History Main / Epigraph

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' starts each tankōbon with a small illustration of a character and a short poem that seems to be written in the voice of that character. And Kubo Tite's poetry is surprisingly ''[[http://halcyonjazz.livejournal.com/103520.html good]].''

* Creator/JessFranco's ''Film/{{Venus In Furs|Franco1969}} ends with a quotation from Creator/JohnDonne:

* ''Fanfic/{{Stray}}'' has one for most of its chapters. A variation on [[ArcWords "What can change the nature of a man?"]] from ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' is the most common, but the story also uses quotes from ''The Waste Land,'' ''Evangelion,'' and other works.

** ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown'' opens with an Creator/ArthurCClarke quote:

* Every episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' starts with an epigraph relating to the moral the characters will need to learn in the style of the ''[[InternalHomage "a-galaxy-far-far-away font"]]'' used in the films. Though, alot of the time, it's just [[IceCreamKoan flowery-sounding nonsense]].

* Each episode of ''[[VideoGame/HarukanaruTokiNoNakaDe Harukanaru Toki no Naka de - Hachiyou Shou]]'' has the ending sequence start with a ''tanka'' poem taken from ''Kokin Wakashuu'' books.
* TheStinger in ''Anime/HighschoolOfTheDead'' ends with an excerpt from the Creator/TSEliot poem ''The Hollow Men'': "This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper."

* The ending of ''Film/TearsOfTheSun,'' a movie centering around Navy [=SEALs=] helping a group of refugees escape genocide-ridden Nigeria, has a quote attributed to (but probably not written by) Edmund Burke before the ending credits start: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

* A variation of sorts exists in some ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games: upon most player deaths, the game usually displays a quote about [[WarIsHell the more sobering realities of warfare]] (or the cost of a modern piece of military equipment).

* At the beginning of "Episode 2: Memory" of ''VideoGame/Code7'', [[AIIsACrapshoot S.O.L.I.]] recites the first stanza of ''Literature/QueenMab'' by Creator/PercyByssheShelley.

* Occurs several times in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': The first (The best techniques are passed on by the survivors) and the third (Each event is preceded by prophesy; but without the Hero there is no event).

* Beating ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters XIII]]'' with Ash Crimson ends with the ''Literature/PippaPasses'' poem by Creator/RobertBrowning, which was also used as ArcWords in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': "God's in His Heaven, All's right with the world!"

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/TheFountain'' opens with a quote from ''Ode to Aphrodite'' by Creator/{{Sappho}}:
-->"I beg you, do not break my spirit, with pain or sorrow, but come -- if ever before from far away you heard my voice and listened."
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' contains one or several poems signed Frederica Bernkastel in the beginning, the middle or the end of the arc. They are cryptic but often contains clues or show the emotions that [[spoiler:Rika, the true protagonist]] goes through. Sadly they were not present in the anime version but the ones found in the novels and the manga can be found [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/HigurashiWhenTheyCry here]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''[[WebVideo/AMVHell AMV Hell]] 3'' parodies the then-recent ''Film/KillBill'' epigraph with "At Least I Have Chicken"... still credited as an old Klingon proverb. Future installments would have epigraphs of their own, presented in the same style.

---> 'For he will walk among us, and he will smite the evil from this earth. For he who comes in our time of need is not of mortal breed, he is the Destroyer, the right hand of our Creator and the one who brings fear where there is no hope.' Corrax tablet 3:13

* Every episode in ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' ends with the phrase, not quoted from another source, "See you, space cowboy"."

* In the collected editions of ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', each story arc is preceded with two quotes. The first one reads as something deep and profound; the second a pithy, less serious comment on the same topic -- from the story itself.

** ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster The Dream Master]]'' opens with "When deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake." (''Literature/TheBible'', [[BookOfJob Job IV, 13-14]]).

** ''[[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster The Dream Master]]'' opens with "When deep sleep falleth on men, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake." (''Literature/TheBible'', Job IV, 13-14).

** ''VideoGame/UnchartedGoldenAbyss'' contains a line from a letter by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Vazquez_de_Coronado Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]] about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_de_Niza Marcos de Niza]].

*** At the end of ''[[DownloadableContent The Ancient Gods: Part Two]]'', [[spoiler:the Doom Slayer has finally killed [[GreaterScopeVillain Davoth]], [[GodIsEvil the Dark Lord]], [[KeystoneArmy and thus every demon outside of Hell]], but [[PostVictoryCollapse Post-Victory Collapses]] afterward, as his power was drawn from Davoth all along. After being interred in a coffin [[{{Bookends}} that resembles the one that he was awoken from]], the screen fades to black and displays the following text, to show that his [[VideoGameLongRunners twenty-eight-year]] war against Hell is finally over:]]

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'' is epigraphed by a passage from Revelation which coincides with the plot.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'', every technology has a quote with it from Literature/TheBible to Oscar Wilde to Sputnik. Narrated (mostly) by Creator/LeonardNimoy.

* ''Fanfic/ProjectFreelancerPhaseOneGenesis'' mixes quotes from books, movies, and tv shows with [[EncyclopediaExposita journal entries]] from the [[Machinima/RedVsBlue Freelancers]]. The authors are particularly fond of ''Literature/DresdenFiles'' quotes.

* The ''Master Kadoc & Caster'' arc of [[WebComic/P1Crypter P1 Crypters]] concludes with the AltText featuring the final lines from ''Theatre/FaustTheSecondPartOfTheTragedy'' as Kadoc successfully summons [[spoiler:Anastasia.]]

* ''VideoGame/Doom'':
** ''VideoGame/DOOM2016'' opens with an excerpt from a fictional, [[CrystalDragonJesus quasi-biblical]] text describing the [[PlayerCharacter Doom Slayer]]'s previous [[DemonSlaying bloody]] [[OneManArmy exploits]] throughout Hell:

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' starts each tankubon (bound volume) with a small illustration of a character and a short poem that seems to be written in the voice of that character. And Kubo Tite's poetry is surprisingly ''[[http://halcyonjazz.livejournal.com/103520.html good]]''.

* ''Manga/TheLoveAndCreedOfSaeMaki'' begins with {{Creator/Aristotle}}'s famous IJustWantToHaveFriends quote; "For without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods".

* Issue five of ''[[ComicBook/TheFrankensteinMonster The Monster of Frankenstein]]'' has a quote from Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival song "Bad Moon Rising" in its first page, foreshadowing [[spoiler:the werewolf business to come]].

%%* Anything Abicion has written since he watched ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' starts with one.

—Traditional, Cornwall, "Hal-An-Tow"

%%* ''Fanfic/ThisPresentDarkness'': Every chapter has at least one.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePrinceOfEgypt'' features three verses about Moses, sourced from the Book of Deuteronomy, the New Testament and the Qur'an, at the very end of the credits.
* The mid-credits of ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManIntoTheSpiderVerse'' features a quote from the late Stan Lee: "That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero."

* ''Film/{{Anon}}'' opens with lines from a 19th century poem expressing how the poet wants to be invisible even to {{God}}.

* The beginning of ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' has Nietzsche's [[StockQuotes Stock Quote]] "That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

* ''Film/DoTheRightThing'' ends with ''two'' quotes to underline the conflict of the movie: one by Martin Luther King Jr, arguing that violence is never justified, and one by Malcolm X arguing that violence in self-defense ''is'' justified.

* ''Film/EvilEaster3'' opens with a quote from religious historian Mattias Gardell that "national socialism could be defeated with garlic". The quote is (purposely) taken out of context, as the text the quote is taken from is critical to the idea of [[spoiler:Ghostapo occult nazi]] conspiracies.
* ''Literature/TheHagakure'' is quoted throughout the gangster flick ''Film/GhostDogTheWayOfTheSamurai'' starring Forrest Whitaker as a gangster hitman, using title cards.

* To bring context to the brutality that is about to be shown, ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist'' brings us this abbreviated quote from Isaiah 53: 5 "He was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; by His wounds we are healed."

* ''Film/TheTreeOfLife'' opens with a quotation from the [[Literature/TheBible The Book of Job]]:"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation ... while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
* The 2010 remake of ''Film/TrueGrit'' begins with [[Literature/TheBible Proverbs 28:1]], "The wicked flee when none pursueth."

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/{{Hothouse}}'': The story begins by quoting two lines from Creator/AndrewMarvell, a 17th century poet.
-->''My vegetable love should grow\\
Vaster than empires and more slow'' -- "To His Coy Mistress"
* ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'' (by Creator/CliveBarker) has every chapter begin with a quote.
* Creator/TimPowers almost always quotes a bunch of British poems at the beginning of his books and of the chapters. Often a book will begin with two quotes, one real and one from "William Ashbless", a fictitious poet and shared AuthorAvatar-proxy of Tim Powers and Creator/JamesPBlaylock; Ashbless appears in Powers' ''Literature/TheAnubisGates''.
* Joe Abercrombie quotes the line from which the [[LiteraryAllusionTitle title of each of his books is taken]], in ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'' series.
* ''Literature/WatershipDown'' has one for each chapter. An interesting example in that it sometimes cites non-fiction, notably, ''The Private Life of the Rabbit'', by Ronald Lockley.
* ''Literature/TheDiamondAge'' starts with a short excerpt from a non-fiction book about sociological change.
* Katherine Kurtz's ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' series has quotes from Literature/TheBible, the Apocrypha, and other early Christian and Jewish writings appear at above the start of most chapters.
** Other real-world sources (such as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence the Roman playwright Terence]]) get quoted this way as well. The chapter in which Jehana is introduced in ''Deryni Rising'' has an epigraph adapted from William Congreve's ''The Mourning Bride'' (1697): "Heaven has no rage, like love to hatred turned,/ .....Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorned." The idea is far older (not to say proverbial), as seen in Euripides' play ''Medea'' (263): "In all other things a woman is full of fear, incapable of looking on battle or cold steel; but when she is injured in love, no mind is more murderous than hers."
** A few sources are from within the Deryni universe. The first chapter of ''Deryni Checkmate'' has an epigraph from a "St. Veneric" which mentions the fickleness of Gwynedd's weather in March, and chapter fifteen of the same book has this from an unknown Deryni monk: "The humans kill what they do not understand."
* Creator/BarbaraHambly's ''Literature/BrideOfTheRatGod'' quotes the I Ching.
* ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': Every chapter starts off with a quote of some kind. The quotes usually tie into the content of the chapter in some way, though the connection is more obvious than others. For example, the chapter that details Rielle's water trial starts off with the Water Rite.
* The title and chapter pages of Creator/StephenKing's more epic novels quote anything and everything from Creator/TSEliot and Thomas Wolfe to Music/BlueOysterCult and King's own fictional characters.
* Creator/MargaretAtwood is a big fan of epigraphs. The epigraph of ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'' has quotes from Creator/JonathanSwift, the Bible and a proverb. ''Alias Grace'' has one or more before each section. Such as this, the epigraph for ''The Edible Woman'':
-->"The surface on which you work (preferably marble), the tools, the ingredients and your fingers should be chilled throughout the operation..."
-->(Recipe for Puff Pastry in I.S. Rombauer and M.R. Becker, ''The Joy of Cooking''.)
** Consider this, one of the two epigraphs from ''Cat's Eye'', which makes the way the story is constructed make far more sense:
--> "Why do we remember the past, and not the future?" (Creator/StephenHawking, "A Brief History of Time")
* Ellen Kushner's ''Literature/{{Swordspoint}}'' - and most of her novels - has one
* Creator/TSEliot:
** ''Literature/TheWasteLand'' has one. Somewhat notable in that it's a poem and that the epigraph is an important clue to what is going on.
** "The Hollow Men", a ''shorter'' poem, not only has an epigraph, but ''the section in his Selected Poems containing only "The Hollow Men" has one as well''. If you look up "The Hollow Men" on the web you'll probably find the two given one after the other; they're ''both'' relevant to the poem's meaning.
* Creator/JKRowling:
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' quotes from Creator/{{Aeschylus}}'s ''Theatre/TheLibationBearers'' and Penn's ''Fruits of Solitude''. The theme of both quotes, of course, is death and its aftermath.
** ''Literature/TheCasualVacancy'' opens each section with a relevant quote from ''Local Council Administration'' by Charles Arnold-Baker, as befitting a story revolving around a small-town government; the first epigram conveniently defines what a casual vacancy is.
** Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels:
*** ''Literature/TheCuckoosCalling'' opens each section with a quotation from various Roman satirists (in the original [[GratuitousLatin Latin]]).
*** Each chapter of ''Literature/TheSilkworm'' is headed with a quote from classic English playwrights.
*** Each chapter of ''Literature/LethalWhite'' is headed with a quote from the Creator/HenrikIbsen play ''Theatre/{{Rosmersholm}}''.
* Each book of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' series begins with a different quote. ''Twilight'' has [[AsTheGoodBookSays the Bible]]. ''New Moon'' has ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. ''Eclipse'' has the Creator/RobertFrost poem "Fire and Ice." ''Breaking Dawn'' has three: "Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies" by Edna St. Vincent Millay, ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', and ''Literature/OrsonScottCardsEmpire''.
* The chapters in Annie Dillard's ''The Writing Life'' each begin with an epigraph.
* The chapters in ''Literature/TheSisterhoodOfTheTravelingPants'' begin with epigraphs.
* ''Literature/{{City of Bones|2007}}'' begins with quotes from ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'' and ''Literature/ParadiseLost''.
* Each book in the ''Literature/GemmaDoyle'' trilogy begins with excerpts from poems, namely "The Lady of Shalott" in the first book, ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' and "A Dream Within a Dream" in the second and "The Rose of Battle" in the third.
* Creator/ChristopherMoore:
** ''Literature/LambTheGospelAccordingToBiff'' begins each segment with a related quote about God or Jesus.
** As do the sections/parts of ''Literature/PracticalDemonkeeping'', ''Literature/TheLustLizardOfMelancholyCove'' and ''Literature/ADirtyJob''.
** ''Literature/{{Fool}}'', which is a retelling of ''Theatre/KingLear'', has quotes from the play at the beginning for each chapter.
* Most chapters of ''Literature/AmericanGods'' start with one, often foreshadowing later events in the chapters. They range from Creator/RobertFrost to [[Creator/EECummings e. e. cummings]], Sondheim to Tom Waits.
* Perhaps in deference to the opening quote, Junot Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, ''Literature/TheBriefWondrousLifeOfOscarWao'' takes its epigraph from ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #49, penned by Stan Lee.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' makes use of this trope in two of its installments: ''The Golden Compass/Northern Lights'' begins with a quote from ''Literature/ParadiseLost,'' (including the lines which gave the series its name) and ''The Amber Spyglass,'' along with giving almost every chapter a short quote, uses Creator/WaltWhitman's ''America, a Prophecy'' and two other poems to set a very poignant mood.
* Creator/PhilipPullman's ''Spring-Heeled Jack'' starts off every chapter with quotes, including chestnuts such as "It was a dark and stormy night" and "Meanwhile, back at the ranch...."
* ''Literature/TheSecretLifeOfBees'' begins each chapter with some small, pithy note on bees and their life.
* ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' opens with a wonderful epigraph (which almost provided the title), by "Thomas Parke D'Invilliers" - actually a fictional character in Fitzgerald's first novel, ''This Side of Paradise.''
* Most Creator/DorothyLSayers novels begin each chapter with a quotation, often from poetry.
* Creator/AnnRadcliffe's novel ''Literature/TheItalian'' quotes several works of Creator/WilliamShakespeare, lines from Milton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' and other writing from before her time.
* ''Literature/DonQuixote'' begins with a note from the author, explaining that he despaired of finding a suitable epigraph for the book, until his friend suggested [[SubvertedTrope making shit up]].
* A novel called ''Black Horizon'' took its title from the epigraph, an anonymous eighteenth-century poem. In the author's book on how to write, he admitted he thought of the title first, then made up the poem.
* Robert B. Parker's ''Spenser'' novels with {{Literary Allusion Title}}s often began with an epigraph containing the relevant portion of the poem invoked by the title.
* Charles Babbage's autobiography, ''Passages From the Life of a Philosopher'', begins with a quote from Don Juan: "I'm a philosopher. Confound them all -- birds, beasts and men; but no, not womankind," despite the fact that it has nothing to do with the book.
* Cornelia Funke begins each chapter of all three of her ''Literature/{{Inkheart}}'' novels with quotes from numerous other works of literature that hint at or relate to the plot of the chapter, including everything from ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' to Creator/SalmanRushdie.
* Mary Janice Davidson opens every one of her books with three to four epigrahs. Of these, two are serious and the last one is outright silly. (In the ''Literature/BetsyTheVampireQueen'' books, the last one is usually Betsy herself.
* Carl Sagan's novel ''Literature/{{Contact}}'' has so many quotes at the beginning of the parts and chapters that it looks like an anthology of quotations.
* Studs Terkel's collection of interviews, ''Working,'' begins with four quotations on the subject of working, from the Bible to a Nixon speech and an ad.
* Parodied in Creator/RobertAsprin's ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series, which includes gag quotes attributed to famous real or fictional characters. Most are invented ("In times of crisis, it is of utmost importance not to lose one's head. -- M. Antoinette), but occasionally a legitimate quote is used to preface a chapter whose contents make it funny in context.
** Russian AlternateHistory novel writer Vladimir Sverzhin does exactly the same thing (such as musings on running being good for your health attributed to the original Marathon Runner).
* ''Literature/TheMasterAndMargarita'' begins with a highly appropriate quote from Goethe's ''Theatre/{{Faust}}'':
-->''"I am part of that force which wills forever evil and works forever good."''
* ''Literature/FoucaultsPendulum'' features plenty of somewhat obscure and bizarre epigraphs, some of them [[BilingualBonus in other languages]]. All or most of them still manage to be relevant, though. The majority is taken from a wide variety of occult literature, but there are also things like a musing on the physics of a hanged man.
* All of Creator/JasperFforde's books (''Literature/ThursdayNext'' and ''Literature/NurseryCrime'' series) have an excerpt from a fictional article or book at the start of every chapter.
* Fictional examples are used in ''Literature/TheWarAgainstTheChtorr'', ranging from newspaper articles and quotes by Solomon Short (a newspaper columnist) in the first two books, limericks in the third book, and quotes from ''[[EncyclopediaExposita The Red Book]]'' in the fourth.
* Each chapter of ''Literature/TheClubDumas'' begins with a different quote, several of which come from Creator/AlexandreDumas's works. Interestingly, the well-read will see [[Creator/AgathaChristie chapter five's quote]] and [[{{Metafiction}} will logically come to an early conclusion about who is the]] BigBad. [[spoiler: This is a RedHerring that the supposed BigBad will later call the reader out on.]]
* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:
** ''Literature/LukeSkywalkerAndTheShadowsOfMindor'' starts off with a Luke quote which actually turns out to be from that very book. (It got quite meta at the end.)
** ''Death in the Slave Pits of Lorrd, or How I Spent My Inter-Term Break", [[DirectLineToTheAuthor an essay by Tash Arranda]] of ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', has several of its sections headed by quotes from {{Fictional Document}}s. They're cited at the bottom.
* Creator/MarkTwain's ''Pudd'nhead Wilson'' begins every chapter with two quotes from "The Calendar of Pudd'nhead Wilson."
* J. Fenimore Cooper's ''Literature/TheLastOfTheMohicans''
* Chinua Achebe's ''Literature/ThingsFallApart'' famously takes its title from Creator/WilliamButlerYeats' "Literature/TheSecondComing;" the stanza containing the "things fall apart" line is quoted as the epigraph.
* ''Literature/TheDeathOfTheVazirMukhtar'', being a historical novel about a famous Russian poet and polyglot, has short relevant lines from poems or songs in different languages at the beginning of every chapter but the last (by which point he [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin dies]]).
* ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' [[note]]HERO OF THE... [[OverusedRunningGag oh, what's the point]]?[[/note]] chapters have fictional epigraphs that are written in-universe by the author.
** The ''Literature/HorusHeresy'' novels also make extensive use of them, using either quotes from previous ''40k'' books or real world sources. What's interesting about the real quotes is that they're all a major case of FutureImperfect, mangling either the quote, the source's name and/or background information (getting Laozi confused with Chairman Mao; describing real life military leaders in terms of the Imperium's odd sci-fi Romanesque ranking structure; badly translated quote from Literature/TheBible described as fragments of the holy book of some long-extinct cult, etc.). This despite the fact that The Emperor [[spoiler:(and a few other characters)]] has been around since the 8th century BC or longer and presumably could have corrected them if he felt like it.
* Two of Creator/KenKesey's novels are prefaced with quotes that each book's title came from.
** ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' used the children's rhyme "Wire, briar, limber-lock/Three geese in a flock/One flew east, one flew west/One flew over the cuckoo's nest"; it's also used later in one of Bromden's flashbacks. (Some scholars later speculated that the geese are supposed to represent Ratched, Mc Murphy, and Bromden.)
** ''Sometimes a Great Notion'' quotes the folk song "Goodnight, Irene": "Sometimes I live in the country/Sometimes I live in town/Sometimes I have a great notion/To jump in the river and drown".
* Creator/GeraldDurrell does this at the beginning of every chapter in some of his books.
* Several of Sue Townsend's ''Literature/AdrianMole'' books begin with an epigraph taken from D.H Lawrence (''The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4''), Bertrand Russell (''The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole''), ''Theatre/TheWintersTale'' (''The Wilderness Years'') and Mikhail Lermontov and ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' (''The Cappuccino Years'').
* The {{novelisation}} of the decidedly camp and blockbuster ''Film/{{The Avengers|1998}}'' film begins each chapter with a more-or-less 'relevant' quote from ''Theatre/TheTempest''. That particular play might have been chosen because the villain of ''The Avengers'' is a man who can control the weather.
* ''Barefoot Boy with Cheek'' by Max Shulman begins each chapter with a phrase that might be taught in a "Beginning French" course attributed to a famous French author.
* The novel version of ''Film/BrightLightsBigCity'' quotes from ''Literature/TheSunAlsoRises'' at the beginning.
* Both used and parodied in several of Creator/StevenBrust's novels, as when each chapter of ''Teckla'' is presaged by an excerpt from the protagonist's laundry list.
* Richard Condon's novels, including ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'' and ''Film/WinterKills'', often have a quote at the beginning from ''The Keeners' Manual'', which doesn't exist.
* ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' begins with a paraphrase of a quote from Creator/GKChesterton, "Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "Literature/TheDeadPast": The quote at the beginning of the story comes from a discussion between Creator/JohnWCampbell and Creator/IsaacAsimov. This quote inspired the story.
--->''There's the old saying, "Let the dead past bury its dead." But...how long does a past have to be passed before it's dead?''
** ''Literature/TheFoundationTrilogy'':
*** When these stories were collected into a {{Novel}} format, segments from the ''[[GreatBigBookOfEverything Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' were included at the start of each chapter [[EncyclopediaExposita to give the setting more depth]].
*** "Literature/TheTraders": The original ''Magazine/AstoundingScienceFiction'' publication had only [[LegendaryInTheSequel Salvor Hardin]]'s quote. [[OrwellianRetcon Later republications]] would cite an ''[[EncyclopediaExposita Encyclopedia Galactica]]'' entry instead, but said entry would also include Hardin's epigram.
* In ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', the two narrative threads are framed by Epigraphs from two different sources: the segments relating the history of Greg Sestero's friendship with Tommy Wiseau uses quotes from ''[[Literature/{{Ripliad}} The Talented Mr. Ripley]]'' and the segments relating the events during the production of ''Film/TheRoom'' uses quotes from ''Film/SunsetBoulevard''. The final chapter, which describes the theatrical debut of ''The Room'', uses both.
* The early ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' books by Creator/AnneMcCaffrey have snippets of Harper songs at the start of each chapter.
* ''Literature/TheDragonWaiting'' by Creator/JohnMFord, which concerns the English monarchial succession of the 15th century, has an epigraph quoting from the play ''Perkin Warbeck'', which concerns the English monarchial succession of the 15th century and is by the 17th-century playwright John Ford (no relation).
* Frank Herbert's ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' books begin every single chapter with an epigraph, always from an in-universe source.
* ''Literature/TheFrenchLieutenantsWoman'' by John Fowles has not just an epigraph for the novel as a whole, but two epigraphs per chapter.
* Mario Puzo's novel ''Film/TheGodfather'' opens with a (paraphrased) quote from Honoré de Balzac's 1835 novel ''Literature/LePereGoriot'': "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."[[note]] The actual quote is better translated as "The secret of great fortunes without apparent cause is a crime forgotten, for it was properly done." As quoted by Puzo, it is closer to a paraphrase by Richard O'Connor in his book ''The Oil Barons: Men of Greed and Grandeur''.[[/note]]
* ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'', which is divided into four parts, has one epigraph for each. Specially clever is the one for the last chapter:
-->"What?"\\
-- Richard Nixon
* ''Literature/{{Grendel}}'' opens with a selection of "The Mental Traveller" by Creator/WilliamBlake.
* In the war novels by Creator/SvenHassel, every chapter begins with a short section of prose, often unrelated to the novel but showing events in the wider war.
* The ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' book ''Cauldron of Ghosts'' uses epigraphs before certain chapters. Unusually, these are actually quotes from later in the book, sans context.
%% * At the beginning of each chapter of ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'', (usually hinting at what's about to happen).
* All but the first two ''Series/InspectorMorse'' novels by Colin Dexter use epigraphs at the top of every chapter. As Dexter's chapters tend to be fairly short, that's a LOT of epigraphs. Not that the research fazed Dexter one bit - if he couldn't find a suitable quote, he simply made one up and credited a non-existent source. This happened a lot.
* Creator/RudyardKipling frequently supplemented an epigraph to both poetry and prose, up to a short poem before a novel. Some of these either add a twist or are plainly ironic when compared to the text.
* Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin is fond of this trope. Quite a few of her books have epigraphs:
** ''Literature/AWizardOfEarthsea'' and ''Literature/TheOtherWind'' both begin with in-universe epigraphs, "The Creation of Ea" and "The Song of the Woman of Kemay" respectively.
** ''Literature/TheTelling'' begins with a line from ''Literature/TheMahabharata''.
** ''Literature/TheLatheOfHeaven'' uses epigraphs, many from Taoist thinkers, at the beginning of each chapter.
* In testament to the author's nerdiness, the ''Literature/MediochreQSethSeries'' uses the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' for its epigraphs.
* ''{{Literature/Middlemarch}}'' by George Eliot has an unusual variation. Most chapters have epigraphs (from writers like Shakespeare and such) but where it seems she couldn't find a suitable quote, she makes one herself. You can tell which because they're unattributed and are generally dialogues between [[AliceAndBob 1st Gent and 2nd Gent]].
* Herman Melville's ''Literature/MobyDick'' opens with four pages of quotes about whales (starting with "And God created great whales," from the Bible).
* ''A Darkling Plain'', the last book in the ''Literature/MortalEngines'' quartet, has the last stanza of Matthew Arnold's ''Dover Beach'' as its epigraph.
* ''Nobody'' by Jennifer Lynn Barnes begins with an Creator/EmilyDickinson quote: "Hello, I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody too?" Given the plot of the book (two supernatural beings called "Nobodies" meet and fall in love), it's an appropriate choice.
* In ''The Oath'', Creator/FrankPeretti occasionally opens chapters with quotes from [[FictionalDocument letters, diaries, news reports, and interviews]] to set the atmosphere for [[TownWithADarkSecret Hyde River]].
* Music/FrankZappa's autobiography ''Literature/TheRealFrankZappaBook'' points out that "[t]he epigraphs at the heads of chapters (publishers love those little things) were researched and inserted by Peter (Occhiogrosso, the co-author) -- I mention this because I wouldn't want anybody to think I sat around reading Flaubert, Twitchell and Shakespeare all day." Zappa's reaction to an epigraph quoting Flaubert is "How 'bout that epigraph, huh? Peter, you're cracking me up already."
* The first and last books of the ''Literature/{{Rihannsu}}'' series each use a verse from Baron Thomas Babington Macaulay's EpicPoem ''Horatius'', followed by a quotation from a Romulan-written FictionalDocument.
* Geoffrey Household's 1939 novel ''Literature/RogueMale'' contains an epigraph describing the behaviour of the [[TitleDrop rogue males]] of the animal kingdom which also hints at the themes of the book.
* Creator/BrandonSanderson:
** Sanderson likes doing this with his fantasy works - at the beginning of each chapter is a quotation form an in-universe source. In ''[[Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy The Final Empire]]'', the epigraphs are from [[spoiler: the diary of Alendi, the supposed Hero of Ages, whose packman Rashek killed him and became the Lord Ruler]]. In ''The Well of Ascension'', the epigraphs were written by [[spoiler: Kwaan, the man who first announced Alendi as the Hero of Ages, and gives some hints into the prophecies behind the Hero of Ages]]. In the third and final book, the epigraphs are written by [[spoiler: the Hero of Ages, Sazed, after he takes in both Ruin and Preservation and fixes the world, detailing what he did and how he did it as Harmony]].
** It gets even more complicated in ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'', the first book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', because the epigraphs are from different sources. In Part 1, the epigraphs are cryptic quotes from people just before their death, which are [[spoiler: being collected by Taravangian]]. They are supposedly the first glimpses of the world beyond, having started seven years before the story starts, roughly when Gavilar first investigated the Shattered Plains, and at least one is a quote from the Lost Herald. In Part 2, the epigraphs are from a letter, probably (but not certainly) written by [[spoiler: Hoid]] and addressed to an unknown person, in which the writer begs whoever the recipient is to end his neutrality and help him in the coming war against Odium. This letter gives hints as to [[spoiler:the workings of the Cosmere at large, talking about the Shards on Sel (and how Odium killed them) as well as talking of Odium's ally Bavadin and a mysterious group called 'The Seventeenth Shard]]. The epigraphs in Part 3 are notes from Jasnah's research on the Voidbringers. Part 4 returns to the quotes from the dying, and Part 5 doesn't have any epigraphs, but considering the massive amount of reveals in those chapters, it doesn't need any.
* The ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' series has a twofer: Each chapter begins with a quote from a fictional InUniverse source, as an EncyclopediaExposita, and each ''book'' begins with a quote from a RealLife source, usually a philosopher, including Nietzsche, Kant, and Hegel, as well as the Bible.
* All four books of Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/{{Shadowmarch}}'' series have their chapters begin with excerpts from different in-universe texts. ''Shadowmarch'' begins each chapter with a quotation from the Bonefall Oracles, which make up part of the Qar's semi-holy text, the Book of Regret; ''Shadowplay'' begins each chapter with a section of the tale of the Theomachy, or Godswar, as interpreted by the three major factions of the series (the Trigonate believers of the northern continent, the Xandians of the southern continent, and the Qar); ''Shadowrise'' begins each chapter with a quotation from an essay on the Qar peoples [[spoiler: revealed in the last entry to have been written by the playwright and spy Finn Teodoros for Lord Avin Brone, lord constable of Southmarch Castle]]; and ''Shadowheart'' begins each chapter with a section of the child's fable of the Orphan [[spoiler: which is revealed in the last entry to have been written for the young prince Olin Alessandros Eddon by the poet Matthias Tinwright, after the events of the series]].
* Both books of ''Literature/TheSundering'' open with a quote from ''Literature/ParadiseLost''.
* Creator/JeanJohnson's ''Literature/TheirsNotToReasonWhy'' series has each chapter begin with a quote from the interview of the main character. It introduces some aspect of the subject of that chapter. It seems an odd construct, until you come to the section of the last book where she actually grants the reporter that interview, and then it all makes sense.
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': In ''[[Literature/TrickstersDuet Trickster's Choice]]'', chapters are prefaced with either excerpts of a letter or lecture, or with in-universe epigraphs from books on spying or gods or suchlike, depending on what's relevant to the upcoming events.
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': On some of the stories, like ''The Evil That Men Do'':
** ''[[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/content_page/9-original-canon/989-the-evil-that-men-do Part 1]]'':
--->They say, when you gain a lover\\
You begin to lose a friend;\\
That the end of the beginning's\\
The beginning of the end.\\
They say the moment that you're born\\
Is when you start to die...\\
Roger Whittaker, The First Hello, The Last Goodbye
** ''[[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/content_page/9-original-canon/1001-the-evil-that-men-do-part-2 Part 2]]'':
--->''I wouldn't if I were you''\\
''I know what she can do''\\
''She's deadly man, she could really rip your world apart''\\
''Mind over matter''\\
''Ooh, the beauty is there but a beast is in the heart''\\
Hall & Oates, ''Maneater''
* The eighth ''Literature/AlexRider'' book, ''Crocodile Tears'', uses a definition of the phrase the book is titled for as its epigraph. This was included because Anthony Horowitz's publishers believed the phrase was not widely known and most readers would not understand what the title meant, and they initially wanted him to change the title completely. Horowitz resisted, and his publishers eventually relented on condition the epigraph was included.
* ''Literature/ForWhomTheBellTolls'' has a quote from the poet Creator/JohnDonne, which also provides the title:
--> No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.
* ''Literature/HalfOfAYellowSun'' not only has an epigraph from Chinua Achebe at the beginning of the book, but has all the chapters narrated by one of its SwitchingPOV protagonists start with an epigraph from the [[FictionalDocument fictional book he is writing.]] [[spoiler:In the end, he scraps the book he wanted to write and a mother character turns out to have written the epigraphs instead.]]
* The ''{{Anime/Robotech}}'' novelizations have each chapter lead by an in-universe quote, usually from [[EncyclopediaExposita various historical works that cover the Robotech Wars retrospectively]], but also including more informal sources ranging from [[FictionalDocument main characters' memoirs]] to relevant quips made by anonymous SpearCarrier types. The author(s) stated they were directly inspired by ''Dune''.
* ''La Grande Encyclopédie des lutins'', by Pierre Dubois, is a catalogue of various fairies and fey creatures. Each entry is preceded by a quote from a book, which either refers directly to the given type of fairy, or at least vaguely fits its theme. However, some of the quotes are apparently made up.
* Creator/AdamMickiewicz's poem "Romantycznosc" (Romanticity) begins with a quote from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'': "Methinks, I see... where? – In my mind's eyes." It is quoted from the part where Hamlet says he sees his dead father in his "mind's eye". Mickiewicz's poem itself is about a hallucinating girl who claims to see her dead lover.
* Each of the parts in ''Literature/{{Accelerando}}'' opens with a different quote:
** Part 1, "Slow Takeoff":
-->The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than the question of whether a submarine can swim. — Edsger W. Dijkstra
** Part 2, "Point of Inflection":
-->Life is a process which may be abstracted from other media. — John Von Neumann
** Part 3, "Singularity":
-->There's a sucker born every minute. — P. T. Barnum
* ''But What If We're Wrong?'', a book speculating about how widely accepted views might change in the future, begins with this quote:
-->If what I say now seems to you to be very reasonable, then I’ll have failed completely. — Arthur C. Clarke, speaking in the year 1964, attempting to explain what the world might be like in the year 2000
* ''The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood'', about the history of information theory and communication, starts with two epigraphs relating to the theme (the first one comes from Zadie Smith's ''Literature/WhiteTeeth''). (The book also includes relevant quotes at the start of every chapter.)
--> Anyway, those tickets, the old ones, they didn’t tell you where you were going, much less where you came from. He couldn’t remember seeing any dates on them, either, and there was certainly no mention of time. It was all different now, of course. All this information. Archie wondered why that was. — Zadie Smith
--> What we call the past is built on bits. — John Archibald Wheeler
* ''Literature/JakeAndTheDynamo'', a MagicalGirl novel, opens with this fitting quote:
-->It is rare that one can see in a little boy the promise of a man, but one can almost always see in a little girl the threat of a woman. — Alexandre Dumas
* ''Literature/LordOfLight'' is set on a planet where Myth/HinduMythology has been made real while the protagonist plays the role of Buddha, and accordingly it features quotes from Buddhist and Hinduist literature, such as the Upanishads.
* ''[[Literature/{{Uplift}} Sundiver]]'', a science fiction novel about an expedition to the Sun, starts with the quote by the astronomer Arthur Eddington:
-->...it is reasonable to hope that in the not too distant future we shall be competent to understand so simple a thing as a star. -- A. S. Eddington, 1926
* ''Three Christs of Ypsilanti'', a nonfiction book about three mental patients, each claiming to be Jesus Christ, opens with the quote by the philosopher Creator/BertrandRussell:
-->“Every man would like to be God, if it were possible; some few find it difficult to admit the impossibility.” -- Bertrand Russell, ''Power''
* Ryan Holiday's ''Trust Me, I'm Lying'', about fake news and inaccuracy in online journalism, starts with the following quote by writer James Agee. Every of its chapters also starts with a quote, mostly damning towards journalism.
-->The very blood and semen of journalism, on the contrary, is a broad and successful form of lying. Remove that form of lying and you no longer have journalism. — James Agee, ''Let Us Now Praise Famous Men''
* ''Writing on the Wall'', about the history of social media since ancient time through successive eras of human history, includes a relevant quote from the given era at the start of every chapter. For example, the chapter on the ancient Roman equivalent of social media starts with a quote from Creator/{{Cicero}}:
-->You say my letter has been widely published: well, I don’t care. Indeed, I myself allowed several people to take a copy of it. — Marcus Tullius Cicero, Ad. Att. 8.9
* ''Literature/BrownGirlInTheRing'': From the prologue:
--> Give the Devil a child for dinner,\\
One, two, three little children!\\
-Derek Walcott, Ti-Jean and His Brothers
* ''Literature/{{Phantastes}}'': From the first chapter:
--> “A spirit . . .\\
. . . . . .\\
The undulating and silent well,\\
And rippling rivulet, and evening gloom,\\
Now deepening the dark shades, for speech assuming,\\
Held commune with him; as if he and it\\
Were all that was.”\\
SHELLEY’S Alastor.
* ''Literature/InCryptid'': Every chapter and prologue, as well as some of the short stories (not the prequel ones) has an epigraph by a member of the Price-Healy family (or the Baker family, who married in). The Istas and Ryan shorts, as well as "The Holy and Harrowing Pilgrimage of Mindy and Also Mork", cite cultural proverbs for the epigraphs. [[https://incryptid.fandom.com/wiki/Epigraphs A list can be found here.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''Series/Frontier2016'': Every episode is preceded by a quote that sounds like it could have been made by an 18th century writer commenting on the nature of power, perseverence, or man's soul, but invariably turns out to be someone rather unexpected for a historical drama, like Music/{{Beyonce}}.
* The first episode of ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'' cuts to a King Lear quote about 5 minutes in. In the middle of a scene. For no reason.

* Ralph Vaughan Williams's ''Sinfonia Antartica'' has quotations preceding each of its five movements. These are sometimes recited. (Which is wrong, because the composer explicitly instructed that they should be printed in the programme to be read silently by the listeners, and because recitation destroys the ''attacca'' transition into the fourth movement.)
* Music/ClaudeDebussy's suite ''En blanc et noir'' for two pianos has epigraphs for its otherwise untitled movements.

* ''Radio/DimensionX'''s "[[Recap/DimensionX31Universe Universe]]": At the start of this episode, which was based on Creator/RobertAHeinlein's "{{Literature/Universe}}", an in-universe [[SacredScripture holy book]] is quoted. The scripture is also cited about four minutes later in the story, a CreationMyth that describes how everyone's place in the world.

-- '''Ralph Waldo Emerson''', "On Art"

* ''VideoGame/DOOM2016'' opens with an excerpt from a fictional, quasi-biblical text describing the [[PlayerCharacter Doom Slayer]]'s previous [[DemonSlaying bloody exploits]] throughout Hell:
--> So you walk eternally through the shadow realms, standing against evil where all others falter. May your thirst for retribution never quench, may the blood on your sword never dry, and may we never need you again.
--->--Corrax Entry 7:17
* At the beginning of the final level of ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'''s main campaign as the Slayer jets off to defeat the [[FinalBoss Icon of Sin]], the following passage, apparently from the same fictional text, is displayed over the loading screen:
--> 'For he will walk among us, and he will smite the evil from this earth. For he who comes in our time of need is not of mortal breed, he is the Destroyer, the right hand of our Creator and the one who brings fear where there is no hope.' Corrax tablet 3:13
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%% Whoever knows a good way to write up the tale of The Ancient Gods: Part Two's epigraph, please step to it.
%%
%%
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'': "If there is evil in this world, it lurks in the hearts of men."
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'' opens with the in-universe "Sleeping Beauty" nursery rhyme.
* ''VideoGame/TooHuman'' used the Nietzsche quote "Be careful when you fight the monsters, lest you become one" in its advertising material. Not sure if it's used in the game itself.
* ''VideoGame/InFamous'' has these on loading screens that come up, usually when the day changes. The themes are on the ([[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility potentially]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity destructive]]) nature of power. For example:
-->''"If you want to test a man's character, give him power."''
--->--'''UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln'''
* At several points in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', there will be a quote from a book written by the character Ondore, who also functions as a narrator upon the larger plot of the game. This also extends to its setting prequel, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', which feature quotes from a Saint Ajora Glabados, the inspiration for the game's CorruptChurch.
* A variation of sorts exists in some ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' games: upon most player deaths, the game usually displays a quote about the more sobering realities of warfare (or the cost of a modern piece of military equipment).
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' has one for each ending. For example becoming a DeusEstMachina results in the Voltaire quote "If There Were No God, It Would Be Necessary To Invent Him.".
* ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' starts with a quote from Henri de Régnier. ''The delightful and ever-novel pleasure of a useless occupation.'' It plays with the idea of the NewGamePlus option. [[spoiler: It's also a reference to the ever repeating cycle of the Arisen becoming the Seneschall and existing to provide life to the world only to be replaced by the next Arisen.]]

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'':
** It uses Genesis 3:24 over the opening movie to great effect
--->''Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden. He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.''\\
-- Conclave Bible, Datalinks
** There's a video [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=035cpHEowS4 here]].
** ''Alpha Centauri'' also has quotes for each tech and facility. Most of them are fictional quotes from the faction leaders, while there are literary or other references sprinkled in.
* Then there is ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}} IV'' in which every technology has a quote with it from Literature/TheBible to Oscar Wilde to Sputnik. Narrated (mostly) by [[Creator/LeonardNimoy the man]].
* Before the title screen, ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' has the first stanza from "Literature/TheRaven" by Creator/EdgarAllanPoe.

* Most ''{{VideoGame/Uncharted}}'' games begin with a quote from a famous real-life explorer, whose historical adventures are relevant to the respective game's storyline. Click to open each article to read the quotes:
** ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'' opens with a quote from UsefulNotes/SirFrancisDrake.
** ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' continues the tradition with a quote from UsefulNotes/MarcoPolo.
** ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'' has a quote attributed to UsefulNotes/TELawrence's portrayal in ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''.
** ''VideoGame/Uncharted4AThiefsEnd'' features a quote from the pirate [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Every Henry Avery]].
** ''VideoGame/UnchartedGoldenAbyss'' contains a line from a letter by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Vazquez_de_Coronado Francisco Vásquez de Coronado]] about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcos_de_Niza Marcos de Niza]].
* The ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series tends to feature epigraphs in its loading screens.
* Every time you boot up an ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'' game, you're treated to a quote from somebody like Creator/ArthurCClarke or UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein.
* ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'' opens with a quote from Creator/PhilipKDick.
--> ''Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.''

* ''VideoGame/TheAncientArtOfWar'' opens each match with a quote from [[Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu Sun Tzu]].
* Beating ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters The King of Fighters XIII]]'' with Ash Crimson ends with the ''Literature/PippaPasses'' poem by Creator/RobertBrowning, which was also used as ArcWords in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': "God's in His Heaven, All's right with the world!"

* ''VideoGame/XCom'':
** ''VideoGame/XComEnemyUnknown'' opens with an Creator/ArthurCClarke quote:
--->''Two possibilities exist: Either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.''
** The expansion pack ''XCOM: Enemy Within'' replaces it with a quote by R. Buckminster Fuller:
--->''Those who play with the devil's toys will by degrees be brought to wield his sword.''
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard'', a game about the US Paratroopers in World War Two, opens with this quote from General Dwight D. Eisenhower: 'I do not believe in the Airborne Division.'
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' ends with a quote from Dr. Light: "Humans and robots living together in harmony and equality. That was my ultimate wish."
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' begins with a quote from an in-universe poem, Monomon the Teacher's ''Elegy for Hallownest'':
-->''In wilds beyond they speak your name with reverence and regret,''\\
''For none could tame our savage souls yet you the challenge met,''\\
''Under palest watch, you taught, we changed, base instincts were redeemed,''\\
''A world you gave to bug and beast as they had never dreamed.''
* At the beginning of "Episode 2: Memory" of ''VideoGame/Code7'', [[AIIsACrapshoot S.O.L.I.]] recites the first stanza of ''Literature/QueenMab'' by Creator/PercyByssheShelley.
* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2: Octo Expansion'' opens with this cryptic poem:
-->''Pale summer moonlight shimmers on the seafloor.\\
An octopus, unaware that dawn will bring capture,\\
Rests within a trap, dreaming fleeting dreams...''
* Every run in ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'' starts with quote by Nazım Hikmet Ran from his short poem titled "You":
-->''You are my enslavement and my freedom.\\
You are my flesh burning like a raw summer night.\\
You are my country.''
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' follows up its audio-only introduction of the Third Boy at the start of the game with a quote from Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran:
-->''It is no nation we inhabit, but a language. Make no mistake; our native tongue is our true fatherland.''
* ''VideoGame/DeathStranding'' opens on an excerpt from Kobo Abe's ''Nawa'' which explains the concept of the stick and rope being tools to ward off bad things and bring good things closer, respectively.

* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' contains one or several poems signed Frederica Bernkastel in the beginning, the middle or the end of the arc. They are cryptic but often contains clues or show the emotions that [[spoiler: Rika, the true protagonist]] goes through. Sadly they were not present in the anime version but the ones found in the novels and the manga can be found [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/HigurashiWhenTheyCry here]].

* Every chapter of ''Webcomic/StarImpact'' ends with a fictional in-universe quote, each of which TitleDrop[=s=] the chapter's name:
--> '''Chapter 1:''' ''If it makes impact, then it's a'' meteorite''.''\\
'''Chapter 2:''' ''It can exist without either, but without the moon and stars, the'' night sky ''is incomplete.''\\
'''Chapter 3:''' ''A'' dragon ''is not evil. No, to devour heroes and kings its but its nature. A reality.''

* ''Literature/SailorNothing'' uses quotes from ''Literature/TheHagakure''.

* ''[[WebVideo/AMVHell AMV Hell]] 3'' parodies the then-recent ''Film/KillBill'' epigraph with "At Least I Have Chicken"... still credited as an old Klingon proverb. Future installments would have epigraphs of their own, presented in the same style.
* Website/TVTropes, of course, includes quotes at the beginning of most articles.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', where the episode "Ocean of Fear" BookEnds with omninous epigraph-style quotes about fear from Pat [=McHale=]... ''one of the show's staff members'', effectively giving the show an epigraph [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment from itself.]]

* Every episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' starts with an epigraph relating to the moral the characters will need to learn in the style of the ''[[InternalHomage "a-galaxy-far-far-away font"]]'' used in the films. Though, alot of the time, it's just [[IceCreamKoan flowery-sounding nonsense.]]

* ''Film/EvilEaster3'' opens with a quote from religious historian Mattias Gardell that "national socialism could be defeated with garlic". The qoute is (purposely) taken out of context, as the text the qoute is taken from is critical to the idea of [[spoiler:Ghostapo occult nazi]] conspiracies.

* Wiki/TVTropes, of course, includes quotes at the beginning of most articles.