History Main / OffscreenTeleportation

* Parodied in ''TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''TheWickerMan'', which starts with a very creepy, SlasherSmile-sporting Tamra teleporting around the room constantly (complete with {{Sting}}) until the Critic just gets irritated by it.

* Done a few times by characters in ''WebVideo/TheCartoonMan'' series. At one point in the second movie, Roy is talking to Valerie when she suddenly appears behind him and pulls him into another room.

* Parodied in ''TheNostalgiaCritic's'' review of ''TheWickerMan'', which starts with a very creepy, SlasherSmile-sporting Tamra teleporting around the room (complete with {{Sting}}) every time the Critic turns his back, until he just gets irritated by it.

* Two aliens appear in AlanMoore's ''{{Miracleman}}'' that only ever move between panels, much to the discomfort of Miracleman.

->'''Yzma:''' ... How did we, Kronk?

Variations of OffscreenTeleportation exist, for instance the telescope version. In this, Character A actually sees Character B a good distance away (usually involving looking through binoculars or a telescope), then looks away or loses sight of him. When Character A looks back a second later, Character B is right in front of him. Another variation is when Character A is running away from Character B, who makes almost no onscreen effort to chase him. Character A travels a conspicuously long route to a hiding place or equivalent, only to find or even collide with Character B when he gets there. "Sneaky" doesn't explain the speed he'd have to move at.

It doesn't have to be a character consciously doing this for it to count as OffscreenTeleportation. Sometimes the ''scenery'' conspires to do this to characters who couldn't do it ordinarily. For instance, if Character C falls into HazardousWater close to the shore, he may thrash about underwater for a few seconds and then find when he surfaces that he got teleported farther away from the shore than could reasonably be done even by a strong current.

->'''Kuzco:''' NO! It can’t be! [[PlotHole How did you get back here before us?!]]

* In one of DavidBrin's ''Literature/{{Uplift}}'' novels the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Jophur]] have a capture technology that envelopes areas in a small NegativeSpaceWedgie. The trapped people are frozen in time when observed, but can move when no one outside the anomaly observes them, making them appear to teleport when someone looks away from the anomaly and then looks again.

-->''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove''

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]
* Akabane does this to Ginji in the first Infinity Fortress arc of ''GetBackers''. Gin sees him, ''runs like hell,'' stops when completely ''exhausted,'' and... Akabane is standing right there with his customary friendly smile. Arguably Handwavable by the high speed Akabane has demonstrated in combat.

* Hei from ''DarkerThanBlack'' does this all the time, and he's the ([[AntiHero anti]])''hero''. He takes StealthHiBye to Batman-like levels.
* The cheerleading routine from the last episode of ''LuckyStar'' is impossible to perform in RealLife without modifying the choreography, because the girls often change position instantly between camera cuts.
* Lucky Roux the constantly-eating pirate does this in the first ''OnePiece'' chapter to move up and shoot a bandit who had his captain at gunpoint, leading some fans to speculate that he has super-speed.

* In ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'', [[FourthWallObserver Merryman]] suggests that the reason [[ComicBookTime Superheroes don't age]] is that they save time by doing all their traveling between panels.

* In Lucille Fletcher's story ''The Hitch-Hiker'', which was subsequently used in episodes of radio's ''Suspense'' and television's ''TheTwilightZone'', a cross-country driver keeps encountering the same sinister-looking hitchhiker everywhere he/she goes. [[spoiler:It turns out the hitchhiker is actually the GrimReaper, waiting to pick up the driver who had actually been [[DeadAllAlong killed in an accident]] at the start of his/her trip.]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling]]
* TheUndertaker, [[{{TNA}} Sting, and Suicide]] are somehow able to appear or disappear when the lights are turned off for a few seconds. Undertaker can even do this to enter the ring during a steel cage match, and to somehow appear in front of Big Show while the later was running away from him.

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* This trope was so familiar to Arthaus's writers for 3E {{Ravenloft}}, they made it a salient ability for corporeal undead in ''Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead''.

* This is a popular ability for ''[[{{Champions}} Dark Champions]]'' vigilantes. And yes, it's built using Hero's Teleportation power.

* Played with in ''[[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ Girl Genius]]'', in which Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer! repeatedly falls out of the zeppelin-attached Castle Wulfenbach, only to appear again without explanation. (It's indicated he might have managed to first ''land on'' and then ''take over'' a small blimp. Then fly it back to the Castle.)

* The most recent Abel's Story update (Part 2, page 24) at ''DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', Fa'Lina does this to Abel.

* In WebComic/CommanderKitty, Zenith and her goons somehow pull this off when [[http://www.commanderkitty.com/2009/07/05/tell-it-to-the-space-judge-lady/ Nin Wah tries to alert]] the [[PoliceAreUseless Triple-I]] to her presence.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-173 SCP-173]] is technically this trope except it doesn't actually teleport, it just moves really fast (4 metres within the time it takes to blink).

** Cats are basically this trope in furry form. One second their there, the next gone. Kinda cute when you're talking about a house cat but down right scary when you're talking about a 600 pound tiger.

* Quantum tunneling. A particle may not have the energy to cross a barrier, but if its wave function is inact (that is, it is not being observed), it can "teleport" through the barrier and be on the other side when it's observed.

* In ''HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'', Hermione seems to suddenly arrive at her classes when nobody is looking, which Ron finds spooky. This carries across in the film adaptation, where she appears between camera cuts, to the same reaction. [[spoiler: Turns out she's using TimeTravel to take more classes simultaneously.]]

->'''Droopy:''' Enjoy your trip?\\
'''Wolf:''' ''(gasps)'' [[NoFourthWall I just left this guy tied up!]] Yet, how did ya-- when di-- how-- where-- Listen, doc, how did ya get back here, anyway?\\
'''Droopy:''' [[HandWave Now, let's not get nosey, bub.]]
-->-- ''Dumb-Hounded'', the first ever Creator/TexAvery Droopy short

** Cats in general basically are this trope.

* As mentioned for his film versions, {{Batman}} is probably the greatest example of this trope, liking to make a [[StealthHiBye dramatic exit]] once whoever he's speaking with has turned their back and usually in mid sentence, and subsequently reappear elsewhere. He once actually managed to change from a disguise into his costume in the backseat of a car and move to the passenger seat WITHOUT BEING NOTICED, hold a brief conversation and then similarly slip away undetected with the car in motion while the driver was looking out the window.

[[folder:Film]]
* In the ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' films, Jason Voorhees occasionally does this. In ''[[Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan]]'', this was intentionally accentuated in the script in order to make the killer seem more terrifying, because you couldn't know where he would turn up next. Except they went too far in editing, turning it into an almost comically overt usage of this power that was supposed to be merely implied. The worst moment has to be when he's at the bottom of a ladder, the victim climbs up the ladder...and Jason is waiting at the top. Classically bad.
** And the one teacher who's running away from the hulking behemoth. He's in the lead by a considerable margin, runs into a building that only has one entrance.. and is promptly tossed out of the second story window by Jason, who'd been waiting for him.
** ''Film/JasonX'' used it extensively. Jason almost never ''walked'' into a room. He was just there. Or worse, sometimes he appear outside the (one-exit) room when the victim walked in. Taken to ridiculous heights in the first major gun battle, where three soldiers with full-auto rifles unload on him, never turning away. In the split second of darkness which comes with them accidentally shooting out the lights, Jason is gone.
** This trope is sometimes called the "Voorhees Unreality Engine" due it its ubiquitous use in the films.
** It's mostly an exaggeration from the MobileMenace abilities Jason displays in the second and third films.
* Done by Freddy Krueger in ''Film/FreddyVsJason''. During the fight between Jason and Freddy at Camp Crystal Lake, Jason is propelled to a construction site by a propane tank projectile. Freddy then shows that he's standing on top of it, somehow having moved past Jason.
* Michael Myers in the ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}'' series has fun with this trope. Even though the viewer only ever sees him move with a MenacingStroll on-screen, as soon as he is off-screen he seems to magically teleport to wherever the protagonists are. Though it's possible this is a deliberate attempt to display Michael's eerie, almost supernatural qualities.
** One instance in [[Film/{{Halloween 1978}} the first film]]: Laurie sees Michael through the window, and we cut to her reaction. When we cut back, he's gone.
** Another example from ''Film/Halloween4TheReturnOfMichaelMyers'' is when Jamie and Dr. Loomis manage to escape the aforementioned house. They run away, leaving Michael in the house, and decide to hide in the school. Loomis breaks open a door - which sets of the burglar alarm - rushes inside, and immediately runs into Michael, who not only managed to get to the school before them, but also got inside without setting off the alarm.
** ''Another'' example from ''Halloween 4'' is when Rachel and Jamie are escaping Haddonfield with the "lynch mob" Loomis organized. The last time we saw Michael, he was in the school getting blasted with a fire extinguisher, the smokescreen from which he disappeared into. The next time we see him, he's clung onto the bottom of the truck they're escaping in, climbs up, and kills almost everybody. It's theoretically possible for somebody to do this, it's hard given the time frame and fact that we always see the truck he's clung onto.
* In ''TheMatrixRevolutions'', when Trinity is being attacked by the Smith-possessed Bane in the real world, she is calling Neo when Bane steps in and smacks her face into a nearby wall, despite the fact that Trinity smashed him the face, knocking him down several feet onto the metal floor of the room below, and then shut a heavy metal door on him ''mere seconds beforehand''.
* The movie ''Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse'' is guilty of this. Small mobs of zombies will appear right behind a protagonist where no zombies had been before. It's especially annoying, considering that these zombies cannot move stealthily at all, and one should be able to hear a group of them shuffling, shoving, and moaning as they approach. In addition, good guys and bad guys surprise each other by instantaneously appearing in the cramped confines of the same helicopter at different times, despite the impossibility of sneaking in undetected.
** Every single ''Film/ResidentEvil'' movie is guilty of this, going as far as having them appear in rooms that have no visible entrance other than the one the character used. Possibly, this could be chalked up as a reference to the games.
** Many zombie movies, films, and TV shows somehow manage to have shambling, shuffling moaning zombies sneak up behind people, even when the people in question should be able to see them easily. [[RuleOfPerception Yet they somehow don't until the camera does]]. They are apparently able to move much faster than regular people, but ''only'' offscreen.
* ''InterviewWithTheVampire'': Brad Pitt's character appears to teleport in order to scare the eponymous interviewer, explaining this as SuperSpeed.
** Used in ''QueenOfTheDamned'' as well.
* Heavily used in B-movie ''Zombie Lake'' to wave away the difficulty of zombies catching up to their victims.
* The Psychlos use this in the movie version of ''Film/BattlefieldEarth''.
* Employed quite a bit by the giant snake in B-movie ''Boa''.
* Played with in ''ScaryMovie'', in which the main character sees the masked killer outside her classroom. As she looks away, the killer is shown frantically rushing to get behind the tree he was standing next to before she looks back again in order to invoke the feel of the trope.
* The director for ''EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'' tried to use practical camera effects whenever possible. One scene has Jim Carrey on both sides of the room at the same time. He had to run behind the camera and put a stocking cap on several times as the camera panned back and forth.
* ''PansLabyrinth'' is guilty of this. [[spoiler: When Mercedes and Ofelia are escaping the encampment, Mercedes somehow doesn't notice Captain Vidal and his entire squad of over fifty men sneak up behind them in barely the time it took her to turn her head.]] The eponymous Faun is also capable of just appearing out of nowhere, although this is heavily implied to be some type of magic.
** Interestingly, the first time the Faun appears this is subverted. If you look carefully enough, he's present for the entire scene, before he announces himself, but stays completely still and resembles an extension of the stony wall with some branches on it.
* Exemplified by the ninja Tyrannosaur in ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' who can't walk around outside without much roaring, stomping, and earth-shaking but suddenly appears inside a building at the climax of the film. Happens again with the even larger Spinosaurus in the third film: the only reason people realize it's there is that they hear the musical ring tone from a satellite phone it had earlier eaten.
** Ninja rex is somewhat justified by the fact that it normally takes a glass or pool of water to notice the vibrations of the rex, something you don't notice as well when cornered by velociraptors.
** And exactly how does the Dilophosaur even get into Nedry's car, or know that it's supposed to be there? All the doors except the one next to Nedry are shut. Unless we assume that it hopped around the car, opened the door, climbed in, shut the door after itself, and then waited patiently for Nedry to get in and shut the door, trapping himself. Maybe the velociraptors weren't the brains of the outfit after all.
*** There could be more than one Dilophosaurus, and the other just wandered into the car while Nedry was talking to the first.
*** It probably got in the open door when Nedry banged into it and fell down.
* Justified within in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies: not only can Davy Jones and his minions do this, but they can also walk ''through'' bits of his almost sentient ship due to the bond they all share with it. Averted when they move off of the ''Flying Dutchman,'' when they're actually shown to walk right through a wet surface and out of another wet surface somewhere else. The movie has fun with this when we first see Davy Jones just after this rule is suggested, small and far away through Jack's eyeglass; as he lowers the spyglass, we quickly see Davy Jones again, standing in the same way, but now right in front of Jack on the (wet) deck of the Black Pearl.
* Used by the shark in ''Film/JawsTheRevenge'' to reach the Bahamas from Massachusetts in under three days. Well, it is a VoodooShark...
* The killer in ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'' uses his [[MisappliedPhlebotinum vast supernatural powers]] of almost getting killed and being off-screen not only to teleport, but to wander slowly around killing people all day in public without attracting the slightest notice from anybody he hasn't stuck something sharp into, and to magically fill a locked car trunk with crawling crabs and other sea-life, then empty it again, in about five minutes in broad daylight while the other characters (and the camera) are looking away. Ironically, teleportation officially becomes one of his powers in the third movie, where he actually is undead. At one point he slashes the tires of FinalGirl's bike when she looks away for maybe a second or two.
* SergioLeone is notorious for this. The most ridiculous moment would have to be when Blondie and Tuco walk into ''the middle of a Union encampment'' without noticing, on a ''grassy plain''.
** ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'' was actually the ''first'' movie to use this trope, and to great effect.
*** Sergio specifically made this movie with the idea that what the camera saw was what the characters onscreen saw. This makes offscreen Teleportation even possible at the end of the film, when the villain manages to sneak up on two other people in the middle of a flat area.
* Used when Victor flees from Emily in ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride''.
* In ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter'', Harry Powell is truly impossible to shake off. You think you've lost him, he should be miles away, and wouldn't you know it, there he is along the horizon, trotting along on his horse and [[SoundtrackDissonance belting out gospel]]. Asks one character, [[LampshadeHanging "Don't he never sleep?"]]
* Subverted in the ''Franchise/{{Scream}}'' films, the killer appears to be able to do this but is really [[spoiler:two killers working as a team]].''Film/{{Scream }}'' however has a killer who can do this and is [[spoiler:working alone so shouldn't be able to]] a clear case of {{Sequelitis}}. It was supposed to [[spoiler:have two killers (Angelina was supposed to be the other one)]], but a bit of ExecutiveMeddling fixed that.
* Played with in the movie ''Film/BehindTheMaskTheRiseOfLeslieVernon'', in which a documentary crew essentially follows around a rookie horror-movie villain. (it turns from deconstruction to straight out horror when they realize he ''means it''.) Throughout his preparations it is shown that this move is just a combination of careful planning, DangerouslyGenreSavvy and cardio. Among other things, Vernon is shown as a student of stage magic and devoted to his cardio workout. At one point, he bets the interviewer (who lettered several times in track) that he can catch her in a footrace by walking slowly. The scene shows him ''sprinting'' when her back is turned, reading when she's going to look back at him, and dropping to a walk in time. The motion of looking back in surprise while running full-tilt causes her to do the traditional horror-movie fall-over.
* {{Lampshade}}d in ''Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', when Kuzco and Pacha supposedly beat Yzma and Kronk to her lab, they find both villains there waiting for them.
-->'''Kuzco:''' "No, it's impossible! How did you get back here before us?"
-->'''Yzma:''' "Ah.... [Looks confused] How did we, Kronk?"
-->'''Kronk:''' "Well, ya got me. [Pulls down a chart displaying the progress of the previous chase] By all accounts, it doesn't make sense."
* Rather subtle because the distances involved were so small, but in the scene of ''{{Shrek}}'' where Donkey and Shrek are arguing underneath the moon, Donkey demonstrates an unusual knack for getting in Shrek's face no matter which way the ogre turns.
* Possibly played with in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'', when Creator/JohnCleese's Lancelot is seen running towards the camera from the other side of a field. The camera switches between this scene and two guards watching several times with Lancelot getting no closer every time it looks at him (in fact, every shot of Lancelot is the same piece of footage, replayed) then suddenly when the camera is on the two guards, Lancelot runs in from offscreen and stabs them.
** More like a [[StealthHiBye Stealth Hi]] [[Creator/MontyPython absurdly]] averted.
* In ''Film/AHardDaysNight'', this may be the only way to explain the climax of John's bathtub scene.
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7YrZU8ZaFY Hey, mister, can we have our ball back?]]"
* Happens multiple times in ''YellowSubmarine''.
* A non-{{Villain}} example in ''YoungFrankenstein'' (watch [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9nLuWnyq5g the scene]] on [=YouTube=]). During final preparations to reanimate the monster, Igor is up on the roof.
-->'''Frederick:''' Now tie off the kites and hurry down as fast as you can.
-->'''Igor:''' What's the hurry?
-->'''Frederick:''' There's a possibility of electrocution. Do you understand?
-->'''Igor:''' [Looks down through the skylight]
-->'''Frederick:''' I say: There's a possibility of electrocution! Do you understand?
-->'''Igor:''' [comes in from offscreen next to Frederick] I understand, I understand. Why are you shouting?
-->'''Frederick:''' Did you...Did you tie off the kites?
-->'''Igor:''' Of course.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Batman: Mask of the Phantasm]]'', the eponymous character, Phantasm appears to rely a lot on this trope to get around. A ''lot'' of [[SmokeOut Smoke outs]] were involved though. NINJA VANISH!
* Subverted at one point in ''Film/ThePrestige'', when Angier is tailing Borden, another magician. Borden crosses a street and a carriage passes between them... and Borden's still there. Played straight quite frequently, but then, they ''are'' magicians.
** The whole plot of ''Film/ThePrestige'' revolved around the rival magicians trying to out-do each other with teleportation tricks.
** Another instance occurs towards the beginning of the film when Borden drops his date off at her door and walks away, and she goes in, and he's suddenly in her kitchen making her tea. The reveal explains it.
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', while the Joker is threatening Rachel, Batman appears out of nowhere in the middle of a crowded party surrounded by the Joker's goons. Indeed, one of Batman's few supernatural powers seems to be the ability to teleport whenever anyone turns his back for one second.
** There's no evidence that ''nobody'' in the room noticed Batman. Most likely, the only people who didn't see him were Joker, whose attention was on Rachel, and Rachel and the Joker's goons, who were paying attention to him. Remember, Batman tries to be stealthy while the Joker wants to stand out, so Joker's being the center of attention is almost a given, even compared to a giant bat. In all likelihood, many of the party guests saw Batman, but were already intimidated into silence and thus didn't give away his presence.
** Also in ''Film/BatmanBegins'', when Batman appears to Rachel for the first time on the train platform after rescuing her from the "mugger." And he comes and goes several times around Gordon in both movies.
*** Gordon, to Dent: "He does that."
**** Interestingly, the film borrows this tendency of Batman straight from some of the best comic books written about him. 'He does that', from what I remember, is from the comic book The Long Halloween. You could quite easily say this is one of Batman's most enduring traits.
** Lampshaded in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', when Selina Kyle disappears in front of Batman, prompting the latter to remark, "So that's what that feels like."
* Used to terrifying effect in ''Ring0Birthday'', the {{Prequel}} to the Japanese ''{{Ringu}}'' movies. Even though she still has a living, breathing body (well... [[BackFromTheDead kind of]]) Sadako can project herself across relatively long distances to corner her prey. Justified in [[Film/TheRing the American remake]], where Samara's unique nature and "video glitches" grant her true teleportation.
* At the climax of ''StarWars'', the ''Millennium Falcon'' swoops in and saves Luke's bacon. ''How'' exactly did Han fly a cargo freighter close enough to shoot one of Darth Vader's wingmen, without any of the other TIE fighters or gunners on the Death Star noticing him?
** He used the light from Yavin's star to blind their sensors and mask his approach. You can see the glare coming from behind the ''Millennium Falcon'' in the shot where it is first seen.
* {{Lampshade}}d in ''Vidocq'', where the Alchemist not only teleports offscreen but also manages to change position in absolutely impossible movements. However, this is consistent with the impossible nature of the Alchemist, who even manages to have two left arms in one scene.
* Simultaneously {{Justified|Trope}} and {{Averted}} in ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338526/ Van Helsing]]'' with Dracula as apparently super speed is one of the powers you get as top vampire.
* The title character in ''[[http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/publish/consumer/home/shows/the_good_witch.html The Good Witch]]'' likes this one.
* Done in the film ''Film/{{Cube}}''. Quentin, now insane, gets pulled down into a cube room and left by the other survivors, who have to use the composite of their knowledge and mathematical prowess to figure out how The Cube works and avoid the traps. They manage to get to the exit but then [[DiabolusExMachina Quentin shows up, kills Leaven and mortally wounds Worth]]. How he managed to get there without their aid to avoid trapped rooms and to figure out the final pieces of The Cube's puzzle is unknown. But even if he did somehow get there by sheer blind luck, how did he get in undetected to take them by surprise? The doors in The Cube are loud and clunky.
** Well, the ''audience'' can very clearly hear him open the door... which just makes Leaven and Worth not noticing it even more confusing.
* In the movie ''DantesPeak'', Pierce Brosnan and the Mayor's family need to cross a stream of cooling, but still very hot, lava. They're just barely making it through in their car when the dog, which disappeared a scene earlier, appears out of nowhere even though there's no way he could have gotten there without teleporting or flying.
* Apparently if you ever become a [[HybridMonster vampire/werewolf hybrid]] this is one of the primary powers you will receive, according to ''Film/{{Underworld}}''.
* ''SpiesLikeUs''. While Austin and Emmett are walking away from them and talking, the two KGB Special Branch agents somehow get from the jeep they were in (behind our heroes) to standing in front of them.
* As per the page quote, accidentally used in ''TheGirlInGoldBoots.'' "Accidentally" because it wasn't actual teleportation, just really bad film editing that made a character magically appear at a restaurant table in the middle of a scene. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TFiB3e3_J4 See for yourself.]]
* Bang Bang from ''The Brothers Bloom''. Bloom looks through his binoculars and she's there, he looks behind him, she's there.
* Used memorably in ''2001: A Space Odyssey'' for the appearances of the Monolith and to show the progression of Dave Bowman's age in the hotel room near the end of the movie. In ''2010: The Year We Make Contact'', the same technique is used when Bowman talks to Heywood Floyd, switching back and forth between his various ages before turning into the Star Child and disappearing.
* Used hilariously in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', when our eponymous heroes want to cross a street at a crosswalk. Kumar convinces Harold to jaywalk, and Harold checks both directions, to find the road clear on both sides for miles. Then he steps off the sidewalk and a cop car ''instantly'' pulls up from just off-screen. Cue Kumar trying to ignore Harold's DeathGlare.
* The Professor, an asset in the employ of Treadstone, does this to Nicky in ''[[Film/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Identity]]'' when he receives his order to kill Bourne.
* ''Film/{{Cthulhu}}'' (2007). The protagonist encounters the Ancestor in an AbandonedWarehouse and flees, only to find him waiting on the street outside.
* Mr. Teatime does this in the ''{{Discworld/{{Hogfather}}'' adaptation, accompanied by a sound similar to a blade being drawn. Such an ability may well be expected for an assassin, but he manages to surprise even the head assassin, Lord Downey, with it.
* Used humorously in ''{{Daybreakers}}'' when a non villainous human suddenly appears behind a non villainous vampire, spooking the vampire.
* Heroic version similar to the "ninja-rex" example above: in ''TheGoldenCompass'', suddenly [[MemeticMutation Raargh! Stealth Bears!]] in plate mail!
* Perhaps one of the most unlikely examples appears in ''{{Cloverfield}}'', when the giant creature somehow approaches the characters unnoticed across Central Park, even though it must have been directly in their line of sight.
* In the film ''Blame It On The Bellboy'', a hit man stalking his target looks away from her for a second ... only to have her show up directly behind him, saying hello and introducing herself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry: The Movie'', when Tom and Jerry have to get the note to Robyn telling her that her father is alive, they wait until Aunt Figg has gotten away from Robyn's bedroom door and walked downstairs. But as soon as they run to Robyn's bedroom door, without making a sound, Aunt Figg is suddenly right behind them and catches them.
* Amusingly done in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc'' between Sully and Boo, the latter being a cute little girl who reappears out of nowhere like something out of a horror movie whenever he's got his back turned. Of course, to Sully it ''is'' exactly like being inside a horror movie considering he believes that her presence is deadly to him.
* In the film of ''Film/{{Eragon}}'', Brom practically comes out of nowhere to [[spoiler:perform his HeroicSacrifice [[TakingTheBullet for Eragon.]]]] In fact, attentive viewers will notice that, in previous shots, the area where Brom leaps from blocked off completely by a wall.
* ''TheMusicMan'': Used repeatedly by the MatthewBroderick version of Harold Hill in ''Marian The Librarian.'' PlayedForLaughs: every time Marian tries to get away from Hill for about the first half of the song, she turns around and he's standing right in front of her. She [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it after the first few times with increasingly frazzled [[AsideGlance aside glances.]]
* Arguably used in ''TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'' when Jack goes to rescue Sally and Santa from Oogie Boogie. Last we see Jack before the FinalBattle, he was [[MeaningfulBackgroundEvent sneaking in behind Oogie's back]], quite a bit aways from the platform where Santa and Sally was. With the way the scene is set up, it would have been ''impossible'' for Jack to get to the platform without Oogie seeing him, no matter ''what'' sneaking skills being the Pumpkin King would get you.
* In the first ''Film/FantasticFour'' movie, the eponymous heroes (and Doom) are all knocked unconscious by a radiation wave. The next scene shows them all waking up in a hospital. No explanation at all is given as to how they got back to Earth. In a more typical example, when Reed, Sue, and Johnny are trying to get to Ben in the bridge scene, Reed tells Sue to turn invisible. She does so and slips through the crowd. The film moves on to show what Ben's doing for a couple minutes, and when it comes back to the others, Sue is complaining about having to strip her clothes off, and Reed says "Well, at least it got us through the crowd." The movie doesn't even attempt to {{Handwave}} the explain how Sue turning invisible got all three of them through the crowd.
** Wasn't there the implication that Sue caused something to short-circuit, which started enough people to thin part of the crowd?
* A RunningGag for the titular ''NannyMcPhee''.
-->"I '''did''' knock."
* In ''Mr. Deeds'', the character "Emilio", who is Deeds' butler, is extremely sneaky. He will suddenly appear, and disappear, right next to someone, exclaiming his sneakiness.
-->"I am very very sneaky, sir."
* Played oddly straight in "Nosferatu", where Hutter arrives at the castle. The carriage driver (who is assumed to be Orlok in disguise) drives the carriage into the woods, away from the castle. Approximately 5 seconds later, Orlok walks out of the castle. This is never made light of in the rest of the film.
* Gandalf does this in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Fellowship of the Ring'' when Bilbo turns invisible at his birthday party and runs home. Gandalf is in the audience when this happens, yet when Bilbo gets inside, he's already there, even though there's no way that he could have run the open ground unseen, even though his longer legs would have carried him faster. And wizard or no, no-one in Middle-Earth has the power of teleportation.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: Return of the King'', Gollum is busy ranting about how he plans to kill the hobbits, and drops a stone into a puddle. In the two seconds it takes for the ripples to clear, Sam is now behind him, his reflection in the exact spot Gollum dropped the stone. Given that Sam overheard a fair portion of the rant, one would almost think he did it on purpose.
** It is noted in Tolkien's canon that hobbits are able to move virtually undetected if they want to.
* ''Film/BlackDynamite'' knocks a mook to the floor from the right. The mook flees, only to be attacked again by Black Dynamite, who's also standing BehindTheBlack on the left side of the frame. [[RuleOfThree Black Dynamite attacks the mook again when he runs back to the right.]]
* In the 1999 version of ''AMidsummerNightsDream'', Oberon offscreen teleports right next to Titania, and later Titania offscreen teleports ''away'' from Oberon. Justified, as they are fairies, after all.
* Seen from the teleporter's vantage point in the BusterKeaton film ''Cops''. As Keaton's character is running away from the police, he grabs on to a large car passing by and disappears from the cops' view.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* OnceAnEpisode, if not [[UpToEleven more]], in {{Smallville}}.
** One of the biggest offenders is the Metropolis-Smallville travel. It is [[ContinuitySnarl usually]] a two-hour drive but people teleport between them all the freaking time.
* Angelus manages to invoke this trope in an episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', when chasing Jenny Calendar, though this time it's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] through the SuperSpeed shown by both Angel and Angelus throughout the series.
** Another [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] example is in "What's My Line, Part 2." When the worm-man from the Order of Taraka is chasing Xander and Cordelia, he pulls some OffscreenTeleportation to suddenly pop up in front of them, despite the fact that he shows no other signs of having unusual movement capabilities. (He can [[TheWormThatWalks disintegrate into worms and crawl]], but the worms do not appear to be particularly fast. Certainly he can't teleport, since Xander and Cordelia escape him shortly thereafter by ducking into the basement, closing the door, and putting duct tape across the crack at the bottom. For that matter, it's not entirely clear what makes the worm-man so dangerous in the first place...)
*** If he gets near your face consider yourself suffocated as [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong thousand of wriggling worms shove themselves down your nose and throat]]. Plus he can't be hurt in human form.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] all to hell the episode ''Film/{{Gunslinger}}'' of ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'', where Tom Servo reveals that he can do this at will.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "Blink" [[spoiler: The Angels have this ability as a form of AppliedPhlebotinum: they can move incredibly fast, but turn to stone whenever someone looks at them.]] This episode also breaks the fourth wall because the same principle applies to the camera as well ([[spoiler:that is, the angels turn into stone even if only the camera is looking at them]]).
** From the mid-season finale of season six: [[spoiler: Rory, as the Last Centurion, is in a Cyberman ship. At one point, he somehow accomplishes the following:]]
--> '''Cyber-Leader''': Intruder level eleven. Seal levels twelve, thirteen and fourteen. Intruder level fifteen.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': Sylar does this a lot, either moving distances or changing positions when the camera's not looking. ''Only'' when the camera's not looking. At one point, he goes from knocked to the floor to up on his feet ''as the camera pans around another character''. This may be some sort of superpower; in one volume 4 episode, he is [[spoiler: talking to Danko in a car, the camera pans around Danko, and we see him ''on top of a huge building'']]. However he mostly only uses this power when the camera's not on him.
** He does use it on camera once in the first season. He can fling himself ridiculously.
** A personal favorite is that he went from California to New Jersey in roughly the same amount of time it took Peter and The Haitian to get there from NYC. The rush hour traffic must have been terrible.
* In ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', characters and indeed entire civilizations are quite easily capable of keeping pace with Voyager, despite Voyager moving flat out to get home.
** Possibly justified in that Voyager takes a LOT of side trips and is stopped or delayed, sometimes for weeks at a time.
* Parker on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' is capable of this. It implicitly explained via LeParkour or other expert climbing/gymnastics/thieving skills.
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' has a particularly hilarious example of this. In the episode "Criss Angel is a Douche Bag," the Winchester boys tie up a stage magician that they think is responsible for the recent murders. The boys discuss their next move as the camera pans around them, and when the camera comes around again, the chair that they tied the man up in is empty.
-->Dean: We ''really'' should have seen that one coming.
** Even funnier, after Sam and Dean run off to go looking for him, the magician pops out of the closet. When Sam and Dean get downstairs and the cops pull in, the magician comes downstairs. Cue the ''very'' confused looks from poor Sam and Dean.
** Speaking of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Cas (like other angelic creatures) is a MASTER of Off Screen Teleportation. If Cas is in the episode, it'll probably happen. Multiple times.
*** Note, however, that it's often only "offscreen" for the audience; there are multiple examples of human characters looking straight at angels while they flutter away.
*** Probably the best example from an in-universe perspective comes from the angel Anna. In one episode, there is a long quiet interlude with Sam and Dean driving down the road. Anna, heretofore ''unseen'' in the entire episode and for several episodes prior, in one instant cut shows up in the back seat and says, "Hi, guys." Dean is so damn shocked that he nearly drives the Impala straight off the road!
** [[MagnificentBastard Crowley]] is pretty much Cas's demonic EvilCounterpart in this regard. He does it in every episode he appears in - for example, in "Two Minutes To Midnight", he does it to Dean three or four times in about a minute. Dean's reactions are ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny hilarious]]''.
* In some episodes of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'', many characters who had the power to teleport themselves for some reason bothered walking out through a door and then, once not seen by the viewer, use their power. Sometimes, the sound effects were heard, sometimes it was implied.
* Occurs in ''Series/TeenWolf''. Derek seems to appear out of nowhere in the weirdest places, including the boys' locker room.
** Derek spends more time time in the boys' locker room than most of the boys on the lacrosse team, but nobody ever seems to notice him at the school.
* Occurs in ''Series/TheSecretCircle''. One moment possessed Melissa is tied up and lying on the couch, then the camera and the characters look away for a second. When they look back, she's untied and standing next to them. It's not clear if this is done by magic or demonic speed, but it's a fairly creepy moment.
* Occurs in ''Series/ToddAndTheBookOfPureEvil'', when the guidance counselor Atticus is pursued by a man-sized monster baby spawned by the titular ArtifactOfDoom. Although the Big Bad Baby is only capable of shambling slowly, it somehow manages to get in front of Atticus as he sprints down a school corridor.
* In the KoreanSeries ''BoysBeforeFlowers'', Jan Di chases after a limousine on foot for a short distance, then turns and runs back to her bicycle. The next scene is her riding up to a house's front entrance at the same time the limo arrives.
* On ''{{Warehouse 13}}'', Mrs. Fredrick does this ''all the time'', to the point that its her most defining trait.
--> '''Artie''': [[LampshadeHanging How does she do that?]]
** For that matter, her bodyguard and the Regents seem capable of it too.
*** Incidentally, one of the Regents has the same [[MarkSheppard actor]] as Crowley.
* The teacher in charge of detention in ''{{JONAS}}''. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] for Joe, his GirlOfTheWeek and the other students: '' "I'm like an invisible ninja...!" ''
* In an episode of ''FallingSkies'', the 2nd Massachusetts manages to go on an unfamiliar route they have never traveled before, completely passing the group which has recaptured some of their members who were trying to escape back, and take the enemy headquarters, all offscreen.
* TheFlash naturally did this a few times justified both by his SuperSpeed and [[CoconutSuperpowers the tv show's budget.]]
* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', CIA Agent [[MeaningfulName Gray]] took it UpToEleven by Offscreen Teleporting twice in as many minutes.[[note]]Once to enter Homicide, once to leave.[[/note]]
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': The Militia marches away in episode three, yet the off screen protagonists manage to figure out where the militia is going, get ahead of them and set up a trap at a bridge - all on foot.
* Discussed and parodied in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode featuring ''Film/{{Gunslinger}}''. Tom Servo attempts to explain away the fact the movie just had a bunch of false fronts by showing how this sort of thing actually works. Crow ends up insulting Tom over it, leading the latter to ''bend time space to his will''. When Joel finally goes to a commercial, he has to calmly let Tom know to stop.
** {{Averted}} in the episode TheGirlInGoldBoots in that Buzz's inexplicable appearance in the diner happens completely ''onscreen'' due to the mother of all editing errors.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13YlEPwOfmk Played perfectly straight]] in ''Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened'' and ''Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis'', possibly as way to avoid programming pathfinding AI. As long as you are looking at Watson, he never moves. You can walk as far away from him as you want, and he will stay in that spot. As soon as you turn around and turn back, however, he will be right next to you immediately. This leads to some cases where you can walk up to a door, turn away from Watson, open the door, and find him in the room, despite it having no other entrances.
** Partially averted, however, in the remastered version of The Awakened. This time, you can see Watson running to keep up with Holmes.
* Played absurdly straight to the point of ''on-screen'' teleportation in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', where upon being defeated in battle important {{NPC}}s will literally teleport away from the battle whenever convenient, even if such a power makes no sense for them, or you acquire them later, at which point they lose their plot-driven abilities.
* This trope is a common means of news conveyance in classic ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. Journey long distances over treacherous terrain from Town A to Town B, and somehow the residents of Town B have already heard the news about Town A, even though no one could have possibly made the journey faster than your party did. (Perhaps someone TookAShortcut? Or your party just got bogged down in all those RandomEncounters?)
* One commentator described the appearance of this tendency in video games as "{{NPC}} powers", noting the ability of minor characters in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' to appear on the other side of locked doors, survive alone with only a handgun for defense, and mysteriously beat you to any location you're traveling towards.
** Somewhat justified in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', with Sherry. A close examination of the rooms you see her disappear into or from will show some [[AirVentPassageway vent or opening]] that the character will note is "too small for an adult."
*** Doesn't quite explain how she got into the chief's quarters when the corridor was blocked by the helicopter debris.
** Bitores Mendez in ''RE 4'' pulls this just before his boss fight, when the camera shifts to face Leon.
** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'', Nikolai is sometimes present, depending on the player's path, at the gas station when it catches fire and explodes, yet still shows up unscathed later.
* Randomly placed enemies in ''BaldursGate'' pop up practically anywhere the "fog of war" covers, never appearing in areas you can see (unless you load a saved game, in which case some can even appear out of nowhere when it loads!). A particularly absurd example would be the hordes of Kobold Commandos that almost seem to pour out of the very walls in the Firewine Ruins.
* Scorpion from the video game series ''MortalKombat'' can ''literally'' do this -- jumping off the screen in one direction, results in him instantly appearing, fist-first, from the ''other'' side of the screen.
** Scorpion is justified in that he is an ''[[NinjaPirateZombieRobot angry ninja ghost]].''
** Chronos from ''OneMustFall2097'' has a similar power, with the in-game explanation being that it's a HumongousMecha designed for time-critical spaceship rescues.
** Reimu has an ability very similar to this in ''Subterranean Animism'', the eleventh ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' game, when she has Yukari helping her. Minus the punching, since this is a [[ShootEmUps SHUMP]] and all that. This ability was later given to Yukari in a patch of ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody''. Still minus the punching, since it's still a defensive tactic.
* Used regularly in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', where Splicers will suddenly appear in areas that had been cleared out minutes before. Kind of justified in that Rapture is one giant city of crazies and new ones will inevitably wander in after Jack has passed.
** There's also the Houdini Splicers. Justified in that they also have ''on''-screen teleportation.
* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' makes use of this with Alma and Fettel sometimes appearing without warning when the Point man turns around. In their case, though, its quite justified in that both of them are using psychic projections or hallucinations.
* In the game ''VideoGame/{{Myth}} 2'', the Deceiver can travel much faster if he is unobserved.
* Used as part of a game mechanic in ''Left4Dead'' - the Infected team in Versus can spawn -anywhere-, as long as there's no Survivor within 10 feet and no Survivor has a line of sight to the spot. Also, if the Survivor team gets too far away, the Infected can Offscreen Teleport closer to their location.
** The AI Director uses line of sight for all infected spawning, which can lead to hilarious instances where a [[ClownCarGrave massive horde of zombies pile out of a small bathroom]]. This can happen even if you had previously cleared the room, and in some instances, you can manage to be in an area when the infected begin spawning around you.
** The Survivor bots do this if they get far enough behind you.
* In ''MetalGearSolid3'', during your fight with The End, he can immediately appear right next to Snake if the player spends too long in first-person mode.
* In ''Dementium: The Ward'', you acquire your first gun by taking it from the body of some poor schmuck who fell prey to this. The first living person you come across has closed himself off in a tiny boiler room, which only has one door, and has been shooting the undead creatures as they come in. While he's busy threatening you with his gun, a zombie impossibly appears ''behind'' him, and kills him.
* Used by Flying Fox in ''HeavenlySword'', though he uses it on another villain and is played for laughs due to Bohan's confusion.
* ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'', arguably. Although the BigBad gains ''genuine'' teleportation after going OneWingedAngel with some AppliedPhlebotinum, the other antagonists (particularly [[PsychoLesbian the maid]] [[AxCrazy Daniella]]) already teleport almost constantly. For example, when [[MysteriousWaif Fiona]] finds Daniella tending the fire in one room, the player can go into the opposite identical room and ''find her hiding in the closet.'' Given how there is ''no way'' she could have gotten there without first passing Fiona in the corridor... yeah.
** Then there's Riccardo after he [[spoiler: turns invisible...]]
** Then again, Belli Castle [[MobileMaze during the latter stages of the game]] borders on AlienGeometries, so you never can tell anyway...
* In ''[[VideoGame/DejaVu Déjà Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas]]'', TheDragon Stogie takes this to completely absurd levels, appearing out of nowhere no matter WHERE you happen to be at the time. Doesn't matter if you're on a train well on its way to Chicago, or out in the middle of the Vegas desert...
* In just about every [[UnusualEuphemism gorram]] racing game if you get too far ahead of the AI opponents, they'll [[RubberBandAI magically teleport]] to just behind your tail.
** ''VideoGame/{{F-Zero}}'' for the SNES provides a particularly blatant example of OffscreenTeleportation. If 2nd place is far enough behind you to be off screen (ie not by much), it will literally be just BehindTheBlack no matter what.
* In ''HalfLife'' this is the first major hint that the mysterious man in the suit is much more than just a regular [[TheMenInBlack Man In Black]] overseeing the military opperation at Black Mesa. He often is seen in the distance during firefights with aliens or soldiers, calmly going his way, often into rooms or side passages that turn out to be dead ends without any doors when you try to catch up with him.
** [[spoiler:The ending and particuarly the second game make it clear that he is some kind of [[MonsterSuit Alien in a Human Suit]] who does in fact have the ability to teleport between dimension. Either by a divice in his business suitcase or as a natural ability.]]
* There's an add-on for Garry's Mod called the "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial Harmless]] Companion Cube." Don't turn your back on it......
* How exactly do the villains in ''{{Pokemon}}'' get away when the game decides to turn the lights out?
** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Team ___ [Name] is out of usable Pokemon!]] [[FinalSpeech Team ____ [Name] made a Final Speech!]] [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Team ___ [Name] ]][[ZigZaggingTrope [Blacked/Whited] Out!]]
** The Pokemon Trainer himself in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros. Brawl''.
* Ally Example: Tricky from ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. Run too far ahead of him? He's around the next corner. Had to climb to proceed? He'll catch [[IncrediblyLamePun up]]. He cannot teleport across large pits with flame jets and moving platforms for some reason, however.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheUmbrellaChronicles'' and its sequel ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilTheDarksideChronicles'' feature many scenes in which you look away from an empty room for a few seconds, only to look back and see that it has become overrun by slow-moving, loud, unintelligent, but apparently very sneaky zombies.
** Hey, be fair now, HouseoftheDead did it first!
* ''[[RedFaction Red Faction: Guerrilla]]'' - no matter how fast you drive between safehouses, Sam will be there to exchange salvage for goodies.
* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters''. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin It's in the name, yo!]]
* The ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games do this with the police and other authorites once you get above a two-star warning level. Essentially, there is no hiding spot inconvenient enough that the authorities can't magically appear to shoot at you, even when it should be impossible for them to even know where you are. IE, if you run out of their line of their sight for a long time and are holed up in say a small shack, they will still spawn close to you just out of your LOS.
* ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' abuses this quite a bit. In a typical version of the warehouse scene, [[spoiler: it will show the empty warehouse, you walk up to save [[strike: Shaun]] [[FanNickname Not Jason]], and the killer appears right behind you. Then another character runs out of nowhere to save you. Also Manfred's killing, done without Lauren noticing, even though she's in the same room. Also Norman's ghost, although that one's justified by it being inside virtual reality.]]
* Enemies in the ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' games frequently "[[TeleportingKeycardSquad teleport in]]" [[BehindTheBlack behind walls]], behind your back, or even more blatantly, ''in plain sight''.
* In some of the ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' games, there are certain randomly-spawned enemies that can appear right behind you, as well as {{Teleporting Keycard Squad}}s and RespawningEnemies from around corners ala ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''.
* In the epilogue "The Last Visit" from ''{{Scratches}}: The Director's Cut'', [[spoiler: Robin Blackwood]] somehow appears in the dead-end confines of the [[spoiler: bathroom]] while your back is turned.
* In ''VideoGame/ATaleOfTwoKingdoms'', the barghest does this. No matter where you turn, he will be in front of you.
* In the first episode of ''[[VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople Cool Game for Attractive People]]'', ''HomestarRuiner'', [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Homestar]] will move into Strong Bad's house and lament the three problems that have crept into his life. As he does so, there are effectively three Homestars at once, implying that he's teleporting around when Strong Bad isn't looking. This gets a reaction shot when Strong Bad first notices.
* Friendly example, though still incredibly creepy: In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', your party members will warp inexplicably. Normally, they will just try to follow the path you took to reach any given spot. But, sometimes, you can get to areas that are plain and simply impossible for them to reach (some of the stores in Twilight Town, for example). Now they'll jump around like idiots so long as you're looking at them...but turn away...and they're ''right behind you''. Bonus creepy points if you enter first person mode to do this, as when you turn back around you'll get a truly unnerving close-up.
** They also do this in ''Days'', however this may be more zig-zagged as it's usually a lot more common to see them teleport right in front of you.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', if you call your horse, it will appear somewhere nearby just out of sight and gallop to Ezio, even if you had left it behind far away. The Assassin recruits are also very good at this; if they are not running in from just out of sight, they are leaping out of hiding spots that they probably should not have been able to reach before you call for them.
* In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', when the FacelessEye chases after Lemeza, no matter how quickly he gets to the next screen the eye is only a few seconds behind.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the Wiiware/PC remake. The eye thing now stays where it is when you go across screens, and needs to catch up to you.
* ''VideoGame/NetHack'' won't randomly spawn monsters in line-of-sight (unless there's no other option). If the player is unable to see monsters can spawn anywhere, even right next to the player. This occasionally surprises players who are blinded for a single turn.
* ''GhostMaster'' lets you benefit from this--unlike humans, the ghosts you control don't take any time to move from room to room.
* In Amy's levels of ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', Zero will sometimes suddenly reappear by smashing through a wall that he had no apparent means of getting behind.
* Ran with in RainbowSix:Vegas with the terrorists. In some rooms, you can equip your Thermal Goggles and see a squad of terrorists appear out of thin air.
** Same with ''GhostRecon: Advanced Warfighter''.
* [[SuperMarioBros Luigi]] in VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 takes this to somewhat extreme levels. He teleports from galaxy to galaxy when you aren't looking, and he doesn't have a spaceship of his own. He also reaches Starship Mario either this way, or he can [[InASingleBound jump even higher than he shows us]].
** In ''SuperMarioRPG'', [[GoldfishPoopGang Croco]] breaks into Bowser's Keep even with all access cut off. Toad makes it farther to the Final BossCorridor despite being captured every few minutes by low-level enemies in one of the first areas of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', you can be anywhere, even another country, where with one simple whistle your horse will be there.
* In the fangame VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic, [[FightingClown Pinkie Pie]] can teleport by running out of the screen and coming back on the other side, dropping from the top of the screen [[SubvertedTrope or the same side she left the screen]].
* Depending on the camera angles during battle, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]] can do this in ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 012: Final Fantasy]]'' with his teleportation move "Reverse Polarity".
* The AI in ''MarioKart'' can be like this at times...you ''just'' knocked Yoshi off of the road. Yet [[RubberBandAI there he is right behind you]].
* True to form, the eponymous monster of ''VideoGame/{{Slender}}'' only moves when you're not looking. Unfortunately, staring at him for any length of time will [[BrownNote drive your character mad]], so it's hard to use this against him - especially late in the game when he can JumpScare right in front of you. If you're ''facing'' him but can't actually see him due to an obstacle, you can keep him in place by walking backwards.
* Necromorphs in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' have Air Vent Teleportation. Particularly noticeable with [[MightyGlacier the Hunter Necromorph]], and especially in the scene where you [[ImplacableMan finally]] get rid of it: you can clearly see the thing slowly crawl into the vent a good ten meters away from you, then ''instantly'' move to the vent right next to you, then slowly crawl out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' episode, "Dummy Love", the Aqua Teens make many attempts to get rid of or otherwise destroy the two DemonicDummy characters that appear in the episode. Of course, no method of destruction prevents their return, eventually leading to a profitable and lucrative magic show career on the part of one of the main characters.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Sneak Peek", Terry does an extended chase scene following Ian Peek down floor after blockaded floor as fast as he can. The instant he falls through the final floor (right after Terry arrived), an elderly Bruce Wayne appears...although he was left hundreds if not thousands of feet away in no rush to chase after them.
* In the ''[[NorthwestHoundedPolice Droopy]]'' cartoons, the wolf would get into a plane, boat, and train to get away from Droopy, end up in China, and have Droopy [[TheCatCameBack inexplicably waiting for him when he got there.]]
** There's [[NorthwestHoundedPolice at least one]] in which there are shown to be a very large number of identical Droopys.
* Happens a few times in ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' as well.
** It's actually parodied it also. In "Tortoise Beats Hare," Cecil Turtle and and Bugs Bunny are in a race, but Cecil gets his (identical) relatives scattered across the route ahead of time to screw with Bugs and make him think this trope is in effect.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' this is the main forte of the Warners, to the dismay of other characters.
** A particularly funny one happens when they're antagonizing the Jerry Luis-like Mr. Director. As part of his {{angrish}} fueled rant at witnessing this, he briefly points back to where they were, and for that brief second, ''they're still there.''
* The above image from ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}!'' comes from a scene in which Loud Kiddington pulls this on George Bush after he climbs over the gates in front of the White House. As you can see, the animators drew Loud twice on the same shot.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' a few times. In one, Mr. Burns makes it from the top floor of his mansion to his basement, faster than the kids can slide down a laundry chute, apparently only needing secret passages to do so.
** In the safari in Africa, there's a POVCam shot as Marge looks at a cheetah through binoculars. "They don't look so fast to me." Then she lowers the binoculars and the cheetah is right up in her face.
** Nelson manages to do this trick in "Das Bus".
* Ron has this ability in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. Kim leaps off a building with her pistol grappling hook, through a window, across laser beams to her target, Ron casually walks into shot seconds later and continues the conversation they had on the roof.
* The Phantom Blot performs this in ''Mickey Foils the Phantom Blot'', when Mickey uses ''tape on his shoes'' to get to the top of the Blot's blimp, the Blot's already at the top, after ''he fought Mickey on the ladder on the bottom of the blimp''.
* Played straight in the 2003 ''[[TMNT2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''. Thing is, the person being fled from is ''Raphael''. He even [[LampshadeHanging says]] "You can't sneak away from a {{ninja}}, kid."
* In the ''Columbo'' parody ''Mumbly'' (basically ''Wacky Races'''s Muttley in an overcoat and TheAllegedCar that literally falls apart when parked) the Droopy example is revisited. The Columbo-esque villian keeps running away from Mumbly, only to have him turn up in places like garbage cans or under a serving plate lid a waitress served to the bad guy.
* A lesser example appears in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "Ben 10,000". When Ben first meets his older self, he manages to cut him off at every escape attempt to continue the conversation. What makes this odd is that the older Ben is [[SuperSpeed XLR8]] at the time.
** Used by Max Tennyson to escape [[EvilTwin Albedo]] in the ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' series finale. Ben uses it to elude Max in the very next scene.
--->'''Max:''' ''Aw... It's only cool when I do it.''
** Professor Paradox does this all the time. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], since he knows all the "shortcuts" and [[Series/DoctorWho can travel freely through space and time]]. Also, [[RuleofFunny he finds it funny]].
* "Mason," a character who is a parody of [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]] in ''BobbysWorld'' naturally has this ability, and overuses it to comedic effect.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'', the Beldam pulls this just as Coraline accepts her [[DealWithTheDevil bet with the Devil.]] Considering [[EldritchAbomination what the Beldam actually]] ''[[EldritchAbomination is]]'', this only serves to amp up the ParanoiaFuel for both Coraline and the viewer.
** She does this in the book as well, with the same justifications and implications.
* Amentia of ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' does this when chasing around Brandon in her bedroom, though since she's a nimble fighter she probably just moved really fast.
* Parodied in Spongebob, where you can see the whole scene, but you still can't tell what happened.
--->'''Squidward''': (picks up SpongeBob off his arms) "That's great, SpongeBob. Why don't you work on this problem back in the kitchen?" (throws him in the kitchen but SpongeBob reappears beside him.)'''
--->'''SpongeBob''': "I'm serious, Squidward! Mr. Krabs is a robot, and I can prove it, too!"
--->'''Squidward''': (looking around confused) "How did you...?"
* A few times in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddnEddy'': In "Wish You Were Ed", Ed got stuck in a mailbox [[NoodleIncident somehow]], and Eddy and Edd ask Rolf for help. Rolf goes off on a rant about how much he misses TheOldCountry and doesn't help them, but then Ed appears right next to Eddy.
-->'''Ed:''' Rolf's homesick, Eddy.
-->'''Eddy:''' Where'd you come from?!
-->'''Ed:''' Blame my parents, Eddy.
** Also in TheMovie, Edd stops in his tracks completely stunned by something Eddy said. The camera follows Eddy and Edd up a hill...and then Edd is shown on the hill right there, stopping them.
* Pinkie Pie of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is surprisingly adept at this. In "Over A Barrel" for instance, she's shown in a train car along with the other main ponies prior to a commercial break. At the end of the break, the others reveal they somehow have lost track of Pinkie. Cut to Rainbow Dash by herself sneaking through the desert when Pinkie Pie shows up out of nowhere and startles her. Also, at the beginning of "Griffon the Brush-off", Pinkie keeps pulling this as Rainbow Dash tries to avoid her. Another example occurs in the season 2 premiere, where Pinkie hops outside to play in the cholocate rain, only to appear back in between her friends in the vary next shot.
** She's able to pop up in improbable spaces (like the inside of a piano without disrupting the song Spike's playing on it, the inside of a large bell that Rainbow Dash hid in to avoid her) or impossible spaces (a bucket of sponges much too small to fit a pony, appearing as a reflection in a mirror). Fanon has stated that ''because'' she knows she's a cartoon character, she's able to manipulate cartoon physics. She may also be completely insane (yes, just like Deadpool.)
* Brainy in ''HeyArnold'' does this as a RunningGag, where Helga recites love poetry to Arnold only to be interrupted by Brainy, who she then punches. Most of the times, it's rather plausible as to how he gets behind Helga, but there are times where he literally shows up out of nowhere, such as on Elk Island and on a haunted train. It's also lampshaded at the end of "Helga on the Couch" where she ducks into an empty alley after making sure it's empty...and sure enough, Brainy comes to interrupt her.
* In an episode of ''InvaderZim'', GIR is sleeping on Zim's head but is forced off. The camera eases in while Zim delivers his EvilGloating - as soon as the top of his head is BehindTheBlack, he yells at GIR for sleeping on his head again.
* It's Robin's shtick in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice''. It starts to bug Kid Flash.
** Even Batman gets in on the act, using it in the season 1 finale against [[spoiler: Robin]].
** He also clearly taught it to Tim Drake.
** Barbara Gordon seems to have picked it up too
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' Billy not only did this, but also managed to change from his normal wardrobe to fishing gear as he was inching off the screen.
* {{Lampshade}}d in the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', in the Season 5 premiere [[spoiler: alternate Finn]] runs into [[spoiler: Big D torching his family's farm,]] after confronting him just one short donkey ride ago
-->'''[[spoiler: Big D]]''':''How did I even '''GET''' here, son!?''
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