History Main / OutsideContextVillain

* In the ''{{Worldwar}} series, the invasion of the alien Race upsets all the best laid plans of every side in WorldWarTwo.

* The Apostles from {{Berserk}} are far more powerful than normal humans, and even then, [[BeyondTheImpossible there are several Apostles above even them]]. The Five Godhands and the Kushan Emperor are terrifyingly powerful. The scariest part about them is that, even in a CrapsackWorld like the ''Berserk'' universe, [[ItGotWorse they will make things much worse if they come to power]].

* The Saiyans from Dragon Ball Z. Seriously, how was anyone supposed to know that Goku was a member of a super-powerful alien race working for a mass murderer?

** Abeloth also comes to mind. Really, an Eldritch Abomination? And meta too: You know you're in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse when LighterAndSofter is Lovecraft [-[[RecycledINSPACE IN SPACE!]]-]
* The Others from GeorgeRRMartin's ''ASongOfIceAndFire''. Nobody but the Night Watch and the wildlings from beyond the wall believe they even exist, and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms are too busy burning exterminating each other to care anyway. It will be interesting when the Others make it past the Wall.

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]

* In [[WH40K Warhammer 40,000]] This is generally the problem with almost single enemy. [[TemptingFate Space Marines could never turn Chaos! These ancient ruins could never possibly contain horrible Terminator-esque monstrosities! The expedition to Tyran must have just disappeared!]] Needless to say, it's kinda obvious why the Imperium is [[ProperlyParanoid so damn paranoid]].

* ''FinalFantasy'' games are fond of this, with the villain often being something utterly alien to the protagonists.
** The Cloud of Darkness from ''FinalFantasyIII'' is familiar to the World of Darkness, but wholly unknown to the World of Light
** The Lunarians (specifically, Zemus, Golbez, and the Lunarian LostTechnology) in ''FinalFantasyIV'', which, notably, ''include the hero'', on his father's side anyway. He was raised as a human, so he's just as baffled by the powers of his father's people and the artifacts they left behind. There's supposedly mostly good Lunarians, but we only see one and a FaceHeelTurn. Also, good species usually don't [[FridgeLogic leave behind giant destructive robots on underdeveloped worlds]].
*** They didn't. The Tower of Babil, taking a cue from the [[ShownTheirWork source material]], is a dimensional elevator that can reach other planets. The Giant was brought down from the moon.

* Generally [[AvertedTrope averted]] in ''{{Touhou}}''; the solution in the games is always [[MoreDakka More]] ([[BulletHell Pretty]]) [[MoreDakka Dakka]]. Howver, it is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] with the Lunarians in the manga ''Silent Sinner in Blue'', in that the ''protagonists'' are the ones "invading" ''them.'' Several [[YourMileageMayVary somewhat]] [[BoringInvincibleVillain annoyingly]]-[[CurbStompBattle curb-stomp battles]] (and one draw) later, [[spoiler:they are defeated by Yukari via ThirtyXanatosPileup.]]
* In the first ''FreeSpace'', the two known races of the galaxy, the Humans and the Vasudains are fighting a brutal war over control of ressource-rich planet. Then, suddenly, in the middle of a skirmish between the two, weird lethal ships that nobody ever saw before jumps in and attack both races indiscriminately. Turns out those ships belong to the Shivans, a race of seroiusly deadly AlienLocust.
* In ''DragonAge'' ''Origins'' the Darkspawn are this to everyone except the Grey Wardens and the Dwarves. Since it's been hundreds of years since the last Blight, the people of the surface believed that the Darkspawn had been eradicated. When the Fifth Blight strikes, the people of Ferelden are left scrambling to prepare their defenses and it doesn't help that Ferelden has so few Grey Wardens to help. Things get worse after the Battle of Ostagar -- everyone is too preoccupied with serious internal problems including a civil war and underestimate the true threat level of the Blight. Nobody in Ferelden is really prepared to fight monsters that a) vastly outnumber them b) carry a lethal and corrupting magical plague and c) are controlled by an insane dragon god that is unkillable [[spoiler: unless a Grey Warden strikes the final blow]]. [[/folder]]

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* Link, from the BellisariusSeries.

* The ''{{TheCulture/Excession}}''

* In the first ''FreeSpace'', the two known races of the galaxy, the Humans and the Vasudains are fighting a brutal war over control of ressource-rich planet. Then, suddenly, in the middle of a skirmish between the two, weird lethal ships that nobody ever saw before jumps in and attack both races indiscriminately. Turns out those ships belong to the Shivans, a race of seroiusly deadly AlienLocust [[/folder]]

* The Eldrazi in ''MagicTheGathering'', being {{Eldritch Abomination}}s from the spaces between planes of existence which ''[[PlanetEater feed]]'' on said planes.

** And from the other side of the world entirely, Daenerys Targaryen. Yes, her existence is known, but only two people in Westeros seem to realize what a great danger -- or asset -- she could be. No one else thinks of her at all, and everyone even disregards all the reports of her goddamn baby dragons. Again, most of the characters are simply too busy with brutal civil war and political intrigue to think about the last Targaryen at the moment. If and when she finally swoops into Westeros, it should be quite the unpleasant surprise.

-->-- '''IainMBanks''', ''TheCulture/{{Excession}}''

Finding out the answers to the above questions will be the heroes' top priority. With luck they'll find scattered legends foretelling their arrival and possibly how they were beaten last time. If not, TheProfessor might theorize all new means to defeat them. One popular method is to summon a hero from the same place or era to battle them. In which case they're a FishOutOfWater while AntagonistsAssimilate.

* The [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Vord]] in ''CodexAlera'' come as a nasty shock to the Alerans, who thought all they had to deal with was the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Marat]], the [[WolfMan Canim]], the [[AnICePerson Icemen]], and each other. Apparently the world they live on occasionally opens portals to other dimensions.

* ''{{Apocalypto}}'' plays the MayIncaTec [[HumanSacrifice human sacrificing]], forrest ravaging, pox ridden, corrupt and decadent civilization this way. And of course by the end, [[spoiler:the Spanish arrive]].

* The Arume from ''BlueDrop'', all-female alien race (actually hyper-evolved humans hitting an evolution dead end) from parallel universe. Of the MarsNeedsWomen variety, except that they're [[DiscountLesbian Venus]]. [[EasilyConqueredWorld And they won]].

The old boy-scout maxim of "[[CrazyPrepared be prepared]]" and the ''GIJoe'' motto of "[[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle knowing is half the battle]]" could never have prepared the heroes for ''this'' {{villain}}. The Outside Context Villain is, quite simply, a curve ball that no one saw coming.

[[/folder]]

* Subverted during the colonization of North America. The famously brutal battles between the colonial societies and the native Americans happened AFTER a period of (mostly) peaceful trade, resulting in the natives being familiar with European weapons and having some of their own by the time war broke out between the two peoples.

* In [[WH40K Warhammer 40,000]] This is generally the problem with almost single enemy. [[TemptingFate Space Marines could never turn Chaos! The Tau could never develop fast enough to be a serious galactic threat! These ancient ruins could never possibly contain horrible Terminator-esque monstrosities! The expedition to Tyran must have just disappeared!]] Needless to say, it's kinda obvious why the Imperium is [[ProperlyParanoid so damn paranoid]].

* In [[WH40K Warhammer 40,000]] This is generally the problem with almost single enemy. [[TemptingFate Space Marines could never turn Chaos! The Tau could never develop fast enough to be a serious galactic threat! These ancient ruins could never possibly contain horrible Terminator-esque monstrosities! The expedition to Tyran must have just disappeared!]] Needless to say, it's kinda obvious why the Imperium is so damn paranoid.