I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

If one of the people questioned during the investigation of a [[Monster of the Week]] is a policeman or a marine or a scientist or some other person who was on the job when they saw the thing or event, there's a good bet they'll say some variation on this line: "I've been a biologist for thirty-four years, and I've never seen anything like this before", "You see some strange things on this job, but I've never seen anything like this before", etc; much of the time the line is spoken in such a way as to suggest that the speaker will be haunted and traumatized by what they saw to the end of their days. The message is clear: if it's got the professionals spooked, you must be onto something.

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' - Any time that a fighter- hero or villain- attains a new level of strength. "I've never felt a power anything '''like''' this!!"

* Expressed ''constantly'' by the various sources of technobabble (mainly Ritsuko and the Bridge Bunnies) in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. A promo for the show's brief stint on [[Toonami]] actually contained this exact line.

 

* Played straight in the first ''[[X-Men]]'' film. When they are examining Wolverine's x-rays and Jean is telling everyone about his adamantium covered skeleton, Xavier ominously says, "Experimentation on mutants isn't unheard of, but I've never seen anything like this before..."

* Used half-seriously in ''[[Transformers: The Movie]]'', where the [[Badass Grandpa|old]] [[Cool Old Guy|Autobot warrior Kup]] had continuously been playing [[The Munchausen]], comparing current situations to things that happened in his old war days. But when he sees Unicron attacking Cybertron, he's left speechless:

{{quote|"Jeweler, you've ''failed!''"}}

 

* [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]:

{{quote|'''Anya''': Yes, 'cause it seems like we're always dealing with creatures from outer space. Except that we don't ever do that.}}

** Also comes up once as "The good news is, we're naming a disease after you!"

* Given the premise of the show, this line comes up at least once an episode in [[The X-Files]].

 

== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==

* Parodied in [[The Far Side]]. Two Eskimoes see two creatures coming out of a spaceship; creatures that look exactly like the [[Theme Park Version]] of a tall cactus, with arms and legs added on. One of them exclaims, "They're like nothing I've ever seen!"

 

* [[The Producers|"We've seen shit, but never like thiiiiis!"]]

 

* Used straight at the beginning of the indescribably scary game, ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'', when the police detective describes what's happened to the female protagonist's grandfather...

{{quote|''Alex Roivas'': Yes, it's him... He's wearing our family ring. <''sobs''> I don't understand! Why are you showing me this?! Can't you check dental records or something? [[What the Hell, Hero?|What is wrong with you?!]]

* In ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning]]'', Argath the Fateweaver questions whether you actually exist or are just an alcohol-induced hallucination when he is unable to see your Fate in his cards. As far as he knows, no one should be able to exist outside of the Weave of Fate. A bit later in the game {{spoiler|after you save Argath from the Ettin destined to kill him, changing his fate forever}}, Argath exclaims "What are you!?" in bewilderment and fear.

 

* One wizard (or such) comments this when seeing the Monster in the Darkness (then without darkness, but invisible for the reader) in the prequel "[[Start of Darkness]]" of the webcomic ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]''.

* ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' has a version of this, after the meeting with Coyote and Ysengrin, about the latter's new [[Green Thumb]] (and arm, and bipedalism, and who knows what else):

{{quote|'''Jones''': The way he has distorted his body...I've seen similar, but nothing quite like that.

'''Headmaster''': Coming from you that disturbs me greatly. }}

* The webcomic ''Hero In Training'' has a variation, when a character who ''outlives universes'' said that he only has seen the current situation three times in his life.

* Averting this is a running gag in ''[[The Pig's Ear]]'', with resident [[Deadpan Snarker]] Cyril T. Wizard having "this is the third strangest/worst/whatever X I've ever seen" as his [[Catch Phrase]]. The first time we hear him say this is when {{spoiler|an [[Eldritch Abomination]] sticks a tentacle through a dimensional rift in the eponymous bar's men's room}}, prompting Cyril to remark, "That is the third strangest thing I've ever seen in a pub toilet." It's probably best not to speculate upon what the first two might have been.

 

* In [[Dragon Ball Abridged]], Freeza keeps track of every [[Badass Boast]] and tallies every line of [[Heroic Speech]] he hears. He's heard ''everything'', and we do mean everything, at least ten times, until he meets [[Idiot Hero|Goku]], who finally manages to surprise him.

{{quote|'''Goku''': I'm gonna deck you in the schnozz!}}

 

* Used in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' when Aang has his fortune read by [[Fainting Seer|Aunt Wu]]. Dumbfounded, she says, "I've never seen anything like this before! Your destiny--this is incredible--you will be involved in an epic battle that will determine the fate of the entire world!" Aang, not impressed, says, "Yeah, yeah; I know that already. But does it say anything about a girl?"

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in an episode of the 2003 ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''; when Donatello delivers this line, movie-savvy Michaelangelo says it along with him.

* ''[[Regular Show]]'': Skips is [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|incredibly old]] and has seen just about everything...but for some reason he can only hazard a guess at how to deal with a problem so mundane as getting rid of skunk stink.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Phrases]]

[[Category:As You Know]]