Bait and Switch Credits: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A way of countering the [[Spoiler Opening]] trope. Sometimes a show will mix the two just to confuse the viewer horribly, or to create a dramatic or ironic contrast (a subtrope of [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]). Or sometimes they just want to create [[Rule of Cool|something really cool]] that will draw a lot of viewers, [[Canon]] be damned.

 

 

Compare [[Fake-Out Opening]] and [[Action-Hogging Opening]]. For when a character prominently featured in the credits of an early episode suffers a shockingly rapid demise, see [[Dead Star Walking]].

 

{{examples}}

** Technically, it is not impossible. If he really can control the vector of all things then he can control the movement of electrons and therefore can technically produce electricity.

** Another way to read the opening is it reinforcing the fact that Shinji is an angry passive-aggressive kid who will have to face the (end of the) world, like it or not. This interpretation is more common nowadays since fans look for signals towards a [[Gainax Ending]] (though it's debatable how much of said ending was intended from the start).

** There's a monstrous multi-winged creature at the beginning of the opening that looks like an Angel and is covered in all sorts of weird letters. You can spot it right behind the "Gainax" title. Nothing like it ever shows up in the series, whatever it is.

*** I don't have the exact source image on me to confirm this, but I'm pretty sure that that's a Qabbalistic depiction of a seraph of some sort. So, toss that one in the same heap along with the sephira on Gendou's floor, etc.

* ''[[Baccano!]]'' looks like a funny, lighthearted (albeit chaotic) romp about 1930's America; complete with a lovable, happy-go-lucky cast and a series name that means "big ruckus". Hell, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wInHktd7hU theme-song's] [[Ear Worm|catchy enough]] to get anyone revved up to laugh at some silly, old-timey antics and kick back with a show that's fun for the whole fami--[[Gorn|SO]] [[Fingore|MUCH]] [[Up to Eleven|BLOOD]].

** Also, {{spoiler|despite being a main character, Claire goes unnamed in the intro to avoid spoiling the surprise -- though he's there for a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.}}

** Weirdly, the more sad sounding outro music is changed halfway through the season, just as [[It Got Worse]], for another song, but they didn't swap the opening, making it seem deliberate.

** [[Averted Trope|Aversion]]: ''[[Mai-Otome]]'''s second set of credits show Mai turning into a comet of flame and destroying literally hundreds of Slaves in one zooming pass. While it has the look of precisely the kind of over-the-top "see how impressive this character is" footage that typifies this trope, not only does she actually do exactly this in one of the final episodes, the production team in fact animated it a second time rather than reuse the credits footage. {{spoiler|(Although in the actual scene, Mai fights with Mikoto on her back, not alone as shown in the credits.)}}

* ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' is an example of this. Nobody saw it coming, {{spoiler|Grace being the big bad, given how the OP and first few episodes played her straight like a side character }}.

** The eighth opening shows filler captain Amagai fighting his third seat, Kifune after the latter's [[Face Heel Turn]]. It's misleading because Izuru ends up fighting Kifune and also because {{spoiler|Amagai is the real villain and was manipulating Kifune}}.

** The 10th opening is similar, as it's essentially just a music video featuring Rukia, Orihime, and Rangiku dancing, with a few shots of the Shinigami and Ichigo just to remind us that we're watching the right show.

* ''[[School Days]]'' has a very heavy one. It's light-hearted which matches with the mood the show starts with but slowly it starts to feel really out of place to hear [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUg5M0a_x8s this] when most of the characters are having mental breakdowns. In the final episode things had gotten so dark that instead of showing the cheery opening the title came on with a slow piano piece and then the title screen shatters like glass so the makers could avoid a jarring [[Mood Whiplash]].

* The first opening to [[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]] gives a rather prominent role to Hohenheim, {{spoiler|showing him as a teenager}} as well as providing two extended shots of his present-day self. Despite this, Hohenheim gets ''less than ten seconds'' of screen time until after the opening switches.

** The second ''Brotherhood'' opening shows {{spoiler|King Bradley}} fighting in a heated battle against Ling, Lan Fan, and Fu. However, not only is it a [[Curb Stomp Battle]] in the episodes that feature this fight, Lan Fan is unconscious from the word go and Fu doesn't even show up {{spoiler|due to helping Maria Ross in Xing}}!

*** The fourth opening of the 2003 series shows Ed and Al vs. Gluttony and Lust, and Ed and Al vs. Wrath, Envy and Sloth. {{spoiler|Ed and Al do fight Sloth and Wrath, but Lust is on their side in that fight and she and Sloth die in the fight while Wrath escapes. Envy abducts Al, preventing him from getting into any more fights, and Ed fights Envy in the finale, but loses, dies, gets better with Al's help and performs a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] to save Al at the cost of being brought to the real world}}.

*** The fourth ending of the 2003 series shows Ed facing off against Envy and the rest of the homunculi except Greed and Pride in a graveyard. See the above spoiler for why this is a case of bait and switch.

** The first opening to ''[[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam|Victory Gundam]]'' is pretty upbeat and optimistic, with only a reaction shot or two from main character Uso to even hint at the bleak tone and setting of the series. The second opening is even more upbeat which furthers the separation as the end of the series gets even darker and bloodier.

** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]]'' lies constantly in its openings. Most fans attribute this to the show's near-constant on-the-fly rewriting due to the production committee's ever-changing demands. Some images were also meant to be figurative but taken literally by most fans. Some of it was old-fashioned misdirection.

* ''[[Ninin ga Shinobuden]]'' shows a dramatic battle involving most of the main cast against Shinobu's evil counterpart (see example image). Most of the final episode is in fact the characters complaining about this trope, as they scramble to end the show in a satisfactory way.

* A half-example with the second OP for ''[[Demashitaa Powerpuff Girls Z]]'', as the series delivered {{spoiler|Powerprof, Dynamo Z and the bit with the volcano, but didn't get round to the [[Beach Episode]] or the Super Zero costumes}}.

** According to an interview with the director, [[Satoshi Kon]], the tone of the opening theme was because the show was to appear on an unusually late time slot. He wanted a theme that was loud and bombastic so that it would wake the viewers' brains up a little bit.

* Although the general wackiness of the openings fit the theme of the show, ''[[Bobobo-Bo Bo-bobo]]'' includes the character Battleship among the main cast, yet after his run as a villain he disappears, except for occasional appearances, usually knocked out by the current villain. The same occurs with Suzu in the second opening, who only joins the main crew for one arc, and doesn't really do much. But then again, it's Bo-Bobo. It may have also been an attempt to subvert the [[Spoiler Opening]].

* The loving interaction between Kurau and Christmas dressed in cute summer attire in the opening credits of ''[[Kurau Phantom Memory]]'' doesn't appear anywhere in the anime.

* Given the amount of stuff that has actually come to pass from it, the opening for ''[[Suzumiya Haruhi]] No Yuuutsu'' is probably an exception. What were originally simply random, half-second images took on new meaning the further we got through the story; furthermore, a few clips are direct from the Light Novels or interpretations of what happens on drama CDs. Maybe the entire thing is a [[Spoiler Opening]]...

* In the second season of ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'', Hanon is shown with Nagisa, Rina with Hamasaki and Lucia with Rihito. The first two couples get together, but Rihito shows little interest in Lucia and, in fact, supports her reunion with loving [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|amnesiac]] boyfriend Kaito.

* Perhaps not a bait and switch as such, but the opening credits of ''[[Wolf's Rain]]'' place the characters in a modern (Japanese?) city that doesn't appear in the series {{spoiler|Until the end of Episode 30, after the world has been destroyed and reborn}}. Furthermore, in the credits show actual rainfall -- {{spoiler|something that also doesn't happen until Episode 30, where it allows the lunar flowers to germinate and regenerate life on Earth.}}.

* ''[[Trinity Blood]]'': The ending credits hint at {{spoiler|a romance between Abel and Esther, which never happens}}. Also, the opening credits seem to give the Crusnik way more screen time than he gets in most episodes.

* Both openings to ''[[Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge]]'', fitting to the [[Widget Series]] nature of the program, are really only true in the protagonists' minds. Kaoruko and Aimi never destroy anything that poses an actual threat to the city, and the Gedou Otome Tai never summon an army of demons to wreak havoc on the city.

** [[Dragon Ball Kai]] (the new director's cut of Z) also has a bait and switch. The end credits feature Launch, a character who was prominent in Dragon Ball but who has barely any appearances in Z...and the one sequence she ''does'' appear in was cut out of Kai.

** This opening also makes it seem as though Prince Clovis would be a major villain, as the credits end with him smirking at Lelouch and Lelouch glaring back. {{spoiler|He bites it three episodes in.}}

*** That's actually Schniezel, but this is misleading for a different reason; {{spoiler|he doesn't become a major villain until R2}}.

* The first ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' opening featured a Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard...of which only the latter was ever acquired by Ash, and shows him using a Pidgeot, which didn't happen until near the ending of the season. It also features several legendary Pokemon that he either never sees, or ends up seeing them in completely different seasons.

** Heck, Ash didn't even aquire Pidgeot until the episode the opening * changed* in Japan.

* The opening credits of ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' center on a man with scraggly hair and a hunted look. He glances around as if afraid of being followed; in one shot he's holding a gun. {{spoiler|This man is the ''hero'' of the show. (The real "monster" does appear, but only for a second.) It's a sneaky example because it's not dishonest -- Dr. Tenma is a murder suspect on the run, and his quest to kill [[Complete Monster|Johan]] takes a constant toll on him.}}

* The opening of ''[[Pretty Sammy|Magical Project S]]'' makes the show look like a fairly standard [[Cute Witch]] style of [[Magical Girl]] show, with Sasami actually appearing happy about her powers and Misao being in on the secret. Then you get to the actual show, which is a [[Magical Warrior]] show with Sasami not caring for her role and Misao most definitely not in on the secret. Since the show is meant as a parody of the [[Magical Girl]] genre, this was intentional.

** [[Stealth Pun|It's also a pun.]] Kannagi is a wooden IDOL come to life, the opening portrays her as a different kind of idol.

* Some shots in the opening of the ''[[Getter Robo|Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo]]'' OVA series suggest that it will live up to its title and the two Getters will fight each other, or at least side-by-side, at some point. [[Mid-Season Upgrade|No such luck]], unfortunately.

** The seventh opening to ''Shippuden'' is the worst, though. It features (in increasingly level of inaccuracy) Choji and Kakashi vs. Preta Pain; [[Designated Girl Fight|Ino, Hinata, and Sakura vs. Konan]]; Sai vs. Asura Pain; Kiba, Lee, Tenten, and Neji vs Deva Pain. In actuality, {{spoiler|Choji and Kakashi actually fight together against ''Deva'' Pain (and Asura Pain, sort of), Hinata tried to fight him later on, Ino didn't fight because she was working with her father getting some information, Sakura spent the battle treating the wounded and defending a hospital, Konan fought Shino and some other members of the Aburame clan (mostly off-panel in the manga, more is shown in the anime), Kiba fought Preta Pain with his mother (briefly and it was a bit longer in the anime), and Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Sai ''never'' fought because they were out of the village at the time (for the first three until after most of the fighting was over, for Sai the entire arc)}} so ''none'' of those things ended up happening.

** All those have nothing on ''Shippuden's'' tenth opening, which features, in increasing order of implausibility/absurdity:

*** The scene of Naruto {{spoiler|embracing his "shadow" self}} transitioning from him about to do...''something'' to Sakura.

*** The Elder Toad shown alongside the villains.

*** {{spoiler|The revived Akatsuki zombies}} sliding into each other while their containers comedically topple in the background

* The first seven episodes of ''[[Penguin Musume Heart]]'' slowly change before stabilizing into something that makes the show look like some sort of combination of ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena|Utena]]'' and ''[[Captain Harlock]]''.

* The OP for the first season of ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' shows Yuno walking in on Sae on top of Hiro in a suggestive manner, but the scene where it comes from (sadly, a [[Not What It Looks Like]] moment) isn't shown until the second season.

* ''[[Mega Man Star Force|Ryuusei no Rockman]] Tribe''. Fans were disappointed in the lack of Ninja and Dinosaur transformations.

* The girls from ''[[Diamond Daydreams]]'' are shown in the opening credits as if they form a group of close friends. Although this would have offered some interesting possibilities, only some of them meet up shortly in the last episode.

** I always felt that scene was a flashback to the Heaven's Gate War.

** It's [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|symbolic]].

* The eighth opening of ''[[One Piece]]'' shows the Straw Hats relaxing, going shopping, enjoying themselves on the beach and acting out covers from the manga, making it seem very relaxing. This opening plays during the Enies Lobby arc, where they're attacking one of the most heavily defended government installations in the world, to save Robin from being taken away from them forever.

* Until the Kyoto Arc, the opening sequence to ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' made it seem like some kind of [[Rom Com]] (the peppy theme song in which the female singer waxes poetic about an unrequited love don't help).

** ... it kind of ''was''.

* ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'''s opening made it look like Robin had a crush on Amon but no such relationship ever materialized.

** There was [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]] there. Not much, what with here being really young (15?), but there was definitely subtext.

* ''[[Red Garden]]'' has an opening that would make you think it's basically Sex and the City. The show's content goes in a [[Mind Screw|different direction]] however. The ending falls under this as well; it's an upbeat rap song with the characters having fun at a concert.

* Ren and Miu start the ''[[DearS]]'' opening off with an intensely [[Moe]] kiss. Ren in-series is completely fixated on Takeda and Miu doesn't particularly like her, though there's a moderate amount of [[Les Yay]] available.

* ''[[Durarara!!]]'s'' second opening introduces five new characters, three of which showed up briefly in the first half of the series. This means they're important, right? Not really. Only one was actually important, three of the others played bit parts, and one didn't show up ''at all.''

* ''[[Keroro Gunso]]'' uses this in episode 150. After spending the entire episode getting ready to leave (He'd been promoted) Giroro gives a heartfelt (for him) goodbye at the train station. Cue a special ending sequence, complete with sad music and a "Goodbye Giroro" card...only for Giroro to literally shoot through them and grab Keroro by the neck. That promotion letter? Turns out it was a month old. Cue the regular ending sequence.

** By the time the series ends (and the viewers know what's really going on), it becomes obvious that it's a subverted trope. It's especially obvious each time the OP gets shifted to the end of the episode; it's the exact same song, but because of the episode we just saw, a new meaning is revealed.<ref>Yes, it's a [[Twelve-Episode Anime]]. Yes, it's pulled off more than once.</ref> In a series full of [[It Got Worse]], on a second viewing you can get [[Mood Whiplash]] because the actual episode is so ''light'' compared to the opening credits.

* ''[[Kamichama Karin]]'' sports a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7YUhKAZp9s rather dark-looking opening sequence] that, combined with the [[Non-Indicative First Episode|sombre first ep]], convinced some fans that the series was going to be a darker-and-edgier [[Magical Girl]]-slash-[[Moe|Moe Series]], ala Nanoha. [[Affectionate Parody|So wrong.]] {{spoiler|On the other hand, once the [[Cerebus Syndrome]] kicks in, the opening doesn't look quite as much out of place.}}

* Almost every Western of the classic era begins with an opening montage of wild west themed paintings. These paintings routinely feature epic western landscape and charging wild horses. These things are almost never found on a Warner Brothers backlot, where the film was actually made.

* The film of ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' began with an animated opening to a movie called ''The Littlest Elf'', before stopping mid-stride (complete with [[Record Needle Scratch]]) for the narrator to tell us that the movie we'll be seeing will be far more depressing. Of course, this is a hilarious [[Mythology Gag]] for the people who have read the books.

* The beginning of the movie ''[[Return of the Killer Tomatoes]]'' shows a group of attractive teenager girls in skimpy bathing suits romping on a beach, with a voiceover announcing "You are about to see the movie ''Big Breasted Women Go To The Beach And Take Their Tops Off''" (complete with a Beach Boys-style theme song containing those words), until the screen goes black, the voiceover apologizes for showing the wrong movie, and the title for "Return Of The Killer Tomatoes" appears.

* Minor example: ''Ghost Ship'' starts with cheesy lounge music and the title in a cheerfully 50s-style font, and zooms in on the ship's passengers happily dancing the night away {{spoiler|and then a tightly wound wire slices through the crowd}}.

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSWINQ32Ozw opening credits] to the 1958 version of ''[[The Blob]]'' written by none other than Burt Bacharach (no, I'm not kidding) sound like a fun, beach-rompy movie (lyrics notwithstanding).

* The first episode of ''[[Saul Of The Mole Men]]'' opens with the credits to ''STRATA'', ostensibly a show about the adventures of intrepid underground explorers. Then within the first minute, nearly the entire "STRATA Action Team" is gruesomely killed, the only survivors being the Robot, Johnny Tambourine, and the titular Saul, a mere [[Red Shirt|geologist]] who didn't even merit a mention in the STRATA opening. (The actual opening is an [[Expository Theme Tune]] that would spoil the plot of the first episode if it were run up front.)

* The show ''[[Mr. Bean]]'' uses this and then subverts it at the same time, by starting with a solemn choir...and then apparently, beaming down Mr. Bean, as if from space. He gets up and wanders off. Towards the end of the credits, he wanders back into the picture, then off again in the opposite direction as before.

** The [[Ominous Latin Chanting|solemn choir]] isn't all that solemn either, if you translate it back from [[Altum Videtur|the Latin]]. ''Ecce homo, qui est fava'': {{spoiler|Behold the man, who is a bean.}}

* The first season of the ''[[War of the Worlds (TV series)|War of the Worlds]]'' television series was basically a sci-fi paranoia thriller set in the 80's (and shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). By the end, audiences were expecting more of the same thing for the next season. The second series then opened with a radio broadcast detailing how soldiers were rioting and shooting people (as a result of the paranoia?). Of course, once you watch the second season, you find out that the whole premise is a team of people living underground in a sewer system, and launching covert attacks against the aliens. There is no army to speak of. They're disregarded as an ally in the second episode.

* ''[[Power Rangers Time Force]]'' was about time travelers from the future, and clips in later versions of the opening showed the characters in different eras like the Wild West, feudal Japan, or prehistoric times. The actual show, however, mostly took place in the present day (where the time travelers were stuck); with only the prehistory clip being from a legit time trip. The rest of the clips came from either ''[[Mirai Sentai Timeranger]]'' [[Stock Footage]], which was never put into the American version, or from an episode where the characters were trapped in various movies showing off different time periods.

* The opening credits for ''[[Dexter]]'' are an [[Affectionate Parody]] of this trope. The viewer sees shots in extreme closeup which appear to be violent and bloody {{spoiler|amusing and wrong because Dexter is a methodical serial killer}}...but turn out to be Dexter only going through his morning routine and having his breakfast.

* ''[[Kamen Rider Den-O]]'' begins its opening sequence with the narration: "The time-traveling train, Denliner. Will its next stop be in the past or the future?" The answer to this question is ALWAYS "the past." At no point in the TV series does Denliner visit the future.

* The opening of ''[[Ally McBeal]]'' promised a smiling and happy woman most of the time. However, during the episodes she was depressed/sad/angry nearly the whole series and only rarely seen in a happy mood.

* At first, ''[[Time Hollow]]'' seems like a story filled with the player spamming his ability to create time rifts, after it shows multiple prominent plot points in the character introduction part of the intro, as well as some parts of the story nicely animated. Your character cannot stop things already in motion in-game (like {{spoiler|the treehouse once it's already on fire -- the player needs to stop the firebomb from burning the tree in the first place}}), and we never get to see {{spoiler|Ethan diving and catching Kori, or Ethan saving the place his parents were trapped in from blowing up}}. Instead, in the story, {{spoiler|the place blows up ''anyway'', and it's actually Ethan's ''uncle'' who saves the girl from falling off the school building -- and even then, they don't even manage to prevent ''that'' -- instead, the uncle and the girl fall a few stories to the ground}}. Also, there's even a direct contradiction in the opening to actual fact in-story -- {{spoiler|a Hollow Pen user cannot go through a Hole without losing their ability to use the pen -- or even see or hold said pen}}.

** This was simple necessity. For a point-and-click game, especially one with no running timer or similar restriction, showing what you actually need do would constitute a MASSIVE spoiler. Plus [[Rule of Cool]].

* Used and lampshaded in ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]''. The title screen features a scrolling story card and shows the game's items in a fashion taken directly from the first Legend of Zelda, complete with Link at the end. Link himself, however, is holding a card reading "Most of this shit does not appear in this game"

* ''[[Eversion]]'' has an adorable, sugary-sweet title screen that's a tad misleading. The quote and warning do hint at what's to come, though.

 

== Web Original ==

** Also, the [http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail155.html email theme song] shows a couple potential title sequences for the Strong Bad Emails. The one with the "inspirational" [[Theme Tune]] by "some kind of Neville" contains scenes not even remotely similar to anything in the actual toons, such as Strong Bad in a tank or Strong Bad in space. Strong Bad claims, "Of course, the best clips are from the un-aired pilot you'll never see."

* The Season 3 DVD of ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' opens like this, with a lot of violence and explosions, and the scene cuts to some of the characters saying outright that the new season isn't going to have any less to do with standing around and talking than usual.

** The movie does change the line in the theme tune, though, making the line all about Shep the elephant.

** Possibly as a nod to this, in one episode George hits his head walking out of his tree-house (he forgot that he and Ursula live in a tree), and subsequently addresses Ursula as "Fella". Other character: "Fella?!" Ursula: "George is a simple man." "Nearsighted, too."

* The Japanese credits to ''[[X-Men (animation)|X-Men]]'' feature Cable as a member of the team, but on the show he was a guest character who only appeared in five or six episodes total. It also features a final shot of Cyclops angsting while Krakoa looms over him. Krakoa never appears ever.

** Not to mention the opening's inclusion of Magneto summoning the Brood out of the earth itself

** Not to mention that the [[Art Shift|opening is in stop-motion]]

*** One popular fan interpretation for the art shift and the out-of-characterness is that the opening is showing the world from Flapjack's (rather skewed) way of seeing things.

* The Japanese opening of ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' barely features Lugnut while prominently showing minor characters Arcee and Ironhide apparently on Earth and fighting alongside our heroes - indeed, Arcee is shown [[Designated Girl Fight|fighting Blackarachnia]] underwater (which, it should be noted, she is [[Did Not Do the Research|physically incapable of doing in-universe]], since she is part organic). It also shows various fight scenes around the world, when in fact all the scenes on Earth take place in an around Detroit. Despite all that, it's ''still'' [[Spoiler Opening|full of spoilers]]( {{spoiler|Longarm Prime,}} anyone?).

** It also features [http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Cloaked_mystery_villain Cloaked Mystery Villain], who doesn't look much like ''anybody'' in the show.

** Bart is actually closer in personality and age to the '''other''' [[Dennis the Menace UK|Dennis the Menace]].

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jCgVfDhH3A The second] season opening of ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'' makes the show appear to be quite saccharine, with Jimmy having [[Fertile Feet]] that turn everything he touches happy, and not showing off any of Heloise's [[Comedic Sociopathy]]. The actual show is largely a [[Sadist Show]] with [[Black Humor]].

* The opening credits for the short-lived cartoon [[Alvin and The Chipmunks|''Alvin and the Chipmunks go to the Movies'']] contains footage from different episodes, each parodying a different movie, but also a brief clip parodying ''[[Star Wars]]'', starring Alvin as [[The Hero|Luke Skywalker]], Simon and Theodore as [[Robot Buddy|C-3PO and R2-D2, respectively]], and David Seville as [[The Dragon|Darth Vader.]] Unfortunately, the ''Star Wars'' parody was ''never'' made into an actual episode of that series.