Tropescilloscope: Action Prologue

An exciting beginning followed by the "real" story. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes The Vamp Unspoken Plan Guarantee Spiritual Successor Jump Scare Eyepatch of Power Vomit Indiscretion Shot Department of Redundancy Department Left the Background Music On Adaptation Expansion Apocalypse How Hooker with a Heart of Gold Names to Run Away from Really Fast The Quiet One Alpha Bitch Retcon "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Disguised in Drag Re-Cut Small Name, Big Ego Vampire Fiction Covers Always Lie Revenge Hell Is That Noise The X of Y Big "NO!" Zombie Stories Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Beauty Is Never Tarnished Not What It Looks Like He Knows Too Much Anachronism Stew Ghost Fiction Creative Closing Credits Shown Their Work Tagline Bloody Hilarious Mr. Fanservice Bad Boss Mood Whiplash Enemy Mine Affectionate Parody Wham Shot Title Drop Those Wacky Nazis Foil Love Triangle Mr. Exposition Rule of Symbolism I'm a Humanitarian Anguished Declaration of Love Sequel Hook Fire-Forged Friends Sir Swears-a-Lot Celebrity Paradox For Want of a Nail The Mole Killed Mid-Sentence Fat Bastard Historical In-Joke Fingore Eye Scream Off with His Head! Silence Is Golden The Dragon Narrator Kick the Dog Parental Abandonment "The Reason You Suck" Speech Too Dumb to Live Funny Foreigner Blonde, Brunette, Redhead The Chessmaster Evil vs. Evil Crucified Hero Shot The Bad Guy Wins Five-Man Band Together in Death Car Fu Friend to All Children An Axe to Grind Accidental Misnaming Index of Film Westerns Ship Tease Heel Realization Red Herring Gilligan Cut Fourth Date Marriage Drives Like Crazy Anti-Villain The Load Expository Hairstyle Change Death Glare Break the Cutie Room Full of Crazy Bavarian Fire Drill Parental Incest It's All About Me Adult Fear Dwindling Party The Reveal timeperiod The Big Guy Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Berserk Button Evil Sounds Deep Blood from the Mouth Moment Killer Green-Eyed Monster Bland-Name Product Destination Defenestration Ascended Extra Big Applesauce Never Found the Body Leitmotif Those Two Guys The Power of Love Naked People Are Funny Country Matters Action Survivor Red Shirt Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Evil-Detecting Dog And I Must Scream Deus ex Machina Damsel in Distress Very Loosely Based on a True Story Made of Iron Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Evil Brit Took a Level in Badass Those Two Bad Guys The Film of the Book Dying Moment of Awesome Here We Go Again! Ungrateful Bastard All Just a Dream An Aesop Jerk Jock Camp Gay Kill 'em All Exact Words Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Badass Normal Adaptational Attractiveness Unwitting Instigator of Doom Product Placement Trailers Always Spoil Romantic False Lead Adaptational Badass Historical Hero Upgrade Bloodier and Gorier MacGuffin Brick Joke Hollywood Darkness Ambiguously Gay "Shaggy Dog" Story Maybe Ever After Obstructive Bureaucrat The Dog Bites Back Horror Films Advertised Extra Eureka Moment Parental Substitute Brutal Honesty Public Domain Feature Films Self-Deprecation Psycho for Hire Defiant to the End Sports Stories "Well Done, Son!" Guy Cool Old Guy Blood Knight Frame-Up Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Armor-Piercing Question Film Noir Index Recycled IN SPACE! Victoria's Secret Compartment Curb-Stomp Battle Earn Your Happy Ending Your Cheating Heart Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Rape as Drama Eiffel Tower Effect Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Pretty Little Headshots Stepford Smiler Dutch Angle Bunny-Ears Lawyer Your Head A-Splode Morality Pet Genre Savvy Brainless Beauty Corpsing Beard of Evil Precision F-Strike Hidden Depths Straight Gay Mystery and Detective Films Psychological Thriller Belligerent Sexual Tension Fanservice For the Evulz Conspicuous CG Mighty Whitey Once More, with Clarity! Wounded Gazelle Gambit Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Jerkass Has a Point Protagonist Title Badass Bookworm Bond One-Liner Mugging the Monster Does This Remind You of Anything? Slasher Smile Would Hit a Girl Works Set in World War II Faking the Dead Rewatch Bonus Animal Title Index Artistic License – Military Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Fiery Redhead Ambiguous Ending World of Ham The Atoner Woman in White It's Personal Red Oni, Blue Oni The '60s Crazy-Prepared Serial Killer Happily Married Implacable Man Guns Akimbo Framing Device Deliberate Values Dissonance Double Entendre No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Undying Loyalty Have a Gay Old Time Artistic License – Physics Stock Footage Famous Last Words Closed Circle He Who Fights Monsters Karmic Death Even Evil Has Standards Not So Stoic Retired Badass Race Lift Major Injury Underreaction Interrupted Suicide Police are Useless Important Haircut Neck Lift Ms. Fanservice Ass Shove Slasher Movie The Voiceless Light Is Not Good Nice Guy The Bully Military and Warfare Films Flipping the Bird Depraved Bisexual Running Gag Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Fate Worse than Death Eagleland I Need a Freaking Drink Aluminum Christmas Trees Villain Song Mad Scientist Not So Above It All Would Hurt a Child La Résistance Despair Event Horizon The Ace Madness Mantra Pay Evil unto Evil Due to the Dead Reality Ensues Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Amoral Attorney Mythology Gag Every Car Is a Pinto Film Series I Did What I Had to Do Punny Name Card-Carrying Villain Credits Gag Put on a Bus Overly Long Gag Daylight Horror Daddy's Girl Riddle for the Ages '80s Hair Bury Your Gays Training Montage Foregone Conclusion Malevolent Masked Men Fan Disservice Agony of the Feet Intrepid Reporter Homage Arch-Enemy In Medias Res Soundtrack Dissonance Funny Background Event This Is Gonna Suck Manchild Bar Brawl Bald of Evil Posthumous Character More Dakka Casting Gag Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Rule of Cool Fatal Flaw All There in the Manual Ripped from the Headlines Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Artistic License – Biology Death of a Child Arranged Marriage Better to Die than Be Killed Silent Movie Real Life Darker and Edgier Dissonant Serenity Mind Screw Age Lift Demonic Possession Black Comedy Composite Character Meaningful Echo The Place Oh, Crap! Sealed Evil in a Can Nice Hat Action Girl Evil Laugh Anyone Can Die Hair-Trigger Temper All Men Are Perverts Serious Business Historical Villain Upgrade Rule of Three Tap on the Head The Alleged Car Token Minority Immune to Bullets Groin Attack Instant Death Bullet Scenery Porn Music Stories Wrong Genre Savvy Villain Protagonist Heterosexual Life-Partners Dramedy And Starring No Ending Our Zombies Are Different Jerkass Dark Reprise Slap-Slap-Kiss Genre Shift Almost Kiss Leave the Camera Running Gender Flip Up to Eleven Lock and Load Montage Evil Counterpart Canon Foreigner Pet the Dog Tranquil Fury Artistic License – Geography Fish out of Water The Cameo Unusual Euphemism Mercy Kill Heel–Face Turn All There in the Script Eldritch Abomination Reality Is Unrealistic Betty and Veronica Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Captain Ersatz Only a Flesh Wound Insult Backfire Manic Pixie Dream Girl Badass in a Nice Suit Darkest Hour Twist Ending Mama Bear Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Shut Up, Hannibal! One-Man Army Broken Pedestal Getting Crap Past the Radar Redemption Equals Death No-Sell You Have Failed Me Children Are Innocent Death by Adaptation No Antagonist Only in It for the Money You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! British Films Catapult Nightmare The Dreaded Action Genre All for Nothing Big Brother Instinct Thriller Continuity Nod Laughing Mad The Mafia The Ditz folderlabel Fantastic Racism Sole Survivor A.I. Is a Crapshoot Time Skip Camera Abuse Cool Old Lady Setting Update Never My Fault Grievous Bottley Harm Dark Action Girl Calling the Old Man Out Epic Movie Heroes Want Redheads Not Quite Dead Facial Horror Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas The Chick Not Even Bothering with the Accent Imagine Spot Babies Ever After The Lost Lenore Spell My Name with an "S" Not Using the "Z" Word Empathic Environment Foreshadowing Obfuscating Stupidity Bullying a Dragon The Starscream Not So Different Ominous Latin Chanting Suspiciously Specific Denial Break the Haughty The Stoic The Oner The End... Or Is It? Greater-Scope Villain O.O.C. Is Serious Business Stealth Pun Cowboy Cop Humans Are Bastards Pyrrhic Victory The Faceless Bottomless Magazines Anachronic Order What You Are in the Dark You Killed My Father Loophole Abuse Documentary Demoted to Extra Rasputinian Death Deliberately Monochrome Back from the Dead Early Installment Weirdness Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Costume Porn Ax-Crazy Plucky Comic Relief Insane Troll Logic Offscreen Moment of Awesome Needs Wiki Magic Love Pragmatic Villainy Cool Shades May–December Romance Brother–Sister Incest Bolivian Army Ending Dirty Old Man Reasonable Authority Figure Disappeared Dad Badass Grandpa Adapted Out Face–Heel Turn The Lancer Downer Ending Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Laser-Guided Karma What Happened to the Mouse? Really Gets Around Aside Glance Contrived Coincidence I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Scenery Gorn From Nobody to Nightmare Expy Creator Cameo Dumb Blonde Woman Scorned From Bad to Worse Creepy Child Red Eyes, Take Warning Take That! Based on a True Story Freeze-Frame Bonus Alliterative Name Shirtless Scene Knife Nut Defrosting Ice Queen Bowdlerise Male Frontal Nudity Motor Mouth Horror Comedy As You Know Nothing Is Scarier The Hero Crapsack World Man on Fire In the Back Establishing Character Moment Rich Bitch Didn't Think This Through Insistent Terminology Artistic License – Gun Safety Exactly What It Says on the Tin Catch-Phrase Only Sane Man Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Novelization Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Stalker with a Crush Word of God Actually Pretty Funny Meaningful Background Event Fainting Kick the Son of a Bitch Body Horror Even Evil Has Loved Ones Drowning My Sorrows An Arm and a Leg Wham Line One Steve Limit Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Bloodless Carnage Bad "Bad Acting" The Alcoholic Blatant Lies Shipper on Deck Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Four-Temperament Ensemble Screw the Money, I Have Rules! B-Movie Fatal Family Photo Adaptational Heroism Dirty Coward Beware the Nice Ones Annoying Younger Sibling Epic Fail Suddenly SHOUTING! Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping After the End Death by Irony Kill It with Fire Intergenerational Friendship Call-Back Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Corrupt Corporate Executive Bare Your Midriff Pimped-Out Dress Cool Car Black Dude Dies First Breaking the Fourth Wall French Films War Is Hell Shoot the Shaggy Dog And the Adventure Continues My God, What Have I Done? Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Central Theme Author Avatar Jitter Cam Mundane Made Awesome Market-Based Title Irony Artistic License – History Get Out! Dramatic Irony Monumental Damage Italian Films Bilingual Bonus The Sociopath 20 Minutes into the Future No Name Given Hypocrite Dramatic Gun Cock Biopic Attempted Rape Hope Spot Taking You with Me The '90s Air-Vent Passageway As Long as It Sounds Foreign Television Movie Index Hoist by His Own Petard Disproportionate Retribution Cat Scare Chewing the Scenery Manly Tears Death Seeker Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Throwing Your Sword Always Works The Un-Reveal Men Are the Expendable Gender Sadistic Choice Married to the Job Naïve Newcomer Kids Are Cruel Dark and Troubled Past Storming the Castle Martial Arts Movie Lampshade Hanging Chekhov's Gun Worthy Opponent Noodle Incident Drill Sergeant Nasty Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Hong Kong Films Cat Fight Truth in Television Call-Forward Science Fiction Films In Name Only Wicked Cultured Visual Pun A God Am I Faux Affably Evil Logo Joke Romantic Comedy Last-Name Basis Shout-Out Drugs Are Bad Historical-Domain Character Toplessness from the Back Big Bad Bi the Way Scary Black Man Whole Plot Reference Rousing Speech Femme Fatale Affably Evil Only One Name There Is No Kill Like Overkill The '80s Taking the Bullet Humiliation Conga Tempting Fate Dies Wide Open Match Cut Boom, Headshot! Comically Missing the Point Determinator aka: The Determinator Smug Snake Black Best Friend Chekhov's Skill Half the Man He Used to Be Shell-Shocked Veteran You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Reckless Gun Usage Gone Horribly Right Unresolved Sexual Tension Parental Neglect Cluster F-Bomb Beta Couple Disney Villain Death Black Comedy Rape Does Not Like Shoes Driven to Suicide The '70s Decoy Protagonist Captain Obvious Domestic Abuse Did Not Get the Girl Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Sexy Discretion Shot Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Politically Incorrect Villain Super Strength Awesome, but Impractical Honor Before Reason A Father to His Men Stealth Hi/Bye Hate Sink Abusive Parents Be Careful What You Wish For Unreliable Narrator The Stoner Hero Antagonist A Minor Kidroduction Rated M for Manly Leaning on the Fourth Wall Curse Cut Short Abhorrent Admirer Sacrificial Lion Stylistic Suck It Can Think Refuge in Audacity Roaring Rampage of Revenge Real Life Writes the Plot Cloudcuckoolander Japanese Films Soft Glass The Smart Guy Plot Hole Character Development Actor Allusion Combat Pragmatist Dull Surprise Final Girl Race Against the Clock Idiot Ball Auto Erotica "Awesome McCool" Name Older Than They Look Pre-Mortem One-Liner The Musical Vomit Discretion Shot Ambiguous Disorder As the Good Book Says... Stuff Blowing Up The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Hypocritical Humor Big Fancy House Big Damn Heroes Red Right Hand Heroic BSoD Face Death with Dignity Animated Credits Opening Smoking Is Cool Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Pragmatic Adaptation Artistic License – Law Canadian Movies Book-Ends Award-Bait Song Evil Is Petty Action Prologue Paper-Thin Disguise Cain and Abel Slashed Throat Retirony Jerk with a Heart of Gold Sci-Fi Horror Informed Ability Butt-Monkey Black and Gray Morality Offscreen Teleportation Heroic Sacrifice Cold-Blooded Torture Only Known by Their Nickname Christmas Movies Index How We Got Here Psychopathic Manchild Russian Films Manipulative Bastard What the Hell, Hero? Karma Houdini No OSHA Compliance Ironic Echo Alas, Poor Villain Evil Plan Adaptation Name Change Determinator Fantasy Films Mistaken for Gay Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Distracted by the Sexy Meaningful Name BFG She Cleans Up Nicely Missing Mom Love at First Sight Improbable Weapon User Sinister Minister Deal with the Devil Video Credits Bring My Brown Pants Sequel Escalation Wretched Hive Danny Peary Cult Movies List Reality Has No Subtitles Never Trust a Trailer Adaptational Villainy Papa Wolf Gainax Ending The Cavalry Cruel and Unusual Death Hero of Another Story Author Appeal She's Got Legs Deadpan Snarker Random Events Plot Bond Villain Stupidity Big Eater My Beloved Smother Sassy Black Woman Extreme Doormat Obviously Evil The Stinger Shower Scene Bittersweet Ending Bound and Gagged Skewed Priorities Kubrick Stare Everyone Has Standards Cool Guns Lighter and Softer Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Say My Name A Date with Rosie Palms Deconstruction Gory Discretion Shot Scare Chord The '50s Australian Movies Took a Level in Jerkass Vacation Films Neck Snap Animal Motifs Asshole Victim Chase Scene I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Adaptation Dye-Job Dogged Nice Guy N-Word Privileges Gratuitous English Arc Words True Companions I Have Your Wife Badass Longcoat The Brute Antagonist Title Mooks Chekhov's Gunman Punch-Clock Villain Make It Look Like an Accident Off-into-the-Distance Ending Gold Digger Properly Paranoid Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Totally Radical Failed a Spot Check Spiteful Spit The Hero Dies Improvised Weapon Big Bad Duumvirate Fake Shemp Dirty Cop Yandere Batman Gambit Developing Doomed Characters Flashback All Girls Want Bad Boys Film Noir Anti-Hero Good Is Not Nice Meet Cute Let's Get Dangerous! Early-Bird Cameo Adaptation Distillation Double-Meaning Title No-Holds-Barred Beatdown The Great Depression Spanner in the Works Large Ham Extremely Short Timespan Genre Throwback Take a Third Option The Smurfette Principle Our Vampires Are Different Dark Is Not Evil No Celebrities Were Harmed Dressing as the Enemy Translation Convention Show Within a Show Spared by the Adaptation Henpecked Husband Villainous Breakdown Easily Forgiven The Ghost Becoming the Mask Crazy Jealous Guy Gorn Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Evil Is Hammy Big-Bad Ensemble Cassandra Truth The Remake NO INDOOR VOICE Same Language Dub Well-Intentioned Extremist As Himself Line-of-Sight Name Bait-and-Switch Poor Communication Kills Superhero Knight Templar My Greatest Failure Guile Hero Dropped a Bridge on Him Blackmail Mexican Standoff Handicapped Badass Fanservice Extra Grey and Gray Morality Star-Crossed Lovers Vitriolic Best Buds Fun with Acronyms Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Adults Are Useless Adorkable Broken Aesop Villain Opening Scene Death by Sex One-Word Title Suspiciously Similar Substitute Evil Cannot Comprehend Good The Casanova Outrun the Fireball Amusing Injuries Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Diabolus ex Machina Peek-a-Boo Corpse It Will Never Catch On Redshirt Army Chiaroscuro Made of Explodium Hollywood Law Male Gaze Villain with Good Publicity German Films Coming-of-Age Story Badass Boast Improbable Aiming Skills Accidental Murder Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Villain Ball Overprotective Dad Broken Bird Police Brutality Dual Wielding Authority Equals Asskicking Playing Gertrude Loads and Loads of Characters Disney Death Unusually Uninteresting Sight Non-Indicative Name Rule of Funny Sanity Slippage Freudian Excuse Pretty in Mink