Action Prologue: Difference between revisions
m
→Video Games: adding example.
m (update links) |
m (→Video Games: adding example.) |
||
| (13 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 2:
Most stories take a while to build up, as they first introduce you to the characters, the world, and the theme, giving them time to develop in your mind before things start to change and become exciting.
Of course, this means that beginnings are often boring. It's been said that if you miss the first 15 minutes of a movie, you're not missing anything, as the plot doesn't pick up until later anyway. Many writers are aware of this, and their way of dealing with it is sometimes to do an '''Action Prologue'''.
An Action Prologue starts off with something exciting happening immediately. Right at the beginning, the hero is sneaking around an enemy base, being menaced by a threat, or something similarly exciting. In some cases this is [[Foreshadowing]]. The event may be a minor one, but [[Chekhov's Gun|related to a major plot point that we don't discover until much later]]. It could be a dream sequence, where the hero sees something threatening that later shows up for real. Or it could be something completely unrelated to the main plot at all, used only to make sure that ''something'' exciting happens right at the start.
Line 11:
A form of [[The Teaser]], often [[In Medias Res]]. Also known as a [[Bond Opening Sequence]], since [[James Bond]] uses it so much. Not to be confused with [[Action-Hogging Opening]], which is where the out-of-plot opening sequence rather than the first part of the plot proper is unusually intense.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime
* ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'' starts off with a mission by the ultra-tech team of super-powered witch-hunters, and the rest of the first episode is introducing their little circle to the audience. And the title character isn't even fully introduced until the second episode!
* The prologue of ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has a battle in space the likes of which don't happen until the final of the four arcs - {{spoiler|and, in fact, the exact battle shown never actually happens}}.
* The anime version of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' took the manga's [[Batman Cold Open]] and added a hint that [[Big Bad|Aion]] was behind the attack to turn it into an
* The anime of ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' opens on a fight between Dark and Krad that apparently happened in the past, before cutting to the high school [[Shojo]] romance opening of the manga.
* ''[[Venus Versus Virus]]'''s [[Pragmatic Adaptation|anime version]] has this. Guns, check. Shooting stuff with said gun? Check. [[Eyepatch of Power|Eyepatch wearing]] [[Elegant Gothic Lolita|Gothic lolita girl]] [[The Gunslinger|wielding the gun]]? Check. Creepy girl with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red eyes]]? Check. Then we cut to the [[Ear Worm]] of an opening. In the manga however, the intro is mellow, and shows how Sumire became the way she is.
* ''[[Berserk]]'' is a extreme example: it starts with a two and 2/3 volumes of story to establish the setting and then has a ''twelve'' volume flashback before reaching the point of time when it started. The anime follows suit with its first episode (basically a shortened version of the first episode without Puck), which is given no explanation as to how it happened, given that the anime ended at a point where the story could have only gotten there based on action taken by [[
* Not exactly ''action'', but ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni]]'''s anime adaptation opens with watching a half-obscured silhouette beating someone to death with a blunt instrument... And then the OP starts playing...
** Which is based on how the game begins with a narration going along with a the sound of something hitting something else.
Line 32:
* ''[[Hidan no Aria]]'' starts with Kinji trying to not be blown up by the bomb on his bike, and Aria falling out of the sky, shooting guns and all, to try to save him.
* The ''[[Dirty Pair]]'' movie ([[Title Confusion|better known as]] ''Project Eden'') takes this all the way into a full [[Pastiche]] of [[James Bond]] films, starting with an equivalent of the [[Bond Gun Barrel]] and ending with a [[Design Student's Orgasm]] credits sequence the Bond films could be proud of. (Not to mention introducing the [[Guy of the Week|Guy Of The Movie]].)
* ''[[Ghost in
== Fan
* ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' combines this with [[In Medias Res]].
Line 47:
** ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'' starts in the middle of the battle for Coruscant.
** ''[[A New Hope]]'' starts with the famous shot of the Star Destroyer chasing the ''Tantive IV''.
** ''[[The Last Jedi]]'' kicks things off by having a base evacuated shortly before it gets destroyed by the First Order.
* All of the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' films.
** Though the one in ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull|The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' connected to the main plot.
* The ''[[Star Trek]]'' films tend to do this. It was especially notable in the first one, where the prologue turns out to be the most action-oriented part of the whole movie.
* ''[[Hancock]]'' opens up with a gun battle on the L.A. Freeway, with the eponymous hero arriving to "save" the day.
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]: The Fellowship of the Ring'' starts with the Battle of the Last Alliance not only because it was establishing the backstory, but because [[Peter Jackson]] felt that the movie needed an epic battle scene with armies at both sides, not just the Fellowship vs. dozens of Orcs.
* ''[[Predator]] 2'' starts off with a 'Predator-eye' view of a pitched gun battle between the LAPD and a street gang. This battle is interrupted when the Predator kills and 'cleans' the surviving gangsters.
* The [[Film of the Book]] of ''[[Narnia|The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe]]'' starts in WWII London, where German fighter pilots are conducting an air raid.
** ''Prince Caspian'' similarly starts with Caspian escaping Miraz's assassination attempt, followed by the book's original opening of the Pevensie siblings at the train station.
* ''[[Harry Potter (film)|Harry Potter]] and the Half-Blood Prince'' opens with Voldemort's Death Eaters kidnapping the wandmaker Ollivander and destroying the Millennium Bridge in London.
Line 62 ⟶ 63:
* ''[[The Lion in Winter]]'' opens with King Henry sparring with his son Prince John, which establishes Henry as an aging conqueror and John as his favorite son.
* ''[[Toy Story 2]]'' starts with Buzz Lightyear infiltrating Emperor Zurg's secret lair. It is then revealed to be a video game Rex is playing.
** Similarily, ''[[Toy Story 3]]'' starts with Woody and Jessie trying to save a train of orphans. Then the plot starts getting [[Anachronism Stew|anachronistic]] and filled with [[Call Back
* In another Pixar film, ''[[Cars 2]]'', the film begins with Finn
* All the ''[[Rocky (film)|Rocky]]'' sequels except the last one starts with the previous movie's climactic fight.
* ''[[True Lies]]''
Line 78 ⟶ 79:
* Before the opening credits of ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' even begins Bruce Lee fights and beats Sammo Hung in a nonlethal kung fu match at a Shaolin Temple in Hong Kong.
* ''[[Streets of Fire]]'' starts off with a rock concert and the lead singer being kidnapped onstage. From there, there's very little pause in the action.
* [[Fritz Lang]] ''loved'' these kind of openings, and made use of them in films like ''[[Dr
* ''[[Brotherhood of the Wolf]]'' begins with a martial arts fight between the two heroes and some local goons. The original script began with an extended chase through Parisian sewers.
* ''[[The Chase]]'' (1994) is pretty much lock, stock and barrel Jack Hammond's kidnapping of Natalie Voss and his attempt to escape to Mexico. Roughly 90 percent of the movie takes place on the freeway or just alongside it, and the director wastes no time whisking us right into the thick of it: from ''the very moment the screen fades in'', we can already hear the wail of police sirens in the distance as Jack enters the convenience store looking for a hostage, and spots Natalie.
* It's not strictly an "action-packed" movie, but ''[[Purple Rain]]'' gets off to quite a heady start. Director Albert Magnoli literally does not waste even one second plunging us into the story: the Warner Brothers studio logo has not even faded from the screen yet before the strains of a synthesizer played by "Doctor Fink" (a character in the movie) are heard in the distance and the voice of the (yet unseen) master of ceremonies at the First Avenue Nightclub is heard calling out: "Ladies and gentlemen....The Revolution!" (What follows is some of the best [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] in movie musical history.)
* ''[[The Avengers (film)|The Avengers]]'' begins with the [[Big Bad]] popping up to steal the [[MacGuffin]], fighting several government agents in the process before leading into a car chase. This is before the title even appears onscreen.
== Literature ==
Line 95:
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s "[[The Devil in Iron]]", a fisherman goes into a ruin, takes up a knife, and dies.
** In "[[Black Colossus]]", a thief breaks into a tomb, fights a great snake, and screams with horror with what he sees.
* The start of ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', [[
* Book one of ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series starts like this, introducing Lews Therin Telamon after he's murdered his family and just before his death.
* The Tom Clancy novel ''[[Rainbow Six (novel)|Rainbow Six]]'' begins with an attempted plane hijacking by a group of terrorists. A few key members of Team Rainbow just happen to be on board, and use their extreme ingenuity to foil the attempt.
Line 110:
** "Love & Monsters" [[Invoked Trope|invokes]] this, the narrator character pointing out the encounter with the Doctor, a Hoix and some buckets isn't the beginning, just a good hook for the audience.
** "Gridlock" begins with a couple's flying car on a motorway being attacked by an unseen menace.
** "Human Nature" starts with the Doctor and Martha being attacked by some lasers offscreen, with the Doctor mentioning something about a watch...before it turns out to be a dream.
** "Silence in the Library" has a little girl apparently experiencing an Action Prologue through her dreams, as the Doctor and Donna board themselves up in some kind of library room.
** "Planet of the Dead" starts with [[Classy Cat Burglar|Lady Christina]] stealing a precious cup from a museum and escaping.
Line 122:
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'', which could rightfully be called a massive [[Affectionate Parody]] to 60s and 70s spy movies, pulls an exceptionally well executed one, though it takes up to an hour. You overpower the guards, get the captured scientist, and make it back to the extraction point where Snake gets betrayed, thrown of a bridge, and as he pulls himself out of a river, the enemies detonate a nuke some miles in the distance. And as the explosion fades, you get the extremely bond-like [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CbFAZ2ztlE actual opening].
* Video game example: ''[[Silent Hill 3]]'' starts with Heather in a spooky amusement park, armed with very little in the way of weapons, and wondering where she is. If you either die or reach the end (which results in her dying in a cutscene), she wakes up and realizes it's just a dream. Much later in the game, you go to that very same amusement park for real.
* Some of the [[James Bond]] games. ''Everything or Nothing'' actually started you right in the first level, without giving you a menu or anything like it before.
Line 143:
* ''[[Bayonetta]]'' begins with our antiheroine and Jeanne in their flashback garb fighting angels on the face of a falling clock. It might be a clever symbol for a compressed backstory narration, but it's hard to tell when the actual game is so trippy. Despite the game's reputation for putting some of the most spectacular fights in cutscenes, it's fully playable, with no control guidance for first-time players, but also no way to lose. Then, there's a whole prologue chapter, filled with control tutorials and some minor exposition. Then there's an expository cutscene and an Indy-style travel montage. ''Then'' the opening tiles play as 'netta struts off the train in Vigrid.
* ''[[Chrono Cross]]'' begins with an action/tutorial dream sequence which mimics/foreshadows an extended gameplay sequence from a (much) later dungeon.
*
** ''Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' opens with Nate and Elana unearthing Sir Francis' journal in the middle of the ocean, when suddenly, pirates attack and the player has to defend the boat.
** Nate wakes up, wounded, his clothes covered with blood, in a wrecked train, the train ''dangling over the edge of a mountain!'' He has to climb to safety (which despite the terrifying scene, is easy to do). This scene is, incidentally, a [[How We Got Here]] scene, as once the player gets Nate on solid ground, the plot shifts to many days earlier, part with the train resuming halfway through the game.
** ''Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception'' opens with a bar brawl in an English pub populated by [[Mooks]], after a deal goes bad. It's a great excuse to teach the player the new unarmed combat system.
* [[Guild Wars]] Nightfall throws the character into a corsair battle for its first quests and mission, before the "training" sequences more common in other MMO's (and other guild Wars chapters)
Line 151 ⟶ 152:
* ''[[Vindictus]]'' begins with a siege on a bell tower against a giant spider. The Oracle, Tieve, wants to talk to the spider and find out why it's so frightened, so a group of soldiers, including you, are assigned to escort her to the top. Everyone is promptly ambushed by Gnolls after the leader of the soldiers finds a Fomorian Emblem, and everyone except you and Tieve are wounded or killed. The game then gives you control of your character and walks you through the combat system as you kill your way through the Gnolls and escort Tieve to the top of the tower, where you have to fight the spider as ballista spears rain down on the roof.
* ''[[Shadow Complex]]'' begins with a man in a city with [[A Taste of Power|about half of the full set of equipment]] for a shootout with some troops and a helicopter. He is then killed, and the action switches to the actual player character, where the real ''[[Metroidvania]]'' part begins.
* Done extremely well on the [[The Lord of the Rings]] video games, as the prologues are there not just to state how the fight elements are there, but also to tell most of the backstory and certain background elements.
* The prologue of ''[[The Reconstruction]]'' thrusts you into a dangerous, action-packed mission of boarding and fighting your way through an enemy ship. This is done with only a cursory introduction to the characters, and it's not really clear what's going on until the end of the prologue.
* The DS and PS1 versions of ''[[Dragon Quest IV]]'' add a prologue chapter in which you play as the hero for a short while as you look around for Eliza.
* [[Dark Souls]] introduction cutscene has this, featuring Gwyn, Nito and the Witch of Izalith taking on the dragons.
* ''[[Xenoblade]] Chronicles'' begins in the middle of the war against the Mechon, where you play as Dunban in the battle that would make him a legend among the peoples of Bionis.
== Webcomics ==
* ''[[Aquapunk]]'' starts off in the middle of a small, routine, military operation that goes painfully awry. Not only do unusual numbers of enemy casualties result, but the main character, Coron, winds up realizing that something's up and starts getting ideas that shape the decide the rest of the plot.
* The ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' story arc "Phoenix Rising" (well, the Oasis half of it, anyway) begins right away with Oasis fighting a group of convenience store robbers. Things then quiet down for a while, giving us time to know the characters, before the action starts up again when {{spoiler|Nash Straw kills Lupae}}.
* ''Pibgorn'''s arcs start this way, but they're so confusing they're pretty much [[Mind Screw]] prologues. For example, the latest arc began with a [[Rapunzel Hair
* ''[[Remus]]'' begins with a [[Right-Wing Militia Fanatic]] [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|flying a plane into the White House]], [[It Got Worse|continues by showing the United States descending into a second Civil War,]] and then caps off the prologue with [[R-Rated Opening|a glimpse of said war]] through the eyes of the comic's resident [[Knife Nut]]. It then jumps 17 years forward, where the plot begins.
* The first chapter of ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' opens with the heroes in the midst of a battle with a mob of goblins, but then there's a pause as [[Leaning on the Fourth Wall| they are upgraded to 3.5 Edition]]; the first arc involves them adjusting to it, not easy seeing as it happened in the middle of their mission.
== Web Originals ==
Line 175:
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Beginning Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:The Teaser]]
| |||