History Main / HeWasRightThereAllAlong

* ''Film/{{Alien}}'': Brett moves through an empty room with machinery and chains hanging from the ceiling. After he moves off, the monster moves in the background, revealing that it was just camouflaged in plain sight the whole time. It happens to Ripley, [[spoiler:on board the Narcissus]], where the Alien is hidden in plain sight among the wall detail and then suddenly uncurls to the horror of Ripley. The Xenomorphs make something of a habit of this, it happens in almost every film.
** This is actually subverted in ''Film/{{Alien 3}}'' where Ripley believes she sees the xenomorph lurking in the shadows, but it turns out to be just a bit of piping in the shape of the creature's head.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 3''. You walk through a doorway into a seemingly empty arena, before finding out you just walked under the Cyberdemon's legs. Either it just likes to stand over doorways and freak people out or the door spontaneously changed its destination. (Hell is weird like that.)

* The [[KingMook boss Spider Splicer]] Rose in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' enters in this fashion. After first meeting Peach Wilkins, you hear someone humming The Ink Spots' "I Didn't Care", and petals start falling from the ceiling; only when you look up does she attack, but she escapes before you can kill her. At the end of the mission when you are heading back to Fontaine Fisheries, you hear her humming again, but she doesn't appear until you [[SchmuckBait grab the Wrench Lurker tonic]].

* The first Spider Splicer in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' enters in this fashion. After first meeting Peach Wilkins, you hear someone humming a song, and petals start falling from the ceiling; only when you look up does the Splicer attack. At the end of the mission when you are heading back to Fontaine Fisheries, you hear her humming again, but she doesn't appear until you [[SchmuckBait grab the Wrench Lurker tonic]].

* The first Spider Splicer in ''VideoGame/BioShock'' enters in this fashion. After first meeting Peach Wilkins, you hear someone humming a song, and petals start falling from the ceiling; only when you look up does the Splicer attack.

** This is actually subverted in ''Film/{{Alien 3}} where Ripley believes she sees the xenomorph lurking in the shadows, but it turns out to be just a bit of piping in the shape of the creature's head.

* Rise Matsumoto of Manga/{{Yuru-Yuri}} doesn't formally get introduced till episode 9 of Season 1 in the anime. But when she does show up, they are really surprised to see her and that she's the StudentCouncilPresident. One of the other characters mentions that she was always with them, but just slightly off-screen. Cue a flashback scene that then veers slightly to the side to reveal she was with them in that picture.

* The Genoskwa in ''Literature/Skin Game,'' a novel of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles,'' does this often throughout the novel. Harry and Murphy are told to meet their employer, Nicodemus Archleone, at an abandoned slaughterhouse to discuss their upcoming job. Nick has the place all set up for the heist crew when they arrive: a big, long table to plan the mission, comfortable leather chairs to sit in, and...a goat pen? It's only until a few days (and a few missing goats) later the others become aware of the Genoskwa, and it reveals that it had been following and watching all of them for the past few days, and nobody even noticed. Pretty impressive for a nine-foot-tall walking carpet.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has the Continual Discharge, a giant demon that is the source of the molten pools just after leaving Quelaag's Domain, and you can enter the arena, and have to pass by it and pick up a set of armor and turn around before the demon will even think of trying to attack you.

[[quoteright:236:[[VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beadylonglegs_8517.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:236: '''[[NightmareFuel/{{Pikmin}} WHOA HELLO GIANT BALL-SPIDER]]''']] %%This caption, I feel, could be better. If any of you have a better one, feel free to change it! -Brixmon (the guy who originally added the image and caption)

* In ''{{Disney/Frozen}}'', Prince Hans and a group of soldiers approach Elsa's ice palace. As they get close to the entry staircase, a pile of snow next to the staircase suddenly stands up - it's Elsa's giant snow monster [[FluffytheTerrible Marshmallow]], who had been sitting down with his back to camera.

* Anything involving Granny Weatherwax of ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''. Also Vetinari, who at the Assassin's School was always marked absent in stealth class...

** Just before facing down Inheritance series [[OrcusOnHisThrone Galbatorix]] in his throne room, the Heroes see a massive sheet of black in the back of the chamber, which they believe to simply be a mountain sized curtain. [[spoiler: It moves aside, being just a fold in the wing of his dragon, Shruikan.]]

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' now feature Pokemon that jump out at you from bushes if you go past, or drop down from the ceiling.

* The obscure shooter ''MetalBlack'' has an "all along the level" version with a literal ThatsNoMoon: you can see the satellite right from the beginning of the second level, only to see ''the true one'' at the end of it. At this point the fake moon draws closer and cracks up, revealing the boss inside.

* In Manga/CatParadise, it turns out that [[spoiler:Akitaka Sandou, the BiggerBad, the person behind most of the plot, the founder of the academy where the manga takes place, and someone who was also thought to be long dead, was actually hiding amidst [[CunningLikeAFox Tsukomoisshu]]'s severed head collection for almost the entire story.]]

* ''Film/{{Alien}}'': Brett moves through an empty room with machinery and chains hanging from the ceiling. After he moves off, the monster moves in the background, revealing that it was just camouflaged in plain sight the whole time. It happens to Ripley, [[spoiler: on board the Narcissus]], where the Alien is hidden in plain sight among the wall detail and then suddenly uncurls to the horror of Ripley.The Xenomorphs make something of a habit of this, it happens in almost every film.

* Similar to the Indiana Jones example above, ''Film/WildWildWest'' has a painting of a man with a rifle, which turns out to actually ''be'' a man with a rifle, well camouflaged until he moves.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy'', The Chameleon, being a shapeshifter tends to spy on the heroes while being disguised as some mundane object.

[[caption-width-right:236: '''[[{{NightmareFuel/Pikmin}} WHOA HELLO GIANT BALL-SPIDER]]''']] %%This caption, I feel, could be better. If any of you have a better one, feel free to change it! -Brixmon (the guy who originally added the image and caption)

*** If minibosses count, then the Deku toad from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' is the straightest example. You surface in the boss arena, and in true Zelda GhostButler form, the hole seals itself behind you. He will not drop down and start the fight until you go into eye-camera mode (c button on Wii) and scan the ceiling for him.
** Also a miniboss, Wart (Giant eye surrounded with bubbles) from ''Majora's Mask'' also does this trick. It will not attack until you go into first-person mode and look up at the very, very high ceiling. Once you make eye contact, it will drop to the floor and begin trying to ram you.
*** The miniboss in ''Twilight Princess'''s Arbiter's Grounds doesn't show up until you cut one of the ropes holding its sword. You can't actually ''see'' the boss until you activate your wolf senses.

*** Slime Eyes, boss of the Key Cavern is hidden and drops {{Mooks}} from the ceiling until you dash into a wall and dislodge him, causing him to drop into sight.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' also has the Boss on the ghost ship that won't show up until you get all four of the 'sisters' together. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that [[spoiler: the sisters themselves ''are'' the boss.]]
* Multiple colossi in ''ShadowOfTheColossus''. Often they will appear to be nothing but a pile of ruins, but will begin to form when you approach them. One of the underwater colossi doesn't appear until after you swim around for a little while.
* The Queen in ''{{Ico}}'', who doesn't appear until you try to leave the apparently-empty throne room.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''

** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'' had the appropriately named boss, Paranoia, who won't appear until Soma walks in front of a mirror in the middle of the room.

* ''[[LegacyOfKain Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver]]'' has Dumah, the fifth boss, who has already been killed once by a pack of vampire hunters and impaled with six-foot stakes to his own throne. Of course, being a vampire, he can be brought back to life in an instant by pulling the stakes back out, and players can square off against his spirit in the game's Spectral Realm.

* ''EnslavedOdysseyToTheWest'' - There's a section where Monkey, Trip and Pigsy are looking for parts to repair Pigsy's flying craft. The last part they need is a power cell, which they find sitting out in an open area, otherwise occupied only by large piles of junked machinery. Monkey and Pigsy have a brief discussion about how lucky they are to just find it sitting there, Monkey clearly not believing the group's apparent luck. Only after Monkey jumps down into the area and gets the cell does Pigsy warn him to "watch out for the Rhino." Monkey doesn't know what he's talking about - until one of the junk piles shifts, and a huge mech emerges from it.

* Sort-of subverted in NES game ''MonsterParty'' with the Giant Spider [[spoiler: he's there, looking like he might be waiting, but in fact he's already dead]].

* Played straight in ''[[VideoGame/{{Doom}} Doom 3]]''. You walk through a doorway into a seemingly empty arena, before finding out you just walked under the cyberdemon's legs. Either it just likes to stand over doorways and freak people out or the door spontaneously changed its destination (Hell is weird like that).
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Resistance}} Resistance 2]]'' features the Mother Spinner, who you don't see on the top of the tower in Twin Falls, Idaho until you look directly up the girders and then the battle begins.
* Some bosses in the ''{{Descent}}'' series do this, for example the first boss of ''II'' is initially hidden behind a disappearing wall. The second boss doesn't activate until it directly sees you or you hit it.
* The GiantEyeOfDoom (Golden Eye) in ''[[VideoGame/{{Turok}} Turok 2]]''. You walk into a large supposedly-empty cavern, then look up to see the eye gazing at you.
* The final map of the first part of ''{{Quake}}'' has Chthon, a PuzzleBoss. You can go anywhere on the map and do anything but he won't appear until you grab the [[PlotCoupon Rune]] next to the lava pool. Cue giant lava monster rising out of the pool...

[[AC:{{MMORPG}}s]]
* The Lurker Below in ''WorldOfWarcraft'' has to be ''fished'' from the water before your group of heroes can fight it - this is usually pretty hilarious, as twenty-five players stand around buffed to the gills while someone fishes.

* Dark Falz, in PhantasyStarOnline. It's an [[SchmuckBait obvious trap]] of course; after slogging through the hell that is the Ruins, you enter a sunny meadow chamber with a monolith in the middle, all sunny and cheerful and peaceful with calming music. You walk up to it and interact with the altar near the monolith... suddenly everything goes hellish and [[HellIsThatNoise a droning sound starts]] as hundreds of bladed ''things'' come after you. ''Then'' Dark Falz shows up!

[[AC:{{Platformer}}s]]
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''VoodooVince'', in which Vince enters a large room and sees nothing but a pile of bones. He wonders aloud where the boss is, and as he says it the bones begin to form into the boss of the level.
* The ''{{Metroid}}'' series loves this one. Let us count the ways:
** In ''MetroidPrime'', both of the bosses in Phendrana Drifts wait for you to try and grab their powerup before they attack. Later, in the Phazon Mines, the Elite Pirates (and the Omega Pirate) won't wake up until you approach their stasis tubes. The Phazon Elite won't do anything unless you blow up the tube he's held in.

** In ''Metroid: Zero Mission'' (which is actually a remake of the original game), the Acid Worm won't pop out until you zipline across the room. Similarly, Ridley waits before divebombing from the ceiling until you've entered the room behind his lair, retrieved the (temporarily unusable) power-up, re-entered his room, walked to the far door to see that it wouldn't open, and turned back around.
** In ''Super Metroid'', the Torizo boss is a Chozo statue which won't attack until you take its item and try to leave the room. One of the X-Parasites in ''Metroid Fusion'' tries the same trick, but you can see it coming a mile away because it's the only Chozo statue in a Federation-built science lab.

** Also in ''Metroid Fusion'', the first time you leave Sector 5, you see a large shadow dashing through the background, accompanied by a loud noise and screen-shaking. Much later in the game, you are sent back only to find out what's really been there all along is a giant, grotesque boss, aptly named "[[ThatOneBoss the Nightmare]]."

* Bigger Boo in ''YoshisIsland'' starts off just beyond the far edge of the room. Like all Boos, he can't move onto the screen until Yoshi is turned away from him.

* Targitzan in [[{{Banjo-Kazooie}} Banjo-Tooie]]'' - you walk into his "Really Sacred Chamber" and see a Jiggy in the middle of the floor, and as you approach it he leaps out of the floor.
** And 'Old King Coal' of the same game... and the Patchy Dinosaur fellow... and about every third boss from both games, really.
* Mad Jack, the boss of Frantic Factory in ''DonkeyKong64''. You can actually look up at the ceiling and see the boss hiding in a hole, but he won't move. There are sixteen short platforms on the floor, and you have to step on the one with the light flashing over it. Only ''then'' will the platforms rise several stories into the air and the creepy [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot evil robot jack-in-the-box duck thing]] come down to fight you.
* The boss of the Mausoleum of the Giants in ''LaMulana'' is [[spoiler: a robot disguised as one of the giant statues in the background.]]
* At least three Maverick Reploids in ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' were right there: Sting Chameleon (active camouflage), Spark Mandrill (fade to black, his light bulbs light up, and then the lights return), and Boomer Kuwanger (fades in ninja-like). The wall-face Rangda Bangda was also right there.

* At the end of Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 in ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic And Knuckles]]'', you find a radar dish, destroy it, then Robotnik's Eggmobile emerges from beneath it. In Flying Battery Zone Act 1, you find what appears to be a Prison Egg, but then a pair of {{Epic Flail}}s pops out and attempts to smash you.

* ''{{Pikmin}}'' has the Beady Longlegs, who drop down on you. The Titan Dweevil, Snagret, and Emperor Bulblax all come up from underground. Also the source of the page image.
** Another such enemy in Pikmin2 is the creeping chrysanthemum. It looks like a lot of the normal flowers that are all over the game except it has narrow blinking eyes staring at you which are hard to notice. If you approach it, it pops out of the ground & reveals the giant fat root that is its torso. It uses its stem arms to scoot around on its "butt" & tries to eat your Pikmin with its red flower mouth. If you or your Pikmin are too close to it when it initially pops out of the ground, you'll get knocked over making it extra hard to avoid losing Pikmin.

** Ditto for ''ShadowHearts'', where the cute doggy following you through Chapter Nine turns out to be the aptly-named Beast Dog.
* Also parodied in the new ''[[TheBardsTale Bard's Tale]]'', where a giant undead viking lies dormant, waiting for you to approach his throne before attacking you. However the Bard, being extremely GenreSavvy, calls him out on it, and refuses to move forward until said undead berserker wakes up from afar.

* In ''[[KingdomHearts Kingdom Hearts II]]'' in the Beast's Castle world's basement, you enter an empty room with a stone door carved with a gaudy double-gargoyle thing with its "arms" guarding the handle. Donald walks up to the handle... and the "decoration" takes a swing at him. Cue boss music.

** Another example in the same game (and really every ''FinalFantasy'' that features this monster) is Demon's Gate, who starts out as simply a creepy wall with audible heartbeats, but later appears through said wall and attacks.
** FinalFantasyIV had one dungeon with quite a few mini-bosses called "Trap Doors" they look exactly like regular doors so you won't know which are safe. They are very tough, and like to use unavoidable 1-hit KO's on your party members. The most annoying thing about them is that 70% of them lead to empty rooms, thus wasting your time.

* Done in a weird way in VideoGame/WildArms1. In a volcano dungeon, our heroes enter a small room with a dead end and an odd tapping noise coming from one of the walls. After wondering aloud what to do, the tapping stops, [[spoiler:and [[BraggartBoss Zed]] ''[[DynamicEntry smashes]]'' through the wall and challenges you to a duel. Afterwards, he leaves and you continue through the hole he made.]]

* Also PokemonXAndY now feature Pokemon that jump out at you from bushes if you go past, or drop down from the ceiling.

* In one level of ''[[RType R-Type FINAL]]'', your ship slinks through a gargantuan biometrics lab cycling around an equally huge stasis chamber. From time to time you get a glimpse of the creature in the tube, who bears a resemblance to one of the game's most famous recurring bosses, Dobkeratops. No further explanation should be necessary.

* The ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' remake for the Gamecube makes a damn fine scare out of this. You open a door and walk into an empty room... and then the door swings shut behind you and you see the ''giant fucking spider that was clinging to the back of the door all along oh God''.
** [[AntiClimaxBoss Undermined a great deal by the fact a few stray handgun rounds kill the spider in the Gamecube version.]]
* Also in the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' remake, the first encounter with Lisa Trevor in her cabin. Whilst there is the sound of the door opening to warn you, you had no idea she was around the cabin before that.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'': You enter the boiler room of the Evil School, you hear footsteps and heavy breathing, then you turn around to see the Split-headed Lizard monster. In the second game, you enter a hallway in the alternate hospital basement, then after taking a few steps forward, the camera shifts to reveal Pyramid Head right behind you.

* Part of a level in the ''TransformersArmada'' [=PS2=] game is set on an aircraft carrier. When you clear it of Decepticons, you meet a very large head. [[ThatsNoMoon The entire carrier transforms into Tidal Wave, the level boss]].
** Likewise in ''TransformersWarForCybertron'', where [[spoiler:Megatron's space station]], which you were assaulting in the first place, turns out to be Trypticon. In a twist, instead of transforming on his own, you have to infiltrate further than planned and force him to convert into robot mode before a proper confrontation can occur.

* In the third level of ''SyphonFilter: The Omega Strain'', Masson, the ALA terrorist leader, can be heard shooting and will kill the SWAT officers if you don't get them to safety, but he doesn't physically appear until you complete all the objectives.

[[AC: {{Anime}}]]

* Rise Matsumoto of {{Manga/Yuru-Yuri}} doesn't formally get introduced till episode 9 of Season 1 in the anime. But when she does show up, they are really surprised to see her and that she's the StudentCouncilPresident. One of the other characters mentions that she was always with them, but just slightly off-screen. Cue a flashback scene that then veers slightly to the side to reveal she was with them in that picture.
* ''SwordArtOnline'': High-Floor Bosses tend to favour this, particularly The Skull Reaper, which drops from the ceiling and insta-kills two members of the clearing team.
* In {{Manga/CatParadise}}, it turns out that [[spoiler:Akitaka Sandou, the BiggerBad, the person behind most of the plot, the founder of the academy where the manga takes place, and someone who was also thought to be long dead, was actually hiding amidst [[CunningLikeAFox Tsukomoisshu]]'s severed head collection for almost the entire story.]]

* [[http://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/index.php?title=Stealth_Chess Stealth Chess]], a {{Defictionalization}} of a {{Literature/Discworld}} game, has the Assassin piece, who can move in the extra files on each side and then re-enter the main board as this trope.

* In the Leslie Nielsen film ''SpyHard'', the Director of the CIA often happens to be blended in with the surroundings, whether this entails becoming a leather armchair or disguising himself as the painting of GeorgeWashington on the wall.

** This is actually subverted in ''{{Alien3}} where Ripley believes she sees the xenomorph lurking in the shadows, but it turns out to be just a bit of piping in the shape of the creature's head.

* In ''PansLabyrinth'', when Ofelia first enters the well in the middle of the titular Labyrinth, the Faun can be seen in the background for the whole scene before he declares himself, but his wood-like body blends in with the other debris so well that the viewer is unlikely to notice him until he moves.
* Similar to the Indiana Jones example above, Film/WildWildWest has a painting of a man with a rifle, which turns out to actually ''be'' a man with a rifle, well camouflaged until he moves.

* Meta example. Who turned out to be the real BigBad in ''Series/TensouSentaiGoseiger''? Warstar? No. The Yuumajuu? Nope. The Matrintis? Uh-uh. It's [[spoiler: Bladerun, the villain who was a part of every single one of those organizations.]]
* ''{{Spaced}}'': Tim is sitting on a park bench, apparently talking to himself. Then Mike pops out of the bush he's disguised himself as. In another episode, Daisy enters Brian's apartment looking for him. He doesn't appear to be home, but as she leaves, we see Brian covered in paint and blending in with a canvas.

[[AC:{{Tabletop Games}}]]
* Necron lore in the fourth edition of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' tends to involve this. In its most basic form, the aptly-named Necron Tombs appear to be just that -- incredibly large and elaborate, with advanced technology strewn everywhere, but not a living thing in sight. And then [[SchmuckBait some damn fool]], usually a [[AveMachina techpriest]], gets the urge to fiddle with things and the Necrons themselves show up, often by teleportation, and proceed to slaughter everyone.

[[AC:{{Western Animation}}]]
* The Chief in InspectorGadget always appears by popping out of some random object he happens to be disguised as in the background. Unfortunately he usually disguises himself as a trash can, which Gadget unthinkingly disposes the exploding message into after their conversation...
* In T.U.F.F.Puppy The Chameleon, being a shapeshifter tends to spy on the heroes while being disguised as some mundane object.
* GIR from InvaderZim does this [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuNAE1AV4ls rather hilariously]].

** Another such enemy in Pikmin2 is the creeping chrysanthemum. It looks like a lot of the normal flowers that are all over the game except it has narrow blinking eyes staring at you which are hard to notice. If you approach it, it pops out of the ground & reveals the giant fat root that is its torso. It uses its stem arms to scoot around on its "butt" & tries to eat your pikmin with its red flower mouth. If you or your pikmin are too close to it when it initially pops out of the ground, you'll get knocked over making it extra hard to avoid losing pikmin.

* ''Film/{{Alien}}'': Brett moves through an empty room with machinery and chains hanging from the ceiling. After he moves off, the monster moves in the background, revealing that it was just camouflaged in plain sight the whole time. It happens to Ripley, [[spoiler: on board the Narcissus]], where the Alien is hidden in plain sight among the wall detail and then suddenly uncurls to the horror of Ripley.The Xenomorphs make something of a habit of this, it happens in almost every film.