History Main / StealthHiBye

** Likewise, the Igors specialize in appearing behind their masters' backs, regardless of how vigilant the master or how coverless the room is. Like most Igor traits, it's hard to be certain whether it is a natural talent, or the result of rigorous training. In ''Going Postal'', Reacher Gilt tests this skill by setting a bear trap down, turning his back to it, and calling for his Igor; the Igor arrives and hands him the now-closed bear trap.

** Another ''Discworld'' example: Lord Hong in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' has "the Grand Vizier's talent for appearing out of nowhere". (Note: TheGrandVizier on Discworld is usually ''not'' a wizard and is more likely to have been [[EveryoneHasStandards rejected from Unseen University for being mentally unstable]]. They can Stealth Hi/Bye on pure narrative-causality power.)

** It also has Vimes show himself to be aware with regards to the Stealth Hi/Bye used by the History Monks -- not that it helps. He sees a monk, and then a cart begins to pass in front of him. He drops to the ground, watching the monk's feet. As it's partway past him, his feet are still there. As it's halfway past him, his feet are still there. As it's mostly past him, his feet are still there. When it's completely past him, he's gone.

* Oreg of the ''Literature/Hurog'' duology is a GeniusLoci who can materialise and dematerialise his body at will, and uses this to vanish or appear fairly regularly. At one point he creates a false secret passage to explain this to a character who isn't aware of his status.

* ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}'': Petra and the Turtles [[note]] They're the TMNT and a verison of Spider-Man, of ''course'' this was going to happen [[/note]] pull this on Coulson after he's given them a few quick facts about their mission.

* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': Slightly downplayed in the ''Abraxas: Empty Fullness'' one-shot "Ain't That a Kick in the Head". The second time that [[Characters/AbraxasHrodvitnonMonsterX Monster X]] approaches Rodan, the latter, who is perching on Mount Fuji[[note]]Not to be confused with Mount '''Fiji''' from the ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' closing credits[[/note]], is taken by surprise when Monster X suddenly descends from the sky within spitting distance; having apparently not sensed Monster X coming like he did the first time (possibly due to being distracted).

[[caption-width-right:200:The [[ComicBook/{{Batman}} master]] at work.[[note]]''A Batty Exit'' by Paul Gilligan, Magazine/MADMagazine #500[[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:200:[[Magazine/MadMagazine https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_gone.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:200:[[ComicBook/{{Batman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_gone.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:200:''A Batty Exit'' by Paul Gilligan, Magazine/MADMagazine #500]]

!!Examples:

* ''Fanfic/ABoyAGirlAndADogTheLeithianScript'': In the first chapter of this ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' fanfic, [[TheHero Beren]] talks to Beleg and Mablung before leaving... and in spite of they were watching him, neither of them saw how he vanished in the woods. He just disappeared.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'':
** In chapter 5 Rei does this to people when she is walking around.
** And in chapter 12 [[spoiler:she does this to Shinji. She appears for an instant to say goodbye, Shinji looks away for one second, and when he looks back she has faded.]]
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': In chapter 1, Shinji saw Rei standing in the street. He turned his head for a second, and when glanced back at her, Rei was gone.
-->''In the distance, shimmering with the heat, there was a girl in a school uniform, her skin as white as alabaster, hair so pale that in the strange afternoon light, it looked blue. She gazed at him with piercing red eyes. Instinctively, he turned his head towards the screech of approaching tires. When he glanced back at the street, the apparition was gone.''
* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': [[spoiler:Evetta takes her first step to the waking world]] by pulling this in Chapter 20. [[spoiler:Asked to deliver a message from Kyril to Celestine, she appears all of a sudden in her quarters.]] Celestine and Claudia, who are in the room at the time, are understandably freaked out.
* ''Fanfic/NobodyDies'': If you see an airduct in Tokyo-3, chances are that you are BeingWatched. This is Terrifying!Rei's trademark move, on borderline-BigBrotherIsWatching levels. ''"[[ParanoiaFuel Heee~ey...]]"'' On (at least...) one occasion she did it on purpose to ScareEmStraight.
* The "Hi" part happens between Vegeta and Ginyu in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''.
-->'''Vegeta:''' What are you, dense!? The Ginyu Force could be here any second, and then we're...\\
'''Ginyu:''' Hi Vegeta.\\
'''Vegeta:''' ''[barely paying attention]'' Hi Ginyu. And then we're... ''[stops and does a DoubleTake]''
** In Season 3, Krillin manages to sneak up on Future Trunks while they're in mid-air, despite the fact that Trunks has the ability to [[TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne sense ki]]; Krillin affectionately refers to it as his "Stealth Mode".
* ''Manga/OnePiece'''s fanfiction website, "Ship of Fools", brings us Tarakudo Hunter, who is so quiet that pretty much every time he does anything somebody jumps out of their skin (at one point, he answered a question, and made the person asking jump). Malachi is a more standard case, who tends to appear from nowhere, often entirely unnoticed.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Weightless|MassEffect}}'', [[Franchise/MassEffect Garrus]] pulled one on Aria while she was [[KingIncognito disguising]] as a dancer. To boost the effect, all the cameras were hacked by Archangel's team, too. Needless to say, Aria wasn't impressed to say the least.
* In ''Fanfic/OrchestratingTheSilence'', Rei's spirit appears to Shinji to say goodbye, and then she vanishes while he is blinking.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''Franchise/StarWars''[=/=]''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''[=/=]''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' MassiveMultiplayerCrossover, ''the Master Chief'' (while wearing PowerArmor no less) repeatedly does this to Samantha Shepard. It's entirely PlayedForLaughs so he can drop in to give a one-liner of some kind.
* ''Fanfic/AShadowOfTheTitans'':
** Jade maintains this trait from her [[WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures canon]] counterpart, though now it's aided by her [[CastingAShadow ability]] to hide in shadows. That said, it's been done ''to'' her a few times as well, usually by either Gadjo or Jinx.
** Slade does this to Brother Blood in his first appearance, seemingly for no other reason than to rub his superiority in Blood's face.
* ''Fanfic/BadFutureCrusaders'': Snails does this a few times, but the cake goes to [[MysteriousBacker the Masquerader]]. who seemingly cannot enter or exit a scene without doing this, at time bordering on OffscreenTeleportation.
* ''Fanfic/TheTwilightChild'':
** The main character manages to perform one of these, while standing in front of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who by all accounts haven't turned away from her either. Sweetie Belle even questions how it happened.
** Zecora's second appearance involves her managing to perform one of these in a heavily crowded wedding.
* Episode 7 of ''Sailor Moon: Legends of Lightstorm'': Jason does this while planting bugs in Darien's apartment in the middle of the night. He leans close over a sleeping Darien to hear what he's saying during his nightmare. Darien wakes up suddenly and gets up to take melatonin, but Jason has somehow made it out of the apartment and onto the roof without making a sound.

* ''FanFic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'':
** Zim and his group pulls this on Dib in Episode 2.
** Norlock, as a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]], is capable of doing this. And does so, more than once.
** Darth does this repeatedly, much to people's frustration when he sneaks up on them.

* The ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace''/''WesternAnimation/MightyDucksTheAnimatedSeries'' crossover "[[http://www.paladar.com/fanware/room13/brand70.htm Lost and Found]]" has Canard basically do this after the Power Rangers rescue him and then track Draganus to the Earth the Ducks travelled to. After the other Ducks have found the Rangers and mistaken them for potential enemies, the two groups congregate at the Astro Megaship until Cassie recognises Wildwing from holograms Canard created of his team; when Wildwing asks how she knows his name, Canard appears at the side of the Astro Megaship to ask if Wildwing’s lost his manners, the other Ducks briefly pointing their weapons at him before Wildwing uses the Mask to confirm his identity.
* In the ''Literature/FateZero'' and ''Anime/LupinIII'' crossover fan fic ''FanFic/JustAnUnorthodoxThief'', Lupin shows up in a chair in Zenigata's office seemingly out of nowhere, then leaves equally mysteriously while Zenigata's back is turned. When he first shows up, Zenigata reveals he anticipated Lupin's tendency toward this and [[ExploitedTrope prepared a trap to capture him]].
* In ''Fanfic/SomethingInTheNight'', Chat Noir pulls this on Ladybug (both out of costume, but he can't see her face and she can't see his) when he walks in on her in his kitchen getting a glass of water.
-->'''Chat''': I should have thought to offer you a drink. Do you need anything else?\\
'''Ladybug''': I’m good. So long as you don’t give me any more heart attacks.\\
'''Chat''': ''I'' wasn’t the one sneaking around someone else’s apartment.\\
'''Ladybug''': (''chuckles'') No, you were just sneaking around your ''own'' apartment. Are you ''actually'' a goddamn cat or something?\\
'''Chat''': (''laughs'') Sorry, just a force of habit.
* ''Fanfic/UniverseFalls'': In "Magic and Mystery, Part 2" Dipper, Mabel, and Steven have to find a second Laser Light Cannon, and Steven calls Lion out to help. Much to Dipper's mixed shock and annoyance, Lion suddenly appears standing right behind him.
-->'''Dipper:''' Steven, what’s Lion’s deal with always trying to scare me to death?\\
'''Steven:''' That just means he likes you!
* ''Fanfic/XMenTheEarlyYears'': At the end of "Hit Women, Goats, and Other Vacation Blunders", Scott gives Jean a present and slinks off before she can turn it down.
-->"It's gorgeous." Jean held up the robe so she could see the whole thing. "I love the color! But I can't accept this. I mean, it's just too expensive." But when she lowered the robe to see Scott, he was gone. The ice was on the floor. The Band-Aids and ointment for her blistered feet were on the bed.\\
But Scott was nowhere to be seen.
* In ''FanFic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse,'' Barry, Oliver, and Kara, having been trained by the League of Assassins, often pull these on people-either for tactical advantages, or else just because Barry (and, to a lesser extent, Kara) is TheGadfly.
* In ''Fanfic/SonOfTheWesternSea'' the Taoist WarGod Guan Yu is introduced by teleporting in behind Percy, resting his guan dao on Percy's back and scolding him for his poor reflexes. Judging by Percy's complaints and comments from the Shinto dieties Guan Yu has been doing this to him for a while.
* ''Fanfic/IceAndFire'': In Chapter 22, Cornelia does this to Euphemia while she's in bed with Suzaku. Awkwardness ensues.
* Wonderweiss from ''Fanfic/{{Downfall|Bleach}}'' is very good at this. He can even sneak up on Nnoitra, who is the best Arrancar at sensing reiatsu.
* Unintentionally done by [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Cynthia]] in fanfic ''Fanfic/GoldenThreadsTieUs''. When her Pegasus takes off, its wings accidentally splash mud water on Severa, forcing her to shut her eyes. Cynthia is already gone when Severa opens her eyes again.

* ''Fanfic/UnbreakableRedSilkenThread'': A trademark of Dawn, as per canon, to the point more than one character has stated it was like she was never there to begin with when they blinked.
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'' plays with this. Batman is present and pulls this stunt as usual, but the Renegade protagonist, who doesn't get along with him, can use his power ring to track him anyway, so it doesn't really work. On the other hand, the Paragon protagonist has used his kinetic belt before to pull a similar disappearance, quickly and silently flying up into the air when someone's back is turned.
--> '''Detective Bullock''': Funny, how you're so much more polite than Bat-\\
''<sees that Paul isn't there anymore>''\\
-man. And yet you still do that. Now I get how the Commish feels.
* ''Fanfic/MyHeroPlaythrough'' has the Flash do this to Izuku. Izuku is chasing [[Main/GenderFlip her]], until they reach the Pacific Ocean. He stops, and she disappears into the distance. Then she scares Izuku by appearing behind him and asking why he stopped.

* ''Fanfic/MyDreamIsYours'': Given that this is an ''Series/OddSquad'' fanfic where this trope is a common ability for a lot of people, it's only natural that Dr. O would have this ability, as she suddenly pops up behind Olympia and Otis when they explain what weird dreams they've been having to Ohlm.

* In ''Fanfic/SonOfTheWesternSea'' the Taoist WarGod Guan Yu is introduced by teleporting in behind Percy, resting his [[BladeOnAStick guan dao]] on Percy's back and scolding him for his poor reflexes. Judging by Percy's complaints and comments from the Shinto dieties Guan Yu has been doing this to him for a while.

* In the ''LightNovel/FateZero'' and ''Anime/LupinIII'' crossover fan fic ''FanFic/JustAnUnorthodoxThief'', Lupin shows up in a chair in Zenigata's office seemingly out of nowhere, then leaves equally mysteriously while Zenigata's back is turned. When he first shows up, Zenigata reveals he anticipated Lupin's tendency toward this and [[ExploitedTrope prepared a trap to capture him]].

* The penguins, both in ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar''.

** This is possibly the reason for the ''Discworld'' example -- Igors are portrayed as a cross between a butler, a surgeon and Frankenstein's monster.

* Bondsmagi of the Literature/GentlemanBastard series are notorious for pulling this, generally much to the surprise and/or irritation of whoever they're dropping in on.
* From the book (not the movie) ''Literature/TheGunsOfNavarone'', Andrea describes Keith Mallory:

** Jedi and Sith (or, heck, any force user) also have a tendency to do this as well.
** [[Literature/XWingSeries General Melvar]] frequently does this, while [[BlatantLies claiming]] that everyone else just isn't paying attention. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as it turns out he A) has a talent for moving quietly, and B) has installed special hydraulics throughout the ship to allow him to open doors silently, for the explicit purpose of pulling these. His boss finds it annoying but tolerable, to the point that he trains himself to not react to Melvar's sudden entrances.

* [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster Bertie Wooster]], in Creator/PGWodehouse's stories, is perpetually astonished by his valet Jeeves's suddenly being at hand whenever Bertie realizes he needs something. When Bertie is the narrator, he describes it as if Jeeves had a mysterious power of teleportation and/or mind-reading, but the real (implied) explanation is always that [[TheJeeves Jeeves is streets ahead]] of his [[UpperClassTwit clueless employer]].

* In Creator/DavidEddings's ''[[Literature/TheElenium Elenium]]'', one of the Knights gets tired of the [[PhysicalGod Goddess Aphrael]] doing this and asks her to signal next time she appears. So her next manifestation is preceded by a huge trumpet fanfare and holy chorus. Naturally, they ask her to go back to popping up silently.

-->[[spoiler: ''"'Don't waste your breath!' yelled Harry, his eyes screwed up against the pain in his scar, now more terrible than ever. 'He can't hear you from here!'\\

Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, his scarlet, slit-pupilled eyes staring; Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the hall, his wand pointing at Harry who stood frozen, quite unable to move."'']]

* Harley Quin. [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries Not that one]], but rather the title character of Creator/AgathaChristie's collection ''Literature/TheMysteriousMrQuin''. He appears to the elderly AmateurSleuth Mr. Satterthwaite and leads him to ask questions that will lead him to the solution, then disappears. There are signs Quin may not entirely be of this Earth.

* In the "between the numbers" entries in the Literature/StephaniePlum series and the Lizzy Tucker spinoff series, Diesel is an expert at this. His cousin Wulf ''can'' do a quite good Stealth Hi/Bye if he wants, but prefers a more dramatically pyrotechnic approach.

* [[Creator/JRRTolkien Hobbits]] are said to be good in that. A widely known InformedAbility. Well, a couple of them turned up in the middle of ''Mordor'' without anyone seeing them come in. [[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings Gandalf]] is [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] as having this ability. [[AWizardDidIt "He is a wizard, you know."]] It's also how [[spoiler:Merry managed to stab the Witch King of Angmar in the leg.]]

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife''. The G-Man has this habit, which is {{lampshaded}} in ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' when Gordon Frohman spots him hiding several times.
* Sans from ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' pops in and out as he pleases.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'': Impa and Sheik would use Deku Nuts to vanish.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'': The Gorman Troupe leaves/vanish from town without a trace at some point between on the third day.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]''
*** A shopkeeper does this to Link, then admits that it's a hobby of his. He doesn't like it much when Link manages to pull this on him.
*** Tetra likes this one as well. She pulls it once on Link and once on Ganondorf.

* Garrett does this to half the people he meets in ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'', ''including the BigBad''. His mentor manages to pull the same trope over on him once, however, in a hilarious and brilliant inversion.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'':
** At one point in "Subspace Emissary" mode, Princess Peach offers Fox a cup of tea to defuse a fight between him and Sheik. Not only is she able to pull a tea set out of thin air in the moment Fox glances away, but Sheik is also able to pour herself a cup during that same moment. MundaneUtility at its finest.
** Sheik also did it straight in ''Ocarina of Time'' on at least one occasion, although she usually uses a Deku nut as a distraction.
** This is also done by Impa the first time Link meets her. It is suggested that Zelda picked up many of Impa's techniques for use as Shiek.
** The Pokémon Trainer also does this during Subspace Emissary gameplay, and in large scrolling multiplayer stages. The Trainer himself trails his Pokémon at all times. However, he doesn't follow its movements over BottomlessPits and similar obstacles. So, the Pokémon can leave the Trainer behind to leap over pits, onto platforms, down elevators... only to find the Trainer inexplicably waiting on the other side.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', Lucien Lachance will sneak up on you when you sleep (and the right conditions are met) to engage your first meeting. When the meeting is over he will use a powerful invisibility spell to hide himself, then leave the room. It's supposed to emulate this trope, but fun things like detection spells, dispelling, and the ability to speak to him tend to ruin the moment.
** In a way, it's sort of a subversion -- the game's makers could have just had him disappear into thin air, but they decided to do it realistically within their game's rules, and let the player not get "Gordoned" if they're actively trying to avoid it.
** Try following him though a door, suddenly he's gone, spooky....
* Vitali from ''VideoGame/SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'' does this constantly, much to the annoyance of Gig [[RunningGag who inevitably gets spooked by his appearance whenever he does it]].
* A favorite tactic of serpent thieves in ''VideoGame/{{Achaea}}'', who rely on various semi-invisibility tricks to creep into rooms and remain unnoticed while they plant hypnotic suggestions in their victim's mind, only revealing themselves at the last moment to snap their fingers in front of the victim's face and activate the suggestions. One prominent thief likes to play this trope literally, saying "Hi." at the moment of the snap.
* One of [[CreepyChild Alma's]] favorite tricks in ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' Justified, as she's a psychic ghost who can teleport at will.
* The aptly-named Houdini Splicers in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' are big fans of this one, appearing and disappearing in [[SmokeOut a cloud of crimson smoke]], usually right in front of you or, in your initial encounter with one, right behind you without any warning whatsoever, with hands ablaze.
* Played straight with the Lutece's in ''Videogame/BioShockInfinite'' who can appear and disappear at will and sometimes to use shadows caused by flickering lights to cover it.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' has this as Jude's ability, called 'Snap Pivot'. Backstepping just as he's about to get hit by an enemy, he flashsteps behind them. It actually gets lampshaded in a skit that this is what he does, once the player has used Snap Pivot a lot.
-->'''Alvin:''' I don't see Jude anywhere...\\
'''Jude:''' ''[pops up out of nowhere]'' You called?
* There's a neat little trick in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' where you can get an early peek at at a villain who will come in next scene. You can only see him by looking in first-person mode while unarmed (and his face will be partially obscured), and the second time you try it, he'll be gone (cue creepy fanfare).
** Played straight in the same game by Mr. X, shortly after giving Raiden a cell phone.
** In the ending to ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'', Solid Snake pulled this off on Holly and Campbell, although Campbell implies that this has happened before.
* A rather unusual version of this occurs in ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. Before Shiki and Neku make a pact by the statue of Haichiko, ''Joshua'' is standing right next to Neku. After the cutscene however, he's disappeared.

* In ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'', the mysterious Sydney does this. Ashley enters an empty room, looks around and sees nothing, then turns toward the door he entered. As he tries to open it, he finds it is inexplicably locked. He turns around again to face the room, and Sydney is there. Their conversation is intriguing. How he got inside or whether he was hiding there the whole time is never explained.
* Faith does this in ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' when first speaking to Lieutenant Miller. He looks away briefly when he hears something, turns back toward Faith and she is gone.
* A ''VideoGame/GarrysMod'' addon called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAVaeb70z_0 The Harmless Companion Cube]] remains still in plain sight and rewards players who look away [[spoiler: with cold, unyielding steel between the shoulders]].
* Onikage from the ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}'' series is a demonic practicioner of this type of exit. One of his best was following a defeat by Ayame in ''Wrath of Heaven''. The camera pans so that his body is behind her for only a split second, and he is gone. There are a number of other examples from the series. They are {{Ninja}} after all.
* Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' episode I, after chaos pulls this off in his first appearance. The view switches to KOS-MOS' point of view and you see her re-checking her secondary cameras in a corner of her field of vision to see that yes, he really ''did'' just appear out of nowhere. It's just the first clue that this PrettyBoy is far more than he seems.
* In ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'', [[BoisterousBruiser Flay]] got this down pat, startling Vayne several times with his sudden appearance. Nicely averted when Vayne starts to look to where Flay should be at... then he walks through the door.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'', Taryn does this to Daxter.
* ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' has an interesting version of this. Characters tend to sneak in behind word bubbles.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
** Thane will do this during his loyalty mission. He stops to pray in the middle of a well-lit street, and as he finishes the prayer, two people cross in front of him. As soon as they pass, he's ''gone.'' The Shadow Broker archives have a video clip of him stepping into a shadow and not coming out the other side.
** It seems to be a drell thing, [[spoiler: as Feron does the same in the closing cinematic for the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC during a momentary power outage]].
** Kasumi's special attack -- she {{Lampshades}} it with her "Now you see me..."
** Shepard himself does this in one scene. Cloaking devices are nice, huh?
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the kid during the Vancouver blitz vanishes without a trace and without making a sound, while inside a rather echoey air vent, in the split second Shepard looks away. The implausibility of this has led to the kid in question appearing regularly in discussions of the [[EpilepticTrees Indoctrination Theory]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', Alex Mercer seems to be able to teleport in addition to his PersonOfMassDestruction and PlagueMaster status. [[spoiler:For example, he manages to get the jump on his ex-boss despite the fact that the morgue security camera confirmed he was still there ''less than a fraction of a second earlier''.]] Of course, this scares the hell out of everyone else, particularly given that Alex is basically ''Film/TheThing1982'' save the Antarctic environment and extraterrestrial origins.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Spy's playstyle revolves around these.

* The titular oni of ''VideoGame/AoOni'' is a master of this. [[spoiler:He'll pop out from fireplaces, closets he's (logically) too big to fit in, rooms you were just in -- that only had that one entrance! -- and will even [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall use the game's large black text boxes to its own advantage when the opportunity arises]] (which is notably played for laughs in the "South Park" version and even lampshaded by that version's Takeshi).]]
* The Anguished One in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' likes doing this. He's so good at it that the hero, despite being very much TheStoic, can in one instance get freaked out enough to outright yell at him to cut it out.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** [[SecretCharacter Stefan]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' consistently joins the party by sneaking onto the battlefield out of nowhere from a space he should have theoretically been visible from (i.e. one that was near but not an edge space). Additionally, in his first info conversation in ''Path of Radiance'', Ike asks him "What the...? Um...who are you? How long have you been a member of my troop?."
** Kellam from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' has it worse. Despite wearing gigantic shiny armor, he manages to be unseen by everyone. It even takes over a chapter for the characters to notice that he was there from the start, and he has to be re-recruited by the very group he's working with! Apparently he doesn't make ''any'' noise when he moves, and he tends to assume conversations are over before they really are, which is why several characters experience him "disappearing" on them as they're speaking to him.
** Saizo from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' is capable of doing this since he's a {{ninja}} (albeit [[HighlyVisibleNinja a rather loud one]]), and in his supports with his prospective girlfriend [[spoiler: Charlotte]] he trolls her via invoking the trope [[RunningGag several]] times on her.
** Setsuna from the same game also has a tendency of doing this. She even manages to surprise Kaze, another ninja, with how quietly she sneaks up on him.
** Kaze (who is also Saizo's twin brother) sometimes does this ''accidentally''. He says he's not always aware of how much noise he does or doesn't make.
* In ''VideoGame/AtelierTotoriTheAdventurerOfArland'', Totori's father is an absolute ''master'' of this. In nearly every conversation with him, the characters freak out after his first line and wonder when he showed up. In his case, it's because he has so little presence that even his own daughters often forget he's there.
* ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'':
** A character ''joins your party'' using this trope in ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' -- simply travel through the appropriate area with space in your party, and he'll somehow slip into your ranks with no warning or notification whatsoever.
** Ditto the [[BadassAdorable flying squirrels]] in ''VideoGame/SuikodenII''. While Mukumuku can be recruited in another way, the other four only appear if you wander around a certain area with a space in your party and wait.

* In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xIxrx5i1To Greed]] trailer for ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'' the Spymaster does this, repeatedly.
* In the beginning of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', tournament host Shang Tsung declares he will be the final opponent for the winner. Johnny Cage turns to the others and pokes fun at Shang's age, then is shocked when a displeased Shang is suddenly right next to him when he had previously been on the other side of the room.

* ''VideoGame/MSSagaANewDawn'' has Hal Vizardt do this twice in the final dungeon of the game. Once when the main character is trapped alone and ambushed, and again when fighting the final boss.
* '''O''' from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' – a humanoid and a letter of the divine alphabet – shows you some of the secrets of the universe and then vanishes into a thin air before you realize what happened.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, The Mysterious Stranger appears out of nowhere to help you in [=VATS=], killing an enemy or two for you, before disappearing. The only person to comment on this is [[HardboiledDetective Nick Valentine]] in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''.
* In ''VideoGame/JennyLeClue'', CJ tries to pull this off while he is briefly off-camera. Of course, from the perspective of the PlayerCharacter, Jenny, it doesn't work.
-->'''Jenny:''' CJ, I know you're behind the phonebooth. I saw you walk over there.\\
'''CJ:''' ''(from behind the phonebooth)'' No, I'm not.
* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' has a scene where Kara is approached by a sanitation worker android who she asks for help with finding a place for her and Alice to stay for the night. She closes her eyes as the android interfaces with her to give her an address, but as soon as she opens her eyes again the android is gone.
* ''VideoGame/BlackCloset'' has [[TheQuietOne Rowan]], whose ridiculously high Stealth skill is both a [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration game mechanic and a story characteristic]].