History Main / RRatedOpening

An early scene consisting of mature content used for works of fiction to let the audience know right off the bat that no, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids this ain't for kids]]. The R-Rated Opening is primarily for dealing with potential PublicMediumIgnorance about genres that are traditionally associated with family-friendly material, or involve mature "twists" on iconic family-friendly genres/themes such as a SuperHero film from UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfComicBooks, that's based on a DarkerAndEdgier {{Deconstruction}} of your typical [[TheCape cape]]. Having someone [[DeadlyDodging get shot]], [[NeverSayDie die]], [[GoshDangItToHeck curse]], or even just ''[[BloodlessCarnage bleed]]'' on screen will very clearly let audiences know to expect things to get much, much more serious and give fair warning for any parent who didn't pay attention to the [[UsefulNotes/MediaClassifications R-rating]] but saw "cartoony people" in the movie trailer and thought they were taking their kids into some light-hearted fare.

Despite the trope name, the production in question does not actually have to have either an R, TV-MA or M rating, as examples of this can be found in PG and PG-13/TV-14/[[UsefulNotes/EntertainmentSoftwareRatingBoard Teen]]-rated productions as well (such as the page image which is taken from a PG-13 movie). The intention is more about setting a certain tone rather than how extreme the content really is.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/r_rated_opening.png]]

%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!

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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/r-rated-opening2_7935.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-Yes, that is a child being sent to the gallows. ''In a {{Creator/Disney}} movie.''-]]]

!!Examples:

* In WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice, JP suggests to make the opening contrast with the lighthearted of the rest of the work. After all, according to him, it's like it doesn't drive away the audience expecting a lighthearted story, nor does it disappoint the remainder who expect the rest of the work to be mature either.

* ''Webcomic/StevenUniverseGoneWrong'' opens with the initial confrontation with Spinel ending ''much'' more bloodily, as [[ForWantOfANail the Rejuvenator actually damages Steven here]]... leading to [[AnArmAndALeg his arm getting graphically chopped off]] before she [[HeroKiller brutally kills him]]. Pink Steven's [[ExtremeMeleeRevenge revenge]] upon reforming also isn't pretty. Once the dust settles, the primary focus of the story is everyone dealing with the emotional and psychological fallout.

* ''[[WebAnimation/PONYDotMOV APPLE.MOV]]'': "Applejack, what are you doing? You can't eat all those fucking apples." "Fuck you I can eat all these apples!"

* ''WebAnimation/LoboWebseries'': The very first episode starts with Lobo going past an exercizing alien who says "Hey, watch it! What are you trying to do, take my head off?!" Lobo goes back to him and shoots his head clean off with blood and eyeballs spurting out.

* Music/NineInchNails' officially unreleased ''Music/{{Broken}}'' movie begins with a man being hanged.

* Invoked if not ''precisely'' played straight with the opening scene of ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'': no one expects the cast of Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses to be "family-friendly", but the bloody splattering of the clueless motorist across his car windows by [[BigBad Malachite]] definitely serves notice that things are about to get more serious than the [[WebVideo/TGWTGYearOneBrawl previous]] [[WebVideo/{{Kickassia}} outings]].

* [[Literature/BackToTheFuture The novelization]] of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' begins with a family getting caught in a nuclear explosion, complete with a gruesome description of their bodies being torn apart. [[spoiler:This is part of a film Marty and his classmates watch. To make this even more out of place, it's a holdover from an earlier version of the plot. "Are you telling me this sucker is nuclear?" indeed.]]

* Several nukige visual novels drops you in {{Hentai}} scenes right from the start. Justified as they're PornWithoutPlot games.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad 2'' starts by showing the main character's people getting slaughtered with machine guns. The rest of the game is even worse.
* Within the first few minutes of starting up ''VideoGame/{{Blasphemous}}'', the player will have most likely witnessed 1: a woman stabbing herself, 2: the PlayerCharacter waking up in a mountain of corpses and 3: that same PlayerCharacter filling his helmet with blood and putting it back on his head.
* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' opens with Eddie Riggs being a roadie for a NuMetal band. The show then goes awry when the band starts trying complicated stage stunts. Eddie then calls the lead guitarist a [[PrecisionFStrike stupid motherfuckin' piece of shit]]; and a beast then decapitates the band with lots of blood. The game actually takes the opportunity to freeze and prompt the player if they would like to turn on the gore and language filters before each of these happens.
* The very first thing that happens upon booting up ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' is a text that reads it's for adults only, followed by Conker killing the N64 logo with a chainsaw. The latter was removed in the Xbox versions of the game.
* ''VideoGame/DeathEndReQuest'':
** The first game, establishing the fact that it is DarkerAndEdgier than the average Creator/CompileHeart game, opens with the female protagonist being stabbed through the gut and having her head bitten off by an EldritchAbomination, with the narration making it clear that her spine and organs were exposed by the former and that her head and spinal cord flew "like a nightmarish comet" from the latter, all while the male protagonist screams out in helplessness. The next scene has her waking up in a remote house no worse for wear.
** ''Death end re;Quest 2'' "merely" starts with the new protagonist's father deciding to kill her in a fit of drunken rage while calling her a dirty whore and her sister and mother "shit". The protagonist snaps, grabs the hatchet from him, and hacks at him again and again until he's dead.
* ''Demonophobia'': One of the very first rooms contains an instant-death trap in which you are bloodily ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice through the chest by a wooden stake. [[TheManyDeathsOfYou It only gets worse from there]].
* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' does this. After a brief tutorial that involves you shooting some bad guys, you first see two enemy commanders brutally mow down any civilian that gets in their way. Then Jaron Namir shows up. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown By the time he's through with Adam, Adam has been thrown through a thick glass monitor and ripped to shreds, beaten to a pulp, and shot in the head with his own .357 Magnum revolver.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' starts out with your character getting sent to the execution block, watching someone getting arrowed to death for trying to run and watching someone get his head chopped off. And then the dragon attacks.
* ''VideoGame/FearAndHunger'': It is more than likely, considering the game's [[NintendoHard difficulty]], for the first basic guard enemy you encounter mere minutes into a run to subject you to PrisonRape before [[AnArmAndALeg cutting off your legs]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' opens with a scene of a brutal battle between a heavily mechanized imperial invasion force and a military academy; the Empire swiftly guns down any kids they can find, and the cadets respond to this by [[SummonMagic calling down Bahamut]] to ''vaporize'' most of the invading army. A New Game proper begins with a wounded Izana stumbling across some other trainees, barely surviving a missile blast, getting saved by his wounded chocobo, and getting sprayed with the blood of a Militesi soldier he impales on his longsword; he then rides through and collapses on the streets of Rubrum, his chocobo gets shot, and he dies a slow, painful, [[IDontWantToDie terrified]] death. [[WorldHalfEmpty Welcome to Orience]].
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' opens with the main villain leading an invasion into a palace, killing everyone in sight, beheading the king ''in front of his son'' (bloodlessly, but still), and then capping off the intro cutscene by '''''proceeding to brainwash said son into his mindless slave!'''''
* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': TheTeaser is a FlashForward from a young adult Sol's point of view in which they are getting rescued from a burning building and the first non-human creature they run into tries to eat them and their rescuer. Just in case the mere presence of ContentWarnings in the main menu and the unskippable first line of the session, which mentions mature themes, fail to convey that the game's plot is by no means a walk in the park.
* ''VideoGame/Killer7'', within about five minutes of the start, has Dan Smith encounter a hooded man in a blood-splattered hotel. The man turns into a skinless monster, which he shoots in the face, followed by a muttered, "Shit." A couple minutes after that, a woman is blown up from the waist down by another of these monsters.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' starts off with a bunch of soldiers dying due to terrorists attacking the military base and lots of blood spilled.
* ''VideoGame/LostJudgment'' opens with the graphic discovery of a murder victim's decaying, maggot-infested corpse. The {{content warning|s}} at the start isn't just for show.
* The opening of ''VideoGame/MadRatDead'' features the protagonist getting vivisected in full view as [[SoundtrackDissonance the cheerful]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uXu6I5z0-0 MAD RAT, ALIVE?]] plays.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' opens with Jetstream Sam bloodily cutting a man in half.
* ''Videogame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope:'' No one is going to believe ''Videogame/HeartsOfIron IV'' is for children, much less so an alternate universe mod where the Nazis won WWII, but if you play Burgundy, the worst of the lot and the reason for a good bunch of the world's [[CrapsackWorld Crapsackery]]? You get a nice and proper Not Safe For Soul opening with one of the very first National Focuses giving you a short tale, from the perspective of a mother who never saw her baby alive, she was just told it was a boy and also euthanized before she woke up because he had "mongoloid traits". And is expected to name the dead baby for bureaucratic purposes. It serves to steel you for the rest, because it gets so much worse later the poor kid was lucky.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has Travis Touchdown decapitate a man in its intro.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': Travis delivers a PrecisionFStrike in his ''very first line''.
* The opening chapter of ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is about Omori and his friends playing hide-and-seek at a playground, followed by a boss fight with [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep Boss]]. Then they go to Basil's house, where Basil finds [[spoiler: a photo of a corpse. Omori returns to the starting room, and his only way out is to stab himself. [[FirstEpisodeTwist Then the]] ''[[FirstEpisodeTwist real]]'' [[FirstEpisodeTwist game begins.]].]]
* TheTeaser of ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners'' has [[RedShirt a miner]] get bloodily [[OffWithHisHead decapitated]] by [[RazorFloss a hidden tripwire]]. Thus begins a perilous expedition in which our hapless tour group can be potentially picked off in equally bloody ways.
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': The game wastes no time in letting players know it's DarkerAndEdgier, with the protagonist suffering violent PoliceBrutality (including being drugged) in the prologue, the StarterVillain of the game proper being a sexual predator teacher, and one of your party member's high school friends [[DrivenToSuicide jumping off the school roof to kill herself]] [[spoiler:after being raped by said teacher.]]
* ''VideoGame/PhantomBrave'' opens with Marona's parents getting killed by a creepy looking monster. After that, the opening sections of the game are comparatively lighthearted and look almost kiddy. The darkness doesn't come back into play until later on in the game. Unless you're silly enough to count little things like a mercenary first trying to murder a small child to take her work and pay out from under her, then doing so by framing her for causing the problem she was hired to solve, or virtually the entire world hating said small child because she has powers they don't approve of as dark.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Pico}} Pico's School]]'' opens with one of Cassandra [[AxesAtSchool shooting her teacher's head off]], and one GoryDiscretionShot later, Pico starts off in his classroom -- [[EverybodysDeadDave littered with the blood and bodies of his other classmates]].
* After the childish-looking opening tutorial of ''VideoGame/PoundThePuss'', Pound walks in on his mom having sex with a donkey, just to establish that this definitely isn't a children's game.
* ''VideoGame/PurgatoryRPGMaker'' opens in the very first room, where Enri wakes up is a room with the floor and walls painted with blood and with corpses all over. This sets the tone for the {{Gorn}} that the rest of the game will be accompanied by.
* The opening of the original ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts1'' has the main villain violently killing soldiers with his impish familiar. The main protagonist, Yuri, has his arm sliced off by said familiar, then cathes it and [[HeadCrushing crushes its head]], before [[PullingThemselvesTogether reattaching]] his arm. He then proceeds to have a brutal fight with the BigBad, which includes Yuri punching the villain's face in. That being said, the rest of the game is far from being this violent again.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' starts with the protagonist and his friends in a train station when an earthquake occurs, a train is derailed, and, among other casualties, said protagonist suffers a very bloody NearDeathExperience.
** Not long after ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' begins, [[PlayerCharacter Nanashi]] and his childhood friend Asahi witness a high-ranking demon bloodily beat down their two mentors, followed by Nanashi himself suffering a similarly gory death at the hands of the same demon while Asahi helplessly looks on in sheer horror. Fortunately, he gets better.
* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'', after an expository conversation with an NPC fisherman, the first story event you get to witness is a PublicExecution. That this is a DarkerAndEdgier M-rated game is emphasized by showing the bloody beheading without a GoryDiscretionShot.
** Previous to that, in ''VideoGame/UltimaVII'', within the first 20 minutes of the game, you're asked to investigate an extremely fresh, extremely brutal murder. Again, not even a whiff of a GoryDiscretionShot.
* ''VideoGame/TheWolfAmongUs'' starts out with a ClusterFBomb-spouting Mr. Toad, then minutes later gives us a violent brawl between our protagonist and a bald guy with an axe that ultimately ends up in the bald guy's skull. And he ''survives''.
* The last few moments of ControllableHelplessness in ''VideoGame/{{XIII}}''[='s=] opening (the game is a CelShaded comic adaptation) consist of an innocent woman in a bathing suit being graphically machinegunned to death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/AkibaMaidWar'' has the manager of a maid café get gunned down within the first minute. The series doesn't get any lighter from there, with its plot revolving around a MobWar in which [[AnyoneCanDie death can come for anyone, at any time]].
* Tokyo getting destroyed nuclear-style in the opening shot, and then the dogs and the spy getting killed in ''Manga/{{Akira}}''. The spy's death was especially bloody, just to drive home the point that, no, [[AnimationAgeGhetto even though it's animated]], this is not for kids.
* ''Anime/AngelBeats'' opens with the main character stabbed right through the chest.
* The opening raid in the first CGI ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' film has shootouts with quite a bit of HighPressureBlood, culminating in one robot [[YourHeadASplode crushing a soldier's head like a grape]].
* All variants of the story of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' have done this, in varying ways:
** The manga begins with the protagonist, Guts, having sex with a woman who in the throes of passion transforms into a demon. As she gloats over what she sees as her latest kill, Guts jams his ArtificialArm into her mouth and blows her head off with the cannon hidden inside. As he leaves her smoldering corpse behind, he shoots one last glare at the fiend, which has the effect of appearing [[AsideGlance as though he's looking at]] ''[[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou you]]'' instead, giving you one last warning that this story is not going to give you a pleasant ride.
** The three thugs getting killed by Guts in the bar scene from the anime ''Anime/Berserk1997'', including one getting ''slashed in half'' with his {{BFS}}.
** The opening scene of the movie ''Anime/BerserkTheGoldenAgeArc I'' throws us headlong into the storming of a castle and ends with Guts killing the giant Bazuso in very bloody fashion.
** ''Anime/{{Berserk 2016}}'''s ''opening credits'' are basically a summing-up of the Golden Age Arc, including [[spoiler:Griffith's torture, the horror of the Eclipse, Casca's rape at the hands of Femto, and Guts chiseling off his arm]]. The first episode proper begins with Farnese and company coming across the lake of blood and the partially-eaten remains of the [[spoiler:Band of the Hawk]].
* The first episode of ''Anime/BlackButler II'' (that is, the second season) introduces [[CreepyChild Alois]] [[AxCrazy Trancy]] naked and bruised, in bed next to a [[ParentalIncest very naked old guy]], creepily muttering the word "[[MadnessMantra darkness]]" to himself over and over again. The entire episode counts as this, since it focuses on Alois being [[InsaneEqualsViolent sadistic]] and [[MoodSwinger crazy]], basically telling the viewers that this season is much darker than the last one. Throughout the episode, Alois proceeds to: gouge out a maid's eye with his fingers, tell creepy personal stories about his prolonged abuse to strangers, make vaguely sexual comments to [[DepravedHomosexual every male person he interacts with]], beat that (now one-eyed) maid again, and then cry about not wanting to be alone.
* ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' shows off guns, {{Stripperific}} outfits, and swearing before you even get through the opening song.
* ''Anime/BloodPlus'' begins with the most violent scene in the entire series. Even before the opening, you are treated to a scene from UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. It quickly shifts to some flares, soldiers shooting monstrous creatures and Saya slaughtering everything in sight. You are most likely confused and horrified by now and to drive it even further, this is followed by a slow shot of a Vietnamese girl running away terrified only to be slashed in half by Saya. This is [[MoodDissonance immediately followed]] by the first TitleSequence with its bouncy J-pop theme music, then a present day scene with an unaged, perfectly sane Saya as an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent.
* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' begins with an incredibly gory sequence where a Cyberpsycho makes quick and messy work of NCPD forces attempting to take him down, just before [=MaxTac=], the team that deals with cyberpsychos, shows up, disables his cyberware via netrunner hacks, and puts him down. The braindance of this sequence also shows up in ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', in a tribute to the anime.
* The [[DancingTheme opening theme]] for the ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'' anime... well it stops ''just'' short of female nudity, but given the [[UndeadChild apparent]] [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld age]] of the female lead the NippleAndDimed thing does not help much. The manga is a bit of an improvement, as it takes [=2/3=] of a chapter for a noblewoman to command her head guardsman's teenage son to strip her to her panties (yes, same female lead). Quickly moving on to examples of the blood and swearing (more of the latter than we see for quite a while afterwards). Once in book form we don't even wait for the ''start'' - the female lead's posing on the back cover in panties, gloves and a rose - which really should keep it from being bought by accident.
* ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'' opens with the incredibly bloody mass murder of male protagonist Ganta's middle school class by an unknown figure in red. The manga on which it was based leads into this moment with Ganta playing with a girl as a child, making it even more jarring in that situation.
* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' examples:
** The first episode features most of Tanjiro's family being slaughtered by demons in graphic fashion, and his sister Nezuko being turned into a demon herself; establishing the danger faced right out of the gate.
** ''Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – TheMovie: Mugen Train'' opens with a graveyard scene of the previous Demon Slayers, with the first act of the movie containing a group of assassins intending to kill the passengers by breaking their spirits (including those of the main characters). The English dub of the film is rated R for the violence and bloody images that ensue.
* Lucy's rampage through the lab in ''Manga/ElfenLied'' definitely qualifies, with bonus points for [[FanService taking off her straitjacket]] so she could be [[FullFrontalAssault completely naked for her killing spree]], except for the creepy helmet. Not to mention the nudity throughout the opening theme sequence in each episode.
* Shinji masturbating over Asuka's [[DudeShesLikeInAComa comatose body]] at the start of ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion End of Evangelion]]''. For bonus points, the Manga Entertainment dub has him saying that he is "so fucked up".
* ''Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003'' starts off by showing the transmutation that caused the loss of Edward's leg and Alphonse's body. With copious amounts of blood from Edward's stump.
* Both ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' and its [[Anime/GhostInTheShell1995 film adaptation]] start with the Major assassinating a diplomat, with [[YourHeadASplode explosive rounds]]. The movie then follows this with a sequence of the Major's nude cyborg body being built.
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'' opens with several students running and fighting their way through a crowd of zombies, with plenty of blood and gore resulting. Not surprising, given the subject matter. However, we're also treated to some gratuitous breast bouncing and {{panty shot}}s from the female lead, and, in the English dub at least, a couple [[PrecisionFStrike precision F strikes]], making it abundantly clear within the first two minutes that this show is not appropriate for younger viewers.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' starts with Keichi beating Rena and Mion into a pulp with a baseball bat. This is based on the opening of the original VisualNovel, where he gives a monologue with the sound of loud, sickening thwacks in the background before abruptly cutting to [[GoodMorningCrono him getting ready for school]]. The opening credits also feature a nontrivial amount of blood, creepy music and visuals, and mild nudity.
* The opening of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' has a large amount of nudity that has nothing to do with what actually happens in the anime.
* Creator/KenAkamatsu is best known for his UnwantedHarem comedy work ''Manga/LoveHina'', and ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', while undergoing a GenreShift, is still chock full of similar material and takes a while to get to the more action-y bits. In his newest work, ''Manga/UQHolder'', he apparently decided to make it clear from the get-go that this isn't more of the same: the first chapter includes almost none of his signature FanService, instead showing the protagonist getting an arm hacked off and another character being ''hacked into pieces'' in a bloody fashion (she gets better).
* ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine'' uses an opening narration describing a love/lust of theft. The animation is of a naked woman in suggestive and non-suggestive poses. ''Lots'' of nipples, although genitalia is covered. The episodes themselves usually have less nudity, but deals with the older {{Seinen}} demographic, rather than the more general {{Shonen}} demographic.
* The first scene of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' is focused on [[ChildSoldiers Setsuna's]] DarkAndTroubledPast, showing the future protagonist running through a ruined city filled with bodies, trying in vain to fight a squadron of mobile suits. 0 Gundam does not show its face until the very end of the scene, right before it cuts into the opening.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny'' starts with Shinn Asuka's family being accidentally gunned down by two mechas as the kid stares in horror at the corpses.
* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'''s opening scene of its first episode features the protagonist accidentally causing Miia to orgasm by pulling on her tail, which is immediately followed by an OP with a decent amount of risque fanservice, and another scene where Miia shows off her breasts.
* Used a couple of times in the ''Franchise/OnePiece'' movies:
** ''The Movie'' opens with the aftermath of El Drago killing an entire pirate crew and a terrified Tobio watching him pick Woonan's treasure map from one pirate's dead hands. For extra nightmare fuel, El Drago's laughter is backlit by a lightning strike, which leaves his face visible for only a second. [[MoodWhiplash Cut to the upbeat adventure theme of 'We Are!']]. This is by far the most intense the movie gets; There are no on-screen deaths, El Drago is largely PlayedForLaughs and the rest of the movie takes place during the day with appropriately bright colors.
** ''Anime/TheCursedHolySword'': Oh boy. Saga and Maya are attacked by a group of pirates, who surround them and mortally wound Saga. Saga is seen losing a huge pool of blood, which is absorbed by the Seven-Star Sword. Now cursed, Saga uses the sword to ''slice the pirates in half'' (albeit in silhouette) as Maya screams out in horror. Once again, nothing else in the movie is anywhere near as disturbing. As this was the only One Piece movie to receive a 15 in Britain (for strong violence), this may well be a literal R-rated opening.
* ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' starts off with Garterbelt forcing Panty and Stocking downstairs with Panty still sleeping with a lot of men. In addition, a lot of swear words are stated as [[MrExposition Garterbelt gets annoyed at Panty and Stocking ignoring his exposition]].
* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'' took a scene from the middle of the first chapter and showed it as the very opening of the first episode. In this scene, a man who has been taken over by the titular creature opens his face ''five'' ways and reveals a gaping, black hole full of teeth and five eyes and then [[OffWithHisHead bites his wife's head off]], with lots of blood and gore. Not nice.
* The opening for ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' sets things up as being DarkerAndEdgier than [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries the normal animé]] by having Mewtwo destroy the laboratory in which he was created minutes after he wakes up, killing every last scientist inside as they try to run away screaming. Then after meeting with Giovanni and being used as his tool, he blows up Team Rocket's base and swears to purge the world of non-clone life.
* The opening of ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' has an ominous bit of background text superimposed on a dark screen, but for good measure the first scene contains a highly disturbing demonic form assaulting a village, almost eating a child, and eventually getting shot by an arrow [[EyeScream in the eye]], before melting away into a gigantic skeleton. Needless to say, anyone who brought their young daughter to see the cute anime princess should leave at this point. It's also noteworthy in this case that people often ignored the PG-13 rating; as the film came out in theaters in the middle of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' craze, and by extension, the family-friendly ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie''. People who were expecting a wholesome family adventure were promptly stricken with cries of WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids.
* The ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' prequel OVA ''Tsuiokuhen/Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal'' starts with a gore-drenched sword massacre.
* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' shows off its dark nature by having a middle schooler [[DrivenToSuicide jump off a roof]] at the start.
* ''Literature/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld'' opens with a graphic AttemptedRape in the first few seconds.
* The first three episodes of ''Manga/SoulEater'' (which introduce the main characters) contain quite a bit more nudity and fanservice than the rest of the series. Not quite R-rated, but still jarring enough to notice.
* ''Anime/SpaceRunawayIdeon'' The opening to [[TheMovie ''Be Invoked'']] has main character Cosmo Yuki witness how one of his two love interests, Kitty, is horribly killed by a [[HumanAliens Buff Clan]] attack. The movie even shows [[OffWithHisHead the poor girl's severed head]] in the reflection of Cosmo's helmet! It gets worse from there.
* ''Anime/SwordOfTheStranger'' opens with a hail of arrows ambush by bandits. This succeeds in killing approximately one person and some pack animals, and maybe winging one or two others. And then the Unstoppable BloodKnight Badass of the BadassCrew that comprises the villains of the movie scales a cliff and slaughters 15-20 bandits, throwing their bodies down as he goes. The bandit leader gets taken down by a blade toss. Lastly, he finishes off one unarmed (and missing one arm) bandit who is writhing in pain on the ground as if he were stepping on a bug.
* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'' has a ColdOpen depicting a woman messily consuming a pile of human corpses and, in the English dub, orgasmically shouting "More! More!" as she does it. Though the lighting conceals anything too graphic it's obvious [[FullFrontalAssault she's not wearing a stitch]]. She's then attacked by a masked man wielding bloodstained pliers. While the series is by no means intended for children, it's not usually ''quite'' that lurid (preferring psychological horror) and the scene isn't present in the manga.
* ''Anime/VivyFluoriteEyesSong'': The anime is all about preventing a BadFuture in which intelligent robots have TurnedAgainstTheirMasters, to the point of killing every single human they run into. The first scene shows the above happening, including several bloody on-screen killings.
* The very first event in ''Manga/{{Wolfsmund}}'' is a man being executed via decapitation. The violence only gets worse from there.
* ''Manga/{{X 1999}}'': TheMovie starts with Kamui having a vision of his mother, with full frontal nudity, pulling the {{BFS}} out of her stomach in graphic detail. As you can imagine, [[HighPressureBlood there's lots of blood.]]
[[/folder]]

* RRatedOpening/Anime&Manga

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' is fairly dark and fairly violent throughout, but the very first short starts with an erotic sparring match and the second one is full of gruesome murders and the occasional maiming.
* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'' starts with some singing concessions cheerfully asking you not to expose yourself indecently. And then more food appears and belts out a violent heavy metal song threatening to kill you if you interrupt or redistribute the film, as part of a parody of "Let's All Go to the Lobby", a drive-in movie trailer.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanGothamByGaslight'' opens with a striptease by Ivy in nothing but strategically placed leaves just to make sure you realize this isn't a kid's movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' opens with a crook being beat up by Batman, and then being killed by an unrelated figure. It was only a PG film, but since [[AnimationAgeGhetto it was made in the 90s...]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanUnderTheRedHood'' opens with ComicBook/TheJoker beating Jason Todd with in an inch of his life with a crowbar, mocking him as he lies in a pool of his own blood, and then leaving him to die in an explosion. This film was also rated PG-13.
* ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternFirstFlight'' starts with Abin Sur bleeding to death from a stomach wound. It has quite a few dark moments after that.
** And ''WesternAnimation/GreenLanternEmeraldKnights'' started with shadow constructs ripping a Lantern apart on screen. Yikes.
* ''[[ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier Justice League: The New Frontier]]'' opens with the painter/author of the apocalyptic book committing suicide (from a first-person point of view, for bonus viewing pleasure). In case anyone missed the pre-credits opening, the story proper begins with TechnicalPacifist Hal Jordan being forced to shoot a man in the face in self-defense and sinking into a blood-splattered HeroicBSOD as the scene fades out. By the way, the suicidal author was (an ''extremely'' thinly veiled) Creator/DrSeuss. Just in case him killing himself didn't do it for you.
* ''WesternAnimation/MortalKombatLegendsScorpionsRevenge'' begins with Hanzo Hasashi (not yet having become the undead revenant known as Scorpion) having to fight a mess of ninjas out to murder him and his son Satoshi, and he dispatches each of the ninjas in brutal and bloody fashion.
* Just in case you still weren't convinced that ''WesternAnimation/SausageParty'' deserved its R rating, the very first line of spoken dialogue begins with "Shit", and is followed up with a CrossesTheLineTwice musical number including more swearing, sexual innuendo, and Nazis.
* Inverted with ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkBiggerLongerAndUncut'', in which the opening musical number, "Mountain Town" is a cheery, upbeat song with only the mildest of profanity. Then "[[ClusterFBomb Uncle Fucka]]" starts, and it all goes downhill from there.
* The second scene of Serbian animated film ''Animation/TechnotiseEditIJa'' features two characters discussing [[SexBot robotic prostitutes]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'' opens with the mass genocide of an entire planet save one survivor ([[ShootTheShaggyDog who gets eaten alive later on anyway]]) before the opening credits, and then just barely five minutes after that it shows several beloved characters from the TV series getting KilledOffForReal with brutal blaster shots tearing through their bodies, culminating in Megatron blowing Ironhide's head up (barely off-screen) with a cannon shot as the Autobot futilely grabs at his legs. Similar in the case of ''Batman: Mask of the Phantasm'' though, it just received a PG rating since it was made in the 80's.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheTripletsOfBelleville'' got a PG-13 rating entirely because of the opening scene, which features a topless dancer. This doesn't seem to have been intentional, however -- the creators were French, and in their commentary, seem [[ValuesDissonance genuinely surprised and confused]] that one brief topless scene would be enough to bump up the rating all by itself, which says a lot about how America is uptight about sexuality and nudity (especially if it has to do with women) while France and most of Western Europe is okay with it within reason ("within reason" meaning "so long as it's not accompanied by violence or has children involved").
* The opening for ''{{WesternAnimation/Wonder Woman|2009}}'' featured Hippolyta performing an [[OffWithHisHead on-screen decapitation.]] The writers commented that they were only able to keep their PG-13 rating because it was done in silhouette.
* The opening scenes of ''Literature/WatershipDown'' probably [[SugarApocalypse served as]] an inspiration for ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends''. The film actually is a kid's film, just a [[FamilyUnfriendlyViolence very]], [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath very]] violent one.

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* The 2014 remake of ''Film/AboutLastNight'' opens with Bernie (Creator/KevinHart) discussing the one night stand he had the previous night and how great the girl was at blow jobs.
* ''Film/AllAboutE'': In the very first scene, E's making out with another woman, with this turning into sex very quickly.
* ''Film/BasicInstinct'' starts with a man being tied up and a beautiful naked woman having sex with him, a scene of eroticism which turns to horror as she stabs him to death with an icepick mid-sex.
* ''Film/TheBeastOfYuccaFlats'' opens with an R-Rated [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment BLAM]]: A nameless woman goes topless, getting ready for bed, and is immediately strangled by an unknown assailant. After a not-so-subtle implication that the assailant will [[ILoveTheDead rape her corpse]], the movie cuts to the main plot and the murder is never mentioned.
* ''Film/BeforeTheDevilKnowsYoureDead'' opens with a graphic 30-second sex scene.
* ''Film/BelowHerMouth'': The film opens on Dallas and Joslyn having sex at length.
* ''Film/BloodyMama'''s opening scene has a teenage Kate being held down by her brothers while her father rapes her.
* ''Film/BodiesBodiesBodies'': It's {{downplayed}}, but while making out with Bee in the very first scene, Sophie explictly rubs between her legs (albeit with both of them fully clothed).
* ''Film/CannibalTheMusical'': The name should probably have got you, but in case you're mistaking musicals as always family-friendly, there's the gory murder of an entire crew to start the movie. Then we [[MoodWhiplash go to the]] ''Film/{{Oklahoma}}''-like next scene...
* About two minutes into ''Film/ComingToAmerica'' is a scene with two topless female royal attendants bathing the protagonist (Creator/EddieMurphy's character; ironically, the rest of the film is tamer.)
* ''Film/Compulsion2016'': The very first scene is of Sadie having sex with Thierry while he chokes her (which she'd asked him to) and she's topless.
* The 2011 ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian2011'' film gives us a unique first view of the character: In the womb...during a C-Section, which starts when his [[PregnantBadass mother]] is stabbed in the stomach during battle.
* ''Film/{{Cube}}'' opens with a gruesome death trap sprung on a hapless prisoner.
* The novel ''[[Literature/TheLordOfTheRings The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' opens with a happy birthday party in the happy land of happy Hobbits with a happy fireworks show. [[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheFellowshipOfTheRing The movie version]], opening (as it did) right in the heat of ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fever (and very shortly after the release of [[Film/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone the first]], much more kid-friendly ''Potter'' movie), gives fair warning by opening with a flashback to the fall of Sauron--with thousands of bloodthirsty orc warriors, thousands of scarily kick-ass elves in armor, and one ''seriously'' scary great big Dark Lord. Kids, when the Balrog finally shows up, don't say you weren't warned.
* ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'' starts with the main character [[ClusterFBomb exclaiming "fuck" ''repeatedly'']] because he's woken up to find he's late for a wedding. The fact that it's Creator/HughGrant saying it softens it up a bit though.
* Subverted for laughs in ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', where an opening scene features a jungle guide taking a fall that would be lethal... before he's shown bandaged up but safe, as the narrator assures us that this is actually a DenserAndWackier movie:
-->''"Don't worry — nobody dies in this story. They just get really big boo-boos!"''
* ''Film/HardcoreHenry'''s opening has Henry's father calling him a pussy and then credits showing a violent montage of Henry's victims [[SoundtrackDissonance set to "Let Me Down Easy" by]] Music/TheStranglers.
* ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes2'' opens with a scene of a tortured, naked woman giving birth to a mutant. Notably, [[https://filmjunk.com/2007/04/09/the-hills-have-eyes-2-accidentally-shown-to-family-audience-in-long-island/ one movie theater got in trouble]] when someone accidentally put in the wrong reel in a room meant to play the kid-friendly ''Film/TheLastMimzy'': since it's the first scene in the movie, there was no time for someone to notice that the wrong film was playing and stop it before the kids saw the graphic content.
* The ''Series/JackAss'' films tend to start off with a relatively tame stunt before they get into the more crude type stunts (although “Number Two” did push it by having the following stunt be [[spoiler: a snake biting Chris Pontius’ penis while it’s dressed as a mouse]]). However, “Jackass Forever” is the exception because it starts off with a [[spoiler: giant Kaiju monster battle where the monster is revealed to be none other that Chris Pontius’ penis and testicles colored green and dressed like a lizard, which attacks the city by shooting out semen, and is defeated when a snapping turtle bites it.]]
* ''Film/JaggedMind'': Billie is shown making out with Christine in the very first scene, then going down on her once they fall into bed (though nothing explicit).
* ''[[Film/{{K91989}} K-9]]''’s opening has two couples indulging in AutoErotica in a car park on a rainy night where TheProtagonist cop is on stakeout. Since they are both fairly explicit and serve no plot purpose the sequence is often cut for television broadcast.
* ''Film/KickAss'' starts with a mentally deranged man jumping off a roof in a superhero costume and promptly falling to his death. The very next scene has the main character masturbating to his English teacher. This was likely put there for the benefit of all the people who saw the trailers of kids in superhero costumes and completely ignored the R-rating.
* ''Film/KissMe2011'': The film opens on Mia having sex with her fiance in bed, shot from above with her under him while they do it.
* Curiously inverted by ''Film/KungFuHustle'', which starts with an EstablishingCharacterMoment for the main antagonists, the Axe Gang, by having them viciously murder several people, and includes on-screen dismemberment and the film's only PrecisionFStrike. For the rest of the film, this characterization is largely forgotten, as the Axe Gang is mainly played for laughs, with not a hint of the violence shown in the opening. The rest of the movie is silly, tongue-in-cheek, over-the-top, slapstick martial arts. Cut out the opening scene and the film may have even warranted a mere PG-13 rating.
* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/{{Doctor Strange|2016}}'' has a decapitation (albeit [[GoryDiscretionShot shown only in shadow]]) within the first two minutes. The movie is PG-13 but it's probably intended as a warning that this is one of the more adult entries in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse and not for little kids.
** ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': The first ten minutes of the film are dark even by its standards, both figuratively and [[{{Chiaroscuro}} literally]]. [[spoiler:Bodies of dead Asgardian children are on display, and while the camera shies away from showing anything but Heimdall's face as he is stabbed through the chest, Loki is violently and realistically strangled on-screen.]] The movie is PG-13.
** ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'': While not the actual opening scene (which shows a bad wound but is otherwise not particularly worse than any other Marvel movie), the major action scene that truly kicks off the plot features Doctor Strange and Wong fighting a giant one-eyed monster, which Strange defeats with fairly graphic EyeScream. Still PG-13, but it's billed as a ''horror'' movie and the kills only get more gruesome from there.
* ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'', a [[SubvertedKidsShow twisted, R-rated parody]] of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', has a cigarette-smoking rat telling a hippo to "move yer fat ass" and a walrus and cat [[FanDisservice having sex]], all within the first few minutes to make it clear to anyone who mistakenly rented the film for their kids that this is ''not'' a puppet movie for the whole family. Just in case [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids the R-rating and cover art depicting a hippo toting a heavy machine gun didn't already tip them off.]]
* ''Film/MortalKombat2021'' opens with Hanzo Hasashi and most of his family being betrayed and (in true ''Mortal Kombat'' fashion) messily slaughtered by Bi-Han (before they would become Scorpion and Sub-Zero respectively).
* In ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'', the opening song "Shiver My Timbers" explicitly makes clear what pirates do and ends with the pirate captain murdering his own crew, showing that this may be a Muppets movie, but it ''will'' deal with themes not normally considered child-friendly. (The movie later jokes about this, when Rizzo reacts to Billy Bones' death with "He died? And this is supposed to be a kids' movie!")
* ''Film/PansLabyrinth'' seems like a fairly kid-friendly movie, yeah? The story of a Spanish girl, dreaming of a fantasy world that may or may not be real. Pretty cool, right? Well... the opening shot is a character slowly bleeding to death. Then the ten-minute mark, we see two people getting killed very explicitly (GrievousBottleyHarm and gunshot, respectively). That should tip you off about the rest of the film.
* The page image comes from the opening scene of ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'', in which many people (who are implied to have been somewhat innocent) are executed, including a child small enough that they need to stand on a barrel to reach the noose. The rest of the film actually seems fairly tame compared to this scene.
* ''Film/PleaseGive'' opens on a montage of women receiving mammograms, with breasts fully visible.
* ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu'' has one to establish its DarkerAndEdgier tone, [[AvoidTheDreadedGRating and the first film in the series to be rated PG]]; opening on a fairly realistic car accident involving Harry Goodman [[spoiler: escaping from a rampaging Mewtwo while investigating PCL Labs]].
* While it's more PG-13 than R-Rated, ''Film/PowerRangers2017'' opens with the grim defeat of Zordon and his fellow Rangers - with one dying on-screen - during the age of the dinosaurs. And the second scene features one of Jason's friends realizing he unwittingly gave a bull a handjob (he thought he was milking a female cow), and Jason himself ends up getting into a pretty violent car wreck while trying to evade police. [[DarkerAndEdgier Just in case you thought you were bringing your kids to watch the same kind of wholesome, campy superheroes you watched as a child.]]
* ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' opens with Mr. Brown explaining that Madonna's Like A Virgin is actually being about her getting fucked so much that she can't feel anything until she meets a man who is so well endowed that she feels pain again, like a virgin.
* The opening scene of ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', the raid on Omaha Beach, is famous for the sheer, unflinching brutality involved. It very quickly establishes that this will ''[[WarIsHell not]]'' be one of those movies that depicts war as clean, glamourous, or in any way desirable. It was so true-to-life, in fact, that actual UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veterans had to leave the audience because it was triggering flashbacks. The rest of the movie doesn't get better.
* ''Film/ShivaBaby'': The film opens on Danielle [[TheImmodestOrgasm having sex loudly]] on the couch with her sugar daddy Max, though it's not explicit (but does show her topless [[ToplessnessFromTheBack from the back]] and [[{{Sideboob}} side]] after).
* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'', about some [[MyLittlePanzer toy army guys]] who come to life, was rated PG-13 and had some swearing in the first scene.
* ''Film/StandByMe'' starts with a grown up Gordie reading upon the death of someone ([[spoiler:later revealed to Chris Chambers]]) in the front newspaper in the car.
* ''Film/TetsuoTheIronMan'' starts off with a homeless man [[BodyHorror cutting open his own thigh and shoving a rusty steel rod into the open wound.]] Soon after, [[NauseaFuel the wound becomes infested with maggots]], leading the man to limp onto a road screaming for help before getting hit by the protagonist's car.
* Each of the films in the ''Film/TransformersFilmSeries'' have had this type of opening to some degree:
** ''Film/{{Transformers}}'' opens with Blackout and Scorponok committing a realistic assault on the army base in Qatar.
** ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' opens with The Fallen brutalizing a prehistoric society, followed immediately by a brutal fight in Shanghai that ends with at least one bloody human death and a Decepticon being shot execution-style by Optimus Prime.
** ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' opens with the final battle in the war that devastated Cybertron, with many Autobots and Decepticons being killed. The ''very next shot'' after that is a {{panty shot}} of Carly.
** ''Film/TransformersAgeOfExtinction'' opens with alien warships killing ''many'' dinosaurs, and a couple of scenes later [[TheMedic Ratchet]] is [[spoiler:killed off by U.S. Government agents with the aid of Lockdown, who then ''rips out his spark'']].
** ''Film/TransformersTheLastKnight'' opens with a brutal battle in medieval times, showing many humans being roasted alive by robotic dragons and a Merlin who does most of his magic while drunk; and the present day opening on the derelict neighborhoods of Chicago being heavily-ravaged by the events of the previous films [[spoiler: including Transformers being hunted by anti-robot extremists who brutally destroy the robot Canopy]].
* ''Film/{{Ulvesommer}}'' Is a weird case that it's considered a family film in its home Norway, it starts with wolves being shot from a helicopter. It tones down somewhat although it still gets a whole lot crap in (like the LittleMissBadass' mother having sex with the BigBad in another room, one can hear it but kids will likely not understand). It does apparently have a 16+ rating internationally compared to the homerating of 7+.
* ''Film/AWalkAmongTheTombstones'' opens with the main character shooting several robbers, followed by the opening credits set over a brutal rape scene.
* Inverted with ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' which opens with a kid-friendly DenserAndWackier {{Slapstick}} 1940s-era cartoon (the film being set in 1947) before the plot showcases the darker, more intense elements of a world where human beings and animated characters co-exist including depictions of profanity, violence, and homicide.
* More recent entries in the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' film series have had this sort of opening:
** ''Film/TheWolverine'' begins with the atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki, along with several Japanese generals committing suicide and Wolverine getting his skin blasted, setting the darker tone for the movie compared to previous X-Men movies.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' opens with the near future timeline showing that the Sentinels have driven both humans and mutants alike to near-extinction, heavily implying that members of both the X-Men and Brotherhood have died trying to fight them. The opening fight also shows that it takes several mutants to stop just one of them, setting up the stakes of the conflict and how the film is considerably darker than previous entries.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' has a bloodier opening with Apocalypse's followers being killed in contrast to a series known for BloodlessCarnage.
** The opening credits for ''Film/Deadpool2016'' has lots of profanity at some points and the first fight scene instantly starts with one of the villains being decapitated, with lots of blood and gore following shortly afterwards. The title character himself lampshades:
--->You’re probably thinking, ‘My boyfriend said this was a superhero movie, but this guy in the red suit just [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice turned that other guy into a fucking kebab.]]’
** ''Film/{{Logan}}'''s opening fight scene would never get away with a PG-13. The title character's first line is an [[PrecisionFStrike F-bomb]], and [[spoiler:in the fight he severs limbs and skewers his adversary's head with his claws]]. The small-scale brutality of the fight also establishes that it will be a much more brutal experience than any other film in the series.
** ''Film/Deadpool2'''s opening scene features Deadpool's [[BungledSuicide attempted suicide]] by blowing himself up, with the first bit of spoken dialogue being "Fuck Wolverine". The following montage shows Deadpool killing criminals in gruesome fashion. He once again lampshades this:
--->I know what you're thinking: 'I'm so glad I left the kiddos at home.' But that's where you'd be wrong. That babysitter of yours is high as fuck right now. And believe it or not, ''Deadpool 2'' is a family film. True story. And every big family film starts with a vicious murder. ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'', ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'', ''[[Film/Saw3D Saw]] [[BreadEggsMilkSquick VII]]''...
* ''Film/YoungAndWild'': The film opens on Daniela in bed with a guy whom she starts masturbating next to.
* ''Film/YTuMamaTambien'' seems like it would be a fun buddy {{Road Trip|Plot}} movie set in Mexico, right? Well, the very first thing you see in the movie is a two-minute sex scene. For those who didn't know anything about the movie outside of the road trip with friends, sex ends up being one of the most important themes of the movie, emphasized by the fact that [[EveryoneHasLotsOfSex literally every character is shown doing it]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The first chapter of ''Literature/TheAtomicBloodStainedBus'' features a character attempting to commit rape, and a gory cannibal scene; the rest of the book is actually somewhat lighter with gore occurring intermittently rather than as a constant.
* [[Literature/BackToTheFuture The novelization]] of ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' begins with a family getting caught in a nuclear explosion, complete with a gruesome description of their bodies being torn apart. [[spoiler:This is part of a film Marty and his classmates watch. To make this even more out of place, it's a holdover from an earlier version of the plot. "Are you telling me this sucker is nuclear?" indeed.]]
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfDorsa'': {{Inverted}} with ''Soldier of Dorsa'''s ending, as Tasia and Joslyn have passionate sex after having spent a long time apart just as the book ends.
* ''Literature/{{Doglands}}'': Two of Furgul's sisters are shot in the first forty-five pages.
* ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'' appears to be a typical {{Fantasy}}-inspired work with NoNameGiven characters, such as Priestess, who is part of [[DevelopingDoomedCharacters a Greenhorn Team]] of ''VideoGame/DragonQuest''-like rookie adventurers as they tackle a common goblin nest. All seems well until the [[SquishyWizard Wizard gets overwhelmed by the critters]] ([[OurGoblinsAreDifferent who are atypical in this setting]] as {{Not So Harmless Villain}}s) and stabbed in the gut with a poison dagger, [[SuicidalOverconfidence the Warrior is brutally murdered and torn apart]], and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil the Fighter is heinously and viciously gang-raped]]. Just as the goblins descend on the Priestess, the titular character arrives JustInTime, gives the Wizard a MercyKill because the poison's spread too far for an antidote, and then proceeds to [[LeaveNoSurvivors systematically slaughter every goblin in the nest]], ''[[WouldHurtAChild including goblin children]]'', [[NoSympathy with no pity, mercy or remorse whatsoever]]. Right off the bat, this shows readers that the series doesn't run on {{RPG Mechanics|Verse}}, that its inspiration is Western fantasy settings rather than EasternRPG tropes, and that a story built around killing the "weakest" monsters can be just as much of a challenge as fighting the strongest. All references to rape and murder of adventurers afterwards is briefly touched on compared to the gorefest that was its initial chapter.
* ''Literature/MagicUniversity'': The very first book, ''The Siren and the Sword'', opens with a male student having what [[OrWasItADream he thinks]] is a very graphic {{erotic dream}}. In it, he's having sex with his girlfriend.
* A mild example, but Creator/AndyWeir's novel ''Literature/TheMartian'' opens with the line, "I'm pretty much fucked." This ain't ''Literature/TheMartianChronicles'', kids!
* ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'' by Creator/NeilGaiman has a sex scene in the very first chapter.
* The prologue of the very first ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' book has Queen Burn shred Hvitur's wings, stab him through the skull, and throw him off a cliff as he screams in agony. [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids It's aimed at kids, naturally.]]
* ''Literature/TheTeresaKnightTrilogy'': The first book, and the trilogy overall, starts as Teresa is playing StripPoker, the game soon turning into sex with the other player, a man. In the next books, this continues, with each one having an opening that soon features sex.
[[/folder]]

* [=ClockUp=]'s ''Maggot Baits'' first sexual opens with the "Witches" Isabel and Sandy having sex with and ''killing'' about ten men after talking about it to the protagonist. Taking place in a CityNoir, the game and its citizens treats this as something natural.

* ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'' opens with Eddie Riggs being a roadie for a NuMetal band. The show then goes awry when the band starts trying complicated stage stunts. Eddie then calls the lead guitarist a [[PrecisionFStrike stupid motherfucker]]; and a beast then decapitates the band with lots of blood. The game actually takes the opportunity to freeze and prompt the player if they would like to turn on the gore and language filters before each of these happens.

* ''WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017'' does this in a particularly interesting way, one that almost counts as a SnickerWarningLabel of sorts, in the very first shot that opens the show as a whole. Said shot depicts [[DeadGuyOnDisplay hundreds of skeletons impaled on stakes]] sitting in the front yard of Dracula's castle, followed by a swarm of bats surrounding them for several seconds before we cut to Lisa getting to the castle's entrance while bloodily impaling one of the bats with her knife, basically establishing that the series won't be a fun ride. If that wasn't enough of a hint as going further, we later witness Lisa being burned at the stake by the evil Bishop, unleashing Dracula's rage and causing him to send off [[TheLegionsOfHell swarms of night creatures]] to [[KillAllHumans massacre everyone]], starting by sending said creatures into Targoviste to [[{{Gorn}} horrifically eviscerate]] the town's inhabitants, leaving trails of bloody body parts, intestines, blood and corpses all over the place in their wake.