History Main / OnceUponaTime

* ''AChristmasCarol'' by CharlesDickens: "'''Once upon a time''' -- of all the good days in the year, on Christmas Eve -- old Scrooge sat busy in his counting-house."

* In ''TheColourOfMagic'':

It was a [[OmnipresentTropes very popular trope]]. In [[EveryThingSoundsSexierInFrench French]] it was ''il était une fois'' and in [[GratuitousGerman German]] it was ''es war einmal'', which literally meant "It was once." Sometimes it was translated as "Once there was" or "A long time ago," but most often, this trope was simply translated as "[[TitleDrop Once upon a time.]]" Other languages have translated it directly - Polish has ''"Raz na czasie"'', which is a literal translation and may have a bit of [[BlindIdiotTranslation blind idiot]] in there. Russian fairy tales often start ''"Zhyl-byl..."'', that is, "Once there lived...".

-->'''Patrick:''' '''Once, there was''' an [[Literature/TheUglyBarnacle ugly barnacle.]] He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.

-->'''Patrick:''' '''Once, there was''' an [[TheUglyBarnacle ugly barnacle.]] He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.

* ''{{Bewitched}}'' "I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha (#1.1)"

->''We don't need lists of rights and wrongs, tables of do's and don'ts: we need books, time, and silence. '[[AnAesop Thou shalt not]]' is soon forgotten, but '[[OnceUponATime Once upon a time]]' lasts forever.''
-->-- '''PhilipPullman'''

[[OnceUponATime Once upon a time]] there was a {{trope}}. This trope was a {{stock phrase}} and a [[OlderThanPrint very old one]]. In fact, according to Webster's, it goes back at least to 1380. It began almost every {{fairy tale}} there ever was.

It was a [[OmnipresentTropes very popular trope]]. In [[EveryThingSoundsSexierInFrench French]] it was ''il était une fois'' and in [[GratuitousGerman German]] it was ''es war einmal'', which literally meant "It was once." Sometimes it was translated as "Once there was" or "A long time ago," but most often, this trope was simply translated as "[[TitleDrop Once upon a time.]]" Other languages have translated it directly - Polish has ''"Raz na czasie"'', which is a literal translation and may have a bit of [[BlindIdiotTranslation blind idiot]] in there. Russian fairy tales often start ''"Zhyl-byl..."'', that is, "Once there lived...".

Now, are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin. Once upon a time...[[hottip:*:Once upon a time there was a boy who decided to stay up late and read TVTropes. Even though his parents had warned him that doing this was a bad thing, still he was compelled to do so. So, the lights of the screen illuminating his face, he carefully surfed the site, reading trope descriptions and examples, going over works pages and forum threads, until finally he looked at the clock and realized it was well past the reasonable amount of time one would surf the web. And then the boy knew his parents were right -- that by surfing TVTropes, he had [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife ruined his life]] in such a way that he could now never go sleep. He was cursed to forever surf TVTropes, haunting the YKTTW, quietly drifting from page to page like a ghost in the machine; until one day, he met someone who had been similarly trapped. She was named {{Trope-Tan}}. Together, they decided that perhaps this wasn't such a lonely place to be stuck. And so they lived and troped {{happily ever after}}.]]

!!Examples:

[[folder: Anime ]]

[[folder: Card Games ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

---> "'''Once upon a time,''' in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, Scott Pilgrim was dating a high schooler...

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''[[Series/OnceUponATime Once Upon a Time]]''

[[folder: Music ]]

--> '''Once upon a time''' in the land of misty satin dreams\\

[[folder: Poetry ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

-->'''Sniper''': Here's a touching story. '''Once upon a time''', you died and I lived happily ever after.

[[folder:WebComics]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The intro to ''{{The PJs}}'' starts with "'''Once upon a time''' in the projects," which is also the title of an Ice Cube song.

[[OnceUponATime Once upon a time]] there was a {{trope}}. This trope was a {{stock phrase}} and a [[TheOldestOnesInTheBook very old one]]. In fact, it may have even been {{older than print}}. It began almost every {{fairy tale}} there ever was.

[[TheCanterburyTales "Whanne in Aprille,"]] started Legolam.\\

* ''TeamFortress2'':

-->'''George:''' '''Once upon a time''', or more specifically at the dawn of time, god, lower case "g", was getting busy with creation, as the kids these days are saying. He gave Toad a clay jar and said, "Be careful with this. It's got death inside". Pleased as punch and oblivious to the fact that he was about to become god's fall guy on the whole death issue, Toad promised to guard the jar. Then one day Toad met Frog. "Let me hold the jar of death, or what ever you call it", Frog begged. With a nod to Nancy Reagan's pearls of wisdom, Toad just said no. But Frog was determined, and after much whining Toad finally gave in. "You can hold it, but only for a second", he said. In his excitement, Frog began to hop around and juggle the death jar from one foot to the other. Frog was an asshole. "Stop!" Toad cried out, but it was to late. Frog dropped the jar and it shattered to the ground. When it broke open, death got out, and ever since then all living things have to die. Makes you wonder how much better the world would be if frogs just stuck to hawking beer. So there you have it, the mystery of death finally revealed. We all die, some of us sooner then later. For me it's going to be much sooner. But that's only the beginning of my story.

-->'''Patrick:''' '''Once upon a time''', there was an [[TheUglyBarnacle ugly barnacle.]] He was so ugly that everyone died. The end.

* Edgar Allen Poe, ''The Raven'':
-->'''Once upon a midnight dreary,''' while I pondered, weak and weary...

* Edgar Allen Poe, "Annabel Lee"

-->'''A long, long time ago...'''\\
I can still remember

* ''EyesOfTheDragon'' by StephenKing: "'''Once, in a kingdom called Delain''', there was a King with two sons."

---> "'''Once upon a time,''' in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, Scott Pilgrim was dating a high schooler..."

It was a [[OmnipresentTropes very popular trope]]. In [[EveryThingSoundsSexierInFrench French]] it was ''il était une fois'' and in [[GratuitousGerman German]] it was ''es war einmal'', which literally meant "It was once." Sometimes it was translated as "Once there was" or "A long time ago," but most often, this trope was simply translated as "[[TitleDrop Once upon a time.]]"

-->In the Longago. Aye, and in the Long Longago, and in the time before the Long Longago. In the Before, when nothing was.

-->Once upon a time, in Nazi-occupied France.

-->Now then, what was that phrase you use? Oh, yes. Once upon a time...

---> "Once upon a time, in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, Scott Pilgrim was dating a high schooler..."