History Recap / CommunityS4E12HeroicOrigins

** Abed was being mean to Shirley's kids on the basis that ''The Phantom Menance'' is a bad movie. This gets him a restraining order from the movie theatre and a wake-up call from his dad, who threatens to not let him go to film school unless he shapes up.

* CallBack: Near constant, given the conceit of the episode.

* BecomingTheMask: Abed knew all along that Chang was faking his Changnesia, but he was able to induce a HeelFaceTurn by convincing him that Greendale was a place that allowed people to reinvent themselves for the better, and regardless of the intention, "Kevin" was legitimately a better person now.

* AnarchyIsChaos: In her flashback, Britta asks herself what she, as an anarchist, will do without her organization. It's presented as HypocriticalHumor, while in reality there actually is no conflict between anarchy and organization.

* AccidentallyAccurate: In relation to the CreateYourOwnHero ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', Abed laments how he is the bad guy who ultimately pushed the group together. It was actually Chang who gave them the flyers to Greendale.

* AnarchyIsChaos: In her flashback, Britta asks herself what she as an anarchist gotta do without her organization. It's presented as HypocriticalHumor while there actually is no conflict between anarchy and organization.

** In the courthouse you can see that 2008 Annie was Greendale Citizen of the Month throughout the first six months of 2008.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Everyone suffered it to a minor extent as a result of interacting:

** Annie was overdosing on pills at Troy's party. She then threw a temper tantrum while high about how she wasn't getting any of the awards, despite the occasion is to honour him, broke his confidence about football by saying he was never going to succeed, and then caused property damage by running through a glass door. That's when she got busted for drugs -- as Jeff puts it, Annie wasn't busted when Abed saw her stealing a prescription pad--
** Abed was being mean to people on the basis that a movie is bad, namely the ''Star Wars'' prequels. This gets him a restraining order from the movie theatre and a wake-up call from his dad, who threatens to not let him go to film school unless he shapes up.
** Troy was a JerkJock at the time, who picked on others. He got a taste of it when Annie called him out for being full of himself and sabotaged himself so he wouldn't have to achieve anything. As a bonus, he eventually became friends with Abed.

** Played straight with Shirley, who went to check on their kids after they reported: "a strange man" was bothering them. This led to Andre cheating on her because he felt stood up by her complaining for three hours.

* OriginsEpisode
** Jeff got Mysti acquitted and (after getting drunk in response to his fake degree being exposed) encouraged her to call the married man, Andre. Abed ruined ''The Phantom Menace'' for Shirley's kids, forcing her to leave Andre alone at the bar. He also pointed out that a prescription pad was missing as Annie was stealing it.
** "Pop pop!": Magnitude was near two balloons popped by the glass that Annie crashed through.

* ParentsAsPeople: It's revealed Abed's father was tough on him at the beginning about film school because Abed got a restraining order filed against him. He says that Abed could just apologize and it would be over.
* ProgressivelyPrettier: Annie has glasses and braces in her first flashback but the final one only leaves her glasses, making her a textbook Meganekko.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Troy reveals that he remembers the speech Annie delivered to him of this nature the night he faked his football-ending injury, and how much it hurt his feelings. As Annie ran through a plate-glass window that same night, needed extensive reconstructive surgery and had to go through withdrawal and rehab to cure her drug addiction, she is unimpressed.

* TurnOfTheMillennium: The flashbacks are set in 2008, more or less a year before the series premiere.

** Troy keeps claiming he doesn't remember Annie. When pressed to it, he says he didn't want to remember because she made his graduation party all about her by screaming because she didn't win the award "Most Likely to Succeed," even though the celebration ''for Troy,'' and then broke a glass door.

* ProgressivelyPrettier: Annie has glasses and braces in her first flashback but the final one only leaves her glasses, making her a textbook {{Meganekko}}.

* AdultFear:
** Shirley gets a call from her kids that a strange man is bothering them at the movie theatre. She leaves her husband on their anniversary to check on them. Then she returns and finds Andre talking up a stripper.
** Abed's father got a call from the movie theatre saying they were placing a restraining order against his son. He forces Abed to go into therapy because you can't go around being a jerk to people in the name of "warning" them about bad movies.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Britta has dyed purple hair in the flashbacks. It's why Jeff didn't recognize her; in his early Greendale days, he listed contact info based on girls' hair colour.

For the group's graduation present Abed maps out a Crazy Quilt of Destiny using collected ticket stubs and old receipts, to reveal that the study group's paths have all crossed each other's in everyone's OriginStory. We find out about Jeff's disbarring, the breakup of Shirley's marriage, Troy's lost football scholarship, Annie's breakdown and pill addiction, Britta's short-lived career as an anarchist and Abed's banishment from film school and how it all lead them to each other... and Greendale.

** Shirley gets a call from her kids that a strange man is bothering them at the movie theater. She leaves her husband on their anniversary to check on them. Then she returns and finds Andre talking up a stripper.
** Abed's father got a call from the movie theater saying they were placing a restraining order against his son. He forces Abed to go into therapy because you can't go around being a jerk to people in the name of "warning" them about bad movies.

* AnarchyIsChaos: In her flashback Britta asks herself what she as an anarchist gotta do without her organization. It's presented as HypocriticalHumor while there actually is no conflict between anarchy and organization.

** Annie's breakdown starts when she misses the "Most Likely to Succeed" award, when it is obvious that Troy is winning all of them. This is a similar setup to Jeff and "The Most Handsome Young Man" award at [[Recap/CommunityS3E12ContemporaryImpressionists Howie Schwartz's "Star Mitzvah"]].
** Abed knew that Jeff and Shirley went to the same rec center, but he wasn't aware of the [[Recap/CommunityS3E09FoosballAndNocturnalVigilantism "Tinkle Town" incident]]. He may have been distracted by his broken DVD.

** Whilst everyone else in the Study Group is connected in some way that led them to Greendale, Pierce is reduced to simply being a fixture of Greendale & likely to interact with them at some point of their time at the college anyway. [[FridgeBrilliance Which makes sense, since at that point Pierce had already been going to Greendale for ten years.]]

** The comicbook-style page flips as a flashback starts show several scenes from previous episodes.

* HeelFaceTurn: Chang, after Abed offers him entry into the group and frozen yogurt.

** Annie was overdosing on pills at Troy's party. She then threw a temper tantrum while high about how she wasn't getting any of the awards, despite the occasion being to honor him, broke his confidence about football by saying he was never going to succeed, and then caused property damage by running through a glass door. That's when she got busted for drugs -- as Jeff puts it, Annie wasn't busted when Abed saw her stealing a prescription pad--
** Abed was being mean to people on the basis that a movie is bad, namely the ''Star Wars'' prequels. This gets him a restraining order from the movie theater and a wakeup call from his dad, who threatens to not let him go to film school unless he shapes up.
** Troy was a JerkJock at the time, who picked on others. He got a taste of it when Annie called him out for being full of himself, and sabotaged himself so he wouldn't have to achieve anything. As a bonus, he eventually became friends with Abed.

** Parodied. Abed thinks that he's doing people a favor by warning them about The Phantom Menace being rereleased. After Shirley chews out the movie theater, management issues a restraining order about it.

* OneDegreeOfSeparation: Abed goes to great lengths to discover their interconnections, convinced they must have a shared OriginStory. At first everyone thinks he's being crazy, but the coincidences start piling up until it's revealed they were all in the same place when they first decided to study at Greendale. Even before that, everyone (with the exception of Pierce) had their life affected in some way by another member of the study group.

* SayingTooMuch: Chang falls into this right at the very end, when he decides to turn his back on revenge on Greendale.

** And also a small one for Jeff/Annie. Jeff is seen smiling up at the pictures of Annie that she's been awarded for "Citizen of the Month" in 2008. Considering how prominent Jeff/Annie has become as the series has gone on, it might count as a sort of unintentional {{Foreshadowing}}. Especially since the show was envisioned with ''Britta'' being FirstGirlWins, but after [[spoiler: the S5 finale, this is now completely sunk with Jeff's relevation that his love for ''Annie'' was strong enough to open the door.]]

** Dean Spreck's back-up plan to destroy Greendale appears to involve a giant mechanical spider. This may be a reference to Kevin Smith's famous anecdote from his time spent working on an abortive script for a Superman film, during which the producer, Jon Peters, kept insisting that he include a giant mechanical spider, which was later adapted to the giant mechanical spider in ''{{Film/Wild Wild West}}''. Also doubles as a FunWithAcronyms FreezeFrameBonus.

* TookALevelInKindness: The group overall is kinder than they were before they came to Greendale. Annie was a self-absorbed drug addict, Troy was mean to other for kicks, Abed's NoSocialSkills get him a restraining order, Shirley was violent enough to push Misty's face into a jukebox, and Jeff was an unethical lawyer.

** Shirley calls out Abed for bothering her kids at the movie theater on her anniversary, and Jeff for getting Misty off scot-free.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Britta has dyed purple hair in the flashbacks. It's why Jeff didn't recognize her; in his early Greendale days, he listed contact info based on girls' hair color.

** And also a small one for Jeff/Annie. Jeff is seen smiling up at the pictures of Annie that she's been awarded for "Citizen of the Month" in 2008. Considering how prominent Jeff/Annie has become as the series has gone on, it might count as a sort of unintentional {{Foreshadowing}}. Especially since the show was envisioned with ''Britta'' being FirstGirlWins, but after the S5 finale, this is now completely sunk with Jeff's relevation that his love for ''Annie'' was strong enough to open the door.]

** Troy keeps claiming he doesn't remember Annie. When pressed to it, he says he didn't want to remember because she made his graduation party all about her by screaming because she didn't win the award "Most Likely to Succeed" even though the celebration for Jeff, and then broke a glass window.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Shirley accuses Jeff of breaking up her marriage by saving the stripper. She might have a point since Jeff, in a bad mood, encouraged Misty to pursue a married man. Jeff later agrees with her, but he also says Andre made the choice to cheat on his wife.

** Upon first meeting Chang, Jeff asks if Professor Duncan is still teaching at Greendale; in the [[Recap/CommunityS1E01Pilot Pilot]], Jeff goers to Duncan hoping to use their past relationship of lawyer & client to get out of doing any work.

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Shirley accuses Jeff of breaking up her marriage by saving the tripper; it turns out she may have a point since Jeff in a bad mood encouraged Misty to pursue a married man. Jeff later agrees with her, but he also says Andre made the choice to cheat on his wife.

* HonoraryTrueCompanion: Abed realises Chang was part of the group all along, as it was him who handed out fliers for Greendale at the frozen yoghurt place.
* ItsAllMyFault: Abed discovers that he was responsible for everyone ending up studying in Greendale, becoming the "villain" of these origin stories, in the end they decide that to some extent everyone is "Uncle Ben's killer".

* NeverMyFault: Almost all members of the group refuse to be responsible for their own actions and prefer to blame another, although in Shirley's case it is more "Never my husband's fault"

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Britta has dyed purple hair in the flashbacks.

* ActorAllusion: Troy being the one to say "and we're all Spider-Man" is a nod to Donald Glover's desire to play that role himself.

* FakeShemp: Pierce (or whoever it was that broke the fro-yo machine and faked a heart attack) is played by another actor, and never seen from the front. Lampshaded when the gang reflect on the incident, surprised at the improbability of them all having been in the same place, and someone says "Could that old guy ''really'' have been Pierce?"

* FreezeFrameBonus: In the courthouse you can see that 2008 Annie was Greendale Citizen of the Month throughout the first six months of 2008.

* ShipTease: Troy to Abed: "You were out there somewhere and you ''weren't looking for me?!''"

** Franchise/SpiderMan

* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask: Abed knew all along that Chang was faking his Changnesia, but he was able to induce a HeelFaceTurn by convincing him that Greendale was a place that allowed people to reinvent themselves for the better, and regardless of the intention, "Kevin" was legitimately a better person now.]]
* BigBad: The villain behind the plot is [[spoiler:Dean Spreck]].

* BrickJoke: Britta reveals that [[spoiler:Annie's Boobs's bite may cause psychosis]]. Abed mentions this at the end of the episode.

** Shirley's [[Recap/CommunityS1E01Pilot very specific jukebox thing]], previously a NoodleIncident, is explained. [[spoiler:She smashed the stripper's head through one for sleeping with Andre.]]

** Troy's claim in [[Recap/CommunityS1E15RomanticExpressionism Romantic Expressionism]] that Annie's nervous breakdown ended with her running into a plate glass window screaming "everyone's a robot!" turns out to be paraphrased. [[spoiler:She actually just called Troy a robot because he does anything his football coach tells him to.]]

* ContinuitySnarl: Troy's injury is a big one. In the Pilot, Annie says that he dislocated his shoulders doing a keg flip & he reveals in [[Recap/CommunityS1E06FootballFeminismAndYou "Football, Feminism and You"]] that [[spoiler:he did so on purpose out of fear of failure. In this episode, he ''pretends'' to have broken his leg.]] [[FridgeBrilliance Then again, Annie]] ''[[FridgeBrilliance was]]'' [[FridgeBrilliance on drugs at the time...]]

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn: Chang, after Abed offers him entry into the group and frozen yogurt.]]
* HonoraryTrueCompanion: [[spoiler:Abed realises Chang was part of the group all along, as it was him who handed out fliers for Greendale at the frozen yoghurt place.]]

** Jeff [[spoiler:got Mysti acquitted and (after getting drunk in response to his fake degree being exposed) encouraged her to call the married man, Andre]]. Abed [[spoiler:ruined ''The Phantom Menace'' for Shirley's kids, forcing her to leave Andre alone at the bar. He also pointed out that a prescription pad was missing as Annie was stealing it.]]
** "Pop pop!": [[spoiler:Magnitude was near two balloons popped by the glass that Annie crashed through.]]
** Annie's Boobs was [[spoiler:stolen by Britta and traded for a "glaucoma brownie", despite carrying "experimental monkey fever".]]
** Everyone [[spoiler:was at Yogurts-burgh when the Dean and Chang were passing out Greendale flyers.]]
** The Dean picks up [[spoiler:Shirley's discarded nightie]].

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Chang's mysterious accomplice is City College's Dean Spreck.]]
* SayingTooMuch: Chang falls into this right at the very end, [[spoiler:when he decides to turn his back on revenge on Greendale]].

** And also a small one for Jeff/Annie. Jeff is seen smiling up at the pictures of Annie that she's been awarded for "Citizen of the Month" in 2008. Considering how prominent Jeff/Annie has become as the series has gone on, it might count as a sort of unintentional {{Foreshadowing}}. [[spoiler: Especially since the show was envisioned with ''Britta'' being FirstGirlWins, but after the S5 finale, this is now completely sunk with Jeff's relevation that his love for ''Annie'' was strong enough to open the door.]]

** [[spoiler: Dean Spreck's]] back-up plan to destroy Greendale appears to involve a giant mechanical spider. This may be a reference to Kevin Smith's famous anecdote from his time spent working on an abortive script for a Superman film, during which the producer, Jon Peters, kept insisting that he include a giant mechanical spider, which was later adapted to the giant mechanical spider in ''{{Film/Wild Wild West}}''. Also doubles as a FunWithAcronyms FreezeFrameBonus.

* DumbJock / JerkJock: Flashback!Troy varied between both.

* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask: Abed knew all along that Chang was faking his Changnesia, but he was able to induce a HeelFaceTurn by convincing him that Greendale was a place that allowed people to reinvent themselves for the better, and regardless of the intention, "Kevin" was legitimately a better person now.]]
* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn: Chang, after Abed offers him entry into the group and frozen yogurt.]]

* FreudianExcuse: It turns out that Chang's increasing insanity and corresponding TookALevelInJerkass over seasons two and especially three might stem from 'experimental monkey fever' caught from Annie's Boobs.

! The ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "Heroic Origins" provides examples of:

* [[spoiler:BecomingTheMask: Abed knew all along that Chang was faking his Changnesia, but he was able to induce a HeelFaceTurn by convincing him that Greendale was a place that allowed people to reinvent themselves for the better, and regardless of the intention, "Kevin" was legitimately a better person now.]]

* [[spoiler:HeelFaceTurn: Chang, after Abed offers him entry into the group and frozen yogurt.]]

* WrittenInAbsence: Pierce is once again with Gilbert to account for Chevy Chase leaving.

* OneDegreeOfSeperation: Abed goes to great lengths to discover their interconnections, convinced they must have a shared OriginStory. At first everyone thinks he's being crazy, but the coincidences start piling up until it's revealed they were all in the same place when they first decided to study at Greendale. Even before that, everyone (with the exception of Pierce) had their life affected in some way by another member of the study group.

* WrittenInAbsence: Pierce is once again with Gilbert to account for Chevy Chase leaving.
* YouAllShareMyStory: Abed goes to great lengths to discover their interconnections, convinced they must have a shared OriginStory. At first everyone thinks he's being crazy, but the coincidences start piling up until it's revealed they were all in the same place when they first decided to study at Greendale. Even before that, everyone (with the exception of Pierce) had their life affected in some way by another member of the study group.

** Whilst everyone else in the Study Group is connected in some way that led them to Greendale, Pierce is reduced to simply being a fixture of Greendale & likely to interact with them at some point of their time at the college anyway.

* ContinuitySnarl: Troy's injury is a big one. In the Pilot, Annie says that he dislocated his shoulders doing a keg flip & he reveals in [[Recap/CommunityS1E06FootballFeminismAndYou "Football, Feminism and You"]] that [[spoiler:he did so on purpose out of fear of failure. In this episode, he ''pretends'' to have broken his leg.]]

** And also a small one for Jeff/Annie. Jeff is seen smiling up at the pictures of Annie that she's been awarded for "Citizen of the Month" in 2008. Considering how prominent Jeff/Annie has become as the series has gone on, it might count as a sort of unintentional {{Foreshadowing}}. [[strike: Especially since the show was envisioned with ''Britta'' being FirstGirlWins, but after the S5 finale, this is now completely sunk with Jeff's relevation that his love for ''Annie'' was strong enough to open the door.]]

* FridgeBrilliance: Shirley is wearing an ''Elect Obama'' shirt in the flashback. Not the candidate you'd expect her to support - until you realise that she's never actually voiced an opinion on economics, and she belongs to a demographic (strongly religious African-Americans) that has a large percentage of socially conservative but fiscally liberal people in it.
** 95% of African-American voters voted for Obama in 2008, and 93% in 2012. Simply on the basis of Shirley being African-American, you'd expect it.