History Main / GatewaySeries

** The Biggest one of all, however, is ''Manwha/SoloLeveling'', which skyrokected in popularity upon being translated for the first time, and even more so when officially released in the west outside of Korea, its second volume already reaching in the [[https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/48998/july-2021-npd-bookscan-top-20-adult-graphic-novels top 10 of NPD's monthly graphic novel sales charts in July 2021]].

** The Biggest one of all, however, is ''Webcomic/SoloLeveling'', which skyrokected in popularity upon being translated for the first time, and even more so when officially released in the west outside of Korea, its second volume already reaching in the [[https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/48998/july-2021-npd-bookscan-top-20-adult-graphic-novels top 10 of NPD's monthly graphic novel sales charts in July 2021]].

** The Biggest one of all, however, is ''Webcomic/SoloLeveling'', which skyrokected in popularity upon being translated for the first time, and even more so when officially released in the west outside of Korea, its second volume already reaching in the top 10 of NPD's monthly graphic novel sales charts in July 2021

** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' served as many peoples exposure to the wider parts of the DC Universe, giving them their first introductions to ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/GreenLantern, ComicBook/MartianManhunter, and Hawkgirl among many other heroes that at the time weren't widely known, as well as ComicBook/AmandaWaller, the Suicide Squad, Vandal Savage, Despero, and Amazo.

** ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (''Unlimited'') served as many people's exposure to the wider parts of the DC Universe, proving their first introductions to ComicBook/TheFlash, ComicBook/GreenLantern, Franchise/WonderWoman, Hawkgirl among many others. Likewise it introduced them to ComicBook/AmandaWaller, Suicide Squad, Vandal Savage, Despero, Amazo and others.

* ''WesternAnimation/SylvanianFamilies'' was the gateway to the FurryFandom for some- they came for the {{Moe}} humans, but stayed for the {{Moe}} woodland animals.

Compare BreakthroughHit, the gateway to a creator; StarMakingRole, the gateway to an actor; and KillerApp, the gateway to a console. Contrast ItsPopularNowItSucks. Not to be confused with the ''Literature/{{Gateway}}'' series or its [[VideoGame/{{Gateway}} video game adaptation]]. See also TVTropesAsAGatewayDrug.

* [[Wiki/TVTropes Look no further than the very website which you happen to be browsing]] at this [[TVTropesWillRuinYourLife (probably) late hour.]] How many books, TV shows, etc. were ''you'' blissfully unaware of before coming here but [[TVTropesAsAGatewayDrug now have a sudden unrequited urge to experience?]]

* [[TVTropesAsAGatewayDrug This very wiki]], due to webcomics being a common source for page images.

->''"It starts with an innocent game of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cake_Mania Cake Mania]], and soon you've bought a UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, and before you know it, BAM! You're out on the street corner, teeth chattering, waiting in line for Burning Crusades."''

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' is a gateway to many people's love of newspaper comics, and sometimes even to the ones that influenced it.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', one of ''Calvin and Hobbes'''s influences, likewise serves as an ideal gateway series for fans of newspaper comics.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Food and Drink]]

[[folder: FurryFandom]]

And lot of webcomics

** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' serves as the introduction of the overall Batman mythos to a lot of fans and provided many people's first glimpse of the less well-known parts of his RoguesGallery, namely Ra's Al Ghul and Scarecrow (neither of whom had appeared in movies at the time or in the Adam West show[[note]]Ra's was created in 1971, well after the show was over, and Scarecrow was too scary and dark to appear on the show, though he did appear in ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''[[/note]]), as well as Killer Croc, Scarface and Ventriloquist, and redefined and updated the likes of Mr. Freeze to the point that it quickly became his origin in the comics and wider media.

** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' serves as the introduction of the overall Batman mythos to a lot of fans and provided many people's first glimpse of the less well-known parts of his RoguesGallery, namely Ra's Al Ghul and Scarecrow (neither of whom had appeared in movies at the time or in the Adam West show[[note]]Ra's was created in 1971 well after the show was over, and Scarecrow was too scary and dark to appear on the show[[/note]]), as well as Killer Croc, Scarface and Ventriloquist, and redefined and updated the likes of Mr. Freeze to the point that it quickly became his origin in the comics and wider media.
** Likewise, ''Superman'', whose [[LostInImitation movies tended to not]] accept the existence of bad guys not named Luthor and Zod. ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' served the role as the introduction of the Superman mythos for a lot of modern fans and provided many people’s first glimpses of Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzsptlk, Toyman, and the Jack Kirby Fourth World and his extended cast: Dan Turpin, Intergang, Darkseid, Apokolips, New Genesis, the Mother Box, Boom Tubes and other amazing concepts.

** Likewise, ''Superman'', whose [[LostInImitation movies tended to not]] accept the existence of bad guys not named Luthor and Zod. ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' served the role as the introduction of the Superman mythos for a lot of modern fans and provided many people’s first glimpses of Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzsptlk, Toyman, and the Jack Kirby Fourth World and his extended cast: Dan Turpin, Intergang, Darkseid, Apokolips, New Genesis, the Mother Box, Boom Tubes and other amazing concepts. In addition, the DCAU version of Luthor was the first one to emphasize his scientific acumen (which the movies never tackled) and his CorruptCorporateExecutive revision of TheEighties (or as Creator/NeilGaiman called him "skinny Kingpin").

* ''WesternAnimation/BlinkyBill'' -- for Aussie furries

* ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' (for the "scalie" section of the furry fandom)

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Zootopia}}'' - not confirmed yet, but most Furries are convinced it'll start the next generation of Furry Fandom

* ''WesternAnimation/HeathcliffAndTheCatillacCats'' - Cleo and Wordsworth in particular

Then there are feature films that act as gateways.
* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' - the Disney ''Robin Hood'' is credited with starting Furry Fandom to begin with.

And a several video games:

* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood''

* Either Java, Python or C and some of its successors (C++ and C#) are considered some of the main gateways to learning programming in general due to their accessibility and versatility in different fields.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' -- [[spoiler: mostly on Foxy and Chica in first game, And second game is [[UnpopularPopularCharacter Mangle]] and [[FanService Toy Chica]]]]

* ''Disney/RobinHood''

* ''Disney/TheLionKing''

* ''{{Disney/Zootopia}}'' - not confirmed yet, but most Furries are convinced it'll start the next generation of Furry Fandom

* If you have taken a web design class, chances are that you've familiarized yourself with HTML(Hyper Text Markup Language)

* Either Java, Python or C and some of its successors(C++ and C#) are considered some of the main gateways to learning programming in general due to their accessibility and versatility in different fields.

** After the relaunch of several Specialist games, many of them became gateway series to the main 40k game and it's Age of Sigmar counterpart. Kill Team, Blood Bowl and Underworlds brought in many players to the main game systems; Kill Team and Underworlds providing you a small squad as a stepping stone to collecting a proper army for 40k or Age of Sigmar (respectively) while Blood Bowl, due to it's wackiness and marketing with the video game, brought in many video gamers who were curious about the tabletop game.

* ''Literature/MoDaoZuShi'' would be next series post-''The King's Avatar'' to really draw up an audience with ''donghua'' as it meshes not just {{Wuxia}}, but introduced many fans to ''danmei''. While it's similar in concept to Japanese {{Yaoi}} since they're both BoysLove, ''danmei'' differs in how it plays the genre's usual tropes and {{Shipping}} dynamics, akin to ''The King's Avatar'' not relying on ''[[TrappedInAnotherWorld isekai]]'' and StockLightNovelHero tropes as a narrative.