History Main / SurpriseVehicle

* The undermentioned stealth helicopter serves the protagonist of ''DeusEx'' as a personal transport.

** And the Enterprise rising behind the Reliant in StarTrekII.
*** The StarTrekII example doesn't count, as there is no sound in outer space, so no one could hear it anyway.

** A popular urban legend/conspiracy theory is that the sinister MenInBlack government agencies behind all the conspiracies have silent [[BlackHelicopter black helicopters]] that allow them to conduct operations without being observed.

* ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Stromberg's attack helicopter appears from behind a low wall at the edge of a cliff with no warning. Watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUxpXy1Oot4 here, starting at 4:15]].

* ''Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann''. As Lyle Swann is trapped against the edge of a cliff with the bad guys closing in, a helicopter suddenly rises up from below the cliff edge, [[MontyPythonsFlyingCircus scaring the fertilizer]] out of his pursuers.

* ''BlueThunder''. The title helicopter appears from below the side of a bridge to save a woman being (unjustly) pursued by the police. Watch it [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd3lDhyM21M here, starting at 2:45]]. The helicopter actually had a "whisper" mode that could be turned on to make it quieter than normal. Apparently, it was not a good idea to use it all the time. It most likely reduced the performance in exchange for sound reduction.

* TruthInTelevision where jet fighters in general are concerned (as anyone who's been to an airshow anywhere in the world will tell you) as the things are moving so fast you generally don't hear them until ''after'' they've past overhead

* ''PokemonGalacticBattles'' episode "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!" When our heroes confront a Team Galactic agent and her pokemon, the enemy escape via a helicopter which appears from below the side of a building without having made any noise beforehand.

* MahouSenseiNegima does this with the reveal of [[spoiler: Haruna's airship]], which provides a way for Negi to get to Nodoka in time to save her from a group of bounty hunters.
* In the first episode of "HanaukyoMaidTai La Verite'', a helicopter appears right next to the two main characters with no noise warning of its approach.
* ''Pokemon Galactic Battles'' episode "Unlocking the Red Chain of Events!" When our heroes confront a Team Galactic agent and her pokemon, the enemy escape via a helicopter which appears from below the side of a building without having made any noise beforehand.

* ''StarTrek V''. On the planet where "God" was imprisoned, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey rose up over a hill to rescue Kirk.

* ''Thelma & Louise'' had a helicopter rising up over a cliff.
* ''Charlie's Angels'' had a helicopter rising up over a castle.
* The HumongousMecha from ''Terminator Salvation'' that was able to sneak up on people despite its earthquaking footsteps and the deafening ScareChord noises that its gears made every time it moved.

* ''Narrow Margin''. RogerEbert tore this movie a new one over this trope.
* ''Down With Love''
* In ''Avatar'' a humunguos tree-dozer '''SUDDENLY''' appears in the middle of the forest and starts wreaking terrible chaos and destruction all around it.

* In BackToTheFuture part II, Marty's SuicidalGotcha is aided by Doc's flying [=DeLorean=].

* {{Airwolf}} did this on more than one occasion.

* The Felreaver patrolling Hellfire Peninsula in WorldOfWarcraft. It's a 50-foot tall demonic robot that shakes the ground with its footsteps and makes a sound not unlike a locomotive from hell, yet it still manages to suprise (and crush) unwary players who weren't paying attention to their surroundings. The game also has the dreaded Suprise Devilsaurs, which are even worse because they are actually quite sneaky (as sneaky as a T-rex can be).

* Used a couple times in {{Half-Life}} 2. The first time, a Combine Hunter-Chopper suddenly pops up from behind a flood control gate to continue hounding Gordon through the Canals. The other time happens later when a [[TripodTerror Strider]] suddenly jumps out of a large crater in the ground.

Any roaring vehicle that should have made noise before interacting with the humans.

See also RuleOfPerception and LookBothWays.

* ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Stromberg's attack helicopter appears from behind a low wall at the edge of a cliff with no warning.

* ''TheSpyWhoLovedMe''. Stromberg's attack helicopter appears from behind a low wall with no warning.

Often a case of BigDamnGunship.

* This is a favorite trick in Blue Angel airshows. There are six Blue Angel fighters (all twelve-ton F/A-18s) aloft for the show, crossing in front of the stage in alternating directions. They get you nice and used to that, looking alternately to the left and right to spot the approaching aircraft as they approach in singles, pairs, and quads. Then a four-plane formation passes. Then you're told to look in one direction for a single approach. You do-VOOOM! The missing plane blasts overhead from the OTHER direction and hits its burners for giggles. Even though the plane is invariably a hundred feet up, half the six-foot-tall humans reflexively duck.

* Many helicopters, perhaps most famously the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UH-1_Iroquois UH-1]], are so loud that you know there is a helicopter nearby, but due to echoes, etc. it is sometimes difficult to know ''where'' it is unless you see it, SoYeah....
* The U.S. military was working on a stealth helicopter, OrSoIHeard, that would not only have a low radar cross section, but could also hide quietly behind terrain for minutes or maybe hours at a time, then pop up to fire antitank missiles when needed. I don't know how close existing craft might be to this