Characters Who Spontaneously Appear

[NebulaString]

So, I've been thinking about this for a long time and decided to finally mention it...

In certain Zelda games, there have been moments when characters seemed to materialize out of nowhere. For example, Saria on the bridge when Link is exiting the Lost Woods, and the Happy Mask Salesman as Link is exiting Termina's clock tower. I've seen this happen with other characters as well...They're not there at all, but then suddenly appear.

The first time I ever noticed this was when I played Ocarina of Time, and then in Majora's Mask. However, I've also noticed this phenomenon in certain anime...

There's a scene in Howl's Moving Castle where Howl comes home at night and the dial on the door is black. The door opens but you can't see Howl right away. He then spontaneously materializes on the stairs.

My question is this; is there a word in English, Japanese, or any language at all for this kind of spontaneous materialization of a character, where they just appear out of nowhere? If there is, I'd like to know. It seems similar to some type of teleportation.

I'm sure a bunch of people have noticed this and can recall other Zelda characters, or non-Zelda characters who've done this.

Thoughts?

 

[DeletedUser8]

There's also the Phantom Ganon boss, in the Forest Temple of Ocarina of Time.

Saria is the Forest Sage, so would make sense that she has some powers.

There's always been something mysterious about the happy mask salesman, as he seems to be the same person from Ocarina of Time. And he is seemingly aware of the danger outside the Clock Tower, hince why he has to leave within 72 hours.

As far as other characters, most of them are explained by them being spirits, AKA the spirits of the sages from Wind Waker, and King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule from Breath of the Wild.

 

[NebulaString]

There's also the Phantom Ganon boss, in the Forest Temple of Ocarina of Time.

Saria is the Forest Sage, so would make sense that she has some powers.

There's always been something mysterious about the happy mask salesman, as he seems to be the same person from Ocarina of Time. And he is seemingly aware of the danger outside the Clock Tower, hince why he has to leave within 72 hours.

As far as other characters, most of them are explained by them being spirits, AKA the spirits of the sages from Wind Waker, and King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule from Breath of the Wild.

You've made some great points. I suppose what I'm really trying to figure out is if there's a name for the action itself, the action of just suddenly showing up somewhere at the blink of an eye.

 

[Castle]

Yeah, in the Zelda series at least, I've always taken it to denote supernatural beings. The Happy Mask salesman is obviously supernatural. He is already depicted as having the unique means of conveyance to navigate the lost woods and enter Termina. He pulls a whole freaking pipe organ out of nowhere apparently. Dude's weird.

The skull kids like to appear out of nowhere too.

Saria is a forest sprite. Woods are naturally confounding places. Nature spirits are commonly depicted as appearing and disappearing like creatures in the brush. Heck, even real woodland animals have this uncanny ability. Deer still freak me out with their seemingly inexplicable ability to just show up and disappear out of nowhere. Demon creatures. So people imagine supernatural freakery going on here. And especially if it's something they can't get a good look at, like the swamp gas "Will-O-Whisp" lights, people tend to imagine forest spirits or fairies or something supernatural. Anyway, that's why supernatural woodland beings often show up out of nowhere and it would stand to reason that Saria has this ability as well. Some of the Kokiri in the village fade in and out of existence as Link approaches them. This is actually the result of the game loading them in and out of memory, but in the scene it makes them appear as ghosts.

Sheik, being a ninja, has her own manner of disappearing. Sheik, however, is using Sheikah trickery. It's the same trick she learned from Impa. She throws a Deku Nut This is also a trick used by actual ninjas to play up that whole supernatural schlickt they had going for em.

 

[Spirit]

bad directing....

Nah, Castle pretty much said what I would have said.

I've always ignored these kinds of scenes, now i'm remembering all the times it has happened.

..like the T-Rex in the later JP films... but that is down to bad directing.

 

[NebulaString]

bad directing....

Nah, Castle pretty muh said what I would have said.

I've always ignored these kinds of scenes, now i'm remembering all the times it has happened.

..like the T-Rex in the later JP films... but that is down to bad directing.

Right? It's definitely a thing that happens. Hahaha

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

I agree that in some instances it might be because the character might be supernatural or magical. But I think when it comes down to it, this is simply because of the engine limitations? After the character walks away to a certain point they just fade away.