History Main / VillainOpeningScene

* Pokey in ''VideoGame/Mother3''. If you played ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' however, you likely knew he would appear here.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'' begins with the villainess finding the magic flower used by Rapunzel's mother to heal her illness (and later transferring its magic to her daughter's hair), only to have it snatched away by the King to heal his aforementioned wife.

A Villain Opening Scene [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin begins the story with the villain]]. As it's an EstablishingCharacterMoment, often the villain's first act will be a KickTheDog or MoralEventHorizon crossing moment that serves to show how evil or badass he is, and often sets up the situation that the hero then has to resolve.

* ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'':The first scene of the movie shows the unseen force flying over a lake, sworving pass a run down car, and into the woods.

** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' begins with Red Skull finding and stealing the Tesseract.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai'' begins with Palkia and Dialga fighting, and then ends with Palkia flying towards the main setting of the story, Alamos Town.

* ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'': The penultimate part, ''The Crocodile Tomb'', begins with a prologue in which [[spoiler:Userref is brought before [[TheHeavy Telamon]] and [[DarkChick Alekto]] by an Egyptian official. They [[YouWillBeSpared offer to kill him painlessly and let him be buried in the proper Egyptian way in exchange for telling them]] where he has hidden the [[ArtifactOfDoom dagger of Koronos]], but after [[DefiantToTheEnd he refuses to cooperate]], they prepare to torture the information out of him]]. The following first chapter brings us to the main heroes who've just made their way to the coast of Egypt.

* The Riddler scouting out the mayor's house in ''Film/TheBatman''.

* Both the manga and the anime of ''Manga/ElfenLied'' begin with the [[{{Gorn}} infamous scene]] of an emaciated naked young woman shuffling through the corridors of an ElaborateUndergroundBase butchering dozens of armed guards by deflecting their bullets and ripping them apart with her telekinetic powers. And then she casually pops the head of a secretary who just happens to come around the corner and uses her corpse as a shield, clearly removing any doubt that she is merely the victim of an evil organization.

* This has become a tradition with the ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' movies.
** The first one begins with Vector stealing the Pyramid of Giza (though Vector himself doesn't show his face just yet).

* ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'':

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': The very first scene in the film shows the ''Indominus rex'' and its sibling as they're just emerging from their eggs in the [=InGen=] genetics lab. We find out later that she [[MonstrousCannibalism ate the sibling]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' does this quite a few times;
** After the opening narration in volume 1, the first character to appear onscreen is Roman Torchwick, who becomes a prominent antagonist for the Beacon arc.
** Volume 2's first episode opens with Emerald and Mercury as newly introduced villains, [[spoiler: and sees them kill a would-be defector]]
** While Volume 3 doesn't open in this way, [[spoiler: it ends with the revelation that the opening narrator was the BigBad Salem, retroactively giving a version of this to the entire show]]
** Volume four then opens with [[BigBad Salem]] and her associates meeting and discussing their next course of action after Beacon Academy's fall.

* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' "[[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/372 Love and Space]]" opens with alien criminal Fructose Riboflavin's trial. "[[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/756 The Island and the Idol]]" opens with the [[LivingShip Cone Ship]] entering Earth orbit.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CentralPark'', the Season 1 finale "[[Recap/CentralParkS1E10AFishCalledSnakehead A Fish Called Snakehead]]", the episode opens up like a horror movie, when two joggers jog pass the Harlem Meer, the male jogger spots the snakehead crawling back into the water and decides to call the park staff about it.

* The first scene of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' involves [[BigBad Hayate]] and her [[ArtifactOfDoom Book of Darkness]], [[AntiVillain though villain is used in the loosest sense of the word here]].
* Both the manga and the anime of ''Manga/ElfenLied'' begin with the [[{{Gorn}} infamous scene]] of an emaciated naked young woman shuffling through the corridors of an ElaborateUndergroundBase butchering dozens of armed guards by deflecting their bullets and ripping them apart with her telekinetic powers. And then she casually pops the head of a secretary who just happens to come around the corner and uses her corpse as a shield, clearly removing any doubt that she is merely the victim of an evil organization.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie'' begins with Mewtwo destroying the very laboratory he was created in, killing all of the scientists inside, and immediately escaping.

* The first scene in ''Anime/FistOfTheNorthStar'' depicts StarterVillain Zeed and his biker gang attacking a truck and taking the cargo it had. While Zeed does not last long and is killed at the end of the episode, it still establishes that a good deal of the villains in this show are going to be some of the cruelest you'll ever see.

* ''Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai'' begins with Palkia and Dialga fighting, and then ends with Palkia flying towards the main setting of the story, Alamos Town.
* ''Anime/TekkamanBlade'': The American version begins with the Radam aliens attacking the Earth's Space Ring.

* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The buildup to the arc leading into the 500th issue is a single issue dedicated to ComicBook/DoctorDoom.

* ''Fanfic/AceCombatEquestriaChronicles: Wings of Unity'' begins with a prologue where Aurora Starlight, the BigBad of the story, discusses a plan of invading Equestria and taking her revenge on Princess Celestia with her four most trusted servants, which form her elite Reaper squadron.
* In the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', in a similar vein to "Kindred Spirits" from the cartoon, one story begins with Vlad observing footage of Danny [[spoiler:in an attempt to learn more about his True Ghost Form]].

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'' actually begins with the film's BigBad, [[CarnivoreConfusion the Carnotaurus]] attacking the nest made by Aladar's mother, smashing all but one of the eggs (which was taken away by an Oviraptor, and later on a Pterodactyl, to Lemur Island) and presumably killing his mother.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'': Scar is the first character to speak in the film, although the film does not start with him appearing- it starts, as many know, with the famous scene depicting the inhabitants of the Pride Lands gathering to see Simba for the first time.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' begins with [[Creator/VincentPrice Ratigan's]] lackey Fidget attacking and kidnapping Olivia's father.
** Though technically not a villain, ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' was originally going to begin with [[KrakenAndLeviathan the Leviathan]] sinking [[HornyVikings a Viking ship]], and causing the Shepherd's Journal to be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean.
** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Due to the film beginning with the [[Franchise/DisneyFairies three good fairies]] bestowing [[SupernaturalAid gifts]] upon Aurora while she is a baby, she doesn't get a proper introduction until after Maleficent places the {{curse}} on her.
* ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'' begins with Professor Z and his henchcars discussing about their evil plan for world domination and killing an unsuspecting spy car by literally crushing him into a cube, only to run into Finn [=McMissile=], who had just infiltrated their lair.

* ''WesternAnimation/RecessSchoolsOut'' opens with the villains stealing the weather-altering laser.
* This has become a tradition with the ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' movies.
** The first one begins with Vector stealing the Pyramid of Giza (though Vector himself doesn't show his face just yet).
** The [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe2 second one]] begins with El Macho stealing an Antarctic base with a giant magnet (though El Macho himself doesn't show his face just yet either).
** The [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3 third one]] begins with Balthazar Bratt's backstory, which is immediately followed by his first heist (and unlike the first two, we fully see Bratt and his face).
** The first ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'' movie breaks this tradition, but ''WesternAnimation/MinionsTheRiseOfGru'' brings it back in full force, showing Belle Bottom of the Vicious Six evading the Anti-Villain League with the map to the Zodiac Stone in tow. Once she makes it back to headquarters, we then see Wild Knuckles breaking into the temple and stealing said stone. Unfortunately for him, this is also where the rest of the Vicious Six betray him, take the stone for themselves, and leave their leader for dead.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'' opens with the backstory of Lord Shen and the opening credits come in over scenes of him and his army.
** The opening scene for ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda3'' has Kai defeat [[BigGood Master Oogway]] and escape from the Spirit Realm using the chi he stole from the spirits of dead Kung Fu masters.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'' starts with the Dazzlings draining a restaurant full of people and noticing the ending battle of the first movie in the distance, thus setting off the plot for this movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'''s opening credits scene shows [[spoiler:[[FauxAffablyEvil The Beldam's]]]] hands remaking the [[CreepyDoll doll]] until it resembles the protagonist of the movie, before sending it to a starry, black sky.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'' opens with Lord Business stealing the Kragle from Vitruvius while blinding him and dismissing his prophecy as a bunch of nonsense.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'' opens with Joker and the rest of the rogues gallery plotting to bomb the Gotham Energy Facility and Batman himself doesn't show up until the 7-minute mark when he goes undercover as Mayor [=McCaskill=].

* Several ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' films start off with either Godzilla or the monster he's going to fight in the films.
* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' puts a twist on this in that it initially appears to be following a group of Joker's {{mook}}s; only at the very end of the scene is it [[DramaticUnmask revealed]] that the last surviving mook ''is'' the Joker.
* Bane's plane hijacking in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''.

* ''Film/TheEvilDead1981'':The first scene of the movie shows the unseen force flying over a lake, sworving pass a run down car, and into the woods.
* Alfred Hitchcock's ReverseWhodunnit ''Theatre/{{Rope}}'' opens with the two murderers.
* ''Film/ShadowOfADoubt'' opens with SerialKiller Uncle Charlie on the run from police.

* Extreme case: the first scene of ''Film/{{Predator 2}}'' is seen through the predator's point of view.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' opens with the bad guys' ship and its infamous "We brake for nobody" plate.

* ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'' opens with Ming the Merciless announcing that he's bored and deciding to amuse himself by destroying Earth.
* ''Film/DirtyHarry'' begins with the first Scorpio murder. More accurately, it starts with a pretty girl taking a swim in a rooftop pool, then zooms out at length until we see the barrel of a sniper rifle...
** ''Film/TheEnforcer'' begins with Miki posing as a hitchhiker who seduces two gas company men before Maxwell kills the two and steals their van and uniforms to use as part of his scheme.
** In ''Film/TheDeadPool'', before we see Harry, we first see Rook in his apartment, watching the news and reading a Rolling Stone magazine before making the Dead Pool list. His face is obscured, however.
* The kung-fu flick ''Film/FingerOfDoom'' opens with the main villainess, Madam Kung Sun, using the titular skill to excruciatingly kill four swordsmen intending to challenge her, before reviving the four as her zombified minions to join her ranks.

* The prologue of ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' shows "Destro" [=McCullen=] being arrested and sentenced for sedition against King Louis XIII. The first scene of the movie proper is of Mr. [=McCullen=] presenting his amazing nanomachine warheads to the military.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' opens with V'Ger
** ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier'' opens with AntiVillain Sybok.
** ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'' opens with Shinzon (or, in any case, one of his co-conspirators) wiping-out the Romulan Senate.
* ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' starts up with a meeting between evil Nazi and Jew hunter Col. Hans Landa and a French dairy farmer who is hiding a family of Jews under the floorboards of his house. MoralEventHorizon, ahoy!
* ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' (the film) opens with Ra abducting his future host and slaves. (We don't see Ra himself, but we do see the host and Ra's ship).
* ''Film/HomeSweetHome'' begins with a man offering a beer to a random, stranded stranger. Said stranger is an escaped psychopath named Jay, who strangles the man to death, shoots up with PCP, steals the victim's car, and runs an old lady over. Jay will be our slasher for the rest of the film.
* ''Film/AClockworkOrange'' opens with a close-up of a smiling Alex, planning a night of ultra-violence.
* For both Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees in ''Film/FreddyVsJason''. The film [[OpeningMonologue opens with a monologue]] by Freddy Krueger. He explains how he came to be, and that the parents of Springwood have stopped him by erasing him from memory. He has found someone (Jason Voorhees) who he will use to instill fear in the town of Springwood once again, which will allow him to come back. This is followed by Jason stalking one of his victims in Camp Crystal Lake in his dreams before Freddy manipulates him in the guise of his mother to go to Springwood.
* ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'' opens with Freddy Krueger constructing his iconic bladed glove when he was still a human serial killer before transitioning to Tina's first nightmare.
* In the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:

* ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' opens with [[spoiler:the origin story and birth of the later supervillain and David's evil mentor Elijah, showing why his fragility devastated his mother and ultimately caused him to became a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, which is further fleshed out in a later scene between the two.]]

* The first ''Film/XMen1'' movie begins with a flashback sequence to ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s childhood in Auschwitz, where he first discovers his magnetic powers while struggling with a Nazi guard.
** The DistantPrologue of ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' is a variant in that it's about the title villain, but he's a minor participant - Apocalypse is just [[BodySurf changing bodies]], while his Horsemen ensure he doesn't die when the servants riot and cause the pyramid to cave in.
* ''Film/JurassicWorld'': The very first scene in the film shows the ''Indominus rex'' and its sibling as they're just emerging from their eggs in the [=InGen=] genetics lab. We find out later that she [[MonstrousCannibalism ate the sibling]].
* ''Film/JackReacher'' opens with [[TheDragon Charlie]] taking out a sniper rifle at a parking garage and shooting at five innocent victims.

* In ''Film/RamboIV'', the first scene shown is the Tatmadaw playing a sick betting game involving civilians walking through a mine infested marsh. When the civilians make it across safely, the soldiers opt to shoot the civilians. In the Director's Cut, this scene was moved to a much later time in the movie.
* ''Film/{{Axeman}}'' starts with the Axeman killing some bank robbers hiding out in his cabin.
* ''Film/TheDeparted'' opens with a monologue from Frank Castello. Any ambiguity about how we are to view him is quickly cleared up by the exercising of his assumed NWordPrivileges.
* ''Film/Stitches2001'' opens with Mrs. Albright making her skin suit.
* ''[[Film/RideAlong Ride Along 2]]'' opens with [[BigBad Antonio Pope]] holding a party on his yacht and his hacker A.J. telling him that his money had been stolen. Pope accuses Griffin of stealing the money, and has him killed in his apartment by a hitman.
* ''Film/BloodsuckersFromOuterSpace'' starts with a farmer being possessed by the Lifeforce.
* Seems to be a recurring thing in the ''Franchise/StarWars Saga''.
** ''Film/ANewHope'' opens with a Star Destroyer [[note]]Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, the ''Devastator''[[/note]] chasing a Rebel Blockade Runner.
** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' opens with a Star Destroyer deploying probe droids.
** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' opens with a Star Destroyer dropping off a shuttle to deliver Darth Vader to the second Death Star.
** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (Episode VII) opens with a First Order Star Destroyer [[note]] The ''Resurgent-Class'' Star Destroyer ''Finalizer'' [[/note]] deploying AAL-1971/9.1 Troop Transports containing bunches of stormtroopers to land on Jakku to raid a village for a map piece that contains Luke Skywalker's location. The affair features Kylo Ren displaying his powers by stopping a blaster bolt in midair and holding it, something no Jedi on either side of the Force had been shown doing up to that point.
* The first scene in ''Film/HardTarget'' has Fouchon and Van Cleaf hunting down and killing a homeless veteran named Douglas Binder.
* ''Film/AlienCovenant'': The film opens with [[spoiler:David first being activated by his "father" and designer, Peter Weyland.]] He's later revealed to be responsible for the genocide of the Engineers and has been experimenting on hapless humans to facilitate the perfection of the neomorphs into their Xenomorph forms.
* ''Film/SpidersIIBreedingGround'': The movie opens with the bad guys performing kidnappings on the high seas and feeding human corpses to the giant spiders they bred before it cuts to our heroes Alexandra and Jason.
* ''Film/NewJackCity'', opens VillainProtagonist Nino Brown directing Duh-Duh-Duh Man to throw a corrupt business man over a bridge for not honoring his end of a deal gone bad.
* ''Film/QueenOfTheDamned'': Of a sort; Akasha, not Lestat, is the subject of the opening credits. However, she's still a lifeless statue before Lestat awakens her halfway through the film.
* The first scene of ''Film/CreedII'' shows Ivan and Viktor Drago in Ukraine, their lifestyle and Viktor fighting in underground arena matches.

* ''Film/SilentNight2012'' opens with Santa electrocuting Deputy Jordan.
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' opens with the Skeksis.
* ''Film/Hellboy2019'' opens with Nimue's origin story rather than Hellboy's, which is instead told via flashback toward the end of the first act.
* ''Film/Halloween1978'' opens with a [[EnfantTerrible six-year-old]] Michael Myers murdering his sister Judith before the film flashes forward 15 years to Michael's escape from a sanatorium.

* Ken Follett writes amazing books like ''Literature/TheKeyToRebecca'' and ''Literature/EyeOfTheNeedle'' where the villain starts out as the main character, with the readers' sympathies with him, and then the focus and sympathies begin to slowly shift to the hero.

* [[Creator/HarryTurtledove Harry Turtledove's]] ''Literature/WorldWar'' opens with a scene of Lord Atvar and one of his subordinates watching a Western European knight on a screen with both throughly amused by how easily they'd conquer Earth... [[HumansAdvanceSwiftly in 800]] [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII years.]]

* The very first scene of ''{{Theatre/Hamilton}}'' is a MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber, and about the titular character, but it's started off by [[VillainProtagonist Villain]] {{Deuteragonist}} Aaron Burr, he has by far the most solos in it, and by the end, he reveals himself as the man who shot Hamilton.

* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem starts with Ashtar, mastermind of the events of the first game and primary antagonist through most of the second game relaying orders to a subordinate.
* ''VideoGame/ShounenKinindenTsumuji'' begins with the the villain gaining his demonic powers from a meteorite.
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' in a homage to ''Franchise/StarWars'' has a Valuan battleship chasing down the game's MysteriousWaif. The game's first bit of dialogue goes to the admiral piloting said battleship.
* ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'' opens with a scene of Andre creating an army of Black Lums.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' opens with Dark Samus resurrecting.
* The first ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'' opens with Natla's crash in the desert.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' opens with the title villains, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, teaming up, and then killing the series' BigBad, Shao Kahn, and ChosenOne, Liu Kant, Deception opens with those two villains fighting the BigGood, Raiden, before [[EnemyMine all three of them]] fighting and getting defeated by the game's BigBad, Onaga.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** While the heroes' and villains' viewpoints are separated into their own stories, the earliest chronological scene in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' is the start of the Dark story, with Eggman breaking into the GUN base and freeing Shadow.
** Dr. Robotnik has one in the spinoff ''VideoGame/DoctorRobotniksMeanBeanMachine'', in which he explains his latest plan to Scratch and Grounder.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' begins with Donkey Kong's nemesis King K. Rool plotting the destruction of DK Island.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is the perfect example. To introduce the new main villains of the game, the game begins with them appearing from nowhere and shooting your trusty ship from the first game into a burning wreck with the first salvo. You just have enough time to watch your crew abandoning the ship and look out the giant hole in the hull that used to be the command center before they come round for the second attack that completely destroys your ship which disintegrates around you. Floating in the cloud of debris, your space suits starts to leak and you start your trip down to the planet several hundred kilometers below you. You get better, but after that opening, you just want to see those bastards dead, without even knowing their name or what they look like.
* Dr. Wily has one in ''VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp'' where he appears on a TV Screen and announces his plans to the world.
* Pokey in ''VideoGame/Mother3''. If you played ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' however, you likely knew he would appear here.
* In the Updated version of ''VideoGame/PanelDePon'' in the Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Thantos's army is shown mind controlling everyone with a special song. He does this in the first as well, but he is revealed to be an illusion created by Cordelia.
* ''VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny'' begins with Nobunaga [[DoomedHometown razing Jubei Yagyu's home village]].
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate I'''s intro begins with a [[TinTyrant sinister armoured figure]] choking and killing a defenceless man on a rooftop for unknown reasons. The same man then [[FinalBossPreview shows up at the end of the prologue]], looking for you and killing your foster father and mentor in the process. You then don't see any of him for the next six chapters.

* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' opens with General Viggo giving a monologue about the group as the camera pans over their village. He then attacks the village and steals their children and spouses.

* The opening of ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' shows Ghetsis crowning the King of Team Plasma.
* In the opening cutscene for X's portion of ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'', a cloaked Sigma is having a discussion with the General about the Maverick Hunters, trying to convince him to fight against and destroy them.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'' has Sigma talking to Dynamo to await for his instructions as he heads to Earth to spread TheVirus across the planet.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' begins with Gate at the ruins of Eurasia, followed by him growing mad with power the next week after having picked up a piece of debris earlier.
* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'' begins with a CorruptChurch headed by Shaft resurrecting Dracula.
* [[spoiler:Iris gets one]] in ''VideoGame/RosenkreuzStilette'''s alternate mode, ''Rosenkreuzstilette Grollschwert'', where she kills an unidentified priest ForTheEvulz and has finished [[spoiler:making her plans to have RKS fight against the Empire, also ForTheEvulz]], just before being caught by Grolla. Not only does she attack Grolla with powerful magic, she even pulls a WoundedGazelleGambit on her by pretending she's threatened and crying out for Sichte's help! Realizing that lowering her guard on Sichte's orders could end up making her forfeit her life, she instead retreats to gather her thoughts and reassess the situation.

* ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'''s intro starts at Dr. Neurosis' castle, where bats fly and Fritz is summoned by Neurosis to get Lance to fix his computer and then dispose of him so that the villain can succeed in [[TakeOverTheWorld Taking Over the World]].
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' features the Templar Grand Master Haytham Kenway traveling to America and gathering his team of Templars.
* ''VideoGame/FableIII'' opens with Logan giving a typical villain monologue over a map of Albion. [[spoiler: In a subversion, he isn't threatening it at all; he's stating the facts of what will happen if Albion's people don't support him enough by the time an Eldtritch Abomination reaches their shores.]]
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' opens with Lord Brevon and his Shade Troopers invading the Shuigang Palace, slaughtering several Shuigang soldiers, and then Brevon himself [[OffWithHisHead beheading the King of Shuigang]] right in front of Prince Dail and afterwards brainwashing Dail through Syntax. If that doesn’t prove just how vile Brevon is to the player, we're not sure what will.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet2'' starts right at the ending of the first game, showing the remnants of the Kingdom Stone forming a spiral above Avalice, before the camera moves to a crystal prison. The prison soon cracks open, releasing its occupant: Merga, the Water Dragon Centurion.
* Nearly every ''VideoGame/SuperSolvers'' game (aside from the spinoffs) opens with Morty Maxwell telling his robot minions how his new EvilPlan will work.
* ''VideoGame/HoratioTheThirdSeniorManjensenWithKnuckles'' opens with a cutscene of Doobie and his henchmen discussing their plan to take over the world.

* The Joker's bank robbery in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.

** ''Film/LicenceToKill'' blurs the two tropes, mainly focusing on BigBad Franz Sanchez who, unfortunately for him, unintentionally interuppts the wedding on Felix Leiter, which means Bond gets involved.

** ''Film/ANewHope'' opens with a Star Destroyer [[note]] Darth Vader's Star Destroyer, the ''Devastator''. [[/note]] chasing a Rebel Blockade Runner.

* ''Film/Halloween1978'' opens with a [[EnfantTerrible six-year-old]] Michael Myers murdering his sister Judith before the film flashes foward 15 years to Michael's escape from a sanitarium.

** ''Film/ANewHope'' opens with a Star Destroyer chasing a Rebel Blockade Runner.

** ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (Episode VII) opens with a First Order Star Destroyer deploying landing ships containing bunches of stormtroopers to land on Jakku to raid a village for a map piece that contains Luke Skywalker's location. The affair features Kylo Ren displaying his powers by stopping a blaster bolt in midair and holding it, something no Jedi on either side of the Force had been shown doing up to that point.

* ''Film/NewJackCity'', opens VillainProtagonist Nino Brown directing his henchman to throw a corrupt business man over a bridge for not honoring his end of a deal gone bad.

* The first ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' opens with Natla's crash in the desert.

** The tenth movie opens with [[HeroAntagonist hero antagonists]] Garp and Sengoku looking on grimly and expositing as movie BigBad "Golden Lion" Shiki [[TheWorfEffect worfs]] an entire Buster Call-sized fleet of Navy battleships.

** And the [[WesternAnimation/DespicableMe3 third one]] begins with Balthazar Bratt's backstory, which is immediately followed by his first heist (and unlike the first two, we fully see Bratt and his face).