History Main / DistantPrologue

* ''{{Supernatural}}''.

* If used in videogames, it's often a JustifiedTutorial. For example, in ''FinalFantasyXII'', the prologue puts you in the shoes of a rookie soldier caught in an unexpected ambush, having to quickly learn the ropes. Afterwards, you flash forwards to his younger brother, in another time and place, and the game proper begins.

* A deleted opening of ''TheMask'' had Vikings rowing to America to throw the mask "off the edge of the world".

* OnePiece starts with the execution of Gold Roger on the first page, time skips to Luffy's childhood for the rest of the first chapter, then time skips another 10 years to when Luffy becomes a pirate. (In the anime, Gold Roger's execution was exposition put in the start of the opening theme and Luffy's backstory became a WholeEpisodeFlashback just after Zoro joined the crew.)

* ''[=~GoldenEye~=]''.

* ''BramStokersDracula''.

* Several ''WarriorCats'' have prologues which take place long before the main story. The most notable ones are ''Firestar's Quest'' and ''[=SkyClan's=] Destiny'', which take place about 20-30 years before the story begins (and seeing as the characters are cats, none of them were born yet back then).

* ''GoodOmens'' has ''three''. Genesis, sealing the garden, and twelve years ago.

* ''[[{{Discworld}} Making Money]]'' has "The 9000 Year Prologue" and "The One Month Prologue". The former is from the point of view of a Golem stuck in the bottom of the ocean.

*** It becomes somewhat important at the climax of the book, considering that the golemns become [[spoiler: the standard for Anhk-Morpork's new currency after being released]].

* ''[[TheStormlightArchive The Way of Kings]]'' has a timejump after each of the first few chapters, getting progressively smaller. Starting with thousands of years, then 5 years, then a few months...

* The ''{{Akira}}'' film starts with a very short prologue set in 1988 and quickly cuts to the year 2019.

* ''TheFifthElement'' had this. The prologue is in the past, the rest of the movie some centuries in the future.

[[redirect:ThousandsOfYearsAgo]]

* The ''{{Akira}}'' film starts with a very short prologue set in 1989 and quickly cuts to the year 2019.

* Two of these in ''{{X-Men}}: The Last Stand''.

* And ''Film/{{Hellboy}}''.

* ''TheMask'' opens with Vikings rowing to America to throw the mask "off the edge of the world".

* ''TheLionKing'' starts off with the Scenery-Porn laden intro with the infant Simba shown off to the pride, before skipping ahead to childhood.

* ''[[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone]]'' and the [[Film/HarryPotter corresponding film adaptation]] open with Dumbledore, [=McGonagall=] and Hagrid leaving one-year-old Harry with the Dursleys as a DoorstopBaby.

* ''Death Day'' has a prologue set about 500 years before the main story.
* ''[[TwoThousandOne 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' starts out before the stone age, and then flashes forward to 2001.

* ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl''.
* The first ''Film/LordOfTheRings'' movie during its prologue flashes to various events, the oldest of them five thousand years ago, and the youngest the 60-years-past events of ''TheHobbit''.

* Two of these in ''XMen 3: The Last Stand''.
** As well as one in the original movie.
* ''IndianaJones and the Last Crusade''.

* ''[[JamesBond Goldeneye]]''.

* ''AustinPowers'': International Man of Mystery starts in 1967 with Austin and Mrs. Kensington tracking down Dr. Evil. When the villain escapes, Austin has himself cryogenically frozen, and is thawed out 30 years later in 1997.

* ''StarTrekGenerations'' and ''[[Film/StarTrek Star Trek]]''. The former shows the launch of the USS Enterprise-B and its encounter with the Nexus to set up Picard and Kirk's meeting; the latter shows Nero's initial appearance to set up pretty much the entire film.

* The first ''HarryPotter'' book and the [[Film/HarryPotter corresponding film adaptation]] open with Dumbledore, [=McGonagall=] and Hagrid leaving one-year-old Harry with the Dursleys as a DoorstopBaby.
* ''GoodOmens'' has an extended one.
** ''One''? Try ''three''. Genesis, sealing the garden, and twelve years ago.

* An obscure novel called ''Death Day'' has a prologue set about 500 years before the main story.

* ''[[TalesSeries Tales of Innocence]]''.

* ''{{Mother3}}''

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* The {{Disney}} films ''TheJungleBook'' and {{Hercules}}.
* ''[=~Atlantis: The Lost Empire~=]'' starts with the fall of {{Atlantis}}, several millennia ago. There was originally supposed to be a second one after that, with a group of viking explorers searching for the place where Atlantis was, but it was cut from the theatrical version.
** The Viking sequence was intended to be the prologue; they replaced it with Atlantis' destruction near the end of production.
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* ''[[{{Discworld}} Going Postal]]'' has "The 9000 Year Prologue" and "The One Month Prologue". The former is from the point of view of a Golem stuck in the bottom of the ocean.

* ''[[TwoThousandOne 2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' starts out in the stone age, and then flashes forward to 2001.