| 1 | %% Image reformatted per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1615091280078983600 |
| 2 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:349:[[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_tas_intro.png]]]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:349:Just another [[{{Pun}} knight]] at work.]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | Named after the common scenario found in the adventures of [[Franchise/{{Batman}} the Dark Knight Detective]], this is the short two-to-three page [[TheTeaser Cold Open]] sequence that opens a super-hero comic, depicting the vigilante engaging in some crime-fighting on BitPartBadGuys. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Typically, this is a bank-robbery or a mugging, usually unrelated to the plot-at-large, meant to illustrate the crime-fighting abilities of our hero, and often giving them the chance to brood about whatever is/will be bothering them for the extent of the issue. It can also help offset TheWorfEffect by showing that the hero is competent before having them beaten by the serious threat later in the story. The opening titles for the TV series ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' also used this trope, as does ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | In a practical sense, it allows for a reasonable amount of action in an issue that may be very talky, especially if it's the start of a StoryArc. Plot-driven series sometimes devote entire episodes/issues/chapters at the beginning to {{exposition}} of the heroes' powers and routine assignments, as well as any kind of AppliedPhlebotinum, before said plot takes over. If nothing really exciting happens and we are instead treated to [[NormalPeople normal life]] at the beginning before trouble starts, it overlaps with DayInTheLife. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Sometimes involves LuckilyMyPowersWillProtectMe. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Subtrope of TheTeaser. See also ActionPrologue, DangerRoomColdOpen and DramaticChaseOpening. Contrast AndTheAdventureContinues, which is essentially the opposite, done at the end of the series, and OnPatrolMontage, which is something similar during an episode instead of at the start. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | !!Examples: |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[folder:Anime and Manga]] |
| 22 | * Both seasons of ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'' devote their first episodes to series protagonists Misaka Mikoto and Shirai Kuroko apprehending and beating up rogue espers or terrorists in showcases of their powers. Conversely, the main series ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' starts off with its protagonist, [[UnluckyEverydude Kamijou Touma]], running away from pursuing thugs after a misguided attempt to keep them from harming Misaka [[spoiler:(actually, to keep her from harming '''them''')]]. |
| 23 | * ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'' kicks off with Rosette and Chrono doing an exorcism job in a haunted ship so that the audience understands that in this 'verse, "exorcism" involves less use of holy symbols and more use of [[MoreDakka guns]]. |
| 24 | * The first chapters/episodes of ''Manga/{{Claymore}}'' depict Clare going about the usual yoma-slaying business (until her first [[spoiler:almost-Awakening]]). |
| 25 | %%* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' does this (at least) once with a plane hijacking. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 26 | %%* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' opens with one of these and also serves to introduce the concept of [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals Contractors]], when a man who can defy gravity at the price of breaking his own fingers is subdued, interrogated and killed by a black-coated person with a white mask. The masked man is the protagonist, although the show doesn't tell us until the end of the two-episode arc (which contains a lot of {{Expospeak}}). %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 27 | %%* The very first chapter of ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' opens this way, the first hint of any on going plot being a {{call back}} to ''Manga/CMonDigimon'' before the reader learns any events relevant to the current series. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 28 | %%* ''Manga/ElfenLied''. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 29 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' opens with the Elric brothers on a normal mission, where they explain the principles of alchemy, before the BackStory is explained and the prime plot kicks in. [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 The first anime]] adapts this as the first two episodes. ''Brotherhood'', instead, adapts it in the third, after some other events; but then, ''its'' first episode, an original story, fills this same purpose. |
| 30 | * The first episode of ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' begins with Section 9 rescuing a bunch of officials taken hostages by robots -- although this is related to the plot of the first episode, it is still essentially just to show how badass Section 9 is. |
| 31 | * ''Anime/{{Grenadier}}'' spends the first episodes expositing the series' world, such as the structure of the Empire and the position of gunslingers in it. |
| 32 | * The first episode of the ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' anime opens with [[DirtyOldMan a creepy old guy]] and a [[DisposableSexWorker young-looking woman dressed like a prostitute]] walking into a hotel room. After some dialogue from the old guy, they realize that Alucard has been there the whole time. Cue Alucard pointing his gun at the two of them [[spoiler:and shooting the woman, [[BaitAndSwitch who turns out to be a vampire]]]]. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/KaitouSaintTail'': Meimi/Saint Tail occasionally opens stealing a priceless artifact and getting away, leaving her "victim" to cry out without thinking about how hard ''he'' worked to steal it in the first place and being heard by her detective pursuers. |
| 34 | * During the opening of ''Anime/Kite1998'', AntiHero Sawa uses herself as bait to lure one of her targets, a popular television personality who turns out to be a creep preying on young women out before killing him in an elevator to his apartment, while an old woman who witnesses it dies from shock. |
| 35 | * The opening chapters/first few episodes of ''Manga/SoulEater'' have the main casts carrying out a typical mission in both TheTeaser and the episode (Soul and Maka succeed at gaining a soul, Black Star and Tsubaki fail due to BS' egomania and Kid fails due to being ObsessivelyOrganized, then in the episode Maka and Soul fail because they succeed, BS and Tsubaki fail because Black☆Star's really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold and Kid succeeds despite his OCD but does so much collateral damage he has to give the souls up). This is because the artist was hired to do a couple one-shot stories, which eventually took off and became the series proper. |
| 36 | * ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' opens with the entire main cast having turns at trying to catch a group of escaping bank robbers. |
| 37 | * The first couple of episodes of ''Literature/TrinityBlood'' don't do anything for the story except introduce some of the main characters and establishing the conflict between TheChurch and the vampires. |
| 38 | [[/folder]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 41 | * ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' is the {{Trope Namer|s}}. ''Batman'' #608 (the first part of the ''ComicBook/BatmanHush'' arc) depicts Batman sneaking around a shipyard and taking down four of Killer Croc's thugs in rapid succession to save a small boy who happens to be heir to an enormous fortune. |
| 42 | * ''ComicBook/{{Bookhunter}}'' opens with Agent Bay leading a SWATTeam to apprehend a "freelance censor" |
| 43 | * ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'' (and later ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'') often opens with a splash page of the title character engaged in a spectacular fight against a considerably large group of {{Mooks}} while [[TalkingIsAFreeAction making absolutely random remarks]]. |
| 44 | * When ''ComicBook/JohnnySaturn'' is first seen in ''Johnny Saturn No.1'', he is putting the beat down on a gang of thugs called the ''Charlie Blockers'' or ''C Blockers.'' This battle is little more than foreplay before the first Johnny Saturn/Utopian confrontation. |
| 45 | * ''ComicBook/TheOtherSideOfDoomsday'' starts with four pages of ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/TheAtom and ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} beating up a gang of high-tech crooks called "Sky Pirates" before the beginning of the real plot (which the Pirates have nothing to do with). |
| 46 | %%* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' engages in this quite a lot. The title character [[PayEvilUntoEvil being who he is]], the BitPartBadGuys he deals with typically do not survive. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 47 | %%* In many ways, the beginning of issue #1 of ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' can be considered this, as we witness Arsenal getting busted out of jail by Red Hood and Starfire. The beginnings of issues #6 (the end of some sort of escapade Red Hood has gotten into on a nuclear submarine) and #8 provide clearer examples of this trope. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 48 | * ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Issue #167 starts with five pages of Tim apprehending an Arkham escapee who had stolen a semi and gotten on the interstate before being called away to the main plot of the issue; tracking down and recapturing Lock Up. |
| 49 | * The ''ComicBook/SinCity'' miniseries "A Dame to Kill For" opens with the main character spying on a {{Domestic Abuse}}r (he's a PrivateDetective) and having to save his mistress from getting killed. This is the main character's introduction and has nothing to do with the main story, though it does do wonders in establishing his character and setting up his FatalFlaw (his [[TheDulcineaEffect violent protectiveness toward women]]). |
| 50 | * Some issues of ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' begin with Spidey trouncing some random gangsters who have nothing to do with the issue's plot. |
| 51 | * The first issue of Creator/PhilFoglio's ''ComicBook/StanleyAndHisMonster'' mini-series is pretty much a standalone plot of the kind that the old ongoing series did a lot. Then, on the second-last page, the real plot of the mini-series begins. |
| 52 | * ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': |
| 53 | ** One plot deals with the BigBad sending a group of mercenaries to bring Spider-Man to him so that he can find out how Spider-Man knows about all the attempts on his company and why he's been helping to stop them. Spidey has no idea what the guy is talking about until he shows footage of several Batman Cold Opens from previous issues. |
| 54 | ** Shocker exists pretty much solely to get beaten up in the first two pages. This leads to an arc where Peter starts wondering what he's accomplishing, if this guy keeps getting out of jail so easily. It also creates a WhamEpisode when [[spoiler:Shocker manages to capture Spider-Man]]. |
| 55 | * ''ComicBook/Zatanna2010'': Issue #2 begins with Zatanna finishing up an adventure with the JLA: putting down a gang of werehyenas alongside Vixen and Black Canary. This is also used to established Zatanna is exhausted for the rest of the issue, while she still has to deal with Fuseli bothering her in her dreams. |
| 56 | [[/folder]] |
| 57 | |
| 58 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 59 | * ''Fanfic/BloodstainedHeroesOfHumanity'' begins with Todoriki and Izuku defending Yaoyorozu, Kirishima and Iida from a feral werewolf that used to be their classmate. |
| 60 | * ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': The first chapter of both versions shows the Hunter's chores as a wandering [[HiredGuns sellsword]], hunting down orc bands left and right as his means for earning income. The Hunter also gives brief {{exposition}} on how Eostia has a war going on, though he wants nothing to do with it. The only difference between the two versions is that the one for the remastered version has a bit more {{action|Prologue}}. |
| 61 | * The first chapter of ''Fanfic/UnityFinmonster'' is the Big Hero 9 team intercepting and apprehending some bank robbers, showing how far they've come as an organized team since the [[Fanfic/{{Empathy}} first story]]. It's actually titled "Cold Open". |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 65 | * ''Anime/CowboyBebopKnockinOnHeavensDoor'' opens with bounty hunters Spike and Jet apprehending a few criminals robbing a convenience store. |
| 66 | * ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'' opens with the Major stopping a diplomat from getting a programmer out of the country by shooting him in the head ([[YourHeadAsplode explosively]]) and then [[InvisibilityCloak literally disappearing from sight]]. |
| 67 | * ''WesternAnimation/HellboyAnimated: Storm of Swords'' opens with Hellboy, Liz, and Abe Sapien taking down giant bat-monster in Latin America. |
| 68 | * In Kenji's long voyage with Natsuki at the beginning of ''Anime/SummerWars'', several scenes play out with King Kazma kicking all kinds of ass as a then-background event or action opener, which turns out to have shown off how capable the user of King Kazma is when we find out who he is, making this some kind of Batman Cold Open. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 72 | %%* ''Film/TwentyNineteenAfterTheFallOfNewYork'': Parsifal gets one where he participates in a gladiatorial demolition derby. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 73 | * ''Film/Batman1989'' introduces the audience to Batman in action as he attacks two small-time muggers on the rooftops. |
| 74 | * ''Film/BatmanForever'' begins with Batman moving out to stop Two-Face committing an overblown bank robbery, where Two-Face declares, "''Let's start this party with a bang!''" |
| 75 | * ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' starts with Axel Foley undercover trying to bust a cigarette smuggling operation and turns into a big chase with him hanging from the back of a speeding semi and dozens of police cars. |
| 76 | * ''Film/TheBlackCobra'' starts with CowboyCop Robert Malone going after some bank robbers who've taken hostages. |
| 77 | * ''Film/BlownAway'' has Jimmy Dove demonstrating his bomb-defusing badassary skills on a not-related-to-main-plot bomb. |
| 78 | * ''Film/CloakAndDagger1984'' begins with Jack Flack on an espionage mission, then reveals that it's all been the plot of game being played by our kid hero Davey, who soon gets embroiled in a real spy caper. |
| 79 | %%* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': |
| 80 | %%** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' had one where Batman takes on Scarecrow, and (though a villainous example) the bank heist at the beginning, (largely) unrelated to ComicBook/TheJoker's larger schemes over the rest of the movie, but used to show the audience how devious, manipulative and ruthless he is. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 81 | %%** Meanwhile, in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Bane shows off his extremely organized and loyal army by making them crash a CIA plane just to fake the death of one character. It did have some small effect on the overall plot, but it was mostly a parallel to ComicBook/TheJoker's introduction. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 82 | * All the ''Film/DirtyHarry'' movies have a scene in the beginning where Harry stops a crime unrelated to the main plot. In the first one, it was a bank robbery, in ''Film/MagnumForce'' it was a plane hijacking,''Film/TheEnforcer'' it was a liquor store holdup. A diner was being robbed in ''Film/SuddenImpact'' and in ''Film/TheDeadPool'' it was mob hitmen out to kill him. |
| 83 | * In ''Film/District13'' the second hero, a supercop is introduced about twenty minutes into the movie in a huge martial arts brawl in an illegal casino to establish his badass credentials before he gets fit into the main plot. |
| 84 | %%* ''Film/{{Django}}'' follows this pattern. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 85 | * ''The Expendables'' |
| 86 | ** ''Film/TheExpendables'' show the team rescuing a group of hostages from African pirates, just to show how good they are at what they do. |
| 87 | ** ''Film/TheExpendables2'' opens with them raiding a stronghold to rescue a Chinese billionaire. |
| 88 | * The beginning of ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' shows two bounty hunters, Colonel Mortimer and Manco separately tracking and killing wanted criminals and collecting their bounties. |
| 89 | %%* The second live-action ''Guyver'' movie uses this trope. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 90 | %%* ''Film/{{Inception}}'' not only uses this trope but also introduces us to a major character of the film as being the target. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 91 | %%* ''Franchise/IndianaJones'', especially his attempt at retrieving the golden idol at the start of ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and the flashbacks of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. ''Film/{{UHF}}'' parodies the opening of the former, and, in doing so, is an example of the trope. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 92 | * ''Film/InTheLineOfFire'' begins with an introductory scene of Frank busting some counterfeiters while undercover, which has no relation to the rest of the movie. It also acts as a ShownTheirWork scene for the writers to demonstrate that they're aware the Secret Service still has a few functions other than protecting the President. It does play into the plot a little later on, when it's revealed that Frank's colleague Al is having some difficulty coping with the pressures of the job (in the Cold Open, he comes very close to getting killed), which leads to the film playing with the {{Retirony}} trope. |
| 93 | * ''Film/JamesBond'' movies, [[ActionPrologue typically]], although they often do have some relation to the main plot of the movie. |
| 94 | ** The cold opening of ''{{Film/Moonraker}}'' shows Jaws, TheDragon of ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' trying to kill Bond by pushing him from an airplane without a parachute. ''His'' 'chute fails but lucky for him ([[MakesSenseInContext and Bond]]), there's a nearby circus tent. |
| 95 | ** The opening of ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'' has Bond attacked by [[LawyerFriendlyCameo a bald man stroking a cat]], who he drops into an industrial smokestack. It doesn't directly relate to the plot, [[FridgeBrilliance though it ties into an important theme in the film]]: do we really have the right to avenge our lost loved ones? |
| 96 | ** ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' has only one connection in its opening, a brief appearance by arms dealer Henry Gupta. Otherwise, it's just 007 exploding [[WelcomeToEvilMart a terrorist weapons bazaar]]. |
| 97 | ** ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' opens with Bond on a mission in North Korea... which he actually ''fails''. He ends up getting captured and spends a year and a half in a torture camp before his superiors can spring him. |
| 98 | ** As a ContinuityReboot, ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'' shows Bond getting his first two kills, thus achieving "double-0" status. |
| 99 | %%** The first movie to open like this, ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', is a {{subver|tedTrope}}sion: [[spoiler:the man who appears to be Bond is actually [[LatexPerfection a mook dressed up as Bond]] for Grant to kill to demonstrate his assassination abilities, making basically a villains' DangerRoomColdOpen.]] %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 100 | %%** The pre-title sequence of ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' plays this straight, and is arguably the finest example of this in the series. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 101 | %%** ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' also has no relation to the plot, being only Bond attacking a BananaRepublic and fleeing in a small plane. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 102 | %%** The opening of ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' plays with this, as its Cold Open is almost fifteen minutes long and ties directly into the main plot without even a time jump between the two. The whole thing causes a bizarre sort of [[ProlongedPrologue Cold Open Fatigue]] that makes you question why, save for tradition, there needed to be one at all. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 103 | %%** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' probably has one of the best, a really spectacular pursuit through Istanbul featuring no less than ''three'' separate chase scenes. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 104 | %%** ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has a longer scene that develops the backstory for Madeline Swann as well as showing the reason for her and James' split as well as introducing the main villain Safin. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 105 | %%* ''Film/{{Lethal}}'': Samantha gets one where she captures a rogue mobster. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 106 | %%* ''Film/LethalWeapon'' gives Riggs one where he leads a cocaine bust. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 107 | * ''Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960'' features [[TheHero Chris]] and [[TheLancer Vin]] escorting the hearse of a "halfbreed" to the local cemetery when the rest of the town is dead-set against him being buried in their graveyard. |
| 108 | * The first few minutes of ''Film/TheMarine'' show Wrestling/JohnCena (or, rather, a character played by him) fighting terrorists (or at least terrorist sympathizers) in a Middle Eastern country. This cold opening actually serves two purposes: 1) establishing John Triton as a badass and 2) showing him disobeying a direct (although unreasonable) order from his commander, thus justifying his being discharged from the service and sent home to the United States, where the ''real'' plot takes place. |
| 109 | * ''Film/MinorityReport'' starts off with Pre-Crime going off after a double murder foreseen by the Pre-Cogs. It really lacks impact into the story afterwards with the exception of telling the audience that Pre-Crime fundamentally works by avoiding the homicides. |
| 110 | * ''Film/MissionImpossible1996'' opens with the IMF finishing off a mission. |
| 111 | %%* The investigation of Old Man [=McGinty=] in ''Film/MysteryTeam''. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 112 | * ''Film/TheOtherGuys'' starts of with an action chase scene where {{Cowboy Cop}}s Danson and Highsmith stop some low-level drug dealers. This cold opens especially serves to set up Danson and Highsmith as {{Decoy Protagonist}}s for the movie, before the narrative changes to the actual protagonists. |
| 113 | * ''Film/TheProfessional'' begins with a scene showing the title character on a routine job, killing a gang of drug dealers in a matter of minutes. The entire scene only exists to establish how proficient he is and has nothing to do with the rest of the film. |
| 114 | * The Live-Action ''Film/ScoobyDoo'' movie starts with Mystery Inc. trying to catch the Luna Ghost, providing the audience a chance to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment see each member of the gang's strengths, weaknesses]], and role in the FiveManBand. After the Ghost is caught, tensions between the main characters lead to [[BreakingTheFellowship their breakup]], thus setting the tone for the first act of the plot. |
| 115 | * In ''Film/SevenSamurai'', we're introduced to Kambei as he rescues a boy being held hostage in a barn. |
| 116 | %%* While ''Film/{{Sneakers}}'' technically opens with a scene from the main character's past, the next scene is very much this trope. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 117 | * The opening sequence on the planet Nibiru in ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' drops the viewer right in the middle of a scene in which Kirk and Bones are ChasedByAngryNatives. |
| 118 | * Each ''Franchise/StarWars'' film opens with an action-packed prologue which mostly serves to introduce the main characters and basic ongoing plot before shifting into the film's proper story, probably as part of the homage to the old film serials where there was no way for new viewers to get caught up on previous episodes if they came into it midway. |
| 119 | * In ''Film/StreetsOfFire'', the hero is introduced by beating up some local toughs who are breaking up his sister's diner. |
| 120 | * The exceptionally long cold opening of ''Film/SuperTroopers'' starts off with two of the troopers toying with and eventually busting some stoners, then getting drawn into a high-speed chase [[spoiler:by another trooper playing a prank on them]]. |
| 121 | * ''Film/WerewolvesOnWheels'' opens with biker gang the Devil's Advocates kicking the asses of a couple punks who tried to run them off the road. |
| 122 | * ''Film/WildWildWest'' spends a good twenty minutes in an opening saloon scene where both West and Gordon fail to catch DiscOneFinalBoss Bloodbath [=McGrath=]. |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 126 | * ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Lost Colony'' starts off with Holly tracking a smuggler, though in true Literature/ArtemisFowl fashion it ends up becoming a ChekhovsGun. |
| 127 | * ''Literature/BloodRites'': The novel begins in a burning building, finishing up a job prior to the start of the story proper. |
| 128 | -->The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault. |
| 129 | * ''Literature/EddieLaCrosse'': ''The Sword-Edged Blonde'' begins with the protagonist being hired for a relatively typical assignment: retrieve a [[RebelliousPrincess teenage aristocratic runaway]] who has fallen in with the wrong crowd in a rough border town. This serves to show the kind of unglamorous thing that he ''normally'' does, before the book moves on to the main plot (which involves royal infanticide and goddesses.) |
| 130 | * ''Literature/TheExpanse'': |
| 131 | ** In ''Literature/CalibansWar'', the crew of ''Rocinante'' is introduced doing a job they have taken following the epilogue of ''Leviathan Wakes'': catching {{space pirate}}s that have proliferated following the war between Mars and the Belt. |
| 132 | ** In ''Literature/BabylonsAshes'', Michio Pa is introduced as a SpacePirate wrecking a colony ship heading out of the Solar System and robbing it for supplies the Free Navy will supposedly redistribute among the local Belter colonies. |
| 133 | ** James Holden's role in ''Literature/PersepolisRising'' begins with him and his crew getting an unenviable "job" of telling the freedom-obsessed colonists at Freehold they will be denied any supplies from outside their star system as a punishment for a reckless use of the PortalNetwork. This thread mostly serves to introduce the topic of [[AppealToForce how governments enforce their laws]], [[spoiler:though Freehold ends up being a key location for LaResistance in the later novels]]. |
| 134 | %%* ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' introduces both Carrot and Angua with one of these %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 135 | * ''Literature/InCryptid'': The prologue of ''That Ain't Witchcraft'' is a sequence of CasualDangerDialogue between Annie and Fern as they hunt a unicorn. The first chapter has Sam and Annie, in the present day, destroy a [[FesteringFungus Corn Blight]] that has been killing people in a small midwestern town. |
| 136 | * ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'' opens with a prologue in which Dave and John are lured to a remote cabin and attacked by a monster made of meat. |
| 137 | * ''Literature/MarginPlay'' by Creator/EricPlume opens with a chapter about Amber serving court papers on Thom Cullen. It's completely unrelated to the main plot. |
| 138 | * ''Literature/{{Ra}}'' starts with the heroine getting accosted in an alley by a group of thugs, and taking them out with her magic skills. |
| 139 | %%* Except for the first book, each installment of the ''Literature/SeekersOfTruth'' series starts this way. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 140 | %%* Creator/SimonRGreen starts off many of his novels like this, particularly in his {{Literature/Nightside}} and Hawk & Fisher series. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 141 | * In the prologue of ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'', Obi-Wan intervenes in a bar fight while on his way to drop Luke Skywalker off at the Lars's. A very drunk old man finds himself holding an infant and watching as an [[LaserBlade odd blue light]] takes out several of Jabba the Hutt's thugs in the dimness. |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 145 | * In the ''Series/BostonLegal'' episode "An Eye for an Eye", the dubious moral compass of star lawyer Alan Shore is established by him showing up on trial at night court dressed as, ironically, ComicBook/{{Batman}}. It plays no further role in the episode. |
| 146 | * ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'': |
| 147 | ** Episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' frequently start with Buffy killing a random vampire on patrol. Occasionally doubles as a CouchGag; for instance, "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E6Halloween Halloween]]" starts with Buffy fighting a vampire in a pumpkin patch. |
| 148 | %%** Ditto ''Series/{{Angel}}'' saving innocent girls from vampires -- though here the trope was subverted more often than it was played straight. It would turn out to be a dream, or someone would interrupt Angel, or Spike would be nearby doing color commentary... %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 149 | * ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons'': Each episode starts with an unknown gunman sneaking up on Captain Scarlet and unloading an entire magazine into him from a submachine gun [[NoSell to no effect]], before Captain Scarlet shoots him. |
| 150 | * The second season of ''Series/Daredevil2015'' shows the eponymous hero beating up a few common criminals. Besides showing how badass he is, the scene also shows that he became [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight part of the day-to-day life of Hell's Kitchen]], as he was mostly unknown through a good chunk of the first season. |
| 151 | * In ''Series/{{Deadwood}}'', Seth Bullock is introduced as he faces down a Montana lynch mob and executes a prisoner on the porch of his Sheriff's office. Immediately afterward, he retires from his post and departs for Deadwood, starting the show proper. |
| 152 | * Because the classic ''Series/DoctorWho'' series was very relying on cliffhangers, the series since the 2005 relaunch has a sort of substitute with opening scenes before credits, and a trailer for the upcoming episode after the end credits. Often the Doctor and Companion(s) are having an adventure and it directly or indirectly leads into the story itself. Sometimes it has no connection, the concept is malleable. |
| 153 | * ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'': Due to ExecutiveMeddling, the first five episodes are 'Imprint of the Week'-style stand-alone stories, before any kind of StoryArc kicks in. |
| 154 | * ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' was due to start with a double length origins episode, featuring the arrival of River Tam, Simon and Book. Instead, ExecutiveMeddling mandated that a train heist episode be adjusted to become the first episode, in order to show the normal hijinks of the Firefly crew on a job. The prequel story was later shown out of order without warning, causing mild temporary confusion for some viewers. |
| 155 | * The "opening gambits" of ''Series/MacGyver1985'' -- especially for the first few episodes -- have little to do with the rest of the plot and are often directed by a separate team. This particular style of opening is important in the pilot, as it's our first glimpse of [=MacGyver=] in action. A good portion of the episode is devoted to this gambit: Mac scales a sheer cliff, disarms a missile, and makes an impromptu rescue, all while his internal monologue brings us up to speed via a series of somewhere between home-spun and downright corny analogies about hockey, riding horses or people he knows. |
| 156 | * ''Series/TheMandalorian'': Chapter 1 opens on one of Mando's typical bounty runs, before moving onto the actual first arc of the show, involving taking a job for an Imperial remnant. |
| 157 | * A few ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' series have been known to do this: |
| 158 | ** The premier of ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'' has Tommy escaping from an exploding island before anything else in the season. |
| 159 | ** ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' often starts in the middle of a megazord battle before moving on to the plot o' the episode, which is usually unrelated. It's used to emphasize just how much of a war of attrition is going on, and how relentless the machines are ... and to get the {{merchandis|eDriven}}ing for the giant robots out of the way as soon as possible, so they don't have to interrupt the plotty action scenes with stock footage. |
| 160 | %%** ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' has at least two. The first has Adam being pursused by 4 "ninjas" who are later revealed to be the other Rangers. The second has the [[SixthRanger Gold Ranger]] protecting the team from a group of Cogs. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 161 | %%** ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'' uses this extensively to make use of StockFootage that they couldn't use any other way. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 162 | * ''Series/SuperhumanSamuraiSyberSquad'' frequently opens in the middle of a battle with a MonsterOfTheWeek sort of construct, which sometimes leads to the villains immediately coming up with a new plan (and the true monster for the episode) to avenge the thwarting of the old one. |
| 163 | * The [[Recap/TheWireS01E01TheTarget series opener]] of ''Series/TheWire'' begins with Detective Jimmy [=McNulty=] introduced while investigating the murder of a guy named Snotboogie. The little episode makes a statement about the America Dream, a major theme of the series, but the Snotboogie murder itself has nothing to do with the plot of the rest of the season. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 167 | * In the ''Theatre/MrsHawking'' play series, part III: ''[[https://vimeo.com/201477887 Base Instruments]]'' opens with the team finishing a case up by beating up a gang of ruffians, in order to lead into the otherwise fairly cerebral plot of the main mystery. |
| 168 | [[/folder]] |
| 169 | |
| 170 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 171 | * The ActionPrologue of ''VideoGame/{{Bonfire}}'' is a JustifiedTutorial that pits you against enemies designed to be countered by your starting heroes, allowing the game to show off their abilities while teaching you how to use them. |
| 172 | * ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' begins with a normal day in Ryu's childhood. After a timeskip, Ryu and Bow are shown taking on a normal job. |
| 173 | * ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'' begins with the protagonist Alyssa L'Salle, an API agent, being sent to counter a terrorist attack holding civilians hostage. While this mission shows that Alyssa is a competent agent, it has no bearing on the plot except for setting up a BigLippedAlligatorMoment that happens later. |
| 174 | %%* In VideoGame/LegoBatman there's a cold open scene directly before the title screen (which is skippable) that is pretty much exactly the same as the BTAS opening. This is likely intentional. Additionally, in the third game there is a very similar cold open. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 175 | * ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' starts the Prologue off with Faith delivering a package, setting her own job as {{Parkour}} "courier" in-universe. That really only serves to explain why she has the flexibility, speed and energy of a monkey overdosed in Redbull before she goes off to clear her sister's name. |
| 176 | * The first ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' game has a tutorial, followed by a mission on freighter (ending with an epic VideoGameSetPiece) related to the main plot (It helps set up Al-Asad having [[spoiler:the nuke]] later on), then the credits play over a ScenicTourLevel. |
| 177 | ** ''Modern Warfare 2'' starts with a tutorial, then a typical Middle-Eastern urban warfare mission that's completely unrelated to the plot (except that it seems to occur on the tail end of the war that begins in the first game), and then "[[WhamEpisode No Russian]]" is where the game's plot really starts. |
| 178 | * In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', H'aanit's story begins with her taking a not-so-routine hunting job in absence of her mentor and parental figure Z'aanta. Her story starts proper when she returns to the village and meets Z'aanta's wolven companion without Z'aanta himself, giving her a cause for concern. |
| 179 | * ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' and all the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' games have Mario fighting Bowser in some form (and in one of them... [[spoiler:Bowser wins]]). |
| 180 | %%* The entire first day of ''VideoGame/TexMurphy - Under a Killing Moon''. Also serves as an introduction to most of the regular characters. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 181 | * The first stage of ''VideoGame/XMen2CloneWars'' on Sega Genesis drops you right into the stage with a random character the instant you power on the console, and only see the title screen once you've beaten the stage. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 185 | %%* ''Webcomic/{{Acrobat}}'' plays it straight and made into a hot closing with Magnum and a villain in issue 4. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 186 | * The first few pages of ''Webcomic/OnceStung'' cover Queen Bee foiling a robbery before flashing back to her origin story. |
| 187 | * The online version of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' begins with the party effortlessly trouncing a bunch of random goblins before the game system is updated. It was later revised in the print version to begin earlier, with a voice-over about the Order and their goals. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 191 | * Deconstructed and parodied in Creator/JoelHaver's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q6pIZD4ljU Batman but he doesn't show up]]", where four goons are loading and transporting a shipment of wooden pallets (just pallets, nothing else) to the Penguin, and are all on edge in case "the Bat" arrives. In spite of a few false alarms, he ''doesn't'' arrive: they load the trucks, drive them to the rendezvous, and unload them without a hitch, which leaves everyone a little confused as to what to do next. Two of the goons, Bruiser and Stinger, are pleasantly surprised to hear their names used for the first time, [[NominalImportance not expecting that they'd have any]]. It then cuts to the main thug at home, shocked to learn that he has a wife and kids, too. [[spoiler:When Batman arrives in his bedroom in the dead of night to beat him up, the goon tells him he can't, because he's already spent too much time as the protagonist and the audience is endeared to him.]] |
| 192 | -->'''Thug:''' ...Does this mean '''I'm''' the main character? Is this '''my''' ''Film/{{Joker|2019}}''? Am I gonna get an Oscar? |
| 193 | [[/folder]] |
| 194 | |
| 195 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 196 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'': "[[Recap/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroesS1E8SomeAssemblyRequired Some Assembly Required]]" (which takes place almost immediately after the Avengers' founding) begins with the team confronting Mandrill after a bank robbery. |
| 197 | * The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'' opens with Batman taking down Rupert Thorne and his goons before moving on to the actual plot of the episode. |
| 198 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' uses this as its opening sequence. It succeeds at ShowDontTell to such a degree that it was only after seeing the finished product that the producers realized that they never actually showed the title. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 199 | * In ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', we see one short adventure before the credits, often unconnected to the main story, with a different villain and partner. There are still occasions in the main story as well, where Batman will meet his team up during or just after defeating a minor villain. During the second season, the cold opens involved their own ongoing story, where one of Batman's past partners encounters Starro and gets mind controlled by him which eventually led to the Siege of Starro two-parter season finale. |
| 200 | * ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'': Many episodes of the original 1993 series have Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo heckling and messing with the main villain, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Lawrence Limburger]], in the beginning just before the opening title. The 2006 revival did the same with the series' new villains, [[CatsAreMean the Catatonians]] and [[{{Trumplica}} Ronaldo Rump]]. |
| 201 | * The ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Gadget Goes Hawaiian" opens with the Rangers already in dire peril, having to defend themselves against a giant octopus while being tied up. It is not explained how they got into this situation, and this is not that episode's actual case either. |
| 202 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode "[[Recap/DannyPhantomS1E14Thirteen 13]]" has the hero combating various animal ghosts in the beginning. He ends up losing thanks to the MonsterOfTheWeek's [[LivingShadow bad luck shadow]]. |
| 203 | %%* Exists in the original but mostly cut out from the first episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'', where the widely broadcast version only shows him turning in the criminals. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 204 | %%* The first handful of episodes of ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' begin this way, showcasing Rex's EVO-defeating chops. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 205 | * The first episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'' begins with Green Arrow foiling a supermarket robbery before being beamed up to the JL Watchtower and asked to join the all-new expanded Justice League. |
| 206 | %%* A common occurrence in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', although the "action" teasers would occasionally have exposition about Kim's personal subplot as a lead in. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 207 | %%* ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee'' has this kind of opening in its early episodes. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 208 | %%* Most episodes of ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries'' have one of these, though it sometimes leads into the main plot. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 209 | * About half the episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'' begin with the Ghostbusters in the middle of busting one or more ghosts. You can pretty much count on these ghosts to have nothing to do with the main plot, and they are often the same ghosts used in crowd scenes or cold opens in other episodes, since the animators worked from a small pool of stock ghosts. But every so often they ''do'' figure into the main plot later in the episode when they're released from the containment unit by the ghost-of-the-week or phenomenon-of-the-week. |
| 210 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' often begins with Spider-Man mid-battle with criminals. |
| 211 | %%* Doctor Light in introduced to the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' in this manner, only to be immediately [[MookHorrorShow traumatized]] for the rest of the series by [[CreepyGood Raven]]. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 212 | %%* Episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' focusing on super-hero guest-stars often open this way, replacing the show's usual InMediasRes teasers. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 213 | %%* The ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'' episode "[[Recap/VeggieTalesEpisode12LarryBoyAndTheRumorWeed LarryBoy and the Rumor Weed]]" uses one of these, with [=LarryBoy=] catching a thief who's been stealing kids' milk money. It ends with [=LarryBoy=] inadvertently [[CreateYourOwnVillain creating the villain of the episode]]. %%Example needs context to make sense on its own. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
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