History Main / IntroOnlyPointOfView

* While ''Literature/Lolita'' is told from the perspective of the VillainProtagonist Humbert Humbert, the book starts with a "foreword" by another character called John Ray Jr., who writes from a somewhat more objective point of view. Ray mostly seems to be a sort of AuthorAvatar for writer Creator/VladimirNabokov, informing the reader that Humbert is an UnreliableNarrator and an abhorrent person to boot, so he shouldn't be trusted at his word. During his write-up, Ray also drops some other details that allows attentive readers to figure the further fate of some of the characters in the story, the biggest one being that [[spoiler:Lolita/Dolores herself ended up [[DeathByChildbirth dying in childbirth]]]].

* ''Anime/TheIdolmaster'' (2011) has its first episode as an interview of all the 765 Production idols from the perspective of an unnamed, unvoiced cameraman. The end of the episode reveals that the cameraman is their future producer, and was recording these because the company's president wanted the Producer to get to know his charges on a personal level. The rest of the anime is an ensemble piece.

* ''VideoGame/MaxBlasterAndDorisDeLightningAgainstTheParrotCreaturesOfVenus'' has two of these, one for each of the protagonists, to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment introduce their differing modi operandi]].

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': ''The Hork-Bajir Chronicles'' opens with Tobias visiting the Hork-Bajir valley, and Jara [[FramingDevice telling him the story of his people]]. The rest of the book is from the RotatingPOV of Aldrea, Dak, and Esplin.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TheMessage": The story opens with three old war veterans in the twentieth century, reminiscing about their past. [[SwitchingPOV Then it flips]] to a time-traveller student from the thirtieth century, who is in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' briefly uses this as the ColdOpening of "Through Imperial Eyes" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin through the literal eyes]] of Agent Kallus as he silently awakens to a emergency siren and sees himself in the mirror before he rinses his face. It is used to deliver how tired and stressed out he is due to [[spoiler:his role as the ReverseMole and that [[ManipulativeBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]] is trying to find out who the mole is]]. Apparently, [[WhatCouldHaveBeen the entire episode was supposed to be shown this way]], but proved to be too time-consuming to make (the episode title and the introduction are artifacts of this idea).

* The opening sequence of ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' is a [[TheOner single]] POV shot from the perspective of Michael Myers, building up to TheReveal that Michael is a small child.

* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' is another example; interestingly, it takes several episodes before the show actually focuses more on the point of view of the true protagonist. This is partly done to emphasize the disparity between his [[TheDreaded dreaded]] [[WalkingDisasterArea reputation]] and [[DorkKnight actual]] [[IncorruptiblePurePureness personality]], as it takes a while before the other characters are convinced that this goofy TechnicalPacifist is really the legendary gunslinger Vash the Stampede.

The SacrificialLamb is frequently the introductory character. The DecoyProtagonist is, sometimes, if his part is told in his point of view. If the story does not switch, see FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator.

Compare FramingDevice, which can serve the same purpose, but has some character recount the story in retrospective.

* In Creator/DanAbnett's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novel ''Literature/BrothersOfTheSnake'', the first undertaking is told not from the point of view of Priad, the SpaceMarine, but that of a woman on the planet to which he was summoned.

** In "Literature/TheDevilInIron", a fisherman goes into a ruin, takes up a knife, and dies. The rest of the story is how this collides with Conan.
** In "Literature/BlackColossus", a thief breaks into a tomb, fights a great snake, and screams with horror with what he sees. Again, the rest of the story is how this collides with Conan the Barbarian.

* The prologue of ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'' is from the point of view of Wyle Ulbreck, a suspicious old moisture farmer who's gone to Anchorhead to drown his sorrows. Consequently, he's too drunk to really understand what he's seeing when Obi-Wan Kenobi shows up with the infant Luke Skywalker and intervenes in a bar fight between some locals and some of Jabba the Hutt's thugs. Ulbreck is a minor character in the rest of the novel. We don't see his POV again, but we do find out later that the events of the prologue caused him to [[NoMoreForMe quit drinking]].

* In ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'', the first few chapters are told from the perspective of Jared, a young boy living in Del Palace as the best friend of Endon, the heir to the throne of Deltora. The novel goes on to show how he came to escape the palace, become a blacksmith, and eventually help Endon escape as well in order keep the royal bloodline and the Belt of Deltora safe, both crucial to eventually banish the Shadow Lord. The story then cuts to years later, introducing the real protagonist of the series: Jared's son, Lief.