History Main / MysteriousProtector

* Female[[spoiler:[[RobotGirl -ish]]]], non-shoujo example: Miyu from ''Anime/MaiOtome'' has helped Arika out of a jam or three before simply disappearing to goddess-knows-where.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13533999/1/Knights-Magic-Dovahkiin Knights, Magic & Dovahkiin]]'' is about [[Series/GameOfThrones Jon Snow]] worrying about his family after Ned becomes the Hand of the King and leaves [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]] to watch out for them, going so far as to personally intervene in two separate conflicts as a masked knight. He stops being mysterious, however, as of Chapter 7 when he reveals himself.

Subtrope of MysteriousWatcher. Compare AloofAlly who becomes a member of the team instead of a love interest, the MysteriousBacker, who generally provides support rather than rescues (and typically has more complex goals than a crush), and EnigmaticMinion, the villainous version.

* [[spoiler:Joseph Henry]] in [[Literature/{{Dragons}} The Fire Ascending]].

* Mihara Oujirou in ''Anime/AngelicLayer'' is a shounen example, although the main character ''is'' still a cute girl.

* Mihara Oujirou in ''Anime/KidouTenshiAngelicLayer'' is a shounen example, although the main character ''is'' still a cute girl.

* Manga/HayateTheCombatButler parodies this in an early episode; When Hayate is about to be taken away by the [[{{Yakuza}} "Very Nice People"]], Nagi shows up wearing a goofy mask and calling herself "Mask the Money" before whipping out a ton of cash to pay off Hayate's debt.

* Invoked in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''; when Negi was a (younger) child, he viewed his father like this, to the point of getting himself in trouble so that his father would come save him. [[spoiler:The one time that things [[DoomedHometown truly do get serious]], his father does show up to save him. And then he has to leave again.]]

* A Shonen example would be Phoenix from Anime/MetalFightBeyblade, who is later revealed to be [[spoiler: Ginga Hagane's thought to be dead father, Ryusei]]

* [[Anime/CodeGeass Zero]] fulfills a similar role for Nunnally in her manga spinoff, ''Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally''... sort of. He shows up out of nowhere whenever Nemo is in the middle of a battle, and usually brings about chaos, allowing Nemo to win or escape. It can be seen most obviously near the end, where Zero acts as a SupportingLeader along with Euphie, Suzaku, and their combined armies.

* ''Manga/HoneyHoneyNoSutekiNaBouken'' has Phoenix, a GentlemanThief with a DominoMask not dissimliar to Tuxedo Kamen -- but much earlier; he shows up to help Honey in the nick of time during her wacky adventures, [[{{Tsundere}} not that she always wants the help.]]

* Tuxedo Mask from ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' began as 'the guy in the tuxedo that threw roses at monsters' and the reveal of his identity was a big deal. His counterpart from ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' is anything but.

* The prince who rescues Utena at the beginning of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', and inspires her to become a prince. Not a love interest.
** ''Utena'' being ''[[{{Deconstruction}} Utena]]'', this trope is [[PlayingWithATrope played with]] to no end. Utena's desire to find and become the prince has influenced her life enormously. The man who does turn out to be the prince [[spoiler: is the closest thing the series has to a BigBad (though he was once the BigGood). And Utena does eventually begin what could be considered a "romance" with her prince, but it's [[TeacherStudentRomance decidedly]] [[{{Ephebophile}} non-romantic]].]]

* "The Fox" in Floyd Gottredson's Mickey Mouse comic ''Death Valley''.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}:

* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:''
** In the original ''Comicbook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'' story, Kara is not supposed to reveal her existence to the world until her hero training is done, so she decides to patrol Midvale secretly at night, trying not to get caught while she stops crimes and saves people. Midvale locals rumored that they were protected by a "guardian angel".

** Post-Crisis Supergirl also did this once. In the ''DC Universe Holiday Special 2008: A Day Without Sirens'', a "Day Without Sirens" is proposed right before Christmas. Commissioner Gordon believes such an initiative is doomed to failure. The criminals of Gotham would never heed such a calling. However, the day proceeds without police sirens. [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pScx8BN4h3s/SU-kKYaVUmI/AAAAAAAACGc/LKdSPl0ht34/s1600-h/holiday-09.jpg It turns out that]] Comicbook/{{Oracle}} teamed up with Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} and both girls handled covertly all emergency calls during that day. Supergirl ended up completely exhausted, though, making clear she cannot keep it up forever.

* In the {{Elseworld}} ''JLA: The Secret Society of Superheroes'', not only is Superman one, he persuades the Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica to likewise operate in secret. Rumours of their existence are pursued by IntrepidReporter Lois Lane and FBI profiler Bruce Wayne.

* ''[[FanFic/ANewChanceSeries A New Chance For Adventure]]'': [[spoiler: Skailyn, a Shiny Rayquaza and friend of Latios and Latias, secretly aids the team in their rescue of Larvitar's mother from Rico, has one of her minions erase the memory of Officer Jenny so Latios isn't charged with Rico's murder, and sets up a protective sphere (that they are unaware of) to shield them from the evil spirit that tried to kill them over a century ago.]]

* From the Literature/{{Deryni}} works by Creator/KatherineKurtz:

* In the {{Elseworld}} ''JLA: The Secret Society of Superheroes'', not only is Superman one, he persuades the Comicbook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica to likewise operate in secret. Rumours of their existence are persued by IntrepidReporter Lois Lane and FBI profiler Bruce Wayne.

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' also has 'Miss Fortune', essentially a female version of the Mysterious Stranger dressed in a Vegas Showgirl getup, and causes collossally bad luck to occur to a foe instead of outright killing them.

** Post-Crisis Supergirl also did this once. In the ''DC Universe Holiday Special 2008: A Day Without Sirens'', a "Day Without Sirens" is proposed right before Christmas. Commissioner Gordon believes such an initiative is doomed to failure. The criminals of Gotham would never heed such a calling. However, the day proceeds without police sirens. [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pScx8BN4h3s/SU-kKYaVUmI/AAAAAAAACGc/LKdSPl0ht34/s1600-h/holiday-09.jpg It turns out that]] Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}/Oracle teamed up with Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} and both girls handled covertly all emergency calls during that day. Supergirl ended up completely exhausted, though, making clear she cannot keep it up forever.

* Tooya from ''Manga/AyashiNoCeres''. Bonus points for wearing a BadassLongcoat, shades, ''and'' for being [[TheStoic stoic]].

* ''Anime/LibraryWar'': Iku Kasahara was inspired to join the Library Defense Force by her "prince," who came to her rescue when the bookstore she was patronizing was raided and saved the book she had waited years to finally buy. Not knowing his name, he is a mystery to her... Although it is revealed early on that he is actually Atsushi Doujo, her instructor/teammate with whom she has BelligerentSexualTension.

* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'', this trope is subverted. A major, presumed dead antagonist from the previous game actually plays this role to the hilt with the new protagonist, Micaiah. [[spoiler:The Black Knight almost takes this role to ludicrous levels, never being content to just simply make a normal entrance: he always uses magic to directly teleport to his destination -- which is often right next to his charge. His statistics are so broken in terms of gameplay that using him almost ensures victory, making him stand out from members of this trope that can only act in a supporting capacity.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' has a perk which causes a "Mysterious Stranger" to appear and assist the character randomly in battles. In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' he's so mysterious that he could pop up anywhere: In a fortified Enclave bunker, inside a VR simulation, on board an alien saucer in orbit around the Earth, ''anywhere''.
** VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas also has 'Miss Fortune', essentially a female version of the Mysterious Stranger dressed in a Vegas Showgirl getup, and causes collossally bad luck to occur to a foe instead of outright killing them.

*** Maybe that's because if he appears when you fire a shotgun or an explosive in tight quarters you often hit HIM
** Early on in New Vegas, if the player is having trouble, Victor the robot cowboy will show up to help fight off your enemies. While he accredits this to being a generally good-natured robot (which he is), the truth is that [[TheChessmaster Mr. House]] is using him to make sure that you make it to Vegas.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Magic 2.0}} Out of Spite, Out of Mind]]'', Martin becomes this for Phillip, who is utterly unaware that someone is setting up traps for him. While Phillip can't be hurt by such traps (wizards are impervious to damage), he can be inconvenienced, and the attacker may have ulterior motives. So, Martin starts following Phillip around and keeping him safe from the traps, while Phillip is too absorbed in his own problems to notice either the attacks or Martin saving him.

* Mr Carrisford in ALittlePrincess watches over Sara without her realizing that it was the man next door to the school who was secretly delivering presents and gifts up to her room to keep her spirits up.

* Kakeru, the protagonist of the sports manga ''Manga/AreaNoKishi'', stopped playing [[FootyRules football]] in grade school after injuring another player, and has been unable to bring himself to play again since. After being chewed out by his [[BigBrotherMentor older brother]] Suguru for holding himself back, Kakeru encounters a mysterious masked football player in a nearby park, who challenges him to a one on one night game. Though Kakeru was unsure of the player's identity after leaving, the challenge helped to re-awaken his love for playing the sport.

** In 1981's ''Superman'' #362 and #365-366, a flashback to Clark's early days at Metropolis University show he operated in secret as Superboy, to avoid anyone noticing Clark and Superboy both moving from Smallville to Metropolis. During this time, the whole country's abuzz and wondering what city Superboy had moved to. One scene even shows gamblers in UsefulNotes/LasVegas taking bets on which city the Boy of Steel had picked. The cities guessed at included Metropolis, [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], [[BigApplesauce New York]] (future home of the ComicBook/TeenTitans), UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC (future pre-Crisis home of Franchise/WonderWoman), UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}, UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} (future home of a short-lived version of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague), UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, and UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}. Oddly, other than Metropolis and Gotham, none of the other fictional DCU cities were guessed at by anyone. Adding to the hype, each city claimed they'd found (false) "proof" of Superboy secretly doing super-feats there. The ex-Smallville Sensation finally comes out in the open, thanks in part to then-reporter Perry White deducing the Boy of Steel was in Metropolis.

** In 1981's ''Superman'' #362 and #365-366, a flashback to Clark's early days at Metropolis University show he operated in secret as Superboy, to avoid anyone noticing Clark and Superboy both moving from Smallville to Metropolis. During this time, the whole country's abuzz and wondering what city Superboy had moved to. Cities guessed at by the media (and Las Vegas gamblers) included Metropolis,
[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]], [[BigApplesauce New York]] (future home of the ComicBook/TeenTitans), UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC (future pre-Crisis home of Franchise/WonderWoman), UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}, UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}, UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} (future home of a short-lived version of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague), UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, and UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}}. Oddly, other than Metropolis and Gotham, none of the other fictional DCU cities were guessed at by anyone. Adding to the hype, each city claimed they'd found (false) "proof" of Superboy secretly doing super-feats there. The ex-Smallville Sensation finally comes out in the open, thanks in part to then-reporter Perry White deducing the Boy of Steel was in Metropolis.

** In 1981's ''Superman'' #362 and #365-366, a flashback to Clark's early days at Metropolis University show he operated in secret as Superboy, to avoid anyone noticing Clark and Superboy both moving from Smallville to Metropolis. During this time, the whole country's abuzz and wondering what city Superboy had moved to. Cities guessed at by the media (and Las Vegas gamblers) included: Metropolis;
[[Franchise/{{Batman}} Gotham City]]; [[BigApplesauce New York]] (future home of the ComicBook/TeenTitans); UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC (future pre-Crisis home of Franchise/WonderWoman); UsefulNotes/LosAngeles; UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} (future home of a short-lived version of the ComicBook/JusticeLeague); UsefulNotes/NewOrleans; UsefulNotes/{{Chicago}} (a future pre-Crisis home of Supergirl); UsefulNotes/{{Miami}}; and UsefulNotes/{{Boston}}. (Oddly, other than Metropolis and Gotham, none of the other fictional DCU cities were guessed at by anyone.) Adding to the hype, each city claimed they'd found (false) "proof" of Superboy secretly doing super-feats there. The ex-Smallville Sensation finally comes out in the open, thanks in part to then-reporter Perry White deducing the Boy of Steel was in Metropolis.