Line #59 OffscreenTeleportation/LiveActionTV


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/ElChavoDelOcho https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/chavo_teleportation2.jpg]]]]
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8	* In the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "[[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows Shadows]]", Hartley's team flee a military base in a SUV at top speed, only for Carl "Crusher" Creel, who was in the base as well, is suddenly in front of them, having somehow got there on foot.
9	* ''Series/AlexaAndKatie'': “Winter Luau" has Alexa's mom Lori do this when Alexa tries to escape through her upstairs bedroom window through the tree and such, only to find at every turn Lori waiting there. It ends when Alexa finally goes back in the house only to find Lori there.
10	* Called out in the ''Series/{{Arrow}}''/''Series/TheFlash2014'' two-part crossover ''Legends of Yesterday''/''Legends of Today'', on Malcolm Merlyn for his habit of suddenly appearing in the middle of a conversation to drop more exposition.
11	--> '''Barry Allen:''' Is that the only way this guy knows how to enter a room?
12	* This was done on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'' during all the chase scenes, featuring the characters exiting the screen on one side then entering on another.
13	* ''Series/BoysBeforeFlowers'': In this KoreanSeries, 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.
14	* ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'': In "The Bimbo", Terry and Amy compete to see who can throw their squad the best lunches, with [[ObsessedWithFood renowned foodies]] [[ThoseTwoGuys Hitchcock and Scully]] doing the judging. Even though each one is supposed to only attend one lunch and the lunches are miles apart at the same time, they both manage to attend both, baffling everyone. The only justification they give is that they never pass up free food.
15	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
16	** Angelus manages to make this an InvokedTrope in one episode, when chasing Jenny Calendar, though this time it's a JustifiedTrope through the SuperSpeed shown by both Angel and Angelus throughout the series.
17	** 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 Offscreen Teleportation 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...)
18	*** 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.
19	* ''Series/{{Castle\|2009}}'': In one episode, CIA Agent [[MeaningfulName Gray]] took it up to eleven by Offscreen Teleporting twice in as many minutes.[[note]]Once to enter Homicide, once to leave.[[/note]]
20	* ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'': In some episodes, 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.
21	* ''Series/{{Chespirito}}'' used this gag in many of his works. The current page picture is provided by ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'', from an episode where el Chavo leaves the courtyard through the right side, and suddenly reappears inside his barrel when Quico calls out for him.
22	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
23	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]]: The Weeping Angels have this ability as a form of AppliedPhlebotinum, and it is the only way they can move: 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 — the Angels turn into stone even if only the camera is looking at them.
24	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E7AGoodManGoesToWar "A Good Man Goes to War"]]: [[spoiler: Rory, as the Last Centurion, is in a Cyberman ship.]] At one point, he somehow accomplishes the following:
25	--->'''Cyber-Leader:''' Intruder level eleven. Seal levels twelve, thirteen and fourteen. Intruder level fifteen.
26	** {{Justified\|Trope}} in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater "Dark Water"]], where the Doctor runs down the steps of St Paul's Cathedral, leaving Missy behind, only to find her waiting for him further down the street. Turns out she's got a [[GadgetWatch teleport bracelet]].
27	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E1ThePilot "The Pilot"]] has a {{justified\|Trope}} example: The Doctor orders Bill to GetOut of his office, and she goes downstairs and exits the building — only to find him outside, leaning against the TARDIS.
28	** [[Recap/DoctorWho60thASTheGiggle "The Giggle"]] features yet another {{Justified\|Trope}} version. The Toymaker, being the AnthropomorphicPersonification of play, regularly teleports around via wooden door, but the appearance of him or the door is never shown on camera. This is most evident during his musical number, where he continually warps to various locations in order to [[AndIMustScream interact with UNIT staff.]]
29	* ''Series/TheDresdenFiles'': Throughout most of the series Warden Donald Morgan, a powerful wizard, does this, usually to intimidate or berate the protagonist for some reason. When a spell traps everyone in the building and he is asked why he doesn't just teleport out, he sheepishly admits that he can't actually teleport, and just has the power to become invisible, having had to sneak in and out before dramatically pretending to teleport in by becoming visible. Which makes many of the previous scenes hilarious in hindsight when you realize the powerful warden is actually attempting to sneak away or in while trying not to bump anything or make noise and probably just took a cab to the building.
30	* ''Series/FallingSkies'': In one episode, 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.
31	* ''Series/TheFlash1990'': The Flash naturally did this a few times justified both by his SuperSpeed and [[CoconutSuperpowers the TV show's budget.]]
32	* Littlefinger in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. Nearly ever scene of him takes place somewhere else in Westeros, which makes him seem like he's everywhere. One episode had him in the Vale, while the start of next episode had him all the way at the Wall, in the North. (Which is almost on the other side of the continent.) Since we know nothing about how long it takes him to travel, how he's travelling and how much time actually passes (though it can't be too much, since there doesn't seem to be much time passing for anyone else), fans have joked that he has a teleporter or a jetpack.
33	** The Sand Snakes are another dubious case. They are seen waving off Prince Trystane at the pier of Dorne, but two are later seen sneaking onto his ship while he's in King's Landing.
34	** By the end of the sixth season, this capability seems to have become generalised, extending to whole armies and fleets.
35	*** The last two seasons perhaps offer an explanation. In one episode it is said that the Inn at the Crossroads is 200 miles from King's Landing (itself already a significant reduction from the distance in the books); a few episodes later, we are told it will take only two days for an army to get from the Crossroads to the city, suggesting the continent is alarmingly decreasing in size or Westerosi armies are capable of somehow marching 100 miles per day (or, potentially less interestingly, a major continuity error).
36	* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'':
37	** 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.
38	** He does use it on camera once in the first season. He can fling himself ridiculously.
39	** 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.
40	* ''Series/{{JONAS}}'': The teacher in charge of detention. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] for Joe, his GirlOfTheWeek and the other students: '' "I'm like an invisible ninja...!" ''
41	* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'': Parker is capable of this. It implicitly explained via LeParkour or other expert climbing/gymnastics/thieving skills.
42	* The Dweller, The Nomad and The Ascetic from ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'' pull this on the Harfoots. On one scene they are faraway, among the trees and in the next shot they are right beside the hobbits.
43	* ''Series/{{Lost}}'': Mostly averted, as the writers played reasonably close attention to the passage of time and the distances characters travelled on the Island. A few times they did play things a bit fast and loose, most notably in the Season 3 opener when Ben tells Goodwin to get to the tail section crash site, to which he replies he can be there in an hour; both maps of the Island and the establishing shot showing even the nearer tail section crash site being clearly many miles away, making this seem fairly implausible. However, the early seasons do lean into the Others having a near-supernatural ability to move across the Island at high speed (a trait they have mostly lost by the third season).
44	* ''Series/Lucifer2016'': Linda has a ClosedDoorRapport with Maze after learning that Maze is a demon. She then turns round and finds Maze sitting in her locked office. Immediately {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d and {{Subverted\|Trope}}:
45	-->'''Linda:''' Can you teleport?\
46	'''Maze:''' ''[laughing]'' What? No! You left your window open.
47	* ''Series/MuppetsNow'': In a segment of the first episode, Kermit is revealed to be so good at photobombing that he can cross a room to get behind someone just in time for the picture to be taken and then back again by the time it's done.
48	-->'''Walter''': [[LampshadeHanging How are you doing this? I'm not even seeing you move.]]
49	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'':
50	** Discussed and parodied in the 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 (he claims it has something to do with quantum superposition). Crow (who notes Servo loves to do it at bedtime to JumpScare him all the time) 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.
51	** AvertedTrope in the episode ''Film/GirlInGoldBoots'' in that Buzz's inexplicable appearance in the diner happens completely ''onscreen'' due to the mother of all editing errors.
52	* Amusingly used on ''Series/TheNanny'', when Niles and Fran both want vacation time and know that only the first one to ask Max will get it. Niles locks Fran in a room, makes a mad dash to Max's office... only to find Fran already sitting on Max's desk.
53	-->'''Fran:''' ''(condescending smile)'' You have ''so'' much to learn.
54	* ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'': In "Guide to Cheaters", Bitsy tries to cheat off of Moze while they take a test. When Moze tries to turn her paper toward the opposite direction, Bitsy is suddenly on the other desk next to her.
55	* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'':
56	** The Monroe Militia marches away in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E3NoQuarter episode 3]], 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.
57	** [[Recap/RevolutionS1E13TheSongRemainsTheSame Episode 13]] has Tom Neville go from Farmington, Pennsylvania to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, apparently on foot. That's quite the distance he covered in one episode.
58	** The [[Recap/RevolutionS1E20TheDarkTower first season finale]] has Randall Flynn not only somehow escape the crossfire between Monroe's militia and the Dwellers seen in [[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen episode 19]], but he gets a keycard found behind a picture of George W. Bush in an office on level 11, and somehow manages to get into the special room on level 12 without the Dwellers even noticing apparently.
59	* ''Series/TheSecretCircle'': Occurs. 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.
60	* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'':
61	** OnceAnEpisode, if not more.
62	** 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.
63	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
64	** Characters and indeed entire civilizations are quite easily capable of keeping pace with Voyager, despite Voyager moving flat out to get home.
65	** Possibly justified in that Voyager takes a LOT of side trips and is stopped or delayed, sometimes for weeks at a time.
66	** ''Star Trek'' as a whole plays travel times and stellar geography very fast and loose throughout the canon, although there fairly glaring examples. ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' simultaneously establishes that the Federation is thousands of light-years across, taking months to years to cross based on the ''Voyager'' travelling times, whilst it is also possible for the Borg and the ''Enterprise'' to travel from "one of the Federation's outermost colonies" to Earth in six days. [[EarlyInstalmentWeirdness Most egregious]] in the original series when the supposedly far-slower original ''Enterprise'' frequently travels hundreds of light-years in a single episode.
67	* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
68	** Castiel (like other angels) is a MASTER of Off Screen Teleportation. If Cas is in the episode, it'll probably happen. Multiple times. However, it's often only "offscreen" for the audience; there are multiple examples of human characters looking straight at angels while they flutter away. The camera watches the human, but the human is watching the angel.
69	** PlayedForLaughs when the Ghostfacers try fleeing Castiel. Every time they open a door, he's on the other side with an exasperated look on his face.
70	** 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!
71	** There's a particularly hilarious example in the episode "Criss Angel is a Douche Bag". The Winchester boys tie up a stage magician who 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.
72	--->'''Dean:''' We ''really'' should have seen that one coming.
73	*** 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.
74	** [[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 ''[[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious]]''.
75	* ''Series/TeenWolf'':
76	** Occurs. Derek seems to appear out of nowhere in the weirdest places, including the boys' locker room.
77	** Derek spends more 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.
78	* ''Series/ToddAndTheBookOfPureEvil'': Occurs 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.
79	* ''Series/ATouchOfCloth'': Parodied when Jack Cloth is working undercover and the boss of the criminal operation calls him up to get over there and explain himself. Cloth says that he'll "be there right away", then immediately walks through the door when the shot switches locations again.
80	* ''Series/{{The Upside Down Show}}'': In the episode "Airport," David and Shane discover they can do this by [[https://youtu.be/U6_OaS_EasY?t=414 ducking out of frame and making sound effects with their mouths.]]
81	* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'':
82	** Mrs. Frederic does this ''all the time'', to the point that it's her most defining trait:
83	--->'''Artie:''' [[LampshadeHanging How does she do that?]]
84	** Artie once does it to Claudia, leading to her response of
85	--->'''Claudia:''' Did you just [[PersonAsVerb Mrs. Frederic]] me?!
86	** For that matter, her bodyguard and the Regents seem capable of it too.
87	*** Incidentally, one of the Regents has the same [[Creator/MarkSheppard actor]] as Crowley.
88	*** Everyone freaks out when she ''doesn't'' do that, realizing that something's wrong with her.
89	*** In the epilogue of the series, [[spoiler:Claudia]], now a Caretaker herself, also uses it, implying that this is an ability all Caretakers have.
90

Context OffscreenTeleportation / LiveActionTV