History EstablishingCharacterMoment / AnimeAndManga

*** Nami is excited about finding such a huge treasure chest.
*** Sanji gushes about how beautiful Nami is before arguing with Zoro.
*** Zoro snarks at Sanji and points out how are they going move the treasure chest.
*** Usopp is worried that if they don't stay focused, they'll die.
*** Chopper panics at Usopp's words.

** Movie 7 ''[[Anime/TheGiantMechanicalSoldierOfKarakuriCastle]]'' establishes the original seven Straw Hats fairly well within the first minute.

*** Luffy cheerfully agees and says things will work out. [[IdiotHero Before knocking the tent covering them from the rain.]]
** [[MasterSwordsman Mihawk]] is introduced by effortlessly destroying Don Krieg's flagship, already having destroyed the rest of his fleet. When asked why he followed them, he stated it was to kill time.

** The anime introduces Mello and Near in the same scene, having the former freak out in reaction to what he's told while the latter remains totally calm, nicely setting up the RedOniBlueOni dynamic between them.

** The first thing [[CompleteMonster Admiral Akainu]] does onscreen is blowing up a ship full of evacuees that the Marines had promised to spare just because of the slim chance that one of the criminals they were after might be onboard. And bear in mind that this happened in Robin's backstory, ''20 years ago''.

* Precia Testarossa's first scene in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' involves her [[EvilMatriarch sadistically whipping her daughter]] [[TheWoobie Fate]] for not bringing her enough [[MineralMacguffin Jewel Seeds]]. Say hello to the BigBad of the first season, and by far ''the'' cruelest villain of the entire series.

*** Suzaku is such a dynamic character that he gets multiple [=ECM=]s. [[spoiler: His admittance to Kallen about killing his father, his willingness to use Nunnally to manipulate Lelouch, his LaughingMad moment after the FLEIJA goes off]]. Of course, exactly ''which'' moments properly establish his constantly evolving character is best left to personal opinion.

*** Ryouma: Walking into a multinational Martial Arts tournament, insulting everyone there, ''[[BadAss beating the shit out of everyone there]],'' declaring that its revenge for the way the showboating modern martial artists had destroyed his father's career as a Dojo master, and then proceeding to fight off an entire hit-squad even after getting stabbed in the shoulder.

** Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE's Woolf Enneacle has an entire episode for this. He struts out of the shower declaring that he's the best and challenges Flit to a contest for the Gundam. Then in the second half, we see that his massive ego [[LetsGetDangerous is actually justified]] because of his skills on the battlefield. TheHero of the second generation Asem is introduced when he beats up the bullies who are harrassing his friends and then worries about the mobile suit contest because [[WellDoneSonGuy he wants to impress his father]]. And third generation protagonist Kio proves his heroic credential by unhesitatingly staying in danger zone to rescue some left behind children amidst an attack on his home city.

** And then there's [[BigBad Gauron's]] establishing moment during the first episode he's shown...where he has shady dealings and smugglings with the KGB. When the [[GiantMook huge, muscled lieutenant]] gets angry at him for raising his rates, calling him a "Chinaman" and threatening to throw him into the labor mines, Gauron calmly and smilingly takes out his gun and pumps the man's head full of lead. He then proceeds to happily go up to the terrified colonel and continue discussing business. It certainly sets the idea and tone for the rest of the story that Gauron is a complete AxCrazy psychopath that won't hesitate to kill anyone [[ForTheEvulz for the heck of it]].

* The anime of ''{{Trigun}}'' pulls this off beautifully with its main character, Vash the Stampede. His very first first appearance, where he survives an entire saloon being blown to pieces, belies his later appearances as an incompetent goofball, giving the audience brief but profound proof that, despite his immature behavior, he really could be the legendary outlaw.

** Hell, his and Shizuo's characters are pretty well established by just the ''opening credits,'' which shows [[HairTriggerTemper Shizuo]] [[SuperStrength lifting up a vending machine, and throwing it at Izaya..]] Who smirks, and steps to the side, [[{{Troll}} causing a pipe to break, which gushes water and Shizuo and sends him flying backwards.]]

* Christine from ''Manga/DaaDaaDaa'' seems like a quiet girl until the end of the episode. First she voices her concern that Kanata and Miyu have not returned to class then [[ClingyJealousGirl she starts talking to herself about what they are doing together]] [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} and even imitates their voices]] and finally [[{{Yandere}} she trashes her desk in a fit of rage]].

* In his first minute on screen [[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Garrod Ran]] hijacks a Mobile Suite, ''with nothing but a 9mm and a homemade flash bang'', he then goes on to "rescue" a girl from kidnappers, steal a Gundam, wipe out an entire army with his Gundam's WaveMotionGun and put his girl into a coma, [[http://s978.photobucket.com/albums/ae270/Kytrix/Gundam%20X/?action=view¤t=GarrodRan.jpg&newest=1 and that's just the first two episodes.]]

* How does ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' introduce us to [[HotBlooded Sanada]] [[LargeHam Yukimura?]] Oh, just by having him blow open a giant door with his DualWielding spears, making a dramatic speech while whooping some {{Mook}} ass, and eventually summoning a spiraling tornado of ''fire'' to impress his badass mentor!

* The first minutes of ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'''s first episode could pretty much be considered the TropeCodifier, from [[LoveFreak Fuura Kafuka]]'s introduction where she happily dances beneath sakura trees on her way to school whildst praising spring, love and hope, to [[TheEeyore Itoshiki Nozomu]] interrupting her happy stroll by [[DrivenToSuicide hanging himself from one of the trees]] in front of her very eyes, setting the tone of these two characters straight, [[BlackComedy and then]] [[PlayedForLaughs playing the]] [[GallowsHumor suicide attempt]] [[HilarityEnsues for laughs]], setting the tone for the show.

* ''FairyTail'' gives a pretty unique one to it's main villain, Zeref. After building him up for 200 chapters as the ultimate evil the readers are shown a scene of him (though he goes unnamed at the time) about to be attacked by a pack of wolves. After literally killing them without trying he [[spoiler:apologizes for having taken their lives, and in fact tried to ward them off before they could attack so that they'd remain unharmed.]] It was such a drastic difference from what readers expected that despite earning the nickname "killing mage" virtually no one considered he may have been the anticipated villain.

* In CowboyBebop, we have Faye first moments on screen, which are [[MaleGaze a quick show up]] [[MissFanservice of her ''assets'']], her [[{{Tomboy}} smoking a cigar]], getting attacked and [[ActionGirl defending herself quite well]] but [[FailureIstheOnlyOption getting captured at the end]]; all in barely a minute.

* ''DetectiveConan'' has TeenGenius Shinichi solving a case and cannot resist the challenge. He meets up with his childhood friend Ran, who after he casually insults her father, ''punches'' a metal pole while cheerfully smiling.

* Koichi Shidou of HighschoolOfTheDead first appears to be a welling meaning teacher concerned for the safety of his students. But when one of said students breaks his ankle and pleads for help, Shidou responds "Oh well, that's it for you!" and ''stomps him on the face'' before casually walking away and leaving the boy as zombie food. [[{{Jerkass}} What a dick!]]

* Koichi Shidou of HighschoolOfTheDead first appears to be a welling meaning teaching concerned for the safety of his students. But when one of said students breaks his ankle and pleads for help, Shidou responds "Oh well, that's it for you!" and ''stomps him on the face'' before casually walking away and leaving the boy as zombie food. [[{{Jerkass}} What a dick!]]

** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE]]'s Woolf Enneacle has an entire episode for this. He struts out of the shower declaring that he's the best and challenges Flit to a contest for the Gundam. Then in the second half, we see that his massive ego [[LetsGetDangerous is actually justified]] because of his skills on the battlefield.

* How does ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' introduce us to [[HotBlooded Sanada]] [[LargeHam Yukimura?]] Oh, just by having him blow open a giant door with his DualWielding spears, making a dramatic speech while whooping some {{Mook}} ass, and eventually summoning a spiraling tornado of ''fire''!

* In ''NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'', the eponymous heroine is first seen with her [[CoolShip glider]] coming to rescue Master Yupa from a rampaging Ohmu, which she [[BadassPacifist approaches peacefully and successfully calms down so that no one needs to be harmed]].

* ''Film/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'' opens with a fight between the previously unseen Third Angel and new character Mari Illustrious Makinami. In the space of the first few minutes, we witness Mari [[{{Nerdgasm}} gushing over her Eva's controls]], [[CloudCuckooLander casually singing to herself while heading into battle]], ''[[CrazyAwesome trying to ]]'' '''GIGA DRILL BREAK''' ''[[CrazyAwesome the Angel]]'', [[BloodKnight wincing in pain then exclaiming that it's fun]] and [[SelfDestructiveCharge finishing the battle by arming the self-destruct and ejecting]].

*** In his flashbacks we see he is not physically fit when Suzaku beats him in a race up a hill as well. During a chess game he moves his king first showing his penchant for bold, audacious and borderline reckless moves. When he is trapped in the truck Lelouch deduces he is in Tokyo's old subway system by ear showing his brilliant mind.

* In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'', the five Gundam Pilots each get their EstablishingCharacterMoment in the first episode, where four of them get brief scenes showing their initial battles on Earth and parts of their personalities (Duo's enthusiasm and glibness, Trowa's cool head and [[TheStoic stoicism]], Quatre's nice guy with an edge, and Wu Fei being an ArrogantKungFuGuy). Lead character Heero gets his at the very end when [[{{Ojou}} Relena]] invites him to her birthday party; in rapid succession, he tears up the invite, wipes away the tears that previous action caused, then whispers his CatchPhrase into her ear: "I'll kill you."
** Speaking of Gundam, [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Allenby]] has this defining her as an ActionGirl by pitting her in an arcade simulation battle against Domon. The machine broke down before either of them called it quits.

** The show itself has such a moment. The first thing we see is an entire galactic cluster...which then ''explodes so spectacularly, MichaelBay himself would be brought to tears''. It goes uphill from there, folks.

* {{Naruto}}'s introduction establishes his nature as a prankster well enough, but the first scene that shows how there's more to him than that is when he sits on the scene, looking on at all the other kids who graduated get congratulations from their parents, while he is the ''only'' one who failed, showing the depths of his loneliness and isolation.

* In ''SailorMoon'', the episode that debuted Makoto Kino had her effortlessly beating up three punks who were about to assault Usagi for running into them. This is her very first scene, and well before she even knew she was Sailor Jupiter, and before she even knew who Usagi was.

* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' opens in the manga with Yukari-sensei boisterously introducing herself...to the ''wrong class''. The anime opens with her [[HeroStoleMyBike stealing a student's bike]] to get to class on time. Actually, ''AzumangaDaioh'' is very good at setting up what a character will be like on first meeting: Chiyo-chan tutors a very embarrassed older student in her second scene; Sakaki makes Chiyo nervous at first...and then we see her "preferred jobs" list includes "Veterinarian" and "Toy store clerk"; Tomo volunteers to [[StandingInTheHall stand in the hall with buckets]] and fails.

* The first minutes of ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'''s first episode could pretty much be considered the TropeCodifier, from [[LoveFreak Fuura Kafuka]]'s introduction where she happily dances beneath sakura trees on her way to school whildst praising spring, love and hope, to [[TheEeyore Itoshiki Nozomu]] interrupting her happy stroll by [[DrivenToSuicide hanging himself from one of the trees]] in front of her very eyes, setting the tone of these two characters straight, [[BlackComedy and then]] [[PlayedForLaughs playing the]] [[GallowsHumor suicide attempt]] [[HilarityEnsues for laughs]], setting the tone for the show.

* Firo's first appearance in the anime version of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' has him taking out an old homeless man that was trying to stab him--even though Firo had given him money a moment earlier--after said homeless man cuts off a couple of Firo's fingers...which immediately [[PullingThemselvesTogether reattach themselves.]]

* ''DetectiveConan'' has TeenGenius Shinichi solving a case and cannot resist the challenge. He meets up with his childhood friend Ran, who after he casually insults her father, ''punches'' a metal pole while cheerfully smiling.