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Unseen character
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Unseen characters are never directly observed by the audience but are only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in frequent interaction with the other characters and who influence current story events. Television shows and stage plays make use of characters who are not seen, and usually not heard, though some unseen characters are portrayed as an off-camera voice.
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Encyclopedia
Unseen characters are never directly observed by the audience but are only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in frequent interaction with the other characters and who influence current story events. Television shows and stage plays make use of characters who are not seen, and usually not heard, though some unseen characters are portrayed as an off-camera voice. Radio shows also feature "unseen" characters who never speak, while books can feature characters who are referenced by others, but whose actions and dialogue are never directly described. The work of Voltaire, for example, included the "unseen character." The characters as a device are more commonly featured in television, since the length of a series and visual medium makes it more unusual for someone who has common interaction with a main character never to be directly involved in a scene with that character.
Other Uses
Rosaline in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is often spoken of but never has any direct presence in the play.
The play Bunbury by Tom Jacobson involves numerous unseen characters, including Rosaline from Romeo and Juliet, the boy from A Streetcar Named Desire, and Godot from Waiting for Godot, who team up to change the endings of famous pieces of literature, and, ultimately, history. The titular character, Bunbury, is not technically an unseen character, since he is only imaginary in the play The Importance of Being Earnest.
See Pascale Bonnemere, ed., Women as Unseen Characters: Male Ritual in Papua New Guinea (Social Anthropology in Oceania) (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).
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