Line #156 Main/CoverDrop


1	[[quoteright:300:[[ComicBook/SupermansGirlFriendLoisLane https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dummydamsel_1493.JPG]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:...What? It was UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age\|OfComicBooks}}.]]
3
4	A scene that gives meaning to the image depicted with the title of something, such as the cover art of a book, or the title screen or main menu of a video game. Basically, the graphical version of TitleDrop.
5
6	Some title screens or covers simply have no alternate meanings to interpret, such as a splash screen or a portrait of the main character. Not this one. This one shows something [[MindScrew mind screwy]] and/or [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]] that has no discernible meaning to the premise of the series. Or perhaps it depicts something like a weird character or object we haven't seen yet, or a scene that's highly unlikely to happen.
7
8	Of course, each time we pick up the book or boot up the game, we see these images, and it becomes burned into our subconscious so much so that we're constantly waiting for it to actually happen and wondering what it means.
9
10	...and then comes the Cover Drop, and suddenly it all makes sense. We finally get to see and understand the (usually) profound meaning of the title screen.
11
12	This must be executed ''exactly'' like a TitleDrop. Meaning:
13	* The cover art is not readily understandable. It has to be more than just a cast picture or a collage, unless it depicts something unusual.
14	* The meaning or identity of the cover art is suddenly made clear in a moment of revelation.
15
16	In comics, this was ''very'' commonly done (and still pops up) when {{Superdickery}} appeared to be afoot, with the cover showing our hero doing something unusually wrong, and something in the story explained it.
17
18	See also SceneCover.
19	----
20	!!Examples
21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'':
26	** The cover of volume 9 includes Aki as a child holding a snowball, like in his earlier flashback to his family's death. [[spoiler:It's what Aki see in his DyingDream.]]
27	** Volume 10 has Makima standing in a door, pointing a FingerGun [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou at the reader]]. This reflects the POV of [[spoiler:Power as Makima kills her]].
28	** Volume 11 shows Denji wearing his uniform's [[BadassInANiceSuit suit]], instead of just the dress shirt, something he puts on in-series for the first time [[spoiler:to blend in while PlayingPossum in a pile of dead agents]].
29	** Volume 13 has Yuko in front of an upside-down background, foretelling her last scene in the volume [[spoiler:where her decapitated body is hoisted up by the leg]].
30	* The cover for the third volume of ''Manga/OsananajimiwaOnnanokoniNaare'' is Shiori in a wedding dress, holding the arm of a groom who is partially obscured, but appears to be Shuuichi. This is revealed as comically [[CoversAlwaysLie misleading]] by an illustration before the first chapter, which shows Shuuichi ''is'' the groom, but the whole thing is Shiori's nightmare.
31	* The very last scene of TheStinger of ''Anime/{{Symphogear}} XV'' shows Hibiki and Miku holding hands while watching the night sky. It was also the main poster of that season.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comic Books]]
35	* The cover of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' displays a close up of an image which repeats throughout the story, the Comedian's bloodstained smiley, although it is not readily apparent that this is what is being shown until it appears in the novel.
36	** In fact, every cover of the original comics (seen as the chapter screens in the graphic novel) is a close-up of an object featured in the first panel of each respective chapter.
37	** The cover of ''ComicBook/TheMultiversity: Pax Americana'' does the same trick with a burning flag with a peace symbol on it, for the Peacemaker.
38	* Subverted in the ''ComicBook/BlakeAndMortimer'' story "The Necklace Affair", which shows Olrik admiring the necklace while holding it up with both hands. The scene happens later with the exact same pose and facial expression, but with a [[spoiler:dishonest]] jeweler instead of Olrik.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Film]]
42	* The green apple on the disc for ''Film/StrangerThanFiction''. The ending to Eiffel's story is inspired by one.
43	* The poster art for ''Film/JeepersCreepers'' is taken from [[spoiler:the last shot in the movie, when the Creeper peers through a hole in Darry's head]]
44	* The poster for ''Film/JeepersCreepers2'' has a the imprint of a face on something membranous; it shows up in the film when [[spoiler:the Creeper's wing wraps around a guy and decapitates him.]]
45	* The film adaptation of ''Literature/Twilight2005'' has a scene in which Edward catches an apple in both hands, mirroring the novel's cover.
46	* As weird as this [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Man_from_the_Future.jpg poster]] for a Brazilian film is, it actually happens (ItsALongStory, but involves the protagonist going back in time to his prom, which is a costume party, dressed as an astronaut).
47	* The VHS cover for ''Film/TheQuietEarth'' [[spoiler: is a shot from the very end of the movie.]]
48	* ''Film/Quarantine2008'' has on its poster [[spoiler:the very last scene of the movie]].
49	* Some DVD copies of ''Film/RequiemForADream'' have a picture of [[http://www.dvd-covers.org/d/161575-5/requiem_for_a_dream_label_r1.jpg TV color bars]] on the disc. They're only onscreen before the beginning of "Winter."
50	* The ''Film/{{Carry On\|series}}'' film posters sort of did this. Occasionally the illustrator of the poster would draw a tiny picture of a brief scene that appears in the movie, as well as a photoshopped (or, 1960s' photoshop) of an actor's face from one of the film's scenes, or just a full photograph. For example, [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/carry_on_jack.jpg the poster]] for ''Film/CarryOnJack'' has the images of the actors' heads from some of the scenes and a drawing at the bottom of someone getting whipped against a wall, much like Creator/BernardCribbins' character in the film.
51	* The earliest teaser posters for ''Film/{{Spectre}}'' feature cracks in glass which form the octopus logo for Spectre. It pops up in the movie itself when Franchise/JamesBond shoots at thick glass [[spoiler:separating him from Blofeld]].
52	* The poster for ''Film/TheEqualizer'' features Robert [=McCall=], played by Creator/DenzelWashington, armed with a nail gun and standing in the middle of rain. [[spoiler: This happens in the climax of the movie, when [=McCall=] finishes off Teddy with a nail gun.]]
53	* The poster for ''Film/TheDevilInside'' depicts a [[NunsAreSpooky spooky-looking nun]] with milky white eyes. She appears for two seconds and has no overall significance except a.) looking creepy and b.) providing a creepy-looking movie poster.
54	* In ''Film/JurassicWorldDominion'', right before the final battle with the ''Giganotosaurus'', Rexy ends up dropping the cover of not just the movie, but the ''entire Franchise/JurassicPark franchise itself'', when she sticks her head through a circle.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Literature]]
58	* The ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' novel ''Eldest'' has a red dragon on the cover. Those who were eager to see it found that it didn't appear until the third-to-last chapter in the book, accompanied by some crazy twists and cliffhangers (some a little [[AssPull too crazy]]...).
59	* F. Scott Fitzgerald's ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' has a cover image featuring [[FloatingHeadSyndrome a disembodied woman's face floating]] above an urban skyline, created by Francis Cugat. It was completed before the novel was, and Fitzgerald liked it so much that he wrote it into the novel, referring to the face of the character Daisy Buchanan.
60	* The novel ''Literature/ManhattanTransfer'' shows the titular city encased in a dome and being lifted into the sky. Turns out this quite literally happens around chapter two.
61	* The covers of all of Lisanne Norman's ''Literature/SholanAlliance'' novels are based on a scene from the book.
62	* ''Literature/KnownSpace'':
63	** The cover of ''Man-Kzin Wars III'' is very nicely based on a scene from one of the stories inside.
64	** The cover of ''Inconstant Star'' is based almost exactly on the opening scene of the book.
65	* A notable aversion: Creator/DouglasAdams was going to put "a Brockian Ultra-Walrus with an embarrassing past" in ''Literature/SoLongAndThanksForAllTheFish'', pretty much purely because the cover had already been comissioned and [[http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0330287001.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg it had a walrus on it]], but he couldn't get it to work.
66	* Each of the covers for ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series depicts a specific scene from the book. But early covers went [[CoversAlwaysLie so amiss with the details]] that they were barely recognisable.
67	* ''Literature/TheLastDragonChronicles'': From Fire Star onwards, a dragon matching the cover art is described somewhere in each book.
68	* Most of the covers in the ''Literature/{{Belgariad}}'' and ''Mallorean'' connect to a scene from the book they're on. ''King of the Murgos'', for example, shows Polgara talking to a giant snake - that snake is Salmarissa, the queen of the Nyissians.
69	* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
70	** ''Literature/Foundation1951'': The 1965 Creator/{{Panther}} cover, 1983 Creator/DelRey cover, and 1991 Creator/BantamSpectra cover have an artist depicting the Time Vault, where the [[PosthumousCharacter long-dead]] Hari Seldon [[DeadManWriting has a holographic message for the successors of Terminus]].
71	*** On the Panther cover, it's a red cube containing the {{Hologram}} of Seldon in a room with red walls.
72	*** On the Del Rey cover, it's a green cube containing the {{Hologram}} of Seldon set upon a pedestal.
73	*** On the Bantam Spectra cover, it's a blue cylinder containing the {{Hologram}} of Seldon behind a bronze vault door with blackness behind it.
74	** ''Literature/FoundationAndEarth'': The image from the 1987 cover by Creator/DelRey[=/=]{{Creator/Ballantine}}, which is used repeatedly thereafter, has a figure in a spacesuit climbing a crumbling statue. This scene occurs on Melpomenia, the only planet they visit that doesn’t have an atmosphere to support human life.
75	** ''Literature/LuckyStarrAndThePiratesOfTheAsteroids'': The original 1953 cover shows Lucky's EVA battle versus Dingo with the push-guns.
76	* Most ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books show the protagonist morphing into an animal, and rarely repeat one from another cover. #45 shows Marco changing into an ant, even though it's only one morph out of several that he uses to [[spoiler:reveal his power to his father]] and he doesn't even complete it before demorphing. Given that Marco ''hates'' morphing into an ant, this seems to have been written in just because he doesn't do any new or interesting morphs to put on the cover instead.
77	** #44 creates a contrived story where Cassie accidentally winds up in Australia. As the ReviewBlog ''Blog/CinnamonBunzuh'' put it, "Let's talk about the cover, since the only reason this book was written was so [artist David] Mattingly could draw a kangaroo."
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
81	* The opening of ''Series/TheXFiles'' shows Mulder and Scully entering an apartment frame-by-frame. This scene shows up in the episode [[Recap/TheXFilesS01E03Squeeze "Squeeze"]].
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Music]]
85	* The lyric "return to sender" from Annie's "Anthonio" appears as a stamp on the {{limited edition}} single cover.
86	* The cover art from Music/{{Aurora\|Singer}}'s ''[[https://lastfm-img2.akamaized.net/i/u/770x0/3b34f6f1b339e9857fb276c318cb8b05.jpg All My Demons Greeting Me As A Friend]]'' is described in the post-chorus of the song "Home": "Wrapped inside a cocoon made of flesh and bones".
87	* Music/BeastieBoys' "Body Movin" drops the line "packed like sardines in the tin", referencing the album art of ''Hello Nasty'' which shows the band packed inside a sardine tin.
88	* The full cover for ''[[http://www.sonicabuse.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/cormorant.jpg Dwellings]]'' by Music/{{Cormorant}} is really awesome. What's just as cool is that just about each piece of it is in reference to at least one song (the wire-walker for "Funambulist", the giants creating humanity from "The First Man", the Tower of Babel itself for "Confusion of Tongues", to name but a few).
89	* The first verse of "Oceania" by Music/TheBirthdayMassacre describes the cover of its album, ''Superstition''.
90	-->From the ocean, we were washed up on the other shore.\
91	We didn't know where we'd been, or who we were before.\
92	We were two brothers and a sister with three poisoned hearts,\
93	We walked so close together, but our souls were always far apart.
94	* The title track of [[Music/GeorgeClinton Funkadelic]]'s ''[[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hohZzKTW648/ScZFPOsrd0I/AAAAAAAAAfo/STQBI42mF6c/s320/funkadelik+maggot+brain.jpg Maggot Brain]]'': "For I knew I had to rise above it all, or drown in my own shit."
95	* The ''[[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Disturbed_Ten_Thousand_Fists.jpg Ten Thousand Fists]]'' album by Music/{{Disturbed}} with the song of the same name. "You will remember the night you were struck by / the sight of / Ten Thousand Fists in the air!". The image also depicts a scene from the music video for the band's [[CoveredUp cover]] of "Land of Confusion" (originally by Music/{{Genesis\|Band}}), from the same album.
96	* The album cover of Music/{{Genesis\|Band}}' ''Music/SellingEnglandByThePound'' consisted of art of a man resting on a park bench with a lawnmower at his side, with a group of people appearing to gossip in the background. In the second track "I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)":
97	-->When the sun beats down, and I lie on the bench, I can always hear them talk.\
98	Me? I'm just a lawn mower. You can tell me by the way I walk.
99	* The [[http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/popcrush.com/files/2014/01/AGBW.jpg cover]] for A Great Big World's ''Is There Anybody Out There?'' comes from a line in the song "Rockstar": "There's a girl in the tree top looking at the stars, waiting for a touchdown comin' in from Mars, thinkin', 'Is there anybody out there?'"
100	* Music/GreenDay's ''Music/AmericanIdiot'', "She's A Rebel": "She's a symbol of resistance, and she's holding on my heart like a hand grenade".
101	* Only applicable to the original cover, but the opening track to Music/ModestMouse's ''The Moon & Antarctica'' features the line "When you get to the promised land, you're gonna shake that eye's hand". The cover shows two people in the clouds, shaking hands.
102	* Music/{{Nightwish\|Band}}'s ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/Nightwish_imaginaerum_cover.jpg Imaginaerum]] album: The song "Last Ride of the Day" contains the lines, "Scent of fresh-mown grass in the morning sun/Open theme park gates waiting for."
103	* The cover art of Music/PinkFloyd's 1987 record, ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason'', comes from the line "a vision of an empty bed" from the song "Yet Another Movie".
104	* Music/Project86's music video for "Spy Hunter" involves the lead singer getting shot with a cannon, leaving him with a gaping (yet [[BloodlessCarnage surprisingly bloodless]]) hole all the way through his torso. At the very end, he grabs a knife and holds it behind his back, so it's still visible through his torso hole--recreating the pose from the ''Songs to Burn Your Bridges By'' album cover art.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Music Videos]]
108	* Much of Music/PhilCollins' video for "In The Air Tonight" is a tight close-up of his face, like the cover of his first solo album, ''Face Value''.
109	* Music/GreenDay's music video for "21 Guns" builds up to the kiss that is on the album cover of ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown.''
110	* The cover image of Music/KatyPerry's ''Teenage Dream'' appears in the video to "California Gurls".
111	* The video for Music/ImagineDragons' "It's Time" shows the flying curved man from the ''Continued Silence EP'' cover art.
112	* Music/DireStraits:
113	** Near the end of the video for "So Far Away", there is a partial dissolve to a shot of a dobro in the sky like the one featured on the cover of ''Music/{{Brothers in Arms\|Album}}''.
114	** The alternate video for "Tunnel Of Love" shows copies of their first three records floating in the canal.
115	* The title track of Music/TheDoors' ''Strange Days'' record begins the video with one, and focuses on three of the circus performers on the cover (the dwarf, the juggler and the acrobat) as they explore New York.
116	* Music/{{Kiss}}' video for "Sure Know Something" features the band members arranged as they are on the cover of the ''Dynasty'' album.
117	** It could also be argued that the individual shots of the band members right before it are Cover Drops to their respective 1978 solo albums.
118	* In the video for "After The Fire", [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]] lights a match at the end of the first chorus, echoing the cover of his solo album, ''Under A Raging Moon''.
119	* The cover image of Music/SherylCrow's ''Wildflower'' is shown at the climax of the "Good is Good" video.
120	* The cover art for Music/{{Queen}}'s album ''Innuendo'' makes a brief appearance near the beginning of the video for the track of the same name, fully animated and all; the remainder of the video takes place in a bizarre theater with imagery more than likely inspired by the cover art as well. Interesting, considering that the image itself was merely a colourized Grandville illustration, "Juggler Of Universes" to be specific.
121	** The opening, closing and "opera section" (I see a little silhouette of a man, now ...) of "Bohemian Rhapsody" have the group arranged in the same pose as the cover of the album, ''Queen II'', even though the song is from ''A Night At The Opera''.
122	* Music/ZZTop's videos from the ''Eliminator'' album have the car from the front cover appearing prominently.
123	** The videos from the follow-up record, ''Afterburner'', feature "the Eliminator car as a spaceship" from the album cover, with the video for "Sleeping Bag" showing the transformation.
124	* [[Music/SteelyDan Donald Fagen]]'s video for "New Frontier" has the cover of the album ''The Nightfly'' on the wall of the bomb shelter where the video takes place.
125	* In the Music/{{Scorpions\|Band}} video for "No One Like You", guitarist Rudolf Schenker appears as "the man with forks in his eyes" from the cover of the album, ''Blackout''.
126	* The "bee girl" from the cover of Music/BlindMelon's SelfTitledAlbum plays an important role in the music video for "No Rain".
127	* The dummy on the cover of The Bats' album, ''Daddy's Highway'', is seen in the "Block of Wood" music video.
128	* The music video for Music/FatboySlim's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tKkV6u7GJE Right Here Right Now]]'' goes through the evolution of man, ending on an early human putting on some clothes and turning into the fat guy on the cover of ''You've Come A Long, Baby''.
129	* "Body Movin'" by the Music/BeastieBoys goes "MCA, where have you been, [[http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0001/565/MI0001565074.jpg?partner=allrovi.com Packed like sardines in the tin]]".
130	* The cover of ''Party Rock'' by Music/{{LMFAO}} is a freeze-frame of a scene from the "I'm in Miami Trick" music video.
131	* Music/{{Nirvana}}:
132	** A swimming baby chasing a dollar bill on a fishhook, similar to the picture on the album cover of ''Music/{{Nevermind\|Album}}'', shows up in the video for "Come as You Are". It's unknown if this footage is from the album cover's photo shoot.
133	** The music video for "Heart Shaped Box" features a woman dressed as the anatomical statue angel seen on the cover of ''Music/InUtero''.
134	* The first official Youtube teaser for Music/{{Muse}}'s ninth studio album ''Will Of The People'' doubles as both the album cover reveal and a spoiler for the TitleTrack's music video. Both feature [[ToppledStatue massive demolished statues of the band's faces in the desert]], surrounded by mobs of masked hooded people (an image which recurs throughout this era's visuals).
135	* Music/{{Tool}}: In the music video for "Vicarious", the sequence that comprises most of the climax and ending is set in a CGI version of Alex Grey's "Net of Being", the main artwork used in the cover and packaging of ''10,000 Days''.
136	* During the Inspiral Carpets' "She Comes in the Fall" video, silhouettes of the band members are shown flying and jumping across a bright orange explosion - just like on the cover of the song's parent album, ''Life''.
137	* At the end of Music/TheSmashingPumpkins' "Thirty-Three" music video, a woman can be seen re-enacting the front cover of ''Music/MellonCollieAndTheInfiniteSadness''.
138	* Nation of Language's video for "[[https://youtu.be/7ox_SnQOpXk?si=xW0LB_uV_D1q0bMu Sole Obsession]]" from ''Strange Disciple'', in addition to the AlbumTitleDrop, features the {{black cloak}}ed and [[WhiteMaskOfDoom white masked]] "disciple" from the album cover.
139	* Music/WeirdAlYankovic's "Amish Paradise" video has him show off his ratty hairstyle from the ''Bad Hair Day'' album cover.
140	[[/folder]]
141
142	[[folder:TabletopGames]]
143	* ''The Literature/{{Wraeththu}}'' RPG is not one of the three [[http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Worst_RPGs_ever worst RPGs of all time]], but tends to come up once those have been addressed. Its cover features a broken dagger and some kind of strange ornamental flower. Inside, it transpires that the game is about a [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic]] [[OneGenderRace all-male]] hermaphroditic race of PrettyBoy [[SuperiorSpecies who are better than you at everything,]] ''[[SuperiorSpecies human]]''. Their penises are shaped like flowers.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Theatre]]
147	* It wasn't until after the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:1776-musical.jpg poster art]] for ''[[Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix 1776]]'' was created that "The Egg" was written and added to the show.
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Video Games]]
151	* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''. The game's title screen depicts a swirling red vortex surrounded by what appears to be scattered debris. Near the end of the game, it's revealed that [[spoiler: this is the galactic core, only accessible through the Omega-4 relay.]]
152	* The arcade game ''VideoGame/MonsterEye'' shows the eye of some gigantic reptilian monster peering through the "O" in ''Monster'' from the title logo, and is even depicted on [[https://jjgamemachine.com/upload/201805/1525658223.jpg the back of the arcade machines]]. In the game it's lifted from the battle against it's FinalBoss, a massive NotZilla who peers an eye into a ruined building you're hiding in at one point. And ''yes'', you'll need to [[EyeScream shoot it's eye]].
153	* ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}''. The main menu screen depicts a galaxy from which you can select planets to play on, giving it the appearance of just a cool-looking file select screen. However, when you get to the space stage, you will find that the galaxy is ''very real''; you've been playing in it the entire time, and it ''really is that big''!
154	** Which file you select actually changes what planet you start on.
155	* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''. The title screen depicts something that looks like some kind of cancerous, tentacle-sprouting growth floating in a bloodstream. Then, at the very end of the game, you find out that [[spoiler: it's the inside of the final boss's brain]].
156	* And again with ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption''. The Main Menu screen depicts something like a freaky-looking microscopic organism floating in blue plasma. On the final level of the game, you find out that [[spoiler: it's the baby form of a Leviathan, which are the huge meteor-like creatures which have been crashing into planets and infecting them with Phazon for the past three games. Also, the shiny blue planet on the title screen is Phaaze, a living planet that is the source of all Phazon, which is also the final level.]]
157	* The title screen of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' depicted the beginning of the final end-of-game cutscene. [[spoiler: Snake stands in front of Big Boss's grave, then he puts a gun in his mouth, ready to kill himself in order to eradicate the degraded and soon-to-become-a-global-epidemic FOXDIE virus inside him.]]
158	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' does this a lot:
159	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI's'' logo shows a figure riding {{Magitek}} Armor, shown during the opening scene to be the female protagonist. The logo is also red and when the game begins descends among thunderclouds and rises up in flames. That should be your first clue the game's first half [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt does not end well.]]
160	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s logo show Meteor streaming down to hit the planet with the [[McGuffin Black Materia]] in its wake.
161	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' shows Squall and Rinoa embracing which occurs once Squall rescues Rinoa from imprisonment late in the game. The broad brush strokes also slightly resemble wings, Rinoa's thematic icon and a reference to her Sorceress powers.
162	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' has a glowing crystal in its logo which appears in the final dungeon as the source of all life in the world.
163	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX's'' logo shows Yuna performing the Sending, a ritual seen throughout the game. The title screen also shows the party camping in the ruins of Zanarkand, due to the first 2/3s of the game or so being told in a HowWeGotHere fashion.
164	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI's'' is a bit nebulous, but a good interpretation is that it depicts a full alliance in combat, which many long-time players will tell you is a definite SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
165	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'''s logo shows Gabranth with his head thrown back and his swords held out to the side. Though the scene doesn't appear in-game exactly, ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' has Gabranth assuming the pose at the end of his [[LimitBreak EX Burst]] as a MythologyGag.
166	*** A similar thing occurred with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''. The original Nintendo logo had Firion holding his Blood Sword in front of his face. This never appeared in the game, but during his final confrontation against the Emperor in ''Dissidia'', he assumes this exact same stance.
167	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''[='=]s logo shows [[spoiler:''the ending'', a destroyed Cocoon suspended in free-fall stopped by pillars of crystal consisting of Vanille, Fang and Ragnarok]]. It shows up even earlier, too, in the form of the pendant Snow gives Serah.
168	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV's'' original logo and the one for A Realm Reborn depicts what appears to be a party of adventurers heading out, similar to [=FFXI=]'s. But come 5.3 and it becomes something of a in-series MythologyGag when [[spoiler: a cutscene in the final trial, the Seat of Sacrifice, more or less depicts the logo with Elidibus and his summoned Warriors of Light.]]
169	* The title screen of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' showed an AttractMode demo of "Groovy", a super-secret optional level that's difficult to get to.
170	* Variation: ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'''s game-over screen is an exact match to one of the paintings in the castle.
171	* All three ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' games show confusing images during the attract loop. The first one turns out to be the [[spoiler:Zohar]]. The second one shows the [[HumongousMecha E.S. Asher]] being built. The third shows the [[spoiler:titular Zarathustra]].
172	* The cover of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' shows a heart-shaped moon in the background with the main characters sitting atop a tower. The significance of the moon doesn't become apparent until the third game, where it is revealed to be the entity "Kingdom Hearts". The city also resembles the World That Never Was, the world in which the Kingdom Hearts moon is seen.
173	* In ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'', the main menu shows Agent 47 lying in statee in a church, apparently dead. This turns out [[spoiler:to be the last mission of the game]].
174	* The title and GameOver screens of ''VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger'' display an odd seal that seems to be a fusion of Ragna's seal and Nu's. Why such a seal would appear on the GameOver screen becomes obvious after clearing Ragna's story. But it's not until [[spoiler:Ragna activates his Azure Grimoire]] in the true ending that its exact meaning is revealed.
175	* When released on the SNES, ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' had a cover [[CoversAlwaysLie that did not at all reflect the game's content]] [[http://www.gamespite.net/talkingtime/showthread.php?t=11444 for a few reasons]]. It has Crono, Frog, and Marle batting the Heckran on top of Death Peak. The problem is that the Heckran is fought in a cave at a time when Frog is not in your party, Marle is shooting a fireball (when she is AnIcePerson), and [[spoiler: Crono is dead when you go to Death Peak.]] In the DS re-release, however, there is an added snow area much like Death Peak, and a Heckran recolor can be found and fought there. The party in question's [[AwesomeButImpractical Triple Tech]] will let Marle use something similar in appearance to fire... and does 1 damage against said enemy.
176	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' depicts the Demi-Fiend in front of an army of silhouetted demons in the title screen. In the True Demon ending, the game ends with that same shot as the Demi-Fiend leads his army of demons [[spoiler:to war against God.]]
177	* The first three ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' games did this. In the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI first]] [[VideoGame/GodOfWarII two]], the title screens turn out to be the first frame of the opening cutscenes, and in the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII third one]], it shows Kratos silhouetted against the world after it's [[spoiler:been plunged into eternal chaos]], which just so happens to be the last cutscene of the game.
178	* The box art for ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' shows Nathan Drake bleeding, beaten, and dangling by his fingertips from a derailed train that's gone off a cliff. Guess what happens to him halfway through the game.
179	** The box art of ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'' shows Nathan in a desert holding a assault rifle, with behind him a crashed plane still on fire. the same scene happens around around the last few chapters of the game. The game's title screen is an assault rifle sticking of the desert, which is the same assault rifle that Nathan is holding in the box art and picks up in the same scene of the game.
180	* Seen very briefly for ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'', the [[https://cdn2.steamgriddb.com/file/sgdb-cdn/thumb/1e5ecaa150c05b9ec1f0ca90860785d2.jpg photo]] on the cover can be found later [[spoiler: when you go back to your own house. It's not frozen over, however.]]
181	* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' has an example where both the opening scene and the opening menu have an extremely similar depiction. The opening menu has the camera panning down the sky and Grunty's former lair before eventually slowly focusing on a struggling Klungo's attempts to move Grunty's boulder, and the opening cutscene has this as well. The only difference between the two (besides the obvious fact that Klungo talks as it starts focusing on him, or the text backstory/game logos) is that the opening menu has it being sunny out, whereas the opening cutscene has it raining.
182	* The title screen for ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}}'' depicts the dawning sun over a golden cloud-filled sky as feathers of light float by. [[spoiler:This is the background for the final battle. Spiritia and Iris rise into the sky as they fight, eventually reaching that scenery when Iris is at half of her health]].
183	* ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' features the cast of Wisp aliens circling a running Sonic at the title screen. [[spoiler:That's how they look like upon combining themselves into a "Final Color Blaster" to destroy Dr. Eggman's ultimate machine at the end]].
184	* ''VideoGame/TheTalosPrinciple'': If you find the easter egg that releases the cat, Talos will pick it up at the end of the game and carry it as shown.
185	[[/folder]]
186
187	[[folder:Webcomics]]
188	* The ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' storyline "bROKEN" has [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/081201 a cover]] that shows a silhouette of the main character Torg, standing over another character bent over on the ground. That pose crops up subtly at least four times with different characters in the role. The image's importance turns out to be that [[spoiler:it's part of a memory Torg is repressing to cope with the deaths of his friends]].
189	* A few ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' chapter covers. The face on [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=151 Chapter 9]] belongs to [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=163 a statue]] in Eglamore's office. The wall from [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=333 Chapter 16]] is from [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=340 Annie's old bedroom at the hospital]].
190	** In a combination with TitleDrop, the chapter title "[[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=791 Fire Spike]]" depicted only a stylised symbol of fire, leaving its exact meaning unclear until it turned out to be [[spoiler:a symbol for her ancestor, the [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=822 fire elemental]].]]
191	* The ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' arc Sister II begins with [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=909 a cover]] that has a shadowed crouching figure with angel wings behind it. In the second storyline the figure is revealed to be [[spoiler:Abraham encased in stone]] and in the ninth storyline the wings are revealed to belong to [[spoiler:Nanase using her, just acquired, Guardian Angel spell]].
192	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' board game: one of the cards that you can draw is "Dragon from the front of the box."
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder:Western Animation]]
196	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'''s opening is a variant on the Music/BowlingForSoup song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz19bfsVlGs Today's Gonna Be a Great Day]]," and over time Phineas and Ferb do most of the bizarre things that the song mentions. Eventually it seems like the creators felt obligated to include everything, leading to scenes like this:
197	-->'''Candace:''' You're giving a monkey a shower?!\
198	'''Ferb:''' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Yep, had to be done]].
199	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CoverDrop