Basic Trope: A villain, with no backstory or reasoning, comes out of nowhere and causes trouble for the protagonists.
- Straight: During his journey, Bob is attacked by Dave, a character that neither Bob nor the audience know about his existence or his motivation to do so.
- Exaggerated: Every one of the villains that attacks Bob during the series come out of nowhere without explicit reasons for it, including the Big Bad.
- Downplayed: During his journey, Bob is attacked by Dave. Bob knows who Dave is, he was the bartender in the bar we went in last night, but he was a Flat Character at best and a Living Prop at worst. Bob and the audience lack any clue of his motivation to attack Bob.
- Justified:
- Dave was a maniac that just chose Bob for a victim. You just don't expect a maniac to introduce himself and his motivations.
- Bob lives in a Crapsack World where a Fantastic Drug that makes people very aggressive is frequently used for most of the population. Being attack by random people is not unusual.
- It's later revealed that the Big Bad used Functional Magic to make everyone in the area around Bob feel very angry and irrational.
- Dave deliberately leaves his motives vague because it makes him come off as scary.
- Inverted:
- Right in the beginning of the story, Bob always believed that Dave is Obviously Evil and listed the reasons why, even when there isn't any concrete proof.
- During his journey, Bob is joined by Zeb, a guy neither nor the audience knew of before.
- Subverted:
- After being defeated, Dave's backstory is shown in a Flashback Retcon.
- Dave existence was indicated before, but it was hidden under a lot of Foreshadowing.
- Double Subverted: The Retcon of Dave's backstory nor the Foreshadowing of his existence explains why he attacked Bob or where he came from.
- Parodied: Bob asks why Dave is attacking him and he answers that he doesn't know why, but continues to attack him.
- Zig Zagged: Dave appears and attacks Bob out of nowhere, later a Flashback about Bob's past is shown, where a character that could be Dave or not is mentioned, along with some backstory and an implied motivation. But neither Bob nor the audience ever has a confirmation if this character in Bob's memories was Dave or not.
- Averted: No villain is introduced out of nowhere, the audience always knows either the backstory or the motives of any antagonist.
- Enforced: The author already finished the main conflict, but the studio signed a contract for four more episodes, so the Executive Meddling made up a Flat Character new villain just to create more conflict and keep the audience watching.
- Lampshaded: "Where'd this guy came from!? Why's he attacking us!?"
- Invoked: After defeating the Big Bad, Bob asks out loud if there's anybody else he also needs to defeat. Then Dave appears.
- Exploited:
- Defied: After defeating the Big Bad, Bob runs away from his lair, thinking of the possibility of some Mook suddenly appearing and attacking him.
- Discussed: "Why are you attacking us? We don't even know you!"
- Conversed: "Why they make the killer appear out of nowhere in that film? That was very confusing."
- Implied: While Dave initially seems to be the bartender from last night, upon returning Bob discovers the bartender genuinely doesn't know what he's talking about.
- Played For Laughs: A random stranger attacks Bob and they fight for a good moment, until the stranger realizes that he picked the wrong guy. He politely apologizes to Bob and leaves.
- Played For Drama:
- When Bob finally defeats the Big Bad and the heroes are celebrating, Dave comes out of nowhere and kills Bob, resulting in a fusion of Sudden Downer Ending or Cruel Twist Ending and Gainax Ending.
- While Bob is walking in the street, Dave comes out of nowhere and beats the crap of Bob, leaving him severely injured and traumatized for life. He then develops agoraphobia, fearing that someone could attack him for no apparent reason again.
Diabolus ex Nihilo - where'd that pothole come from?
