A character is either looking for something or expecting a person or object to be with them or in a specific location. Whether it's the MacGuffin or an important individual that needs to be present, this trope is to point out something or someone that isn't there but should be there, whether it's because the missing object or person was taken away or left on their own without being noticed. Or perhaps after someone remarks about something they forgot. The trope makes for a suitable visual cue, especially in works that don't want to use too much dialogue, to indicate that something is missing or out-of-place without having to make someone exclaim that they're gone.
This can take place in the form of a dotted outline or silhouette of the missing object or person in question, or a still afterimage of whatever disappeared, that blinks in to momentarily take the place of whatever disappeared. While this visual cue is about something that isn't there at all, this trope is a case of Rule of Perception where it tells the audience that something was there before.
Can be paired with Alertness Blink, which would be when nearby characters realize that something important is missing, and Double Take, where the characters don't initially notice what's missing at first until that blinking silhouette gives a reminder. Can also be used with It Was Here, I Swear! and Inconveniently Vanishing Exonerating Evidence, where something that really should be there suddenly isn't.
Not to be confused with Chalk Outline, which indicates the outline of a dead person instead of one who vanished and hasn't been found, or a variant of Visible Invisibility where an invisible character is indicated by an outline. Also not to be confused with a variant of briffits, where a character fast enough to suddenly disappear from a scene leaves behind a cloud of dust that may be shaped like them.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You:
- During Meme's introduction to the harem in Chapter 46, she hides behind Rentarou, meaning that she isn't standing where the new girl usually is when Rentarou says his catchphrase, instead showing a blink effect in Rentarou's hand.
- In the Season 1 intro sequence, the outline of Rentarou’s backpack flashes on his desk when he realizes he forgot it at home.
- In Chapter 23 of Asteroid in Love, Mira goes to Ao's homeroom to invite her for lunch, only to find Ao isn't there. In the manga, this is portrayed by having a shaded outline of Ao with her name on it, with blinking effects.
- Bunny Drop: As Daikichi is walking along a street with preschool Rin, he suddenly discovers she's no longer beside him. Only Rin's outline is shown, indicating where Daikichi thought she was. Rin had been sidetracked by some fallen leaves, which she selects for a preschool project. A later chapter has Daikichi and Rin shopping in a grocery store. As Daikichi heads for the produce section, he discovers that Rin is missing, indicated once more with a dotted outline where Daikichi thought Rin would be. "What!?" Daikichi gasps, "Again?!" Rin has once again been sidetracked, this time by the colorful and cartoonish boxes of dry cereal. He has to chasten Rin not to wander away from him. His concern is justified, as Daikichi has adopted Rin, acting in loco parentis.
- In one episode of Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure, Yui realizes that defeating the episode's Monster of the Week made their cooking pot disappear, and a translucent image of the pot paired with a dotted-line circle around it indicates where it should be. This warrants a Big "WHAT?!" reaction from Kokone, Ran, Rosemary, and Amane.
- Episode 3 of D-Frag! has Roka and Kenji try to spy on the real Game Development Club, and when Takao catches them she allows Kenji to enter and take a look at what they're up to even when they're from rival clubs. However, she stops Roka from entering, and when Roka was standing at the door with real Game Development Club members she disappeared with an outline signifying this just so can go and push Takao's boobs into Kenji's face.
- Inazuma Eleven:
- In episode 27, after Raimon wins the Football Frontier, Mark gives Sam permission to hold the trophy as some other members are staring at it. When the trophy is snatched by Jim without them noticing, its outline appears on Sam's hands.
- Doctor Crossword Cryptix from Chrono Stones has the habit of disappearing suddenly when the kids want explanations from him, leaving behind an afterimage or his outline.
- Interspecies Reviewers: Chapter 5 has the intrepid reviewers venture toward the brothel of cyclops girls. En route, however, Kanchal the halfling and Crim the angel notice Ginny the minotaur and her enormous chest, and are drawn toward her. Stunk and Zel don't notice until Stunk tries to query Crim, and notices he's not there. Where Crim should be is only Crim's dotted outline. Stunk has to backtrack and collar Crim away from Ginny.
- Naruto: In the "Konoha Sports Festival" short, Naruto dispels his Shadow Clone while the latter is in a bathroom stall. He then tries to access the toilet but realizes it's impossible because the clone had locked the door from the inside. This is comically pointed out by showing the viewer a shot of the stall, with a blinking outline where the clone used to be.
- Nichijou: At the beginning of Episode 16, Yuuko attempts to ask Nano if they want to walk home together, startling the latter. Yuuko decides to turn towards Mio's desk to ask Mio the same thing, only to notice that she left already, indicated by a dotted outline of her blinking at her desk. Yuuko then turns back to Nano, but she's no longer at her desk, with a dotted outline of Nano blinking in her place.
- Tokyo Mew Mew New: In episode 10, Ryou is talking to Ichigo (transformed into a cat by Power Incontinence), when he is briefly distracted by a phone call. Meanwhile, Ichigo's cat instincts take over and she runs off after a girl with a cute bag ornament. When Ryou turns back to Ichigo, all he sees is a distinct lack of a cat, indicated by an appropriate outline.
- Urusei Yatsura, 2022 anime remake: The final part of the opening sequence shows Ataru waking up in the real world in the 1970s, from a dream where he was using a modern-day smartphone. In a blink-and-you-miss-it detail, he glances at his hand, where a dotted outline in the shape of a smartphone pops up.
- In the Yokai Watch episode "Yo-Kai Spenp", whenever one of the guys is influenced by Spenp to make an impulsive purchase, their disappearance is punctuated with a dotted-line silhouette of their shape, marked in their designated colour (red for Nate, blue for Bear, green for Eddie).
Asian Animation
- BoBoiBoy: In Season 2's first episode, Gopal, Yaya, and Ying talk about their disdain for Fang, a student who's too stubborn to make friends in the 6 months he's been present, and yet has garnered admirers nonetheless. Said fans peer from the classroom door, and Yaya remarks that she doesn't know what their problem is, before turning back to Gopal. The girls notice that Gopal disappeared from his seat to join the admirers, and we see a blinking dotted outline of where he was at his desk.
- Mechamato: In episode 3, Pian and Amato find Goosar, the robotic goose who's been stealing people's doors. They catch sight of it from a distance with binoculars, but after Pian gets his turn looking through them, he looks back to his right, but all that's left of Amato is a red blinking dotted outline. Pian uses the binoculars again to see Amato advancing toward Goosar.
- In Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, outlines are frequently used to give info on where something is missing and should be.
Comic Books
- Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW):
- At the conclusion of the Chao Races and Badnik Bases arc, Cream tells her mother about the dangerous adventure she went on, which gets a sly look from the mother rabbit. Amy tries telling Vanilla it was Rouge's idea, only for her outline to remain as the bat books it.
- In the Fang the Hunter miniseries, Bean and Fang threaten to blow up Jimmy the Motobug by placing a bomb atop his head. When Heavy Emperor reveals himself and joins the battle, Jimmy somehow is over by Heavy Rider and Heavy King's side, leaving Bean confused as he stares at the outline Jimmy was previously at, along with where he set his finger bomb to.
- Pulled twice by Sonic and Amy in the Chaotix's 30th Anniversary Special, dipping after the Chaotix get a little too into their story and they find a convenient way out. The first time Sonic and Amy give Vector the slip, their disappearance is their outlines showing them having walked away. The second time they get away from Vector and Espio, the two are replicating their Sonic Adventure key poses.
Fan Works
- In Supernova (One Piece), when Sanji accidentally reveals he wanted to use the Clear-Clear Fruit to peep in bathing women:
There was a moment of silence, before Tashigi started to draw Kitetsu. "Sanjiiiiiiii..."
Zoro twitched and looked down at his belt, where the dotted outline of his sword was flashing. - Sharing the Nation has an oddly literal example, thanks to Pinkie Pie going full Reality Warper in the previous story, Sharing the Night:
“Get to the point, please, Rainbow,” Twilight said.
“I was just getting there,” Rainbow Dash insisted. “Anyway, that’s when I realized there was an empty pink space in our lineup.”
Twilight leveled a flat look at Rainbow Dash. “An empty pink sp—” was as far as she got in her chiding when she had to swallow her words on account of there actually being an empty pink space next to Applejack. And it was blinking.
Live-Action TV
- The Leftovers: The credits for Seasons 2 and 3 depict the Departed like this. Through a series of photographs, those who "departed" (the 2% of the population who inexplicably disappeared) are represented by the cut-out of their body, which is replaced by a natural landscape, such as stars or sea.
- Sesame Street: In the 50th anniversary special, Elmo sees that the Sesame Street sign is missing and imagines yellow dotted line on the pole it usually hangs from.
Video Games
- Paper Mario 64: During the Prologue chapter, Mario needs a Hammer from Goompa to destroy a block blocking the exit to Goomba Village, so he goes to the veranda of his family's house to ask him. However, Mario notices that the veranda is missing when he steps out the door, and an afterimage of it flashes when Mario recalls that it used to be there before he falls.
- Donkey Kong Country Returns: The opening cutscene has Diddy notice the massive amounts of bananas the hypnotized animals are dragging along from DK’s house and realize something, then acrobatically jump down to the banana storage cave directly beneath the house, with a blinking afterimage of the missing bananas confirming the animals stole them.
- Vs. Auditor: Gateway to Hell: In the demo version of this Friday Night Funkin' mod, there are only two songs instead of the usual 3, so it ends with the Auditor throwing a rock at the wall behind Boyfriend before vanishing. Only a blinking red outline of him is seen once Boyfriend looks his way again.
- Wario Land II: In the second chapter's intro, Wario discovers that his treasure has been stolen when he enters an empty room and sees only a blinking afterimage of his missing treasure bags.
Web Animation
- Alphabet: When N's semicolon gem is stolen by F, it is noted by a close-up at the bracelet it was supposed to be, with a dotted outline blinking at where the gem was.
- EK Doodles
- In "Don't Wake Parents
", when Ryan sees Emma and Kate are not drawing on their table, dotted outlines of the twins appear briefly.
- Something similar happens in "Candyland", when Gus the Gator sees that the twins are missing.
- In "Don't Wake Parents
- In the Helluva Boss episode "Spring Broken," when Blitzo notices that Loona is missing, a blinking dotted outline of her appears.
- RWBY:
- In "Players and Pieces", after riding alongside Nora to the relic site atop an Ursa (which promptly drops dead from Nora's.... enthusiasm), Ren is clearly out of breath and between gasps asks Nora to never do that again. Unfortunately for him, Nora already left his side, leaving behind a pink-colored outline of herself.
- In "Black and White", when Ruby tries to politely decline Penny's offer to help find Blake, she looks to Weiss and Yang for support, only to find that they're gone, with dotted outlines of them in their respective colors blinking where they just were.
- Something About: In Something About Super Mario All-Stars, when Mario reaches the castle, a blinking outline of Peach appears on the throne in her stead.
- Spy & Pyro: The RED Pyro realizes an enemy Spy is nearby due to a bite-shaped piece of the sausage they were cooking being missing, with the eaten part of the sausage being outlined with a question mark at the center.
Webcomics
- In this page of The Black Orb, Sasha has left her party to enter a potion store, but her friends haven't noticed until one of them points her disappearance out, and it's complemented by a panel of a dotted silhouette of Sasha labeled "Missing Person".
- Gator Days: In "Gustopher Goes Missing (Part 1)", August and Gustopher are in a crowded store, so August tells his son to stay close. When he looks over, there is only an outline of Gustopher where he was just standing.
- Grrl Power: Peggy lists some options for getting a bite to eat at ARCHON HQ. When she mentions the incredibly spicy food at one restaurant, Sydney makes a beeline for it leaving a dotted silhouette behind.
- Let's Get Divorced!: The security guard at Baek-hui's apartment is replaced by a dotted outline whenever he does his Stealth Hi/Bye.
- Pixie Trix Comix: When Gwynn learns that Zadie's girlfriend is Roxie, the next panel has Zadie suddenly gone, a dotted outline of her left in her place.
- Sleepless Domain: When Rue is trapped between the two halves of a large insectoid monster, Zoe steps in to get its attention by shooting one of the halves with her slingshot. When Rue turns around, she realizes that the other half is no longer behind her, as indicated by a dotted outline of where it just was. She promptly looks up to find that it had climbed the buildings and was rearing to attack Zoe.
Web Videos
- Dat Intelligence: In "Who Captured Dat Intelligence'', Spaaps and his allies attempt to get to their van to go somewhere, unaware that the van was already taken. When they find out, the camera shows a blinking afterimage of the missing van.
Western Animation
- Ben 10 (2016): In "Animorphosis," a blinking dotted outline is seen when Ben snatches the toy bone out of Gwen’s hand at the dig site.
- The Cuphead Show!: In "The Devil's Revenge", when the Devil sees that Cuphead has come to rescue Mugman from the Underworld, he attempts to teleport to them by knocking with his pitchfork, only to remember that he doesn't have it anymore, which is shown with a pitchfork-shaped dotted line blinking in his hand.
- Harvey Beaks: In "The New Bugaboo," after learning how expensive it is to raise a child, Jeremy runs out of “Randl’s Rentls” and leaves a cloud of smoke shaped like himself in his wake.
- Invincible Fight Girl: In "The Way of the World," after Craig declares that he wants to be Andy's manager, a blinking dotted outline of Andy appears, indicating that she has walked away.
- Kiff: In "Pool Party," a blinking dotted outline is seen when Kiff loses track of Helen only to find her getting ready to shoot “Tabletown’s Cringiest Wannabes” with Roy.
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur uses this trope often:
- In "Moon Girl Landing," Moon Girl tries to scare some burglars with Devil, but when that doesn't work, she turns around and sees a blinking white dotted outline of Devil where he should have been.
- In "Teacher's Pet," Devil realizes that Angel's cage is gone when he looks at where it was last night and only sees a flashing dotted outline of the cage.
- In "Skip This Ad...olescence", Skipster skips through Lunella eating ice cream with her dad, leaving an ice cream-shaped outline in a confused Lunella's hand.
- In "Coney Island, Baby!" Devil wins the eating contest by eating the entire table, leaving only a dotted outline in its place.
- Regular Show: The Big Bad of the show's final season Anti-Pops plays with this trope. He has the power to erase anything from existence, leaving behind a white void shaped like who or what he erased. In other words, he makes actual, permanent shapes of disappearance after making someone or something disappear.
- In the Gag Dub version of YooHoo & Friends, the first episode has YooHoo point out the outline of Chewoo in the show's Breaking the Fourth Wall style, mentioning that "someone who fits that shape I just imagined next to me" is missing.