| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16772116470.95302600 |
| 2 | %% Previous thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1592135982095090800 |
| 3 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | [[quoteright:350:[[Manga/BlackClover https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bcopvsanime.png]]]] |
| 6 | [[caption-width-right:350:'''Ending Credits:''' SliceOfLife SchoolgirlSeries.\ |
| 7 | '''Actual Show:''' [[HighFantasy Fantasy]] FightingSeries.]] |
| 8 | %% |
| 9 | The program's opening credits promise wondrous things -- its images of stupendous beauty, righteous butt-kicking, and noble heroes make it clear what's to come in the story. Except, once you get into the program, [[WellThisIsNotThatTrope you never see those things again]] -- and sometimes, you see the ''exact opposite''. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | A way of countering the SpoilerOpening trope. Sometimes a show will mix the two just to confuse the viewer horribly, or to create a dramatic or ironic contrast (a subtrope of SoundtrackDissonance). Or sometimes they just want to create [[RuleOfCool something really cool]] that will draw a lot of viewers, {{Canon}} be damned. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Note that extremely heavy symbolic content may sometimes resemble BaitAndSwitch, but only if the audience is too dense -- or [[MindScrew the creator too clever]] -- for them to figure it out. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Compare FakeOutOpening, ActionHoggingOpening, NeverTrustATrailer and CoversAlwaysLie, which covers posters too. For when a character prominently featured in the credits of an early episode suffers a shockingly rapid demise, see DeadStarWalking. Contrast SpoilerOpening. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | !!Examples: |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 22 | * ''Anime/DotHackSign'': We're treated to an Electronica-esque opening song with a ton of technicolor visuals. The major characters come onto screen one at a time looking like they're dancing, as well as falling through a data-field while their clothes gradually disintegrate. There's also a female character in a red and blue bodysuit and visor featured VERY prominently. None of this appears at all in the show. The girl in the body suit doesn't even EXIST. The only things that come close are the screen gradually "breaking" over a face shot of Tsukasa, and a very brief shot at the end showing the sleeping Aura (and the bodysuit girl in what looks like the REAL world [[TheGameComeToLife which makes even less sense]]). The show itself is more brooding, and introspective than anything else with most of the very [[MindScrew Mind Screw-y]] plot handled via exposition which only serves to make the upbeat opening even MORE jarring. |
| 23 | ** It's ''possible'' that the opening is symbolic of the fact that the show takes place in a virtual world, hence the girl in the VR goggles and suit and the dissolving clothes while falling could symbolize the shifting of realities. It's also possible the unnamed girl represents [[spoiler:Tsukasa, who's hiding his true gender]]. |
| 24 | * ''Manga/AhMyGoddess'': |
| 25 | ** The opening credits of the [[OriginalVideoAnimation OVA]] series briefly show Mara but she never actually appears in the series itself. This was apparently due to the animators being unable to animate her hair correctly. |
| 26 | ** Those same credits also show ''a lot'' of characters from the original manga that do not appear in the OVA. This includes Banpei the robot, Yoko the ghost, etc. |
| 27 | ** They also show [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Demon Belldandy]] spreading dark wings over the city, while her friends watch below. That never happens. Instead, Belldandy's pureness turns the demon into an angel within minutes. |
| 28 | * Both openings to ''Anime/AkahoriGedouHourLovege'', fitting to the QuirkyWork nature of the program, are really only true in the protagonists' minds. Kaoruko and Aimi never destroy anything that poses an actual threat to the city, and the Gedou Otome Tai never summon an army of demons to wreak havoc on the city. |
| 29 | * The opening of ''Manga/AsobiAsobase'' has a cute and fluffy song with visuals of the three protagonists in white sundresses with [[YuriGenre copious lilies everywhere]], suggesting that it's an easygoing SliceOfLife SchoolgirlSeries. In actuality, the series is a surreal comedy featuring the girls being moronic jerks to each other and everyone else. The ending theme, "Inkya Impulse", which is a heavy metal song featuring surreal neon scribbles of the girls while Hanako screams about popular girls, is more in line with the series' true tone. |
| 30 | * In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the OP shows people heroically fighting and killing Titans -- most of the fights with Titans don't go that way, and a lot of people die in every fight. Also, one part of the opening specifically shows Eren, Mikasa, Annie and Jean fighting a Titan together -- this never happens. Also, [[spoiler:Eren never kills a Titan as a human until the second season]]. |
| 31 | * ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' looks like a funny, lighthearted (albeit chaotic) romp about 1930's America; complete with a lovable, happy-go-lucky cast and a series name that means "big ruckus." Hell, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wInHktd7hU the anime's opening]], with its sitcom-esque cinematography, is catchy enough to get anyone revved up to laugh at some silly, old-timey antics and kick back with a show that's fun for the whole family. While not without a sense of humor (especially with [[PluckyComicRelief Isaac and Miria's]] antics), the anime is darker and more violent than the opening suggests. Also, [[spoiler:despite being a main character, Claire goes unnamed in the intro to avoid spoiling the surprise -- though he's there for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment]]. His significance is spoiled very subtly as [[spoiler:the shot of him does a slight stutter]] as it does for the main cast. |
| 32 | * The opening animation to ''Anime/BattleSpiritsShonenGekihaDan'' shows the protagonist Dan using the [=DarkDragonEmperor=] Siegfried. Throughout the series, he's never even in possession of this card. |
| 33 | * The opening theme to ''Anime/Berserk1997'' shows very little of the plot, being mostly comprised of various shots of Guts walking around and posing, his equipment, a flower bursting into flames, and a split second of blood splatter. The only actual image that informs the series is a shot of a tree with bodies hanging from it. It tells very little about the series, but more relevantly, the opening theme is a rather upbeat rock song mostly comprised of GratuitousEnglish (with its most prominent lyrics being "put your glasses on, nothing will be wrong"). Anyone familiar with ''Berserk'' will tell you that it is ''not'' an upbeat show about how things are going to be okay. Particularly funny is that "Even mother will show you another way!" plays over the aforementioned shot of the tree--those familiar with ''Berserk'' will tell you that tree is important because Guts's mother ''was hanged there''. |
| 34 | * The fourth ending of ''Manga/BlackClover'' has Noelle, Mimosa and Kanoho dressed as schoolgirls in an ending that makes it seem like a SliceOfLife or Shoujo. |
| 35 | ** The third ending focuses almost entirely on Noelle, even though she's not the most important character of that particular arc. |
| 36 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is rife with these, showing characters in different costumes and situations that you would never expect. The worst offenders were the second and fourteenth openings, which promised many really cool battles in the Soul Society that never happened. |
| 37 | ** The eighth opening shows filler captain Amagai fighting his third seat, Kifune, after the latter's FaceHeelTurn. It's misleading because Izuru ends up fighting Kifune and also because [[spoiler:Amagai is the real villain and was manipulating Kifune]]. Not to mention the part where Renji attacks Byakuya with his signature move, only to have it deflected, which never happens in the show at all. |
| 38 | ** The 10th opening is similar, as it's essentially just a music video featuring Rukia, Orihime, and Rangiku dancing, with a few shots of the Shinigami and Ichigo just to remind us that we're watching the right show. |
| 39 | ** The last opening shows Ichigo fighting Tsukishima and Shishigawara [[spoiler:alongside Ginjou]]. While it seems to be true considering how [[spoiler:Ginjou subjected Ichigo to a TrainingFromHell to fight Tsukishima]], we later find out that [[spoiler:Ginjou was actually in a BigBadDuumvirate with Tsukishima]]. Furthermore, [[spoiler:Ichigo never even fights Shishigawara at all, nor does he fight with fullbring outside the Xcution hideout before achieving his second stage]]. |
| 40 | * Although the general wackiness of the openings fit the theme of the show, ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'' includes the character Battleship among the main cast, yet after his run as a villain he disappears, except for occasional appearances, usually knocked out by the current villain. The same occurs with Suzu in the second opening, who only joins the main crew for one arc, and doesn't really do much. But then again, it's Bo-Bobo. It may have also been an attempt to subvert the SpoilerOpening. |
| 41 | * The fourth season opening to ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'' shows an alliance of school-age ninjas from multiple villages coming together to fight a giant ice monster which resembles one of the Tailed Beasts. Nothing remotely like that happens in the series. |
| 42 | ** Season five's intro has Boruto and his team going up against a mysterious cloaked villain with a metallic arm. Who is he? He's nobody, because no one like that appears anywhere in the series. |
| 43 | * ''Anime/BrainPowerd'''s opening consists of naked girls flying around everywhere, but the actual series is a HumongousMecha show with minimum nudity. FauxSymbolism ensues. |
| 44 | * The first opening of ''Manga/BrynhildrInTheDarkness'', used from episodes 1-9, prominently features Valkyria, who doesn't appear until episode 10. It also shows Hatsuna, who doesn't appear until episode 11, and [[LaResistance Hexenjagd]] who, aside from a ([[BilingualBonus mostly]]) incomprehensible cameo in episode 7, don't appear until episode 12. Both openings depict an AxCrazy Valkyria fighting Neko, which never quite happens. On the other side of the coin, the second opening (used in episodes 10-13) features [[PromotionToOpeningTitles Nanami]], [[spoiler:who is killed off ''five minutes'' into Ep.10]], and the female student Murakami tutors (Kikka), who doesn't appear at all in those episodes. |
| 45 | * The opening for ''Literature/{{Campione}}'' prominently features all four main girls, despite Liliana only showing up past the halfway mark and Ena making her only appearance in the final arc. |
| 46 | * The OP for the ''Shin Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' OAV features two girls alongside the guys: Tsubasa's LoveInterest Sanae and Misaki's female friend Azumi. Azumi was actually AdaptedOut, and only Sanae shows up in the story proper. |
| 47 | * Sakura never actually wears any of the costumes she wears in the ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' openings, aside from one of Tomoyo's fantasy sequences showing her in the first opening's costume. |
| 48 | * The first opening of ''Anime/CodeGeass'' shows Lelouch riding a white horse, something that never happens in the show. The show's creators have said that the scene is metaphorical, but what exactly it means they didn't say. The first opening for the second season has a similar scene, which differs in that it ends with Lelouch glaring at what appears to be a coastal military base -- again, something that has yet to happen. |
| 49 | ** This opening also makes it seem as though Prince Schneizel would be a major villain, as the credits end with him smirking at Lelouch and Lelouch glaring back. [[spoiler:He doesn't become a major villain until ''R2'']]. |
| 50 | ** Additionally, the show's last opening shows [[spoiler:the Black Knights attacking Schneizel's flying fortress Damocles]], when in the actual series, [[spoiler:Schneizel manipulates the Knights into betraying Lelouch/Zero, meaning that they fight to '''defend''' Damocles.]] |
| 51 | *** Also, it shows [[spoiler:the Ganymede armed with the same kind of nuclear sakuradite weapon from the end of the first season and the Sutherland Sieg in what seems to be space (?) shooting a barrage of missiles. These, of course, never happen.]] |
| 52 | *** Then there's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Code_Geass_group2.JPG this pic]] showing C.C. hanging with Lelouch's friends, though Nina, Milly and Shirley never meet her. [[spoiler:For instance, Nina never met C.C. until near the end of the second season while Shirley never met her until the third compilation movie.]] |
| 53 | * The credits of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' shows falling stars and Amber cradling Hei's head. In the second version, there's a scene of Hei fighting against several clones of himself -- neither happens in the series. In other respects, though, the clones scene is pretty similar to one in the OVA. |
| 54 | ** The cake goes to the second season OP, which barely has Hei in it at all, prominently has the schoolkids from the first episode playing at the beach, and has Suou travelling alone, save for her absurdly cute pet... squirrel... thing. It took a lot of flak for those reasons. [[spoiler:One classmate gets turned into a Contractor very early on and kills another one, the rest have their memories of Suou and said Contractor friend erased, Hei is still the real main character, Suou very rarely travels alone and that squirrel is actually Mao from S1 BackFromTheDead.]] |
| 55 | * ''Manga/DearBrother'''s opening features many pretty dolls, [[CreepyDoll some of them being quite creepy]]. They're seen in a rather luminous and jewelry-full environment, but in the series itself [[spoiler: one of them is actually in Rei's very dark [[RoomFullOfCrazy apartment full of crazy]]. The other items are in Fukiko's own [[RoomFullOfCrazy Madness Room]], which she has kept locked away from others ''for six years''.]] |
| 56 | * Ren and Miu start the ''Manga/DearS'' opening off with an intensely {{Moe}} kiss. Ren in-series is completely fixated on Takeda and Miu doesn't particularly like her, though there's a moderate amount of [[HoYay Les Yay]] available. |
| 57 | * In ''Anime/DeathParade'', the opening is a catchy, jaunty tune that's sure to get you up on your feet. With lyrics like "everybody, put your hands up!" shouted in excitement, and scenes of the cast dancing, jumping around, and drinking, it almost makes you believe that this show is going to be the anime version of ''Series/{{Cheers}}''. That is, until you get to the part where the show becomes a high-tension psychological drama that takes place in the afterlife and forces a newlywed couple to play a game that causes each player extreme physical discomfort if they ever want to get out alive... |
| 58 | * The girls from ''Anime/DiamondDaydreams'' are shown in the opening credits as if they form a group of close friends. Although this would have offered some interesting possibilities, only some of them meet up shortly in the last episode. |
| 59 | * The credits sequence for ''Anime/DiGiCharatNyo'' is perhaps the king of Bait and Switch Credits sequences, showing the cast participating in ''multiple'' genres that the series very much isn't. Almost certainly a parodic use of the trope, but it still wins for sheer volume of misleadingness. |
| 60 | * In ''Manga/DimensionW'', the opening mostly consists of Kyouma battling various gangsters and dancing. While he does fight gangsters in the first episode, this essentially serves as an ActionPrologue that leads to him meeting [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Mira]], and the rest of the anime has no gangsters whatsoever. As for the dancing, that's so ridiculously out of character for [[TheStoic Kyouma]] that it comes across as {{Narm}}. |
| 61 | * The original Saban-controlled Creator/FUNimation OP for ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' wasn't ''technically'' bait-and-switch, but the spirit was sure there. 90% of the clips were either taken from the ''Dead Zone'' movie or from the Cell Saga -- which also not only [[SpoilerOpening spoiled the Super Saiyan transformations of Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta, but also the appearance of Trunks]]. The theme song was catchy, though. Ironic considering that [=FUNimation=] didn't reach Trunks for several years after the first two seasons started airing due to lack of funding. |
| 62 | ** ''Dragon Ball Z''[='s=] 2nd OP makes it look as if the show will follow Gohan and his high school / Great Saiyaman adventures, and it does, for a handful of episodes before Goku returns and regains the hero role and a new villain shows up, but the opening never changes. |
| 63 | ** ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' (the new director's cut of Z) also has a bait and switch. The end credits feature Lunch, a character who was prominent in ''Dragon Ball'' but who has barely any appearances in ''Z''... and the one sequence she ''does'' appear in was cut out of Kai because it wasn't in the manga. |
| 64 | *** ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'' in general uses new artline invented for video games and post-2000s movies for the intros and endings, but the whole series is a blatant copy-and-paste of the original 1989 adaptation, where nothing improves besides the coloring and pacing. |
| 65 | ** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'''s 2nd OP features the main characters fighting in the upcoming Tournament of Power, including some surprising faces like [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse Android 17]]. [[spoiler:While Android 17 is present on the team, Majin Buu is not - he's incapacitated just before the tournament begins, [[GodzillaThreshold forcing the team to revive Freeza to take his place]]. The OP then changes to reflect this.]] |
| 66 | *** Similarly, when the first opening changes some footage to include the fighters of Universe 6, Cabba and Hit use techniques that they never use in the actual series and don't even fit their battle styles. |
| 67 | * ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'''s second opening introduces five new characters, three of which showed up briefly in the first half of the series. This means they're important, right? Not really. Only one was actually important, three of the others played bit parts, and one didn't show up ''at all'' in that cour save for the direct-to-DVD epilogue. |
| 68 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'''s opening does have some elements of the heavy fanservice featured in the show, but is played over a soothing Gregorian chant about divine justice and Art Nouveau-inspired {{Moe}} imagery, most likely meant to convey innocence rather than sensuality. The ending is also a pop love song that may match the show in the lyrics, but ''not'' in tone. |
| 69 | * The credits of ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'' show a number of things that never come to pass, most notably Makoto flying over the lands of El-Hazard (when flight is ''not'' the power he gains from the transit between worlds), and giggly pacifist nymphomaniac Allielle wielding a nasty-looking sickle as a weapon. |
| 70 | * ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'''s second opening depicts Shirou and Archer facing off inside the [[FieldOfBlades Unlimited Blade Works]] reality marble a la the Unlimited Blade Works scenario in the game. They never do, as the anime stays [[AdaptationDistillation mostly with]] [[PragmaticAdaptation the Fate scenario]]. |
| 71 | ** That scene was a ''double'' bait and switch, since [[spoiler:Archer was killed off just before this opening began airing. Thus the intro led viewers to believe that Archer would be brought back to life. He wasn't]]. |
| 72 | * The anime opening of ''Manga/FlyMeToTheMoon'' shows Nasa and Tsukasa, the main couple, getting married in a Western-style wedding. No such event happens in the actual series, in which Nasa and Tsukasa merely drop off their marriage registration at the ward office while wearing casual clothes. |
| 73 | * Downplayed in ''VisualNovel/TheFruitOfGrisaia'' anime adaptation. The opening credits prominently feature Yumiko, making it appear as though her arc will be the main focus of the series. Sure enough, she's arguably the most prominent of the five girls during the first two episodes, due to her opposition to Yuuji - however, her entire character arc is compressed into a single episode midway through the series, whereas Michiru and Makina's arcs get two episodes apiece and Amane's gets ''four''. |
| 74 | * The 2019 ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' anime ending focuses on Yuki above the other Sohma characters, and features two shots highlighting his relationship with Tohru, a freeze-frame as they walk past each other and then at the very end when he looks up at her and smiles. [[spoiler:As Fruits Basket is a {{Shoujo}} series, most newcomers would probably assume this means they end up together. But nope - while Tohru is very important to Yuki, he ultimately realises that his feelings for her were entirely platonic, and they both end up with different people.]] |
| 75 | * ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 76 | ** The first opening to ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'' gives a rather prominent role to Hohenheim, [[spoiler:showing him as a teenager]] as well as providing two extended shots of his present-day self. Despite this, Hohenheim gets ''less than ten seconds'' of screen time until after the opening switches. |
| 77 | ** The second ''Brotherhood'' opening shows [[spoiler:King Bradley]] fighting in a heated battle against Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu. However, not only is it a CurbStompBattle in the episodes that feature this fight, Lan Fan is unconscious from the word go and Fu doesn't even show up [[spoiler:due to helping Maria Ross in Xing]]! |
| 78 | ** The fourth ''Brotherhood'' opening features Major Miles and a column of Briggs tanks going head to head with Sloth and Kimblee. This, of course, doesn't happen, awesome as it would have been. There's also a brief shot of [[spoiler:Fu and Lan Fan]] fighting Envy, but that doesn't happen either, though it did spoil their return. |
| 79 | ** The fifth and final ''Brotherhood'' opening features Winry turning into Truth, which has no relation to any event in canon and was probably a RedHerring to the ''real'' {{spoiler|Opening}} of [[spoiler:Edward's Gate of Truth dissolving]]. |
| 80 | *** Some have suggested it's symbolic - the first time Ed opened the Gate, the woman in his life and on his mind was his mother, who he sees outlined in bright light like Truth, but by this time in the series, the woman in his life is Winry, [[spoiler: his future wife]]. It could also reflect his goal; Trisha's revival was his goal when his journey first began, while Winry's affections became his goal after his journey ended. |
| 81 | ** In general, almost none of the fight scenes in ''Brotherhood''[='s=] credits actually happen between those characters. About the only one that does, Ed vs Scar, happens at night in the credits and in broad daylight in the show! |
| 82 | ** The third opening of [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime version]] features Edward and Alphonse fighting some dragon-looking monsters in a swamp. This never comes to pass in the series. Indeed, nothing even remotely close to these creatures appears in the series proper [[spoiler:until the very end, when Envy transforms into a very similar dragon on his way into the other world. He later appears, still as a dragon, in the [[GeckoEnding movie]]]] In the same opening, we see a shot of Edward fighting against Martel in a collapsing city, which never actually happens on a multitude of levels. Number 1, Edward never fought against Martel, he only fought against her boss Greed. And number 2, the two of them don't fight in a collapsing city, but rather they met each other when the brothers are getting ready to head for Ishval. |
| 83 | *** The fourth opening of the 2003 series shows Ed and Al vs. Gluttony and Lust, and Ed and Al vs. Wrath, Envy and Sloth. [[spoiler:Ed and Al do fight Sloth and Wrath, but Lust is on their side in that fight and she and Sloth die in the fight while Wrath escapes. Envy abducts Al, preventing him from getting into any more fights, and Ed fights Envy in the finale, but loses, dies, gets better with Al's help and performs a HeroicSacrifice to save Al at the cost of being brought to the real world.]] |
| 84 | *** The fourth ending of the 2003 series shows Ed facing off against Envy and the rest of the homunculi except Greed and Pride in a graveyard. See the above spoiler for why this is a case of bait and switch. |
| 85 | ** The third ending focuses entirely on Winry, with the only shots of Ed and Al being a quick sequence of images at the very end. A non-fan could easily mistake the show's genre and main character if they only saw that ending and nothing else. |
| 86 | * Looking at the OP for ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'' you'd think that it'd be a cute, romantic high school {{Shoujo|Demographic}} in the vein of ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' or ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy.'' If you hadn't first watched season one, you might even think that it ''was'' one ...for about thirty seconds. At that point, the guy that you've pinned as the [[TheStoic stoic]], romantic male lead nonchalantly [[StuffBlowingUp blows up the locker room]] with plastic explosive. |
| 87 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/GateKeepers''. The OP depicts [[{{Meganekko}} Megumi Kurogane]] apparently firing an [[KamehameHadoken energy blast]] from her hand. This is supposed to be impossible in-universe, as her power is to [[BarrierWarrior create walls]]... then you notice that Megumi ''was'' using her barriers - to ''block'' said blast. |
| 88 | * Some shots in the opening of the ''[[Manga/GetterRobo Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo]]'' OVA series suggest that it will live up to its title and the two Getters will fight each other, or at least side-by-side, at some point. [[MidSeasonUpgrade No such luck]], unfortunately. |
| 89 | * The fifth ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' opening makes the show seem a lot more serious and dramatic than it actually is. (For the first several episodes, it ''did'' accompany a comparatively serious story arc, but the key word here is "comparatively.") |
| 90 | ** A good chunk of Gintama's openings qualified. How many times do they show Gin engaged in epic battles? All the time. Does it ever happen? No.[[note]]Except when they do.[[/note]] Then again, it's a GagSeries with a TrollingCreator, so is it a surprise? [[SubvertedTrope Then the series starts hitting the deeper pits of the]] CerebusRollercoaster [[SubvertedTrope in its later (and especially final) arcs]], and the openings fit right in. |
| 91 | ** The anime's Slip Arc has an ominous shot of Shoyo and his pupils in the opening, with a brief cameo from [[spoiler:Utsuro]] in his silhouette. Is this going to be an important plot point? Definitely, but ''in the seasons that sandwich it'', as the Slip Arc was dedicated to all the chapters BNP skipped to get to the serious final parts. |
| 92 | * ''Anime/GranblueFantasy'': In the opening sequence, one short scene just before the title has Gran jumping towards Bahamut with his sword in hand. While this implies that the dragon becomes a threat that the crew must face, it does not actually happen by any means during the entire season. Instead, Bahamut is benevolent, saves the party from the Hydra, and can offer its power to Gran's weapon at Lyria's command. |
| 93 | * In ''Manga/GrandBlue'', the opening is about our protagonists diving. Truth is, the series is more about drinking alcohol— just like how everyone thought Peek-a-boo is a legitimate diving club instead of a drinking club. |
| 94 | * ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': |
| 95 | ** The ending theme of ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'' is almost entirely comprised of a shot of Fa Yuiry running alongside Haro while a bouncily cheerful romantic tune plays. Not only is it a bit of an odd choice of music for a notoriously grim series, but Fa is really [[AdvertisedExtra not a particularly important character in the show]] beyond being one of Kamille's love interests; there are entire ''arcs'' where she isn't around. |
| 96 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'': The opening sequences are mostly composed of scenes that never happen in the show. Also, the main characters taking their clothes off for no clear reason. A particularly noteworthy sequence shows the Freedom and Destiny Gundams joining forces to battle a Destroy Gundam -- when in fact, the Freedom and Destiny never once fought on the same side, even in "temporary truce for convenience" fashion. |
| 97 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'': The first opening is pretty upbeat and optimistic, with only a reaction shot or two from main character Uso to even hint at the bleak tone and setting of the series. The second opening is even more upbeat which furthers the separation as the end of the series gets even darker and bloodier. |
| 98 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'' lies constantly in its openings. Most fans attribute this to the show's near-constant on-the-fly rewriting due to the production committee's ever-changing demands. Some images were also meant to be figurative but taken literally by most fans. Some of it was old-fashioned misdirection. |
| 99 | *** 2nd OP: The intro shows a big battle between Celestial Being and the combined military forces of all 3 prominent nations using their respective mobile suits, with almost each Gundam Meister squaring off against a rival mobile suit. The last part of the intro also shows the presence of three ominous-looking Gundams that the original Gundams from Celestial Being fight in space. In the actual show, [[spoiler: each Gundam Meister instead falls into a trap, are separated from one another by each nation that focused on targeting one of them at a time, and the three nations, despite cooperating with one another, were still opposed to working as one lumbering force. As for the three new Gundams that appear in the intro, not only did Celestial being not face them in space (or in Allelujah's case, ''[[DemotedToExtra at all]]''), but they were not even the true antagonists for either the first season or second. In fact, in their first appearance, they rescue the ambushed Gundam Meisters from certain death. The true antagonists were absent from the intro.]] |
| 100 | *** 3rd OP: This OP shows the mobile suits Arios and Cherudim engaging Louise on Earth, Seravee against Ali and Patrick in space, and Setsuna clashing blades with Mr. Bushido in space. In the actual show, [[spoiler: Arios and Cherudim never directly faced off against Louise (while Louise does a real bait and switch herself; she's eventually piloting the stronger mecha in the same scene). When Mr. Bushido finally encounters Setsuna in space, it's not until after the 4th OP premiered and he's piloting a different (superior) suit to the one seen here.]] |
| 101 | *** 4th OP: This OP shows a naked Tieria who regained his SupernaturalGoldEyes indicating the recapture of Veda, the 00-Raiser shooting the Regnant to bits showing Setsuna's Co-pilot Saji reaching for the Regnant's pilot Louise in agony and Seravee Gundam battling Arche Gundam in space, ending with both mobile suits clashing blades as red beams again appear from Seravee's backpack. In the actual show, [[spoiler:Tieria not only regained possession of Veda, but he also merged with it as Ribbons killed his physical body. Although Setsuna did shoot one of his comrade's girlfriend, it is not Saji's girlfriend Louise but instead Lyle's ManchurianAgent girlfriend Anew Returner. And the first and only time anyone battled Arche Gundam in space was in the 23rd and 24th episodes, where it was Cherudim that fought against it. The red beams shown emanating from Seravee's backpack was shown to be from Seraphim directly, when it first activated its TRIAL Field, an ability that was strictly Seraphim's own but needed Veda.]] |
| 102 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'': The first opening ends with a climatic battle between Heero and Zechs in outer space. That does eventually happen very late in the show, but not in the way portrayed here. Also, there's a shot of Relena walking around a destroyed city, where no cities were really destroyed during the series at all. The second opening doesn't have any misleading details like this (save for one minor detail: Zechs is depicted as still wearing his mask for some reason, even though he has long abandoned it by that point), so the errors of the first OP are often attributed to rewrites that happened during Wing's troubled production. |
| 103 | *** Though the destroyed city later appears in a flashback scene in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWingEndlessWaltz Endless Waltz]]'', and ''Episode Zero'' reveals that Relena was there too, finally giving a belated explanation for that scene. |
| 104 | ** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ'': The first opening features cameo appearances from Char and Amuro. Neither appear in the show at all.[[note]]Apparently, this happened because Tomino ''did'' plan to have them show up, but then he got the greenlight for the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack'' movie and decided not to.[[/note]] |
| 105 | * [[https://youtu.be/IL3uT44NgMQ The first opening]] for ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' has Iona acting friendly with the other cures... but all that did was hide how much of a total {{Jerkass}} she was for the first half of the season, completely antagonizing Hime while treating Megumi and Yuko as tools. |
| 106 | * Given the amount of stuff that has actually come to pass from it, the opening for ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu]]'' is probably an exception. What were originally simply random, half-second images took on new meaning the further we got through the story; furthermore, a few clips are direct from the {{Light Novel}}s or interpretations of what happens on drama [=CDs=]. Maybe the entire thing is a SpoilerOpening... |
| 107 | * The second opening of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'''s second season has a scene that was taken directly from a manga chapter where Hayate goes to Risa's house and [[ItMakesSenseInContext they both end up being chased by a giant crocodile]]. You'd take this to mean that they'd be animating that chapter, right? But then they skipped it.... |
| 108 | * ''Manga/HidamariSketch'': The OP for the first season shows Yuno walking in on Sae on top of Hiro in a suggestive manner, but the scene where it comes from (sadly, a NotWhatItLooksLike moment) isn't shown until the second season. |
| 109 | * ''Manga/HikaruNoGo'' has a scene at the end of its last ending sequence which shows Hikaru and Sai playing against each other as equals, implying that someday Hikaru will reach Sai's level and be able to play against him in a fair match. Though Hikaru ''wants'' to do this, it never happens, and he's nowhere near Sai's level when [[spoiler:Sai disappears permanently.]] |
| 110 | * The openings for the 2011 anime ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' occasionally show events that don't actually happen in the show, and that's ignoring the SoundtrackDissonance between the cheery and optimistic theme song, "Departure" and the actual content of the show, and occasionally the visuals in the theme song. |
| 111 | ** The fifth opening implies that ''all'' Chimera Ants will be fighting the main hunters, when [[spoiler:after Meruem is born and the Chimera Ant queen dies]] the chimera ants split up and some of the chimera ants don't show up to fight them. |
| 112 | ** The sixth opening also has Knov show up, while he doesn't get many lines of dialogue in the arc the opening is part of. |
| 113 | * ''Toys/{{Jewelpet}}'': |
| 114 | ** ''Anime/JewelpetTwinkle'': The opening for the OVA features Hilde and Sagan prominently due to their out-of-universe popularity, but they never appear in it. They also barely qualified as one-shot characters in the televised series. |
| 115 | *** The first opening gives the impression that Peridot, Luna and Milky will be as prominent as the Jewelpets partnered with humans, but they're actually comic relief side characters with only one or two episodes dedicated to them. |
| 116 | ** ''Anime/JewelpetHappiness'': The first opening makes a big deal of Chiari magically changing into a pink, frilly outfit, giving the impression that it was going to be a MagicalGirl series played straight. The anime is actually a school/workplace fantasy comedy, and Chiari's outfit only ever shows up in the first episode. |
| 117 | * ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'': You'd think given the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQcOdxEmfEg&ab_channel=AniClipsCollection 3rd opening]], the series will be a cheerful high school slice of life with a few shonen elements from now on, given how everyone is having the time of their life in the opening... '''Nope.''' [[spoiler: Episode 3, Amanai is unceremoniously killed off and the episode is left at a cliffhanger, episode 4, Gojo and Geto are overwhelmed with trauma after the whole ordeal, (a cult mocking Amanai's death and all...) and lastly episode 5, Yu is killed fighting a curse and Geto undergoes a FaceHeelTurn due to all the tragedies that transpired...]] and that's not even getting into the every nightmare surrounding the curses... |
| 118 | * ''Manga/KamichamaKarin'' sports a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7YUhKAZp9s rather dark-looking opening sequence]] that, combined with the [[NonIndicativeFirstEpisode sombre first ep]], convinced some fans that the series was going to be a darker-and-edgier MagicalGirl-slash-[[{{moe}} Moe Series]], ala Nanoha. [[AffectionateParody So wrong.]] [[spoiler:On the other hand, once the CerebusSyndrome kicks in, the opening doesn't look quite as much out of place.]] |
| 119 | * ''Manga/KannagiCrazyShrineMaidens'': The opening depicts Nagi [[DancingTheme dancing on stage]] as an IdolSinger. While somewhat thematically appropriate -- she does need [[GodsNeedPrayerBadly to be loved by the people]] -- she is not actually a singer nor is the supporting cast her managers, makeup artists, directors, etc. [[StealthPun It could also be a pun]], since Kannagi is a wooden idol come to life while the opening portrays her as a different kind of idol. |
| 120 | * ''Literature/KinosJourney'''s 2003 anime adaptation has a very uplifting song as its opening theme. The show itself, aside from Land of Wizard, [[CrapsackWorld not so much]]. |
| 121 | * While ''Manga/KotouraSan'' still has a significant amount of comedy moments, don't assume the DownerBeginning (which proceeds the opening credits of the first episode) is just a buildup for a RomanticComedy as the opening credits suggested. It's just the first bump in the road. (It would be slightly less of a Bait and Switch if the ending theme ''Flower of Hope'' is considered as well, as the latter is a more accurate description of the BrokenBird heroine). |
| 122 | * ''Anime/KurauPhantomMemory'': The loving interaction between Kurau and Christmas dressed in cute summer attire in the opening credits doesn't appear anywhere in the anime. |
| 123 | * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'': |
| 124 | ** The second ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' opening seems to set up a fight between Subaru and Nove, which was also hinted at when Nove said she wanted to get revenge on Subaru for [[spoiler:severely injuring Cinque]]. In the final battle, Teana ends up fighting Nove with Wendi and Deed, while Subaru fights [[spoiler:her BrainwashedAndCrazy older sister Ginga]]. |
| 125 | ** The opening of ''Anime/VividStrike'' has a scene of Fuuka facing Rinne in the Winter Cup, something that never happens [[spoiler:since Vivio beat Rinne in the quarterfinals]]. Their actual climatic battle instead takes place at Lutecia's training grounds on Carnaaji, and the closest they get to being in the ring together during the tournament is when Rinne acts as Fuuka's second for her match against Einhart at the very end of the series. |
| 126 | * ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'': Nobody saw Grace [[spoiler:being the BigBad]] coming, given how the OP and first few episodes played her up as a side character. |
| 127 | ** Then subverted later on, when the last episode [[spoiler:uses scenes directly lifted from both [=OPs=] during the climactic fight]]. |
| 128 | ** This even showed up twice in the OP for the original ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross''. First, a prolonged sequence shows Hikaru flying over an outdoor city and fighting Zentradi in his white-and-red VF-1J. Hikaru does fight in outdoor towns, but he never did in his VF-1J. He first fought in Macross City before the city was transported to Pluto while piloting a VF-1D, and later engages in outdoor urban combat late in the series, but by that point he had inherited Roy Focker's VF-1S. [[note]]He also engages in city fighting on board the Macross after the Zentradi invade, but even there he's flying Roy's Valkyrie, as the invasion occurs just shortly after [[spoiler:his own VF-1J is shot down and destroyed and Roy is killed in combat.]][[/note]] The other one is an omission. Lynn Minmay appears nowhere at all in the original opening sequence, though she is one of the three central characters of the show! [[note]]She does, however, appear in a reanimated version of the sequence made for, of all things, a licensed pachinko machine.[[/note]] |
| 129 | * ''Anime/MakuraNoDanshi'': None of the boys in the opening are actually shown sleeping, save for Merry. Even besides the lack of sleeping, viewers who see the opening would be forgiven for expecting it to be a Yaoi series or a more risque Otome of some sort, what with all the [[{{Fanservice}} scantily dressed men and camera pans that focus on their muscles]]. |
| 130 | * ''Anime/MagicalPokaan'''s haunting OP implies something of a [[ElegantGothicLolita gothloli drama/horror]], despite it being a GagSeries. According to interviews, this was actually a ''mistake'' -- the songwriters were given a theme of soul-searching creatures of the night, but weren't told it was a comedy -- but they just went with it and created matching footage. |
| 131 | * The French theme song of ''Anime/MapleTownStories'' infamously sings about a teddy bear called "Gabby", friend of small children, and how he sings songs if you turn a switch. No such character appears in the anime. There ''is'' a recurring bear character, but he is called ''Bobby'', even in that French dub. This was because the localization team wanted to advertise an actual electronic teddy bear called "Gabby" (that was a Teddy Ruxpin knockoff) and used this anime as a tie-in. |
| 132 | ** Same opening was edited to show original animated footage of a flying tree. This was to promote a different treehouse toy. |
| 133 | * ''Anime/MasterOfMartialHearts'' has a rather unappealing, but otherwise lighthearted and optimistic opening. Its ending features a quiet and somewhat romantic song featuring its lead females in some rather [[LesYay suggestive]] moments. [[SarcasmMode There's no way it would have possibly the worst ending with the worst plot twist ever]]... |
| 134 | * ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Ryuusei no Rockman]] Tribe''. Fans were disappointed in the lack of Ninja and Dinosaur transformations. |
| 135 | * In the second season of ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', Hanon is shown with Nagisa, Rina with Hamasaki and Lucia with Rihito. The first two couples get together, but Rihito shows little interest in Lucia and, in fact, supports her reunion with loving [[LaserGuidedAmnesia amnesiac]] boyfriend Kaito. |
| 136 | * The opening credits of ''Manga/{{Monster}}'' center on a man with scraggly hair and a hunted look. He glances around as if afraid of being followed; in one shot he's holding a gun. [[spoiler:This man is the ''hero'' of the show. (The real "monster" does appear, but only for a second.) It's a sneaky example because it's not dishonest -- Dr. Tenma is a murder suspect on the run, and his quest to kill Johan takes a constant toll on him.]] |
| 137 | * ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' |
| 138 | ** The fifth opening has a set of rapid-fire shots, placed prominently after the title card, of a red-haired man with goggles and a toothy grin. He never actually shows up in that arc, and since [[CanonForeigner he isn't from the manga either]], nobody in the fandom has the slightest clue who he is. |
| 139 | ** The 11th opening features a pale, shriveled person with no arms rising up while screaming. Fans speculate that it might either be Kotaro Shimura, abusive father of the BigBad due to the hair, or returning villain Overhaul due to [[spoiler: having no arms]], but no definitive answer is availible. |
| 140 | *** That opening also shows Ida, Bakugo, and Todoroki fighting the BigBad, who doesn't make any appearances in the arc. |
| 141 | * ''Anime/MyHime'': |
| 142 | ** The opening presents the show as a light-hearted school drama with three {{Magical Girl}}s thrown into the equation, as well as presenting Mai, Natsuki and Mikoto as a strong-willed, determined [[{{Sentai}} team]]- in reality, Natsuki doesn't get along with the other two, but [[FireForgedFriends gradually becomes friends with them]] just in time for things to get serious. As the series gets darker, both the optimistic opening and the upbeat "Shining Days" theme song become progressively ironic, causing SoundtrackDissonance. |
| 143 | ** Weirdly, the more sad sounding outro music is changed halfway through the season, just as things get dark, for another song, but they didn't swap the opening, making it seem deliberate. |
| 144 | * ''Anime/MyOtome'': |
| 145 | ** Similarly, despite already foreshadowing the darker themes, the first opening carefully tries to avoid any implication of conflict between Arika, Nina and Mashiro -- instead, they are shown as happy with each other and enjoying their time together. Which is, of course, the exact opposite of their actual relationships. |
| 146 | ** {{Aver|tedTrope}}sion: ''My-Otome''[='s=] second set of credits, which are appropriately darker, show Mai turning into a comet of flame and destroying literally hundreds of Slaves in one zooming pass. While it has the look of precisely the kind of over-the-top "see how impressive this character is" footage that typifies this trope, not only does she actually do exactly this in one of the final episodes, the production team in fact animated it a second time rather than reuse the credits footage. [[spoiler:(Although in the actual scene, Mai fights with Mikoto on her back, not alone as shown in the credits.)]] |
| 147 | * Virtually every opening for ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' features activities of characters who really aren't doing anything at the time. |
| 148 | ** Especially during the filler seasons, when almost all the openings featured Sasuke and Orochimaru, despite neither of them making any appearance besides cameos. |
| 149 | ** The openings in Part I (especially the first and fourth ones) give the impression that Sakura often fights alongside her squad, but she's often set aside and forced to serve as a (somewhat ineffective) last line of defense for the people who need protection. |
| 150 | ** The second version of the fourth ''Shippuden'' opening features members of Team 8 fighting the QuirkyMinibossSquad (Hinata vs. Gozu, Kiba vs. Kigiri, Shino vs. Nurari, Sakura vs. Rinji, and Sai and Naruto vs. Guren). Only the ones with Kigiri, Nurari and Guren happened. |
| 151 | ** The twelfth ending features Sakura prominently, and makes the show look like it's a romance. |
| 152 | *** While the ending after that is ''only'' Hinata and makes it look like a SliceOfLife! |
| 153 | ** The seventh opening to ''Shippuden'' is the worst, though. It features (in increasingly level of inaccuracy) Choji and Kakashi vs. Preta Pain; [[DesignatedGirlFight Ino, Hinata, and Sakura vs. Konan]]; Sai vs. Asura Pain; Kiba, Lee, Tenten, and Neji vs Deva Pain. In actuality, [[spoiler:Choji and Kakashi actually fight together against ''Deva'' Pain (and Asura Pain, sort of), Hinata tried to fight him later on, Ino didn't fight because she was working with her father getting some information, Sakura spent the battle treating the wounded and defending a hospital, Konan fought Shino and some other members of the Aburame clan (mostly off-panel in the manga, more is shown in the anime), Kiba fought Preta Pain with his mother (briefly and it was a bit longer in the anime), and Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Sai ''never'' fought because they were out of the village at the time (for the first three until after most of the fighting was over, for Sai the entire arc)]] so ''none'' of those things ended up happening. |
| 154 | ** All those have nothing on ''Shippuden's'' tenth opening, which features, in increasing order of implausibility/absurdity: |
| 155 | *** Naruto, Sakura, and Sai fighting Madara, Kisame, and Zetsu--all six of them ''flying around''--, and unleashing an AllYourPowersCombined jutsu. |
| 156 | *** The scene of Naruto [[spoiler:embracing his "shadow" self]] transitioning from him about to do...''something'' to Sakura. Though, [[spoiler: that could be foreshadowing his later embracing of Kurama as an ally]]. |
| 157 | *** The Elder Toad shown alongside the villains. |
| 158 | *** [[spoiler:The revived Akatsuki zombies]] sliding into each other while their containers comedically topple in the background |
| 159 | *** An out-of-nowhere dance routine featuring the Konoha rookies and the Sand Siblings, [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment while the adults are shown prancing about synchronously on a tropical beach]]. EVEN THE [[LargeAndInCharge 4TH RAIKAGE]] AND THE [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior 3RD TSUCHIKAGE]]. |
| 160 | *** Unlike most examples, though, the tenth opening has an expnanation/justification; previous openings had been rather intense and so the studio thought a fun, silly opening would be a change of pace. |
| 161 | * A variation occurs with the first ending of ''Anime/{{NEEDLESS}}'', which features three female cast members which would appear later in the series. Thing is, said ending is absolutely ''stuffed'' with fanservice, CutenessProximity situation and bright colors, blatantly presenting the girls as BaitAndSwitchLesbians. The result feels like a crazy mix of gender-inverted ''Boku no Pico'' series and one of the ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' anime openings. Yet, only one of the girls is a canonical lesbian, and... well, ''nearly'' nothing presented in the ending is featured in the series. |
| 162 | * The opening sequence of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is fairly standard for a HumongousMecha series -- the smiles on characters' faces, the panoramic views, the heroic and determined figure of Shinji Ikari standing tall with [[DramaticWind the wind of a thousand cliches]] blowing through his hair. It also completely belies the nature of the actual series. You will, however, catch glimpses of the mopey female trio along with PeopleJars. |
| 163 | ** Another way to read the opening is it reinforcing the fact that Shinji is an angry passive-aggressive kid who will have to face the (end of the) world, like it or not. This interpretation is more common nowadays since fans look for signals towards a GainaxEnding (though it's debatable how much of said ending was intended from the start. WordOfGod actually says the final ending was only decided three months in advance). |
| 164 | ** It's also interesting that the "wings" of Unit 1 in the intro appear nowhere in the series -- but make a prominent appearance in ''The End of Evangelion''. |
| 165 | *** You do catch a brief glimpse of a creature with similarly-shaped wings at the beginning of the series. It's arguably foreshadowing that the Evangelions have more to do with the Angels than we are led to believe. |
| 166 | ** It's also interesting to note that despite Asuka's importance in the show, she barely appears in the intro. She has one brief appearance alongside Shinji and Rei, which only lasts a few seconds, and a couple of frames to show her role as the pilot of Unit-02. However, this can be attributed to her late debut in the show. |
| 167 | ** There's a monstrous multi-winged creature at the beginning of the opening that looks like an Angel and is covered in all sorts of weird letters. You can spot it right behind the "Gainax" title. Nothing like it ever shows up in the series, whatever it is. |
| 168 | *** Apparently, the thing is a representation of {{Sa|tan}}mael, or a Qabbalistic depiction of a seraph of some sort. So, toss that one in the same heap along with the sephira on Gendou's floor, etc. |
| 169 | ** It's worth noting that if one freeze-frames a lot in the last bit of the intro, there are all sorts of hints about much later events in the show. A patient person who wanted to take the OP apart frame-by-frame could probably guess a lot about the series even before watching it. Like the fact that AT Field means "Absolute Terror Field", for an example. |
| 170 | ** Not to mention the song itself. While the upbeat, peppy melody isn't necessarily odd, as ''NGE'' is rather [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw5acgqIHQE notorious]] for LyricalDissonance, the [[http://www.animelyrics.com/anime/eva/ngetnshi.htm lyrics themselves]] ''also'' seem to point to a more upbeat, standard HumongousMecha anime. |
| 171 | * Two openings of ''Anime/NeoRanga'' features all three female protagonists in white {{Stripperiffic}} outfits, having mysterious symbols painted on their bodies and wielding stone weapons. None of this happens. |
| 172 | * ''Manga/NinjaNonsense'' shows a dramatic battle involving most of the main cast against Shinobu's evil counterpart. Most of the final episode is in fact the characters complaining about this trope, as they scramble to end the show in a satisfactory way. |
| 173 | * Played for laughs with ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular''. It has a very hard rock intro with visuals that make it seem like an action or horror anime. It's really a CringeComedy filled anime about a very awkward high school girl who wants to be popular. |
| 174 | * ''Anime/TheNoozles'' does not involve dancing on rainbows with stars. The show does feature exciting adventures, but these get [[CerebusSyndrome darker as the series progresses.]] While the credits might make you think you are watching your typical "child has magical adventures and must hide them from parents" show, the show's actual plot is so strange that a NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer is often involved when describing it. |
| 175 | * The opening credits of ''Anime/NurseWitchKomugi R'' paint [[spoiler:Lilia]] as the main villain. She doesn't show up until the penultimate episode, and while she ''is'' evil, [[BrainwashedAndCrazy it's not willingly]] (or even knowingly, for that matter). The true mastermind is [[spoiler:[[TheDogIsTheMastermind her stuffed bear]]. ItMakesSenseInContext.]] |
| 176 | ** The intro also shows Magical Nurse, Magical Sister and Magical Maid working together to defeat a monster. The three magical girls spend the entire series fighting amongst themselves until circumstances force them to work together in the finale, and even then their CombinationAttack doesn't take the form of a powerful energy beam like in the intro: instead, they pretty much defeat the BigBad by ''[[ThePowerOfRock singing at it]]''. |
| 177 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 178 | ** The eighth opening shows the Straw Hats relaxing, going shopping, enjoying themselves on the beach and acting out covers from the manga, making it seem very relaxing. This opening plays during the Enies Lobby arc, where they're attacking one of the most heavily defended government installations in the world, to save Robin from being taken away from them forever. |
| 179 | ** The eleventh opening becomes a bit of a retroactive bait and switch, since [[spoiler:the Straw Hats don't even appear or take part in the current storyline after the WhamEpisode, save for Luffy]]. |
| 180 | *** However, ''in the anime'' [[spoiler:we still see them a lot because of {{filler}} episodes adapted from covers showing what the Strawhats besides Luffy were doing]]. |
| 181 | *** The twelfth opening pulls this too. The first half of it is devoted to the Straw Hats having crazy adventures together, then it abruptly cuts to the current storyline, [[spoiler: which features Luffy alone.]] |
| 182 | ** The fifth opening also has a misleading moment where Nami pulls out a gun. While it ''is'' in the anime, it's during an incredibly calm moment where Nami's seeing if they're prepared for attackers, and the gun is never actually used. Very disappointing. |
| 183 | ** There's an extended sequence throughout the thirteenth opening showing [[spoiler:Luffy reuniting with Ace amidst the ruins of Marineford]]. Not very likely given that arc in the manga has already ended with [[spoiler:Marineford damaged but eventually rebuilt and Ace dead shortly after being released]]. |
| 184 | ** In the 17th opening ''Wake Up'', it showcases Luffy, Zoro and Sanji going up against the Admirals [[spoiler: which includes newcomer Issho]] as well as Luffy vs Blackbeard. [[spoiler: No, this doesn't happen in the manga. In fact both Akainu and Blackbeard hadn't even been revealed yet in the current timeline when this was aired.]] |
| 185 | ** The 19th opening features Luffy, Zoro and Sanji in skirmishes against [[spoiler:Jack and Kaido]]; the former is never really fought directly by any of the Straw Hats while the latter is not even physically present during the arc. |
| 186 | ** The 18th, 20th and 21st all have variations of this as they showcase scenes of all the Straw Hats fighting together [[spoiler:despite the crew being split in half during those arcs. Only Luffy and four specific Straw Hats are present during the Dressrosa arc in the 18th opening, while openings 20 and 21 feature Luffy again, but with the other four that weren't at Dressrosa.]] |
| 187 | ** The 26th opening, which focuses on the Egghead arc, features a very ominous shot of [[CoolHelmet Shaka]] slowing turning to face the camera with silhouettes of government agents behind him, suggesting that despite having the epithet of "the Good" there's a darker side to him. [[spoiler:In the ''actual'' scene it's depicting Shaka had just discovered that said agents had been secretly imprisoned in Vegapunk's lab and he's seconds away from being [[BoomHeadshot shot in the head]] by York, the real traitor of Egghead.]] |
| 188 | * The opening of ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' portrays Saitama as some kind of badass, tough-as-nails action hero when he's actually just a hero for fun and so overpowered that he can defeat any enemy with one punch and therefore never has to actually fight anybody. This is lampshaded by the ending, which switches Saitama's appearance from the hard look of the rest of the theme to his usual appearance. |
| 189 | * ''Anime/OutlawStar'' has a variant involving the ending credits. The ending features science fantasy illustrations completely unrelated to the show, and we never actually see any of the characters, locations, or creatures present in the show itself. |
| 190 | * The opening to ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' consists of brightly lit shots of most of the ensemble cast laughing insanely as they [[NoFourthWall look directly at the "camera"]], and even as things like mushroom clouds (in direct defiance of the NuclearWeaponsTaboo) appear in the background. Throughout the series, said characters rarely if ever smile, much less ''laugh'', and the song that plays over the credits is also loud, tribal, and cheerful, albeit with [[LyricalDissonance lyrics that mix cheerful and apocalyptic themes]] -- the combination is surreal and twisted, more so once you've seen enough of the series to realize just how ''wrong'' it really is. |
| 191 | ** According to an interview with the director, Creator/SatoshiKon, the tone of the opening theme was because the show was to appear on an unusually late time slot. He wanted a theme that was loud and bombastic so that it would wake the viewers' brains up a little bit. |
| 192 | * Done with the second opening of ''[[VisualNovel/PhantomOfInferno Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom]]''. While the 1st opening is ''not'' one of these as it was very dark and melodic fitting the tone of the series, the second one is a huge contrast and gives the series a SliceOfLife appearance, showing Reiji and Eren happily living their day to day life in Japan and hanging out with friends while Drei, a violent girl with a death wish in the series, is shown being happy and carefree in the opening. |
| 193 | * ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'': |
| 194 | ** The first opening featured a Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard...of which only the latter was ever acquired by Ash, and shows him using a Pidgeot, which didn't happen until near the ending of the season. It also features several legendary Pokémon that he either never sees, or ends up seeing them in completely different seasons. Heck, Ash didn't even acquire Pidgeot until the episode the opening changed in Japan. |
| 195 | ** A worse offender is [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire the tenth opening]], which starts off with a group shot of just about every Pokémon Ash has ever owned -- more than half of which don't appear again in the show. It goes on to show a series of battles of which only one (Pikachu vs. Aipom) actually happens in the show. This all makes sense when you realize it was made to celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary. |
| 196 | ** The ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite'' opening during the Team Plasma season makes it look like Charizard will have a lot of focus, and that Reshiram will fight Charizard and partner with N as it did in the game. The actual events of the show have Charizard in a supporting role, Ash using Pikachu to fight Reshiram, and only to snap it out of Ghetsis's brainwashing. |
| 197 | *** The same opening also depicts a battle between Ash and Cheren (who is already a gym leader by that point) against an epic, church-like background, making it seem important. While the battle does happen, it takes place on a generic schoolground battlefield, is kinda anti-climactic and has literally zero impact to the story. |
| 198 | ** The iconic original English opening repeatedly proclaims [[GottaCatchThemAll "Gotta catch 'em all!"]], essentially the tagline of the series. In the run of that opening, Ash never even comes close to catching all Pokémon (he owns ''maybe'' a tenth of what was available at the time at some point), nor does he really profess it as a goal of his; he just wants ToBeAMaster, and often releases Pokémon or gives them away. |
| 199 | ** The English theme for the ''[[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesRubyAndSapphire Advanced Battle]]'' season is called "Unbeatable" and seems to proclaim Ash as someone who has never lost. Not only is this untrue- he lost plenty of times before- but this season also was the season with the Hoenn Leauge, which he also lost. |
| 200 | * A half-example with the second OP for ''Anime/PowerpuffGirlsZ'', as the series delivered [[spoiler:Powerprof, Dynamo Z and the bit with the volcano, but didn't get round to the BeachEpisode or the Super Zero costumes]]. |
| 201 | * The opening of ''Anime/PrettySammy'' makes the show look like a fairly standard CuteWitch style of MagicalGirl show, with Sasami actually appearing happy about her powers and Misao being in on the secret. Then you get to the actual show, which is a MagicalGirlWarrior show with Sasami not caring for her role and Misao most definitely not in on the secret. Since the show is meant as a parody of the MagicalGirl genre, this was intentional. |
| 202 | * The second opening of ''Anime/PsychoPass'' season 1 has Kougami sitting on the floor and surrounded by bodies of his teammates, causing most viewers to expect that this is what [[Creator/GenUrobuchi Gen "Urobutcher"' Urobuchi]] is going to do. [[spoiler:At the end of season 1, only two are dead and one of them is disintegrated by Destroy Decomposer mode, leaving no trace of his body]]. And there's the beginning of the opening where Kougami is wounded and sitting against the wall, which doesn't happen in the show proper. |
| 203 | ** The second season's opening shows a showdown between Akane and Mika, with Kougami being tied to a chair. That never happens in the show and Kougami isn't physically present since he's in Cambodia, as seen in the movie. |
| 204 | * ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. The opening? Standard cute MagicalGirl song, images (including [[ShoutOut references]] to ''Anime/SailorMoon'', ''Cardcaptor Sakura'', and even ''Pretty Cure''), the works. The problem? Creator/GenUrobuchi is writing -- the series is a rather savage deconstruction. The monsters aren't harmless, people can (and do) die, the aspects of a bunch of young girls fighting horrific {{Eldritch Abomination}}s are fully explored... and oh yeah, [[spoiler:the cute mascot appears to be [[DealWithTheDevil Faustian]]]]. Notably, the first two episodes didn't have an ending sequence on their initial broadcast (they do have one on DVD), and episode 3 is a WhamEpisode that culminates in the main character floating ''in the mask of Mephistopheles'' during the ending sequence (which is not remotely a standard MagicalGirl song). Oh, and by the way, [[spoiler:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Madoka doesn't even become a magical girl until the final episodes]], even though she is prominently shown transformed both in the opening and in promotional material.]] |
| 205 | ** By the time the series ends (and the viewers know what's really going on), it becomes obvious that it's a subverted trope. It's especially obvious each time the OP gets shifted to the end of the episode; it's the exact same song, but because of the episode we just saw, a new meaning is revealed.[[note]]Yes, it's a TwelveEpisodeAnime. Yes, it's pulled off more than once.[[/note]] In a series that delights in going FromBadToWorse, on a second viewing, you can get MoodWhiplash because the actual episode is so ''light'' compared to the opening credits. |
| 206 | * ''Manga/RamenFighterMiki'' debatably has this kind of opening. At first glance, it makes one think the series is a serious fighting or drama type of series when it's actually an incredibly over-the-top physical comedy show. On the other hand, the images are: the main cast ChewingTheScenery, Miki {{Death Ray}}ing Megumi's house, Makiko {{Megaton Punch}}ing the world, Miki SkySurfing her ramen container... all of them showing a WorldOfHam. |
| 207 | * Downplayed with the opening to the 1990 ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar'' OVA, which makes the series look purely like a sappy fairy tale love story. While there is a romantic subplot, the series is an action oriented work of HighFantasy first and foremost, with the romance elements only vaguely hinted at until Parn [[ObliviousToLove finally got the hint]] during the final few episodes, and even then isn't as prominent as the OP would have you believe. |
| 208 | * ''Anime/RedGarden'' has an opening that would make you think it's basically the anime Sex and the City. The show's content goes in a [[MindScrew different direction]], however. The ending falls under this as well; it's an upbeat rap song with the characters having fun at a concert. |
| 209 | * The opening sequence for ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' shows Utena and Anthy in dark blue and red plate armor, respectively, riding flying horses in an implied battle against an unseen enemy. Needless to say, we never see anything like this in the series. This was a result of changes to the author's original storyline rather than deliberate deception, not that someone watching the finished product has any way to tell the difference. Director Ikuhara later joked it was a scene he had thought up during his work on ''Anime/SailorMoon'' and that it wouldn't make any sense ''there'' either. |
| 210 | * Until the Kyoto Arc, the opening sequence to ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' made it seem like some kind of RomCom (the peppy theme song in which the female singer waxes poetic about an unrequited love don't help). |
| 211 | ** ...It kind of ''was''. |
| 212 | ** Don't forget -- the opening only shows Sanosuke with his [[{{BFS}} Zanbatou]], even in the final crowd shot. He loses the Zanbatou more or less one episode after his introduction, and fights with his fists from then on. Similarly, the opening shows Kenshin fighting... chain-wielding... farmers? Well, they never show up. [[spoiler: Unless you consider it {{Foreshadowing}} to EliteMook Akamatsu who would figure in a later arc.]] |
| 213 | * ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' features a bizarre mash-up of vaguely symbolic imagery, [[HoYay Les Yay]], and light bondage. I AM IN DESPAIR! THE LACK OF A FOLLOWUP ON [[YuriFan YURI ELEMENTS]] HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR! |
| 214 | * ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' has a very heavy one. It's light-hearted which matches with the mood the show starts with, but slowly it starts to feel really out of place to hear [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUg5M0a_x8s this]] when most of the characters are having mental breakdowns. In the final episode, things had gotten so dark that instead of showing the cheery opening the title came on with a slow piano piece, and then the title screen shatters like glass so the makers could avoid a jarring MoodWhiplash. |
| 215 | * ''Manga/SchoolLive'' has an intentionally deceptive opening that belies the story's true nature. The anime has an adorable, bright and happy opening sequence with a peppy pop song, which makes it seem as though it's a typical laid-back SchoolgirlSeries. The series itself is actually a NightmareFuel laden anime about a group of high school girls trying to survive in the middle of a ZombieApocalypse. As the anime goes on, the opening's visuals [[EvolvingCredits gradually change]] to reflect the reality of the girls' situation, such as adding zombies shambling towards the school and shots of ruined classrooms. |
| 216 | * Downplayed with ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain''. On paper, using a BreakupSong as the opening to a CyberPunk MindScrew series sounds very strange and unfitting, but the lyrics have just enough SanitySlippage to make it work, and the song sounds rather bleak. |
| 217 | * ''Manga/SgtFrog'' plays with this in episode 150. After spending the entire episode getting ready to leave (he'd been promoted), Giroro gives a heartfelt (for him) goodbye at the train station. Cue a special ending sequence, complete with sad music and a "Goodbye Giroro" card... only for Giroro to literally shoot through them and grab Keroro by the neck. That promotion letter? Turns out it was a month old. Cue the regular ending sequence. |
| 218 | * ''Manga/ShadowStar'''s opening treats us to an [[SoundtrackDissonance upbeat, cheerful opening song]] with the characters drawn in cute grade-school drawings, ending with Shiina and her {{mon}} sleeping together in her bed. At first, it looks like just another adorable mon series in the vein of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' and ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', but Creator/MohiroKitoh being the creator, and the series being a deconstruction of the genre, the actual series is [[CrapsaccharineWorld nothing like that]] ... |
| 219 | * ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'' pulled this off with its second opening, which contains a one-on-one duel between Shana and Sydonay that never actually happens. |
| 220 | * The opening of the ''Anime/ShamanicPrincess'' OVA is standard, pastel-toned romance fanfare. The series itself is a dark tale of a powerful CuteWitch and her rivals as they search for [[spoiler:a holy item from their world, which turns out to be an EldritchAbomination holding the sister of the protagonist's former love interest.]] |
| 221 | * The ''Anime/SkyGirls'' opening is a bit of a lie in two ways: first, it suggests an action story, while the series is mostly a slice-of-life story (with some action, but not as much as suggested); second, it features a monster that's never battled (mostly because the footage is from the Sky Girls OVA, which follows a different storyline). |
| 222 | * The third ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' opening (''Slayers TRY'') has a humorous shot of Lina's sister, Luna, with a sign pointing at her reading, "sorry, opening only!" As for the song itself, it is less energetic and more mellow than the previous two openings, citing for a darker story, but while the overarching plot darkens later on, the overall tone of the show is as comedic as it had always been, creating some poorly timed MoodWhiplash during the comedic filler episodes. Also, in that opening, [[HolierThanThou Filia]] is portrayed as some demure [[MysteriousWaif prophetic waif]]/DamselInDistress, but in the show proper, she's an obnoxious, prissy, and loud (and very dead-on) variant of HolierThanThou. |
| 223 | ** The Italian opening theme has an AlternativeForeignThemeSong and new opening sequence with an intense, epic sounding medieval folk song, making it look like a serious fantasy series, not hinting at the show being largely a comedic parody of fantasy. |
| 224 | * ''Anime/SonicX'' is guilty of this. The second opening shows Super Sonic and Super Shadow fighting. They do fight midway into the Metarex saga, but it's nowhere near as spectacular. |
| 225 | ** Also, though Shadow is featured decently prominently in the first opening, he doesn't even appear until after the second opening has appeared. This is because the first opening is almost entirely recycled footage from the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy_XroBwyyE 2001 pilot]], which summarizes the plot for the show as a whole. |
| 226 | * In ''Manga/SoulEater'', the second opening, Papermoon, starts out pretty basic... with just a bunch of pictures of the characters flashing across the screen in rapid succession. Until the very last shot, when we see Soul crying in anguish, holding an unconscious Maka in his arms. This never happens. If anything, it's [[spoiler: Soul's near-death in the final episode that fuels Maka's RoaringRampageOfRevenge. The one that reveals that she is a weapon]]. |
| 227 | ** Although Studio Bones had some hints as to what was going to happen in the manga before it came out, as a bit of an assistant for the GeckoEnding they created. Kid's stripes, Black Star's conversations with the Will of Nakatsukasa, and Rachel Boyd's [[spoiler:return to health]] make an appearance. |
| 228 | * The first opening of ''Anime/SpiderRiders'' shows a fight between Hunter and Magma. The two never fight each other during the course of the series, not even as friendly sparring. Also, the 3rd ending inexplicably shows what appears to be blood coming from Aqune's mask. |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration: Divine Wars'' shows Latooni battling in her ElegantGothicLolita outfit. She only uses that outfit for two episodes (and only one battle) and most of the time is given a regular uniform and [[{{Meganekko}} glasses]]. |
| 230 | ** This is a shout-out to the original game series, where Latooni in fact wears said outfit the entire second game. Of course, in the remake that the TV show borrows from or vice versa, she always wears a normal uniform. |
| 231 | * In the (rather lovely) opening sequence of ''Manga/SweetBlueFlowers'', Fumi and Akira are depicted as a cheery, loving couple, complete with full nudity. Sure, the girls are extremely close, but never get this far in the series. [[spoiler:In the anime at least. The manga has them undergoing a RelationshipUpgrade eventually.]] |
| 232 | * Ran and Midori from ''Anime/TelepathyShoujoRan'' never fly around in the series as they do in the opening credits. Bummer. |
| 233 | * The opening of ''Manga/TentaiSenshiSunred'' depicts Sunred with all the typical {{toku}} hero tropes. A TransformationSequence, stylized weapons, a bike and a FinishingMove. None of these have appeared outside the credits. |
| 234 | * Both of ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga'''s opening credit sequences seem to suggest some sort of SliceOfLife show about school children, with subtle references to what actually happens in the show and most of the characters cleverly hidden in plain sight. The only things in the credits for ''The Aegis of Uruk'' that are at all reliable are the character pairings and various posters in the background, which show the truth of the show. |
| 235 | * ''Literature/TrinityBlood'': The ending credits hint at [[spoiler:a romance between Abel and Esther, which never happens]]. Also, the opening credits seem to give the Crusnik way more screen time than he gets in most episodes. |
| 236 | * ''Manga/TwinSignal'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hjIORoPahA opening]] shows scenes of a futuristic city, with the title character battling a slew of super-powered robots, running from CombatTentacles, and several unusual characters including what appears to be a fairy. The actual OVA is set in a [[NothingExcitingEverHappensHere sleepy town in the countryside]], is comedy-oriented, and about half the characters in the intro don't even ''appear'' in the show proper. |
| 237 | * ''Anime/UtaKata'''s opening suggests the series is a fluffy shoujo story. It's a seinen series, and things get ''very'' dark later as mature issues are explored in detail. |
| 238 | ** As a bonus, Ichika's MagicalGirl costume in the opening does not appear in the show at all. [[spoiler:Actually, it does, kinda...PaletteSwap it to black, and it's her twelth and final transformation's costume.]] |
| 239 | * ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'''s first ending shows [[IceQueen Meia]] glomping [[TheHero Hibiki]] and being incredibly affectionate towards him. In the show proper, not only does it take several episodes for her to [[DefrostingTheIceQueen warm up to him]], their relationship is more akin to VitriolicBestBuds than anything particularly romantic. |
| 240 | * The opening credits of ''Manga/VenusVersusVirus'' show the two female leads Lucia and Sumire lying in a field wearing pretty dresses, their [[IntertwinedFingers fingers intertwined]] as they throw meaningful glances. It's very sweet and romantic -- and also [[BaitAndSwitchLesbians occurs nowhere in the anime itself]]. It's [[FauxSymbolism symbolic]]. |
| 241 | * The intro to ''Manga/WanderingSon'' literally reveals nothing about the show, except maybe that it's school related. Not a single human appears in it. It just shows off the school. |
| 242 | * ''Literature/WashioSumiIsAHero'' has a bright, cheery intro about friendship. This fits the first three episodes, as the show begins lighthearted despite the girls ending up bloody after each battle, but stops being accurate after [[spoiler:Gin dies]]. The latter half of the series isn't so cheery. |
| 243 | * The opening for ''Anime/WelcomeToTheNHK'' features a cheery sounding duet for the theme, with pastel-colored, brightly lit scenes of cute girls frolicking, which gives the impression of a lighthearted romantic comedy of some sort. The series is actually about a young man with [[{{Hikikomori}} extreme social anxiety]] struggling to deal with his psychological issues and addictions, being helped by a BlitheSpirit [[spoiler:that's actually as screwed up mentally as he is]]. There ''are'' some hints of the darker, BlackComedy tone of the show in the opening--the few times the main character is shown he's almost always shown having some sort of panic attack, the main heroine is shown looking lonely as she leans against a wall, and the other women in the opening are faceless (a probable nod to the issues the main character and his friend have with women)--but it still seems a little too upbeat. |
| 244 | * ''Anime/WitchHunterRobin'''s opening made it look like Robin had a crush on Amon but no such relationship ever materialized. |
| 245 | ** There was UnresolvedSexualTension there. Not much, what with her being really young (15?), but there was definitely subtext. |
| 246 | ** The intro in general makes Robin seem like a depressed person in total despair, and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raSnXXBtCbc lyrics to the opening song]] support this, but nothing in Robin's backstory is ever revealed to be anything close to this and she seems to always have at least one person she can rely on throughout the show. |
| 247 | * Perhaps not a bait and switch as such, but the opening credits of ''Anime/WolfsRain'' place the characters in a modern (Japanese?) city that doesn't appear in the series [[spoiler:until the end of Episode 30, after the world has been destroyed and reborn.]] Furthermore, the credits show actual rainfall -- [[spoiler:something that also doesn't happen until Episode 30, where it allows the lunar flowers to germinate and regenerate life on Earth]]. |
| 248 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh'': |
| 249 | ** The first, fourth and fifth openings show Yugi and his friends prominently in their {{school uniforms|AreTheNewBlack}}, even though Yugi is the only character who wears his uniform everywhere. The other characters wear their school uniforms... only in school. Also, the third and fourth opening have Yami Yugi wearing his CoatCape, even though he doesn't wear it in the Battle City Finals and in the fourth season. The only times he wears it after the time of the second opening is in a hallucination of Jonouchi and after the end of the Battle City Tournament, when he and Jonouchi have their decisive duel. |
| 250 | ** The second opening has Yami Yugi fighting against FacelessGoons wielding an army of monsters, who at one point summon a monster that never appears in the series at all -- namely, Nuvia the Wicked, who was AdaptedOut between the manga and anime. On top of that, Nuvia is recolored to look like Worm Drake, who ''did'' appear. |
| 251 | ** The third opening shows Yami Yugi dueling Marik on the Battle Ship (a zeppelin). However, Marik never duels personally in the series at all; he's eventually replaced by his SuperpoweredEvilSide who duels our protagonist on top of the Alcatraz Tower. |
| 252 | ** The fifth opening shows The Winged Dragon of Ra without teeth. While Ra's Ancient Egypt version has no teeth in the manga, in the anime it does have them. The fifth opening in general is much more inspired by the manga's take on the arc than the one that actually aired -- the anime added in diadhanks, which are completely absent in the opening, and Yugi and his friends are in their school uniforms, which is the case in the manga but not the anime. |
| 253 | ** The English openings for the show tended to be a mishmash of good-looking footage from other openings and various seasons. As a result, they often end up being... rather strange in the context of openings for their given arcs. For instance, pretty much every opening after the Virtual World arc used footage from Tristan and Tea's duels in that arc, dramatic poses with Disks at the ready and everything, which would probably give the viewer the impression that they would be getting Duels that season; neither of them get into any onscreen Duels after that arc. Tristan's footage in particular is strange, since it's pulling from a time when the Big Five was possessing his body--meaning the bit meant to spotlight him isn't actually him. |
| 254 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': |
| 255 | ** The first opening, somewhat notoriously, features Daichi summoning two monsters: one is obviously Water Dragon, but the other, looking like a fire-based counterpart to Water Dragon, never appeared. It was mentioned that he had a deck for each attribute, so presumably that was the Fire deck's ace... the trouble is, he ditched that gimmick pretty early on in favor of a general science-themed deck, and never played a game with the Fire deck. |
| 256 | ** The fourth opening prominently features Judai's Card Ejecter, even though she never appears in the fourth season. Card Ejecter is only played once, during the FinalBattle of the third season, but her effect is interrupted. This card is not even one of Judai's signature cards or a Duel Spirit. Some viewers would think that Judai got this card in the fourth season. |
| 257 | ** The third opening of the English dub shows a mirrored shot of Amon Garam/[[DubNameChange Adrian Gecko]], implying that he's left-handed. He's not. |
| 258 | ** In general, while the original version cycled through a number of openings that fit the tones of their respective arcs ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDfgAKPrfq8 happy and jokey]] in the first arc, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlte4NVoVng a bit more serious but still fairly energetic]] in the second season, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vRkbpCASo4 mournful, introspective, and morose]] by the third season), the English dub kept the same song throughout. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN_DjYDHEVU Said song]] is an upbeat, TotallyRadical number whose first line is "chillin' out with the crew in the schoolyard!"--it fits pretty well with the first season, feels a bit off for the second, and is downright baffling by the third. |
| 259 | * ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'': |
| 260 | ** The first version of the second opening shows Yusei Tribute Summoning Turret Warrior by tributing Junk Warrior during his Riding Duel with Kiryu. While Yusei does this against Dick Pitt, he never uses Turret Warrior against Kiryu in the anime. In the second version of opening 2, we see Jack facing off against Carly as a Dark Signer in a ground duel, whilst the episode they duel in is a Riding Duel. The second version also shows Road Warrior fighting Earthbound Immortal Uru, but during Yusei's first duel with Rudger, Road Warrior is already in the graveyard when Uru is summoned. The second version appears after the first duel with Rudger, but it shows them dueling outside even though their second duel is inside the building with the Old Momentum. And Road Warrior is not used in the rematch either. |
| 261 | ** Road Warrior appears in the third and fifth opening as one of Yusei's prominent Synchro Monsters, even though he never uses him during the entire run of both openings when they are aired. Road Warrior appears only twice in the anime. |
| 262 | ** Nitro Synchron appears in the third opening, but Yusei never uses it after the beginning of the Dark Signer arc, which was already over when the third opening started. |
| 263 | ** Junk Destroyer appears in the fifth opening along with Yusei's four Synchro Warriors, despite Yusei never playing him during the time the opening is aired, like Road Warrior above. |
| 264 | ** The fourth opening and fourth ending shows Life Stream Dragon, but it never appears during the run of these themes. However, it's subverted later as it is a SpoilerOpening for the last arc. |
| 265 | ** In the fifth opening, the very end shows Yusei using Junk Warrior to attack Z-ONE. [[spoiler:Junk Warrior is never used in that duel, but he pops up in 154 to deal the finishing blow to Jack.]] |
| 266 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'': |
| 267 | ** The first opening theme features Fuya Okudaira (aka Robin) in the same sections as Yuma's main rivals. He continues to make appearances in the opening and ending themes due to the character's popularity, but rarely actually shows up. |
| 268 | ** The opening and ending themes prominently feature Anna Kozuki as if she is a main cast member. She appears in only eight episodes, with two of those only being cameos. Overall, she tends to appear once or twice an arc. |
| 269 | ** The first opening shows Number 39: Utopia ("King of Wishes, Hope") fighting Number 17: Leviathan Dragon ("Levice Dragon"), indicating that they are rivals, since Yuma and Shark are rivals as well. However, since Yuma wins this card in episode 2, the scene has become ironic. |
| 270 | ** The fifth opening shows Shark using Number 32: Shark Drake and Number C32: Shark Drake Veiss, even though he never uses either of them during the entire run of this opening. It also has a large group of prior characters appearing in succession near the start, suggesting the season will be about them working together--this does sort of happen, but in the actual season, [[WeAreTeamCannonFodder nearly all of them are wiped out by the Barian Emperors]] in fairly short order. |
| 271 | * ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'': |
| 272 | ** The first opening shows Sawatari holding his three Darts Shooting cards. However, since he replaces them for another deck in episode 7, three episodes after they are revealed in the opening, they have become meaningless. |
| 273 | ** The second opening shows participants of the Junior Youth Championship in a prominent way, including the students from the various Duel Schools and the LDS trio. None of them are actually important to the tournament plot and they are eliminated pretty early, most of them off-screen or very quick. Particularly, the LDS trio, who are supporting characters, are highlighted with the rest of the supporting cast, but all of them besides Masumi, who was eliminated before the opening was first aired, suffer from TheWorfEffect and they have lost their prominence in the show. Sora is also shown among the ranks of LDS, which might foreshadow that he will eventually leave You Show, but Sora never joins LDS and even antagonizes them. |
| 274 | ** The third opening depicts a vicious battle between an angry Yuya and Yugo, using Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon and Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, respectively. Presumably, it was setting up a war between them, as Yuya is on a mission to rescue Yuzu, who Yugo accidentally whisked away. In the show proper, not only does Yuya not use Odd-Eyes Rebellion in the Synchro Dimension during the span the show used this opening, he and Yugo never duel. Their only meeting came at the end of episode 91, and they never spoke - they just dueled their opponents in the same room. What's more, neither of the two bear any ill will towards each other; in fact, Yugo seems to think Yuya's a pretty cool guy if Yuzu thinks so highly of him. Furthermore, Odd-Eyes Rebellion normally doesn't attack with a BreathWeapon and has only done that in the final episode of the series. |
| 275 | ** The fourth opening features Yuya's rematch with Jack Atlas. Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon is fighting Red Daemon's Dragon Scarlight in the opening, but Yuya does not summon it during the rematch. |
| 276 | ** The sixth opening is positive and upbeat, and depicts our protagonist performing and bringing smiles to an audience full of his friends. Some of the lyrics are about making people smile and following your dreams. While the show uses this opening, the Lancers become a DwindlingParty, Yuya fails to reach his goal of saving Yuzu and the other bracelet girls, suffers from SanitySlippage multiple times, and eventually gets possessed and [[spoiler:turns evil, becoming Zarc and bent on killing all those people Yuya was making smile in the opening]]. It also prominently features Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon being the center of Yuya's entertainment, despite Yuya never summoning Odd-Eyes Raging in his non-awakened state, and the series implies that Odd-Eyes Raging is actually the most evil one of all the hybrids. |
| 277 | * ''Anime/ZombielandSaga'''s first opening, Adabana Necromancy, features an extended sequence of the girls dressing in {{Sentai}}-esque suits and fighting a giant monster. Nothing even resembling this occurs in the series. |
| 278 | [[/folder]] |
| 279 | |
| 280 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 281 | * ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' Episode 31 has a completely new opening sequence used solely for this episode to tease an adaptation of the Garlic Jr. saga, interspersing moments from the entirety of the saga's run. The vast majority of the clips go unused thanks to Mr. Popo's immediate dispatching of Garlic Jr. and his minions in the episode's [[TheStinger stinger]]. This was intentional, as both [=KaiserNeko=] and Lanipator made a hint that they had no intention of fully covering the saga. |
| 282 | * ''WebVideo/UltraFastPony'' pulls this off in just a few seconds. The theme song is just the word ''Friiieeeeends!"'' As the series progresses, the characters [[WithFriendsLikeThese grow to hate each other more and more]]. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 286 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSWINQ32Ozw opening credits]] to ''Film/TheBlob1958'' written by none other than Burt Bacharach (no, I'm not kidding) sound like a fun, beach-rompy movie (lyrics notwithstanding). |
| 287 | * {{Invoked|Trope}} for humorous effect by ''WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButtHeadDoAmerica'', which opens with the main characters in a [[BuddyCopShow '70s-style cop show]] opening, complete with a theme song in the mode of ''Film/{{Shaft}}'' and performed by none other than Isaac Hayes himself. As one might have guessed, the protagonists spend little of the remainder of the film [[StuffBlowingUp blowing stuff up]], [[EpicBattleBoredom kicking ass]], or [[QuestForSex scoring]], though certainly not for lack of trying. |
| 288 | ** The joke is capitalized on right away by cutting from the explosion that ends the opening credits to Beavis and Butt-head poking around in the trash, looking for their TV. |
| 289 | * ''Film/TheBigChill'' starts with obviously female hands fiddling with obviously male clothing on an obviously male body. You're set up to believe something raunchy is either about to happen, is happening, or has just happened. [[spoiler: It's then revealed that the hands are those of a mortician dressing a corpse.]] |
| 290 | * Peter Weir's first feature ''Film/TheCarsThatAteParis'' opens with what appears to be a cigarette ad featuring a couple taking an idyllic country drive. Then things go horribly wrong. The sequence is part of the film narrative (though stylistically distinct) but the original cinema audience wouldn't have realised it until the very effective 'punchline'. |
| 291 | * The opening credits for the (non)hit b-movie ''Film/CaveDwellers''. Two men in loincloths run around the screen doing weird things -- you never see the men in the opening credits during the movie, nor do you see any action sequence similar to what they were doing. This is because the clips are from the 1963 Italian sword-and-sandal film ''Taur, the Mighty''. When Film Ventures International purchased what became ''Cave Dwellers'' for a 1990 re-release, they couldn't use the original credits or film title (''Blade Master''); this allowed them to license the remainder of the movie as a film clip. |
| 292 | * The opening credits of ''Film/{{Daisies}}'' have a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII SceneryGorn montage, which eventually cuts to two bored girls in bikinis. However, the girls' complaints about how the world [[CrapsackWorld has gone bad]] ties directly to the previous montage and their consequent actions are what drives the (un)plot. |
| 293 | * Minor example: ''Film/GhostShip'' starts with cheesy lounge music and the title in a cheerfully 1950s-style font, and zooms in on the ship's passengers happily dancing the night away [[spoiler: and then a tightly wound wire slices through the crowd]]. |
| 294 | * ''Film/TheLifeAndDeathOfPeterSellers'' has an AnimatedCreditsOpening covering the first stretch of the credits set to "What's New Pussycat?" and featuring loads and loads of animated Peter Sellers gadding about. It's inspired by the opening titles of many of Creator/PeterSellers' actual films...but it's also light and funny to deliberately contrast with the mostly-miserable story of a mostly-miserable man that follows. |
| 295 | * ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' |
| 296 | ** Some editions start out with several minutes of the 1961 film ''Dentist on the Job'' (starring a young Bob Monkhouse). This goes on far longer than most credit gags, to the point where one wonders if there was some bizarre mix-up before the projectionist sleepily grumbles about having put in the wrong reel and the credits proper start up. (This gag was carried over from the original cinema release.) |
| 297 | ** [[FunWithSubtitles The opening credits of the film proper feature pseudo-Swedish subtitles and references to things that have nothing to do with the movie.]][[note]]Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti...[[/note]] |
| 298 | ** The opening credits are actually the full credits, run at the beginning to set up an elaborate joke on the viewing audience. At the intermission (which is actually 90% of the way through the movie), music begins playing and goes on just long enough for viewers to think it's a real intermission and get up, only to have the movie abruptly reappear, forcing them to return to their seats. At the end, a fourth wall break that's the result of the police arresting everyone causes the physical film to run out and be held over by the same intermission music (with no picture), but this time it runs for three minutes before the movie simply ends without credits, leading viewers to sit in their seats (having been tricked by the intermission) until it runs out and then be puzzled why there are no end credits. Especially as the ending is [[NoEnding abrupt]] and [[GainaxEnding weird]]. |
| 299 | * The ''Film/MrMagoo'' film, which is live-action, starts out with an animated Magoo going through his usual near-sighted hijinks before we enter the main plot and live-action. |
| 300 | * There are a few of these in the ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' canon -- the calling card of Film Ventures International, all "featuring" music by Karl Demer -- including ''Master Ninja I'' and ''[=II=]'', ''Stranded in Space'', ''Film/PodPeople'', and ''Space Travelers''. The FVI credits footage for ''Pod People'' and ''Stranded in Space'' are JustForFun/{{egregious}} in how not from the repackaged film they are (''Pod People'' takes its opening credits footage from the 1985 film ''Galaxy Invader''; the source for the ''Stranded in Space'' credit footage is the 1983 film ''Prisoners of the Lost Universe''). The ''Master Ninja'' credits are actually fairly representative of the "movies" themselves -- Lee Van Cleef somewhat half-assedly pretending to be a ninja. It's the score and film-negative effect that make them stand out.... |
| 301 | * The live-action ''Film/{{Popeye}}'' movie starts out like the opening of the old cartoons, then, where the title of the short is, Popeye sticks his head up and says, "Hey, what's this? One of Bluto's tricks? I'm in the wrong movie!" and we enter live-action. |
| 302 | * The beginning of the movie ''Film/ReturnOfTheKillerTomatoes'' shows a group of attractive teenage girls in skimpy bathing suits romping on a beach, with a voiceover announcing "You are about to see the movie ''Big Breasted Women Go To The Beach And Take Their Tops Off''" (complete with a Beach Boys-style theme song containing those words), until the screen goes black, the voiceover apologizes for showing the wrong movie, and the title for "Return of the Killer Tomatoes" appears. |
| 303 | ** This is [[BrickJoke brought back]] at the very end of the movie, after the denouement. During the course of the movie it's explained that the MadScientist's machinery can turn tomatoes into beautiful young women, and the final scene features one of the secondary characters taking them all to the beach, whereupon the footage plays again -- only now, it (properly) refers to them as "Big-Breasted ''Tomatoes''". |
| 304 | * The film of ''Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' begins by baiting you into thinking you are watching a stop-motion animated movie called ''The Littlest Elf'', until the [[RecordNeedleScratch needle scratches]] and the lights suddenly go dark. |
| 305 | -->'''Lemony Snicket:''' I'm sorry to say that this is ''not'' the movie you will be watching. The movie you are about to see is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to see a film about a happy little elf, then I'm sure there is still plenty of seating in theatre number two. However, if you like stories about clever and reasonably attractive orphans, suspicious fires, carnivorous leeches, Italian food and secret organizations, then stay, as I retrace each and every one of the Baudelaire children's woeful steps. My name is Lemony Snicket, and it is my sad duty to document this tale. |
| 306 | ** Of course, this is a hilarious MythologyGag for the people who have read the books. |
| 307 | ** ''The Littlest Elf'' itself exists in the movie universe, though, since Sunny is seen using an elf bobblehead's head as part of an improvised lever to pull a track switch, and the song in the fake-out opening is heard on a tapedeck in Count Olaf's car. |
| 308 | * {{Inverted}} in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice,'' which uses puppets. It [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zbjGUmI4Js begins]] with a marionette moving clumsily in front of an obviously flat, watercolor background...then backs up to reveal that this marionette is being controlled by one of the film's ''actual,'' mechanic supermarionettes, and sweeps to a rather impressive crowd-shot in a full Parisian set. (Reportedly, when first shown to the financiers, one of them screamed "My god, they fucked us!" before TheReveal.) |
| 309 | * Taken to the logical extreme with ''Film/TropicThunder'', which opens with [[RealTrailerFakeMovie fake trailers and commercials]] starring almost all of the lead "actors" of the film-within-a-film. The parodies are so spot on that some in the audience thought the previews were still running. |
| 310 | [[/folder]] |
| 311 | |
| 312 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 313 | * [[http://i.imgur.com/sBSkQ.jpg This]] infamous front page article from Magazine/NationalGeographic. In short, the cover asks if Darwin was wrong, only to go on to state that no, not only is Darwin definitely correct, but that evidence for evolution is overwhelming, making it not as much of a debate as the cover would make one think. |
| 314 | [[/folder]] |
| 315 | |
| 316 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 317 | * The opening of the recent Spike TV reality show ''Murder'' shows car chases, the host firing weapons, ''CSI''-style graphics, and contestants observing what appear to be car explosions. The show is actually about contestants investigating realistic crime-scenes, and episodes mostly consist of people discussing the case in a conference room. |
| 318 | * ''Series/TwentyOneJumpStreet'': Peter [=DeLuise=] mentions in his commentary track for one of the episodes of the first season: the credits feature a bunch of gunplay and a car flipping over; however, the series mostly is about undercover work and centers around sedate dialog-driven scenes. The car flipping over was one of the most expensive scenes shot for the series, and was really the only one of its kind. |
| 319 | * The opening of ''Series/AllyMcBeal'' promised a smiling and happy woman most of the time. However, during the episodes she was depressed/sad/angry nearly the whole series and only rarely seen in a happy mood. |
| 320 | * The opening credits for ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' are an AffectionateParody of this trope. The viewer sees shots in extreme closeup which appear to be violent and bloody [[spoiler: amusing and wrong because Dexter is a methodical serial killer]]... but turn out to be Dexter only going through his morning routine and having his breakfast. |
| 321 | * In the ColdOpening of the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Death in Heaven", Clara Oswald, confronted by a Cyberman, claims that "Clara" never existed and she is in fact the Doctor. The credits then roll with Jenna Coleman given top billing and Coleman's eyes shown instead of Creator/PeterCapaldi's, hinting that her words are true. [[spoiler:They aren't]]. |
| 322 | * The educational program ''Series/DragonsWagonsAndWax'' had an exciting, action-packed animated opening featuring a dragon who gets stuck on a runaway cart! The actual show was live-action, intellectual, slow-paced, and no Dragons. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYxLsEvQaFU Watch here]] |
| 323 | * ''Series/FamilyMatters'' shows the Winslow family on a group bike ride through Chicago. They never do anything like this in the show, where Carl's aversion to physical activity is a frequent punchline. |
| 324 | * ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'' parodies this: the opening shot of ''Darkplace's'' title sequence shows Rick Dagless running from an exploding ambulance, holding a baby in one arm. The actors (in-character) state on the DVDCommentary that this single shot was so expensive it used up the entire budget and couldn't be used in the show itself. |
| 325 | * The opening credits of the Chinese series ''Series/GoPrincessGo'' suggest it is a very serious and dramatic historical romance set in Imperial China with multiple shots of the main cast crying, fighting or in slow tender moments. The actual show - while it does have some emotional and dramatic moments - is mostly a wacky comedy GenderBender time travel story about a modern womanising man whose mind is hurled back in time to end up in the body of a beautiful princess. |
| 326 | * If you're watching the DVD for ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' season 2, one of the things you'll see on the opening menu is [[spoiler:a full-screen shot of Zoe staring at the camera holding a microphone]], hinting that they'll have a big role in the upcoming season. That character, in fact, is dead by the end of the first episode. |
| 327 | * It was one of Creator/JossWhedon's long standing dreams to give an actor initial credit and then kill him, or in this case her, off in that episode. In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', [[spoiler:Amber Benson]] is credited for the first and last time in [[spoiler:'''Seeing Red''']], and at the episode's end rather unceremoniously killed - [[spoiler:by a stray bullet no less]]. |
| 328 | ** Joss wanted to do this for the pilot with Jessie, but it was shot down. |
| 329 | * ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'' begins its opening sequence with the narration: "The time-traveling train, Denliner. Will its next stop be in the past or the future?" The answer to this question is ALWAYS "the past." At no point in the TV series does Denliner visit the future. |
| 330 | * ''Series/KenanAndKel'' features the titular characters in Los Angeles with Coolio (who performs the opening theme) essentially partying at night outdoors. Nothing like this ever happens in the show (most of it takes place indoors). None of the other characters besides those two appear in the opening either. |
| 331 | * ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'': Season 2 episode 4, "We're Going to the Catskills!" opens with what seems to be a color recreation of the title sequence to ''Film/ToKillAMockingbird'', even using the same music. It's only when we see a boy's hand pushing a U-Haul trailer, and Abe snatching said toy trailer away from Midge's son Ethan, that we remember which show we're in. |
| 332 | * The opening credits of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' episode "The Mutiny" suggested Rita Repulsa would remain as the BigBad. Then we got caught by surprise with the debut of Lord Zedd and TheReveal that Rita was working for him all this time. |
| 333 | * ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' loved this trope, particularly in later seasons when they frequently set out to subvert not just the structure of the typical comedy sketch, but also the structure of television programmes themselves. |
| 334 | ** One episode had the opening at the ''very end'' of the show, followed by ''the credits''. Another ran the opening credits at the beginning of the show... followed ''immediately'' by the closing credits. |
| 335 | ** Episode 25 begins with fake titles and credits for a historical epic called ''The Black Eagle'', whose opening scene is interrupted by the ''real'' TitleSequence. The scene nevertheless goes on for long enough that early audiences were probably scrambling for the week's ''Radio Times'', wondering if there had been another last-minute schedule change. |
| 336 | ** Episode 29 opens with the opening credits, music and all, to ''The Money Programme'' ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a finance and business programme]] [[LongRunners that has been airing since 1966]]). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sor9GzivGbk Only when the presenter is revealed]] to be [[MoneyFetish a comically money-mad Eric Idle]] is the veil lifted. |
| 337 | ** Episode 39 took this still further by opening with the [[Creator/{{ITV}} Thames TV ident]][[note]] Well known to international viewers of such programmes as ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' and ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula''[[/note]] and a fake continuity link delivered by actual Thames continuity presenter David Hamilton, perhaps fooling early viewers into thinking their television was tuned to the wrong station until Hamilton announced, "But right now, here's a rotten old [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] programme!" |
| 338 | * The show ''Series/MrBean'' uses this and then subverts it at the same time, by starting with a solemn choir...and then apparently, beaming down Mr. Bean, as if from space. He gets up and wanders off. Towards the end of the credits, he wanders back into the picture, then off again in the opposite direction as before. |
| 339 | ** Lampshaded and subverted by the animated version, in which Mr. Bean is taken aboard a flying saucer populated by Mr. Bean lookalikes -- but of course, just when he thinks he's found his place in the universe, the aliens reject him and beam him down in an exact facsimile of the live-action opening credits. |
| 340 | ** The [[OminousLatinChanting solemn choir]] isn't all that solemn either, if you translate it back from [[GratuitousLatin the Latin]]. ''Ecce homo, qui est faba'': [[spoiler:Behold the man, who is a bean.]] |
| 341 | * The serious tone of the opening credits to ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'' prepare the viewer for a dramatic prison drama. While the series has plenty of dramatic moments, they are equalled or surpassed by more lighthearted moments. |
| 342 | * BBC children's comedy series ''Series/OutOfTune'', which opened with a title card showing the church in the background, and accompanied by some beautiful choir singing, suddenly transitions mid-music into off-key wailing. The on-screen title begins to collapse as well. |
| 343 | * The season 8 opening of ''Series/PeepShow'' sees [[spoiler:Mark's romantic rival Gerard]] [[PromotionToOpeningTitles in the opening titles]], suggesting that his role will be expanded. It's actually done to disguise the fact that he dies halfway through the first episode, after which he is replaced in the opening. |
| 344 | * ''Series/PoliceSquad'' made the bait-and-switch a RunningGag, introducing and then instantly killing off a "Special Guest Star" during each episode's opening credits. There's also a scene where UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln (played by and credited to Rex Hamilton) foils his own assassination by pulling out a gun and shooting back. Obviously, that never happens in the show. There were plans to show Mahatma Gandhi wielding an assault rifle if the show had been picked up for a second season. |
| 345 | ** The opening credits also featured a running gag where the title of the episode as stated by the narrator is different to the title shown on screen. |
| 346 | * The opening credits of the ''Series/PowerRangersInSpace'' premiere indicated Divatox would remain as the main villain, and didn't credit Andros. Sure, Astronema had already made an appearance in the BatmanColdOpen, but nothing concrete to that point indicated she'd take over. |
| 347 | * The opening credits of ''Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue'' indicated Vypra would be the main villain. But in reality, she wasn't. |
| 348 | * ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' was about time travelers from the future, and clips in later versions of the opening showed the characters in different eras like the Wild West, feudal Japan, or prehistoric times. The actual show, however, mostly took place in the present day (where the time travelers were stuck); with only the prehistory clip being from a legit time trip. The rest of the clips came from either ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' StockFootage, which was never put into the American version, or from an episode where the characters were [[TrappedInTVLand trapped in various movies]] showing off different time periods. It's said that the producers originally wanted the series to contain several TimeTravel arcs. Unfortunately, all of the megazord fights in the ''Timeranger'' footage took place in modern Tokyo. With that in mind, the second opening was more like the series [[WhatCouldHaveBeen they'd wished they'd could create had the footage cooperated]]. |
| 349 | * The credits of ''Series/QuincyME''. You see the main character (a forensic pathologist) examining what you think is a dead body, but it turns out to be a young woman in a bikini with whom he is sharing drinks on his houseboat. These credits became even more of a B&S after the character evolved as a more of an "everyman" type rather than a playboy, and it became even weirder when he got married. |
| 350 | * ''Series/RedDwarf'' had something like this in the first two seasons, with a slow sweep across the Red Dwarf, and portentous music which led many first-time viewers to expect something serious and dark, with just the slight comedy visual of a bloke in a spacesuit painting the F of "RED DWARF". From season 3, this was replaced by guitar rock and visuals of the wacky things the Boys from the Dwarf went through. The ominous music remains the eponymous ship's {{Leitmotif}}. |
| 351 | * The opening credits of ''Series/{{Riget}}'' make it look like a normal medical drama, although the OpeningNarration that precedes them has already revealed the true genre. |
| 352 | * The first episode of ''Series/SaulOfTheMoleMen'' opens with the credits to ''STRATA'', ostensibly a show about the adventures of intrepid underground explorers. Then within the first minute, nearly the entire "STRATA Action Team" is gruesomely killed, the only survivors being the Robot, Johnny Tambourine, and the titular Saul, a mere [[RedShirt geologist]] who didn't even merit a mention in the STRATA opening. (The actual opening is an ExpositoryThemeTune that would spoil the plot of the first episode if it were run up front.) |
| 353 | * ''Film/TooManyCooks'' takes this to an extreme, as the tone of the opening credits changes many times before the show even starts. [[spoiler:The show itself is only five seconds long.]] |
| 354 | * ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' pulls a fast one on viewers in its first episode. The opening credits to the pilot includes [[spoiler:Indira Varma, who plays Suzie Costello]]. This was done to make it look like [[spoiler:she was a regular cast member. She wasn't, and her character was dead by the end of the episode]]. |
| 355 | * ''Franchise/UltraSeries'': |
| 356 | ** ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'': The opening titles start out as a colored version of ''Series/UltraQ'''s introduction titles, only for the title to suddenly change to the series' proper one. |
| 357 | ** The opening to ''Series/UltramanAce'' features a lot of kaijuu from previous shows that never show up in the show proper. |
| 358 | * ''Series/TheVicarOfDibley'' credits open with a sweeping view of the English countryside and singing of the 23rd Psalm, but end with a humorous scene poking fun at village life. However, when a major character died, this montage was played straight. |
| 359 | * The first season of ''Series/WarOfTheWorlds1988'' was basically a sci-fi paranoia thriller set in the 80's (and shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). By the end, audiences were expecting more of the same thing for the next season. The second series then opened with a radio broadcast detailing how soldiers were rioting and shooting people (as a result of the paranoia?). Of course, once you watch the second season, you find out that the whole premise is a team of people living underground in a sewer system, and launching covert attacks against the aliens. There is no army to speak of. They're disregarded as an ally in the second episode. |
| 360 | * The fifth season opening of ''Series/TheWire'' contains at least two things that appear to be {{spoiler|Opening}}s but in context were misleading in a rather ironic fashion: various newspaper covers mentioning a SerialKiller of the homeless with a possible sexual motive [[spoiler:which [=McNulty=] and Freamon made up to get the Police department more funding]], and a picture of [=McNulty=] laid out as if it were part of a wake [[spoiler:which was really just a mock-wake held as a send-off before he was [[ReassignedToAntarctica taken off active police work]].]] |
| 361 | * ''Series/YouCantDoThatOnTelevision'' episodes almost always started off with a title card for pre-empted shows that were cancelled, usually pop culture parodies related to the theme of the episode. For example, the episode, "Wildlife and Animals": |
| 362 | ---> "'Wild Wild Kingdom' will not be seen at this time. In its place, we present a program in which people act like animals." |
| 363 | ** This concept was swiped wholesale from the first six seasons of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''. ("'Charlie's Angels Get The Syph' will not be seen tonight...") |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 | |
| 366 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 367 | * In the program for ''Theatre/{{Spamalot}}.'' |
| 368 | ** Playing off the "Fisch Schlapping Song" that starts the actual program, the main section of the playbill describes a Finnish moosical called ''Dik Od Triaanenen Fol (Finns Ain't What They Used To Be)'', "the story, in music and song, of Finland’s transformation from a predominantly rural agricultural base to one of the most sophisticated industrial and entrepreneurial economies in the world. Featuring the show-stopping, foot-stomping East Finland Moose Ballet — 45 magnificent creatures in high-stepping harmony, believed to be the greatest display of horn ever seen on an American stage." Reading it will give you the impression you came to see something that is outright torture. With numbers like "Milk It", “It’s a Bleeding (Economic) Miracle!”, “I Hear Your Nokia But I Can’t Come In” and "Foek You, Farmers," ''Dik Od Triaanenen Fol'' is performed with three intermissions - one every ''two and a half hours''. The real playbill information for ''Spamalot'' requires you to sift through these five pages first. |
| 369 | ** ''Patrons are asked not to smoke or speak Swedish in the theatre. Please use cell phones whenever possible.'' |
| 370 | [[/folder]] |
| 371 | |
| 372 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 373 | * ''VideoGame/AkibasTripUndeadAndUndressed'' has the heroines fighting each other in the intro and even fighting on the rooftops. This never happens in game. |
| 374 | * One particular scene in the opening to ''VideoGame/AtelierIrisEternalMana'' heavily implies that Norn is much more mysterious and important to the plot than she appears. Not so in the actual game. |
| 375 | * The opening to ''VideoGame/Disgaea3AbsenceOfJustice'' shows Master Big Star as an antagonist working (or at least hanging out) with Salvatore. In the game itself Master Big Star is a good guy who has a war with Salvatore, and is one of the more saner members of the cast. |
| 376 | ** The opening of ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' is home to quite a few inconsistencies with the actual game, such as Fuka using guns despite having no aptitude for them and Flonne using an special attack that doesn't exist in-game, but the biggest one is its depiction of [[ButtMonkey Axel]]. He's featured heavily alongside the main cast, giving the impression that he's a central protagonist. In the actual game, not only is he an antagonist for the majority of the main campaign, he's not even playable until the postgame. |
| 377 | * {{Subverted|Trope}} by ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon''. The title screen prominently features some random Gunslinger who doesn’t match up to any of the game’s characters and seems to be totally disconnected from the story... [[spoiler:until you reach the FinalBoss, who [[ChekhovsGunman turns out to be the Gunslinger from the opening]]. The title screen was actually a flashback showing him arriving at [[EldritchLocation the Gungeon]], where he eventually became [[OurLichesAreDifferent an undead monster]].]] |
| 378 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB_TXhfpQio opening]] to ''VideoGame/EternalEyes'', in addition to prominently featuring Shillay (a character with maybe 5 minutes of screentime), also shows the main characters fighting BigBad Vorless in a number of places that don't exist in the game, with strange BeamOWar skills, and what the heck is that glowing blue skull anyway? |
| 379 | * ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'' has an adorable, sugary-sweet title screen that's a tad misleading. The [[Creator/HPLovecraft quote]] and warning do hint at what's to come, though. |
| 380 | * Used and lampshaded in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy''. The title screen features a scrolling story card and shows the game's items in a fashion taken directly from the first Legend of Zelda, complete with Link at the end. Link himself, however, is holding a card reading "Most of this shit does not appear in this game" |
| 381 | * ''VideoGame/JaysJourney'' starts with a scrolling crawl giving some backstory about a hero from a thousand years past defeating a demon... that, as the scroll eventually admits, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the game, "but it's still a pretty cool story, don't you think?" |
| 382 | * ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' does this to an extensive degree. The cover, the trailer, the adverts, and even the first hour or so of gameplay make it look like a [[FollowTheLeader generic modern military shooter]]. However, after that, it reveals itself to be a [[DeconstructorFleet deconstruction]] of the genre, and [[FromBadToWorse it's all]] [[PlayerPunch downhill]] [[WarIsHell from there]]... |
| 383 | * ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' is guilty of this in a few videos. The most poignant would be the opening video of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'', which has, among other things, Geddoe slicing up some flying creatures from a cliff-side, and Hugo fighting against Hallec, an ally who joins him without any sort of fight in-game. |
| 384 | * The intro movie for ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' shows a few scenes that only loosely resemble the actual game. Some of the more elaborate examples include a Goomba chasing Mario out of a warp pipe and Geno saving Mario and Mallow from a Magikoopa (in the actual game, he joins them for the fight against Bowyer). |
| 385 | * If you put Cinemaware's ''VideoGame/TheThreeStooges'' game into your UsefulNotes/{{NES}} and power it on, you'll see...the ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}} II'' logo. Then the Stooges walk in and speak with digitized voices. The DOS version features a similar gag, but with the title for ''VideoGame/DefenderOfTheCrown'' and without the digitized voice sample. |
| 386 | -->'''Curly:''' Hey, fellas! We're in the wrong game!\ |
| 387 | '''Larry:''' Hey, this looks like a kid's game!\ |
| 388 | '''Moe:''' You imbeciles! |
| 389 | * At first, ''VisualNovel/TimeHollow'' seems like a story filled with the player spamming his ability to create time rifts, after it shows multiple prominent plot points in the character introduction part of the intro, as well as some parts of the story nicely animated. Your character cannot stop things already in motion in-game (like [[spoiler:the treehouse once it's already on fire -- the player needs to stop the firebomb from burning the tree in the first place]]), and we never get to see [[spoiler:Ethan diving and catching Kori, or Ethan saving the place his parents were trapped in from blowing up]]. Instead, in the story, [[spoiler:the place blows up ''anyway'', and it's actually Ethan's ''uncle'' who saves the girl from falling off the school building -- and even then, they don't even manage to prevent ''that'' -- instead, the uncle and the girl fall a few stories to the ground]]. Also, there's even a direct contradiction in the opening to actual fact in-story -- [[spoiler:a Hollow Pen user cannot go through a Hole without losing their ability to use the pen -- or even see or hold said pen]]. |
| 390 | ** This was simple necessity. For a point-and-click game, especially one with no running timer or similar restriction, showing what you actually need do would constitute a MASSIVE spoiler. Plus RuleOfCool. |
| 391 | * During its title sequence, the Japanese-humor-filled comedy adventure game ''VideoGame/TouchDetective 2 1/2'' features music and scenes that imply that it's in the mold of serious detective anime. Fortunately, the prominently featured dancing mushroom and corn-husk-masked villain ''should'' keep anyone from being genuinely fooled. |
| 392 | ** The original game, ''Touch Detective'' had a very similar intro, except slightly more believable; then, of course, the dancing mushroom appeared. |
| 393 | * ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi 2'' treats us to the opening consisting of Cao Pi, Date Masamune, Saika Magoichi and Tachibana Ginchiyo kicking the ass of the Orochi army. In the game itself, however, you find out that Masamune still remains with Orochi, not even thinking about joining the heroes. |
| 394 | ** Bait and Switch Credits seem to be a staple of the ''Warriors'' series in general, as you never quite get to play out the scenarios depicted in the opening sequences. (At least the VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi opening was more of a HowWeGotHere prologue.) |
| 395 | * The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' series seems to run on this trope. Every game has an animated sequence that plays when you continue from a save file featuring the characters of the game. Almost none of the things shown in those sequences actually happen in the games. |
| 396 | [[/folder]] |
| 397 | |
| 398 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 399 | * ''WebAnimation/GenLock'': |
| 400 | ** The Season 1 opening theme depicts the five upgraded Holons in a BigBadassBattleSequence against assorted Union troops. While there is a battle in the sixth episode fairly close to the opening's in scale, the Holons don't get upgraded until the end of the seventh, which is the second-to-last episode of the season; to date the upgraded Holons have only been seen in battle against a small handful of {{Mooks}} and the season's [[TheHeavy Heavy]]. |
| 401 | ** Also, while spoiling the second-episode twist that Sinclair will not become a Holon pilot as he's been advertised--the title sequence features only five Holons and excludes Sinclair from the shot of the pilots powering up--he is still featured prominently in the opening as if he will be a main character regardless, when in fact he appears only in the second episode [[spoiler:due to being revealed as an impostor and killed; the real Sinclair makes his first appearance in TheStinger of the season]]. The third episode onward removes his voice actor's name from his appearance in the opening titles to mitigate this somewhat. |
| 402 | * Invoked in ''WebAnimation/GirlchanInParadise'', being a shonen parody. Its theme song promises much more fluid and action-oriented animation than can be seen in the actual show. The Burning Man appears as the song reaches its climax, giving the impression that he'll be a much more prominent villain than he actually is. And at once point in the theme, Girlchan is seen walking alongside some blond boy who never appears in the show, though maybe he would have had the show not been [[OrphanedSeries orphaned]] after three episodes. |
| 403 | * ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': |
| 404 | ** It promoted a new short supposedly starring the King of Town. Clicking the link showed a title sequence for "The King of Town's Very Own Quite Popular Cartoon Show"... but at the end of the title sequence, an announcement said "The King of Town's Very Own Popular Cartoon Show will not be seen tonight. Instead we bring you: Strong Bad's Very Popular Cartoon Show, already in progress." Then it cuts to the WebAnimation/StrongBadEmail [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE151SeniorProm "senior prom"]]. |
| 405 | *** Funnily enough, there would eventually be an actual "The King of Town’s Very Own Quite Popular Cartoon Show" short. The King of Town lampshades it by saying, at the end of the title sequence, "For realzies this time!" |
| 406 | ** Also, the email [[Recap/StrongBadEmailE155ThemeSong "theme song"]] shows a couple potential title sequences for the Strong Bad Emails. The one with the "inspirational" ThemeTune by "some kind of Neville" contains scenes not even remotely similar to anything in the actual toons, such as Strong Bad in a tank or Strong Bad in space. Strong Bad claims, "Of course, the best clips are from the un-aired pilot you'll never see." |
| 407 | * The Season 3 DVD of ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' opens like this, with a lot of violence and explosions, and the scene cuts to some of the characters saying outright that the new season isn't going to have any less to do with standing around and talking than usual. |
| 408 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': |
| 409 | ** The Volume 2 and 3 openings give the four main characters action-packed fight scenes against the four main villains of each volume, pairing each protagonist and a villain. Blake is paired with Roman in Volume 2 and Adam in Volume 3, reflecting her conflicts in the two volumes. Ruby and Cinder are paired together in both as symbolism of the leaders of the two groups while Yang is paired together with Mercury, which sets up their Volume 3 storyline. That leaves Weiss and Emerald; they end up having no direct conflict with each other in either volume, but are the left-over characters from both groups in the opening credit sequences. |
| 410 | ** The Volume 5 opening shows a new character (later named as Vernal) opposite Cinder, heavily hinting at [[spoiler:Vernal being the Spring Maiden. Which ''she isn't'': Raven was pulling a fast one.]] |
| 411 | [[/folder]] |
| 412 | |
| 413 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 414 | * WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck's cartoon shorts (post-1947) feature a theme song that shills Donald, claiming he has "the sweetest disposition", "never, ever starts an argument", and "never shows a bit of temperament". Amusingly, Donald himself reacts to the music, demonstrating his real personality to the audience. The last line, however, is entirely accurate. |
| 415 | -->'''Choir:''' Who's never wrong, but always right?\ |
| 416 | Who'd never dream of starting a fight?\ |
| 417 | Who gets stuck with all the bad luck?\ |
| 418 | No one--\ |
| 419 | '''Donald Duck:''' (furious, incoherent yelling)\ |
| 420 | '''Choir:''' --but Donald Duck!\ |
| 421 | '''Donald Duck:''' Yeah! |
| 422 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jCgVfDhH3A The second]] season opening of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' makes the show appear to be quite saccharine, with Jimmy having FertileFeet that turn everything he touches happy, and not showing off any of Heloise's ComedicSociopathy. The actual show is largely a SadistShow with BlackHumor. |
| 423 | * The Italian [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXMl7oZiok opening]] for ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'' makes the show seem like a SliceOfLife romance. However, romance only comes up a few times in the show and most of the runtime is spent on Lady dealing with Duchess Ravenwaves' schemes to take over. |
| 424 | * The opening credits for the short-lived cartoon ''[[WesternAnimation/AlvinAndTheChipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks Go To the Movies]]'' contains footage from different episodes, each parodying a different movie, but also a brief clip parodying ''Franchise/StarWars'', starring Alvin as [[TheHero Luke Skywalker]], Simon and Theodore as [[RobotBuddy C-3PO and R2-D2, respectively]], and David Seville as [[TheDragon Darth Vader.]] Unfortunately, the ''Star Wars'' parody was ''never'' made into an actual episode of that series. There's also Eleanor swimming away from a shark and being saved by Jeanette in a ''{{Film/Jaws}}'' parody that was never made either. |
| 425 | * In the AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'', Anne is shown in the opening credits wearing her iconic straw hat, which she does not wear at all in any episode (though it is seen hanging in her room on occasion). |
| 426 | * The opening credits of ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' portray the titular trio heroically fighting bank robbers and space aliens, which doesn't come close to ''anything'' that occurs in the actual series. |
| 427 | ** The first season did follow a similar format to what the credits show (although instead of having them as "heroes", they were just... well, themselves), but it was quickly abandoned. They didn't change the credits simply because they worked within the logic of the show. |
| 428 | ** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Master Shake in one episode: when asked by Frylock why they didn't fight crime anymore, Shake tells him that 1) it wasn't making the Aqua Teens a lot of money, and 2) they spent most of their budget on the kickass credits they used to play themselves up. |
| 429 | ** The closing credits shenanigans with Lincoln, the wooden rocket and (presumably) Neil Armstrong obviously never happened in the show either... except when TheMovie, ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForceColonMovieFilmForTheaters'' showed this was part of ATHF's backstory. |
| 430 | ** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} with the season 8 intro, which is animated in [[ArtShift a dark and gritty style]] and features the characters as a police squad fighting criminals. The show is exactly the same as before. The season 10 intro is a similar case. |
| 431 | ** However, the season 9 intro, which is a DisneyAcidSequence, is a bit closer to what the show [[MindScrew actually]] [[WackyFratboyHijinx is]]. |
| 432 | ** Season 10 brought back embelishing, only this time with the teens depicted as thieves that manage to pull off a diamond heist and masquerade as the band for a strip bar. Though the ending shows cops closing in on the place. |
| 433 | ** Season 11, the final season, depicts the teens in an {{Animesque}} style partying and once more kicking ass, with many callbacks to previous openings. |
| 434 | * Episodes from ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'' Season Two begin with an OpeningNarration creating the impression that the Avengers consist entirely of the "Big Three" -- Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor -- and the Incredible Hulk. Thanks to villains who try to weaken the Avengers by separating their members, the succeeding episode will more often than not feature only one, two, or three of those heroes, fighting alongside some less-iconic Avengers. |
| 435 | * The first season intro for ''WesternAnimation/TheBackyardigans'' teases Austin being in that season's cowboy western-themed episode and Tasha being in the respective pirate episode, but neither occurs. All of the show's other intros deliver on what they promise. |
| 436 | * The opening for ''WesternAnimation/BeverlyHillsTeens'' makes it look like a show about surreal and over-the-top globetrotting adventures. While wacky stuff does occasionally happen, it's more of a sitcom-esque AffectionateParody of 80's greed and decadence. |
| 437 | * The characters in the opening of ''WesternAnimation/TheCrumpets'' didn't get updated for seasons 3 and 4, which only has teenagers as its main characters. For instance, Li'l One the infant continues to appear in the ''center'' among the characters even though he was downgraded by importance. |
| 438 | * Supposedly, the inspiration for Bart Simpson comes from Matt Groening being disappointed by ''ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS'', as in the show Dennis is not the whirlwind of disruption he is depicted as being in the credits. |
| 439 | ** Bart is actually closer in personality and age to the '''other''' ComicStrip/{{Dennis the Menace|UK}}. |
| 440 | * The theme tune to ''WesternAnimation/DenverTheLastDinosaur'' contains the line "Everywhere we go, we don't even care, if people stop and stare at our pal dino". The characters spend nearly the whole of the first few episodes fretting about whether they've been spotted with the eponymous reptile. |
| 441 | * The German opening to ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' mentions [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]] and WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, two characters who ''never'' appear in the series at all. The German opening theme for the [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 2017 reboot]] has different lyrics entirely. |
| 442 | * The lyrics to the opening theme for ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' tout the show as being wholesome and embodying good old fashioned family values... [[AnimatedShockComedy Even though the show is anything but.]] |
| 443 | * The ExpositoryThemeTune of ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' has the line "while Fella and Ursula stay in step", accompanied by Ursula splitting into two dancing look-alike women in the TitleSequence. Many viewers misheard the line as "Bella and Ursula" and wondered where the heck Bella got to. "Fella" was in fact George's pet name for Ursula, because he's just that dumb. This was even used in the live-action movie: he refers to her as a "funny-lookin' fella." |
| 444 | ** The movie does change the line in the theme tune, though, making the line all about Shep the elephant. |
| 445 | ** Possibly as a nod to this, in one episode George hits his head walking out of his tree-house (he forgot that he and Ursula live in a tree), and subsequently addresses Ursula as "Fella". Other character: "Fella?!" Ursula: "George is a simple man." "Nearsighted, too." |
| 446 | ** In the 2007 remake, a new character named Magnolia or Maggie for short is introduced and the theme song is changed to "Maggie and Ursula stay in step" |
| 447 | * According to the ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'' ThematicThemeTune, the apples don't fall far from the tree (they certainly do in all but the [[StrongFamilyResemblance shallowest sense]]). Also, the TitleMontage essentially gives a visual equivalent of a QuoteMine for PJ, who looks cheerful and safe in every single shot he appears in (except for one where he's making a face along with Max and Pistol), even if they're taken from an episode where he's miserable for half the running time like "O, R-V, I N-V U"--which is, along with episodes where he's an understandably [[NervousWreck agitated]] NoRespectGuy or an OutOfFocus SatelliteCharacter, the ''status quo.'' |
| 448 | * ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': |
| 449 | ** The standard opening, used for all episodes but the last three, fits the ''tone'' of the show, but depicts many things which don't occur in the series itself. It shows, among other things, the twins and Stan looking at a large human-like right footprint embedded inside a gigantic left footprint, Dipper finding the skeleton of what seems to be a large HornedHumanoid, and a jar of eyeballs at the gift shop [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou moving to look at the camera]]; those shots are believable (and it's heavily implied that the series only shows a part of Dipper and Mabel's adventures), but those specific events don't occur in any episode. Some other things, like the photo showing three [=UFOs=] [[note]]since Dipper has never seen one before "Dipper and Mabel vs the Future", and didn't really have a chance to find any more afterwards[[/note]] and the shot where Dipper and Mabel are reading in their room when everything, including them, starts rising in the air [[note]]"Not What He Seems" has several gravity anomalies of that sort, but when one occurs with the twins in their room, they're sleeping soundly and don't notice[[/note]] subtly contradict the series itself. |
| 450 | ** The alternate "Weirdmageddon" opening used for the multi-part finale does this deliberately, with [[spoiler: the opening starting off the same as the regular one, then quickly becoming grotesque, with Bill Cipher and his gang [[HostileShowTakeover inserting themselves in the title sequence]] and replacing the main characters.]] |
| 451 | * The opening to ''WesternAnimation/HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw'' depicts a typical dashing hero-type lawyer show with romance, dangerous investigations, action scenes, etc. However, the show is actually a ''parody'' of legal dramas, and nearly everyone at the law firm of Sebben and Sebben is crazy and/or stupid. And rather than a dashing hero, Birdman is an incompetent NoRespectGuy. |
| 452 | * The Scottish animated short ''WesternAnimation/MariaAutisticMasking'', starts with Maria happily drawing what could be anime fanart on her tablet, framing the short as a light-hearted slice-of-life plot focusing on Maria's school life. But then the school bell rings... The actual short shows what could be Maria's old school and her former masking behavior that led to her burnout and possibly changing schools. |
| 453 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'' credits ([[ArtShift in stop-motion, unlike the actual series]]) seemingly frame Captain K'nuckles as a free-spirited adventurer and Bubbie as a stuffy, almost-antagonist figure who opposes adventure or risk of any kind. In the actual series, Captain K'nuckles is a lazy, shiftless, and greedy UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist who manipulates the eponymous Flapjack's idolization of him to further whatever ill-advised and self-serving plan he's currently trying to enact, while Bubbie is the perpetual voice of reason and resident ReasonableAuthorityFigure. One popular fan interpretation for the art shift and the out-of-characterness is that the opening is showing the world from Flapjack's (rather skewed) way of seeing things. |
| 454 | * The ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon's title sequence had epic action scenes and detailed Japanese-style animation. The actual cartoon was legitimately an action series, but had slightly less emphasis on the fight scenes and was visually more in line with traditional early-'90s American animation. |
| 455 | * The theme song of ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' suggests that the action takes place during the night. In truth, nearly all of the fights in the series take place in broad daylight. |
| 456 | * The second opening to ''[[ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}} The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show]]'' mentions Belle, Snoopy's sister. She never appears in any episode of the cartoon. The reason for this is that the theme song ''Let's Have A Party'' was first released on the Flashbeagle album, one year before the second season of the show aired. Though that still begs the question why she was chosen to be mentioned alongside Spike and Snoopy in the first place. |
| 457 | * During ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot's'' opening, Bob mentions that he intends to learn about the User and why it plays dangerous games. In the actual show, Bob doesn't even attempt to learn ''anything'' about the User at all. That line in the opening is removed in later seasons as the plot shifts away from dealing with the games. |
| 458 | * The TitleSequence for ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' consists of clips from the pilot episode, "Big House Blues." When shown in the series, the episode had scenes cut, including Ren realizing that he had been kissing Stimpy in his sleep and washing his mouth in the toilet afterward -- scenes that feature prominently in the opening. (The uncut cartoon eventually aired on Spike TV and was released on DVD.) |
| 459 | * ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' |
| 460 | ** The ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' credits showed all manner of supernatural menaces, while of course the episodes centered on proving that mysterious events have a mundane explanation. |
| 461 | *** There is no way to tell if the supernatural menaces in the opening credits are real or not. Conversely, later incarnations of the show did include real supernatural elements. |
| 462 | ** Finally fixed with ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'' opening, which has the unmasking of three monsters. |
| 463 | * The opening credits to the [[ShowWithinAShow Itchy and Scratchy cartoons]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' promises that 'they fight and bite' over animation of the two hitting each other with weapons. In fact, in the vast majority of episodes, they don't ''fight'' at all: Scratchy is minding his own business when Itchy brutally attacks and kills him for no reason at all. |
| 464 | * The opening for the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS16E6IShouldHaveNeverGoneZiplining I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining]]" features the boys apparently in danger while ziplining. There's even a few shots of the boys being all bloody. In the actual episode, however, they are in no real danger whenever they are actually ziplining. They never even get into any ziplining accidents. All the distress actually comes from the tour group they were forced to be a part of. |
| 465 | * ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' has four openings (technically three, the fourth one is just the third one with edited-in shots), which show Static fighting villains. With the exception of season two's opening, the rest are inconsistent with the villains shown. |
| 466 | ** The first season's opening features Rubberband Man, who is shown robbing a jewelry store, something he never does in the show as he only wanted revenge on a record producer for stealing his music, and Dwayne [=McCall=] is seen summoning a mechanical dinosaur to attack Static. In the show, Dwayne is an otherwise neutral character who only appeared one, and was only being persuaded to attack Static by his stepbrother Aron. |
| 467 | ** The third season's opening features the Heavyman, a one-time villain who kidnapped Shebang's parents in the episode that featured him. Professor Menace, another one-time villain, also appears, despite the fact that he is Soul Power's nemesis. The last villain shown is, of all things, Brainiac in a robot body, who is one of Superman and the Justice League's villains. |
| 468 | ** Puff's appearance in the season two opening is a subversion, however, as though she appeared in one season two episode, that episode was aired during season three instead. |
| 469 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has three openings. One used up until part-way into the second season, another for the rest of the original series, and a third for the SequelSeries[=/=]FinaleSeason ''Steven Universe Future''. The first two were accurate when first seen, but quickly became outdated: |
| 470 | ** The first intro is a pretty good summary of what season one is like... except it leaves out any sort of hint towards the MidSeasonTwist that kicks off [[MythArc the real plot of the show]]. This is, of course, intentional. |
| 471 | ** The second intro is a much stronger example; while it accounts for the status quo changes in season two, like Connie [[SixthRanger joining the Crystal Gems]] and the introduction of the Homeworld Gems, [[TheArtifact it quickly became outdated]] once said season was over. It continues to portray Lapis and Peridot as villains and Jasper as a major threat long after [[HeelFaceTurn the former two have sided with the heroes]] and the latter has [[spoiler:been corrupted and imprisoned]]. Its tone increasingly clashes with [[CerebusSyndrome the more serialized and dramatic turns the plot takes]], and it never touches on major reveals and events like the trips to space or [[spoiler:Rose’s true identity]]. |
| 472 | * The first episode of ''Back to the Sewer'', ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''' seventh season, plays the intro for ''Fast Forward'', the series' sixth. While it makes sense in context -- the episode is a transitional one, taking the characters from one premise to the next, with the actual opening played in the end to reflect the change -- the fact that both seasons feature different characters, settings, premise, and art style, and that [[Creator/FourKidsEntertainment 4Kids]] had actually organized a contest to let the fans vote for the new theme song made the bait and switch ''very'' surprising -- and disconcerting. |
| 473 | * The Japanese opening of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' barely features Lugnut while prominently showing minor characters Arcee and Ironhide apparently on Earth and fighting alongside our heroes - indeed, Arcee is shown [[DesignatedGirlFight fighting Blackarachnia]] underwater (which, it should be noted, she is physically incapable of doing in-universe, since she is part organic). It also shows various fight scenes around the world, when in fact all the scenes on Earth take place in and around Detroit. Despite all that, it's ''still'' [[SpoilerOpening full of spoilers]] ([[spoiler: Longarm Prime,]] anyone?). It also features [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Cloaked_mystery_villain Cloaked Mystery Villain]], who doesn't look much like ''anybody'' in the show. |
| 474 | * The first opening of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', though it does a great job of reflecting the intended "''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' but miserable" vibe of the early seasons, was clearly made when the show was in an earlier stage of development. Overall, it features some noticeably off animation in a similar style to the pilot and apparently done in Flash; it's most evident with Brock, who is rather OffModel. There's also early designs for Baron Ünderbheit and Molotov Cocktease--it's hard to even recognize Molotov, as her facial features are all wrong and she's missing her eyepatch--as well as a completely unknown man with scuba gear and a dagger in his teeth. |
| 475 | * The Japanese credits for ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' feature Cable as a member of the team, but on the show he was a guest character who only appeared in five or six episodes total. It also features a final shot of Cyclops angsting while Krakoa looms over him. Krakoa never appears ever. Not to mention the opening's inclusion of Magneto summoning the Brood out of the earth itself. |
| 476 | ** The Western opening for the show has Magneto leading a group to fight the X-Men which never happens in the show. Two of them (Warpath and Yuri Topolov) don't oppose the X-Men throughout the show. |
| 477 | *** Cable is nothing! The second opening features Iceman as a member of the team. Iceman only appears in one episode. |
| 478 | [[/folder]] |
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