History Main / OffscreenTeleportation

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

* This is functionally Taylor's power in ''[[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/camera-shy-worm-alt-power.685357/post-51134194 Camera Shy]]''. She can shift into an incorporeal "ghost" state in which time is effectively paused and in which she can move freely in any direction, but she cannot enter this state if anyone is visually observing her and she can't exit the state in any location anyone is visually observing.

Typically abused by characters in a TheCatCameBack gag. See StealthHiBye for when people just use this power to begin or end conversations. See YuppieCouple for the innocuous background-character version. OffscreenRealityWarp is a related trope where any temporary cut away from a character, no matter how brief, results in changes so quick as to be improbable at best and reality-warping at worst, such as an InstantCostumeChange. ScoobyDoobyDoors uses a very specific version of this trope.

* ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'':

* In Creator/TomSka's sketch "The Blame Game", each of Tom's kidnapped victims just appears with a sack on their head whenever someone places the blame on them. Even Tom doesn't seem to be in control, as Tom gets increasingly frustrated by all these people popping out of nowhere.

* The Lord from ''Anime/TheBoyAndTheBeast'' can somehow do this ''while other characters are looking right at him''.

* ''Anime/MakuraNoDanshi'': Merry does this at the beginning of episode 1, replacing a pink sheep toy on his bed. [[spoiler: Thanks to the twelfth episode, we now know that [[{{Humanshifting}} he]] ''[[VoluntaryShapeshifting is]]'' the sheep.]]

* Homura in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' seems to do this. She somehow travels from the entrance to Charlotte's labyrinth all the way to the FinalBoss room in just a few seconds. But it's increasingly clear there are magical means behind it. [[spoiler:Yep, she can stop time. And she always knows where to go to sneak up on people by virtue of being in a GroundhogDayLoop.]]

* Averted in ''Manga/DeathNote'', when Light tests the Death Note's powers by ordering an inmate in a Japanese prison to die at the Eiffel Tower in Paris in just a few hours. When the time comes, the man simply dies of a heart attack as if no directions were given, and Light realizes the Death Note can't make people do physically impossible things.
* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' does this all the time, and he's the ([[AntiHero anti]])''hero''. He takes StealthHiBye to Batman-like levels.

* ''Manga/HanaukyoMaidTeam La Verite'' episode 9. Taro is standing on the ground with Mariel and looking through a fence. Taro wishes they could get a good view of the sunset. We lose sight of Mariel, and four seconds later she calls out to Taro from the roof of a nearby building.
* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', by the time it takes two hundred-odd foot tall monster Zeurel to levitate down a hole he's just blasted himself and into the bridge (which admittedly may not be via a straight path), Shinji is able to ''run'' down there, get into his [[HumongousMecha Evangelion]] and [[DynamicEntry interrupt Zeruel before he can fire a laser beam]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': very nearly the beginning of the first episode/chapter, Naruto is being chased by two ninjas because he vandalized the Hokage stone faces, he goes off-screen in one shot followed by the two guys, and appears shortly after camouflaged in a fence in the same shot, with no explanation of how he got there, since at this point he didn't know kage bunshin yet, and had poor basic bunshin skills.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' plays this straight during the early part of Goku's battle with Cell. The camera is centered on Cell, with Goku's limbs coming in from all different directions, with a new limb coming onto the screen the instant that the previous one is gone.

* This seems to be how the nations get around in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', since they're able to travel much quicker than a person could while on foot. Lampshaded in the 2010 Christmas event when they were being picked off one by one by a mysterious assailant, Cuba called Germany and told him to come over right away. When Germany explained that there was no way he could charter a plane at the moment, Cuba expressed surprise that Germany couldn't teleport.
* In episode 8 of ''LightNovel/{{Gosick}}'', Kujo [[LiteralCliffhanger dangles off a cliff, held up one-handed by Victorique]], for a significant length of time because he's dazed from inhaling smoke and she's too weak to lift him. Three adults, all bigger and stronger than either Kujo or Victorique, were right there when he fell. But none of them do anything, because RuleOfDrama made them all vanish. They're all back again in the next scene.
* ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'':
** In episode 4, Mahiro throws Nyarko and Cuuko out of the house (so his mother doesn't find them and assume he's ''that'' kind of son) and immediately sets about cleaning up the mess they left in the living room. As soon as he's done, he walks through the room and both girls are back, Cuuko playing her PSP and Nyarko sipping tea and praising him for a job well done. Cue FaceFault.
** And again in episode 4 of the second season, where Nyarko [[BadBadActing "accidentally"]] spills tea on Mahiro, then ushers him to the bathroom to clean up while she washes his clothes. Naturally, when he steps into the bathroom, Nyarko's already sitting in the tub waiting for him.
* ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'' simplifies Lupin's escapes from Zenigata by having them all occur off-screen. Including an example where he switches places in less than a minute while being tied to a bed.
* Minagawa frequently does this in ''Manga/CafeKichijojiDe''. In one episode, his co-worker/neighbour Taro went off to work while Minagawa is still wandering around in pyjamas. When Taro arrived at the cafe, he was very surprised to see Minagawa there. He's even completed some of the morning duties that Taro was supposed to take care of.
--> '''Taro:''' You... defying things like time and space...
* The Lord from ''Anime/TheBoyAndTheBeast'' can somehow do this ''while other characters are looking right at him''.
* ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo'' has a scene where Hata is on the roof of the school while the StudentCouncil watches her from the only entrance. When they turn around to leave, they find that she's suddenly behind her.

** Isumi Saginomiya does this also, due to having NoSenseOfDirection. This gets invoked when she gets [[UptoEleven Lost]]. She has gone out feed the birds at home and ended up...in Nagi's living room. She also leaves her home (in Tokyo) to go to Nerima (also in Tokyo) and ends up in '''Greece'''.

** Taken ''UpToEleven'' in “Old vs. New: Cinderella” where Benny teleports out of Devil Boner’s line of sight as he’s looking at him.

'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. ''[pulls down the map from the previous [[TravelMontage travel montage]]]'' By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.

* In Lucille Fletcher's story ''The Hitch-Hiker'', which was subsequently used in episodes of radio's ''Suspense'' and television's ''Series/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.]]

'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. ''[pulls down a chart displaying the progress of the previous chase]'' By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.

'''Yzma:''' ''[opens mouth to speak, then stops]'' ... How ''did'' we, Kronk?\\

* ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' has [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/dequestrian a parody]] of the "teleporting steed" in many video games (''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', in this case).

* In ''Fanfic/{{Jericho}}'', there's an exchange wherein [[FirstPersonSmartass Jeri]][[SociopathicHero cho]] is going up against the [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking leader of the Blackguard]] for control of the [[LostTechnology Cœur]], and the leader of the Blackguard randomly appears far away from where he was just a moment before. Jericho asks him thereabout, resulting in this amusing exchange:

'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. ''[pulls down a chart depicting their movements]'' By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.

--> '''Taro:'''' You... defying things like time and space...

* In the anime adaptation of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' the main antagonist, DIO, appears at first to have this ability. As it turns out, it's just because his Stand, The World, has the ability to [[spoiler:make [[TimeStandsStill time stand still]].]]

* In the anime adaptation of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' the main antagonist, Dio, appears at first to have this ability. As it turns out, it's just because his stand, The World, has the ability to [[spoiler:make [[TimeStandsStill time stand still]].]]

* Messrs. [[ThoseTwoBadGuys Croup and Vandemar]] do this throughout ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'', as a significant part of their creep factor (the main part being, probably, their propensity for cutting people up). They seem to have it as an actual metaphysical power: teleportation allows for their being able to exist in different historical eras, as well as to reach normally inaccessible places like the family Portico's home, and of course to frequently drop in on main characters without previous indication of their presence. They also seem unable to teleport while being observed- hence [[spoiler: they get dragged into the portal to hell, because Richard is watching at the time]].

** A few [=SCP=]s, like [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-650 SCP-650]] and [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-689 SCP-689]], can teleport when not being directly observed by a human. For SCP-650 this is its entire shtick: as soon as you take your eyes off of it it teleports to right behind you and waits for you to turn around.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' when wizards congratulate child Harry in public, they've usually disappeared by the time he turns to look at them again.

* This seems to be how the nations get around in ''Manga/HetaliaAxisPowers'', since they're able to travel much quicker than a person could while on foot. Lampshaded in the 2010 Christmas event when they were being picked off one by one by a mysterious assailant, Cuba called Germany and told him to come over right away. When Germany explained that there was no way he could charter a plane at the moment, Cuba expressed surprise that Germany couldn't teleport.

* This seems to be how the nations get around in ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'', since they're able to travel much quicker than a person could while on foot. Lampshaded in the 2010 Christmas event when they were being picked off one by one by a mysterious assailant, Cuba called Germany and told him to come over right away. When Germany explained that there was no way he could charter a plane at the moment, Cuba expressed surprise that Germany couldn't teleport.

* ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'':

* In ''Fanfic/TotalDramaChris'', CardCarryingVillain Todd says it's a standard ability of any villain.
* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' uses this as [[LovableCoward Hobbes']] standard method of cowardice.

--> [[LampshadeHanging "How the hell did you get up over there so fast?"]]
--> "Oh, it’s a habit of mine. When folker aren’t looking, I quietly sprint really fast around the room to make it look like I can teleport and be anywhere."
--> "Huh," I grunted. "So is that how bad guys do it?"
--> "Yhar,” he said. “But it requires good cardio—you need be running all around without having to pant, else folker will wise up."

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8zk_8uRLQk this music video]] from ''Random Encounters'', [[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 ''Medics don't heal Scouts'']], the Scout uses this to stop the Medic leaving him without giving a free healy beam, utterly confusing said Medic. Of course, the Scout is [[FragileSpeedster quite nippy]].[[spoiler:..or turning invisible before moving a couple of feet.]]
* Subverted in ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/122849/changeling Changeling]]'' where it turns out that [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Pinkie Pie]] is actually ''fifteen'' separate changelings, which is how she always appears nearby.
* In ''FanFic/ThisBites'', after Zoro decided he wanted a drink, Soundbite stopped paying attention for ten seconds. Somehow this was enough time for Zoro to get halfway across a massive marine base and find a refrigerator with booze, despite ''walking'' the entire time.
* The titular pegasus in ''WebVideo/RainbowDashsPreciousBook'', while chasing after a human who's attempting to steal her ''JustForFun/DaringDo'' book, gets a door slammed in her face by said human. The human then turns around to find a pissed-off Rainbow Dash behind him before getting kicked into a telephone pole. Justified, since Rainbow Dash has been shown to be incredibly fast in [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic her home series]], meaning she could've found another way out before the human even noticed.