Pet Peeve: Teleporting to Conclusions
Some things are tricky to show in a visual medium.
Especially when the POV character specifically can't see it.
So for example, if you have a character dropping a smoke bomb and sneaking around to attack from behind, they might just show the cloud of smoke and the attack the next frame, skipping over the time they spend sneaking.
Or if you have a character moving faster than the eye can see, they might show some speed lines and have them appear elsewhere.
Or if you have an illusion breaking, they might have some flashy visual and then having the character disappear.
Or if you have a character teleport, they might have a cloud of smoke, or speed lines, or a flashy visual and appear elsewhere.
So there's some ambiguity there.
It's pretty normal to have various stealth or speed related vanishing early in a story.
It's a good way to show that the underdog is in over his head without needing to actually hit him with an attack.
If he can't even follow what's going on, then obviously he can't win.
So you have a lot of stories where enemies and allies will be zipping around, vanishing with all sorts of effects, and no explanation at all because the POV character doesn't know what's going on.
Teleportation on the other hand is a really problematic power.
It's so game-breaking that it is generally explained in detail, with all sorts of major limitations.
It is often used really effectively once, then every antagonist in existence spontaneously decides to implement anti-teleportation measures for no reason at all.
So it often only appears late in the story, or in a very limited capacity off-screen.
So if I see a character, early in the story, vanishing freely and whimsically, and they aren't some kind of deity, I will generally assume it's some form of stealth or illusion and not jump straight to teleportation as the explanation.
When Batman disappears from a locked room mid-conversation, I assume it's because he's just that good.
Fanfic authors may disagree with me.
It's possible that they just assumed it was teleportation for whatever reason.
But another possibility is because it's convenient for the story.
If you have some regression Peggy Sue fanfic, teleportation can seem like an easy tool.
It lets the 5-year-old sneak out to the Black Market for his cunning plan!
And it lets them fight off an adult with skill and technique to make up for their lack of muscle!
This annoys me for two reasons.
I admit, the first is just a knee-jerk, head-canon, nerd-rage.
When I've been assuming something was done with what I consider the common-sense explanation, and they pull out teleportation, it can blindside me.
"And then he teleports. Just like volume 1!"
"They showed him stepping out of a taxi. He spent the entire story whining about it and demanding compensation. It wasn't teleportation."
"And he uses the teleportation to appear on her balcony in a totally romantic scene!"
😑
The other reason is that I can see it creating difficulties for the author.
They use teleportation once to handwave some scenario, with no explanation or limitations given, then they never use it again because it would hurt the story.
After all, they can't have that dramatic last stand if they could just teleport away.
Don't add in powers if you don't want the characters to use those powers.
