Line #86 Main/OffScreenTeleportation


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4	[[quoteright:250:[[Webcomic/AwkwardZombie https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/76457260_2851_4859_8b12_8c1ed1715cd1.png]]]]
5
6	->'''Kuzco:''' NO! It can't be! How did you get back here before us?!\
7	'''Yzma:''' ''[opens mouth to speak, then stops]'' ...How ''did'' we, Kronk?\
8	'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. ''[pulls down the map from the previous travel montage]'' By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.
9	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''
10
11	A character who goes offscreen for even a second can instantly appear anywhere else, usually as long as the camera shot doesn't include them or they're obscured by something in the scenery from a certain camera angle. Nevertheless, extreme cases will be able to switch position even when all that's happened is that the camera changed shots and we're looking at the same scene from a new angle, like a deliberate technical goof. No matter how impossible it is for them to go from Point A to Point B in the time given, much less doing so without crossing the camera's field of view or making a sound, they will get there. It's almost as if ''everyone'' in fiction has the power of {{Teleportation}}, as long as they only use it when the audience isn't looking.
12
13	Variations of Offscreen Teleportation 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.
14
15	Even if his victim (usually it's a good guy running from a baddie) is seen having the pursuer losing ground, or just ran five miles to get away from him and up two flights of stairs to hide in a closet with one entrance; when he flicks on the light, the other guy will be right behind him, without a sign of sweat or fatigue. The pursuer may conveniently appear from behind an object regardless of the direction the fleeing character took.
16
17	Though possible in a multitude of genres, {{Horror}} movies are particularly prone to playing this one straight - the killer will know exactly where his victim is running to and be waiting for him before he even gets there, obviously because it lends itself so well to alarming the audience. This is especially common when the victim was ExploringTheEvilLair. This is one of those powers that the horror villain [[MonsterThreatExpiration loses]] as he goes through victims and starts to approach the final characters. Perhaps he's losing his [[TheScourgeOfGod Scourge of God]] advantage? It's all covered by the RuleOfScary. For further examples done in the name of horror, see also FlashStep, VillainTeleportation and MobileMenace. Compare AlreadyUndoneForYou.
18	Outside of horror, this trope is really popular with characters who are supposed to be mysterious (such as fortune tellers, ninjas, wise old people and ComicBook/{{Batman}}), because it gets them away quickly before the person they were talking to has a chance to ask too many questions.
19
20	It doesn't have to be a character consciously doing this for it to count as Offscreen Teleportation. 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.
21
22	This sometimes happens in video games, at least inadvertently, and can sometimes fall into AcceptableBreaksFromReality. (But that doesn't make it any less ''creepy''!) In order to keep allies from getting stuck in objects (which [[ArtificialStupidity happens...sadly.]]) the game may simply teleport them behind you if they are off-screen.
23
24	Typically abused by characters in a TheCatCameBack gag. See StealthHiBye for when people just use this power to begin or end conversations. See RecurringExtra 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.
25
26	Compare TravellingAtTheSpeedOfPlot, a usually less blatant situation in which characters make it to a location much faster or slower than expected. See also FakeoutEscape (characters usually always find time to hide and tend to do it offscreen) and InexplicableCorneredEscape. Contrast HeWasRightThereAllAlong.
27
28	----
29	!!Example subpages:
30
31	[[index]]
32	* [[OffscreenTeleportation/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
33	* OffscreenTeleportation/LiveActionTV
34	* OffscreenTeleportation/VideoGames
35	* OffscreenTeleportation/WesternAnimation
36	[[/index]]
37
38	!!Other examples:
39
40	[[foldercontrol]]
41
42	[[folder:Advertising]]
43	* There was a ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJw7yTEKb2U&feature=related/ Nike commercial]]'' where a woman in her bra and panties (and running shoes) actually outruns the Jason Myers-esque serial killer. He'd offscreen teleport behind a tree, only to realize that she had left that spot far behind. Eventually he gave up.
44	* One of the Burger King commercials with [[Advertising/TheBurgerKing the guy in the creepy King mask]]. It's early morning in a house. A man hears his dog barking out the porch door, and opens it to have a look. The house appears to be fairly remote, since their backyard stretches off a good distance before merging into a line of trees. And "the King" is standing near the trees, a good thirty meters away from the front door. Baffled, the man turns around to look at a woman. The camera switches to her (apparently his wife) as she idles in front of the bathroom mirror. The man looks back outside, and inexplicably, the masked man is RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM, face-to-face. Cue his slow, jerky presentation of the BK hamburger on a plate. Simultaneously disturbing and hilarious.
45	* There was a Mountain Dew commercial where Chuck Norris did this to a couple of boys. Then again, it is [[MemeticBadass Chuck Norris]]...
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
49	* Hei from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' does this all the time, and he's the ([[AntiHero anti]])''hero''. He takes StealthHiBye to Batman-like levels.
50	* 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.
51	--> '''Taro:''' You... defying things like time and space...
52	* 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.
53	* ''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.
54	* Akabane does this to Ginji in the first Infinity Fortress arc of ''Manga/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.
55	* In episode 8 of ''Literature/{{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.
56	* 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]].]] We later see the tables turned on him as he tries to run away once his fight with Jotaro starts turning south, DIO tries to escape down a manhole cover, but the second he removes its lid, he finds Jotaro somehow already down there waiting for him. [[spoiler: It turns out Jotaro's Star Platinum has the same time-stopping power as The World]].
57	* ''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.
58	* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'':
59	** Hayate does this on a regular basis.
60	--->'''Hayate:''' Butlers have express permission to appear out of nowhere, so don't be startled.
61	** Isumi Saginomiya does this also, due to having NoSenseOfDirection. This gets invoked when she gets 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'''.
62	* 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.
63	* The cheerleading routine from the last episode of ''Anime/LuckyStar'' is impossible to perform in RealLife without modifying the choreography, because the girls often change position instantly between camera cuts.
64	* ''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.
65	* ''Anime/MakuraNoDanshi'':
66	** 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.]]
67	** Kanade gets up close and personal with the viewer in a blink of their eyes.
68	* ''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.
69	* 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]].
70	* ''Literature/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'':
71	** 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.
72	** 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.
73	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
74	** In the first chapter, a bandit holds Shanks at gunpoint. Between panels, Shanks' constantly-eating crewmate Lucky Roux is suddenly [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange firing a gun point-blank]] into the bandit's head. Some fans speculate that [[{{Acrofatic}} he has super-speed]].
75	** Kizaru did this once in Chapter 507 (manga) and Episode 401 (anime) to 2 pirates. [[SubvertedTrope We later see]] this was because he ate the [[LightEmUp Glint-Glint]] Fruit, which allows him to travel at the speed of light.
76	* 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.]]
77	* One fan joke about the anime of ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' is that Saitou can evidently teleport. In one episode there's a wide shot of Misao and the scenery, then a close-up of a charging {{mook}} about to kill her, and then Saitou is suddenly there to save the day. Underlined by the fact that the mook is charging at her head-on, and Saitou intercepts him by stabbing him through the back of the head, yet is standing perfectly still - directly in front of her.
78	* Several characters in ''Manga/SamuraiDeeperKyo'' demonstrate this over the course of the series, with the biggest perpetrators being the Taishiro and the Sendai Aka-no-Ou, who seem to be able to pop up just about anywhere in the Mibu lands, often covering the same distance multiple times on a regular basis that it takes the protagonists ''over twenty volumes'' to traverse. Possibly justified, since being in the upper echelons of the Mibu clan probably means they know all the secret passages and shortcuts to get around while the protagonists are more or less limited to a single path.
79	* ''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.
80	* Played for laughs in ''Anime/WaitingInTheSummer'' with Rinon, whose elite stalking skills allow her to appear seemingly out of nowhere to [[CameraFiend record various private incidents with her giant videocamera]]. In one scene she somehow gets within a foot or so of Kaito and Ichika, both of whom are facing towards her, without either of them or the audience noticing until the sudden reveal. Maybe she stole some of [[HumanAliens Ichika's]] teleportation technology?
81	[[/folder]]
82
83	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
84	* In the ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Boxing", after the boxing match, Slim Doc waves to the arena spectators and the frame cuts to a closer shot of him, causing his hand to go off-screen. When his hand is on-screen again, Lamput, who was shaped as boxing gloves on his hands, has already disappeared; he's at the arena's exit.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Comic Books]]
88	* Two aliens appear in Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' that only ever move between panels. And not in the way everyone "moves between panels" in comics - [[PaintingTheMedium it actually appears this way to the other characters]]. They'll be standing still, then suddenly they appear, still motionless, somewhere else and without having appeared to move or teleport there at all. They're just ''there''. It even freaks out the god-like Miracleman.
89	* 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.
90	* As mentioned for his film versions, Franchise/{{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.
91	* By the Changelings in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW''. The Mane Six take three days to go from Ponyville to their kingdom, but they do it overnight (with the CMC) and later, Chrysalis sends the troops for reporting on how the Mane Six are doing. They come and go without much any trouble, while the Mane Six advance at a normal pace.
92	* Happens with ComicBook/SquirrelGirl in ''Deadpool: Toon Soon'', with ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} trying to leave her behind three times because he doesn't want her help investigating the murder of Forbius-Man. Naturally FailureIsTheOnlyOption.
93	* Any appearance of ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger will have him pulling this multiple times.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Fan Works]]
97	* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' uses this as [[LovableCoward Hobbes']] standard method of cowardice.
98	* This is functionally Taylor's power in ''Fanfic/CameraShy''. 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.
99	* 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.
100	* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Doctor Strange, who can teleport. He's a wizard, and an extremely powerful one, so nothing [[{{Pun}} strange]] there - save for his habit of appearing in deeply unexpected places, at deeply unexpected times. For example, at one point he teleports from one room to another [[TheGadfly for the sole purpose]] [[StealthHiBye of sneaking up on the Avengers.]]
101	* ''Webcomic/CutieMarkCrusaders10k'': Trixie uses magic to lock the Cutie Mark Crusaders in her wagon to keep them safe during her mission in Ponyville, only for the trio to have already escaped by the time she turns around again. The only explanation they provide for how they did it is "Cutie Mark Crusaders escape artists", but shortly afterwards the trio reveals they know how to use lockpicks.
102	* ''VideoGame/FromTheFog'': When stalking the player, Herobrine will often appear just outside of their vision in this manner, with it being at its most pronounced when this happens inside of either your base or an enclosed cavern.
103	* In ''Fanfic/JerichoMLP'', there's an exchange wherein [[FirstPersonSmartass Jericho]] is going up against the [[RankScalesWithAsskicking 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:
104	-->[[LampshadeHanging "How the hell did you get up over there so fast?"]]\
105	"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."\
106	"Huh," I grunted. "So is that how bad guys do it?"\
107	Yhar," he said. "But it requires good cardio - you need be running all around without having to pant, else folker will wise up."
108	* 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.
109	* 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.]]
110	* In ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'''s second season, Asuna has gotten so good at [[DamselOutOfDistress breaking out of her birdcage]] that she keeps pulling this off. In one instance, she [[CaughtMonologuing catches Sugou monologuing]] and slips out while his back is turned, but in another, Sugou gives a BastardlySpeech while staring directly at her, breaks eye contact for less than a second in the process of standing up, and by the time the camera angle changes to show him on his feet, Asuna has vanished.
111	* 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.
112	* In ''Fanfic/TotalDramaChris'', CardCarryingVillain Todd says it's a standard ability of any villain.
113	* In ''RolePlay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'':
114	** The group fly off to Sandgem town to ask Professor Rowan some questions, but after the others have already left, Daisy remembers that she doesn't have a flying Pokemon with her. When the others arrive at the lab, Daisy suddenly shows up with no explaination of how she got there. No one seems to notice.
115	** Frequently happens when a character is inactive thanks to the player being busy or something along these lines.
116	* In ''Fanfic/ADarkerPath'', Atropos initially cheats due to her power [[spoiler:informing her where she needs to be ahead of time]]. Then she actually [[spoiler:gets hold of a teleporter]].
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Films — Animation]]
120	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie'': When the birds at anger management go to the beach to see the pigs arriving, Chuck uses his SuperSpeed. To his surprise, Terence is already there.
121	* In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'', 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!
122	* The Lord from ''Anime/TheBoyAndTheBeast'' can somehow do this ''while other characters are looking right at him''.
123	* Used when Victor flees from Emily in ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride''.
124	* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2'', Gru takes advantage of flashes of blinding light to sneak up on Antonio when he's dancing with Margo. He starts out staring from afar; after one flash, he's suddenly dancing with a man who was next to the Antonio; after another flash, he's directly behind Antonio, and he pounces; after the next flash, both have disappeared; after another flash, it's Gru now dancing beside Margo... at least until Antonio returns with a GroinAttack.
125	* {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'', when villains Yzma and Kronk are chasing Kuzco and Pacha, only to get hit by a lightning bolt and plunge into a chasm. But when the heroes reach their (mountain-top) destination, they find both villains there waiting for them.
126	-->'''Kuzco:''' No, it can't be! How did you get back here before us!?\
127	'''Yzma:''' Ah.... ''[looks confused]'' How ''did'' we, Kronk?\
128	'''Kronk:''' Well, ya got me. ''[pulls down [[BreakingTheFourthWall the chart]] displaying the progress of the previous chase]'' By all accounts, it doesn't make sense.
129	* A rather amusing version is done in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'': Shifu pulls this off by stepping out from behind Po when in the immediately preceding shot he had been standing in front of Po. He was out of the audience's view, but ''not'' out of Po's view. Then, when the shot changes (and, again, with Po watching the whole time), Shifu has teleported ''again''. Po is a bit freaked out by this.
130	* ''Franchise/MonstersInc'':
131	** Done in ''WesternAnimation/MonstersInc1'' 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 Sulley it ''is'' exactly like being inside a horror movie considering he believes that her presence is deadly to him.
132	** ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' plays with this a few times, particularly with the character Squishy, who is so quiet that he often unintentionally sneaks up and startles people. And he does learn to use that to his advantage.
133	--->'''Mike:''' We gotta put a bell around you.
134	* Arguably used in ''WesternAnimation/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.
135	* Bunnymund from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' seems capable of this. When Bunny first talks to Jack Frost in the film, Bunny somehow manages to make it to the North Pole in the span of time it takes for the Yetis to toss a Jack through the portal. And Bunny isn't even ''winded'', despite having to physically run through his tunnel network.
136	* Rather subtle because the distances involved were so small, but in the scene of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' 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.
137	* Ruth the sheep from ''WesternAnimation/TheStar'' is apparently so agile that it looks like she does this, which is seen when Bo encounters her on his journey to Bethlehem.
138	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie'': There's a montage where Steven and [[spoiler:Spinel]], riding Lion, teleport around Beach City looking for an amnesiac [[spoiler:Amethyst]]. [[AmbiguouslyHuman Onion]] is somehow at ''every'' location they visit... except for the last one, [[spoiler:Onion's house]].
139	* In ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerryTheMovie'', 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.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:Literature]]
143	* One of the many skills of the [[TheIgor Igors]] in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' is turning up out of nowhere when their master calls for them, or to answer the door.
144	** Always behind them. Because that's how things are ''done''. This is justified because tropes like this are [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality practically immutable laws of physics]] on the Disc.
145	** More than one of their respective masters (or "marthterths") has tested just how far this ability extends. Reacher Gilt in ''Literature/GoingPostal'' tries a bear trap. It doesn't work; his Igor hands him the (harmlessly sprung) bear trap and says one of his previous employers would stand with his back to a giant pit and call Igor "for a joke".
146	---> "One day he forgot and thtepped backward. Oh how we laughed, thur."
147	** In ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'' (and the Sky One production; see Film), Mr. Teatime does this numerous times, often while [[FlashStep in full view]] of the people in the room. Naturally, it freaks them out. There's a very subtle implication that he's able to do this because of the [[CrystalBall glass orb]] in his eye socket.
148	** Lord Vetinari uses this to worry [[spoiler: Lupine Wonse]] in ''Literature/GuardsGuards''. The villain is particularly unnerved since he had the palace ''checked'' for secret passages and didn't find any, but Lord V observes later that the man had failed to understand the nature of secret passages (presumably, that they're ''secret'').
149	** In a scarier version, at the beginning of ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'' when we first experience the [[strike:Hunt]] Game, the [[strike:quarry]] player runs to a boat, with cargo covered in tarpaulins, to escape the werewolves by river. ''Guess where they are''. However, this is later revealed to be due to the fact that Wolfgang cheats - the theory is that the human runs away and the werewolves hunt them, while Wolfgang, as soon as or before the Game starts, sends werewolves to lie in wait in places people are likely to flee to.
150	** Also used in ''Mort'', when Death's apprentice goes to a far away land to rescue a princess. At the end of the day, Death appears right next to him. Justified because it's Death (who has this as one of his many abilities).
151	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Oreg can do this, due to his actually being a kind of mixture between GeniusLoci and the child in PoweredByAForsakenChild. He can also help other people do it; he leads Ciarra and Ward to a secret passageway that leads from the caves under the castle directly to their living quarters, and Ward notices that the distance they walked didn't quite fit the distance he knew they had been ''under'' the castle beforehand.
152	* ''Franchise/HarryPotter''
153	** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'' when wizards congratulate child Harry in public, they've usually disapparated by the time he turns to look at them again.
154	** In ''Literature/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.]]
155	* In Lucille Fletcher's story ''The Hitch-Hiker'', which was subsequently used in episodes of radio's ''Suspense'' and television's ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', 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.]]
156	* In the Creator/StanislawLem sci-fi novel, ''Literature/{{Solaris}}'', the protagonist tries in various ways to get rid of his illusionary dead girlfriend, going so far as to putting her in a rocket ship and sending her into space. It doesn't work. She's back at the research outpost as if nothing happened.
157	* The BigBad of ''Literature/TheStand'', Randall Flagg, shows up all over the place no matter how chronologically impossible this should be. In one scene, he should be in the Southwest, but a character hears his distinct footsteps in Vermont. He is capable of using actual magic, and it's implied that he can manifest through animals.
158	* In one of Creator/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.
159	* In ''Literature/CatchTwentyTwo'' an prostitute turned AxCrazy invokes this trope as she chases Yossarian all over the city, ambushing him in impossible places. He finally shakes her [[spoiler: for a few chapters]] by getting on a friend's airplane, then strapping a parachute to her and dropping her out over enemy territory.
160	* The Red Bull from ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' appears to have this ability.
161	* This is explicitly shown to be how the cat Mogget navigates ladders in ''Literature/{{Sabriel}}''.
162	* A recurring joke in the Literature/JeevesAndWooster stories is how Bertie is convinced that Jeeves doesn't move like a normal person. Even when he sees him coming and going, he's always describing it as "oozing" or "trickling" from room to room, and when he doesn't, it's ''"Sir?" said Jeeves, kind of manifesting himself'' or ''Then he seemed to flicker, and wasn't there any longer.''
163	* Messrs. 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]].
164	* In ''Literature/TheOceanAtTheEndOfTheLane'', Ursula Monkton (an EldritchAbomination who took human form) can generally arrive somewhere before the narrator gets there even if there's no logical way she could have gotten there faster without being seen. She keeps this ability in the play based on the book through various stage tricks.
165	[[/folder]]
166
167	[[folder:Music]]
168	* "You can fly to the other end of the world / and know you'll only find / that I've reserved the seat behind you, / we can talk about old times" - Music/{{Marillion}}, The Uninvited Guest
169	* Music/OkGo's video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w "This Too Shall Pass"]] has the band members standing at various locations throughout the set of an enormous RubeGoldbergDevice. Though we never see them walk or run from one place to another, they each show up at several different locations during the course of the video.
170	* In live performance of the song "Now I'm Here", Music/FreddieMercury would be at one end of the stage singing "now I'm here", while a stagehand dressed like him would be at the other side of the stage to "sing" the next line "now I'm there."
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
174	* Wrestling/TheUndertaker, Wrestling/{{Sting}}, [[Wrestling/{{TNA}} 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.
175	* Wrestling/UltimateWarrior gained this power during his brief time in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, filling the ring with smoke to obscure his appearance and disappearance. [[spoiler: The effect was achieved by a trapdoor installed in the ring. Management failed to tell the wrestlers in advance though, leading to several injuries as guys landed badly on it throughout the show]].
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
179	* The tabletop horror RPG ''Witch Hunter'', published by PCI, actually justifies this--one of the supernatural powers allows the creature to designate a target, whom it can then repeatedly teleport to within 10 yards of (but no closer, thereby ensuring that it always seems to just be following along casually).
180	* This is one of the Dark Stalker's abilities in the ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' RPG - fittingly, of course, as the Dark Stalker archetype represents the pop-cultural image of a serial killer.
181	* This trope was so familiar to Arthaus's writers for 3E TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}, they made it a salient ability for corporeal undead in ''Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead''.
182	* S. John Ross once wrote a collection of ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' Action Movie advantages called "[[http://www.prismnet.com/~sjohn/grip.htm Beyond the Grip of Realism]]". One of them was Truly Badass, which included the ability "If you want to be there, you are". It allowed you to move anywhere in the action scene as long as you were unobserved at the time.
183	** GURPS Horror includes a variant of Warp advantage, that is meant to simulate this trope. It allows movement at full running speed and ignoring any obstacles that the character can pass through. As in, instantly opening any locked door, running around the Great Wall of China etc, as long as nobody is looking at the character.
184	* This is a popular ability for ''[[TabletopGame/{{Champions}} Dark Champions]]'' vigilantes. And yes, it's built using Hero's Teleportation power.
185	* Seamus' "Back Alley" ability in ''TabletopGame/{{Malifaux}}'' allows him to relocate IF no enemies can currently see him. Fitting for Malifaux's UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper equivalent.
186	* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has the ''Implacable Stalker'' template which turns anything with 3 or more base Intelligence into a SlasherMovie villain (a pastiche of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger). Of course, it adds the ability "Right Behind You," which teleports the Stalker, well, directly behind its target for throat slittin' time.
187	[[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder:Theatre]]
190	* In Euripides' play ''The Bacchae,'' for which a case could be made that it is the archetype of the horror movie, Dionysus does this. Justified, in that he's Dionysus; but the other characters don't know that, so it freaks them out no end. And then they all get [[DownerEnding killed, banished, and/or turned into snakes.]]
191	[[/folder]]
192
193	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
194	* At Ride/UniversalStudios:
195	** The characters in ''Ride/DudleyDoRightsRipsawFalls'' are able to jump between different locations and situations within a matter of seconds.
196	** In ''Ride/TheFuntasticWorldOfHannaBarbera'', Fred Flintstone somehow goes from being in a valley to riding his car at Bedrock in a matter of seconds.
197	** The Yolkian King in ''Ride/JimmyNeutronsNicktoonBlast'' is able to travel from Planet Yolkus to Earth in less than a minute.
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Web Animation]]
201	* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'': Cro-Marmot can only move off-screen, as well as do some spectacular acrobatics. The other Happy Tree Friends can see this and treat it as a regular occurence, but the audience can't.
202	* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
203	** Tex seems to be capable of this in [[http://roosterteeth.com/archive/episode.php?id=1344&v=trending Revelations Episode 10]], closing the distance (of at least several metres) between her and her target before they even have a chance to fire the guns that they were aiming at her even as she was standing still. Suffice to say that if the screen ever shifts away from Tex and onto who she plans to beat up, they lose.
204	** Seems to be a common trait among Freelancers. When Wash does it in ''Reconstruction'', Church mentions that he "hate[s] it when they do that."
205	* All the time in ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool''.
206	** Cameron appears in the girls' bathroom at Overland Park High -- despite being a college student -- as soon as [[BigBrotherInstinct she heard that her sister Shay was being called a "fucking liar"]]. Which was mere seconds after Shay herself heard about it. And then their little sister Mikayla -- who is in ''elementary school'' -- shows up. This, [[BetterThanABareBulb like everything else]], is lampshaded.
207	--->'''Trisha:''' Okay, seriously, who is watching the door? How the fuck did a third grader get in here...?
208	** Also used by Tanner's boyfriend Tristan, when he (somehow) found out Tanner was making out with someone. Despite the fact that Tristan goes to a different school. He immediately bursts into the Overland Park High locker room and smacks Tanner, demanding to know who it is.
209	--->'''Tanner:''' Did you just ''run'' here, all the way from Blue Valley? How did you even know I was making out with someone?\
210	'''Tristan:''' I'm the Perez Hilton of the Blue Valley district, ''I have eyes everywhere''!
211	[[/folder]]
212
213	[[folder:Webcomics]]
214	* Played with in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', in which Othar Tryggvassen, GentlemanAdventurer! repeatedly [[DestinationDefenestration gets thrown off]] of the mega-zeppelin 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.)
215	** Mind you, he ''tries'' to give an explanation. No one cares.
216	** He also somehow immediately [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110304 springs back]] from being dropped down a bottomless pit by [[MalevolentArchitecture Castle Heterodyne.]]
217	** He plays it straight [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20120507 here]] when Tarvek and Violetta try to give him the slip.
218	* The most recent Abel's Story update (Part 2, page 24) at ''Webcomic/DanAndMabsFurryAdventures'', Fa'Lina does this to Abel.
219	** Not the first time she's done it, particularly since she has a certain [[http://missmab.com/Comics/Vol_490.php "nasty habit"]].
220	* Noah of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' seems to be able to do this. [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2010-03-17 This strip]] clearly shows Elliot reaching the top of the escalator first, while the next one places Noah in front of Elliot. Of course, it had been strongly implied earlier that Noah had some sort of magical ability.
221	* 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.
222	* Pictured atop this page is ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' doing [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/dequestrian a parody]] of the "teleporting steed" in many video games (''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', in this case).
223	** ...And Roy demonstrates this ability [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/the-one-where-roy-comes-back-part1 here.]]
224	* Lampshaded regarding R2 in [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/1141.html this]] ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' strip.
225	* In ''Webcomic/{{Rhapsodies}}'', Michelle's annoying tendency to show up right behind people [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane might]] be just her showing up from BehindTheBlack [[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/comic/10072013/ but not ]][[http://rhapsodies.wpmorse.com/comic/last-minute-schedule-change/ likely.]]
226	* In ''Webcomic/{{Rain\|2010}}'', Ana goes from sitting at one end of a table to standing at the other end between [[https://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/915 the end of one strip]] and [[https://rain.thecomicseries.com/comics/916 the beginning of the next]].
227	[[/folder]]
228
229	[[folder:Web Original]]
230	* Every single character in ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest''. No really, that's not a joke - it's part of the RP's in-game traveling mechanic. Since there's no map of the island, there aren't any regulations as to which locations characters can move from to get to others. This results in characters (looking at it from a logical perspective) effectively teleporting all over the island. And yes, it has also led to characters fleeing from a villain, and enter another topic, only to find the guy they were running from is ''there already''.
231	** In character, it's assumed they traveled to the location 'off-screen' rather than actually teleporting, references are also made to characters moving around.
232	* [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos The Slender Man]], in almost all his appearances. He's a HumanoidAbomination, who's going to tell him he's not allowed?
233	** ''The Tutorial'' in particular deserves special mention for [[InvokedTrope Invoking]] this trope. In it, the author theorizes that the Slender Man cannot warp through space and time when he is being observed. In other words, he literally cannot teleport if he's not offscreen!
234	** Slightly averted in ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve''. While Slender Man does do the usual offscreen teleporting, one video shows he's capable of SuperSpeed, and he uses it to bull rush Noah.
235	** ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'', being the [[FollowTheLeader first Slender Man series]], is probably the originator for this trope, but they subvert it on a couple of occasions. For a split second in Entry #54 you can see the Operator moving into a room really, ''really'' fast, and in Entry #72 he teleports onscreen.
236	* Azrael of Blog/GaijinSmash is convinced that the Japanese have this skill as a racial trait, especially the smaller ones (kids and obasan.) Their ability to appear out of nowhere from impossible distances is a recurring feature in his stories.
237	%%* Everybody in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights''.
238	* Paul in WebVideo/CommodoreHustle seems to be able to do this, apparently to [[WordOfGod make him seem more eccentric.]] Whether the real [[WebVideo/LoadingReadyRun Paul Saunders]] can do this remains unconfirmed.
239	* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
240	** 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 [[PeekABogeyman and waits for you to turn around]].
241	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-173 SCP-173]] is technically this trope except it doesn't actually teleport, it just moves really fast (specifically, 4 meters within the time it takes to ''blink'').
242	* 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. And in the third movie, [[spoiler:Cynthia]] does this quite a bit after being transformed.
243	* Parodied in WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's review of ''Film/TheWickerMan2006'', which starts with a very creepy, SlasherSmile-sporting Tamara teleporting around the room constantly (complete with {{Sting}}) until the Critic just gets irritated by it.
244	** In “Old vs. New: Cinderella” Benny teleports out of Devil Boner’s line of sight as he’s looking at him.
245	* Kapura in the ''[[Toys/{{Bionicle}} Mata Nui Online Game]]'' is normally practicing the art of "traveling quick by moving slowly" in the Charred Forest, but can appear in any other part of the vast island when he needs to find you, suddenly showing up in your path when the screen reloads. The final minigame reveals he's performing a kind of FlashStep.
246	* Sun Qian has this ability in ''Fanfic/FarceOfTheThreeKingdoms.'' This is not explained, but none of the other characters seem to find it strange.
247	* 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 he gets increasingly frustrated by all these people popping out of nowhere and doesn't always know who's just been kidnapped.
248	* Subverted in Season 9 of the ''WebVideo/{{Hermitcraft}}''. From Impulse's point of view, Grian seems to repeatedly show up ahead of him without explanation as part of the latter's "Secret Fools" prank. In reality, Grian is using a series of Ender Pearl stasis chambers and walk-through paintings to pull off the effect, with the long hallways in between the rooms keeping Impulse from being close enough to hear the sound effects.
249	* ''Website/NobodyHere'': In some of the animations on "[[https://nobodyhere.com/justme/box.here Box]]", Jogchem will leave the screen from one side and then re-enter from a different place.
250	[[/folder]]
251
252	[[folder:Real Life]]
253	* People who know a bit about stage magician's or pickpocket's tricks know how to ensure that people's attention is somewhere else when they move, resulting in the effect, if not the fact of this trope.
254	* Quiet people have a tendency to go where they want. For some people, it's not unusual for others around them to lose track of where they went and give them the illusion that they disappeared.
255	* Cats are basically this trope in furry form. One second they're 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. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzzjgBAaWZw Ninja Cat!]]
256	* Small dogs can ''also'' do this, too.
257	* Anyone who has watched children has seen this happen. You only look away for a second and the kids are on the other side of the park.
258	* Quantum tunneling. A particle may not have the energy to cross a barrier, but if its wave function is intact (that is, it is not being observed), it can "teleport" through the barrier and be on the other side when it's observed.
259	* The "Statues" game. The object of the game is for the "Curator" to periodically look over his or her shoulder at the "Statues", who are only permitted to move when the Curator isn't looking and in that situation must be moving ''toward'' the curator. The game either ends or starts over once the Curator is tagged by one of the Statues (with said Statue taking the Curator's place).
260	* The "Mannequin Challenge" meme, similar to the above, involves creating a video with several people moving while off-camera.
261	* The game Red Light Green Light invokes this trope.
262	* This occurring in real life is why motorists should keep their eyes on the road. A road safety video depicted this by having a camera in a car driving down a suburban street turn away for three seconds. When it turns back, a ''camel'' is walking halfway across the street and right in the car’s path. The lesson being that conditions on the road can change much faster than you’d think.
263	[[/folder]]
264

Context Main / OffScreenTeleportation