->''"Must... warn... the president... Giant spider!"''
-->-- '''Messenger''', ''Film/WildWildWest''

This is a standard opening for a movie, book, or cartoon -- start with a protagonist in the adventure pursued by relentless, shadowy figures who outnumber them. It can be on {{Hellish Horse}}back, spaceships, cars, [[LeParkour roofhopping]], or any of a [[ChaseScene thousand methods of pursuit]]. If the protagonist has escorts, expect them to [[RedShirt wear copious amounts of red]]. If they are [[AlmostDeadGuy critically injured]], they will inevitably survive [[HarbingerOfImpendingDoom just long enough to alert others]].

The Pursued Protagonist has a 50/50 chance of survival, much less escaping capture. However, they have a much higher chance of keeping their [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture cargo]] out of enemy hands. Enter the ''real'' [[TheHero Hero]] who has been EasingIntoTheAdventure and becomes the Pursued Protagonists' [[IAmDyingPleaseTakeMyMacguffin last desperate hope to keep their cargo safe]] who is handed the MacGuffin or {{Phlebotinum}}. Though, expect little explanation of what exactly they got in their hands, much less gotten into. Will they resist or embrace TheCall to adventure?

If the pursued protagonist survives, they will likely either become a {{Mentor|s}} to the hero, {{Love Interest|s}}, or otherwise become a [[{{Sidekick}} steadfast ally]]. It's not uncommon for said Protagonist to require rescuing as one of the heroes' first tasks, either, for which they may [[JustForFun/HowToGatherCharacters need to gather allies]]. Bonus points if they're a Princess.

Usually begins InMediasRes. If the hero gets pursued later in the story, expect a character briefly introduced earlier [[ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive to rescue them. This will end the chase]].

Subtrope of ColdOpen. Can overlap with DramaticChaseOpening. Compare BringNewsBack. {{Subtrope}} of {{Herald}}.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with SternChase which describes a plot of an ever-pursued protagonist.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Jue of ''Final Flight of the Osiris'' in ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' is a version of this. She's a strange example because she is delivering a message inside the Matrix while her crew mates are pursued by sentinels in the real world. Although this isn't the beginning of her story, it kicks off the ''Enter the Matrix'' video game and the second film.
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Isanami is on the run from Tokugawa the whole series, right from the very first scene.
* The opening of ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' shows the heroine being chased by evil forces.
* In the opening episode of ''Anime/CodeGeass'', Lelouch has a run-in with a truck manned by Nagata and Kallen carrying a payload stolen from a Britannian facility, with the military hot on their trail.
* The first action scene in ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' starts with Sousuke rescuing a woman who carries a CD containing vital information.
* The anime for ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' begins with Lyria escaping pursuit by the Erste Empire.
* ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' opens with Genki winning a tournament. His prize for this is a beta copy of a new game, which opens this way, showing Holly and Suezo running from Captain Dino and his {{Mooks}}.
* ''Manga/OutlawStar'' opens with the SpacePirates in hot pursuit of Hilda.
* The second major MythArc of ''Manga/Reborn2004'' begins with Basil being pursued by Squalo as he attempts to deliver the [[spoiler:Vongola half rings]] to Tsuna. Slight subversion in that [[spoiler:Squalo grabs the rings right out of Tsuna's hands. Fortunately, unbeknownst to Basil, he had been given fake rings to serve as a decoy so that Dino could deliver the real rings with no interference from Varia.]]
* Episode 15 of ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo'' begins with a {{ninja}} spy fleeing from a counterfeiter's enforcers. The ninja is actually caught, but not before tossing his evidence into a nearby pond, where the PowerTrio finds it.
* The manga ''Manga/TokyoUnderground'' begins with the main heroine Ruri, who'd been held captive much of her life, escaping pursuit and fleeing to the surface with her bodyguard Chelsea.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/AllStarSquadron'': The hero Midnight debuts (in issue #31) running out of an office building and then hiding to ambush a Nazi pursuer before resuming his flight, until he escapes on a train.
* ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'': Issue #28 begins with CListFodder hero Nonstop running across the desert and yelling that she just wants to go home, as she is chased by her former teammates, who are out to (non lethally) enforce the draconian new ResignationsNotAccepted policy. They catch her, but in a twist, most of them sympathize with her disillusionment with their tyrannical new overseers and decide to let her go and desert as well.
* ''ComicBook/TheIncal'': John Difool acquires the Light Incal from a dying Berg bird disguised as a mutant.
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
** ''ComicBook/DeathLiesAndTreachery'': The second scene introduces NominalHero Boba Fett through the [=POV=] of four fugitives fleeing from him on swoop bikes. He kills or captures them one by one before moving on to his next job.
** ''ComicBook/StarWarsRepublic'': Issue #49 introduces the character of Khaleen Hertz (a FemmeFatale spy in love with her boss, Jedi Quinlan Vos) as she runs through a space station while being chased by Separatist agents. She escapes the grip of a goon who grabs her, leaving a PineappleSurprise behind for him, and escapes into an AirVentPassageway before his boss can arrive.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'': The second half of the opening credits shows unauthorized vigilante Hourman being chased across rooftops by the police and eventually being shot and falling to his apparent death, emphasizing the government's hostility toward "Mystery Men" who won't reveal their identities.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueVsTheFatalFive'' : The first scene shows Star-Boy running in the opposite direction from three shadowy members of the Fatal Five as he finds himself outmatched while trying to stop them from stealing a time machine.
* ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' has one of these, where a turtle-alien thing in a spaceship crashed, mutters about a cyborg, asserts that "He'll have to pry the chest from Old Billy Bones' cold, dead hands!" He dies soon after, leaving the MacGuffin in the possession of young Jim Hawkins.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/TheTwelfthMan'': The opening scene shows Jan and his LaResistance comrades staggering ashore after their boat is destroyed and trying to run and hide from the Nazis on shore. Only Jan gets away, after killing one of his pursuers and swimming across the lake.
* ''Film/TheAsphaltJungle'': In the first scene, AntiHero hood Dix briskly walks through the street, hiding when a police car appears, while heading somewhere he can hide his gun before he is inevitably caught and searched.
* ''Film/TheBeastMustDie'' opens with Tom Newcliffe being chased by a helicopter and a group of hunters in Land Rovers who are being guided by MissionControl Pavel who is using microphones and cameras mounted throughout the grounds to monitor Tom's progress. This is eventually revealed to be [[FakeOutOpening Tom testing the effectiveness of his new security system]].
* ''Film/BlackRat'' opens with a bloodied Kengo clad only in his underpants being hunted through the school corridors by a figure in a rat mask.
* ''Film/Bones2001:'' The film opens with Shotgun fleeing from Jimmy's hellhound to establish the danger it poses, barely locking himself inside his apartment in time.
* ''Film/TheBourneUltimatum'' begins with the titular protagonist evading cops as a result of the previous film.
* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick2004'': The first scene after the opening narration is Riddick (initially unrecognizable with a beard and hair) running through a frozen wasteland, being chased by a ship of {{Bounty Hunter}}s who he soon turns the tables on.
* ''Film/TheColony2013'': The first scene shows two Colony 5 residents running through a bunker's tunnel until they reach a locked door. They beg for the man hiding inside to let them in as unseen figures quickly close in on the two fugitives and the camera cuts to the next scene. It's never shown what happened to them, but it's heavily implied that [[spoiler:they're killed and cannibalized like everyone else besides the man hiding behind the locked door.]]
* ''Film/CryWolf'': The film begins with a girl being chased through the woods and hiding from a pursuer who calls her phone so that her cellphone ringing will give her away, after which the pursuer shoots her.
* ''Film/Frankenstein1970'' opens with Caroline being pursued by a shambling monster and being driven into the lake. This is then revealed to be [[FakeOutOpening a scene for the movie they are shooting]].
* ''Film/TheGreatSilence'': The drawn-out scene of one of the bandits running through the woods before being lassoed by evil BountyHunter Loco and dragged behind his horse is the fourth scene rather than the first, but otherwise has the atmosphere and plot importance to count. Loco's torture of the man leads to him giving up the location of Pauline's husband, who Loco then kills, causing Pauline to hire Silence to kill Loco, kicking off the rest of the plot.
* ''Film/HalloweenIIISeasonOfTheWitch'' begins with Harry Grimbridge running through the woods and into a town while being chased by a man who wants to kill him before he can expose the EvilPlan. Harry wins a fight with his pursuer, but is badly injured in the process.
* The ColdOpen of ''Film/HardTarget'' is Binder being [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunted for sport]] through the streets by Mr. Lopacki--Fouchon's latest client--accompanied by Fouchon, Van Cleaf, and Fouchon's 'hounds' on motorbikes.
* The 2008 film version of ''Literature/JourneyToTheCenterOfTheEarth'' opens with a DreamSequence in which the hero is being chased by a T-Rex.
* ''Film/LooseCannons'': At the beginning of the film, four men in a speedboat are drifting on a foggy night, trying to hide from several villains who taunt them from a more powerful speedboat and display the severed head of one of their associates. As the killers get closer, their targets turn on the engine of their boat and make a run for it, but are chased down and run aground, with two of the four being killed while the other two narrowly escape over a fence.
* The opening chase with Trinity and the agents in ''Film/TheMatrix''.
* ''Film/NightAndTheCity'' has a ColdOpen with the protagonist being chased by mobsters.
* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' had Agent 009 in a clown costume, pursued by a knife thrower, before dying in the British Embassy with the MacGuffin in his hand.
* ''Film/TheRocketeer'': Well, pursued PunchClockVillain anyway. The second scene shows two Valentine {{Mook}}s with the jetpack {{MacGuffin}} fleeing from several police cars. One of them is quickly killed, while the other hides the jetpack in the protagonist's workplace (where he quickly finds it) before being captured.
* ''Film/{{Rovdyr}}'' opens with a young blonde woman running through the forest, fleeing something that is chasing her. She steps in a BearTrap, and while struggling to free herself, is shot from behind.
* ''Film/SherlockHolmesAndTheBakerStreetIrregulars'' begins with Jack, the eponymous group’s leader, jumping into the Thames in a failed effort to escape a kidnapper.
* Marv's story in ''Film/SinCity'' begins this way with a SWAT team moving in to capture the hero.
* ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope'' opens this way, with Leia being pursued by an Imperial Star Destroyer on her way to deliver the plans of the Death Star to the Rebellion. Using R2-D2, she tries to send them to Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. R2 and the plans instead end up in the hands of FarmBoy Luke Skywalker, which kickstarts the adventure.
* ''Film/SurvivingTheGame'': The opening scene is intercut with showing the protagonist's miserable life (and the loss of his dog) and another man being chased through the woods and murdered by the same [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunters]] who will soon target the hero.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheThing1982'': It starts off with a husky being pursued be Norwegians in a helicopter who are throwing sticks of dynamite. In retrospect, offering sanctuary to the pursued was [[SarcasmMode probably not in the best interests]] of the protagonists.
* ''Film/TransformersRiseOfTheBeasts'' begins with some quick shots of the villains arriving on the Maximals' homeworld, then shows Apelinq running through the jungle with the {{MacGuffin}} and fighting some pursuers before giving the object to his friends and staying behind to HoldTheLine.
* The film version of ''Film/WildWildWest'' opened this way; see the page quote. One of the kidnapped scientists was fleeing through a forest, being pursued by a giant flying buzzsaw. Seconds later it chops off his head.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheAngelExperiment'' opens with Max being pursued by bloodthirsty wolfmen called Erasers. It turns out to be a dream, but also a good indication of her life and the events to come.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}: Dark Mirror:'' The book begins with a PrivateInvestigator on the run from his demon doppelgänger, which can gain power by killing him. He is wounded, but makes it to Angel Investigations, causing them to learn about the demonic threat and get involved in stopping it.
* Elfangor in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' crash-landed after a battle in orbit around Earth. He then met a group of teenagers, gave them powers, and immediately got killed off.
* ''Franchise/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** ''Here Be Monsters'' begins with Heidi Lindstrom running from vampires until she is too exhausted to run any further. They tell her that she lasted ten blocks more than they'd expected her to and then drag her home for their mother to taunt and kill.
** Early in the first chapter after the prologue of ''Carnival of Souls'', Buffy (who is on patrol) sees two of her classmates running through a cemetery, being chased by vampires. They alternate between showing some strategy and behaving in a panicked fashion, but Buffy does kill their pursuers, only for the three teenagers to blunder into a sinister carnival whose proprietor covertly curses the twins as part of a soul-stealing gambit that they barely survive.
* ''Literature/CarnivalOfTheHunted'' begins with [[CatFolk Inji]] and Sil being pursued after stealing from a gang. They escape by [[LeParkour climbing over a rooftop.]]
* Christopher Paolini's ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle Eragon]]'' opens this way, with Arya being pursued by Durza on her way to deliver the dragon egg to the rebellion. Using teleportation, she tries to send it to Brom. It instead ends up in the hands of FarmBoy Eragon, which kick starts the adventure.
* The first part of ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'' begins with Hylas fleeing from a group of Crow warriors who are hunting Outsiders such as him. It's later revealed that they killed his dog when they suddenly attacked his camp, and he ended up being pursued by them when he tried to prevent them from finding his sister. He manages to evade them for the time being by [[LiteralCliffhanger literally hanging from the edge of the mountain trail]].
* The novel ''Literature/GreenRider'' opens with a messenger who's been shot in the back trying to escape pursuit. He meets the heroine and makes her swear to deliver his message, then dies on the spot.
** And then goes on to save the heroine's life several times despite being DOA (Dead On Arrival)
* ''Literature/{{Parker}}'': ''Butcher's Moon'' opens with a failed robbery where VillainProtagonist Parker and his partners Michaelson (who is killed by return fire) and Hurley shoot over their shoulders at the police as they run for the tunnel they'd dug.
* The prologue to the Literature/MatthewHawkwood novel ''Rapscallion'' features Lieutenant Sark being chased through the marshes by unknown pursuers with dogs. He does not survive the experience.
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/WyrdSisters'' begins (not in the very first scene but very soon after) with a palace guard rushing to escape, er, other palace guards while trying to spirit the baby prince out of the castle following the king's death. When who should he meet, before dying of an arrow wound, but the three witches...
* ''Literature/TheSecretRunnersOfNewYork'' begins with [[DecoyProtagonist Becky Taylor]] being chased by the maddened inhabitants of New York in the BadFuture. The time portal she hopes to take back home is blocked, and Becky [[UncertainDoom is never seen again.]]
* ''[[Literature/SwordOfTruth Wizards First Rule]]'' started out like this, with the protagonist Richard helping Kahlan (his eventual love interest) save herself from a Quad, four assassins who have been chasing her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/AvatarTheLastAirbender2024'' begins with an Earth Kingdom spy being chased through a Fire Nation street and delaying pursuers with his powers as he gives stolen war plans to a comrade to take to the Earth King before staying behind to HoldTheLine. He is captured, taunted about how the plans were fakes that the Fire Nation wanted the Earth King to have, and then murdered.
* Marcus Cole in the first episode of season three ''Series/BabylonFive'' and G'kar in one season episode two are shown running away from pursuers early on (although being main characters makes it easier to guess they will survive).
** "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS01E21TheQualityOfMercy The Quality of Mercy]]": An informant Lurker dies in Garibaldi's arms with the statement, "They're going to kill him." This triggers an investigation by Garibaldi, which unfortunately places Garibaldi in nearly the ''same'' situation later in the episode.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': The first two episodes of season seven begin with Potential Slayers running from The Bringers and being caught and stabbed, emphasizing the new danger to all Potential Slayers.
* ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'':
** "Once Upon a Crime" begins with the first victim running through Central Park before being struck with a wolf's paw. Lanie's medical examination later reveals that she woke up suddenly after being drugged and taken to the crime scene.
** The season 7 episode "Bad Santa" begins with a man running down a street, being chased by a car, with the driver leaning out to shoot him in the back. The killer (whose wearing a Santa suit) then gets out to finish him off with a headshot.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' begins at a party where the eponymous character eventually gets around to talking about his frenemy Bryce Larkin. The next scene shows Bryce running through a government installation to send Chuck an email full of secrets they will change his life. Just after finishing this, Bryce is shot by another (well-meaning but less scrupulous) member of the main cast due to a case of RightHandVsLeftHand. However, a later episode reveals Bryce survived.
* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'' may be the only series where the very first scene is a protagonist carrying a vital {{MacGuffin}} (although it only figures into that first episode) being chased by … two other protagonists. For added humor, the pursued character is driving a (stolen) police car while his pursuers are in a race car and are just trying to catch up to their friend to get the story behind why he stole first their other car and then the cop car he is driving.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': The Tams are this in the pilot. A similar incident happens in the episode "The Message".
* ''Series/InspectorGeorgeGently'': "Gently With the Women" opens with a young woman being chased along the river in Durham by her eventual killer.
* ''Series/{{Jeremiah}}'': The first scene of "Deus ex Machina" (after the recap) shows one of the delegates to the Thunder Mountain convention running through the woods after an ambush and then being hit with a crowbar and taken prisoner by a tribe of serial killers (he is later rescued).
* ''Series/LeverageRedemption'': In the opening scene of "[[Recap/LeverageRedemptionS2E1TheDebutanteJob The Debutante Job]]", a reporter walking down the street and texting an associate realizes he is being followed and then breaks into a run, but is caught and abducted. Hardison pulls a BigDamnHeroes rescue moments later.
* ''Series/MagnumPI'': several of Magnum's clients are this. In one notable episode Magnum's girlfriend turns out to be from a family who has an ancient tradition of guarding a Chinese vase and she is pursued by an assassin.
* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS14E6 The Night of the Stag]]" opens with the first VictimOfTheWeek being chased through an orchard at night.
* ''Series/MissionImpossible'': Happens to Casey in TheTeaser for "The Fortune". Leads to her [[spoiler:being the only recurring character to be killed on the show]].
* ''Series/{{Monk}}:''
** In the opening scene of "[[Recap/MonkS7E3MrMonkGetsLottoFever Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever]]", screaming lottery announcer Marissa Kessler is chased out of her workplace in the middle of the night by an armed, shadowy figure. She makes it to her car, but he smashes through the window, forcing her to duck out the opposite door. The pursuer yanks Marissa down as she climbs a nearby fence and stabs her to death as she pleads for her life. The killer retrieves the evidence of lottery-rigging from Marissa's body, but police forensic experts find some metallic paint on her fingers which helps clue in Monk.
** In the opening scene of "[[Recap/MonkS7E9MrMonkAndTheMiracle Mr. Monk and the Miracle]]", Willie T, the homeless man with a case of HeKnowsTooMuch, interrupts his friends' drunken caroling to say that someone is chasing him across town. He then sees his pursuer in the distance and races away, later being found dead in a junkyard.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'':
** The first scene of "Night of the Headless Horseman" shows Dorian saying goodbye to his date and heading home, only to be briefly chased by the perpetrator of a ScoobyDooHoax who is dressed as the Headless Horseman. After a short chase, Dorian gets away humiliated but unharmed, and the scene establishes the enmity between him and the person he suspects of the prank.
** "Big Easy Murder" opens with the first VictimOfTheWeek being chased through the swamps outside New Orleans before being struck down with a machete when he stops to catch his breath.
** An episode set in Australia begins with a lawyer fleeing on foot from an armed man in a jeep, although he temporarily escapes by abandoning the McGuffin he was carrying.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries'': The opening scene of "Bloodlust" shows a disheveled girl running through the woods and collapsing facedown in a fountain as a figure looms over her. In a twist, it turns out that her pursuer meant her no harm and even pulled her out of the water, but someone else drowns her once he leaves.
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': "The Eagle's Nest" opens with an agent on a remote island being chased by two murderous anglers. He attempts to seek sanctuary in a monastery where things do not go well for him.
* ''Series/{{Reacher}}'': The first few seconds of the pilot show informant Pete Jobling running through a cornfield before being shot in the back.
* ''Series/RemingtonSteele'':
** "Steele Crazy After All These Years" begins with intercuts between a man running across a campus and looking over his shoulder and a woman lounging around her house. The man reaches the house and pounds on the door, begging to be let in, but when the woman responds to the cries, he is gone and his body is found a few scenes later.
** "Altared Steele" begins with an amnesiac man with a head wound trying to calm down a woman who finds him in her house, then running outside, driving off, and being followed first on foot, and then in a car, by a woman who tries to shoot him.
** In "Elementary Steele", two costumed men break into a woman's apartment, causing her to flee into the street wearing a ModestyTowel and ride off on a motorcycle as they follow. However, it turns out that her pursuers were being manipulated into thinking it was [[AllPartOfTheShow part of a novelty company's mystery scenario]] and aren't malicious.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': Sherlock at the start of "The Empty Hearse" is being pursued by soldiers and a helicopter with a thermal camera through a forest.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'': The first scene of the series shows one of Brenner's technicians desperately running through a hall and pounding on an elevator button. Unfortunately for him, his pursuer is inside the elevator. His protagonist characterization [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate is sketchy though]].
* ''Series/{{Vera}}'': "Little Lazarus" opens with a young boy fleeing cross-country from the murderer that just killed his mother.
* ''Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'': “Turn Back the Clock” begins with Jason Kemp fleeing from dinosaurs at the Earth’s core and fashioning an air bag from some shed dinosaur skin to escape underwater. [[spoiler:However, it turns out that he isn’t exactly a protagonist, as his cowardice got two colleagues killed.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* This is how ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' begins. The player is on board a dirigible, notices a peculiar gnome among the passengers, when suddenly the zeppelin is attacked by planes and shot down. Upon awakening among the crash debris, they see the gnome again, who barely has time to hand them a mysterious ring and some vague ominous warning before snuffing it.
* ''Descent: VideoGame/FreeSpace'' opens with a terrified human pilot fleeing the Shivans, a new enemy intruding into an existing war. Because no-one believes his distress call and he then gets killed, the Shivans are a surprise to everyone else when they show up part-way into the campaign.
* Emperor Uriel Septim qualfies in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. The old guy is [[MarkedToDie isn't very concerned about his impending demise]]. His guards drop one by one, and he pushes the MacGuffin into the player's hands before being killed [[BackStab from behind]] by a crazed assassin.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' opens with Frionel, Guy, Maria, and Leon being chased by the Empire's Knights after their [[DoomedHometown hometown's destruction]]. The Knights catch up anyway and leave the protagonists for dead in the woods.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has as its prologue Eirika and Seth escaping from Renais before the invading Grado army sacks it.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has [[MysteriousWaif Micaiah]] hiding from the enemy soldiers, being caught, and then being rescued by [[BadassNormal Sothe]]; the fight ends with her [[LightIsNotGood blinding]] them and the two successfully escaping.
* This is actually how the original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'' begins, although this portion of the story takes place before the game. Impa, nursemaid to Princess Zelda, has been charged with finding a hero who can save Hyrule from Ganon. She is pursued in the forest by Ganon's mooks, only to be rescued most conveniently by the hero in question.
* In ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' you get to play through an extended version of Neo's chase scene in the first ''Film/TheMatrix'' movie with Agents Smith, Jones and Brown in pursuit.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' opens with Ciel being chased by Neo Arcadian forces. They chase her into the lab where Zero is in suspended animation. Cue ass-kicking.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': Throné's story begins with her and her party being chased through the sewers after a botched heist.
* The second act of ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' begins with Latios and Latias being chased down by an unknown villain while trying to meet with Celebi. They ultimately get [[TakenForGranite turned into stone]] by said villain, with the heroes stumbling into their petrified bodies that crash-landed, confirming that the rumors of petrification are true, and that not even Legendary Pokémon are safe...
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin:'' The game opens with the Prince being pursued by the Dahaka, the Guardian of Time, who is hunting the Prince for his actions in ''Sands of Time.'' In fact, the entire plot is the Prince trying to find a way to escape the Dahaka permanently with the Dahaka appearing throughtout.
* ''VideoGame/RondoOfSwords'' opens with the main character and his two retainers fleeing from their capital city... with ''the entire enemy army'' on their heels.
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' begins with MysteriousWaif Fina fleeing from a Valuan warship.
* The founding of Durotar campaign in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' begins with Rexxar encountering an Orc messenger chased by Quilboars. The messenger doesn't survive, so it's up to Rexxar to carry on his message to Thrall.
* The opening mission of ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' has the titular character being pursued by Imperial force.
** It's a bit of a subversion, though, as she's assisted by the DecoyProtagonist and takes her rightful place as the main character only two stages later.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/TrippingOverYou'': Chapter 8 [[https://www.trippingoveryou.com/comic/its-not-safe opens]] with a [[ShowWithinAShow scene from Liam's horror novel]] -- a boy desperately fleeing a search party deep into the woods and straight onto a BearTrap. Reading it, Liam's boyfriend's father jokes that he ought to [[ArtReflectsPersonality be concerned for his son]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': "Eternal Youth" begins with an heiress who cut down a forest being chased through the wilderness by Poison Ivy while showing fright about ending up like “the others.” She ends up being temporarily turned into a tree.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': "The Laughing Bat" begins with a man running through the streets from someone in a Batman costume while pleading that all he did was jaywalk, only to be gassed into a paralytic state. It turns out his pursuer is Joker, who has decided to screw with Batman by dressing up like him and victimizing misdemeanor offenders.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':
** The "Dawn of the Deadman!" teaser segment begins in the BadFuture with Batman, Kamandi, and Doctor Canus running from a group of rat men to try and reach a time portal so Batman can take the cure to a deadly disease back to his own time.
** At the beginning of "[[Recap/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBoldS2E23TheKnightsOfTomorrow The Knights of Tomorrow]]", the Question is caught spying on Darkseid and spends the next couple minutes running through the villains' base, eluding or beating up multiple pursuers before being cornered and seemingly deciding it is BetterToDieThanBeKilled (although the next episode reveals he just faked his death to escape).
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'': "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueUnlimitedS1E6FearfulSymmetry Fearful Symmetry]]" begins with close-ups of running feet, as an evil Supergirl clone follows a scientist who [[HeKnowsTooMuch knows too much about unethical experiments]]. He manages to slow her down with some mercenaries and a robot before being cornered and getting a ScreamDiscretionShot as the clone prepares to incinerate him with heat vision.
* ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'': "House of the Zombie" and "Scream from the Forest" both begin with a BitCharacter running through the woods while being pursued by the MonsterOfTheWeek. The man in the former episode is caught and never seen again. The man from the latter episode somehow escapes and is later found and taken to a doctor by the heroes.
* Princess Tekla in the pilot for ''WesternAnimation/ShadowRaiders'', fighting off her pursuers is what gets Graveheart and King Kryos to realize they haver a rather literal EnemyMine on their hands.
** And once the [[PlanetEater Beast]] arrives at the Planet Cluster, and the heroes discover the World Engines, the rest of the series is spent ''fleeing'' their enemy. [[spoiler:It catches up once, and snacks on one of the four main planets of the Cluster]].
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': "H.A.T.E." begins with the Turtles leaving the farmhouse for some exercise, only to run into a wounded CultDefector who is deliriously babbling about a terrorist attack his old group is planning. The Turtles proceed to beat up some armed members of said group when they arrive looking for the wounded man.
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