History Main / OriginsEpisode

* ''On the Origin of PC's'' and ''StartOfDarkness'' for ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''.

* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', MediumAwareness means [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000408c they know that 8-bits means an origin story.]]

* ''Webcomic/TimesLikeThis'' tells the origin of Cassie's time machine [[http://www.timeslikethis.com/index.php?id=505 starting here.]]

* [[http://www.creepypasta.org/creepypasta/the-origin-of-laughing-jack The Origin Of Laughing Jack]] is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

!!Examples:

* Most of the [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-001 SCP-001]] proposals either explain the origin of the Wiki/SCPFoundation or explain why the world is full of paranormal things [[ArtifactCollectionAgency the Foundation has to contain]], with a few doing both. As for which of the proposals is true: the main SCP-001 page says that maybe none of them are true. [[MultipleChoicePast Or maybe ALL of them are true]]. As with all things in the Foundation universe, [[UnreliableCanon there is no canon]].

* An unusual case: The first ten minutes of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' depict a young Boy Scout Indy trying to save a relic from a gang of bandits, which ends up demonstrating the source of his [[WeaponOfChoice interest in the bullwhip,]] [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes his fear of snakes,]] [[IndyPloy his gift for improvising action,]] [[ContrivedCoincidence and finally]] where he got his famous hat. Then George Lucas realized how much fun he had making the sequence, and managed to turn it into a full-on television series: ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles''. Chronologically, ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' takes place before ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', but doesn't show any origins.

* ''[[Literature/WarriorCats Warriors]]:
** The Rise of Scourge''. It turns out that Scourge was, at first, just a cute little kitten with a crappy childhood. Desperate to impress the world around him, he is driven to first scare a dog away, then eventually actually ''kill'' a cat to maintain his peers' respect, which he claims his MoralEventHorizon.

* Season 14 of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has three examples:

Often takes the form of a WholeEpisodeFlashback or FlashbackBPlot. Compare with a PilotEpisode, which usually sets up the origins of the main characters and setting in the first episode. Television characters can have an Origin Episode of sorts if they receive ADayInTheLimelight or a LowerDeckEpisode. See also StartOfDarkness, for when the Origin Story shows the rise of a villain. See also NoOriginStoriesAllowed, which is when the creator(s) ban this from happening.

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has the episode "How I Met Everyone Else", which showcases how the core group (except Robin, who joined the group in the pilot) met and became friends[[note]]Marshall and Ted met as roommates in college, Lily and Marshall met when she was "inexplicably drawn" to his dorm room one morning, Barney and Ted met in the bathroom at a bar, and Barney and Marshall met at the same bar some time later. They all met Robin at the same bar as well.[[/note]].

* An unusual case: The first ten minutes of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' depict a young Boy Scout Indy trying to save a relic from a gang of bandits, which ends up demonstrating the source of his [[WeaponOfChoice interest in the bullwhip,]] [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes his fear of snakes,]] [[IndyPloy his gift for improvising action,]] [[ContrivedCoincidence and finally]] where he got his [[NiceHat famous hat.]] Then George Lucas realized how much fun he had making the sequence, and managed to turn it into a full-on television series: ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles''. Chronologically, ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' takes place before ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', but doesn't show any origins.

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had "Family Tree" for Duncan, and for recurring characters, there was "Legacy" for Amanda, "Comes A Horseman" showed Cassandra's origin and there was one for Fitz ("Star Crossed"?).

* ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'': [[Recap/TheIncredibleHulkPilot The original pilot episode]] detailed how David Banner became the eponymous monster and how he ended up on the run.

* The Daniel Craig ''Film/JamesBond'' films explain both the origins of Bond, as well as a ContinuityReboot of the film franchise.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' explains the origin of the Master Sword; more specifically, how the Master Sword used to be a sentient being and originated as the Goddess Sword. It also explains where Zelda's magical power comes from ([[spoiler:she's the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia]]), and why Link is always reincarnated ([[spoiler:he's Hylia's chosen hero]])
** Prior to that, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' showed the StartOfDarkness for Ganon, the series BigBad; and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' had the creation of the Four Sword from the, well, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures'' games, and like the Master Sword originally went by a different name (in this case, the Picori Blade), and although it's part of the backstory, ''The Minish Cap'' also explains Vaati's StartOfDarkness (and shows that he wasn't always a floating FacelessEye).
* Pretty much [[StockSubtitle anything with the subtitle "Origins"]].
** Subverted with ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins''. It was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] intended to be the origin of VideoGame/{{Rayman}}. Its plot changed but its title did not.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' is this for Alessa/Cheryl/Heather.
** ''[[VideoGame/{{Ys}} Ys: Origin]]'' explores the history of the Ys civilization, its six priests and twin goddesses, the Fact family, and the Black Pearl.
** Oddly enough, excluding ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins.'' The "origins" in question are the first act of the game and cover how the main character became a Grey Warden. They have nothing to do with the origin of the setting, any other characters (except possibly [[TheWoobie Jowan]]), or the Blight. Speaking of ''Origins'', the DLC campaign ''Leliana's Song'' provides an origin story for the eponymous character, which is only alluded to in the game proper.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' doesn't cover the origins of Batman, but it does show [[spoiler:the origins of the Batman-Joker feud and Harley Quinn]] in this canon, as well as the re-opening of Arkham Asylum due to the events of the game. Downloadable content also shows the origin of Mr. Freeze.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'' is about the formation of the Assassin Brotherhood in AncientEgypt by Bayek and Aya/[[spoiler:Amunet]].
* Similar to the ''Origins'' example above, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is actually about how [[spoiler:King Aelfred the Great]] reformed the Order of the Ancients into the modern Templar Order which is revealed near the end of the game when Eivor [[spoiler:Varinsdottir]] visits a study room and stumbles upon letters from [[spoiler:Goodwin]] which notes that [[spoiler:Aelfred's]] used the alias of "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ" to spy on the Raven Clan.
* Jack's loyalty mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' reveals a lot of details on her origin, including ones she wasn't aware of herself.
** The ''Leviathan'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' turns out to be an OriginsEpisode for the Reapers.
* Episode 3, "The Inherited Turnabout", of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'' expands on the events that led to the murder of Gregory Edgeworth at the hands of Manfred von Karma, which by extension led to the events of the first ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game. "The Inherited Turnabout" even has segments where the player controls Gregory during his final case, before switching back to the present where Miles Edgeworth picks up on where his father left off.
* Chapter 4 of ''Cage in Lunatic Runagate'', a side-story ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' book, tells the story of how [[WhoWantsToLiveForever Fujiwara no Mokou]] became immortal.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' revealed the tragic backstory of Big Boss, and showed how he went from an idealistic, somewhat silly hero to the [[AntiVillain villain]] of the [[{{Retcon}} first game]]... though the process didn't really finish up until around [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker the fifth game.]]
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', chronologically the first game in the series, mainly delves into the [[StartOfDarkness origins of Xehanort and other villains such as Maleficent, Pete, and Organization XIII]], but it also briefly shows how Sora, Riku, and Kairi came to be the people they were by the start of the original game.
* The [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 2013 reboot]] of ''Franchise/TombRaider'' serves as this for Lara Croft, it follows a 21-year-old Lara Croft fresh out of college on her first expedition to find the lost city of Yamatai. The game showcases her original disbelief about myth before embracing these mysteries and figuring out what happened to her father as well as [[RebuiltPedestal rebuilding the pedestal]] she had before he went missing. The following two games, ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheTombRaider'' work with the 2013 title as Lara Croft's origin trilogy.
* Despite the major characters of the ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGaiden Masou Kishin]]'' series appearing sporadically through the "Classic Timeline" of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', ''The Lord of Elemental'' effectively serves as the {{prequel}} detailing how each character arrived in the subterranean world of "La Gias" and earned the right to become a Herald of the Elemental Lords.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]]'', which explains the origins of Dracula and the Belmont clan's feud with him.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' serves as the Origins Episode for [[spoiler:Erdrick/Loto, the legendary ancestor of the heroes of the prior two games]].
* ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasThePumpkinKing'' serves as a {{Prequel}} to ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', explaining Jack Skellington's first encounter with Oogie Boogie as well as the first time he met Sally.
* The official bio for each character in ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' details how they first came to join the group as a whole. Other sources tend to expand upon these in greater detail.
[[/folder]]

* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' short [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/hremail7.html "Hremail 7"]] explains the origin of Strong Bad Email. And, in the process, [[http://hrwiki.org/wiki/Hremail_7#Remarks messes up]] what little continuity the HR-verse has.
** Then again, it was ''[[CloudCuckoolander Homestar]]'' who was [[UnreliableNarrator the one explaining the SBemail origins]].
* The WebAnimation/ShutUpCartoons segment ''Oishi High School Battle'' has ''Oishi Orgins,'' or, as the title says, ''Oishi High School Battle Orgins.'' ''Oishi Orgins'' explains several things, such as [[spoiler: how Oishi's father got fired (like the intro song says) and how Oishi got her dog Noodles. (Which was due to the creature transporter machine going haywire after a demon attack, thus resulting in this event.)]]
* ''WebAnimation/TheMostEpicStoryEverToldInAllOfHumanHistory'': The third episode serves as this for Epic-Man, explaining how he got his powers and started his superhero career.

** "The Lost Fable" in Volume 6 reveals the history of both [[spoiler: [[BigBad Salem]] and [[BigGood Ozpin]]]].

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1092 Chapter 40, "The Stone"]], delves into the history of the InexplicablyAwesome Jones, showing the various identities she's had [[spoiler:throughout human history and beyond]]. [[spoiler:Also TheUnreveal, since it shows that while she's [[TimeAbyss as old as the planet]], she's never learned what she actually ''is'' or how she came to be.]]

* Episode III of ''WebVideo/TheTimeGuys'' reveals that Caveman is the same Caveman from Episode I, who was seen inventing fire, and explains how he came to be Doc's intern.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'':
** While the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets" doesn't reveal Ice King's origin until the end, the episode is about Finn and Jake trying to figure out the Ice King's "evil secret" by watching his video diary.
** "Orgalorg" tells the origin of [[spoiler:Gunter the penguin]], of all characters. Specifically, he's actually the [[spoiler:titular EldritchAbomination, and he was trapped on Earth in the form of a penguin for trying to harness the power of a comet]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfDawdleTheDonkey'': The first episode, "Looking For A Home", follows Dawdle the Donkey, Rola Polar Bear, and Archie the Cat as they meet in the city and look for a home together.
* This was the plot point of the ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' episode "Seems Like Old Crimes", which focused on Aladdin telling everyone the story of how he and Abu first met, long before the events of the first movie.
* The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'' serves as this for the ''WesternAnimation/{{Madagascar}}'' franchise, as it explains how Julien the lemur became king, and how he made partying the norm in his kingdom.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
** The MultiPartEpisode simply titled "The Origins" details how Darwin came to live with the Wattersons.
** "The Choices" shows, along with other parts of Nicole's past (and alternate presents), how she met her future husband Richard.
** "The Rival" is about Anais' birth, and [[EnfantTerrible the trouble she caused]] for her older brothers.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheStorm The Storm]]" gives the backstories of [[TheHero Aang]] and [[AntiVillain Zuko]] via FlashBack.
** Its SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', has one in ''Beginnings'', a two part FlashBack that explains how the Avatar Cycle began, as well as [[UltimateEvil what]] is causing the spirits to go berserk and start attacking humans once again.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' presents the origin of Batman in the ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse''.
* The 1993 ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' series had a three-part episode called "Once Upon a Time on Mars", which explained in full detail how Modo got his robotic arm and lost his eye, why Vinnie wears a metal plate over half of his face, and what the Biker Mice went through during the Plutarkian invasion of Mars before they left their home planet and ended up on Earth. The 2006 revival also had a three-part episode called "Once Upon a Time on Earth", which explained how the Catatonians started their war with the Martian mice and how Ronaldo Rump became rich.
* ''WesternAnimation/CampLazlo'' had an hour-long special titled "Where's Lazlo", which explained how Lazlo, Clam, and Raj met.
* ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'' takes the unusual approach of opening the series with one of these. The two-part pilot, "Becoming Carmen Sandiego" features a framing device of Carmen being confronted by her former V.I.L.E. trainee Gray/Crackle, and dictating to him the story of how she was raised by V.I.L.E. only to later turn on them.
** The Season 2 episode "The Boston Tea Party Caper" explores Zack and Ivory's backstories, and shows how they met and started working with Carmen and Player.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' had a special double-episode prequel titled ''XANA Awakens'' that narrated how everything started.
* The ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Remembrance of Courage Past" serves mainly to give the full details on how Courage was found and adopted by Muriel Bagge.
* ''WesternAnimation/COPS1988'' had an Origins Episode consisting of a two-parter titled "The Case of C.O.P.S. File #1", which explained the circumstances of Bulletproof [[WeCanRebuildHim becoming a cyborg]] as well as the formation of C.O.P.S. and their first battle with Big Boss and his goons.
* The final episode of ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'', "Dan vs. Summer Camp", consisted of a flash back to how Dan and Chris met at summer camp, and Chris helped Dan with his very first vendetta against the cruel, favorites-playing camp director.
* WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck received ''[[MultipleChoicePast several]]'' origin stories throughout the run of his series, many of which were contradictory, though the origin given in "Clash Reunion", which also establishes the origins of his enemy Megavolt, appears to be the true origin.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DefendersOfTheEarth'' episode "The Adoption of Kshin" is another example, using flashbacks to explore how Kshin came to lose his real parents and how he and Mandrake first met.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''
** The MusicalEpisode "[=LABretto=]" serves as this for Dexter, explaining the circumstances of his birth as well as why he created his secret laboratory.
** "A Boy Named Sue" explains the backstory of Mandark and why he became rivals with Dexter, though it contradicts the events of his debut episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/DocMcStuffins'' has "Bringing Home Baby," which features several flashbacks to Doc's early life, showing how she got each of her main toy friends, how she got her magic stethoscope and learned of its power to bring toys to life, and how she came to be a toy doctor.
* ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'' had two:
** "Backpack" has Dora flashing back to the day she first got her sentient Backpack, how she learned how to check her for what she needs, and the first time she called on Map to find where she needed to go.
** The more extensive "Dora's First Trip" also has Dora flash back to the time she became an explorer and went on her very first adventure, and shows how she met Boots, Benny, Isa, Tico, Swiper and the Fiesta Trio. It also shows the origin of "SwiperNoSwiping", as well as the first [[SettingOffSong Travel Song.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'':
** "Launchpad's First Class" explains how Scrooge and Launchpad met.
** "Once Upon A Dime" relates much of Scrooge's early life.
** "[[Recap/DuckTalesS1E44TheCurseOfCastleMcDuck The Curse of Castle McDuck]]" tells about Scrooge's family background living in Scotland before he came to Duckburg, including his ancestral homes of both Cottage and Castle [=McDuck=]. It also tells of how his family fell on hard times despite originally having a castle to its name.
* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'':
** In "The Ballad of Duke Baloney!", we learn the origins of Scrooge's long-time rival Flintheart Glomgold.
** "The First Adventure!" is all about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the first adventure that Scrooge ever went on with Donald and Della]], in addition to the founding of F.O.W.L., and [[spoiler:the reason behind April/Webby's eventual creation]]. Though that last part doesn't become clear until the GrandFinale.
* The ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'' episode "Bring Me the Face of Hector Con Carne" explains the circumstances under which Hector Con Carne's body was destroyed, how he survived as a disembodied brain, and how Major Dr. Ghastly became employed by him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1967'', the episode "How It All Began" featured flashbacks to how Reed Richards met Ben Grimm and Victor Von Doom, the circumstances that led Victor Von Doom to become Dr. Doom, and the space voyage that resulted in the Fantastic Four gaining their powers.
* The DarkerAndEdgier ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' 1-hour special "Good Wilt Hunting" which reveals Wilt's backstory. [[spoiler: He was created by a Michael Jordan {{Expy}} to teach the kid basketball. In a big game against rival imaginary friend, Foul Larry, Wilt lost to save his creator's life from a falling Larry. His arm and eye were crushed by the weight of the massive Larry (who's as tall as Wilt but with more muscle) falling. Wilt was so ashamed (hence his [[ApologizesALot apologetic manner]]) that he ran away, amputating his mangled arm too. Unbeknownst to him, the kid was quite grateful and became a professional basketball player too.]] Eduardo is also revealed to be created by a little girl who needed a scary-looking imaginary friend to protect her from bad guys yet be sweet enough to play with her baby brother while Coco was found on a desert island by two biology students [[note]] WordOfGod is that Coco's creator was a little girl who survived a plane crash, taking inspiration from her surroundings for Coco's bizarre appearance.[[/note]] in the same episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}'' has a two-parter episode that explains how Dexter Douglas became Freakazoid. You can even see a man fighting a bear.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' has both this and a conventional first episode origins set up. The first five episodes established the main characters (heroes and villains) and their situation. Later [=MacBeth=] was introduced, and they then combined a multi-episode arc with telling the origin of [=MacBeth=] (he really ''is'' Theatre/{{Macbeth}}) and his history with Demona.
** {{Five Episode Pilot}}s were a staple of Disney television animation in the 80s and 90s, with the pilot movies showing how all of the characters came together. Some characters (such as [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 GizmoDuck]]) would be introduced and receive their specific origin stories later in their respective series.
* ''WesternAnimation/GoldieAndBear'''s season finale of the first season introduces Goldie's father Mr. Locks and flashes back to the time when Goldie and Bear were not the best of friends because of the notorious "porridge incident".
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "A Tale of Two Stans" shows how the Author came to Gravity Falls and wrote the Journals, and why Stan started the Mystery Shack.
* The ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBeaks'' episode "The End and the Beginning", true to its name, shows how Fee and Foo arrived in Littlebark and befriended Harvey, [[spoiler:and end up ''[[ButNowIMustGo leaving]]'' Littlebark to live with their parents]].
* The ''WesternAnimation/HiHiPuffyAmiYumi'' episode "Secret Origin" takes place when Ami, Yumi, and Atchan were children and explains why Atchan is the way he is today.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1982'' revealed the circumstances under which Bruce Banner first became the Hulk in the episode "Origin of the Hulk".
* ''WesternAnimation/IronMan'' had two origin episodes.
** "The Origin of the Mandarin" revealed the backstory of Iron Man's archenemy the Mandarin.
** The two-part episode "The Origin of Iron Man" revealed the circumstances under which Tony Stark became Iron Man.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode "Out of the Past" explains in flashbacks how Jerrica Benton's deceased father Emmett created Synergy, the artificial intelligence who controls the holograms used by Jerrica's alter ego Jem and her band the Holograms.
* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
** "A Sitch In Time" shows the backstory of how Kim and Ron met and the first mission that started their careers as crimefighters. Ironically, their first mission was because of a typo, so you might say it was destiny that led to them becoming heroes.
** "Go Team Go" gives the backstory of how Shego and her brothers were empowered by a [[MagicMeteor falling comet fragment]] and how she [[HeelFaceTurn became a villain]] after becoming [[EvilIsCool fascinated by villainy]] and [[SurroundedByIdiots exasperated by her brothers]].
* ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed'' had two origin episodes.
** "The Comet Cometh" reveals in flashback what the Loonatics were like before they got their powers and where they were when the meteor that gave them their powers came to Acmetropolis.
** The first season's two-part finale "Acmegeddon" explains the backstories of the Loonatics' benefactor Zadavia as well as her evil brother Optimatus.
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': ''WesternAnimation/TheOldGreyHare'': In a flashback we learn that WesternAnimation/BugsBunny and Elmer Fudd have been chasing one another since they were babies! And even then Bugs outsmarted him!
* A large portion of the ''WebAnimation/MightyMagiswords'' episode "Quest for Knowledge!" is devoted to flashbacks explaining some of Prohyas and Vambre's past, specificially how they first became interested in Magiswords and their early days at Adventure Academy.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/MightyMouse Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures]]'':
** The episode "Mouse from Another House" has Pearl Pureheart narrate Mighty Mouse's origins, which spoofs the origin of Superman by having Mighty Mouse adopted by squirrels after his parents sent him away in a rocket to survive the imminent destruction of the condemned building they live in (which doesn't kill his parents anyway).
** "Scrap-Happy" reveals how Mighty Mouse first encountered his sidekick the orphan mouse Scrappy.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': Episode 25 and 26 reveal how Marinette and Adrien received their Miraculouses and became Ladybug and Cat Noir.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** The season four premiere serves as one for the Elements of Harmony.
** In season one, there was "The Cutie Mark Chronicles", which explains how all of the mane six got their cutie marks (and how Spike was hatched).
** The season two episode "Hearth's Warming Eve" has a winter pageant about the founding of Equestria.
* ''WesternAnimation/NellaThePrincessKnight'': The episode "The Unicorn Rescue" has Nella reminisce the time she first met Trinket, rescued her, received her heart sparkle stone, and transformed into a knight for the first time.
* ''WesternAnimation/PennZeroPartTimeHero'': The episode "Zap One" is the story of how Penn discovered his parents' lives as heroes, how he first became a part-time hero, how he first met Boone and Sashi, and their first adventure together.
* ''WesternAnimation/PeppermintRose'''s first and only special starts with showing how life in the magic land is now, then showing how it got there.
* The 1986 ''[[WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies1980s Pound Puppies]]'' cartoon had the episode "How to Found a Pound", which established how the Puppy Pound was founded, how Cooler and the other Pound Puppies met each other, and how Holly became in charge of the Puppy Pound.
* The ''WesternAnimation/PoundPuppies2010'' episode "Call of the Squirrel Dog" explained Strudel's first meeting with her assistant Mr. Nut Nut and why the Pound Puppies allowed squirrels to help them in their missions to help dogs get loving owners.
* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls Movie'' didn't originally set out for this--the first story pitch was to have been all of the show's main villains fighting with each other over who will rule Townsville. Creator Craig [=McCracken=] found it left little screen time for the girls themselves, so it became an origin story and their haphazard first adventure.
** The episode "Mr. Mojo's Rising" details how the FreakLabAccident that created the Powerpuff Girls also gave him his superpowered brain, as well as the fact that he caused the accident in the first place. TheMovie expands on this, detailing how he built his volcano lair and became the Girls' ArchEnemy.
* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'':
** The beginning of "How We Found Your Sun" reveals how the Propulsion family found Earth.
-->'''Jet''': Well, my mom and dad are, um, how would you say— they write true stories about traveling and exploring around the galaxy. And we were flying across this part of the galaxy, looking for nice, life-friendly planets to visit and write more stories about. And way out in the middle of nowhere, we picked up this primitive radio signal from Earth that had been traveling across space, so we figured you'd still be here. It was a song... and a catchy one! We knew that whoever was out there at the other end of the signal would be life friendly and have a good sense of rhythm. So we followed the radio signal. That's how we found your star, the Sun!
** In a way, "Commander Cressida Begins" acts as one for the InUniverse fictional character. Sydney and Mindy read the first ever issue of the comics, where they see how Cressida used to be a farm girl in Indiana and how she built a rocket and became a commander.
* ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'' has the fourth and fifth episodes, "The Beginning Of Rainbowland" two parter. These episodes reveal how Rainbow Brite, then known as Wisp, first came to Rainbowland, met Twink, Starlite, and the Color Kids, and restored what was a CrapsackWorld to a beautiful land by defeating its ruler, the King of Shadows. This also gave a motivation as to why Murky and Lurky were constantly trying to get rid of Rainbow Brite, as they had been the King's servants.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' had this happen in the episode "Citizen Ghost", which featured flashbacks taking place shortly after the events of [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 the movie]] that served to explain why the Ghostbusters wore multi-colored jumpsuits, why the Containment Unit was larger and of a different design, and how Slimer became their ally.
* The third ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' movie (And second DirectToVideo movie), ''Recess: All Growed Down'' featured an origins story of how the gang all met.
* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' has "Skips' Story" which explains how Skips gained immortality.
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' had the hour-long {{prequel}} episode "Birth of Evil", which detailed Aku's origin, and the original battle between him and Jack's father, along with how Jack's sword was forged, ending with Jack's actual birth and his father deciding they needed "a plan". (Which was used to train Jack as an adult when Aku escaped in the first episode.)
* ''WesternAnimation/SheriffCalliesWildWest'' has the book release ''The Cat Who Tamed the West'', which explains how Callie came to the town of Mean and Messy Corners and took on all the bandits that were terrorizing the town, then lassoed a star for her badge and became sheriff of the renamed Nice and Friendly Corners.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShimmerAndShine'': The episode "The First Wish" is the story of how Shimmer and Shine first became Leah's genies, how her genie bottle necklace came to be, and how she won it at a carnival.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has five of these presented as {{Whole Episode Flashback}}s -- "The Way We Was" (showing how Homer and Marge first met and began dating), "I Married Marge" (which details the circumstances behind their marriage, how Homer came to work at the nuclear power plant, and culminates with the birth of Bart), "Lisa's First Word" (which had the family move to 742 Evergreen Terrace, Lisa's birth, and how Bart dealt with having a younger sibling), "And Maggie Makes Three" (which is about how Homer had to deal with Marge's pregnancy with Maggie), and "The Way We Weren't" (which reveals Homer and Marge's ForgottenFirstMeeting).
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1967'' had two consecutive origin episodes.
** "The Origin of Spider-Man", which revealed the circumstances under which Peter Parker got his powers from the radioactive spider biting him as well as the death of his Uncle Ben at the hands of a burglar that motivated him into using his powers to fight crime.
** "King Pinned", which explained how Peter Parker came to work as a freelance photographer for the Daily Bugle.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAndHisAmazingFriends''
** "The Origin of the Iceman" explains how Iceman started developing his powers as well as his first encounters with Professor X and Spider-Man, the framing device consisting of Iceman inexplicably losing his powers while he, Spider-Man, and Firestar are battling Videoman.
** "A Fire-Star is Born" reveals the origins of Firestar and how she was first recruited by the X-Men, the framing device consisting of the Spider-Friends having to stop the Juggernaut from killing the X-Men.
** "Along Came Spidey" reveals the circumstances of both the radioactive spider bite that gave Spider-Man his powers and the death of his uncle Ben that motivated him to become a crime fighter when the [[WesternAnimation/SpiderMan1981 concurrently airing solo cartoon]] only ever revealed the details of the latter, the framing device consisting of the Spider-Friends having to stop the Shocker after he hurts Aunt May.
** "The Origin of the Spider-Friends" divulges how Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar first became a team.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has several episodes focusing on a character's background, all of which involve a FramingDevice:
** In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E5StoryForSteven "Story for Steven"]], Greg [[HowDadMetMom details how he and Steven's mother, Rose, first met]]. Several other flashback episodes [[SequelEpisode follow up on it]]. Even later on, the ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseFuture'' episode "Mr. Universe" details Greg's childhood, including how he came up with [[ShedTheFamilyName his current surname]], though there's no flashback.
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer "The Answer"]] is Garnet explaining her origin to Steven as a bedtime story. It's a WholeEpisodeFlashback about how [[spoiler:Ruby and Sapphire first met and came to fall in love with each other through fusing into Garnet.]]
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E13YourMotherAndMine "Your Mother and Mine"]] has Garnet giving her account of Rose founding the Crystal Gems. However, most if it was already previously stated to the audience, making it something of a RecapEpisode.
** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E18ASinglePaleRose "A Single Pale Rose"]], besides resolving the question of [[spoiler:Pink Diamond's shattering]], has Pearl showing Steven how she joined the Crystal Gems. [[spoiler:Which includes a more accurate version of Rose's origins.]] [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E19NowWereOnlyFallingApart "Now We're Only Falling Apart"]], the very next episode, follows up by showing Pearl and Rose's early days as Crystal Gems (including [[POVSequel their perspective]] during [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer "The Answer"]]).
* ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters'' had two in the second season: "Riya's Revenge", which centers around Riya's quest to revisit her past and reveals her childhood, her motivation to target Rook and her relationship with Dr. C, and "Rook's Story", which is mostly an extended flashback that chronicles Rook's entire life, and how his actions have impacted nearly everyone in the series, including Riya.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'':
** Superman's origin of being the sole survivor of his home planet Krypton's destruction was revealed in the 1973 series episode "The Planet-Splitter", the ''Challenge of the Superfriends'' episode "Secret Origins of the Super Friends" and the lost season episode "The Krypton Syndrome".
** In addition to Superman's origin, "Secret Origins of the Super Friends" also revealed the origins of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern, as the plot involved the Legion of Doom going back in time and preventing key events from happening to prevent the three Super Friends from existing, which is eventually undone when the rest of the Super Friends find out what has happened and go back in time to correct history and restore their three friends to the timeline.
** ''The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians'' episode "The Fear" revealed Batman's origin of being motivated to become a crimefighter after seeing his parents shot dead in front of him and was notable for being the first time Batman's origin was depicted outside of the comics.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' starts with the team already established. While the origin stories of each individual character are alluded to and explained to varying degrees throughout the series, it isn't until the final season (with the episode "Go!") that the first meeting of these characters is explained.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' parodies this in the fourth season episode "Orangins". The episode has Robin attempt to tell his actual origin story about growing up in the circus before being interrupted by the others, who proceed to make up false origin stories for themselves, much to Robin's exasperation.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012''
** "Tale of the Yokai" gives an in-depth look at the circumstances under which Hamato Yoshi fought Oroku Saki and reveals the cause of the fire that killed Tang Shen and scarred Saki.
** "Tale of Tiger Claw" finally reveals how Tiger Claw became a tiger mutant and how he lost his tail.
** "Lone Rat and Cubs" shows Splinter looking after the Turtles when they were infants and explains why he gave them their specific weapons as well as why they live in the sewers.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''' "The Invisible Hand of Fate" revealed the start of Billy and Pete's friendship and Phantom Limb becoming a supervillain, as well as explain how Brock became the Ventures' bodyguard.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' had this happen in the episode "Gift of Gab" and the TV movie "The Origin of Donnie". The former explained how the Thornberrys first encountered Eliza's future chimpanzee friend Darwin and gave a more detailed explanation for how she gained the ability to talk to animals, while the latter explained the backstory of Donnie and how he came to live with the Thornberrys.
* ''WesternAnimation/WonderPets'' has "How it All Began!", which explains exactly that - showing how Linny was joined by Tuck and Ming-Ming, how they came up with the show's trademark songs, and their first two rescues.
* The ''WesternAnimation/WorldOfQuest'' episode "The Fall of Odyssia" explores how the eponymous Quest came to the service of the royal court -- specifically, becoming Nestor's nanny for life.
* The ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Descent" reveals the origins of Mr. Sinister.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Chapters 19-21 of ''Manga/AhAndMmAreAllSheSays'' are a FlashbackArc to a few years ago, showing how Seiko got interested in eromanga in the first place.
* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' has ''The Second Renaissance'', a two-part short that details the events leading up to the war between man and machine, and machine's subjugation of man which led to the creation of the Matrix.
* The eighth chapter of ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'' (animated as the last segment of the third episode) is mainly about how Mai started to be fascinated by maps, and how does that lead her to geology.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has the spinoff manga ''Attack on Titan: No Regrets'' and its two-part OVA adaptation, which delves into Levi Ackerman's backstory from childhood until he joined the Survey Corps.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' anime:
** Episode 32 "Stars and the Stray" told the story of Rukia Kuchiki's origin, as remembered by Renji Abarai.
** Episode 97 explains how the Bount were created. Soul Reapers were carrying out a project to create immortal souls and an experiment got away from them, causing a number of human beings to become the Bount.
** During the ''Zanpakutō: The Alternate Tale'' arc, Koga's origin story was told in episodes 250 and 251.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** [[spoiler:Chapter 86-87 along with the anime adaptation from the latter half of Episode 56 to the first half of Episode 58 details the secret Past of Eren’s Father Grisha, the world outside the walls and how he became the Attack Titan]]
** [[spoiler:Chapter 122 explains how Ymir became the Founding Titan and how her daughters consuming her flesh to become Titans led to the creation of the Nine Titans and the world of Attack on Titan.]]
* During ''Anime/BurstAngel'', after many episodes of fighting the [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week]], the final four episodes are dedicated to Jo's origins, mainly episode 23.
* The animated film ''Arcadia of My Youth'' provided a canon origin story for Anime/CaptainHarlock, albeit with a liberal dose of RetCon. ''Maetel Legend'' OVA, meanwhile, was an origin story for both Maetel from ''Manga/GalaxyExpress999'' and Emeraldas from ''Anime/QueenEmeraldas'' (and other assorted Anime/{{Leijiverse}} media), as well as a FullyAbsorbedFinale for Yayoi Yukino from ''Anime/QueenMillennia'': Yayoi [[RogueProtagonist becomes]] La Andromeda Promethium, the evil mechanoid queen, and sends her non-identical twin daughters Maetel and Emeraldas into exile on a secret quest to find a way to defeat her.
* The "Teresa of the Faint Smile" arc of ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' tells Clare's origin.
* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Episode 5 and 6 of Season 2, are an origin story for how Kiritsugu became the way he is.
* Pretty much every character in ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' has at least one flashback showing a significant moment that lead to them being the way they are. Most notable are the flashbacks of how Kyoko ended up meeting and marrying Katsyua and how [[spoiler:Akito's mother got married to her father and manipulated him into raising Akito as a boy.]]
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
** There was quite a big arc in the manga that explained Hohenheim's and the Homunculus' origins.
** Not long after the starting chapters, the story also flashes back to how Ed and Al ended up in their situation.
* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' is a weird case. It starts InMediasRes and then jumps back in time twice: part 2 is chronologically the earliest chapter and is an origins episode for Mikiya and Shiki's ''relationship'', of all things; while part 4 is the origins episode for the Shiki we see throughout most of the series--the composite personality built from the remains of her original split personalities that were shattered at the end of part 2.
* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': The one-volume (10 chapter) manga ''Manga/BadCompany'' shows how Eikichi Onizuka and Ryuji Danma first met in middle school, and got into the world of UsefulNotes/{{Bosozoku}} gangs. It was actually published before the first chapter of GTO, as it's a prequel to ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'', the manga that GTO is a sequel to.
* The last chapter in the fourth volume of ''Manga/HidamariSketch''--one of the few not in {{yonkoma}} format--was spent on explaining the origins of Natsume's {{tsundere}} attitude towards Sae.
* Written in [[TransparentCloset Hiroki]]'s angle, the first half of Chapter 27 of ''Manga/IThinkOurSonIsGay'' talks about how Hiroki and his crush Daigo know each other in the first place.

** Anime/LupinIIIPart1 was the first series adapted from the manga. It explains where the ''Zantetsuken'' comes from, as well as why Goemon joins the gang.
** ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' is the origin story for Fujiko Mine specifically, but also tells the story of how Lupin and Jigen meet. Inside the series is also an Origins Episode for Oscar, telling how Zenigata found him, and took care of him.
** ''Anime/LupinIIIEpisode0FirstContact'' is yet ''another'' Origins episode, telling the story of how EveryoneMeetsEveryone, and how Goemon finds the ''Zantetsuken''.
* The second [[AudioAdaptation Sound Stage]] for the original ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' series is set two years before the series and delves into the origins of its antagonists, the DarkMagicalGirl Fate, her familiar Arf, and their late mentor Rynith. It is also the chronologically earliest canon installment of the series, being set in the year 0063 by Midchildan reckoning, whereas the main time frame of the franchise starts in 0065.
* In ''Manga/MagicOfStella'', the second half of Episode 7 is about how Tamaki and Yumine became ChildhoodFriends, and how Tamaki got an interest in games (in the general sense) in the first place.
* ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'' (the movies, not the manga as it's a much broader retelling of the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the original Gundam anime]]) is one big example of this trope for Char Aznable. The story, given it was a direct manga to movie adaptation, has some discrepancies with the ''other'' origin story being told, that of the Mobile Suit, so it's canon to the main anime in more of a BroadStrokes fashion than it was advertised as.
* ''Anime/MekakucityActors'': Episodes 6 and 7 serve as joint-origin episodes for Ene and Konoha (episode 6 focusing more on the former, episode 7 on the latter), who used to be [[spoiler:Takane Enomoto]] and [[spoiler:Haruka Kokonose]], respectively, how they ended up in their current bodes and their ties to Shintaro and Ayano.
* In ''Manga/{{Mushishi}}'', the story "One-Eyed Fish" explains how Ginko got his unusual appearance of silvery-white hair and green eyes. Oh, and also his name.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' does this as part of its following the conventions of western ComicBooks. Stories that delve into the backstories and motiviations of specific characters will explicitly be labeled "(Character Name): The Origin"; the first chapter/episode was this for TheHero Izuku "Deku" Midoriya, while subsequent stories have focused on his most prominent rivals Katsuki Bakugo and Shoto Todoroki.
* ''Manga/PleaseTellMeGalkoChan'' has Chapters 16 and 17 (Episode 12 in the anime), which covers how Galko, Otako and Ojou became the trio of friends they are now.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** The episode "Go West, Young Meowth" explores Meowth's origins, in particular the fact that he taught himself to speak human language in an attempt to impress a female Meowth named Meowzy. However, this backfired when Meowzy told him he was a "freak".
** The ''XY'' Episode "A Trip Down Memory Train" explains how Clemont first met and caught Bunnelby.
** "Holy Matrimony!" deals with the origin of James with who his family is.
** Jessie was the only member of the Team Rocket trio to not have one, probably because she has more of a MultipleChoicePast. There is, however, ''Radio/PokemonTheBirthOfMewtwo'', which goes into detail about her mother, Miyamoto, which was itself an origin story of Mewtwo.
** The very first episode of ''[[Anime/PokemonJourneysTheSeries Journeys]]'' is the origin of Ash's Pikachu, showing how he started out as a baby Pichu four years prior to coming into Ash's possession.
* The tenth episode of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is dedicated to [[DarkMagicalGirl Homura]]'s backstory, finally explicitly explaining her mysterious powers, behavior, and motivations.
** The first volume of the spin-off manga ''The Different Story'' functions as one for both Mami and Kyoko - specifically focusing on how they drifted apart after [[spoiler: Mr. Sakura's PaterFamilicide]].
* The first chapter of ''Manga/OnePiece'' shows how Luffy got his powers and his inspiration to be a pirate in the first chapter, which the anime changes to flashback a few episodes in. A couple of story arcs down the line and a flashback arc fleshes it out a bit more showcasing further motivation to why he does what he does. The rest of the crew stories are told individually as we either first meet then or they're on the verge of joining soon.
* It's not until near the end of ''Manga/RedRiver1995'' that Urhi's TearJerker of a backstory is revealed, along with why he's so loyal to Nakia.
* ''LightNovel/ShinSakuraTaisenTheNovelHizakuraNoKoro'' deals with the origin of the new Imperial Combat Revue from ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019''.
* The final two episodes of ''Anime/ShamanicPrincess'' are {{whole episode flashback}}s that detail the lead-up to the events of the preceding episodes.
* The entirety of ''Anime/SpacePatrolLuluco'' is revealed to be one for [[spoiler: The Creator/StudioTrigger mascot "Trigger-chan".]]
* The short film ''Anime/TamagotchiHontoNoHanashi'' serves as one for the ''Franchise/{{Tamagotchi}}'' franchise, showing the events that led to Professor Banzo's AccidentalDiscovery of the Tamagotchi species.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'': Hiei's past is alluded to throughout the series, but isn't shown in detail until the "Three Kings" arc, which explains where he was born, how he and his sister were seperated, how he became a notorious criminal, and how he acquired his Jagan Eye.

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'':
** The third season episode "Origins" is a WholeEpisodeFlashback of how Fat Doc and Slim Doc came to meet and become friends. The flashback, which begins when the docs find a picture of them from when they were kids while being carried away in a police car, also provides the origins of a couple other characters.
** When Fat Doc and Slim Doc arrived at the same school, the latter was quite a bully to the former, only making friends with him after an incident involving the two accidentally messing up a science experiment their teacher was performing.
** A science incident is also [[spoiler:the catalyst for the birth of Lamput himself, who is seen at the end of the episode having formed from within a beaker]].
** Once the docs befriend each other, they decide to bully a specific round-looking kid in their school. [[spoiler:That kid grows up to be the policeman who makes recurring appearances throughout the series and often arrests and beats up the docs - including in this episode where he thinks they robbed a jewelry store and brings them to the police station for it. Guy's held quite a grudge on the docs for all the bullying they subjected him to.]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen'' introduced the world to Franchise/SpiderMan, explaining how he got his powers, his personality and backstory.
* ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy was reated by author miscommunication (someone put Wonder Girl in ComicBook/TeenTitans not realizing her earlier appearances were ''teenage Franchise/WonderWoman in the past''), she had to have her origin told after the fact. But no two writers seem to agree on what it should be, and by now she is nigh unusable; [[ContinuitySnarl the question "who the hell is she?" is now]] [[ContinuitySnarl/DonnaTroy unanswerable]]. Every attempt to fix it just tosses another {{Retcon}} on the already-enormous pile. However, the last CosmicRetcon has left the slate blank for a single origin to be established, and stick. Despite previous hope for Donna's origin being settled post Flashpoint they handed her a new origin that is already coming apart at the seams as of [[ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth Rebirth]].
* Franchise/{{Batman}}'s origin story was first laid out in ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsNumber33'', and it's been revisited quite a number of times afterward in various Batman stories.
* ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' T.O.S. #13: [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ13/DisplayOQ13.html "The Secret of the Wolfriders."]]
* ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' has had two very well-received ones:
** First was ''Judge Death: Boyhood of a Superfiend'', commissioned for the launch of the ''Judge Dredd Megazine''. In it Judge Death employs a journalist to interview him and spread his message, to explain to the people of the world why they are better off dead. Death was a creepy little boy.
** Later there was ''Origins'' to mark the 30th anniversary of Judge Dredd where Dredd explains the secrets and history of the Dredd universe (straightening up the continuity along the way) whilst on a mission to recover something that might unravel those secrets.
* ''ComicBook/XMen'': The ''Wolverine Origin'' comic. And TheMovie, for that matter.
* Creator/DCComics had an entire series, ''ComicBook/SecretOrigins'', in which each issue was an OriginsIssue for a different character (either one who had never been given a proper origin in their own series, or an established character for whom DC wanted to establish a new baseline origin following a ContinuitySnarl or similar problem).
* Likewise, Marvel's ''Uncanny Origins''.
* ComicBook/ThePhantomStranger had four of these in the same issue, [[MultipleChoicePast all contradicting each other]].
* ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' had two long-running stories in this vein: "Portrait of a Mutant" examined Johnny's early life, his time in the mutant resistance, and how he eventually took up bounty hunting; it was framed as Johnny telling Wulf and the Gronk why he's so eager to claim the small bounty on Nelson Bunker Kreelman. "Max Bubba", framed as Wulf's reminiscences, told the story of how Johnny and Wulf first met and teamed up.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** Although Superman first appeared in ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNumber1'', his origin was briefly recapped in one single page. ''ComicBook/SupermanNumberOne'' told his backstory in full length for the first time.
** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton'' is both ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s first appearance and first origin story, telling how she was born in Argo City after Krypton's explosion, and how and why she was sent to Earth.
** ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'' and ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton'' rewrote Supergirl's Post-Crisis and Post-Flashpoint origin, respectively, changing details such as her age and the circumstances of her meeting Superman.
** ''ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy'' is about how Lex Luthor met ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and started hating him.
** ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52'' is about the early days of Post-Flashpoint Superman.
** ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'' tells the backstory of Lena Thorul (birth name: Lena Luthor), the origin of her psychic powers, and the beginning of her friendship with Linda Danvers.
** ''ComicBook/AllStarSuperman'', as part of its distillation of the Superman mythos into its most basic elements, covers Superman's origin on the first page... in four panels and eight words: "Doomed planet. Desperate scientists. Last hope. Kindly couple."
* The ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' book ''How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When He Was a Little Boy'' is all about the [[AsYouKnow much-mentioned]] incident where Obelix fell into a cauldron of Getafix's SuperStrength potion, causing it to have a permanent effect on him.
* The focus of ''Zero Month'' in the ''ComicBook/New52''.
* ''ComicBook/AgeOfTheSentry'' waits until [[GrandFinale its very final issue]] before revealing the true origin of its title character, his villains, and everything about why the setting is the way it is.
* Issue 7 of ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' deals with Beetle's origins as [[spoiler:Tombstone]]'s daughter and how she went from a highly-educated woman with steep criminal ambitions to an up-and-coming supervillain. Issue 14 dealt with Overdrive's origins as a racecar driver who dreamed of becoming a superhero.
* ''ComicBook/{{Serenity}}: The Shepherd's Tale'' tells Book's origin story.
* ComicBook/TheYesterdayQuest was the origin story of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.
* ''ComicBook/{{Diabolik}}'' has a few such episodes, most of them published in the "Il Grande Diabolik" series:
** "Diabolik, Who Are You?" is Diabolik's ''first''. Yes, first, because here Diabolik only explains where he came from, glossing over the period between him leaving King's Island and arriving to Clerville and refusing to tell some parts. It's also the only one in general published in the regular series;
** "Diabolik and Ginko: Storm of Memories" is the story of the first encounter between the titular VillainProtagonist and [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist his greatest opponent]];
** "Eva Kant: When Diabolik Wasn't There" is Eva's;
** "Ginko: Before Diabolik" is Ginko's;
** "The Years Lost in Blood" is Diabolik's second, showing how he acquired some of his skills, his trademark suit and Walter Dorian's identity;
** "The Mysteries of Vallenberg" includes a sequence that provides Altea's;
** "I Am Diabolik" is Diabolik's third, about his arrival in Clerville;
** "The Shadow of the Moon" includes sequences that complete Diabolik's (about his time at King's Island), Ginko's and Eva's;
** "The True Story of King's Island" provides one for King, Diabolik's father figure. [[spoiler: It also shows that it wasn't by chance that King's men saved the infant Diabolik from a shipwreck... And that was before he found out Diabolik's real identity, unknown even to the King of Terror himself.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has several of these in its [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW comic series]]
** A lot of them were specifically toward the villains. Sunset Shimmer's (the antagonist of the first ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls Equestria Girls]]'' movie) origins are told in the first annual and a five issue mini-series called ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFiendshipIsMagic Fiendship is Magic]]'' went into the backstory of Tirek, King Sombra, The Dazzlings (the antagonists of the second ''Equestria Girls'' movie, ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]''), Nightmare Moon (after she was banished), and Queen Chrysalis.
** A two-part arc showing how Shining Armor and Princess Cadence first met.
** A comic showing how Twilight first came to take care of Spike after he was born.
* There was an issue of the UK G1 ''ComicBook/MyLittlePony'' comics that showcased the origins of the Twinkle-eyed ponies. They were kept by a wizard as slaves and forced to live underground mining gems. They end up becoming blind due to the lack of light. Applejack saves them and they begin to use gems as replacements for their eyes.
* ''ComicBook/BlackMoonChronicles'': Several characters from the main series have been given their origin story albums, namely [[LoveableRogue Pilou]], [[BoisterousBruiser Ghorghor Bey]], and [[ThePaladin Lord Parsifal]].
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' has the "Genesis of a Hero" storyline (Issues 288-291), which shows how Sonic and the other Freedom Fighters came together as a team in the new backstory of the [[CosmicRetcon post-Super Genesis Wave]] continuity.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Futurama}}'' comics give Zapp Brannigan a backstory in "Captain Brannigan: The Windbag Soldier". [[spoiler:Fry, Leela, Bender, and Amy learn from Kif that Zapp actually used to be an outstanding soldier (both as [[FatherToHisMen a person]] and as a fighter), so the government decided to replace their army with Zapp clones, turning to a younger Dr. Wernstrom to clone Zapp. However, a jealous Professor Farnsworth interfered with the process, turning the clones into deformed freaks, and the backlash damaged Zapp's DNA, turning him into the egotistical, incompetent, perverted, gluttonous idiot he is today. The government tried to cover up the disaster by sending Zapp and the clones on suicide missions, but Zapp survived with his dumb luck. Zapp then blackmailed them into making him supreme commander of the Earthican army and "Captain for Life", threatening to let the failures known if he didn't. Kif also explains that Zapp designed his uniform and befriended Kif when he offered to train him, hence why Kif doesn't leave Zapp's side.]]
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'':
** Issue #45 features Beast Boy's and Cyborg's origins.
** Issue #47 features Robin's origin.
* ''ComicBook/DoomsdayClock''[='=]s fourth chapter, "Walk on Water" is about the second Rorschach, A.K.A. [[spoiler:Reggie Long, the son of the psychologist who attempted to rehabilitate the original Rorschach during the latter's ''own'' origin chapter in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'']].
* In ''ComicBook/RainbowBrite'', the first arc is about how Wisp became Rainbow Brite.
* ''ComicBook/ScoobyApocalypse'':
** Issue #17 fleshes out Daphne and Fred's backstories.
** Issue #27 reveals the origin of Secret Squirrel, Morocco Mole and Doctor O. [[spoiler:Basil Dinkley experimented on animals for a government project called "Operation: Evolve" where animals would be able to become spies so no humans would have to risk their lives on those missions again. Because the first test subjects went through an identity crisis wondering if they're humans or animals, Secret and Morocco were hypnotized into believing they're humans. Doctor O was also hypnotized but managed to break free. She eventually tries to tell them the truth but they don't believe her.]]
* The fourth issue of ''[[ComicBook/TheAdventuresOfBarryWeenBoyGenius The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius: Monkey Tales]]'' reveals how Barry Ween first met his best friend Jeremy Ramirez.
* ''ComicBook/TalesToAstonish'' #44, besides featuring the debut of ComicBook/TheWasp, tells the origin of Doctor Pym, who was initially conceived for issue #27 as a OneShotCharacter with a backstory limited to "other scientists dismissed his theories" before being reinvented as the first ComicBook/AntMan for issue #35.
* ''ComicBook/RickAndMortyOni'':
** Issue 34 is this for Krombopulos Michael. He got his name when he was recruited for a government strike force. Since they already had a Michael, the commander started calling him Krombopulos Michal after his birth town to distinguish them. He became a hired assassin because, on the night before the mission, Micheal was unwilling to wait, entered the compound, and killed everyone himself. The next day, after seeing the level of devastation he left, the rest of the strike force refused to work with him, so he went freelance.
** Issue 44 is explicitly called "Origin of the Vindicators". The TV episode "Vindicators 3: The Return of World Ender" is revealed to be named so because it's the third time the [[AvengersAssemble Vindicators have assembled]]; Vindicators 1 was one of Rick's and Morty's offscreen adventures that they allude to multiple times, and they find out that Vindicators 2 happened without them. This comic issue covers Vindicators 1, showing how Rick and Morty met them and what happened on that adventure (which is explicitly stated by the narrator at the beginning).
* ''ComicBook/GIJoeDevilsDue'' had a few miniseries and one-shots titled ''Declassified'', which served to retell or explain the origins of key members of Cobra and G.I. Joe.
* The "Origins" arc of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2011'' takes place five years before the rest of the ''ComicBook/New52'' Universe and thus are about the origin of the League ([[AdaptationOriginConnection and]] ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}) respectively.
* ''ComicBook/BatmanZeroYear'' details the New 52 version of Batman's first year.
* ''ComicBook/MicronautsImage'' had the origins of its version of Baron Karza explained in the miniseries ''Micronauts: Karza''.
* ComicBook/AmericaChavez's origin as a denizen of the Utopian Parallel was first revealed in issue 14 of ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers''[='=]s ''ComicBook/MarvelNOW'' run, and her early life on Earth was explored in the ''America Chavez: Made In the U.S.A.'' miniseries.
* The second issue of the ''ComicBook/{{Ewoks}}'' comic book served to explain how Kneesa obtained her pet Baga.
* The Annual issue of ''ComicBook/RomIDW'' reveals the origin of the ComicBook/HasbroComicUniverse's interpretation of Rom the Space Knight.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' fic ''Fanfic/AHistoryOfMagic'', Chapter 12 gives one for [[spoiler: Walpurgisnacht.]]
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'': Chapter 20 of the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past'', serves as one for Doctor Strange, with him finally explaining just who he really is, and why he is the way he is, doing what he does.
* ''Fanfic/FutariWaPrettyCureBlueMoon'': Though the plot moves on as the episodes go, there are episodes centered around the backstory of various characters and how they affect the present.
* The ''Series/DoctorWho''/''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesInAnAdventureWithScientists'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/ThePiratesverse An Adventure With Aliens]]'' also functions as the story of how [[spoiler:Strax and the Doctor first met.]]
* The ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' has the fittingly-titled Origins Arc, which goes into detail the previously hinted at backstory of Discord and the Princesses, where they came from, and how they came to be in Equestria.
** And this was immediately preceded by the Generational Transitions Arc, which explained why Pinkie Pie is so different by revealing that she's [[spoiler: the SoleSurvivor of the G3 universe, which the Alicorns and Draconnequi [[CosmicRetcon erased]].]]
** "[[AscendedFanon A Fading Future]]" serves retroactively as one for [[spoiler: [[FutureMeScaresMe Nightmare Eclipse/Paradox]]]].
** Shining Armor 16.5 explains the backstory of [[BigBad General-Admiral Makarov]] [[spoiler: or rather, the one the [[EldritchAbomination Shadow of Chernobull]] created for him]].
** "Origins: Queen Chrysalis" naturally serves as one for Chrysalis.
** After finally watching Season 3, Alex Warlorn wrote one for [[EvilOverlord King Sombra]], depicting him as the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification living embodiment]] of the crystal ponies' collective fears, brought into existence by one of [[EldritchAbomination Discord's cousins]].
** "The Rise of Tirek" covers Lord Tirek's origins and how he became the monster he's known as.
** Queen Majesty's origins story details her first fight with evil forces and how she got her golden horseshoes.
* ''Fanfic/ShadowsAwakening'': Chapter 11 is primarily The Phantom's StartOfDarkness -- showing how he [[FromNobodyToNightmare went from an ordinary warrior to leader of the Shadowkhan to the vengeance filled shade he is now]] -- shows how Tarakudo took over the Shadowkhan from him, and even reveals how Shendu got his claws on the Ninja Khan mask.
* Chapter 22 of ''[[Fanfic/PokemonMysteryDungeonReflectingBalance Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Reflecting Balance]]'' revealed the backstory of one of the three main characters, namely Blitz the Shinx, and why he left his old home.
** Chapters 34-40 reveal some backstory about the town and the main villain.
* There's one for Count Logan in Chapter 11 of ''Fanfic/TheEndOfEnds''.
* The ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' 'episode' "Confessions of a Prank-Loving Tiger" shows how Socrates came to meet Calvin and Hobbes.
* The ''Toys/RockRaiders'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/{{LMS}} The Engineer]]'' is an origins story for Sparks.
* The ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' TrollFic ''[[Fanfic/ITSMYLIFEExpandedUniverse Post-SCrash Session 2: The Belorussian Aliens]]'' acts as one to ''Post-[=SCrash=] Session 1''.
* ''Fanfic/MegaManRecut: Origins'' is one for Duo, Ra Thor, and Dr. Cossack.
* The ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Midnight}}'' serves as one, focusing on Midnight, the author's OriginalCharacter.
* The Interludes in the ''Anime/GirlsUndPanzer''[=/=]''Manga/{{Saki}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/NecessaryToWin'' function as this, with the characters in question telling their stories to others in the present, as well as flashbacks. Paths Toward Victory is this for several characters.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/NegaverseChronicles Negaverse Chronicles: Nightfall in the Negaverse]]'' serves as one for Negaduck and the Friendly Four, including Quackerjack whose counterpart in the "other" universe lacked one.
* The ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' fanfic ''Fanfic/OsanaReimu'' is one for Reimu, her mother and Rumia. The same author made ''Fanfic/{{Suikakasen}}'', focusing on Kasen and Yoshika while also giving brief glimpses at the pasts of Seiga and Suika.
* In the ''Fanfic/PowerRangersGPX'' series, ''Power Rangers [=GPX=] [=SIU=]: Start Your Engines'' is one for ''Power Ranges [=GPX=] [=SIU=]''.
* Chapter 4 of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{PSHAW}}'' explains how the PPG changed from their original look (as they hadn't aged a day until what happened in that chapter.
* Chapter 14 of the ''Anime/GuiltyCrown'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ShacklesOfGuilt'' gives us Funeral Parlor's history.
* ''Secret Files of OWCA'' describes the formation of Fanfic/TheMUSHUVerse's equivalent of the [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb Organisation Without a Cool Acronym]].
* In ''Fanfic/TimeFixersNicktoonsOfTheFuture'', "Nicktoon Genesis" is one for the Nicktoons, and "Nicktoon Genesis 2" is one for the Nicktoon Cadets.
* In the ''Franchise/LiloAndStitch'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/StarlightSeries Alpha and Omega]]'', the origins of {{Original Character}} 419 is explored, as well as some of the other experiments.
* ''Snowflake Shoe-Hare'' provides one for a recurring character of the ''Fanfic/TriptychContinuum'' series, making his wings into the results of a birth defect injury. (In this continuity, nearly all pegasi foals have hard shells of translucent tissue called ''caps'' covering the wings at birth, protecting fragile bones from damage caused by the pressure of contractions. Snowflake was a capless birth who survived.) His unusual build is explained as a [[{{Determinator}} deliberate effort]] to substitute for missing wing surface area with [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower raw power]].
* In ''Fanfic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', Chapter 89 deals with the origins of Bass and Quadirium, while Chapter 153 deals with Duo and the Stardroids' backstory.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''Blog/AskKingSombra''. After several characters told their backstories, Coffee Talk attempts to tell hers, but Sombra demands he be inserted into the story so as to not blow his cover (the others think the two are dating, after all), resulting in him flat out changing the story. Coffee Talk gets so sick of it that she kicks him out of the story [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome by chopping his representation in the story]] [[http://40.media.tumblr.com/abae5d789473ab4378a3db13640ea1ee/tumblr_n0apsorVIq1rj4ht7o9_1280.jpg out of it]].
* Two of the ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'' forum's literary challenges have had origin story prompts. Prompt #2 of [[http://perfectworld.vanillaforums.com/discussion/1160746/literary-challenge-66-the-xindi-paradox Literary Challenge #66: "The Xindi Paradox"]] asked you to write your captain's origin story (one entry with its own page is ''Fanfic/FromBajorToTheBlack'', for Captain Kanril Eleya), while prompt #3 of [[http://www.arcgames.com/en/forums#/discussion/1192827/unofficial-literary-challenge-13-in-a-d-2410-war-was-beginning Unofficial Literary Challenge #13: "In A.D. 2410, War Was Beginning"]] asked for the origin story of a bridge officer (entries included ''Fanfic/EmaelMosekhesailho'', for Sahuel t'Khnialmnae).
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfShadows'': Chapter 8 is a partial example, as one long scene features [[ActionGirl Yasashi]], [[BadassPacifist Nonki]], and [[ImmortalitySeeker Himitsu]] sharing backstories and reasons for joining [[HeroAntagonist Rokutaro's]] cause.
* ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' has many "Gaiden" tie-in oneshots that focus on the past of many characters. These include [[VillainEpisode even villains]], with some of them featuring their StartOfDarkness.
* ''Blog/TheRoyalSketchbook'''s side-comic ''Ascension'' is an origin story for Celestia and Luna from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. They were born 2000 years ago as Earth Ponies.
* ''Fanfic/FreshBlood'' is a ''Jem'' fanfic about how The Misfits formed.
* ''Fanfic/HumbleBeginnings'' is a ''RWBY'' fanfic that gives Ruby and Yang's pet dog Zwei an origin story.
* ''Fanfic/{{Paradise}}'' is an origin fanfic about Celestia and Luna. It shows them being born Earth ponies millenia prior to the series starting and shows how they became alicorn.
* ''Fanfic/IveGotYourBack'' is a ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' fanfic about how Pearl and Marina formed Off the Hook.
* The ''[[WesternAnimation/TheOctonauts Octonauts]]'' fanfic ''Fanfic/JuniorOfficers''has the chapter "If All Else Fails", which shows how Deborah became an Octonaut.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/MonstersUniversity'' shows how [[WesternAnimation/MonstersInc Mike and Sully]] became a scaring duo.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/GodzillaVsKingGhidorah'': Through the use of TimeTravel, the story showcases exactly how Godzilla came to be, what species he is (a surviving dinosaur known as Godzillasaurus), and why he has a grudge on humans (he was severely wounded by soldiers encroaching on his territory in World War II), specifically for the Heisei continuity. Interesting, his origin is also ''altered'', with the same time travellers moving the Godzillasaurus from his island home (to try and prevent Godzilla from being created) and moving him into the ocean. [[InSpiteOfANail It didn't work]], because a nuclear submarine sinking mutates the Godzillasaurus into Godzilla instead, creating a StableTimeLoop.
* An unusual case: The first ten minutes of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' depict a young Boy Scout Indy trying to save a relic from a gang of bandits, which ends up demonstrating the source of his [[WeaponOfChoice interest in the bullwhip,]] [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes his fear of snakes,]] [[IndyPloy his gift for improvising action,]] [[ContrivedCoincidence and finally]] where he got his [[NiceHat famous hat.]] Then George Lucas realized how much fun he had making the sequence, and managed to turn it into a full-on television series: ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles''. Chronologically, ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'' takes place before ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', but doesn't show any origins.
* The Daniel Craig ''Film/JamesBond'' films explain both the origins of Bond, as well as a ContinuityReboot of the film franchise.
* ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' serves as this to ''Film/KingKong'', though divorced from the [[Film/KingKong1933 1933]] and [[Film/KingKong2005 2005]] continuities.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'', in possession of NegativeContinuity, has a weird relationship with introduction episodes, prequels, and CharacterDevelopment.
** ''Film/Lupin2014'' features the reason why the Lupin gang (including Zenigata!) gets together in the first place, with Lupin dragging them all into one big heist against an AssholeVictim.
** ''Film/StrangePsychokineticStrategy'' is the tale of Jigen finding Lupin III after Lupin II died, and Lupin discovering the beautiful Fujiko.
* ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' was written as the explanation for ''Series/TheMuppetShow.'' During a FramingDevice (the muppets in a theater), Kermit makes clear that [[HandWave some artistic liberties have been taken,]] [[ContinuitySnarl especially since early episodes of the show contradict what's shown in the film.]]
-->'''Robin:''' Uncle Kermit, is this how the Muppets really got started?\\
'''Kermit:''' Well, it's sort of approximately how it happened.
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': The [[TheMovie cinematic]] [[GrandFinale series finale]] begins with Miss Brooks arriving in [[EverytownAmerica Madison]] and meeting Mrs. Davis, Mr. Conklin and Mr. Boynton. This is something of a {{Retcon}} from the original radio pilot, where Miss Brooks is already working at Madison High School when Mr. Conklin replaces the mild-mannered Mr. Darwin as principal.
* ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' was originally going to be this for ''Film/{{Alien}}'' but has since evolved into something else, although there are still connections with the ''Franchise/{{Alien}}'' franchise (such as the presence of the Weyland Corporation and androids... [[spoiler:and telling the history and purpose of the Space Jockeys]]).
* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' showcases a scenario explaining how [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] entered the human realm and met — and fought — Dr. Robotnik for the first time.
* Part of the reason for the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy was to give specific accounts for how Anakin Skywalker became a Jedi and how he ended up becoming Darth Vader.
* As evident by the titles, ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' and ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' (although both works had MASSIVE amounts of ContinuitySnarl, especially with each other!)

[[folder:Literature]]
* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' Literature/PastDoctorAdventures novel ''Business Unusual'' by Gary Russell told the story of Mel's first meeting with the Doctor, which her introductory TV season had neglected to depict due to TimeyWimeyBall shenanigans in-universe and TroubledProduction chaos behind the scenes.
* ''Literature/TheQContinuum'' shows where a few of the enemies the crew of the original starship ''Enterprise'' faced came from. They were summoned through the Guardian of Forever by 0.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'': ''[[Literature/StarWarsThrawn Thrawn]]'' gives the new-canon backstory of the titular Grand Admiral, including how he attained the rank. It ends shortly before his formal introduction into new canon in the third season of ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]''.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': ''Literature/OutboundFlight'' deals with the origin of Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn, and ties ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'' with the prequel film trilogy and the ''Literature/NewJediOrder''.
* ''Literature/TortallUniverse'': ''Literature/TheNumairChronicles'' is an {{interquel}} telling the backstory of TheArchmage Numair Salmalín, who first appeared in ''Literature/TheImmortals''.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
** ''Literature/WarriorCatsPrequelSuperEditions'' each star a different important cat from the original series, one from each clan. Bluestar, Tallstar, Crookedstar, and Yellowfang each get their own novel that starts when they are very young kits and typically ends sometime during the events of series one.
** BigBad Scourge gets his own manga: ''Manga/WarriorCatsTheRiseOfScourge''.
** ''Literature/WarriorCatsDawnOfTheClans'' is an origins arc for the clans as a whole.
** ''Literature/WarriorCatsSkyClanSaga'' tells of the origins of [[spoiler:Sol.]]
* [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] has its origins told in the sixth book in the series, ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew.'' Just in time too; the series ends with book seven.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
** Angel's origin was first showed in both parts of "Becoming" but ''Series/{{Angel}}'' elaborated on it in "[[Recap/AngelS01E15TheProdigal The Prodigal]]" and "[[Recap/AngelS01E18FiveByFive Five by Five]]".
*** "Becoming" also gave some more of Buffy's origin story (at least, within the TV show, given the movie is largely considered discontinuity by the TV series) showing her first meeting with her Watcher, Merrick, and her first patrol and slaying.
** "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]" was Spike's official origin episode. "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E17LiesMyParentsToldMe Lies My Parents Told Me]]" gave more details about that origin. And the cross-over episode with ''Series/{{Angel}}'' that "Fool For Love" was a part of, called "Darla", was the origin episode for, well, Darla.
*** Related - Drusilla's origin and siring are described on ''Buffy'' in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E7LieToMe Lie To Me]]", and shown in flashbacks in the ''Angel'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS02E05DearBoy Dear Boy]]".
** While Anya talked about past exploits often, it wasn't until the Season 7 episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E5Selfless Selfless]]" that we saw her full origin story.
* Notably averted in ''Series/BurnNotice'': the made-for-TV-movie "The Fall of Sam Axe" pointedly showed how Sam managed to get his honorable discharge from the Navy [=SEALs=] despite his womanizing attitude, but in the timeline of the movie, he already knows SuperSpy Michael Westen, seeking advice with his personal problems. Throughout the entire series, it's never been revealed exactly how a CIA spy and a Navy SEAL met and became best friends.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' eventually showed us the backstory as to how Sara became a CIA operative, starting as a young teen when she was a grifter with her father.
** [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming "Chuck Versus the Tic Tac"]] reveals Casey's origins: [[spoiler: A Marine Corps sniper in Honduras named Alexander Coburn who faked his death to join a special forces unit]]. Unfortunately, it left quite a ContinuitySnarl that was never really addressed.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' had the aptly titled [[Recap/CommunityS4E12HeroicOrigins "Heroic Origins"]], in which Abed charts the group's connection through random interactions before they all started at Greendale, eventually leading to reveal how they all came to choose the school.
* On ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Second Doctor story [[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames "The War Games"]] finally revealed Gallifrey and the Time Lords, after six years of the Doctor's species being unknown.
** It only took 11 years and four Doctors battling the Daleks before we finally got to see [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks how they were created by Davros]], after which point he became a recurring villain in Dalek stories.
** Between the ''Doctor Who'' TV series and ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio adventures, we've had the [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoTLSS4E3LordsOfTheRedPlanet Ice Warriors']] origin story with the Second Doctor, the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Daleks']] origin story with the Fourth Doctor, the [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho034SpareParts Cybermen's]] origin story with the Fifth Doctor, the [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoTLSS3E6TheFirstSontarans Sontarans']] origin story with the Sixth Doctor.
** Nearly everyone who worked on the series prefers to ''avert'' this with the Doctor. Even after 50+ years and 38 seasons (as of 2021), the number of formal revelations of who they were before running away from Gallifrey and became the Doctor and why they fled the planet can be counted on one hand, and their real name remains a mystery. Their granddaughter Susan remains the only relative of theirs depicted onscreen or even named, even though they had to have had a wife and children. Occasionally hints are dropped about their past -- the Twelfth Doctor confessed in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent "Heaven Sent"]] he fled Gallifrey out of fear of ''something'' rather than the boredom he usually claims -- but nothing more, leaving the title of the show a never-to-be-answered question. The two attempts at this trope for the Doctor, the novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresLungbarrow Lungbarrow]]'' in TheNineties' Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse and the episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E10TheTimelessChildren The Timeless Children]]" at the beginning of TheNewTwenties, both provoked very mixed fan reactions, and both retcon the depiction of Gallifrey in preceding televised canon.
* The ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' episode "[[Recap/FireflyE08OutOfGas Out of Gas]]" features flashbacks showing how each of the main characters ended up on Serenity (except for Book, Simon and River, who came aboard in the pilot episode). Zoe was Mal's old Army buddy from the Unification Wars, Wash signed on as pilot right after Mal and Zoe found ''Serenity'', Jayne was a bandit who tried to kill Mal (until Mal convinced him to turn against his two partners by offering to pay him better), and Kaylee replaced the ship's original engineer after Mal [[NakedFirstImpression found her having sex with him]], and discovered that she knew more about engines than he did.
* ''Series/ForeverKnight'': Nick's vampire origin was shown in the pilot, "Dark Knight".
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' had this in the episode "You Can Go Home Again" which is also the season 3 finale. In this episode, Frasier celebrates his show's three-year anniversary and Roz offers him a videotape which contains his first broadcast. As he goes home, Frasier listens the tape and we see what happened when he arrived to Seattle, met Roz for the first time and reconciled with Niles and later Martin.
* The ''Series/{{Greek}}'' episode "Freshman Daze" gave the background stories for Casey, Cappie and Evan (with more information on Ashleigh and Frannie) through flashbacks to their freshman year, including the origins of the love triangle that drove most of their storylines.
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' had "Family Tree" for Duncan, and for recurring characters, there was "Legacy" for Amanda, "Comes A Horseman" showed Cassandra's origin and there was one for Fitz ("Star Crossed"?).
* "Three Stories", a Season One episode of ''Series/{{House}}'', reveals how House's leg turned out in such a bad state: he suffered an aneurysm while playing golf. His drug-seeking behavior caused the other doctors to brush off his pain as a withdrawal symptom. Soon, however, the aneurysm caused an infarction and muscle tissue to die. House refused to have the leg amputated, even though the bypass he demands and ultimately undergoes causes such severe pain that it gives him a heart attack. While in a medically-induced coma, his girlfriend and proxy authorized him to undergo a partial amputation that would only remove the necrotic tissue while leaving the rest of his leg intact, but it leaves his leg's mobility compromised on top of leaving him in chronic pain.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has the episode "How I Met Everyone Else", which showcases how the core group (except Robin, who joined the group in the pilot) met and became friends[[note]]Marshall and Ted met as roommates in college, Lily and Marshall met when she was "inexplicably drawn" to his dorm room one morning, Barney and Ted met in the bathroom at a bar, and Barney and Marshall met at the same bar some time later. They all met Robin at the same bar as well.[[/note]].
* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' has nearly half their riders be given Origins Episodes, mostly as part of a movie (or in the case of [[FallenHero Kamen Rider Eternal]], a whole movie).
* ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' has Snipe Episode Zero. It depicts events leading to the Zero Day and StartOfDarkness of [[DoctorJerk Taiga]] [[HiddenHeartOfGold Hanaya]].
* One of the main gimmicks of ''Series/{{Lost}}'', was that each episode had a flashback plot delivering information about a specific character's past. Many of the major characters ended up having several.
* S1 E4 of ''Series/{{Misfits}}'' has a bit of this, in that it expands on how some of the characters ended up with community service.
* The Season 8 ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Baltimore" depicts how [=DiNozzo=] and Gibbs met while the former was a detective with the Baltimore police department.
* ''Series/OddSquad'': The Season 1 episode "Totally Odd Squad" is an origins episode for Oprah, as she explains to Olive, Otto and Oscar about her time as an Investigation agent back in 1983 and how she became the Director of Precinct 13579.
** Another Season 1 episode, "Training Day", reveals who Olive's previous partner was before Otto, and how she grew from being a ShrinkingViolet as an agent-in-training to an eventual ShellShockedVeteran as an Investigation agent. It also has a brief scene that shows how Otto became her partner.
** "Oscar of All Trades" shows how Oscar came to be the Lab Director of Precinct 13579.
** The first part of the Season 2 finale, "Who is Agent Otis?", reveals how Otis became an Odd Squad agent and explains how life was for him before joining the organization.
** The Season 3 episode "The Weight of the World Depends on Orla" shows how the eponymous agent became the guardian of the 44-leaf clover.
* ''Franchise/PowerRangers:''
** ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' even went so far as to have its Origins episodes ''titled'' "Origins". It probably has something to do with the fact that said episodes were delayed until midseason, instead of being shown at the beginning as usual.
** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' had origin episodes for the Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green Rangers as well as for Dr. K. All ended with them going to or arriving at Corinth (except Green, who had to leave) and don't include how they were selected as Rangers (again, except Green who we already saw acquire his powers.
* ''Series/{{Suits}}'' episode "Rewind" shows Mike starting using his PhotographicMemory to earn money cheating at tests, his friend Trevor start dealing marijuana and Harvey blackmailing Hardman into resignation. Also doubles as a StartOfDarkness episode.
* The ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'' episode "Lower Berth'' provides the odd origin of [[spoiler:The Crypt Keeper.]] An unholy product of the love between a (literal) two-faced freakshow attraction, and a 4000-year-old mummy.
* In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', "Today Is the Day"[=/=]"The Last Voyage of the ''Jimmy Carter''" is a two-part origin episode for [[spoiler:Jesse Flores, and possibly also Weaver[[note]]There's a character in the past sections of the episodes who is almost universally believed by fans to be Weaver, but it's not explicitly stated.[[/note]]]].
* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' has the episode "Fragments", giving the back-story of how the main team members [[note]]other than Gwen, whose origin was revealed in [[Recap/TorchwoodS1E1EverythingChanges "Everything Changes"]][[/note]] were recruited to Torchwood Three.
* ''Series/TheTribe'' had two of these in the second season; one focused on Zoot and Ebony; the other focused on Lex and Ryan (though the latter example was submerged as a very long flashback).
* ''Series/UchuuSentaiKyuranger'' has the origins of Stinger/Sasori Orange and Champ/Oushi Black in ''Episode of Stinger''.
* ''Series/WandaVision'''s next-to-last episode, "Previously On...," uses flashbacks to tell the origin story of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch.
* ''Series/TheWestWing'' had several of these:
** "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" is a series of flashbacks to the 1998 Presidential Election ''[sic]'', showing how the main characters met and got involved with Bartlet's campaign. When the story begins, Leo is a former cabinet secretary serving as Bartlet's campaign manager, Josh is campaign manager for Bartlet's biggest rival (and [[DefeatMeansFriendship future VP]]) Senator John Hoynes, Sam is a frustrated lawyer for an unscrupulous oil company, CJ is a PR specialist for a movie studio, Toby is a talented (but unsuccessful) political operative looking for a chance to prove his skills, and Donna is a campaign volunteer.
** "Two Cathedrals" features an extended flashback to Bartlet's childhood, showing how he met [[CoolOldLady Mrs. Landingham]] and first got interested in politics. As we learn, Mrs. Landingham started out as a secretary at the New Hampshire prep school where Bartlet's father was Headmaster, and she convinced him to confront his father about the wage gap between male and female employees at the school. [[spoiler:He tried, but lost his nerve after his father slapped him for protesting his decision to ban several classic novels from the school library.]]
** "Bartlet for America" goes into more detail about Bartlet's election, mostly from [[NumberTwo Leo]]'s perspective. We see how Bartlet convinced Hoynes to become his running mate by telling him the truth about [[spoiler: his multiple sclerosis]] as a gesture of good faith, and we learn about Leo's last [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic relapse]]. It turns out that a campaign donor pressured him into drinking again, and he fell off the wagon so hard that [[spoiler:he wasn't able to come to Bartlet's aid when his MS flared up again]]--an incident that [[MyGreatestFailure has clearly haunted him ever since]].
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'' episode "[[DoubleMeaningTitle Forging Bonds]]" dedicated to how Neal started his ConMan career with Mozzie, how he met Kate, how Peter started pursuing Neal and how Peter and Neal first met.
* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' had several over the course of the show, showing how she developed from a village girl into an evil Warrior Princess. (She had a HeelFaceTurn during her guest appearances on ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' before she got her own show.)
* ''Series/TheIncredibleHulk1977'': [[Recap/TheIncredibleHulkPilot The original pilot episode]] detailed how David Banner became the eponymous monster and how he ended up on the run.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'' had several origin episodes, including one for the BigBad ("Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man") and the Lone Gunmen trio ("Unusual Suspects").

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'', the penultimate episode of ''The Eleventh Hour'' arc acts as this, exploring the characters' previously hinted-at backgrounds.
* Parodied in the live show "Condos" of ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' where the [[TheBlank Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home]] begins telling a story that sounds like it might be her origin, only for her to reveal that the person she was talking about was actually just another woman she watched while she secretly lived in her home. [[{{Troll}} She's just telling you because she found the story interesting.]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'':
** The first episode, appropriately enough titled "First Day", relates Mr. Conklin's arrival as newly appointed principal.
** In "Borrowing Money To Fly", it's Miss Brooks' arrival in Madison that's explained. [[{{Retcon}} In this version]], Mr. Conklin has already long been comfortable ensconced as principal of Madison High School.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' explains the origin of the Master Sword; more specifically, how the Master Sword used to be a sentient being and originated as the Goddess Sword. It also explains where Zelda's magical power comes from ([[spoiler:she's the reincarnation of the goddess Hylia]]), and why Link is always reincarnated ([[spoiler:he's Hylia's chosen hero]])
** Prior to that, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' showed the StartOfDarkness for Ganon, the series BigBad; and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' had the creation of the Four Sword from the, well, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures'' games, and like the Master Sword originally went by a different name (in this case, the Picori Blade), and although it's part of the backstory, ''The Minish Cap'' also explains Vaati's StartOfDarkness (and shows that he wasn't always a floating FacelessEye).
* Pretty much [[StockSubtitle anything with the subtitle "Origins"]].
** Subverted with ''VideoGame/RaymanOrigins''. It was [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally]] intended to be the origin of VideoGame/{{Rayman}}. Its plot changed but its title did not.
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' is this for Alessa/Cheryl/Heather.
** ''[[VideoGame/{{Ys}} Ys: Origin]]'' explores the history of the Ys civilization, its six priests and twin goddesses, the Fact family, and the Black Pearl.
** Oddly enough, excluding ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins.'' The "origins" in question are the first act of the game and cover how the main character became a Grey Warden. They have nothing to do with the origin of the setting, any other characters (except possibly [[TheWoobie Jowan]]), or the Blight. Speaking of ''Origins'', the DLC campaign ''Leliana's Song'' provides an origin story for the eponymous character, which is only alluded to in the game proper.
** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' doesn't cover the origins of Batman, but it does show [[spoiler:the origins of the Batman-Joker feud and Harley Quinn]] in this canon, as well as the re-opening of Arkham Asylum due to the events of the game. Downloadable content also shows the origin of Mr. Freeze.
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'' is about the formation of the Assassin Brotherhood in AncientEgypt by Bayek and Aya/[[spoiler:Amunet]].
* Similar to the ''Origins'' example above, ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedValhalla'' is actually about how [[spoiler:King Aelfred the Great]] reformed the Order of the Ancients into the modern Templar Order which is revealed near the end of the game when Eivor [[spoiler:Varinsdottir]] visits a study room and stumbles upon letters from [[spoiler:Goodwin]] which notes that [[spoiler:Aelfred's]] used the alias of "Poor Fellow-Soldier of Christ" to spy on the Raven Clan.
* Jack's loyalty mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' reveals a lot of details on her origin, including ones she wasn't aware of herself.
** The ''Leviathan'' DLC for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' turns out to be an OriginsEpisode for the Reapers.
* Episode 3, "The Inherited Turnabout", of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth 2'' expands on the events that led to the murder of Gregory Edgeworth at the hands of Manfred von Karma, which by extension led to the events of the first ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game. "The Inherited Turnabout" even has segments where the player controls Gregory during his final case, before switching back to the present where Miles Edgeworth picks up on where his father left off.
* Chapter 4 of ''Cage in Lunatic Runagate'', a side-story ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' book, tells the story of how [[WhoWantsToLiveForever Fujiwara no Mokou]] became immortal.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' revealed the tragic backstory of Big Boss, and showed how he went from an idealistic, somewhat silly hero to the [[AntiVillain villain]] of the [[{{Retcon}} first game]]... though the process didn't really finish up until around [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker the fifth game.]]
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', chronologically the first game in the series, mainly delves into the [[StartOfDarkness origins of Xehanort and other villains such as Maleficent, Pete, and Organization XIII]], but it also briefly shows how Sora, Riku, and Kairi came to be the people they were by the start of the original game.
* The [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 2013 reboot]] of ''Franchise/TombRaider'' serves as this for Lara Croft, it follows a 21-year-old Lara Croft fresh out of college on her first expedition to find the lost city of Yamatai. The game showcases her original disbelief about myth before embracing these mysteries and figuring out what happened to her father as well as [[RebuiltPedestal rebuilding the pedestal]] she had before he went missing. The following two games, ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheTombRaider'' work with the 2013 title as Lara Croft's origin trilogy.
* Despite the major characters of the ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGaiden Masou Kishin]]'' series appearing sporadically through the "Classic Timeline" of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', ''The Lord of Elemental'' effectively serves as the {{prequel}} detailing how each character arrived in the subterranean world of "La Gias" and earned the right to become a Herald of the Elemental Lords.
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]]'', which explains the origins of Dracula and the Belmont clan's feud with him.
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' serves as the Origins Episode for [[spoiler:Erdrick/Loto, the legendary ancestor of the heroes of the prior two games]].
* ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasThePumpkinKing'' serves as a {{Prequel}} to ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', explaining Jack Skellington's first encounter with Oogie Boogie as well as the first time he met Sally.
* The official bio for each character in ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'' details how they first came to join the group as a whole. Other sources tend to expand upon these in greater detail.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Season 14 of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' has three examples:
** The Blood Gulch Prequel Trilogy episodes - “From Stumbled Beginnings”, “Fifty Shades of Red”, and “Why They’re Here” - all show how how the members of the Red and Blue Teams met and ended up in Blood Gulch.
** The Merc Trilogy episodes - "Club", "Call", and "Consequences" - show what Locus and Felix were up to prior to Chorus as well as their [[spoiler:ProtagonistJourneyToVillain]].
** It's heavily implied that the Freelancer Prequel Duology episodes - “The Triplets” and “The ‘Mission’” - [[spoiler:concern the origin of the Red vs. Blue simulation war]].
* The ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' short [[http://www.homestarrunner.com/hremail7.html "Hremail 7"]] explains the origin of Strong Bad Email. And, in the process, [[http://hrwiki.org/wiki/Hremail_7#Remarks messes up]] what little continuity the HR-verse has.
** Then again, it was ''[[CloudCuckoolander Homestar]]'' who was [[UnreliableNarrator the one explaining the SBemail origins]].
* The WebAnimation/ShutUpCartoons segment ''Oishi High School Battle'' has ''Oishi Orgins,'' or, as the title says, ''Oishi High School Battle Orgins.'' ''Oishi Orgins'' explains several things, such as [[spoiler: how Oishi's father got fired (like the intro song says) and how Oishi got her dog Noodles. (Which was due to the creature transporter machine going haywire after a demon attack, thus resulting in this event.)]]
* ''WebAnimation/TheMostEpicStoryEverToldInAllOfHumanHistory'': The third episode serves as this for Epic-Man, explaining how he got his powers and started his superhero career.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** The aptly named "Beginning Of The End" from Volume 3 explains the backstories of both Emerald and Mercury, and how they came to work for [[TheDragon Cinder]]. Cinder herself doesn't get an OriginsEpisode until Volume 8, in "Midnight."
** "The Lost Fable" in Volume 6 reveals the history of both [[spoiler: [[BigBad Salem]] and [[BigGood Ozpin]]]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', MediumAwareness means [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000408c they know that 8-bits means an origin story.]]
* The Cocoon Academy arc of ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' is one for Dedede and [[spoiler: Meta Knight]].
* ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'': Oddly, Mr. Mighty's wife, Jane, got to tell her [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1990812/janes-story-begins/ origin story]] before Mr. Mighty did. Then again, maybe the author just enjoyed drawing all those {{Stripperiffic}} outfits.
** We also got to see the origin of Mr. Mighty's daughter, Summer. [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/2133672/ch13-32/ Kinda traumatic for her.]]
* ''On the Origin of PC's'' and ''StartOfDarkness'' for ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick''.
* ''Webcomic/TimesLikeThis'' tells the origin of Cassie's time machine [[http://www.timeslikethis.com/index.php?id=505 starting here.]]
* The Shaker Woods story arc in ''Webcomic/YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery'', which makes everything look HarsherInHindsight.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': [[https://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1092 Chapter 40, "The Stone"]], delves into the history of the InexplicablyAwesome Jones, showing the various identities she's had [[spoiler:throughout human history and beyond]]. [[spoiler:Also TheUnreveal, since it shows that while she's [[TimeAbyss as old as the planet]], she's never learned what she actually ''is'' or how she came to be.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[http://www.creepypasta.org/creepypasta/the-origin-of-laughing-jack The Origin Of Laughing Jack]] is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* Most of the [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-001 SCP-001]] proposals either explain the origin of the Wiki/SCPFoundation or explain why the world is full of paranormal things [[ArtifactCollectionAgency the Foundation has to contain]], with a few doing both. As for which of the proposals is true: the main SCP-001 page says that maybe none of them are true. [[MultipleChoicePast Or maybe ALL of them are true]]. As with all things in the Foundation universe, [[UnreliableCanon there is no canon]].
* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'':
** The origin novel for Phase didn't come out until about four years after the series started.
** [[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/original-timeline/823-absinthe Absinthe's]] has a {{One Word|Title}} ProtagonistTitle.
** Ribbon's is called [[http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/content-menu/stories/274-steel-ribbon Steel Ribbon]]...
** Almost every POV character gets one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Linkara has his on his DVD of ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'', [[TheMerch available NOW]].
* WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob has his BigDamnMovie (''Film/TheCinemaSnobMovie'') about his origin, which changes his character from CharacterAsHimself Creator/BradJones into Craig Golightly under the guise of Vincent Dawn. Since then Brad has had a MilestoneCelebration and since then a FlipFlopOfGod whether or not this is the "true" Cinema Snob (Meanwhile Brad Jones doesn't really care, [[RuleOfFunny he's just doing what's funny]].) ...[[TheMerch ALSO available now]]!
* Episode III of ''WebVideo/TheTimeGuys'' reveals that Caveman is the same Caveman from Episode I, who was seen inventing fire, and explains how he came to be Doc's intern.
* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': Often starts each series with an episode to introduce the world and setting, be it 18th century Eastern Europe or a far away galaxy.
* A ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' DVD has the short "Origin Of Santa Christ", eventually uploaded to his channel.
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' starts with the team already established. While the origin stories of each individual character are alluded to and explained to varying degrees throughout the series, it isn't until the final season (with the episode "Go!") that the first meeting of these characters is explained.
** ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' parodies this in the fourth season episode "Orangins". The episode has Robin attempt to tell his actual origin story about growing up in the circus before being interrupted by the others, who proceed to make up false origin stories for themselves, much to Robin's exasperation.

* The ''WesternAnimation/XMen'' episode "Descent" reveals the origins of Mr. Sinister.

** ''ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsActionComics'' is about the early days of Post-Flashpoint Superman.

** ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'' tells the backstory of Lena Thorul (birth name: Lena Luthor), the origin of her psychich powers, and the beginning of her friendship with Linda Danvers.

** The Season 3 episode "Origins" is a WholeEpisodeFlashback of how Fat Doc and Slim Doc came to meet and become friends. The flashback, which begins when the docs find a picture of them from when they were kids while being carried away in a police car, also provides the origins of a couple other characters.

** The aforementioned science incident is also [[spoiler:the catalyst for the birth of Lamput himself, who is seen at the end of the episode having formed from within a beaker]].

* ''ComicBook/AmazingFantasyNumberFifteen'' famously introduced the world to Franchise/SpiderMan, explaining how he got his powers, his personality and backstory.
* ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy sets the record for the sheer number of these. A character created by author miscommunication (someone put Wonder Girl in ComicBook/TeenTitans not realizing her earlier appearances were ''teenage Franchise/WonderWoman in the past''), she had to have her origin told after the fact. But no two writers seem to agree on what it should be, and by now she is nigh unusable; [[ContinuitySnarl the question "who the hell is she?" is now]] [[ContinuitySnarl/DonnaTroy unanswerable]]. Every attempt to fix it just tosses another {{Retcon}} on the already-enormous pile. However, the last CosmicRetcon has left the slate blank for a single origin to be established, and stick. Despite previous hope for Donna's origin being settled post Flashpoint they handed her a new origin that is already coming apart at the seams as of [[ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth Rebirth]].

** ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' and ''ComicBook/LastDaughterOfKrypton'' rewrote Supergirl's Post-Crisis and Post-Flashpoint origin, respectively, changing details such as her age and the circumstances of her meeting Superman.