History Main / EasingIntoTheAdventure

* OlderThanRadio: In ''Literature/{{Kidnapped}}'' (1886) by Creator/RobertLouisStevenson and ''Literature/TheBlueSword'' by Creator/RobinMcKinley, the hero is kidnapped from their home. Most of [=McKinley's=] novels follow the same template, so one way or another, the misfit heroine gets dragged into the magical world against her will.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; there are those who [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump at the Call]], those who [[RefusalOfTheCall Refuse the Call]], and those who MissedTheCall. Whether reluctant or adventurous, stories with these heroes can start Easing into the Adventure by introducing the hero well before they get their [[WithThisHerring wooden sword]] and very first FetchQuest in their peaceful hometown; with a young Bob doing chores, playing with friends, running to school ([[ToastOfTardiness a slice of toast being an optional accessory), having a heart-to-heart promise with Alice, fighting and losing to the JerkJock who teases them, and so on and so forth. The usual.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; there are those who [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump at the Call]], those who [[RefusalOfTheCall Refuse the Call]], and those who MissedTheCall. Whether reluctant or adventurous, stories with these heroes can start Easing into the Adventure by introducing the hero well before they get their [[WithThisHerring wooden sword]] and very first FetchQuest in their peaceful hometown; with a young Bob doing chores, playing with friends, having a heart-to-heart promise with Alice, fighting and losing to the JerkJock who teases them. The usual.

* ''Film/DieHard'' opens with John [=McClane=] flying [[note]]he's afraid of flying[[/note]] into LA for Christmas and to see his estranged family. The first half hour is dedicated to this, setting up exactly what a New York cop is doing attending this particular Christmas party across the country, before the terrorists attack.

This helps us see the hero "before" and better appreciate CharacterDevelopment, provide exposition, and generally build up slowly rather than quickly to the story's actions. In video games, it can [[JustifiedTutorial Justify The Tutorial]]. It also makes their motivations for adventuring, returning home, and [[TooHappyToLive fear of losing]] (or pain at [[DoomedHometown having lost]]) their hometown all the more poignant.

* This trope was invoked by [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] when it first opened. The "Main Street USA" part of the Magic Kingdom is the first part of the park any guest will see, intended to be familiar and well-recognizable before guests get to the more exotic places like Adventureland and Tomorrowland. It was especially needed when the park first opened since, at the time, nobody had seen anything like Disneyland before. Thematically, it can be understood as entering and exploring the world of young Creator/WaltDisney before traveling to the places his imagination took him -- the other lands come from a mind that started on Main Street, so your journey into them begins there as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'' spends about 15 minutes showing the audience how Liana and Alexa live before they find [[SealedGoodInACan the magic mirror]] which leads to [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive their home getting destroyed]] and the rest of the plot.
* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieOfSwanLake'' has about 20 minutes before Odette is turned into a swan.

* After a brief prologue showing a battle between the homs and Mechon in the past, ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' goes into this, focusing on the daily lives of Shulk, Reyn, and Fiora before things get ugly. There's a surprisingly large amount of exploration and sidequests available to do before the game's plot kicks off proper, some of which does involve roughing up the local wildlife, though.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'' starts off with the hero and his two best friends trying to unravel the mystery of the ruins nearby his hometown. After about two and a half hours of exploring and puzzle solving, you finally fight your first enemy. [[spoiler:It's a [[SeriesMascot slime]].]]

* A few ''Zelda'' games have done stuff like this, most notably ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', which started out by making you close up the barn and help out a few villagers.

** Averted in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', where the main character starts the game having just performed a heist. This is hopefully not what his typical day looks like.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The first minute or two of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose "Rose"]] is like this, but the other post-2005 companion introduction episodes more or less involve the Doctor straight away.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' begins with [[GoodMorningCrono Crono's mother waking him up in the morning]] so he can go to the fair and meet his friend. It even starts off with a lovely little tune called "Town Life."