History EstablishingCharacterMoment / WebComics

** Funnily enough, this wildly contrasts with his first appearance in ''Webcomic/CuantaVida'', in which he ambushes Blue Spy when having a shower. His establishing character moment is a few pages later, when he claims that he was just "testing his reaction", before elaborating on his relationship with the Blue Sniper in very explicit detail.

* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Antimony realizes that she's somehow acquired [[LivingShadow a second shadow]]. She proceeds to calmly take the shadow aside and ask if he needs her help. Clearly she's [[ChronicHeroSyndrome a helpful soul]], and not one to be [[EmotionlessGirl fazed]] by [[WeirdnessMagnet weirdness]].
* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'':
** Bun-bun [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970901 calls Torg a "nerd-boy," beats him up, and threatens to neuter him with a spoon]] during his second appearance in the series. Everything you need to know about Bun-Bun right there. Bun-bun is a rabbit. A KillerRabbit, but still a fluffy little bunny. Who's way scarier than anything the main characters have to fight.
** The whole story "The Bikini-Suicide Frisbee Match" serves to establish Zoë as the relatively normal person and ChewToy of the group. It's almost an exaggeration of what she's going to be like, but her being a dump for the consequences of the weirdness in the world of the comic is a permanent thing, even though she learns to deal with it and stand up for herself.
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0013.html an early installment]], Belkar responds to being told of Roy's plans by stating that he was under the impression that they were simply there to "[[SociopathicHero wander around, kill some sentient creatures because they have green skin and fangs and we don't, and then take their stuff.]]" This is the first indication we get that the Belkster isn't going to be your standard, jolly halfling.
** An even more telling moment (well, for those who know ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' well enough to pick up the implications) comes [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0011.html two strips earlier]], when a goblin attempts to incapacitate Belkar with an Evil-aligned spell...and it ''doesn't affect him''.
** In the cast page, Roy gets his moment when he complains about how his lines fuel the DumbMuscle sterotype, only to say them begrudgingly when the other press him to (though not without pointing out he has [[GeniusBruiser an MBA]]).
** "[[MagicMusic Bluff, bluff, bluff,]] [[TooDumbToLive bluff the stupid ogre.]]" That one line tells you everything you need to know about [[TheDitz Elan]] [[QuirkyBard the bard]].
** Xykon has a few in the "Start of Darkness" origin comic. One is when a [[Comicbook/XMen Professor Xavier]] expy visits him and wants to teach Xykon how to use his sorcery powers to protect a world that hates and fears him; Xykon isn't interested and so electrocutes and zombifies the man and sics him and Xykon's zombie grandmother on his parents.
** Another moment comes when he reveals to Redcloak he knew in advance of Right-Eye's plan to betray Xykon, and had protected himself against it. The reason he didn't stop Right-Eye was to see if Redcloak was loyal enough to kill his brother to protect Xykon; he then brings the moment home with an EvilerThanThou speech about how he doesn't need any sort of justification for being evil, destroying Redcloak's will to resist in the process.
** His first one is on the first page. Little boy Xykon is crying over his dead dog Barky, then a burst of magic causes the dog's corpse to zombify and eat a bird's brain. Lil' Xykon's reaction? "That was so COOL! C'mon, let's go find some more birds!"
** When [[spoiler: Elan's father, Tarquin]] shows up, he gives a long, eloquent explanation for recent events to Elan, and ends with [[spoiler: the line, "I am your father," as a ShoutOut to Franchise/StarWars]]. Then immediately enthusiastically yells "Oh MAN! I've always wanted to say that line!" Which establishes him as a very GenreSavvy character that exists to make the [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fourth wall cry.]]
*** The moment Tarquin [[spoiler:tells a woman who rejected him earlier that he had her husband killed in battle before having her locked up so she'll be more amenable when he asks her to marry him later]] pretty much kills any idea that he's a NobleDemon type of villain.
** Yukyuk, Belkar's third EvilCounterpart in the Linear Guild, made his debut shooting Vaarsuvius in the back and then trying to kill [[TeamPet Mr. Scruffy]] [[KickTheDog when he got bored]].
* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'':
** Davan. First strip. Sends a coathanger as a baby shower gift.
** The very next strip shows Aubrey stealing from Santa Claus...
** And the one after that establishes Pee-Jee as the voice of reason in the group by showing her objecting to Davan and Aubrey's attempts at creating pornographic snow sculptures.
** Mike's first appearance as part of a gaming group cements him as a {{Jerkass}} {{Buttmonkey}}. It takes a ''lot'' of CharacterDevelopment for him to outgrow this.
** Kharisma's first appearance has her screaming in revulsion at Davan's "[[InformedAttractiveness ugliness]]". The next strip establishes she ''is'' that shallow. It takes at least twice as much CharacterDevelopment as Mike's for her to grow out of this. As well as a trip to the slammer and a visit from a little blue dream thing...

* Mr. Mighty of ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'' starts out in typical LargeHam mode, giving us a typical monologue including his [[StockSuperpowers powers]], his [[TheCape personal philosophy]]...and his [[WeaksauceWeakness aversion to paperwork]].
* ''Webcomic/LookingForGroup'': Richard [[http://www.lfgcomic.com/page/1 incinerates a bunny]]
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' has one for TortureTechnician [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20080120.html Colonel DeHaans.]]
** Soon-to-be-Sargent Schlock himself gets one [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2000-06-12 in the very first strip]]

* Gabry's first appearance in ''Webcomic/ThisIsTheWorstIdeaYouveEverHad'' has him asking a total stranger if she's okay after he sees her date pushing her and talking down to her.
** Funnily enough, this wildly contrasts with his first appearance in ''Webcomic/CuantaVida'', in which he ambushes Blue Spy when having a shower. His establishing character moment is a few pages later, when he claims that he was just "testing his reaction", before elaborating on his relationship with the Blue Sniper in very explicit detail.
* ''Webcomic/{{Spacetrawler}}'': The humans all reveal something about their personality in their first appearance:
** Martina is feeling ennui over being "common", and hoping that an adventure is out there somewhere for her. When given a choice to join Interplanet Amity, she [[JumpedAtTheCall jumps at the call]].
** Pierrot is riding in a car, and he punches the driver for deliberately running over a mole, and the car crashes as a result. Thus establishing that Pierrot [[AnimalWrongsGroup really cares about animals]], and that he has a tendency to act impulsively on his principles.
** Emily is confronted by muggers with knives, and [[MuggingTheMonster she responds by whipping out two handguns and robbing her would-be assailants]], driving their Vespa into the desert until it runs out of gas, then shooting a coyote and eating it for her dinner.
** Dmitri is shown in a boat with two bikini-clad women. Sure enough, Dmitri turns out to be a shameless hedonist who mainly joins Interplanet Amity for [[BoldlyComing the opportunity to sleep with hot alien women]].
** Yuri is chatting on the internet when Nogg arrives, and the posters on her wall indicate that she's a well-rounded {{geek}}. She joins Interplanet Amity because she wants to see alien technology, and she eventually becomes a {{cyborg}}.
** Dustin is introduced by brandishing a shotgun at Nogg and threatening to turn him over to the government. This establishes that he's annoyingly loud and xenophobic, foreshadows his dangerously uncritical trust in "the government", and quickly reveals [[TheCallGotAWrongNumber that they got him mixed up with his more suitable identical twin brother]].

* ''Webcomic/{{Remus}}'' introduces Seth by having him [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves murder one of his own double agents]] against the will of his superiors. It's implied that he'd coerced the man into the position in the first place.

* ''{{Webcomic/Sire}}'': With a heavy EnsembleCast of characters based off of literary classics the author likes to make each important character have a bold entrance. Susan, the Hyde-Child, is first seen ripping the head off of a doll to torture her Jekyll-Child sister. Riley, TheInvisibleMan pretends to be a ghost and scares the heck out of the main characters and Emile, the [[InspectorJavert Javert-Child]] punches a teenage woman in the chest for punching her sister.
* Several of the villains in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}'' are introduced this way:
** In the first scene he appears in, Kore brutally and efficiently slaughters all the patrons of a tavern, showing off his incredible skill with {{Automatic Crossbow}}s and [[DualWielding twin]] [[AnAxeToGrind axes]]. When he finds the last of the tavern's patrons (a dwarf child who'd been orphaned and raised by an orc), he explains to the child that because of the child's upbringing, he has been corrupted and might grow up to have sympathies with the [[FantasticRacism 'Monstrous Races']]; therefore [[KnightTemplar the child represents the potential for greater evil in the world, and therefore Kore needs to kill him...]] [[WouldHurtAchild which he does.]]
** Dellyn is properly introduced to the audience when he interrogates Fumbles. During this scene he displays both his FantasticRacism and his [[TortureTechnician knowledge of, and sadistic appreciation for torture]].
** The [[http://goblinscomic.com/02222011-2/ Psionic Minmax]] from an AlternateUniverse gives an AsYouKnow speech to explain [[WellIntentionedExtremist his]] [[OmnicidalManiac motivations]], then murders one of his teammates [[YourHeadASplode in an extremely twisted way]].
* ''Webcomic/{{ErrantStory}}'' has a lot of these:
** The prologue is an extended ECM moment for Sarine, in addition to serving as one part of a truly marvelous pair of BookEnds.
** Meji's identity as a spoiled but magically powerful rich kid (not to mention Ellis' as DeadpanSnarker) is clear enough from the first look at her room that we get in chapter 1.
** Jon's first appearance has him abducting Meji to play the HumanShield trick with, even as he tells her he's not going to follow through with it. Can't get much more AntiHero than that.
** Sara's wipeout of the Gewehr thugs in the windmill leaves very little doubt that we are talking here about not only a badass, but an emotionless one with ninja skills (and how).
** Even the bad guys get a taste of this, as in his first appearance, Ian practices for his eventual role as a [[spoiler:Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] by being a {{Woobie}}, destroyer of a library.
* ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' introduces Billy Thatcher by having him angrily rant about the other character's stupidity in a dangerous situation and how he would handle the situation better. This is before any of the character sprites have even shown up and sets a precedent for his perceived mental superiority and controlling nature.
** Adrestia also gets a very shining example when she refuses to participate in a fight to the death with a teenager and instead offers him a broken floor tile and orders him to kill her so that he doesn't have to die.
* ''Webcomic/EveryButtonHurtsTheOtherGuy'':
** Russel arrives on the Island of Doom water skiing on the backs of two alligators. There was a plane, but he couldn't afford a ticket because [[spoiler:he spent all his money renting the alligators.]] This sets the precedent for most of his future behaviour.
** Buffalo quickly launches into a lengthy explanation of his nonsensical plan for world conquest the first time he appears. As a bonus, this scene establishes Doctor Von Science as a put-upon voice of reason who is consistently ignored.
** Alejandro first appears indignantly berating Russel for calling him "that lady" and spends the rest of the page pontificating on his own magnificence.
* ''Giderah'' [[http://www.deviantart.com/art/Giderah-Issue-1-page-9-and-10-80178951 establishes]] the titular character's [[BadBoss morality]] in two lines.
--> "She [[note]]Giderah's wife, who has just given birth[[/note]] is going to live. If she does not...have those lying healers killed."
* In ''WebComic/TheSearchForHenryJekyll'', Hyde is quickly established as a monster when he accepts Molly's hug... and impales her with a sword cane.
* The android Savannah from ''Webcomic/OperationReboot'' is first introduced by holding another character up at gunpoint.

** Sammy drops into a shop and asks about enlarging his stamp collection. The shopkeeper tells him to wait while he makes a phone call. Sammy responds by throwing the shopkeeper into a shelf and, with a smile on his face, [[EmotionEater feeds on his fear]].

* In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', Trudy is initially smiling through her entire interview, but when Dwayne is away, and Ki feels like she shook hands with the devil, Trudy tells her that she has that effect on "inferior life forms". Soon afterward, Trudy is shown [[KickTheDog kicking a dog]].

** Xykon has a few in the "Start of Darkness" origin comic. One is when a [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Professor Xavier]] expy visits him and wants to teach Xykon how to use his sorcery powers to protect a world that hates and fears him; Xykon isn't interested and so electrocutes and zombifies the man and sics him and Xykon's zombie grandmother on his parents.

** "[[MagicMusic Bluff, bluff, bluff,]] [[TooDumbToLive bluff the stupid ogre.]]" That one line tells you everything you need to know about [[TheDitz Elan]] [[SpoonyBard the bard]].

** Emily is confronted by muggers with knives, and [[MuggingTheMonster she responds by whipping out two handguns and robbing her would-be assailants]], driving their Vespa into the desert until it runs out of gas, then shooting a coyote and eating it for her dinner. {{Badass}}.

** Sara's wipeout of the Gewehr thugs in the windmill leaves very little doubt that we are talking here about not only a {{Badass}}, but an emotionless one with ninja skills (and how).

** Sammy drops into a shop and asks about enlarging his stamp collection. The shopkeeper tells him to wait while he makes a phone call. Sammy responds by throwing the shopkeeper into a shelf and, with a smile on his face, feeds on his fear.

* The android Savannah from ''Webcomic/OperationReboot'' is first introduced by holding another character up at gunpoint.

* In ''WebComic/TheSearchForHenryJekyll'', Hyde is quickly established as a monster when he accepts Molly's hug... and impales her with a sword cane.

--> "She [[note]]Giderah's wife, who has just given birth[[/note]] is going to live. If she does not...have those lying healers killed."

** Dustin is introduced by brandishing a shotgun at Nogg and threatening to turn him over to the government. This establishes that he's annoyingly loud and xenophobic, and foreshadows his dangerously uncritical trust in "the government".

* The Wulfenbachs in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. The baron is menaced by someone with a giant robot. What does he do? ''Leave his son handle it as an exercise''. Said son gives a complete exposition of the situation, direct troops to suppress the danger… Then when a bomb is thrown in his direction, he send it back while protecting both the young assistant (our heroine, actually) and the goldfish. Establishing Character MomentOfAwesome.

* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'': Davan. First strip. Sends a coathanger as a baby shower gift.

* In [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0013.html an early installment]] of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Belkar responds to being told of Roy's plans by stating that he was under the impression that they were simply there to "[[SociopathicHero wander around, kill some sentient creatures because they have green skin and fangs and we don't, and then take their stuff.]]" This is the first indication we get that the Belkster isn't going to be your standard, jolly halfling.

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'': Bun-bun [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=970901 calls Torg a "nerd-boy," beats him up, and threatens to neuter him with a spoon]] during his second appearance in the series. Everything you need to know about Bun-Bun right there. Bun-bun is a rabbit. A KillerRabbit, but still a fluffy little bunny. Who's way scarier than anything the main characters have to fight.

** Gamzee's first appearance involves him [[EruditeStoner rambling aimlessly]] about [[Music/InsaneClownPosse miracles]] and wondering why faygo hisses or how computers work, and yet showing genuine kindness and friendship towards Karkat.

** Xykon has a few in the StartOfDarkness origin comic. One is when a [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Professor Xavier]] expy visits him and wants to teach Xykon how to use his sorcery powers to protect a world that hates and fears him; Xykon isn't interested and so electrocutes and zombifies the man and sics him and Xykon's zombie grandmother on his parents.

** When [[spoiler: Elan's father, Tarquin]] shows up, he gives a long, eloquent explanation for recent events to Elan, and ends with [[spoiler: the line, "I am your father," as a ShoutOut to StarWars]]. Then immediately enthusiastically yells "Oh MAN! I've always wanted to say that line!" Which establishes him as a very GenreSavvy character that exists to make the [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall fourth wall cry.]]

* Mr. Mighty of ''EverydayHeroes'' starts out in typical LargeHam mode, giving us a typical monologue including his [[StockSuperpowers powers]], his [[TheCape personal philosophy]]...and his [[WeaksauceWeakness aversion to paperwork]].

* In ''GeneralProtectionFault'', Trudy is initially smiling through her entire interview, but when Dwayne is away, and Ki feels like she shook hands with the devil, Trudy tells her that she has that effect on "inferior life forms". Soon afterward, Trudy is shown [[KickTheDog kicking a dog]].

* {{Homestuck}}:

* SkinHorse: In the first strip after the prologue, an unarmed Tip Wilkins is facing down an intelligent, deranged, genetically-augmented lion. While wearing a girl's sweater and a skirt. He points out it's a Roberta Frost, because his crossdressing is that important to him. Even when he's on the clock.

** Kharisma's first appearance has her screaming in revulsion at Davan's "[[InformedAttractiveness ugliness]]". The next strip establishes she ''is'' that shallow. It takes at least twice as much CharacterDevelopment as Mike's for him to grow out of this. As well as a trip to the slammer and a visit from a little blue dream thing...

** Alejandro first appears indignantly berating Russel for calling him "that lady" and spends the rest of the page pontificating on his own magnificence.

* Susan of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' is [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2002-05-29 introduced]] as a StrawFeminist.

** Adrestia also gets a very shining example when she refuses to participate in a fight to the death with a teenager and instead offers him a broken floor tile and orders him to kill her so that he doesn't have to die.

** Even the bad guys get a taste of this, as in his first appearance, Ian practices for his eventual role as a [[spoiler:[[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]] by being a {{Woobie}}, destroyer of a library.

** The [[http://goblinscomic.com/02222011-2/ Psionic Minmax]] from an AlternateUniverse gives an AsYouKnow speech to explain [[WellIntentionedExtremist his]] [[OmnicidalManiac motivations]], then murders one of his teammates [[YourHeadASplode in an extremely twisted way]].

** Yukyuk, Belkar's third EvilCounterpart in the Linear Guild, made his debut shooting Vaarsuvius in the back and then trying to kill [[TeamPet Mr. Scruffy]] for [[KickTheDog when he got bored]].

** In the first scene he appears in, Kore brutally and efficiently slaughters all the patrons of a tavern, showing off his incredible skill with {{Automatic Crossbow}}s and [[DualWielding twin]] [[AnAxeToGrind axes]]. When he finds the last of the tavern's patrons (a dwarf child who'd been orphanned and raised by an orc), he explains to the child that because of the child's upbringing, he has been corrupted and might grow up to have sympathies with the [[FantasticRacism 'Monstrous Races']]; therefore [[KnightTemplar the child represents the potential for greater evil in the world, and therefore Kore needs to kill him...]] [[WouldHurtAchild which he does.]]

** Xykon gets two in the StartOfDarkness origin comic. The first comes when a [[Comicbook/{{X-Men}} Professor Xavier]] expy visits him and wants to teach Xykon how to use his sorcery powers to protect a world that hates and fears him; Xykon isn't interested and so electrocutes and zombifies the man and sics him and Xykon's zombie grandmother on his parents.
** His second moment comes when he reveals to Redcloak he knew in advance of Right-Eye's plan to betray Xykon, and had protected himself against it. The reason he didn't stop Right-Eye was to see if Redcloak was loyal enough to kill his brother to protect Xykon; he then brings the moment home with an EvilerThanThou speech about how he doesn't need any sort of justification for being evil, destroying Redcloak's will to resist in the process.
** The very first moment occurs on the first page. Little boy Xykon is crying over his dead dog Barky, then a burst of magic causes the dog's corpse to zombify and eat a bird's brain. Lil' Xykon's reaction? "That was so COOL! C'mon, let's go find some more birds!"