History Main / OpeningMonologue

* Yet another AttractMode on-screen variant occurs in ''VideoGame/{{Rastan}}'', which is given in SurprisinglyGoodEnglish.[[note]]The game was originally made and released by Creator/{{Taito}} (pronounced TIE-toe), a company whose classic arcade games usually tend to have [[GratuitousEnglish the other kind of English]].[[/note]]

See also ExpositoryThemeTune (for a theme song that provides the work's background exposition) and OpeningScroll (the exposition is provided in text on the screen). Sister-trope to OpeningNarration (where a recurring work uses an opening monologue OncePerEpisode). Compare PrivateEyeMonologue.

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', delivered by Creator/{{Mako}} at his [[LargeHam hammy]] best:"Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!"

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' "Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure..."

** The PAL and subsequent versions of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' open with a narration about Samus.

A (short) monologue at the beginning of the work (usually during the TitleSequence) for briefly explaining the show's premise. Their role is to provide the quick {{Exposition}} to help the viewer adjust to the changes in the setting, relative to the audience. The monologue can be delivered by any characters or even a {{narrator}}. Major characters who fulfill this job may be doing an InnerMonologue. When minor characters fulfill this job, that may be an indication they will act as a GreekChorus for the work.

See also ExpositoryThemeTune (for a theme song that provides the work's background exposition) and OpeningScroll (the exposition is provided in text on the screen). Sister-trope to OpeningNarration (where a recurring work uses an opening monologue OncePerEpisode).

*** Just like ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', there is also a closing monologue, befitting of its GrandFinale status: "I know who I am now. I am not simply what others want me to be. I am not destined to a fate I can't control. I evolved beyond this world. This is not the end of me, or the X-Men. It’s a new beginning."

* ''Film/{{Looper}}'': "Time travel hasn't been invented yet, but in thirty years, it will be. It will be instantly outlawed, used only in secret by the largest criminal organizations. It’s nearly impossible to dispose of a body in the future. I’m told. Tagging techniques, whatnot. So when these future criminal organizations in the future need someone gone, they use specialized assassins in our present, called loopers."

** The first ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' opens with a monologue explaining Mundus's imprisonment: "Two millenia ago..."
** The [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening third game]], meanwhile, begins with a monologue from Lady, first explaining the legend of Sparda, then about how she never believed it until she met his two sons. The brothers fought, "but in the end... only one was left standing". This monologue is spoken over a battle between Dante and Vergil.

* The DistantPrologue of ''VideoGame/{{Reunion}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk_L8BL0r48 is 10 minutes long]]. There are about 4 minutes of RaygunGothic lineart slideshow narrated with a thick accent, followed by 4 minutes of colourful ''Film/ANewHope''-inspired animation of rebels taking over an orbital station, then 1.5 more minutes of narrated lineart slideshow, and finally the same voice telling the game objectives — to reconquer Earth and reunite.

* Yet another attract mode on-screen variant occurs in ''Rastan Saga'',[[note]]Or simply ''Rastan'' depending on where you live.[[/note]] which is given in SurprisinglyGoodEnglish.[[note]]The game was originally made and released by Creator/{{Taito}} (pronounced TIE-toe), a company whose classic arcade games usually tend to have [[GratuitousEnglish the other kind of English]].[[/note]]

* The first ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' opens with a monologue explaining Mundus's imprisonment: "Two millenia ago..."
** The third game, meanwhile, begins with a monologue from Lady, first explaining the legend of Sparda, then about how she never believed it until she met his two sons. The brothers fought, "but in the end... only one was left standing". This monologue is spoken over a battle between Dante and Vergil.

* In ''Theatre/TheComedyOfErrors'', Aegon gives most of the show's exposition about the backstory of the twins in a single very long monologue in the play's first scene.

** The exposition for ''Theatre/HenryIVPart2'' is delivered by Rumor, personified as a character "full of tongues."

[[folder:Videogames]]

-->It is the golden age of exploration, [[{{Solar Sail}} solar-powered light ships]] fly the Etherium of deep space, bringing colonists and trade to every corner of the galaxy. But even a golden age has its dangers, some natural and some [[{{Space Pirates}} decidedly less so]]...
* ''{{VideoGame/Xenoblade}}'' and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' both begin with this, giving the basic rundown of the respective games' world and situation.

* The animated ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' movie opens with a laughably CGI version of Felix's head giving us one. A particularly obnoxious example, because it pretty much tells you what you're going to see in this movie you're about to see; it's entirely possible the movie would have actually been improved by its omission.

* ''Film/FreddyVsJason'': Freddy gets one of these where he explains his origins, how he's been wiped from the collective memory of Springwood, and his plan to use Jason to return once again.
* ''Film/KickAss'': "I always wondered why nobody did it before me. I mean, all those comic books, movies, TV shows. You think that one eccentric loner would've made himself a costume. I mean, is everyday life really so exciting? Are schools and offices so thrilling that I'm the only one who fantasized about this? Come on, be honest with yourself. At some point in our lives we all want to be a superhero. That's not me by the way. That's some Armenian guy with a history of mental health problems. Who am I? I'm Kick-Ass."

* ''Film/Underworld2003'' begins with Kate Beckinsale's character expositing about the war between the vampires and the werewolves.

* ''{{Film/Equilibrium}}'' starts with a short opening monologue vaguely explaining the events that caused TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, and the start of the world "not as we know it", coupled with some historical documentary footage and reused footage from the film itself.

* "A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then that it is the year ten-thousand, one-ninety-one..." Narration was used to insane levels in the ''Film/Dune1984'' movie, in order to condense the plot of a six hundred page book down to two hours without confusing anyone. It didn't really help.
* Lady Galadriel's opening monologue from the first ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movie, ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The Fellowship of the Ring]]'', which lays down the creation of the Rings of Power, the One Ring, the war against Sauron, and the fates of the One Ring's previous bearers before Bilbo got hold of it. Plus, we don't actually ''meet'' Galadriel until almost the end of the movie. A good portion of this speech was cribbed from a speech by Treebeard in the book, but having a sentient tree-shaped being explain the plot in a very slow voice is possibly not the best way to pull your audience in. This monologue actually went through several narrators, including Frodo (rejected because doing so would reveal he had survived) and Gandalf. Galadriel was eventually selected as the person most suitable to giving out such information.
* Creator/JamesEarlJones picked up a paycheck to apply his distinctive voice to explaining the setting for the ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' movie.
** And to reading off the famous opening lines of ''Literature/CryTheBelovedCountry''.
* Kevin Costner's version of ''Film/ThePostman'' began with exposition by a female, who at the end is revealed to be his daughter, giving the story of his life.
* [[TheFilmOfTheBook The movie version of]] ''[[strike:[[Literature/HisDarkMaterials The Golden Compass]]]]'' ''Northern Lights'' does this.
* As does the movie of ''Film/{{Eragon}}''.

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' opens with a monologue delivered by Sarah Connor. The third film, with one by John Connor.
* ''Film/TheDeparted'': "I don't wanna be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me." Hearing that in Creator/JackNicholson's gruff yet acidic voice sends chills up one's spine.

* The intro to ''Film/WingCommander'' pans over space charts while playing a recording of JFK giving a speech about the Space Race, which segues into other radio broadcasts delivering exposition about the Pilgrams, mankind's invention of FasterThanLightTravel, and the disastrous FirstContact with the Kilrathi.
* ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' When I was lying in the V.A. hospital with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying. I was free. But sooner or later, you always have to wake up..."

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'' "Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure..."
* ''Film/TheWarriors'' either uses or averts this: the theatrical cut opens with a TravelMontage and then drops us into the action. The DirectorsCut has an OpeningScroll that drives home the comparison between the movie and ''Anabasis''.

* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'':
--> "For nearly forty years, this story has given faithful service to the Young in Heart, and Time has been powerless to put its kindly philosophy out of fashion. To those who have been faithful to it in return... and to the Young in Heart... we dedicate this picture."

* "A beginning is a very delicate time. Know then that it is the year ten-thousand, one-ninety-one..." Narration was used to insane levels in the 1980s ''Film/{{Dune}}'' movie, in order to condense the plot of a six hundred page book down to two hours without confusing anyone. It didn't really help.