But “Joe” and “Jack” are placeholders—not his name. Palahniuk and director David Fincher made a deliberate choice. The protagonist is everyman and no man. He’s a recall coordinator for a major car company. He has a condo full of IKEA furniture. He suffers from insomnia. He has no wife, no close friends, no distinguishing marks.

What do you call him when you talk about the movie? Let us know in the comments—just remember the first two rules.

Here’s everything you need to know about the man fans call “The Narrator,” why his identity remains a blank space, and how that absence defines one of the most iconic twists in cinema history. The character played by Edward Norton is never given a real name in either the book or the movie.