Tropescilloscope: Action Prologue

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

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