember, Police Squad is the show that spawned the Naked Gun film franchise. Though most of the characters changed between the TV show and the films, there are a few who show up on both, namely the star, Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen), and Al (Ronald Taylor). Al is the extremely tall lab tech, so the running gag on the show and the films kept his head out of the all shots.

In some scenes that Al is involved in, the characters comment about what the viewers couldn't see, such as Al having something on his face. The actor who plays Al, Taylor, is over 7-ft tall, a former basketball player, so there is really no trickery needed. In the first Naked Gun film, Al got the chance to reprise his role.

Stanley Walker from Will and Grace

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Fanes remember Stanley Walker as Karen's faceless husband. We know that he is a very large man and that he is Karen's third husband. While Stanley is very rich, which is important to Karen, she mentions that she did once love him. Still, they rarely see each other, and their love faded over time. For a time on the show, Stanley is in prison for tax evasion. It's during this prison stint that we catch a glimpse of Stanley's silhouette for the first time.

Aside from that, we only ever see Stanley's arms. We know that he is extremely overweight, as much as 700lbs, and wears a toupee. After he and Karen separate, later in the series, Stanley dies of a heart attack. According to the interview on Will on Will & Grace, Eric McCormack said the best image of Stanley would be a very large version of Marlon Brando.

References: Wikipedia, IMDB, Variety, Buzzfeed