Establishing Character Moment/Video Games

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • COME ON!!! Asura stopping a Country sized finger with his fists and punching it back in the first Trailers of Asura's Wrath.
  • One simple intro establishes Sonic the Hedgehog as Sega's Mascot with Attitude. In the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis, a black screen fades into the game's logo, and Sonic pops into the logo and does his signature finger wag at you.
    • The Sonic the Comic adaptation has this in the second story. He pops up a few pages in, with a pair of black Cool Shades, and saves a guy. His entire look seems to set him off as being a "Snobby 90s cool guy".
  • Halo establishes John-117 as a badass by having him snark at Cortana while the ship is being boarded, he is being hunted, and they have just found an artificial ring world floating in space. Meanwhile, Johnson is established as a badass who will make you laugh by having him give what's known as the Giant Hula-Hoop Speech. Gravemind is defined as an asshole by having him betray both the Arbiter and the Chief.
  • Your first meeting with Desther and Fenthick in Neverwinter Nights quickly and clearly sums up the two, with Desther snapping at you for your incompetence at showing up too late to save the creatures and Fenthick apologizing for Desther's behavior and making excuses.
    • Nathyrra's collected and somewhat amused attitude is cemented from her very first words of dialogue in Hordes of the Underdark.
    • In Pokémon Ranger, we have Purple Eyes, who, before we even know he exists, has beaten the crap out of Rand, of all people, and kidnapped his wife and daughter, Leanne and Nema. But when we meet him, you can tell he's bad news. Just look at his Ranger pose. That 'the world is mine' one...it's quite creepy. But then again, he is a Complete Monster...
    • The collection of fan-made modules isn't immune to this either. Tales of Arterra introduces Persey with a scene in a brothel that underlines her inability to think of herself as a person. Evanine is introduced in a temple in the grips of a deep bout of depression that can only be broken by a gift of flowers and a silly remark, foreshadowing just how much of an effect kindness can have on her. Montador starts out being belligerent.
      • A Dance With Rogues introduces Vico with a rape scene, typical of his character, but gives him a Pet the Dog moment right afterwards to show that he isn't that far gone. Anden is introduced when you break him out of a cell in the middle of a forest, establishing his role as the Damsel in Distress. Pia is introduced when she has to use the Princess as part of a test, then feels really bad about it afterwards. Gemli challenges you to a drinking contest.
      • The Bastard of Kosigan actually subverts this with Alex, given her character role and her introduction scene you would expect her to be a Damsel in Distress but she turns out to be the Magnificent Bastard in charge of the whole plot that has been mystifying the character since Cologne.
  • Neverwinter Nights 2 has many of these.
    • Neeshka is introduced snapping at a band of guards to display her temper.
    • Khelgar is introduced getting himself into a fight just for fun. And dragging you along.
    • Elanee is introduced to the player character when she jumps into a fight despite orders to the contrary because it is the right thing to do. The first cutscenes she appears in show her surreptitiously observing the player character.
    • Quara is introduced getting into an argument with a pair of apprentice wizards and (depending on your actions) maybe even starting a fight.
    • Grobnar is introduced singing a rather silly song to a bush and then seizing on the slightest excuse to tell a long story about a spring-mounted shield and a codpiece.
    • In Mask of the Betrayer, Safiya has a rather tender scene as her Establishing Character Moment, foreshadowing the person you find under her businesslike shell. Gann has a rather comic scene of banter and wordplay, playing up his connection to the spirit world.
      • Kaelyn is introduced examining carvings in the temple of Myrkul, establishing her obsession with re-launching the Betrayer's Crusade.
      • Okku is introduced sticking to his duty, regardless of the cost.
  • Knights of the Old Republic effectively displays the Mission-Zaalbar sibling-like dynamic when you first meet them in the bar on Taris.
    • Bastila breaks herself out of her cage before she can be rescued, makes a typically self-righteous boast about being a Jedi, and helps you take down a major mob boss. Then proceeds to berate you for being sloppy, leading to a rather childish argument as to who was doing the actual rescuing. The Reveal makes this scene much more funny in hindsight.
    • Canderous is introduced intimidating a band of thugs.
    • A tip for you. One. Don't bother Calo Nord. Two. Or he will... Three. *POW*
      • Which can be subverted later in the game by the player. If you know where Calo will be standing, you can plant twenty of thirty mines right there, making him seem like such an idiot that his introduction is overhyped. Getting a piece of the roof falling on his head at the end of Taris didn't help either.
  • In Half-Life, Gordon Freeman is shown to be a badass in the TUTORIAL by having him use the main gun and the 'nade launcher on a SMG or M16.
    • Although Alyx's introduction also works; Freeman is blacked out, and all we hear are Combine soldiers dying and "HAH! No you don't", and then we see her face: "Gordon Freeman, I presume."
  • KOS-MOS of Xenosaga got herself an incredible entrance by blowing out an enormous metal door and kicking the asses of all the Gnosis that were previously making mincemeat of the people on the Woglinde. In other words, she was basically a Deus Est Machina.
    • Albedo gets his with the infamous Ma belle peche sequence. He had shown up a few times before, but it was this scene that firmly cemented him as a wild motherfucker.
  • In Final Fantasy VII, Rufus Shinra's introduction when he arrives in a helicopter to find his father killed by Sephiroth. Aerith/Aeris says of him "I've heard that no one's ever seen him bleed or cry." His appointment speech, along with fighting Super Soldier Cloud and surviving, and managing to escape by holding on to the helicopter with one hand while heavily wounded all perfectly establish him as the Badass Corrupt Corporate Executive that he is.

Rufus Shinra: That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech...My old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them.

    • Not to mention that the whole Nibelheim Incident flashback was one big coolness-establishing moment for Sephiroth. Everything in it...even the way Sephiroth always walked when others ran in cutscenes, even though the running was just a convenience to get movement from place to place over more quickly and we probably weren't expected to really think that most characters were in the habit of running around like hyperactive chipmunks all the time.
  • Zack in Crisis Core is introduced to the player by jumping out of a helicopter in mid-air, land perfectly fine on a train riding at high speed below and running along it, preparing to take down some baddies. When they shoot at him, he says "Well, hello to you, too!" and dodges all bullets, does an impossibly long jump and separates two traincars from each other by stabbing the connection with his sword. He's the hero of the game, alright.
  • Auron in Final Fantasy X is introduced in a way that officially sets up his "Cool Old Guy who knows a lot more about what's going than he tells people" credentials: He climbs up to a high place and seems to welcome Sin as it comes closer to Zanarkand without a word. He then walks calmly through the street as a wave of water approaches the city and begins to disintegrate it, and when he shows up later to help fight off monsters, once again without losing the cool head, he's officially established as the resident Deadpan Snarker / Samurai.
    • He has another one when he actually joins the party. He stares down a lizard the size of a horse and then proceeds to kill it in a single turn.
    • Played with by Seymour in the same game — he invokes the trope deliberately by slaughtering attacking fiends in the most overkilltastic way possible, intending to establish himself to the population of Spira as an incredibly powerful savior figure. However, the moment that establishes his real character for the player's convenience happens a little bit later, in just six words: "Then pretend I didn't say it."
  • Zero of Mega Man X establishes himself as a badass on his first appearance during the prologue stage when he blows the arm off Vile's mech as Vile is preparing to finish off X.
  • Ashe's introduction scene/stage in Mega Man ZX Advent shows her credentials as an Action Girl before becoming Mega Man Model A, and how far she'll go to get what she wants. She jumps off the side of an airship and lands unscathed after at least a kilometer's fall, for starters, fights her way through a force of mavericks and a boss with a simple blaster pistol, you know, the kind that only Red Shirts in the series would use, and the series' resident Psycho for Hire is the only one who manages to stop her. Then it's implied that she survived a multi-kilometer fall after that. No, she's not a robot, she's human. Oh, man.
    • All of the Mega Men in Advent have nice moments as well. They only consist of standing there and talking, but they pretty much explain who they are, what they want, how they are going to get it and why they really do not like you.
  • Gears of War: You know the Cole Train means business when his first appearance is taking on about 10 Locust on his own, not even bothering to take cover. In the second game, he first appears coming to your rescue - while making an entire squad of Locust about to kill you run away scared.
  • Fawkes from Fallout 3 is first introduced by talking to him through a speaker. He seems nice and polite, despite the fact that he is a super mutant. He helps you for a while, then politely departs. His establishing character moment is later on when you find him jumping out of the side of an aircraft with a giant laser minigun screaming various battle cries...and he's still polite to you when you talk to him.
  • Godot in Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations has one when he is first presented to the courtroom. He sips his coffee, throws out a coffee-related quip, and generally acts like he owns the place.
    • Franziska's entrance into the plot involves whipping Gumshoe.
    • Matt Engarde's real appearance.

Engarde: (brushes back hair to show scars, smirks, holds up a brandy glass and swirls it menacingly) How do you do, Mr. Lawyer? I'm Matt Engarde.

    • Kay introduces herself to Edgeworth by jumping into the room through a high window (which she can't get back up to, effectively trapping her in the room) with a great flourish and proudly introducing herself as the second Yatagarasu, a great thief of justice. This tells you most of what you need to know about Kay.
    • Manfred Von Karma's first line in the first game involves him, instead of telling the Judge a standard "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor," saying "Fool... You seriously think that I would stand here were I not completely prepared?" showing his arrogance (which, admittedly, is backed up by extensive preparation).
  • Our first sight of Erol in Jak II Renegade has him telling a shackled, chained-down Jak on a Dark Eco injector slash torture device, "I'll be back later," after being told to finish Jak off that night. Daxter's first appearance in any game features him making the wisecracks. Ashelin enters the games by dropping from a tree and holding a gun to Jak's head. Gol and Maia enter the picture telling a Lurker army to destroy a village. Yeah.
  • In Tsukihime, Nero/Nrvnqsr Chaos's first scene is meeting Shiki late at night while dogs howl and it's made very clear that Shiki is about four seconds from death. The next time we see him, he's just eaten every single person inside a hotel before attacking Shiki and Arcueid. The manga skips the first scene and shows Chaos' entrance into the motel, where he brutally murders everyone including a pair of cowering children. Apart from Makihasa Tohno (who's already dead) he's the easily the least sympathetic character introduced in the entire game because everyone else is a gigantic woobie. Even Especially the next baddie, SHIKI.
  • Fate/stay night has the most deadly Servant Gilgamesh turn up, kill Caster and show clearly that he is even worse. And then he leaves because he thinks that Shirou's mansion (one of the biggest in town) is too low class a place for him to fight. Oh, and he refers to Saber as his property near constantly.
  • The very first thing we see Blackwatch do in Prototype is save an innocent woman from a horde of Infected...only to kill the woman immediately afterwards. This is arguably meant to show that Blackwatch is willing to kill anyone with any contact with The Virus, even if they're not even infected themselves.
    • The opening gameplay segment features Alex raging against Blackwatch, carving tanks and men apart, fighting giant infected behemoths, taking out helicopters, then tracking down an officer, slamming him to the ground, and pounding his skull into paste.
    • A less violent but just as telling introduction comes in the very first line we ever hear Dana Mercer speak, which is "Let go of me, you goose-stepping motherfucker!"
  • Rachel from the Xbox remake of Ninja Gaiden appears staring down a fiend larger than herself and One Hit Killing it. This particular type of fiend is one that remains annoying even with later health and weapon upgrades. Cutscene Power to the Max or not, it nicely makes her out to be some Badass Action Girl...so it's funny how Ryu ends up having to save her repeatedly, eh? From the same title, Gamov shows himself by speaking up from a hitherto unseen corner, making some cryptic comments and then showing a capacity for Offscreen Teleportation that leaves our Ninja protagonist befuddled, clearly setting up his Mysterious Watcher role.
  • In Disgaea, Flonne's introduction:

"Nice to meet'cha, I'm an assassin! ...Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that."

  • The first mission of Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception has some Leasath chair forcers rain bombs on a defenceless city just because they could spare the ordnance, showing that these aren't quite the My Country, Right or Wrong Punch Clock Villains of other titles in the series.
  • Shin Megami Tensei games love this trope, with a healthy side order of World of Ham.
  • In Kingdom Hearts, Kairi is introduced (after the opening) pretty much with a detailed close-up of her teasing Sora and giggling, seeing her up as the girl Sora has a crush on, and Riku is introduced confidently tossing logs around and being the responsible, hardworking one, setting him up as the guy Sora wants to be.
    • Still in the first game, King Mickey is introduced right by the end on the other side of Kingdom Hearts. He appears warding off countless heartless with the light of his keyblade, then looking over his shoulder to say some inspiring words to the heroes. He only gets better in the sequel.
  • In the first God of War, the player quickly learns all he/she needs to know about Kratos if he executes a Grab attack on the initial zombie Mooks: Drive them to the ground and stab them repeatedly, impale them on his chainblade and whip them around, or tear them in half with his bare hands. Whatever is about to happen that will make him hurl himself off a cliff in the intro, Kratos clearly begins as a man not to be trifled with.
    • A more accurate moment probably comes from his treatment of the hydra. It swallows a man with a key he needs. After killing the beast in badass fashion, Kratos stalks into its mouth to retrieve the key. The key is around the neck of the ship captain, who thanks him for coming back. Kratos' reply? "I didn't come back for you." He then proceeds to rip the key off him, then send him down the hydra's throat for no reason whatsoever. Kratos: Mighty warrior, and complete and total asshole.
  • In The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, Ganondorf's first appearance is in a dream and his second is faking loyalty to the king. However, in his third appearance, he knocks Link to the ground with a single attack and says, "I am Ganondorf! And soon, I will rule the world!"
    • Also, the first time you hear of Ganondorf's actions, you find out that he was the one who put the death curse on the Deku Tree for not giving him what he wanted.
  • The very first thing you hear Neku say in The World Ends With You is, among other things, "I don't get people. Never have, never will." This sets up his initial antisocial behavior, and sets him up to learn The Power of Friendship.
    • The bonus chapter "Another Day" tells you exactly what kind of alternate world this is, when Alternate Neku shouts "Life is great!", and then has to struggle with his "emo urges".
    • Beat's impulsive and aggressive nature is emphasized in his first appearance, in which he accuses Neku and Shiki of being Reapers and tries to start a fight with them.
    • Sho's first scene involves him showing up late to a meeting, using "affectionate" nicknames on Kitaniji and Konishi, then walking out as soon as he's lost his interest, effectively setting him up as the maverick among the Reapers not to mention The Starscream.
  • Pretty much all of the main characters in Final Fantasy VIII get introductory animations:
    • Zell is seen shadowboxing and doing a backflip in the entry hall of Balamb Garden, establishing himself as an excessively energetic kind of guy.
    • Selphie falls down a hill and does a cheerful "silly me" gesture, but her character is established before then when she collides with Squall while running late for class.
    • Irvine is shown lying on his back, holding his hand up so steadily that a butterfly lands on it.
    • Squall's initial appearance in the opening FMV illustrates that he's a Determinator, but it's his scene in the infirmary with Dr. Kadowaki and the walk to class with Quistis that really establish his personality. Likewise, Rinoa's appearance at the SeeD graduation ball when she succeeds not only in getting Squall to dance with her, but getting him to relax enough to dance well, establishes her character.
  • Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII is first seen in the intro calmly pointing her gun at a group of soldiers whose weapons are all trained on her, setting her up as an Action Girl. She later appears holding an oversized, delicate dandelion in her hands, watching it with her usual stoic expression, managing to not disturb the fluff until the wind blows it away, showing her Hidden Heart of Gold.
    • The other characters have this as well. Sazh comforts a frightened child when his chocobo pops out of his afro, Snow and the rest of NORA talk about heroism, Hope crawls away in fear when he's offered a gun, and Vanille playfully says "bang" when she gets her own gun.
  • Wes of Pokémon Colosseum has pretty much the best introduction of any character in the series, handheld or not--he blows up a criminal hideout with dynamite. As the only non-Kid Hero playable, he already stood out, but it was that moment that marked him as one of the best human badasses in the series.
  • Just about every Metal Gear boss (starting about at Metal Gear Solid) gets one of these. Sometimes it's as late as right before you fight them. Sometimes, they get another one after you win.
  • Mass Effect 2 loves to not outrightly reveal the major characters, but rather all you are given is a name and a very vague description of the characters skill or occupation. As you are on your way to find them, you will have several encounters with people who will give you a few more pieces of information about the person you seek, and each time the mental image you get becomes more and more outrageous and even horrifying. And then comes the Big Entrance, which usually even much more badass than anything you would have imagined.
    • Thane's first appearance has him show up in the middle of a conversation, breaking necks and coldly shooting his target - before bowing his head in prayer. Shepard asks him why he's praying for a Complete Monster, and he replies that he's praying for himself.
    • Grunt is introduced by bursting out of his tank, demanding some kind of purpose. When he backs down, he notices that Shepard has had a gun to Grunt's chest the whole conversation, and he just laughs. That's Grunt right there.
      • It's also notable for showing the enormous amount of respect he has for Shepard from the very beginning. It establishes that he WILL follow him/her into Hell itself.
    • Wrex in the first game shows up for the first time making a series of Badass Boasts to a Krogan bouncer in Chora's Den. If you happen to miss that scene, you meet him at C-Sec headquarters after he's been detained for making the aforementioned boasts. To make up for the player having missed the scene, he makes a series of Badass Boasts to the officers instead.
    • Cowboy Cop Garrus is introduced in the first game complaining to Da Chief about how the regulations are getting in the way of him arresting Saren.
      • If that wasn't enough, he gets another Establishing Character Moment a few minutes later, when Fist's thugs try to hold Dr. Michel hostage. He pops out of the other side of the room and deals a clean headshot to the thug holding Michel. Shepard can then either compliment his aim or call him out for putting the doctor in danger if he missed.
      • In the second game, you join an alliance of three badass mercenary bands who try to take out Archangel, a Lone Wolf vigilante who has been cornered in a building and killed dozens of mercenaries who had tried to get at him for the last few days, to the point where the mercenaries bring in battle robots the size of small mechs and a heavily armored gunship. In case you're wondering, Garrus is Archangel.
    • Though she appears a twice beforehand and is heard over loudspeaker and in a few video clips, Miranda's first real introduction is when Wilson opens the door to the room she's been hiding in, promptly shooting him with a sarcastic quip, insisting that he's a traitor, and ignoring all of Shepard's counterarguments and stating "I'm always right." Quickly establishing pretty much everything you need to know about her. Or not, depending on your point of view. It certainly tells you everything you need to know about Cerberus, if you haven't played the first game.
      • Side note: if you read the Shadow Broker dossiers you acquire after completing Lair of the Shadow Broker, it confirms Wilson really was a traitor and Miranda was right.
    • When buying Jack from a private high security prison ship, you can talk with one of the prisoners who begs you to free him as well and take him with you. But when he hears that you've come for Jack, he decides he rather stays in the safety of his cell. Jack then has a shot of her prison cell opening, to reveal (instead of the giant hulking brute earlier dialogue was gearing you up to expect) a young woman, who promptly starts screaming in rage, tears open her restraints, and rips apart three YMIR mechs with her bare hands. The rest of the mission is chasing her through the wreckage left behind by her rampage through the prison ship.
    • Samara has a short fight (in which she utterly dominates the poor Eclipse merc) finishing with a precise Neck Snap and a good deal of Dissonant Serenity, before establishing just how strict her code is and how she works with any possible loopholes to advance the greater good.
    • On the derelict reaper, you first hear signs of a lone sniper taking on the husks all by himself. Later Legion is introduced sniping a group of husks that try to sneak up on Shepard and saying his name, establishing his combat specialty, the fact that he is different from other Geth (as he can talk), and his obsession with Shepard quickly and efficiently. His first full body shot also is accompanied by one of the games moments of Crowning Music of Awesome, that is just short of being pretentious.
    • From what you hear about Mordin, he appears to be a completely psychotic butcher who slaughters the local gangs by the dozens with both his psychic powers and science, but also runs a free clinic for the poor. When you finally meet him, it turns out that the stories were not exactly wrong, but he is nothing like anything you would have expected.
  • Transformers: War for Cybertron: Most people know Megatron as a megalomaniac, and as someone not to mess with. In the very first stage, he commands his flagship to ram into a space station, casually shoots a subordinate decrying the plan, then as the ship and the station section it crashed into collapses, he simply charges out of the wreckage with two lieutenants and starts massacring Autobot Mooks left and right while he lets Soundwave organize any survivors strong enough to live.
    • Similarly, when you start the Autobot campaign, the first you see of Optimus is him being a Big Damn Heroes and saving Bumblebee from a group of Decepticon mooks.
  • Dragon Age: Origins does this with...well, pretty much everyone. Aside from those characters who are more than they appear to be in their first seen, what you see is what you get.
    • In the various Origins, Duncan appears to be almost preternaturally self-possessed, afraid of nothing and able to make people feel either threatened or comfortable, as he chooses, with nothing more than polite small talk.
    • Alistair's first appearance has him honestly trying to fulfill his duties as a messenger, and quickly falling back on snark in response to the hostility of the mage he's talking to.
    • A gracefully-aged older woman stands apart from her fellow mages, watching a Chantry sister bless some soldiers in preparation for the upcoming battle. When you speak to her, she asks you gently probing questions to determine how much you really know about what's going on and offers advice to fill in the gaps. Later, you find she survived the slaughter: when you meet her then she's just singlehandedly killed a demon to protect some of her fellow mages and a group of children. Paraphrased: "Oh hey, it's you, nice to see you again, now step away from the kids or I will end you!"
    • Morrigan appears mysteriously, from nowhere, questioning your motives and deflecting the questions you set her in return, or responding positively when you are polite to her.
    • A Chantry sister tries to talk down two sides about to fight, and when that fails immediately pulls out two knives and starts cutting her way through the people who oppose her. Oh, and hi, my name's Leliana, and don't worry about the blood, I know from experience that'll come right out!
    • A huge, powerful man sits in a cage, looking for all the world like he's strong enough to bend the bars and escape...but he doesn't. Instead, he sits, chanting softly to himself in an unknown language, and when you approach, does not tell you to go away but merely that he is not there for anyone else's entertainment, so he is not there for yours either. He responds with polite but grateful surprise to courtesy, and answers freely (almost) any question you ask him. He tells you he is Sten...which, you learn later, is not even his name, but his rank. And he seems almost eager, when he learns you are a Grey Warden, to enter your service to fight the Blight.
    • Zevran ambushes you and tries to kill you; when that fails, he anticipates that you'll want to interrogate him and cheerfully volunteers to save you the trouble by spilling every bit of relevant information you might want to know and a few you probably don't, and shamelessly hitting on you in the process.
    • Oghren is first seen in the Diamond Quarter, all but picking a fight with a government official due to his argument that someone needs to go look for Branka, his wife. He tries cajoling, threats, even reason, but all are shot down, leading him to trudge back to Tapster's Tavern, where you find he has already begun drowning his sorrows, assuming they aren't gently bobbing facedown in an ocean of alcohol already.
    • And, of course, your own character gets several choices for dialogue (and actions) in the Origins that can set up how you want to play them, from killing the humans in your territory to politely doing as your father tells you to do to flirting with your cousin to snarking with your cousin that she doesn't care what's going on, she just wants the excuse to drink.
  • Dragon Age II does the same thing for many of its primary characters.
    • Varric gets two early on. In his first actual appearance in the game, he proves to be a storyteller who loves to over-exaggerate everything to make the stories more interesting, even while being interrogated by the Chantry's equivalent of the Inquisition. Later on, when Hawke first meets him (chronologically, ten years before the interrogation) he spots a pickpocket, pins him to the wall with his crossbow, berates the pickpocket for his lack of skill, and returns Hawke's money, before making a business proposition, establishing his role as a deadly marksman and cunning rogue/businessman.
    • The first scene with Anders shows him healing a sick person, then taken over by Vengeance when Hawke enters, perceiving him/her as a potential threat, establishing the duality and inhumanity (but also kindness) of his nature.
    • Merrill's first scene has her sitting apart from the other Dalish, cradling something glowing and secretive, followed by sudden embarrassed babbling at encountering Hawke, establishing her status as a mysterious mage, her distance from her people, and a quirky Cloudcuckoolander all at once.
    • Isabela's introduction involves smashing some faces in the Hanged Man - never once does she seem intimidated by her foes, though they outnumber her three-to-one, going so far as to talk seductively to keep one off his guard before kicking the crap out of them. When they're gone, she goes back to her drink without a qualm.
    • Fenris' first scene involves him striding around the corner, having eliminated Tevinter bounty hunters offscreen, and shoving a glowing hand through the Tevinter captain's chest - without leaving a mark. Mysterious supernatural warrior cred established.
    • Aveline is introduced by knocking a darkspawn off her husband, beating it with her bare hands, and cutting off its head with a sword wielded like a paper slicer. Then she helps her husband to his feet.
    • Sebastian's first moments involve him placing a bounty on the head of the mercenaries who killed his family, while arguing with the Grand Cleric about the need for justice. When she pulls down the bounty posting, he pins it back up with an arrow fired from his bow.
    • Hawke's various personalities gets introduced during Varric's prologue depending on dialogue choices. Paragon!Hawke quickly establishes themselves as a born leader, Aggresive!Hawke takes the role of a vicious Blood Knight, while the middle choice, Snarky!Hawke shows themselves to be a charismatic snarker.
    • Hawke's siblings, Bethany and Carver, are first introduced slaying Darkspawn, before going right back to arguing. Bethany quickly shows herself to be diplomatic and introverted, while Carver is brash and argumentative.
  • Minor villain Pascal Grentzer from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword asserts his status as perhaps the vilest individual in the entire game when, upon being released from prison, he attempts an I Have You Now, My Pretty on his liberator...who happens to be a Dark Magical Girl Manipulative Bitch Hot Mom who could quite easily turn him inside-out with magic. She quickly asserts control over him, but what he would've done to anyone less willful is disturbingly clear...
    • Granted, Ike had his time during his own Fire Emblem games, he pretty much earns himself another one in his first appearance in Super Smash Bros.. Brawl's Subspace Emissary. You've just seen Marth and Meta Knight fail to stop the Ancient Minister and his bomb. He flies off, thinking he's won. Suddenly from behind you see a BFS slowly rise from behind him as epic music starts to play. Ike then jumps up to catch it for his signature move Aether (he yells "Great Aether" just because it's cooler that way) and easily slices down the bomb the Ancient Minister was carrying, disarming it (becoming the only character ever to do so) and he strikes a pose as the Ancient Minister flies off into the distance.
  • It takes most of Yggdra Union for Gulcasa to finally get one of these, but when he does it's very powerful. In the very short scene in question, a scout arrives to tell him that his little sister Emilia is dead. He accepts the news and dismisses her rather than opting to Shoot the Messenger...and then once she's out of the room, he breaks down crying. Rather than rage against the Royal Army for their role in that character's death, Gulcasa blames himself for lacking the power to save her. And once he's managed to pull himself together, he goes right back to rallying his men to defend his capital from your attack. Each of these actions has a story behind it, but simply seeing them for what they are is enough to succinctly explain what kind of person Gulcasa is outside of battle.
  • Golden Sun and the sequels have a large cast of characters, most of them flat. As a result, their characterization is established immediately upon meeting them, and there's not much development afterward.
    • Golden Sun (The Broken Seal):
      • Garet gets one in the prologue: "What, Isaac? I'm trying to save my stuff! ... it's too dangerous? All right, I'll go with you." And a few moments later when It Got Worse: "It's times like this that we men have to stick together!" This is the kind of guy who would describe himself as "Isaac's best friend", and he means well but can be an idiot sometimes.
      • Ivan is introduced violating the mental privacy of two total strangers. Who then call him on it, much to his surprise. He's been raised by non-Adepts and didn't know his powers had a name, much less that there were rules to using them.
      • Mia's first scene shows her using her powers to help a sickly old man, and fretting that someone has broken into Mercury Lighthouse, which she is bound by her familial duty to protect. Duty-driven Staff Chick. Next!
      • Felix, at Level 5, calls out the first game's endbosses over kidnapping Sheba, and later jumps off Venus Lighthouse to rescue her when she falls. Always Save the Girl much?
    • Golden Sun: The Lost Age:
      • Piers Playing Prisoner in Madra after being wrongly arrested for a pirate attack. He has an alibi, and he could just break out using his Psynergy, but the latter would be misusing his powers and the former would raise more questions, so he'll wait for the mayor to prove his innocence by other means. In the meantime, he tolerates abusive guards, and mentally kicks himself after lashing out at one with his Psynergy. Secretive and mysterious, but kind, patient, and law-abiding, with a strong sense of responsibility.
      • In the same game, Karst's first appearance is standing in the middle of a busy city, asking everyone she sees if they've seen her Cool Big Sis. Whom you have to inform her was killed by the first game's heroes. Things go badly.
      • Agatio's establishing moment is telling Alex he knows he's being made to play the Dumb Muscle role, and is only playing along because it furthers his goals as well. Surprisingly, even Nintendo missed that when they billed him as Dumb Muscle in the official strategy guide.
      • A rather surprising one for Issac comes late in The Lost Age. Being a Heroic Mime in the first game, players were free to imagine what his personality was like, and official guides suggested he was a total Nice Guy. In The Lost Age, he starts speaking for himself, and the first time we encounter him is after Garet and Mia have been caught in a trap set by Agatio and Karst. One the first things out of his mouth is a rather curt "If you're not going to help us, then get out of our way", then displays very little hesitation in drawing his blade when it becomes clear the two are hostile. The whole scene shows us that A) He's under a lot of stress, and B) He's quite willing to be confrontational.
    • Golden Sun: Dark Dawn:
      • Karis and Tyrell are established at the beginning of Dark Dawn with their actions - Karis yelling at Tyrell to get off the roof before he breaks the soarwing, and Tyrell flying off of said roof thinking he could just use it despite being an inexperienced Mars Adept. His reasoning for flying off basically amounts to "what's the worst that could happen?", and he finds out real quick.
      • Rief is introduced trying to get a better look at a giant Psynergy Vortex, while his older sister yells at him to get away from it. Then he gets kidnapped by bad guys. He's better at trivia than at common sense, danger-prone enough to make the latter a problem, and endearingly enthusiastic about it. (Nowell is cranky and yells a lot, but clearly cares about her brother.)
      • Sveta, being the Spotlight-Stealing Squad, got three, before you even learned her name. In Te Rya, you catch a few glimpses of a girl who flees when she realizes she's been spotted. Later, you spot her a few more times, leading you through the Teppe Ruins (and even leaving some of her climbing gear about for you to follow her). When she finally does start speaking, she's just as shy and kind as the previous scenes showed her to be, but you also find out that she's a kung-fu werewolf Adept. Then she introduces herself formally...
  • The first cinematic in Tomb Raider, in which Lara reveals herself for the first time to the player by cutting the rope that holds her, tossing off her shawl, drawing her guns, and firing a few shots at the wolves attacking her guide before she hits the ground.
    • The comic book starts with her being caught trying to escape some Middle Eastern town under a burqa after stealing a necklace. Once she's caught and exposed, she makes a few jaunty quips while escaping in a hail of gunfire with an Indy Ploy. But for her butler arriving in a chopper, a bit late, she would've died. Acts like she doesn't need others, but she still does. That's about all you need to know if you haven't played the games.
  • The opening to Left 4 Dead quickly establishes the dynamic between the four survivors. Bill leads the group through an alleyway using military handsigns, and specifically investigates the zombie remains in hopes of understanding them. Francis makes asshole remarks, and during a horde helps Zoe while quipping. Louis remains optimistic and hopeful. However, Zoe's Genre Savvy nature never comes up.

Nick: I have not...Come this far...To die NOW!

  • In Fallout: New Vegas, from the very beginning of the game you are told about Caesar's Legion, a brutal band of slavers and raiders that aim to conquer the Mojave, and how they're some of the worst scum in the world. However, it's not until the sacking of Nipton that you realize just how cruel and depraved they truly are.
  • Willard H. Wright's first appearance in EP7 of Umineko no Naku Koro ni consists of him busting into a sham trial of a falsely accused maid and using Van Dine's rules to save her.
  • Warcraft 3's resident bigot Garithos:

"You're late, Prince Kael'thas. I thought you Elves take pride in your punctuality".

    • The first time we see Jaina in action was when she fought back an ogre by herself. Arthas even tells his men not to help because they'll just get in the way.
  • Crysis 2's Troperiffic opening cinematic, "Second Chance," opens with a Super Soldier flinging himself out of a skyscraper just ahead of an incoming rocket and landing unscathed. He then ambushes an enemy soldier, takes his rifle, shoots another soldier with it before he can react, evades an A-10 napalm airstrike, turns invisible, neck lifts a third soldier, hurls him out a window, follows him down, and uses his Mk.60 to disable an Awesome Personnel Carrier while shrugging off its machine gun fire. His next step is to fling himself in Slow Motion onto the APC, trigger his Super Strength, and rip its .50 caliber machine gun right off its mount. By the time he's used it to shoot down the helicopter that shot that first rocket at him, it's abundantly clear that a well-used Nanosuit 2 is a force to be reckoned with. This entire sequence takes two minutes, with Hans Zimmer's "Insertion" blaring in the background the whole time.
  • In Star Fox 64, almost immediately after gameplay begins, Slippy flies out ahead of everyone else and an enemy fighter starts chasing him. This will happen quite often.
  • Invoked intentionally with Team Fortress 2 and the "Meet The Team" videos (minus the Pyro, whose video is lingering in Development Hell). You can learn everything you need to know about the individual classes by watching them.
  • Command & Conquer's Big Bad Kane has truly memorable moments:
    • In the first game, in the middle of you getting a dubious and quite possibly suicidal mission briefing from Seth (who comments that "Power shifts quickly in the Brotherhood") Kane's hand appears in the corner of the screen holdinging a pistol, which he uses to blow Seth's brains out. Then he comments that "Yes, power shifts more quickly than some people think....", issues the player his orders, then congratulates the player on his promotion.
    • On the GDI side of the same game, Kane's introduction involves the player getting a series of routine reports from various news agencies on various topics, and in the middle of the reports Kane suddenly hacks into his data stream, tells the player that his/ EVA unit cannot help him, that his army is penniless and emasculated, that he is doomed to failure, and that he knows where you live and implies he has assassins on the way to kill you. Then he bids you a good day.
      • In addition to showcasing his personality, it also started a habit of his for GDI campaigns: introducing himself by hacking a communication system to gloat. He does it three times out of four.
    • In Tiberian Sun, Kane's first appearance on the Nod campaign occurs when Anton Slavik has captured General Hassan and is holding him on a massive stage with a huge screen behind him. Slavik starts chanting "In the name of Kane!" and the crowd responds with "Kane lives in death!" On the third repition, the screen erupts to life with Kane's face and he shouts "KANE LIVES!" Then he turns to Hassan and reminds him that "Rule of thumb, Hassan: you can't kill the Messiah."
    • In Tiberium Wars, Kane's first appearance on the Nod side has him stepping out of the mists in a chapel-like room and greet the new commander like a combination of proud father-figure and fiery holy man. On the GDI side, the player is hit by images showing the orbital command space station being nuked, multiple GDI regions where bombers are attacking, warnings of incoming invading forces, and finally Kane hacking the global news network to issue his taunting declaration of war.
  • The first sign that the Boss is thoroughly awesome in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is when she can tell that Snake has lost weight just by the sound of his voice.
  • In Grand Theft Auto IV, shortly after Niko kills his subordinate Vlad, he and Roman are kidnapped and wake up tied to chairs in the basement of Russian mob boss Mikhail Faustin who immediately establishes himself as violent, unconcerned with human life, and batshit insane:

Mikhail: [Pointing a gun at Niko] You think it's okay to kill one of my employees?
Niko: If he's an asshole, yes.
'[Mikhail suddenly turns and shoots an employee who had angered him]

Mikhail: [smiling] I agree!

  • Modern Warfare makes sure we know where each of the primary villains sit.
    • Imran Zakhaev is introduced at the same time as Khaled al-Asad at President al-Fulani's execution. However, the scene makes it quite clear who is in charge with a remarkably subtle gesture: when al-Asad appears, Zakhaev points a pistol at him, in the middle of a courtyard filled with al-Asad's soldiers - and al-Asad is the one who stops in his tracks, obviously surprised and worried. Then Zakhaev hands him the gun, and al-Asad executes al-Fulani, establishing who is in charge, and who is the subordinate.
    • Vladimir Makarov in the second game has an entire mission serve as his establishing character moment. It starts with him and his cronies machinegunning an entire airport (and you have to follow and help him). It ends with Makarov casually turning and shooting you in the head, revealing he knew you were a spy the whole time.
  • In Katawa Shoujo:
    • In Kenji's second scene, he starts theorizing that Yamaku having mostly female students is proof of a feminist conspiracy trying to take over the world. He even suggests that Hisao is a possibly psychic spy based on him saying "It's me".
    • Lilly is introduced sitting in a disused classroom, having a Spot of Tea, and politely greeting Hisao.
    • Hanako's first time interacting with Hisao in the library has her incredibly nervous at merely having his attention, eventually getting up and running away while saying "Ivegottogodosomething!"
    • Emi runs into Hisao in the hall, late for an errand because she went running, then defuses any anger he might have felt with puppy dog eyes.
    • Rin is introduced sitting on a table in the art club, eating with a fork held in her foot. Her conversation with Hisao, with topics ranging from asking what to call a meal between lunch and dinner to suggesting that his disorder is "in (his) pants".
    • Hideaki's moment in Lilly's route is when he guesses that something is wrong with Hisao's heart just by looking at him (and reasoning that there are no external deformities and he would not be attending Yamaku with a mental disorder), showcasing his intelligence and bluntness. In his introduction to Shizune's route, his competitive streak, which is more prevalent in that route, is showcased when he argues with Hisao over how much either is like Shizune.
    • In Jigoro's first scene, after introductions, he starts insulting the Yamaku student council for being lazy compared to the student councils of his childhood, and reacts to Hisao's politely asking what he does for a living by asking "Are you some kinda tax man, boy?". Things go downhill from there.
  • In Alan Wake, Agent Nightingale in his first appearance tries to shoot Alan Wake, completely ignoring the risk of hitting the innocent bystander who stands right next to Alan.
  • The infamously chilling close-up of SA-X's face in Metroid Fusion does well to convince the player that they should steer clear of this foe.
  • In Kid Icarus: Uprising, moments after Dark Pit's creation, Pandora introduces him as her newest minion. He responds with an Offhand Backhand, and joins you in the second half of her boss fight. Meet the Wild Card.
  • Very early into Prototype 2, when James Heller first catches sight of Alex Mercer, he slits the latter's throat. It doesn't take, of course, but it and the subsequent dogged pursuit firmly show that if anyone can take Alex down, it'll be James and his depleted uranium balls.
  • Undertale does this masterfully.
    • The first character we meet, Flowey, acts very friendly and helpful... but evade his "friendliness pellets" enough times (or be dumb enough to run into them) and he quickly lose patience and show his true, cruel colors. His scene also serves as an Establishing Series Moment for the game, as it foreshadows that this cute, whimsical game hides something darker and that nothing is what initially seems.
    • Toriel is introdiced by saving the Human from Flowey, then guiding them towards the Ruins while holding their hand, solving even the most easy puzzles, quickly showing her as benevolent, motherly, and a bit smothering.
    • Sans introduces himself by appearing creeping behind the Human and forcing them to shake his hand... which has a whopee cushion on it. Troll detected.
    • Immediately we are introduced to his brother Papyrus, who proceeds to berate Sans for not caring enough of his job (tantrum included), vocally wants that a human appears so he can capture them and raise his standing in the Royal Guard, remarks how such a feat will give him the recognition he obviously deserves, and, more subtly, cringes to Sans' terrible puns but come with several better ones.
    • After a level of being The Dreaded, Undyne quickly stablish her true personality when, right before her boss fight in the Neutral/Pacifist run, she suddenly tears off her helmet and goes on a really hammy rant about why the player's existence is a detriment to all monsterkind and how she'll do anything to protect them, all while her real Leitmotif (a heroic and somewhat goofy-sounding theme) plays in the background.
    • Alphys is very summed up by her first dialogue lines, that she says after turning on the lights and discovering that the protagonist is viewing the closed caption footage of themself:

Alphys: Oh. My god. I didn't expect you to show up so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and...

    • Mettaton enters in the plot by breaking a lab wall, egotistically introducing himself under a confetti rain and immediately hosting a Deadly Game Show.
    • When we finally met Asgore, he is tending his garden/throne room, gently answering to his current visitor... until he turns and see that the "visitor" is the Human player character, at which point he briefly has an expression of horror before accepting that This Is A Thing That Is Happening Right Now, dragging over the beginning of the fight and trying to treat the encounter as it was a dentist visit or something similarly mundane and unpleasant.
  • The second cutscene of Super Bomberman R's Story mode sums up everything you need to know about the Bomberman Bros.:
    • White Bomber scolds his siblings for not showing up for training, shows no patience for their antics or excuses and forcefully drags them along by stuffing them into their spaceship after receiving Buggler's threatening message.
    • Black Bomber is lying on his chair in a cool-looking pose, claiming he is already perfect and doesn't need training.
    • Blue Bomber is dozing on the couch, asks for "five more minutes" when awakened by White Bomber and claims he needs 24 more hours of sleep when forced in the spaceship.
    • Red Bomber mostly focuses on hitting his training dummy, then excitedly asks White Bomber if anything needs blowing up, with flames in his eyes while taking out a bomb.
    • Yellow Bomber doodles on a wall with colored pencils, gets immediatly distracted by a butterfly when White Bomber angrily asks why no one came to his training, and goes "Wheeee!" when stuffed in the spaceship with everyone else.
    • Green Bomber plays with a toy car, tries to manipulate White Bomber into giving him money by pretending to understand him and acting all adorable and cute (he nearly falls for it), and complains about being scared when dragged into action.
    • Pink Bomber and Aqua Bomber don't pay attention to White Bomber at all, instead reading a kids book and commenting on Pink's new hairclip, and when forced into the spaceship, Pink worries about leaving without packed lunches and Aqua laments having to participate in violence.


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